> Hi fellow gandhabba fans,
>
> The discussion alluded to above in Wijesekera (Buddhist and Vedic
> Studies) is quite brilliant and needs to be consulted before coming
> to any conclusions on this very interesting question. Among his
> points:
>
> The etymology deriving gandhabba from gandha is folk etymology
> ('ludicrous'), and mentions of the gandhabbas as associated with
> scent (which happens from the Vedas on) are simply punning on the
> similar sounds. (Gantabba is a similar folk etymology). In fact the
> etymology is obscure.

Dear Bhante and dear friends,

Frst, I am sure there will always be differing views on these things,
and often impossible to say which is the correct interpretation.

This is not the only place where the commentary uses the word
"gandhabba" to mean "gantabba". In the Visuddhimagga mahaa-tika, we
have:
gamaniiyoti gandhabbo upapajjanavasena. (Vism. 175, or VIII.35)

If I am not wrong, this equates gandhabbo with gamaniiyo. This shows
the accepted derivation according to the commentaries. For myself it
seems odd that gandhabba should come from gam+tabba, but it doesn't
seem too far fetched that it might be an irregular or corrupted
derivation...

On the side, the PED under gantha and ganthati, has "gandha" and
"gandhitvaa" listed as variants, so gandhabba could also maybe mean
"one who is to be bound (to this foetus, due to their karma).

Normally I wouldn't get involved with this kind of discussion, as I am
still new to paa.li translation, but it seems that this issue is
important and may help to understand where the Mahayana concept of the
antarabhava came from. So, I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Yuttdhammo