Sunder started telling her about the celestial nymphs while his hand was squeezing her breasts through her blouse. “The Apsaras are celestial nymphs, the dancers in the court of Lord Indra, the king of the Devas. All of them are extremely beautiful and skilled in both dance and music. Out of many are Rambha, Menaka, Urvasi, Tilottama, Ghritachi, Mishrakesi, Vapu, Viprachitti, Purvachitti, Sahajanya, Karnika, Punjilasthala, Viswachi, Rithisthala, Umlocha, Pramlocha, Swayamprabha, Janapadi and Adrika. They are closely associated with the Gandharvas who are the celestial musicians. Some of the Apsaras are paired with a Gandhava suvh as Tunburu with Rambha and Menaka with Vishvavasu but the relationship with them is temporary and is not a marriage tie. In addition to entertaining, they’re sent to disrupt the penance of sages for Indra lives in perpetual fear that his position would be usurped by some sage by his ascetic merit. Sometimes, the nymph would succeed in seducing the sage and achieve hr. mission, at other times, she would merely incur the wrath of the sage, who would curse hr. in the former case, the children, (almost always female), born of such a union would be abandoned, and would be brought up by foster parents. Sathyavathi and Shakunthala are such children, born respectively to Adrika and Menaka.

If the Apsaras were to fail in her mission, the sage would curse her, typically to be turned into stone or some lower animal, with the proviso that after the lapse of a certain amount of time, or upon the occurrence of a particular event, they would regain the original form and would return to heaven. One of the main tasks of these nymphs is to sport with those men who had attained heaven by virtue of their ascetic merit or by the merit of their good deeds. They are eternal virgins, and the constant "sporting" has no effect on their youth or beauty. This can be best illustrated by quoting Urvashi's speech to Arjuna in "O son of the chief of the celestials, we Apsaras are free and unconfined in our choice. It behoveth thee not, therefore, to esteem me as thy superior. The sons and grandsons of Puru's race, that have come hither in consequence of ascetic merit do all sport with us, without incurring any sin. We have no husband, no sons, indeed, no relations."




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