Urvaśī and other Apsarās in Rigveda

on

Urvaśī and other Apsarās in Rigveda

Apsarases are celestial nymphs who, even in the Ṛgveda, appear largely detached from a concrete physical basis. They are most closely linked with the Gandharvas, and the only Apsaras named in the Ṛgveda is Urvaśī, famed for her dialogue with the mortal Purūravas.

In the Ṛgveda

The Apsarases are mentioned only a handful of times. Key notices include:

  • The Apsaras smiles at her beloved—the Gandharva—in the highest heaven [1].
  • Vasiṣṭha is said to be born of an Apsaras [2], and the Vasiṣṭhas are portrayed as sitting near the Apsarases [3].
  • The “Apsarases of the sea” flow to Soma, i.e., the water mixed into the pressed juice [4].
  • The long-haired ascetic (keśin), endowed with semi-divine powers, moves along the path of Apsarases and Gandharvas [5].
  • The “aqueous maiden” (apyā yoṣā) is identified as the wife of the Gandharva in the waters [6].

In the Atharvaveda and Vedic Prose

In the Atharvaveda (AV) their dwelling is in the waters; they come and go in an instant and are even asked to depart from human vicinity to the riverbank. Goddesses accompanying the Gandharva Viśvāvasu are associated with clouds, lightning, and stars; Apsarases are expressly called the wives of Gandharvas, a connection that becomes a fixed formula in later Saṃhitās. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (ŚB) describes Apsarases transforming into aquatic birds (ātayaḥ). Post-Vedic texts often place them by forest lakes and rivers—especially the Gaṅgā—and in Varuṇa’s ocean-palace. The most probable etymology of apsaras is “moving in the waters.”

Over time their sphere extends to the earth and especially to trees: banyan (nyagrodha) and sacred fig (aśvattha) are said to resound with their cymbals and lutes; other fig trees (udumbara, plakṣa) are called houses of Gandharvas and Apsarases. Wedding processions appeal to these tree-dwelling beings for favor. In ŚB they are engaged in dance, song, and play; later texts even make mountains (mythical and real) favorite resorts. AV adds that they love dice and grant luck at play, yet they are also feared as causes of mental derangement—hence counter-magic against them.

Names of Apsarases

While Urvaśī is the only Apsaras named in the Ṛgveda, later Vedic texts list several names. AV mentions Ugrajit, Ugraṃpaśyā, and Rāṣṭrabhṛt; the Yajus tradition names Urvaśī and Menakā among others; ŚB adds Śakuntalā—ancestress of the Bharatas—and again Urvaśī.

Urvaśī in the Ṛgveda

Urvaśī’s status as an Apsaras is inferred where Vasiṣṭha is said in one verse to be born of Urvaśī and in the next of an Apsaras [14]. She is also invoked together with the streams [7]. Beyond these, her name chiefly occurs in the late and obscure hymn RV 10.95—an exchange between Urvaśī and her mortal lover Purūravas [8]. In this hymn she is described as apyā (“aqueous”), “filling the atmosphere,” and “traversing space”—the last expression also being applied to the celestial Gandharva elsewhere [12]. She says she spent “four autumns” among mortals [9], is urged to return [10], and promises that Purūravas’s offspring will worship the gods, while he himself will enjoy bliss in heaven [11].

Purūravas and Urvaśī (RV 10.95 and ŚB)

The ŚB narrates their story in fuller prose. Urvaśī unites with Purūravas (son of Iḷā) on condition she never see him naked. The Gandharvas create a nocturnal commotion; Purūravas leaps up unclad and, lit by a flash of lightning, is seen by Urvaśī—who vanishes. He wanders until he finds her swimming with other Apsarases in a lotus lake, all as aquatic birds. She reveals herself and grants him a single night a year later; when he returns, the Gandharvas admit him to their kind by a special fire-rite. Except for RV 10.95, Purūravas’s name occurs in RV 1.31.4; some have interpreted Purūravas and Urvaśī as Sun and Dawn. [13]

Notes on Interpretation

Scholarly views vary: some interpret the pair as a solar-dawn myth; others (e.g., Siecke) have proposed Urvaśī as the moon. These are interpretive overlays and not explicit in RV 10.95 as such.

References (Ṛgveda)

  1. RV 10.123.5 — The Apsaras smiles at her beloved (the Gandharva). ↩︎
  2. RV 7.33.12 — Vasiṣṭha born of an Apsaras. ↩︎
  3. RV 7.33.9 — The Vasiṣṭhas sit near the Apsarases. ↩︎
  4. RV 9.78.3 — The “Apsarases of the sea” flow to Soma. ↩︎
  5. RV 10.136.6 — The keśin moves on the path of Apsarases and Gandharvas. ↩︎
  6. RV 10.10.4 — The aqueous maiden (apyā yoṣā), wife of the Gandharva in the waters. ↩︎
  7. RV 5.41.19 — Urvaśī invoked with the streams. ↩︎
  8. RV 10.95.1–17 — Dialogue of Purūravas and Urvaśī. ↩︎
  9. RV 10.95.16 — Urvaśī: “four autumns” among mortals. ↩︎
  10. RV 10.95.17 — The plea for her return. ↩︎
  11. RV 10.95.18 — Promise of ritual-minded offspring and Purūravas’s heavenly bliss. ↩︎
  12. RV 10.139.5 — “Traversing space” (also of the celestial Gandharva). ↩︎
  13. RV 1.31.4 — Purūravas (outside of RV 10.95). ↩︎
  14. RV 7.33.11–12 — Vasiṣṭha born of Urvaśī, and of an Apsaras. ↩︎

Comments

Post a Comment