Gandharva - Soma Guard, a singer
I always thought the Gandharvas were just celestial musicians! There is a whole cycle of myth here in just this one word.
tad asāratayā devi vijñeyaṃ śakrajālavat |
māyāsvapnopamaṃ caiva gandharvanagarabhramam || 9 ||
gandharva
| (H1) | gandharvá [p= 346,1] [L=63278]
m. |
a gandharva [though in later times the gandharvas are regarded as a class , yet in RV. rarely more than one is mentioned ; he is designated as the heavenly gandharva (divyá g° RV. ix , 86 , 36 and x , 139 , 5), and is also called viśvā-vasu ( RV. x , 85 , 21 and 22 ; 139 , 4 and 5) and vāyu-keśa (in pl. RV. iii , 38 , 6) ; his habitation is the sky , or the region of the air and the heavenly waters ( RV. i , 22 , 14 ; viii , 77 , 5 ; ix , 85 , 12 ; 86 , 36 ; x , 10 , 4 AV. ii , 2 , 3) ; his especial duty is to guard the heavenly soma ( RV. ix , 83 , 4 and 85 , 12) , which the gods obtain through his intervention ( RV. AV. vii , 73 , 3 ; cf. RV. i , 22 , 14) ; it is obtained for the human race by indra , who conquers the gandharva and takes it by force ( RV. viii , 1 , 11 and 77 , 5) ; 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 ( RV. ix , 86 , 36) 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 (i , 163 , 2 ; x , 177 , 2 ; cf. 135 , 5) ; he knows and makes known the secrets of heaven and divine truths generally (x , 139 , 5 and 6 AV. ii , 1 , 2 ; xx , 128 , 3 VS. xi , 1 ; xxxii , 9) ; he is the parent of the first pair of human beings , yama and yamī ( RV. x , 10 , 4) , and has a peculiar mystical power over women and a right to possess them ( RV. x , 85 , 21 and 22 ; 40 and 41) ; for this reason he is invoked in marriage ceremonies ( AV. xiv , 2 , 35 and 36) ; ecstatic states of mind and possession by evil spirits are supposed to be derived from the heavenly gandharva (cf. -gṛhīta , -graha) ; the gandharvas as a class have the same characteristic features as the one gandharva ; they live in the sky ( RV. AV. S3Br. xiv) , guard the soma ( RV. ix , 113 , 3 S3Br. iii AitBr. i , 27), are governed by varuṇa (just as the āpsarasas are governed by soma) S3Br. xiii A1s3vS3r. x , 7 , 3, know the best medicines ( AV. viii , 7 , 23 VS. xii , 98), regulate the course of the asterisms ( AV. xiii , 1 , 23 BhP. iv , 29 , 21 ; hence twenty-seven are mentioned VS. ix , 7), follow after women and are desirous of intercourse with them ( AV. S3Br. iii) ; as soon as a girl becomes marriageable , she belongs to soma , the gandharvas , and agni ( Gr2ihya1s. ii , 19 f. Pan5cat. Sus3r. ) ; the wives of the gandharvas are the āpsarasas (cf. gandharvā*psarás) , and like them the gandharvas are invoked in gambling with dice ( AV. vii , 109 , 5) ; they are also feared as evil beings together with the rākṣasas , kimīdins , piśācas , &c , amulets being worn as a protection against them ( AV. Sus3r. ) ; they are said to have revealed the vedas to vāc ( S3Br. iii ; cf. Pa1rGr2. ii , 12 , 2), and are called the preceptors of the ṛṣis ( S3Br. xi) ; purūravas is called among them (ib.) ; in epic poetry the gandharvas are the celestial musicians or heavenly singers (cf. RV. x , 177 , 2) who form the orchestra at the banquets of the gods , and they belong together with the āpsarasas to indra's heaven , sharing also in his battles ( Ya1jn5. i , 71 MBh. Hariv. &c ; cf. RTL. p.238) ; in the more systematic mythology the gandharvas constitute one of the classes into which the higher creation is divided (i.e. gods , manes , gandharvas