apsaran.
/ˈʌpsərɑː/, U.S. /ˈɑpsərɑ/ Indian Mythology.
A celestial nymph, one of the wives of the Gandharvas (heavenly minstrels).
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the world > the supernatural > deity > other deities > [noun] > Indian or Hindu > lesser deities
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1846 J. T. Thompson Dict. Hindee & Eng. 17/2 Upsura.., a female dancer or courtezan in Swurg, the hindoo paradise.]
1865 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Were-wolves x. 176 In ancient Indian Vedaic mythology the upsaras were heavenly damsels who dwelt in the æther, between Earth and Sun.
1879 J. Dowson Classical Dict. Hindu Mythol. 20 The Apsarases..are fairylike beings... They are the rewards in Indra's paradise held out to heroes who fall in battle.
1892 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 105 Above the dark Upsaras flew, beneath us plashed the blood.
1932 F. M. Atkinson tr. H. de Wilman-Grabowska in J. Hackin et al. Asiatic Mythol. 113 The Apsarases are the recognized courtesans of the sky.
1968 B. Walker Hindu World II. 143 In Hindu mythology the celestial nymph or apsarā (ap-sara, wet-flow) is a personificiation of the mists or clouds in the form of a beauteous damsel.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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