Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v2.c11.97

v2.c11.97

The Gandharva, and later the Gandharvas, as owners before marriage, and afterwards lovers of the wife, and other lustful spirits have been alive in Indian thought since Vedic times, and, as is well known, there is nothing singular about this fact; for monsters, and supernatural beings of every kind, even Christian saints, know only too well how to appreciate fair women, and often bring down misfortune or destruction on the mortal man who is the mate of such a one. See the St. Petersburg dictionaries, and Monier-Williams, under “Gandharva”; Pischel u. Geldner, *Vedische Studien*, i, 77 ff.; L. v. Schroeder, *Mysterium u.*