gandharva | m. a gandharva- [though in later times the gandharva-s are regarded as a class, yet in rarely more than one is mentioned;he is designated as the heavenly gandharva-(divy/a g- ),and is also called viśvā-vasu-( )and vāyu-keśa- (in plural );his habitation is the sky, or the region of the air and the heavenly waters( );his especial duty is to guard the heavenly soma-( ) , which the gods obtain through his intervention( ; see );it is obtained for the human race by indra-, who conquers the gandharva- and takes it by force( );the heavenly gandharva- is supposed to be a good physician, because the soma- is considered as the best medicine;possibly, however, the word soma- originally denoted not the beverage so called, but the moon, and the heavenly gandharva- may have been the genius or tutelary deity of the moon;in one passage( ) the heavenly gandharva- and the soma- are identified;he is also regarded as one of the genii who regulate the course of the Sun's horses ( ; see );he knows and makes known the secrets of heaven and divine truths generally ( );he is the parent of the first pair of human beings, yama- and yamī-( ) , and has a peculiar mystical power over women and a right to possess them( );for this reason he is invoked in marriage ceremonies( );ecstatic states of mind and possession by evil spirits are supposed to be derived from the heavenly gandharva-(see -gṛhīta-, -graha-);the gandharva-s as a class have the same characteristic features as the one gandharva-;they live in the sky( ) , guard the soma-( ),are governed by varuṇa- (just as the āpsarasa-s are governed by soma-) ,know the best medicines( ),regulate the course of the asterisms( ;hence twenty-seven are mentioned ),follow after women and are desirous of intercourse with them( );as soon as a girl becomes marriageable, she belongs to soma-, the gandharva-s, and agni-( );the wives of the gandharva-s are the āpsarasa-s(see gandharvāpsar/as-),and like them the gandharva-s are invoked in gambling with dice( );they are also feared as evil beings together with the rākṣasa-s, kimīdin-s, piśāca-s, etc., amulets being worn as a protection against them( );they are said to have revealed the veda-s to vāc-( ; see ),and are called the preceptors of the ṛṣi-s( ); purūravas- is called among them( );in epic poetry the gandharva-s are the celestial musicians or heavenly singers(see )who form the orchestra at the banquets of the gods, and they belong together with the āpsarasa-s to indra-'s heaven, sharing also in his battles( etc.; see );in the more systematic mythology the gandharva-s constitute one of the classes into which the higher creation is divided(id est gods, manes, gandharva-s ;or gods, asura-s, gandharva-s, men ; see ;or gods, men, gandharva-s, āpsarasa-s, sarpa-s, and manes ;for other enumerations see [ ] etc.);divine and human gandharva-s are distinguished( ;the divine or deva-gandharva-s are enumerated );another passage names 11 classes of gandharva-s( );the chief or leader of the gandharva-s is named citra-ratha-( );they are called the creatures of prajāpati-( ) or of brahmā-( ) or of kaśyapa- ( ) or of the muni-s( ) or of prādhā-( ) or of ariṣṭā-( )or of vāc-( );with jaina-s the gandharva-s constitute one of the eight classes of the vyantara-s]  |