Also known as Oorva and Ooruja. He was a famous sage in the dynasty of Bhrigu.

Antecedents: Vishnu – Brahma – Bhrigu – Chyavana – Ourva.

Chyavana married Arushi, daughter of Manu and Ourva was born to them. Jamadagni and Parashurama were his descendants.

Bhrigu’s descendants were the spiritual gurus of the Hehaya dynasty. Kritavirya, a famous king in this dynasty, and father of Kartaviryarjuna spent his childhood in Bhrigu’s hermitage for his education. After completing it, he rewarded the sages there wh became rich. Though Kritavirya died later, his sons were not happy at the wealth having been given away. Many of the sages had buried their wealth and once, a king found buried wealth in one of the Bhargava sages’ homes. From then on, the Kshatriyas started raiding the Bhargava homes. The Bhargavas fled and among them was Arushi, who hid her pregnancy in her Ooru (thigh) and stayed in a remote place in the Himalayas. A hundred years later, she was spotted by another brahmin woman, who conveyed this to the kshatriyas. They reached there. Suddenly Arushi’s child came out of her thigh and he was called Ourva  (from ooru) as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 178.

Ourva emerged in a blazing fire and the kshatriya kings were blinded by it. They pleaded with him and regained their sight as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 179.

Ourva was angry at the kshatriyas for attacking his forefathers. He started meditating with the aim of destroying all three worlds. The world started burning and the pitrs tried to calm Ourva. Ourva told them that when he was hidden in his mother’s thigh, he had heard a cry, and that was from the wives of sages who were being hunted by the kshatriyas. From then, I have been angry at the kshatriyas. The pitrs tried to convince him once more telling him that the world would end because of him. He then calmed down and he deposited his anger in the ocean. It manifested itself as a horsehead and drunk up the ocean dry. It is believed that it still exists in the ocean, and from it emerges fire. It is called Bandhavagni as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 180.

Ayodhya was ruled by Subahu, an Ikshvaku king at that time. His wife, Saushilyadi, a Yadavi, was a pious woman. Once Talajankha, a Hehaya kingfrom Mahishtati conquered Ayodhya and that was the time that the queen was pregnant. She was poisoned by the other jealous queens, but she survived, though the child was affected. After being defeated by Talajankha, Subahu and his queen took refuge in Ourva’s hermitage. After 7 years, Subahu died and when the queen tried to follow her husband into the pyre, Ourva stopped her. He told her that in a few months she would deliver a child who was destined for greatness. The queen gave up her plans of killing herself and in a few months delivered a boy. Since the child had survived the poison (gara) and survived in the womb for 7 years, Ourva named him Sagara as per Brahmandapurna Chapters 16,17.

Vinata’s son Garuda had a sister named Sumati. Once the sage Upamanyu had a desire to marry her. But her relatives were not happy with the proposal. This angered the sage and he cursed that the brahmin who married her would die. Thus Sumati remained unmarried. Vinata had a sanyasini friend who lived in the forest and she sent Garuda to discuss this issue with her. She suggested that he visit Ourva in the Gandhamadana mountains to solve this. It was at this time that the citizens of Ayodhya arrived at Ourva’s hermitage to enquire about Subahu and his wife. They were sad to hear about Subahu’s death but were glad that his heir Sagara had been born. Garuda arrived there and told Ourva about Sumati’s marriage and Ourva suggested that she marry a kshatriya. Ourva got her married to Sagara, blessed that he would conduct an ashwamedha and send them all back to Ayodhya. There, he managed to defeat his enemies and became emperor as per Brahmandapurana Chapters 18-21.

Sagara ruled for 3000 years. He had two wives Sumati and Keshini, but he was childless. He entrusted the kingdom to his ministers and went to Ourva’s hermitage for a solution. He said that Keshini would have a son who would carry the dynasty forward and Sumati would have 60000 sons who would amount to nothing. Keshini became pregnant and gave birth to Asamanjas. Sumati gave birth to a large piece of meat. When the king was about to throw it away, Ourva arrived there, cut it into 6000o pieces and asked the king to store them in vessels of ghee, and said that each year, a prince would be born from these vessels. Thus 60000 sons were born as per Brahmandapurana Chapter 92.

Sagara spent his last years in Ourva’s hermitage and was advised by the sage on several matters as per Vishnupurana Ansh 3 Chapter 8.

As per Brahmandapurana Chapter 63, all the Bhargava sages lived in the same hermitage. Once Parashurama arrived there and greeted Bhrigu, his wife Khyati, his son Chyavana and Chyavana’s son Ourva.