Did you know that Puloma, a lovely woman of Rakshasa lineage, married sage Bhrigu and gave birth to a boy named Chavana under strange circumstances, and an ayurvedic preparation formulated by the demigods Ashvini Kumaras to cure Chavana's eye sight is called Chayanaprasha?
Puloma was the daughter of a rakshasa and when she was a child her father is said to have promised her hand in marriage to the demon King Paualama (said to have been a jest her father had said his young child: “Sleep ! else Paualama demon will come and I will give you to him”). But as she grew up and became a beautiful damsel, her father met sage Brigu, Manasa Putra ("mind-born-son") of Brahma, and was deeply impressed by the sage’s glowing spiritual demeanour. Bhrigu had his Ashram (Hermitage) on the Vadhusar River, a tributary of the Drishadwati River near Dhosi Hill in the Vedic state of Brahmavarta. Puloma's father decided to marry his daughter to rishi Bhrigu. She was a very virtuous and devoted wife to the sage Bhrigu and bore him several children. She was, however, blissfully ignorant of her father's earlier promise to marry her when she was only a child, to a rakasha of her own clan.
Initially, Puloma was not very happy with her children as they were all of highly satvic charachter (peaceful and virtuous), taken more after their father, and she aspired for a boy who was courageous, bold like her own rakshsa lineage, and also highly learned and accomplished. Realising this, Bhrigu obliged and Puloma concieved again. At that time, the demon King who had developed a deep love for the girl Puloma, had followed her in coming years. The demon king Paulama, stayed close to Bhrigu's ashrama and day after day he was waiting for an opportunity to meet Puloma to ask her to go with him as her father had earlier promised her in marriage with him. One day when the sage Bhrigu was away, Paualama entered the hermitage and asked for food from Puloma. Puloma unsuspecting of demon king's intentions offered the forest fruits to Paualama. Puloma was then in an andvanced stage of pregnancy. The demon king became enamoured of Puloma, decided to abduct her and take her away with him. Agni, as the flames of the sacrificial fire burning in a chamber in the hermitage, was a witness to this meeting, had confirmed to the demon king on a specific query by the demon, that Puloma was sage Bhrigu's wife who had married her as per Hindu scriptural rites in his presence. Hearing this, from Agni, Paualama., who was besotted with Puloma's beauty, switched his form in to a boar and abducted her. Frightened by this development, Puloma immediately gave birth to her son who fell on the ground. In other versions of the legend, the child removes himself from the womb. This son was later named Chyavana meaning the "fallen from the womb". As soon as the demon saw the child he was cindered into ashes. It is also said that looking to her mother in distress the child (later named as Chyavan) had cursed the demon king and the devil instantly had burned into ashes.
Puloma, overcome by her plight, had appealed to Brahma for protecting her. Brahma consoled her, and the tears shed by Puloma formed into a river and came to be known as Vadhusara. This river exists even now flowing near the Chavan rishi's ashram.
By then sage Bhrigu returned to his ashram (hermitage). Puloma narrated the entire incident to her husband. She also told him that Agni had revealed her identity to the demon king. Bhrigu, while happy to see his son, was enraged to know from Puloma that it was Agni who had revealed her true identity as Bhrigu's wife. The rishi then in a fit of rage cursed Agni saying "Everything you touch will be consumed", meaning to become "omnivorous". Agni in retort told Bhrigu that he could also curse him but he refrained from doing so as he was a rishi and a Brahmin. With these words Agni went incognito (hiding in a cave). Without Agni, there was a chaos in the world. Brahma and other devas intervened and Bhrigu agreed to restore Agni's powers. Then, Agni reappeared in the universe to perform his natural duties.
Later, as Chyavana grew up, he became well versed in Vedic scriptures hailed as a sage with immense ascetic achievement. Once while he was on a long penance in a forest he was covered by thich green vegetation and only his shining sparkling eyes were visible. At that time, the daugher of a king who roaming in the forest with her friends saw the shining eyes of Chavana, and without realising it was that of a risihi in penance, she threw a sharp twig at the shining objet when the Chyavana came out shreiking with pain as the twig had hurt his eye, Chavana in a rage had cursed the king's daugher and her entire family to suffer from gastric problems. The king then came himslef to the rishi seeking pardon for his daughter's thoughtless action. The rishi then prayed to the demi gods, Ashwini Kumaras (twin gods associated with medicine, health, dawn and sciences), to provide a medicinal cure to the king and his family and also restore the rishi's eyesight. The Ashwini Kumars prepared a herbal medicine which not only restored the rishi's youthfullness and cured his eye problem but also cured the king and his people of gastric problems. Then, the king gave his duaghter in marriage to Chavana. The medicne prepared by Ashvini Kumaras came to be popularly known as 'Chayavanprasha'.
- Narasipur Char
