Arjuna frees the remaining apsaras from their curse

The tirthas (sacred fords) held more than just water. They held a curse. The apsaras — celestial dancers of heaven, beings of perfect grace and beauty — had been condemned to live there, their forms twisted, their splendor hidden. The source of their curse is not told, only its consequence: they were bound to the waters, waiting. Arjuna arrived. He was traveling, performing the rituals of pilgrimage, moving from one holy site to the next. He came to these waters. He saw, or perhaps sensed, the presence of the trapped ones. He was Arjuna, the best of the Pandavas, a man whose deeds already resonated with the power to alter fates. He did not need to perform a complex rite or fight a battle. His presence, his inherent quality, was enough. Happily, with a mind inclined to righteousness and the relief of suffering, he freed them. The curse broke. They ascended from the waters. As they rose, the curse fell away like a discarded garment. They regained their own forms, the shapes they were meant to have, and looked exactly as they had before their fall — radiant, divine, unburdened. Arjuna purified the tirthas, completing the sanctification of the place. He gave the apsaras permission to leave, releasing them back to their own realms. His work there done, the lord continued his journey. His destination was the city of Manalura. He was going to see Chitrangada again, the princess of Manipur, and the son she had borne him — a boy named Babhruvahana, who would one day be king. Having seen them, the Pandava left for Gokarna, another sacred site on his long pilgrimage.