Menakā
Menakā
Menakā is one of the apsarās, the divine women of svarga. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa tells that she was the mother of Śakuntalā, whom she bore to the kshatriya Viśvāmitra and left in the forest, where Kaṇva Maharshi‘s āśrama sheltered the child. Śakuntalā became the wife of King Dushyanta of the Pūru line and the mother of Bharata. The Bhāgavata also names Menakā among the seven beings who, each month in turn, serve Bhagavān Sūrya: she is the apsarā of the month of Jyeshṭha.
Mother of Śakuntalā
Śuka tells Parīkshit that King Dushyanta, out hunting with a few soldiers, came to the āśrama of Kaṇva Maharshi and saw there a young woman who seemed the very ornament of the āśrama. He asked who she was, saying that she must be a kshatriya maiden, for the mind of one of the Pūru line never delights in adharma. Śakuntalā answered: “O hero, it is true. I am the daughter of the kshatriya named Viśvāmitra. Menakā left me in the forest. Kaṇva Maharshi knows this.” Dushyanta married her by the gāndharva vivāha, and she bore him a son, Bharata.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 20
With Sūrya in the month of Jyeshṭha
Sūta tells Śaunaka that Bhagavān Sūrya, in the form of time, moves through the twelve months with a gaṇa of seven in each month: an Āditya, a maharshi, an apsarā, a rākshasa, a nāga, a yaksha and a gandharva. In Jyeshṭha the Sūrya is Mitra, with Atri Maharshi, the rākshasa Paurusheya, the apsarā Menakā and the gandharva Hāhā; these seven conduct the month of Jyeshṭha. While the gandharvas sing Sūrya’s glory, the apsarās dance before him. These are the vibhūtis (glories) of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of Sūrya, and the pāpas of those who remember them every day at the sandhyās go away.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 11
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 20; Skandha 12, Chapter 11