Note 165 — Chapter I · NATURE POWERS.
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It is believed that there is a class of wicked water nymphs called Asará who generally dwell in wells, ponds, or rivers, far from the habitation of men. Whenever these nymphs come across a lonely man or woman entering a well, pond, etc., they carry that person under water. The village of Mithbáv in the Ratnágiri District is a well-known resort of these Asarás, and many instances are given by the villagers of persons being drowned and carried off in the river by these wicked nymphs. A tank in the village of Hindalem in the same district has a similar reputation.165 The people of the Konkan believe that water nymphs are sometimes seen in the form of women near wells, rivers, and ponds.166 Some say that the water nymphs and water spirits confer objects desired by worshippers if they are propitiated by prayers.167