We examine the time evolution of states created by the nonadiabatic interaction of a polar molecule with combined electrostatic and pulsed nonresonant laser fields and show that the orientation due to the electrostatic field alone can be greatly enhanced by restricting the angular amplitude of the molecule by the pulsed laser field. An analytic model indicates that in the short-pulse limit the interaction is governed by an impulsive transfer of action from the radiative field to the molecule.