Gandharva

[2] The term gandharva is present in Vedic sources (including in the Rigveda) as a singular deity.

According to Oberlies, "In mandala I, IX and X the gandharva is presented as a celestial being (dwelling near the Sun / in the heavenly waters) which watches over the Soma (apparently) for the benefit of the gods and the sacrificers."

[4] As such, the function of the gandharva is "to escort things from ‘outside' into this world thereby divesting them of their (potential) dangerous nature.

Gandharvas usually live in Indraloka and serve at Indra's court, though they also have their own realm, called the Gandharvaloka.

Gandharvas are mentioned extensively in the epic Mahabharata as associated with the devas (as dancers and singers) and with the yakshas, as formidable warriors.

They are mentioned as spread across various territories.Some of the most prominent gandharvas include Tumburu, Visvavasu (who was the father of Pramadvara), Chitrangada (who killed Chitrangada, the son of Shantanu and Satyavati), Chitrasena (with whom the Kauravas and Pandavas fought in the Ghosha-yatra), Drumila (the biological father of Kamsa in some texts), and Candavega (king of gandharvas who invaded the city of Purañjana).

Beings are reborn among the gandharvas as a consequence of having practiced the most basic form of ethics (Janavasabha Sutta, DN.18).

In the Mahātaṇhāsankhaya Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya, the Buddha explains to the bhikkhus that an embryo develops when three conditions are met: the woman must be in the correct point of her menstrual cycle, the woman and man must have sexual intercourse, and a gandhabba must be present.

Pañcasikha went to Timbarū's home and played a melody on his flute of beluva-wood, with which he had great skill, and sang a love song in which he interwove themes about the Buddha and the Arhats.

Pañcasikha also acts as a messenger for the Four Heavenly Kings, conveying news from them to Mātali, the latter representing Śakra and the Trāyastriṃśa Devas.