Gandharvas in the Agni Purāṇa

Gandharva, “the celestial musician”

Gandharva has other meanings too: see all meanings of Gandharva.

The Agni Purāṇa tells that the Gandharvas were born to Kaśyapa Prajāpati from Arishṭā, and that Bhagavān Hari gave the sovereignty over them to Citraratha. It counts them among the deva-yonis, the beings of divine birth, and makes them the lords of the ṭa-varga of letters. They live at Prayāga, ride in the chariot of Sūrya month by month and sport in Kubera‘s city of Alakāpurī. Thirteen of them, Citrāṅgada, Citraratha, Citrasena, Kali, Ūrjāyu, Ugrasena, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Nandana, Hāhā, Hūhū, Nārada, Viśvāvasu and Tumburu, are called upon to complete the abhisheka of a king and give him victory, and the king’s horse is told that it was born in the family of the Gandharvas.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 84, 111, 120, 132, 211, 219, 269, 288

Their birth and their lord

In the Agni Purāṇa’s account of the line of Kaśyapa, from Kaśyapa, by the apsarā Khasā, were born the yakshas and rākshasas, and by Arishṭā, the Gandharvas. When Hari and Brahmā had consecrated Pṛthu as king of the earth, Bhagavān Hari gave the sovereignty over each class of beings to its own lord: over the Gandharvas he set Citraratha.

When King Pṛthu milked the earth for the crops that sustain the people’s lives, the devas, the hosts of munis, the Gandharvas, the hosts of apsarās, the pitṛs, the dānavas, the serpents, the creepers, the mountains and men each milked her in their own vessels, and the earth gave each the milk they needed. By it they all sustained their lives.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 18–19

Their place among beings

The Agni Purāṇa counts the Gandharvas among the deva-yonis, the beings of divine birth. In the teaching on the earth tattva (Chapter 84), the fourteen yonis (classes of birth) are contained in the earthly maṇḍala: the first six are those of animals, birds, cattle, serpents, plants and humans, and the next eight are deva-yonis, which belong in order to the piśācas, rākshasas, yakshas, Gandharvas, Indra, Soma, Prajāpati and Brahmā. These eight yonis have authority over the earth tattva. In the list of words (Chapter 360), the ten devayonis are the vidyādhara, apsaras, yaksha, rakshas, Gandharva, kinnara, piśāca, guhyaka, siddha and bhūta.

In the teaching on the eight vargas of letters (Chapter 132), the Gandharvas are the lords of the ṭa-varga, as the devatās are of the vowels, the daityas of the ka-varga, the pannagas of the ca-varga, the ṛshis of the ta-varga, the rākshasas of the pa-varga, the piśācas of the ya-varga and human beings of the śa-varga. Of these, the daityas are stronger than the devatās, the pannagas than the daityas, the Gandharvas than the pannagas, the rākshasas than the Gandharvas, the piśācas than the rākshasas, and human beings than the piśācas.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 84, 132, 360

Where they dwell

Brahmā, Vishṇu and the other devatās and the great munīśvaras live at Prayāga, and the rivers, the ocean, the siddhas, the Gandharvas and the apsarases also live at that tīrtha. Each month different devatās, ṛshis, Gandharvas, apsarases, yakshas, serpents and rākshasas occupy the chariot of Sūrya. In Alakāpurī, the capital of Kubera, the Gandharvas and apsarases sport in a palace made of gold, and one who makes the gift of a thousand cows goes there.

The Agni Purāṇa also tells what dāna (sacred giving) brings one into their company. One who gives fire and firewood on the road and in other places in the cold season becomes radiant and in svarga is served by devatās, Gandharvas, apsarases and others. One who gives the upavedas, such as the Gāndharva, the Veda of music, rejoices with the Gandharvas. The Gandharva-veda is also named among the subjects that the Agni Purāṇa itself contains.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 111, 120, 211, 383

Gandharvas named in the Agni Purāṇa

In the abhisheka of a king (Chapter 219), the purohita calls upon the Gandharvas by name: “May the gandharvas Citrāṅgada, Citraratha, Citrasena, Kali, Ūrjāyu, Ugrasena, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Nandana, Hāhā, Hūhū, Nārada, Viśvāvasu and Tumburu make your abhisheka complete, and give you victory.” The list of words (Chapter 360) also says of Hāhā and Hūhū: “these are gandharvas.”

Tumburu. In the teaching on the marks of images (Chapter 50), the image of Tumburu is made with a vīṇā, and his body is white.

Citrāṅgada. In the line of Kuru, Śantanu had two sons by Satyavatī, Citrāṅgada and Vicitravīrya. The younger Citrāṅgada was killed by a Gandharva who bore the same name, Citrāṅgada.

Śailūsha. In the account of Śrī Rāma’s reign, Bharata, at Rāma’s command, slew with sharp arrows three crore sons of Śailūsha, and then Śailūsha himself, an evil Gandharva who lived on the bank of the Sindhu. He made his sons Taksha and Pushkara rulers of those lands.

The Gandharva maidens of Naraka. When Janārdana slew Narakāsura, the son of Bhūmi, he married the maidens of the devas, Gandharvas and yakshas whom Naraka had held captive.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 11–13, 50, 219, 360

In the rites of kings

At the great homas of ten thousand, a lakh and a crore offerings (Chapter 167), the yajamāna is given abhisheka with the water of the four kalaśas, and among those asked to bathe him for the fulfilment of all his desires are the devatās, dānavas, Gandharvas, yakshas, rākshasas, serpents, ṛshis and munis.

The king’s horse is told that it is of Gandharva birth. In the mantras for the royal insignia (Chapter 269), the horse is told: “O Horse, you were born in the family of the gandharvas; do not be a disgrace to your family. Remember that you are the son of the king of horses.” In the same chapter the elephant is blessed: “May the Aśvins, together with the gandharvas, protect you from every side.” In the teaching on horses (Chapter 288), the rider worships the horse and says this mantra into its right ear: “O horse! You are a king of the gandharvas. Hear my word. You were born in the gandharva-kula; do not disgrace your kula.” The Agni Purāṇa also calls the Gandharva-aśvas, the sons of Lakshmī, the best of jewels (Chapter 289).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 167, 269, 288–289

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 11–13, 18–19, 50, 84, 111, 120, 132, 167, 211, 219, 269, 288–289, 360, 383