Gods and Saints of the Great BtaJiuiaua. 67 



The Angirasas are also linked with the Gandharvas and Apsarasas 

 in one extremely moral tale. The Gandharvas (equivalent to gods, 

 20. 15. 2) are alluded to several times, but the Brah. does not con- 

 tain much that is of importance about them. Together with the 

 Apsarasas the}- control the abilit}' " and unabilit}' " to procreate, 

 prajayci va aprajastaya ve 'sate, and when sated and pleased at the 

 Aupasada ceremony' they bestow progeny upon the sacrificer, 19. 

 3. 2. The Gandharva is addressed by the chaunter in 1. 3. 10 with 

 the words namo gandharvaya visvagvadine, varcodha asi, varco inayi 

 dhehi. As the sun or moon he gives lustre ; but visvagvadin seems 

 to refer to him as a universal musician (cf. Svana, " sound," as a 

 Gandharva, VS. 4. 27, and the " chaunting sun," Ch. Up. 1. 3. 1). 

 In 1. 4. 2, 7, Anghari, Krsanu, and Bambhari are mentioned. 

 Visvavasu has already been referred to. He is the chief (VS. 2. 3 ; 

 but not included among the seven, ib. 4. 27). The number of these 

 beings is twenty-seven (VS. 9. 1 ) like that of the Xaksatras, or 

 asterisms, which in PB. 23. 23. 2—3 are supposed to hold rites. Of 

 these one at least, Hasta, is both a Naksatra and a Gandharva. 

 The three gJianna divinities who (amorously) pursue Dawn are 

 called Gandharvas, Agni, Vayu, and Aditya, 20. 15. 3. Compare 

 JUB. 3. 15. 7, and TS. 1. 5. 10. 2, where Agni is " the best Gan- 

 dharva " ; 1. 7. 7. 2, twenty-seven; 3. 4. 7. 1—3, Agni, as Gandharva, 

 with plants as Apsarasas; Surya, as Gandharva, with rays as Ap- 

 sarasas ; the moon, as Gandharva, with the Naksatras ^ as Apsarasas 

 (called musical, bekiiri, as in PB. 1. 3. 1 of Vac, etc.), a list that 

 even includes Prajapati, Paramesthin, Death, and " sweet longing 

 Love " as Gandharvas. 



The moral tale uniting these worthies with the Angirasas is as 

 follows (12. 11. 10): "The Angirasas verily held a sacrificial session 

 and thereby their heavenly world was gained and won, but they did 

 not know the path (to heaven), the way of the gods. One of them, 

 the Angirasa Kalyana, went up (out of the house) to study, and 



tlie Great Epic, the Adityas are Dhatar and Aryaman, Mitra and Va- 

 runa, Ansa and Bhaga, Indra and Vivasvat, Pusan and Tvastar, Parjanya 

 and Visnu, 1. 123. 60. Tlie pairs are natural wliere the trwelve months 

 also are paired, e. g. dvam dvam rtavali^ TS. 5. 4. 2. 1. The same epi<- 

 passage gives twenty-seven Gandharvas and twenty-eight Apsarasas who 

 dance, with eleven who sing (five more separately mentioned in 1. 65. 49). 

 The Gandliarvas of the epic are distinct from the gods, ib. 9. 42. 40. 



1 This is the view of SB. 9. 4. 1. 9, where Gandharva is the moon and 

 the Apsarasas are Naksatras (stars). 



