The Cinnaras are the male dancers in Swerga, or the Heaven of Indra, and the Apsaras are his dancing girls, answering to the fairies of the Persians, and to the damsels called in the Koran hhúru lûyùn, or, with antelope’s eyes.—Sir W. Jones.
I have seen Indra tremble at his prayer,
And at his dreadful penances turn pale.—VI. p. 52.
Of such penances Mr. Halhed has produced a curious specimen:
“In the wood, Midhoo, which is on the confines of the kingdoms of Brege, Tarakee selected a pleasant and beautiful spot, adorned with verdure and blossoms, and there exerted himself in penance and mortification, externally, with the sincerest piety, but, in reality, the most malignant intention, and with the determined purpose of oppressing the Devetas; penances such as credulity itself was astonished to hear; and they are here recounted:—
1. For a hundred years, he held up his arms and one foot towards heaven, and fixed his eyes upon the sun the whole time.
2. For a hundred years, he remained standing on tip-toe.
3. For a hundred years more, he nourished himself with nothing but water.
4. For a hundred years more, he lived upon nothing but air.
5. For a hundred years more, he stood and made his adorations in the river.
6. For a hundred years more, he made those adorations buried up to his neck in the earth.