Note 78 — Chapter II
Reading edition
“Apsaras—The Apsaras are the celebrated nymphs of Indra’s heaven.... It is said that when they came forth from the waters (at the churning of the ocean) neither the gods nor the Asuras would have them for wives, so they become common to all.... The Apsaras, then, are fairy-like beings, beautiful and voluptuous. Their amours on earth have been numerous, and they are the rewards in Indra’s paradise held out to heroes who fall in battle.”—Prof. Dawson’s “Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology,” etc.