CHAPTER XI.

SUPERHUMAN, THOUGH NOT DIVINE BEINGS.

APSARAS AND GANDHARVAS.

THE Apsaras are nymphs, and the Gandharvas choristers in Indra's heaven. The Apsaras are not as a class prominently noticed in the Vedas, but Urvasi and a few others are mentioned by name. In the Institutes of Manu they are said to be the creations of the Seven Manus, the progenitors of mankind. In the Epic poems more is said about them--the Ramayana attributing their origin to the churning of the ocean, and with this the Puranic account of their origin agrees. It is said that when they rose from the waters neither gods nor asuras would wed them, so they became the common property of both classes. They are sometimes called "the wives of the gods," and "daughters of pleasure."

"Then from the agitated deep up sprung
The legion of Apsarasas, so named
That to the watery element they owed
Their being. Myriads were they born, and all
In vestures heavenly clad, and heavenly gems;
Yet more divine their native semblance, rich
With all the gifts of grace, of youth and beauty.
A train innumerous followed; yet thus fair,
Nor god nor demon sought their wedded love;
Thus Raghava! they still remain--their charms
The common treasure of the host of heaven."

"In the Puranas various ganas or classes of them are mentioned; the Vayu Purana enumerates fourteen, the Hari Vansa seven. They are again divided, as being daivika, 'divine,' or laukika, 'worldly.' The former are said to be ten in number, and the latter thirty-four, and these are the heavenly charmers who fascinated heroes as Urvasi, allured austere sages from their devotions and penances as Meneka and Rembha. The Kasi Khand says there are forty-five millions of them, but only one thousand and sixty are the principal. The Apsaras, then, are fairylike beings, beautiful and voluptuous. They are the wives or mistresses of the Gandharvas, and are not prudish in the dispensation of their favours. Their amours upon earth have been numerous, and they are the rewards in Indra's heaven held out to heroes who fall in battle. They have the power of changing their forms, and give good luck to whom they favour." [**]