#pramadvara

She is one of the foremost apsaras, the title possibly having been handed down from the prima group of nymphs born during the churning of the milk ocean.

In Mahabharata we see among her consorts, the rishi Vishvamitra and the gandharva Vishvavasu.

P r a m a d v a r a was the daughter of Menaka, the heavenly apsara, and Vishwavasu. Raised in the forest, she had a natural zest for all living creatures that drew the sage Ruru to her. On the day of their wedding, Pramadvara happened upon a snake that bit her, killing her instantly. Upon learning the news, Ruru was devastated and vowed to give his beloved wife half of his own lifespan, if she might come back to life. The gods answered his sacrifice, and Pramadvara reawakened, and the two were married.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of her is that she is so loved.

When Menaka left baby Pramadvara in the forest, the rishi Sthulakesha found and adopted her. When she grew up, Sukanya's grandson and Ghritachi's son Ruru fell in love with her.

In contrast to how these situations usually go in Mahabharata, Ruru and Pramadvara get peacefully married with the blessings of both their families.

When Pramadvara is nearly killed by a freak accident involving a snake-bite (or a man from a naga tribe?), Ruru is able to nurse her back to health, by magic or otherwise. After this experience, Ruru vows to kill any snake (naga-tribe person?) and is only dissuaded after he is made aware of how a similar effort of Janmejaya's went.

Timeline-wise, even though Shakuntala's and Pramadvara's mothers are both known as Menaka, Pramadvara's story appears after Janmejaya's sarpa-satra has already happened, which probably indicates that the two Menaka's are probably not the same person.

Menaka the beautiful bears two daughters, years apart, and abandons both to the forest: they might both be discovered and reared by kindly sages, but yet tragedy finds them.

Consider Shakuntala, having misplaced both her lover’s ring and her husband’s affection, abandoned with her infant son; and remember Pramadvara, whose one errant step lands on a snake on the eve of her wedding so that her veins well up with poison. 

She is not alone in Death, however, and for the first time she can remember, not lonely: for is not her sister there, having gone ahead years earlier and patiently waiting? They have little faith in their mother, or their fathers, or even their true loves: all they can rely on is each other and the mercy of the gods. They are forest-born, after all; such was the very first lesson they learned. 

All too soon Pramadvara feels Ruru’s grief, the power of his prayers tugging her back to the mortal world. Her heart twists with his pain, but how can she be disloyal to a sister so recently found?