gandharvá as, 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.]; [ŚBr. xiv]), guard the Soma ([RV. ix, 113, 3]; [ŚBr. iii]; [AitBr. i, 27]), are governed by Varuṇa (just as the Apsarasas are governed by Soma), [ŚBr. xiii]; [ĀśvŚr. 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.]; [ŚBr. iii]); as soon as a girl becomes marriageable, she belongs to Soma, the Gandharvas, and Agni ([Gṛhyās. ii, 19 f.]; [Pañcat.]; [Suśr.]); the wives of the Gandharvas are the Apsarasas (cf. gandharvāpsarás), 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.]; [Suśr.]); they are said to have revealed the Vedas to Vāc ([ŚBr. iii]; cf. [PārGṛ. ii, 12, 2]), and are called the preceptors of the Ṛṣis ([ŚBr. 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 Apsarasas to Indra's heaven, sharing also in his battles ([Yājñ. 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. [ŚBr. x]; or gods, men, Gandharvas, Apsarasas, 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 ([TĀr. 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]
N. of the attendant of the 17th Arhat of the present Avasarpiṇī, [L.]
a singer, [VarBṛS. lxxxvii, 33]; [BhP. i, 11, 21]
the Koïl or black cuckoo, [L.]
a sage, pious man, [Mahīdh.] on [VS. xxxii, 9]
a horse, [MBh. iii, 11762]
cf. [ii, 1043]
the musk deer (derived fr. gandha), [L.]
the soul after death and previous to its being born again (corresponding in some respects to the western notion of a ghost), [L.]
N. of the 14th Kalpa or period of the world, [VāyuP. i, 21, 30]
of the 21st Muhūrta, [Sūryapr.]
of a Svara or tone (for gāndhāra?), [Hariv. ii, 120, 4]
gandharvá m. pl. the Gandharvas (see above)
gandharvá m. N. of a people (named together with the Gāndhāras), [R. vii, 100, 10 f.] and [101, 2 ff.] and [11]; [VarBṛS. xiv, 31]
gandharva—vivāha m. ‘the form of marriage peculiar to the Gandharvas’, a marriage proceeding entirely from love without ceremonies and without consulting relatives (allowed between persons of the second or military class)