AV. xi , 5 , 2 ; or gods , asuras , gandharvas , men TS. vii , 8 , 25 , 2 ; cf. S3Br. x ; or gods , men , gandharvas , āpsarasas , sarpas , and manes AitBr. iii , 31 , 5 ; for other enumerations cf. Nir. iii , 8 Mn. i , 37 [ RTL. p.237] & iii , 196;vii , 23 ; xii , 47 Nal. &c ) ; divine and human gandharvas are distinguished ( TUp. ii , 8 ; the divine or deva-gandharvas are enumerated MBh. i , 2550 ff. and 4810 ff.) ; another passage names 11 classes of gandharvas ( TA1r. i , 9 , 3) ; the chief or leader of the gandharvas is named citra-ratha ( Bhag. x , 26) ; they are called the creatures of prajāpati ( Mn. i , 37) or of brahmā ( Hariv. 11793) or of kaśyapa (11850) or of the munis ( MBh. i , 2550 Hariv. 11553) or of prādhā ( MBh. i , 2556) or of ariṣṭā ( Hariv. 234 VP. i , 21) or of vāc ( PadmaP. ) ; with jainas the gandharvas constitute one of the eight classes of the vyantaras]
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63279]
N. |
of the attendant of the 17th arhat of the present avasarpiṇī L.
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63280]
a singer |
VarBr2S. lxxxvii , 33 BhP. i , 11 , 21
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63281]
the Koil or black cuckoo |
L.
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63282]
a sage , pious man |
Mahi1dh. on VS. xxxii , 9
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63283]
a horse |
MBh. iii , 11762
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63284]
cf. |
ii , 1043
| [p= | 346,1] [L=63285]
the musk deer (derived fr. |
gandha) L.
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63286]
the soul after death and previous to its being born again (corresponding in some respects to the western notion of a ghost) |
L.
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63287]
N. |
of the 14th kalpa or period of the world Va1yuP. i , 21 , 30
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63288]
of the 21st |
muhūrta Su1ryapr.
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63289]
of a |
svara or tone (for gāndhāra?) Hariv. ii , 120 , 4
| (H1B) | gandharvá [p= 346,2] [L=63290]
m. pl. |
the gandharvas (» above )
| (H1B) | gandharvá [p= 346,2] [L=63291]
m. |
N. of a people (named together with the gāndhāras) R. vii , 100 , 10 f. and 101 , 2 ff. and 11 VarBr2S. xiv , 31
| (H1B) | gandharvā [p= 346,2] [L=63292]
f. |
durgā Hariv. ii , 120 , 4 (v.l. gāndharvī)
| (H1B) | gandharvī́ [p= 346,2] [L=63293]
f. |
gandharvī (daughter of surabhi and mother of the race of horses MBh. i , 2631 f. R. iii , 20 , 28 f. Va1yuP. ) RV. x , 11 , 2 R.
| (H1B) | gandharvá [p= 346,2] [L=63294]
m. |
night BhP. iv , 29 , 21
| (H1B) | gandharvá [p= 346,2] [L=63295]
([ |
cf. Gk. κένταυρος fr. κενθαρϝο-ς.])
| (H2) | gandharva [p= 1326,1] [L=330020]
(in |
comp.)
gandharvanagara
| (H3) | gandharvá--nagara [p= 346,2] [L=63303]
n. |
" gandharva-city " , an imaginary town in the sky MBh. ii , 1043 Hariv. R. v &c
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63304]
Fata |
Morgana Pa1n2. 4-1 , 3 Ka1r. VarBr2S. xxx
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63305]
xxxvi , 4 |
BhP. v , 14 , 5 Ka1d.
| [p= | 346,2] [L=63306]
the city of the |
gandharva people R. vii.
gandharvagraha
| (H3) | gandharvá--graha [p= 346,2] [L=63299]
m. |
the being possessed by a gandharva Sus3r. vi , 60 , 8.
gandharvadattā
| (H3) | gandharvá--dattā [p= 346,2] [L=63302]
f. |
N. of a daughter of the gandharva prince sāgara-datta , cvi , 9.
