Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c14.225

v1.c14.225

Gandhabbā.—A class of semi-divine beings who inhabit the Cātummahārājika-realm and are the lowest among the devas.¹ They are generally classed together with the Asuras and the Nāgas.² Beings are born among them as a result of having practised the lowest form of sīla.³ It is a disgrace for a monk to be born in the Gandhabba-world.⁴ The Gandhabbas are regarded as the heavenly musicians, and Pañcasikha, Suriyavaccasā and her father Timbarū are among their number.⁵ They wait on such devas as Sakka, and the males among them form the masculine counterpart of the accharā, the nymphs. Their king is Dhataraṭṭha, ruler of the eastern quarter.⁶ Other chieftains are also mentioned:⁷ Paṇāda, Opamañña, Sakka’s charioteer Mātali, Cittasena, Nala and Janesabha. The Gandhabbas are sometimes described as vihaṅgamā (going through the air).⁸ In the Āṭānāṭiya Sutta⁹ the Gandhabbas are mentioned among those likely to trouble monks and nuns in their meditations in solitude. The Buddha says that beings are born among the Gandhabakāyikā devā because they wish to be so; they are described as dwelling in the fragrance of root-wood, of bark and sap, and in that of flowers and scents.¹⁰