The Timeless Love Story of Ruru and Pramadvara

The love story of Ruru and Pramadvara is a testament to the purity and devotion that can exist in relationships. It unfolds after Rishi Bhrigu cursed Lord Agni, and with the help of Lord Brahma, balance was restored. Sauti, the narrator, shares the rich lineage of Rishi Bhrigu, starting with his son Chyavana who married Sukanya. Their son, Pramati, married Ghritachi, and together they had a son named Ruru. It is the love between Ruru and Pramadvara, their trials, and their devotion that we explore today.

The Birth of Pramadvara

Pramadvara was born of celestial origins. The King of the Gandharvas had a union with Apsara Menaka, who left the child at the banks of a river out of shame. The great Rishi Sthulakesa, filled with compassion, discovered the infant and raised her as his own. The child grew into a beautiful young woman under his care, and he named her Pramadvara.

The beginning: Love Story of Ruru and Pramadvara

One day, Ruru, the son of Pramati, visited Rishi Sthulakesa’s ashram and upon seeing Pramadvara, instantly fell in love. Ruru requested his father to ask for Pramadvara’s hand in marriage. Sthulakesa agreed, and their wedding was set for an auspicious day when the star Varga-Daivata (Purva-Phalguni) would ascend.

Tragedy Strikes – The Death of Pramadvara

One day when she was with her female friends, a snake bit her with his deep venomous fangs. Her color starts fading off and once so beautiful Pramadvara suddenly becomes lifeless. Looking at her lifeless bodies everyone starts gathering around and lamenting. Sthulakesa was overcome with grief and all the brahmanas (Swastyatreya, Mahajana, Kushika, Sankhamekhala, Uddalaka, Katha, Sweta, Bharadwaja, Kaunakutsya, Arshtishena, Gautama, Pramati and Ruru) present at the ashram all wept and filled with compassion

Ruru’s Grief and Divine Message

Ruru, heartbroken, ran into the forest and pleaded with the gods to restore Pramadvara’s life. He asked that his acts of charity, penance, and reverence toward his elders be used to bring her back. In response, a messenger came from the heaven and told him “Poor Pramadvara’s days on earth had simply run out! However, gods would like to give you an option to restore her life. Let me know if you would like to hear about it.

Ruru said to the messenger from heaven, if there is even a smallest chance of bringing my dear beloved back, i will take it. Tell me what is the ask of the gods and i will do it. The messenger told him that in order to bring Pramadvara back to life, Ruru will have to resign half of his own life and give it her. Ruru readily agreed to give his half life to his bride, and requested the messenger to carry the message to the gods.

`The King of Gandharva (who was the father of Pramadvara) along with the messenger went to God Dharma. Addressing him, they requested the Dharmaraja to let the bride of Ruru, Pramadvara live as he was willing to give half his life to her in exchange. Dharmaraja accepted the request since it was coming from the messenger of gods. Pramadvara suddenly woke from her death, thanks to the moiety of Ruru’s life. However, due to this incident, Ruru lost half his life.

Ruru and Pramadvara’s Marriage

Ruru and Pramadvara were soon married, and they lived their lives devoted to each other. However, Ruru’s love for Pramadvara had been tainted by a deep-seated desire for revenge against the snake that had caused her death. He vowed to kill every serpent he encountered.

The Water Snake and Ruru’s Redemption

One day while walking through the forest, he came across a old snake of the Dundubha species (fresh water snake) lying on the ground, stretching himself. Ruru immediately lifted his staff to kill the snake, however the snake pleaded Ruru to not hurt him. He asked the cause of Ruru’s anger.

Ruru explained that one of the serpents had tried to kill his wife once through poison, ever since then he has taken a vow for destruction of the serpent race. The water snake explained that Dundubha are different type of snake and are not poisonous. Dundubha shouldn’t be facing the wrath of Ruru’s for the mistakes of other poisonous snake, especially they are only snakes for the namesake. Ruru listening to the water snake and seeing him shaking in fear took pity on him and decided that he would not kill snake.

What was the story of Dundubha in Mahabharata?

Ruru asked the water snake, who are you? and Dundubha responded by identifying himself as a Rishi named Sahasrapat. It is due to a curse of a brahmana, that he had transformed into a snake. Ruru asked him how long will his form of snake continue?

Dundubha shared that in old days, he had a friend named Khagama. He was quick in his speech and possessed strong spiritual powers due to his penance. One day when he was performing Fire Sacrifice, Sahasrapat (aka Dundubha) made a mock snake from the blade of grass to scare his friend. Just like he expected, Khagama got scared but as soon as he recovered form his senses, he got increasingly angered. In that fit of anger, he cursed Sahasrapat stating “Since you have scared me with a powerless mock snake to frighten me, you will also turn into a venomless snake by my curse”.

Sahasrapat knowing the powers of his friend addressed him and tried to reason with him that it was only meant to a joke, to make you laugh and requested him to forgive. Looking at my trouble state, he replied that my curse is no revocable however the curse will get lifted once the son of Pramati, Ruru will come and meet you. Today that curse has been lifted and he magically transformed into his original self.

After he got back to his original self, Sahasrapat explained to Ruru the duties of Brahmana. They are supposed to carry the world of god and must be mild in nature. They must be forgiving in their wrath and must not take up arms, cause that is the responsibility of a Kshatriya. Especially, to Ruru he said destruction of a race is never a good thing. He should listen to the learnings that King Janamejaya received from the great Astika.

Ruru asked Sahasrapat, why King Janamejaya was interested in eliminating the serpent race and how come Astika convinced him not to perform the destruction. To this Sahasrapat said, you would be told this story best by the brahmana’s and suddenly he vanished away. Ruru tried to catch hold of him but Sahasrapat was gone before he could reach. He started searching for Sahasrapat in wood, but couldn’t find him. In the end, fatigued he collapsed while the question still revolved in his mind, eventually once he regained his consciousness he went back to his father (Pramati) and asked him the question.

Conclusion

The love story of Ruru and Pramadvara is one of devotion, sacrifice, and the wisdom that comes from understanding the true nature of life. Through their journey, we learn that love, though powerful, must be tempered with compassion and forgiveness.To learn more about stories from the Mahabharata and Indian epics, you can follow us on Quora, Facebook, WhatsApp, and X.