A young rishika credited with a hymn of the Rigveda in which she calls on Indra to cure a skin ailment and bless her father's barren field.
ऋग्वैदिक काल · Rigvedic era
The Rigveda's eighth mandala preserves a hymn attributed to Apala, in which she describes pressing soma with her own teeth for lack of proper implements, and appeals to Indra directly for healing and for her father's field to bear grain again.
Her hymn is counted among a small set of Rigvedic verses attributed to named women seers, and the story built around it, of Indra restoring her skin by drawing her through the hole of his chariot, cart, and yoke, remains one of the Rigveda's more distinctive healing narratives.