[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Religion and philosophy](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion) › [The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925) › v1.c19.s2.38 # The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s2.38 The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s2.38 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c19.s2.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.38) Of the Apsaras in the Rigveda is mentioned her connexion with the Gandharva upon whom she smiles in the highest heaven. Vasiṣṭha also claims birth from an Apsaras, and the Vasiṣṭhas are said to have sat close to the Apsarases.¹¹ The long-haired Muni, or ascetic with magic powers, moves on the path of the Gandharvas and the Apsarases.¹ The water nymph who is the spouse of the Gandharva is clearly the Apsaras. The connexion with water is brought out still more clearly in its most primitive form when the Apsarases of the sea are described as flowing to the Soma, a mythic description of the mixing of water with the Soma. The description of the Apsarases, therefore, agrees entirely and completely with the meaning of their name : ² they are ‘ the goers in the water ’, water nymphs, and already in the Rigveda they are not confined to the waters of the earth, though they were perhaps there first located. - [Previous: v1.c19.s2.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.37) - [Next: v1.c19.s2.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.39) - [Up: v1.c19.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.38) · Pramāṇa