Vedic Mythology c5.s8.t2.2

c5.s8.t2.2

More is said about the Apsarases in the AV. Their abode is in the waters, whence they come and go in a trice (AV. 2, 2³); and they are besought to depart from the vicinity of men to the river and the bank of the waters (AV. 4, 37³). The goddesses accompanying the Gandharva Viśvāvasu are described as connected with clouds, lightning, and stars (AV. 2, 2⁴). They are expressly called wives of the Gandharvas (AV. 2, 2⁵), and their connexion with the latter has assumed the character of a formula in the later Saṃhitās (VS. 30, 8; AV. 8, 9⁹, &c.)¹. In the ŚB. (11, 5, 1⁴) the Apsarases are described as transforming themselves into a kind of aquatic bird (*ātayaḥ*: cp. RV. 9, 5⁹). In the post-Vedic literature they are very often spoken of as frequenting forest lakes and rivers, espescially the Ganges, and they are found in Varuṇa's palace in the ocean². The etymological meaning of the word is most probably ‘moving in the waters’³.