Both Uses of
ethereal
in
The Ramayana
- Bright minstrels of the ethereal quire, And saints exempt from low desire, With Ájas, sons of Brahmá's line, Maríchipas of seed divine, Vaikhánasas and Máshas strayed, And Bálakhilyas(489) in the shade.†
Book 3
- 'Twas feathered with the rushing wind; The glowing sun and fire combined To the keen point their splendour lent; The shaft, ethereal element, By Meru's hill and Mandar, pride Of mountains, had its weight supplied.†
Book 6 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(ethereal) characterized by an air-like insubstantiality
or:
so delicate and insubstantial that it barely seems of this world -- often beautiful -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, but seen in older writings, ethereal can mean "heavenly or celestial" -- as when Milton writes of an "ethereal messenger" in Paradise Lost. Similarly, it can mean "unworldly" or "spiritual".
In chemistry, there is a specialized meaning: "of or related to the chemical, ether"