건달(Gandharva)은 음악과 향기의 신으로서 남을 즐겁고 행복하게 해주는 봉사와 헌신의 대명사이다

[세이지]

오히려 먹고 노는 놈팽이는 먹사(목사)라고 불러야 옳다

‘건달’, ‘놈팡이’, ‘깡패’ 는 모두 외국어에서 생겨난 말로 고유한 우리말이 아니다.

‘건달’이란 말은 불교 용어이다. 불법을 수호하고 있다는 여덟 신장 가운데 하나인 ‘건달바(Gandharva)’에서 유래한다.

건달바는 음악을 사랑하는 신(뮤즈, Muse)으로, 하늘을 날면서 사람들에게 노래와 향기를 제공하기 때문에, “마치 하는 일 없이 빈둥빈둥 놀거나 게으름을 피우는 사람”으로 잘못 사용되고 있는 대표적인 단어이다.

건달은 오히려 오락(엔터테인먼트)과 봉사, 행복의 파수꾼을 말하며 오늘날 가장 필요한 유형의 인간이라 할 수 있다. 음악을 사랑하여 타인에게 노래와 향기를 제공하는 존재, 뮤즈가 바로 건달의 본질이다.

나쁜 뜻으로는 건달보다는 오히려 목사에서 유래한 먹사 (목사: 하는일 없이 입으로 예수를 팔아 먹고 노는 존재)라고 부르는 것이 더 적절하다

[국어 사전]

'건달'은 대부분 '乾達'로 그 어원(한자 표기)을 밝히고 있으나 본래 불교에서 팔부중(八部衆)의 하나로 음악을 맡아보는 신(神)인 '건달바(乾闥婆)'에서 유래한 말이다. '건달바'는 원래 향을 먹고 사는 신으로 허공을 날면서 나머지 7부의 백성들에게 노래를 제공하는 사람들이다. [범어 Gandharva > 乾闥婆 > 乾闥 > 건달]


그럼에도 불구하고 무지한 백성들 사이에서는 이 건달 앞에 다시 빈손이라는 뜻을 가진 백수를 붙여서 ‘백수건달’이라 하여, “돈 한 푼 없이 빈둥거리며 놀고먹는 건달”을 가리키는 용어로 잘못사용되게 되었다.

건달을 낮춰서 말하는 속어가 바로 ‘놈팡이’이다. 놈팡이는 “직업이 없이 빈둥거리며 노는 남자”를 조롱하는 말로 쓰이고 있다. 건달이 고대 인도어인 산스크리트어에서 온 말이라면, 놈팡이는 독일어에서 비롯한 말로서, “부랑자, 실업자”를 뜻하는 독일어 ‘룸펜(Lumpen)’이 원어이다.

이 말이 일본에 흘러들어가서 일본어 사전에 “직업 없이 빈둥거리는 남자”라는 뜻으로 올라갔는데, 다시 일제강점기에 우리한테 전파되어 ‘놈팡이’로 변하게 되었다.

건달이나 놈팡이와는 달리 범죄 조직이라 할 수 있는 ‘깡패’는 “폭력을 쓰면서 행패를 부리는 무리를 낮추어 부르는 말”이다. 이 말은 영어의 ‘갱(gang)’과 한자말 ‘패(牌)’가 합쳐져서 생겨난 말이다. ‘패’라는 말은 “함께 어울려 다니는 사람의 무리.”라는 뜻으로 쓰이는 한자말이다.

따라서 ‘건달’이나 ‘놈팡이’, ‘깡패’는 모두 알고 보면 각각 인도와 독일, 미국에서 들어와 우리말에 녹아든 다국적 언어라고 볼 수 있다.




■ Apsaras and Gandharvas


by Anindita Basu

published on 05 September 2016 Apsara (Beta.s2ph)

In the Vedas, the apsaras are water nymphs, often married to the gandharvas. By the time the Puranas and the two epics were composed, the apsaras and gandharvas had become performing artists to the gods; the apsaras are singers, dancers, and courtesans, while the gandharvas are musicians. They are somewhat semi-divine; we do not see them as being able to curse humans (except on one occasion) or grant them boons as gods can, but we do see them as adept in magic and knowledgeable in all of the 64 performing arts; additionally, we see many gandharvas skilled in warfare.

