Lesson 4: The Hindu Pantheon - Part Two.
Other Mythological Figures.
Other spirits and minor deities:
The Gandharvas:
The Gandharvas are important spirits of Indian Mythology. They are half-man and half-bird and are friendly towards human beings. There is controversy over their origin. Some texts advocate that they are directly descended from Brahma while others say that they are the children of the sage Kasyapa.
The first Gandharva had knowledge of divine truths and was appointed by the Gods to prepare and be guardian of the celestial soma juice. This initial ancestor may have symbolized the fire of the sun. His descendants are the guardians of amrita (ambrosia). They are also famed for their prowess as healers and are proficient in medicine. Gandharvas are supposed to have splendid cities of their own somewhere in the universe but they are usually found in Indra’s heaven Vaikunth. There, together with the Apsaras (celestial nymphs), they sing and dance and play their musical instruments entertaining everyone.
The Gandharvas are known to haunt the air, forests and mountains of the earth. They are mischievous and often fool people with their illusions which they work at the time of twilight. Very occasionally they have been known to fight humans but only in cases where the humans were evil.
The Gandharvas have serious rivalry with the Nagas (serpents) whose netherworld kingdom they conquered and plundered. On that occasion the Nagas sought the help of Vishnu who descended to Patala (the nether region kingdom of the Nagas) in the form of the river Narmada and swept away the Gandharva army thus driving them out. The Gandharvas are partial to women and are famed for their powers over them.
The Apsaras:
The Apsaras are nymphs who inhabit Indra’s heaven Vaikunth. They are said to be the daughters of pleasure. There are innumerable stories of their love affairs with the Gandharvas whom they partner in song and dance as they team up to entertain the Gods in Indra’s palace. Initially, the Apsaras have been mentioned in older texts as water nymphs and, in this role, later texts still maintain that when these celestial beings descend to earth they are to be found in holy pools and rivers.
The origin of the Apsaras is as spicy as they themselves are. They are said to have been produced during the churning of the milk ocean by the Gods and asuras (demons). Though they were beautiful women neither the Gods nor the asuras wanted them as wives and so it was decided that they would become nymphs who would serve everyone.
The Gandharvas and Apsaras also frequent Indra’s heaven Swarga, where good Hindus go to after they die.
The Yakshas and the Kinnaras:
Kubera is the acknowledged King of the Yakshas who attend on him and help him guard the treasures of the worlds. Like their lord the Yakshas are friendly towards human unless they are evil. They also turn hostile when people try to gain riches in any unethical manner.
The Kinnaras are also attendant spirits of Kubera and have human bodies with horses’ heads. They are said to be born at the same time as the Yakshas and are friendly towards humans. They are the entertainers in Kubera’s heaven and they sing, dance and make music.
The Nagas:
The Nagas are the race of serpents that have descended from Kadru, the principal wife of sage Kasyapa. They live in the nether regions and are mostly considered to be evil though some of them, like their king Shesha or Ananta, have gained the favor of the Gods through austerities and are immortal and revered. Shesha is Vishnu’s constant companion and becomes the raft on which the God sleeps when the cosmic waters engulf all at the end of an epoch. In his Ananta aspect Shesha has connotations of eternity especially with his tail held in his mouth. This is why Hindus regard serpents to signify the cycle of life and revere them.
The Nagas guard the best jewels in the three realms and some of them wear these jewels that are so bright that they light up the darkness of the nether regions. Some of the serpents have five or even six hoods and resplendent skins.
Vasuki, whom the Gods used as a churning rope to extract amrita out of the oceans, became pure when he vomited the poison within him at the time of the churning. He is a revered personage and Shiva keeps him girdled around His waist.
Jambavan:
Jambavan was the King of the Bears and led the bear army that aided Rama in His battle against Ravana. He was the issue of Vishnu and, in return for his help, Rama granted him the boon of invincibility against everyone except his father Vishnu Himself.
Much later, Jambavan was killed by Vishnu’s avatar Krishna in a forest where he was guarding a magic jewel, Syamantaka, which Krishna wanted.
Sugriva:
Sugriva was a son of Surya and a Monkey-King. He was ousted from the throne by his stronger half-brother Bali. Later he enlisted the help of Rama through Hanuman. Rama helped Sugriva defeat and kill his half-brother and the seat of the monkey kingdom was restored to him.
In gratitude he helped Rama in his war against Ravana with his army of monkeys.
