Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 1, Shloka 42
Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds
तत्राप्सरा वपुर्नाम मुनिक्षोभणगर्विता ।
प्रत्युवाचाद्य यास्यामि यत्रासौ संस्थितो मुनिः ॥
tatrāpsarā vapurnāma munikṣobhaṇagarvitā /
pratyuvācādya yāsyāmi yatrāsau saṃsthito muniḥ
在那里，一位名为瓦普的阿普萨拉斯，因自负能扰乱圣仙之力而答道：“今日我将前往那位圣仙所居之处。”
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds garva (pride) as a moral fault: the Apsaras defines herself by her capacity to unsettle tapas (ascetic discipline). In Purāṇic ethics, such pride becomes the seed of downfall, while the sage’s steadiness (if maintained) exemplifies mastery over the senses and the preservation of dharma through self-control.
This verse belongs primarily to Vaṃśānucarita/Carita (narrative episode illustrating conduct and consequences) rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa as a chronological datum. It functions as an exemplary story embedded in the Purāṇic frame, used to teach dharmic restraint and the dangers of hubris.
Esoterically, the Apsaras can be read as the outward form of vāsanā (latent desire) and distraction that confronts the practitioner; her ‘pride in disturbing sages’ symbolizes the egoic impulse that challenges inner stillness. The ‘going to where the muni is situated’ points to the inevitability of temptation arising precisely where spiritual effort (tapas) is concentrated.