In the Rig-Veda there is one Apsaras, wife of Gandharva; in the later scriptures there are many Apsaras who act as the handmaidens of Indra and dance before his throne.
He is celebrated as a dual divinity with Indra, Agni, Pushan or Rudra, in other books.
As might happen to any earth-lord, Indra is actually defeated in battle by the son of the demon-king of Lanka (Ceylon), and kept there a prisoner till ransomed by Brahma and the gods conferring immortality on his conqueror.
In the heroic age the Gandharvas have become the heavenly minstrels plying their art at Indra's court, with the Apsaras as their wives or mistresses.
Varuna or Indra was for the time being the only god within the worshipper's view; and to this mode of thought he gave the name Henotheism.'