A nymph. She was the servantmaid of बृहस्पति . One day she was collecting flowers for her Guru in a garden when a set of young men and women came to the garden for amorous sports. They were roaming about in the garden in pairs doing all sorts of erotic acts and पुञ्जिकस्थला stood watching them for some time with passion aroused in her. She returned to the आश्रम thinking all the way about her miserable lot of having no husband to enjoy a similar life. She was full of lust when she returned to the आश्रम and on seeing बृहस्पति she caught hold of him by the hand and pleaded to satisfy her passion. बृहस्पति was angry at this improper request and cursed her "You have become rotten. You have become lustful by seeing the amorous sports of others. May you be born as a monkey. Get out of this आश्रम ." पुञ्जिकस्थला came to her senses and regretting her hasty act begged her Guru to grant her release from the curse. बृहस्पति felt pity on her and said "Go and enjoy to your full sexual life with a lover whom you like best. Then you will get a son from the vitality of शिव . When that son is born you will be released from the curse and you will go to heaven."

She became immediately a monkey girl named अञ्जना and started living in a forest of that name itself. She fell in love with a monkey boy named केसरी there and lived for many years enjoying an amorous life. She did not get a child even after several years and then she prayed to शिव for a child.

It was at that time that पार्वती and परमेश्वर played amorous sports in the form of monkeys and पार्वती became pregnant. पार्वती expressed reluctance to be the mother of a monkey child and then शिव by his divine powers deposited his semen virile through वायुभगवान् (god of wind) into the womb of अञ्जना who was then praying to him for a child. Coming to know of this through नारद and fearing that his lordship over the monkeys would be lost if such a monkey were born to अञ्जना बालि poured into the belly of अञ्जना molten liquid of पञ्चलोह (five metals). अञ्जना was not the least injured and she gave birth in due course to a monkey son who became the celebrated हनूमान् , the life-force of the राम-रावण tussle. (Pūrvakāṇḍa, Kamba Rāmāyaṇa • Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa)

This पुञ्जिकस्थला belongs to the famous set of eleven देवकन्यकास् . They are: मेनका , सहजन्या , कर्णिका , पुञ्जिकस्थला , ऋतुस्थला , घृताची , पूर्वचित्ति , उल्लोचा , प्रम्लोचा , उर्वशी and वीश्वाची . These were the celebrated courtezans of स्वर्ग . [mh-1-123-1 ] Mahābhārata • Ādi parva . पुञ्जिकस्थला was the dancer at the court of कुबेर . [mh-2-10-1 ] Mahābhārata • Sabhā parva . She took part in the जन्मोत्सव of अर्जुन . [mh-1-122-1 ] Mahābhārata • Ādi parva .