Pañcāpsaras Lake

Pañcāpsaras (the Lake of Five Apsarasas) is a holy tīrtha in the Daṇḍakāraṇya, near the āśrama of the tapasvin Māṇḍakarṇi. It got its name from the time when the devas sent five apsarasas to break the ten-thousand-year tapas (austerity) of Māṇḍakarṇi. The apsarasas were instead won over by the ṛshi and became his five wives.

Origin of the name

The lake near Māṇḍakarṇi’s āśrama was a natural body of water in the Daṇḍakāraṇya. It was named Pañcāpsaras after the time when the devas sent five apsarasas to draw Māṇḍakarṇi away from his tapas of ten thousand years, in which he lived on wind and water alone. The apsarasas came to break his concentration. Instead they were themselves won over by the ṛshi’s spiritual radiance, and they stayed with him as his wives. The lake was named after this event. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 11.

A holy place

The Pañcāpsaras lake became a holy tīrtha in the Daṇḍakāraṇya. It is marked by the great spiritual power of Māṇḍakarṇi’s tapas and by the unusual event that gave it its name. Rāma visited this place during his journey through the forest.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 11