[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.s2.28 # The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s2.28 The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s2.28 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c19.s2.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.28) What the original nature of the Rigvedic Gandharva was, cannot, as has been said, be precisely elucidated: to Kuhn² he is a cloud spirit, to Wallis³ the rising sun, to Bergaigne⁴ Soma, to Hopkins⁵ a genius of the moon, and to Roth⁶ the rainbow. To a different idea belongs the view taken by Mannhardt,⁷ E. H. Meyer,⁸ and von Schroeder,⁹ which sees in him a wind spirit developed out of the conception of the spirits of the dead as riding in the wind and passing therefore into wind spirits. Hillebrandt¹⁰ thinks that the real meaning of the name Gandharva is giant, and that the name is applied to different potencies, now and then to wind spirits, in other cases to the sun, since he finds that it is mentioned of Viçvāvasu that he kept Soma hidden for three nights: as Soma is the moon in the view of Hillebrandt, this can refer only to the obscuration of the moon for three nights by the sun, and therefore of course the Gandharva must be the sun. This form of argument is by no means convincing, and, as against the theory of wind gods, it must be pointed out that only once in the Rigveda is there any possible mention of wind in connexion with the Gandharva, and from such an incidental idea no conclusion can ever be drawn to the nature of a Vedic deity. - [Previous: v1.c19.s2.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.27) - [Next: v1.c19.s2.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.29) - [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.s2.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s2.28) · Pramāṇa