[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Religion and philosophy](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion) › [The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925) › v1.c19.s2.17 # The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s2.17 The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s2.17 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c19.s2.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.17) In the Brāhmaṇa texts and in the ritual the connexion between the Apsarases and the Gandharvas is especially close: the Gandharva Ūrṇāyu sits among the Apsarases, who swing themselves, and is beloved by them:⁴ in a rite the priest can point to the young men and the young maidens present, when he means to indicate the Gandharvas and Apsarases.⁵ They are besought to bestow progeny,⁶ and in the Buddhist texts the being, which by the law of transmigration enters the womb at the time of conception, is called a Gandhabba.⁷ For the nights immediately after the marriage, when the newly wedded couple are not allowed to consummate the marriage, a staff which represents the Gandharva Viçvāvasu is placed between them, and not until it is formally dismissed to the highest region is the marriage completed.⁸ A different and lower view of the Gandharvas is also found in the Atharvaveda⁹ where the plant goat’s horn is used to drive off the Gandharvas, who are regarded as shaggy with half animal forms, and are said to seek to ruin women in the guise of an ape, a dog, a hairy child, or a friend. - [Previous: v1.c19.s2.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.16) - [Next: v1.c19.s2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.18) - [Up: v1.c19.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.17) · Pramāṇa