gandharva

[John Dunne]

The Tibetan translation of *gandharva* is *dri za* ("scent eater"). Most
such translations appear to be based upon Buddhist nirukti-s of indic
origin; many of these nirukti-s are preserved in the _sgra sbyor bam po
gnyis pa_. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to check the _sgra sbyor_
to see whether a nirukti for *dri za* is given. In any case, *gandha*
corresponds obviously to *dri*. But to me, at least, it is not obvious how
we are to get "eating/eater" (*za*) from the last one or two syllables of
gandharva. Any suggestions?

Yours,

John Dunne


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John D. Dunne
Assistant Professor
Languages and Cultures of Asia
University of Wisconsin-Madison