page_title: Apsara
section_title: Exploits of individual Apsaras
hierarchical_section_title: Apsara / Literature and dance / Mahabharata / Exploits of individual Apsaras
caption_attribution_description: Identifier: indianmythlegend00inmack Title: Indian myth and legend Year: 1913 (1910s) Authors: Mackenzie, Donald Alexander, 1873-1936 Subjects: Hindu mythology Publisher: London, Gresham Contributing Library: Indiana University Digitizing Sponsor: Indiana University View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: onic legend,being associated with Kuvera, god of wealth, whose abodeis situated among the Himalayan mountains. In Kuverasdomain are found multitudes of spirits who do not visitthe world of men as a rule, but remain near the treasurefor purposes of defence; some are of dwarfish stature,some of fierce visage, some hunchbacked, some of blood-red eyes, some of frightful yells; some are feeding uponfat and flesh, and some are terrible to behold; and all arearmed with various weapons, and endued with the speedof the wind .^ The Gandharvas are grouped in tribes, and numberover six thousand individuals. They are all of the malesex. They haunt the air, the forests, and the mountains,and, like the Rakshasas, have power to work illusions inthe grey twilight before nightfall. References are madein the Epics to their combats with human beings. Towarriors who overcome them they impart instruction inreligious matters; those whom they conquer they carry ^Mahahharata^ Roys trans. {Sakha Parva, p. 32), Text Appearing After Image: C/2 &lt; I ^ ^ &lt; M-3 U wh A, ^ DEMONS AND GIANTS AND FAIRIES 69 away, like the Teutonic elves and dwarfs. The Gand-harvas are renowned musicians and bards and singers.When they play on their divine instruments the fairy-like Apsaras, who are all females, dance merrily. In thevarious Aryan heavens these elves and fairies delight andallure with music and song and dance the gods, and thesouls of those who have attained to a state of bliss. TheApsara dancing girls are voluptuous and beautiful, andinspire love in Paradise as well as upon earth. Theirlovers include gods, Gandharvas, and mortals. Arjuna,the human son of Indra, who was transported in a Celes-tial chariot to Swarga over Suravithi, the Milky Way,was enchanted by the music and songs and dances of theCelestial elves and fairies. He followed bands of Gand-harvas who were skilled in music sacred and profane,and he saw the bewitching Apsaras, including the notori-ous Menaka, with eyes like lotus blooms, employed inenticing hearts Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: An apsara, also spelled as apsaras, is a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist culture. They figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, literature and painting of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.
  There are two types of apsaras: laukika, of whom thirty-four are specified, and daivika, of which there are ten. Urvasi, Menaka, Rambha, Tilottama and Ghritachi are the most famous among them.
  Apsaras are widely known as Apsara in Khmer, and also called as Accharā in Pāli, or Bidadari, Biraddali, Hapsari/Apsari or Widadari/Widyadari, Helloi and Apsorn. English translations of the word "Apsara" include "nymph", "fairy", "celestial nymph", and "celestial maiden".
  In Indian mythology, apsaras are beautiful, supernatural female beings. They are youthful and elegant, and superb in the art of dancing. They are often wives of the Gandharvas, the court musicians of Indra. They dance to the music made by the Gandharvas, usually in the palaces of the gods, entertain and sometimes seduce gods and men. As ethereal beings who inhabit the skies, and are often depicted taking flight, or at service of a god, they may be compared to angels.
context_section_description: The Mahabharata documents the exploits of individual apsaras, such as Tilottama, who rescued the world from the rampaging asura brothers Sunda and Upasunda, and Urvashi, who attempted to seduce the hero Arjuna.
caption: Apsaras on Hindu Temple at Banares, 1913
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