M107 - Apsara and The Curse of Brahmin

 Apsaras are celestial nymphs, the dancers in the court of Indra, the king of the Devas. All of them are extremely beautiful and skilled in both dance and music.

They are many in number, and the most famous are Rambha, Menaka, Urvashi, Tilottama and Ghritachi. Other nymphs who are mentioned in the Puranas are: Mishrakesi, Vapu, Viprachitti, Purvachitti, Sahajanya, Karnika, Punjikasthala, Viswachi, Rithisthala, Umlocha, Pramlocha, Swayamprabha,Janapadi, and Adrika. Believed to have sprung forth from the ocean-of-milk when it was churned by the Devas and Asuras.

They are closely associated with the Gandharvas, who are the celestial musicians. Some of the Apsaras are paired with a Gandharva, such as Tumburu with Rambha, and Menaka with Vishvavasu. But the relationship is temporary and is not a marriage tie.

In addition to entertaining at Indra's court, they are often sent by him 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 her mission, at other times, she would merely incur the wrath of the sage, who would curse her. 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. Satyavati and Shakuntala are such children, born respectively to Adrika and Menaka. 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.  

If the Apsara 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 occurance of a particular event, they would regain the original form and would return to heaven.
Apsaras were known to frolic in the Yamuna during the night, others stayed away from the place during that time. Once a poor brahmin reached there for his evening rituals, while Adrika was cavorting with the gandharvas. The apasaras saw the old brahmin and resented his presence. Adrika traveled underwater and caught the Brahmin’s leg. He fell into the river, understood what had happened and cursed Adrika to become a fish. From then on, Adrika lived in the Yamuna in the form of a fish until she gets pregnant. One day, the fish Adrika was caught in the net of a fisherman. The fisherman cut the fish and found one male child and one female child. Meanwhile, Adrika in the form of fish was transformed to her original form of Apsara and went back to heaven.

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