পৃষ্ঠা:Some Assamese proverbs.djvu/৮৬

76 SOME ASSAMESE PEOVERBS. 225. Urbashi. ^C"^^ ^^^ ^5tC?I ^'J I Ekei Urbashi duwdre path. She is an Urbashi and at the same time there is a path (straight) up to her door. Urbashi, or Urvasi, was one of the Apsaras, the nymphs of Indra's heaven. The name " which signifies moving in the water, has some analogy to that of Aphrodite." — (Dowson.) The Bamayana and the Purdnas attribute the origin of these nymphs to the churning of the ocean. There is a love story told in the Mahabharata, which need not be reproduced here, concerning Urbashi and Puru-ravas, a mythical person, mentioned in the Vedas, connected with the sun and the dawn, and existing in the middle region of the universe. This story Maxmiiller considers " one of the myths of the Vedas which expresses the correlation of the dawn and the sun. The love between the mortal and the immortal, and the identity of the morning dawn and the evening twilight, is the story of Urvasi and Puru-ravas." The word " Urvasi," Maxmiiller says, "was originally an appellation and meant dawn." Dowson writes — *' Dr. Goldstiicker's explanation differs, but seems more apposite. According to this Puru-ravas is the sun and Urvasi is the morning mist ; when Puru-ravas is visible, Urvasi vanishes, as the mist is absorbed when the sun shines forth." 226. Village conversation, Pi^ ^ii^l ^^1 I Dhekiyd latd patd, Bh^t khaote pani khai, Sio eta katha.