Origin of Urvashi

Love matches, it is said: "Are made by people who are content, for a month of honey, to condemn themselves to a life of vinegar." Carnal love is about children. But, even in a primitive community, before the creation of the property and the appearance of the family, two persons in love wanted to have an exclusive relationship, freeing it of others. The tendency was often, though not always, towards the formation of a proto-family. The man was already excluding not only other humans but also the gods from this exciting relationship that he had discovered and conceptualised.
However the best poetry in Urdu ignores the joys of meeting for the sweet pain of longing. In fact, the oldest poetry of South Asia, well the Aryan South Asia, is said to be by Savant Mukh whose poems are quoted in the Arth Ved. But they too are about separation, about frustration.
Savant was born in a village between two rivers and fell in love with a girl, named Naraini, who lived on a hill nearby. But her tribe was opposed to the union. As they were running away at night in heavy rain, she was carried away by a river in spate. Savant never looked at another woman, and sorrow made him a poet.
His best poem is Urvashi. The story comes in other versions too, notably Kalidas' poem. However that of the Arth Ved is considered the most authentic.
Urvashi was born of an unknown woman, who, in a raging storm, sought refuge in a temple dedicated to Agni, the god of fire, immediately gave birth to a girl and died. Brought up by a pujari and his wife, the girl was dedicated by them to Agni as his wife, which meant her remaining a virgin till death. (Unlike Rome's Vestal virgins, who were released after thirty years.) Her duty was to dance before the god at every full moon.