1. غَندهَرثَ
gandharva as, m. a Gandharva [though in later times the Gandharva s are regarded as a class, yet in RV. rarely more than one is mentioned; he is designated as the heavenly Gandharva (divyag, 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 Gandharva s 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 Apsarasa s 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 Gandharva s, and Agni ( Gṛhyās. ii, 19 f. ; Pañcat. ; Suśr. ); the wives of the Gandharva s are the Apsarasa s ( cf. ganDarvA psara/s ), and like them the Gandharva s are invoked in gambling with dice ( AV. vii, 109, 5 ); they are also feared as evil beings together with the Rākṣasa s, Kimīdin s, Piśāca s, &c., amulets being worn as a protection against them ( AV. ; Suśr. ); they are said to have revealed the Veda s to Vāc ( ŚBr. iii ; cf. PārGṛ. ii, 12, 2 ), and are called the preceptors of the Ṛṣi s ( ŚBr. xi ); Purūravas is called among them ( ib. ); in epic poetry the Gandharva s 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 Apsarasa s 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 Gandharva s constitute one of the classes into which the higher creation is divided ( i.e. gods, manes, Gandharva s, AV. xi, 5, 2 ; or gods, Asura s, Gandharva s, men, TS. vii, 8, 25, 2 ; cf. ŚBr. x ; or gods, men, Gandharva s, Apsarasa s, Sarpa s, 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 Gandharva s are distinguished ( TUp. ii, 8 ; the divine or Deva-Gandharva s are enumerated, MBh. i, 2550 ff. and 4810 ff. ); another passage names 11 classes of Gandharva s ( TĀr. i, 9, 3 ); the chief or leader of th