IN THE VEDAS

The oldest conception of the apsaras is as river nymphs, and companions to the gandharvas. They are also seen to live on trees, such as the banyan and the sacred fig, and are entreated to bless wedding processions. Apsaras dance, sing, and play around. They are exceedingly beautiful, and because they can cause mental derangement, they are beings who are to be feared. The Rig Veda mentions one apsara by name; she is Urvasi, wife to Pururava, who is an ancestor of the Kauravas and Pandavas. The story is that Urvasi lived with Pururava, a human king, for a while and then left him to return to her apsara and gandharva companions. The distraught Pururava, while wandering around in a forest, spotted Urvasi playing in a river with her friends, and begged her to return to the palace with him. She refused.


I have moved on from you like the first rays of dawn. Go home, Pururava; I am as hard to catch as the wind.

Female friendship does not exist; their hearts are the hearts of jackals. [Rig Veda, 10.95]


The gandharvas are companions to the apsaras. They are handsome, possess brilliant weapons, and wear fragrant clothes. They guard the Soma but do not have the right to drink it. How they lost this right has a story: in one version, the gandharvas failed to guard the Soma properly, resulting in it being stolen. Indra brought back the Soma and, as a punishment for their dereliction of duty, the gandharvas were excluded from the Soma draught. In another version, the gandharvas were the original owners of the Soma. They sold it to the gods in exchange for a goddess - the goddess Vach (speech) - because they are very fond of female company.

Apsara

Apsara


Some scholars trace the origin of the gandharvas to the Indo-Iranian period because the Avesta contains references to a similar being (although in the singular, not plural) called Gandarewa who lives in the sea of white Haoma (Soma).

IN LATER LITERATURE

DUE TO THEIR FRIVOLOUS NATURE AS PERFORMING ARTISTS, APSARAS & GANDHARVAS ARE OFTEN CURSED BY SAGES TO BE BORN ON EARTH AS TREES, ANIMALS, OR DEFORMED BEINGS.

In the epics and the Puranas, the apsaras and gandharvas are artistes who perform at the court of Indra and other gods. They are also seen to sing and dance on other happy occasions such as births and weddings of the gods and also of humans particularly favoured by the gods. Additionally, the apsaras are courtesans to the gods and are frequently employed by Indra to distract kings and sages who Indra fears to be progressing along the path of divinity (and hence capable of depriving Indra of his throne). The Kuru-Pandava teacher Drona was born because his father lost control on seeing an apsara; the famous queen Shakuntala was born of an apsara whom Indra sent to seduce the great sage Vishwamitra (Shakuntala's son Bharat was an ancestor of the Kuru-Pandavas; the country, India, is named after Bharat). An apsara called Tilottama was specially created from the essence of all that is good in all the objects of the universe (til = particle, uttam = best, tilottama = she of the best of all materials) to distract two demon brothers who were causing major grief to the gods; the brothers fought over her and, in the duel, killed each other.

The gandharvas are musicians par excellence. When Arjuna, the third Pandava, went to the heavens in search of celestial weapons, the gandharvas at Indra's court taught him singing and dancing. The gandharvas are good warriors as well. The Kuru prince and heir apparent, Chitrangad, was killed in a battle by a gandharva of the same name. Another gandharva gave an enchanted war chariot and some divine weapons to Arjuna, and on another occasion, imprisoned Duryodhana and his whole pleasure camp when the two groups entered into a dispute over the rights to a picnic spot.




Perhaps because of their somewhat frivolous nature, both apsaras and gandharvas frequently run afoul of the more staid sages and are cursed by them to be born on earth as trees, animals, or deformed beings, redeemable after thousands of years by the touch or grace of an incarnate god or a human hero.

IN MODERN TIMES
The word apsara is used in Hindi, and other similar languages descended from the Indo-European, to generally denote an exceedingly beautiful woman or a talented dancer.



Gandharva

Apsara(좌) & Gandharva(우)