संध्या संरज्यते घोरा पूर्वरात्रागमेषु या ॥
अशीतिभिस् त्रुटैर् हीनं तं मुहूर्तं प्रचक्षते ॥
विहितं कामचाराणां यक्षगन्धर्वरक्षसाम् ॥
शेषम् अन्यन् मनुष्याणां कामचारम् इह स्मृतम् ॥
लोभात् प्रचारं चरतस् तासु वेलासु वै नरान् ॥
उपक्रान्ता निगृह्णीमो राक्षसैः सह बालिशान् ॥
ततो रात्रौ प्राप्नुवतो जलं ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ॥
गर्हयन्ति नरान् सर्वान् बलस्थान् नृपतीन् अपि ॥
saṃdhyā saṃrajyate ghorā pūrvarātrāgameṣu yā ||
aśītibhis truṭair hīnaṃ taṃ muhūrtaṃ pracakṣate ||
vihitaṃ kāmacārāṇāṃ yakṣagandharvarakṣasām ||
śeṣam anyan manuṣyāṇāṃ kāmacāram iha smṛtam ||
lobhāt pracāraṃ caratas tāsu velāsu vai narān ||
upakrāntā nigṛhṇīmo rākṣasaiḥ saha bāliśān ||
tato rātrau prāpnuvato jalaṃ brahmavido janāḥ ||
garhayanti narān sarvān balasthān nṛpatīn api ||
The gandharva said: "The terrible twilight that reddens with the coming of early night -- that hour, minus eighty trutis, is so called. It is allotted to the yakshas, gandharvas, and rakshasas who roam at will, while the rest of the time is held here to be for the free roaming of men. Men who out of greed wander about in those hours, we seize together with the rakshasas -- fools; and those who reach the water at night are reviled by knowers of Brahman -- even the mighty, even kings."
7f9bb23ae362 · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:19:51 PM UTC
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Here the gandharva fences off his hour with a tale of terrible twilight. It is telling that there is a grain of custom in his words: nighttime was indeed associated with spirits, and the cautious did not go down to the water at an inauspicious hour. Here it is revealed that the gandharva turns time-honored rules of prudence into a tool of intimidation. Thus the text shows how a truth about prudent caution can be twisted into a threat; and the fearsome gandharva cloaks his arrogance in received lore.