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(seegandharvāpsar/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]
m. "the form of marriage peculiar to the gandharva-s", a marriage proceeding entirely from love without ceremonies and without consulting relatives (allowed between persons of the second or military class)
गन्धर्वः 1 A celestial musician, a class of demi-gods regarded as the singers or musicians of gods, and said to give good and agreeable voice to girls; पतङ्गो वाचं मनसा बिभर्ति तां गन्धर्वो$वदद्गर्भे अन्तः Rv.1.177.2; Av.11.5.2; सोमं शौचं ददावासां गन्धर्वश्च शुभां गिरम् Y.1.71. -2 A singer in general; Mb.7.57.4. -3 A horse; Mb.3. -4 The musk-deer. -5 The soul after death and previous to its being born again; तस्यासीद्दुहिता गन्धर्वगृहीता Bṛi. Up.3.3.1. -6 The black cuckoo. -7 The sun. -8 A sage, pious man; Vāj.32.7. -Comp. -तैलम् Castor-oil. -नगरम्, -पुरम् the city of the Gandharvas, an imaginary city in the sky, probably the result of some natural phenomenon, such as mirage; गन्धर्वनगराकारं तथैवान्तर्हितं पुनः Mb.1.126.35. -राजः Chitraratha, the chief of the Gandharvas. -विद्या the science of music. -विवाहः one of the eight forms of marriage described in Ms.3.27 &c.; in this form marriage proceeds entirely from love or the mutual inclination of a youth and maiden without ceremonies
and without consulting relatives; it is, as Kālidāsa observes, कथमप्यबान्धवकृता स्नेहप्रवृत्तिः Ś.4.17. -वेदः one of the four subordinate Vedas or Upavedas, which treats of music; see उपवेद. -हस्तः, -हस्तकः the castoroil plant.
m. N. of a part of Bhâratavarsha; -tva, n. condition of a Gandharva; -dattâ, f. N. of a Gandharva princess; -nagara, n. city of the Gandharvas; mirage; -pura, n. city of the Gandharvas; -râga, m. king of the Gandharvas.
noun (masculine) a Gandharva (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a horse
a sage (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a singer (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the Koel or black cuckoo (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (neuter) an imaginary town in the sky (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
Fata Morgana (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the city of the Gandharva people (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
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