Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1743

c8.1743

PAÑCĀPSARAS. A lake of distinction. During the exile of Śrī Rāma in the forests, Agastya showed Śrī Rāma this lake and described its origin thus : "In times of old a sage named Māṇḍakarṇi built this lake. This sage living on air alone stood in the waters of this lake and practised severe austerities for ten thousand years. Devas were frightened by the rigorous penance of Māṇḍakarṇi and they sent five devakanyakās (celestial damsels) to the earth to entice the sage and stop his penance. The sage was attracted by the divine beauty of the girls and he lived with them in a grand building constructed within the lake itself. Even after the passing away of the sage and the damsels people used to hear dance and music from inside the lake. Because five apsaras lived in that lake it became known as Pañcāpsaras. (Apsaras = celestial damsels who are servants of Indra). (Sarga 1, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa).