Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.14.44-45

sthali-sthanam gato 'svattham

sami-garbham vilakshya sah

tena dve arani kritva

urvasi-loka-kamyaya

urvasim mantrato dhyayann

adhararanim uttaram

atmanam ubhayor madhye

yat tat prajananam prabhuh

SYNONYMS

sthali-sthanam -- the place where Agnisthali was left; gatah -- going there; asvattham -- an asvattha tree; sami-garbham -- produced from the womb of the sami tree; vilakshya -- seeing; sah -- he, Pururava; tena -- from that; dve -- two; arani -- pieces of wood required for igniting a fire for sacrifice; kritva -- making; urvasi-loka-kamyaya -- desiring to go to the planet where Urvasi was present; urvasim -- Urvasi; mantratah -- by chanting the required mantra; dhyayan -- meditating upon; adhara -- lower; aranim -- arani wood; uttaram -- and the upper one; atmanam -- himself; ubhayoh madhye -- in between the two; yat tat -- that which (he meditated upon); prajananam -- as a son; prabhuh -- the King.

TRANSLATION

When the process of fruitive yajna became manifest within his heart, King Pururava went to the same spot where he had left Agnisthali. There he saw that from the womb of a sami tree, an asvattha tree had grown. He then took a piece of wood from that tree and made it into two aranis. Desiring to go to the planet where Urvasi resided, he chanted mantras, meditating upon the lower arani as Urvasi, the upper one as himself, and the piece of wood between them as his son. In this way he began to ignite a fire.

PURPORT

The Vedic fire for performing yajna was not ignited with ordinary matches or similar devices. Rather, the Vedic sacrificial fire was ignited by the aranis, or two sacred pieces of wood, which produced fire by friction with a third. Such a fire is necessary for the performance of yajna. If successful, a yajna will fulfill the desire of its performer. Thus Pururava took advantage of the process of yajna to fulfill his lusty desires. He thought of the lower arani as Urvasi, the upper one as himself, and the middle one as his son. A relevant Vedic mantra quoted herein by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura is sami-garbhad agnim mantha. A similar mantra is urvasyam urasi pururavah. Pururava wanted to have children continuously by the womb of Urvasi. His only ambition was to have sex life with Urvasi and thereby get a son. In other words, he had so much lust in his heart that even while performing yajna he thought of Urvasi, instead of thinking of the master of yajna, Yajnesvara, Lord Vishnu.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness