Pulomā

Bhṛgu's beloved wife was called Pulomā, and she was carrying his child. One day, when Bhṛgu had gone out to bathe, a rākṣasa, also called Puloman, came to his hermitage. When he saw Bhṛgu's wife, desire overcame him and he lost his wits. Pulomā welcomed him as a guest and offered him the roots and fruits of the forest, and he was glad, for he meant to carry her off.

He saw the sacred fire burning in the fire house, and asked it: Tell me, Agni, whose wife is this? You are truth; tell me the truth. I chose this lovely woman for my wife first, and afterwards her father gave her to Bhṛgu, who has played me false. If she is Bhṛgu's wife, tell me truly, for I want to carry her off from this hermitage. Anger burns in my heart that Bhṛgu has my first wife. You move within all creatures, Agni, a witness to good and evil. Speak the truth.

The seven-flamed fire was greatly distressed. He was afraid of lying, and afraid of Bhṛgu's curse, and he said softly, She is Bhṛgu's wife.

When he heard that, the rākṣasa took the form of a boar and carried her off, swift as thought and wind. But the child in her womb fell from her in anger, and so he was called Cyavana, the one who fell. When the rākṣasa saw the child, shining like the sun, fallen from his mother's womb, he let her go, fell down, and was burned to ashes.

Pulomā took up her son and went away, faint with grief, weeping. Brahmā, the grandfather of all the worlds, saw her weeping, and comforted her. From the drops of her tears a great river began to flow, following her path, and Brahmā named it Vadhūsarā, the river of the bride, and it flows towards Cyavana's hermitage. So Cyavana was born, Bhṛgu's mighty son.