Yaska's Etymologies ARG Version

sere V_I. Senes—S THE ETYMOLOGIES SIDDHESHWAR VARMA, S'astri, M.A (Pb ), D Lrrr. (London) With the assistance of BHIM DEV, Sastri, MA., MOL (Pb) aitreregt (HOSHIARPUR) FPA TET TST (Vishveshvaranand Inshtute Publications)Editorial: In the middle of October, 1943 Dr Siddheshwar Varma sent me his nobel offer to serve our Institute, in honorary capacity, with effect from the afternoon of November 4, 1943, being the very day in the forenoon of which he was due to retire from his service as Professor of Sansknt at the State college at Jammu It is very pleasant, indeed, to recall to-day, after full ten years, how when I was on a short visit to him, im the same connection, on November 2, 1943, he placed in my hands, as if in further confirmation of his already fairly effective association with the Institute, the manuscript of the present scientific treatise which it 1s now the privilege of our Institute to send forth for the benefit of all those who might be interested in the subject treated herein That the Institute was not able to publish it earlier has been due, mainly, to the extremely difficult situation which it has had to face during the past few years following its disruption at and displacement from Lahore in 1947 In the course of the usual editorial treatment accorded to this work, the following few other requiremets, too, towards its final preparation for the press have been met — 1 A uniform pattern of presentation has been evolved, under which each base 1s accompanied by (a) the relevant Vedic text-reference, (&) full citation, in Devanagari script, of Yaska’s comment, (c) indication of the declensional form actually used in the onginal text and (d) the relevant Pada-patha showmg agreement or disagreement with Yaska 2 The Chapter IV, onginally, named, ‘Supplementary Notes’ has been merged, with the approval of the author, in the Chapter III. The author has written out, on the basis of the relevant materials that were placed at his disposal for this purpose, the present Chapter IV, namely, ‘Yaska and the Padakaras’ to present a comparative view of Yaska’s and the Padakaras’ respective contribution in respect of the Vedic etymologies 3 The following four indices have been furnished towards facihtating the work being made utmost use of in further study of its subyect ,— (:) Index of Words Etymologrsed by Yaska (s1) Reverse Index of Etymologised Words. (us) Index of Baste Vocabulary of Yaska’s Etymologtes. ev) Index of Comparative Lengutstsc Vocabulary.Contents Page Edhtorial Vv Abbreviations I Texts = II Languages x Preface x1 The Etymologies of Yaska* Chap. I YASKA AS AN ETYMOLOGIST 3 Chap II THE CHARACTERISTICS OF YASKA’S ETYMOLOGIES (a) The phonetic principles of Yaska’s Etymologies 10 (6) Yaska’s Etymologies had a sound phonetic basis 15 (c) Characteristic features of Yaska’s Etymologies 16 (@)_A bnef discussion of the types of these Etymologies 17 Chap. II TYPES OF YASKA'S ETYMOLOGIES A The etymologies, possibly based on ‘contamination’ 33 ys we GOW seme wOoBzE CAR indicating machanical nature «= 35 » Waska’s poverty of imagination 36 entirely acceptable to comparative philology 39 phonologically sound, but semantically unacceptable . 54 partly acceptable to comparative philology 58 probably acceptable ,, » «OL possibly acceptable _,, » 67 which are primitive 72 dominated by the theory of the verbal origin of nouns 85 which read verbs even in suffixes . 94 which read even a single letter as a ‘condensed word’ . 95 which are of popular origin 100 » » loose, with disregard of vowels 105 » om» » » Ofconsonants 111 som oe with unexpected prothetic consonants ... . 13CONTENTS Page Q The etymologies, which gre loose, showyng an unexpected elision of initial consonants 113 R , » » are with disregard of both vowels and consonants + om s , a » Primitive and erroneous 115 T » oy absurd . U8 Uy » » » Obscure 122 Chap IV YASKA AND THE PADAKARAS (@) Etymology, the Basis of Word-analysis ++ 150 (®) The Conventions of Padakaras » (c) Yaska’s Deviations from the Padakaras 152 (@) Yaska’s analysis in the hght of Padakaras’ Conventions . + 154 (e) Conclusions from the above specimens 178 INDICES I-Index of Words etymologised by Yaska 183 Il—Reverse Index of Words ,, yon 193 Il—Index of Basic Vocabulary of Yaska 203 IV—Index of Comparative Linguistic Vocabulary (A) Indo-European Languages 216 (B) Indo-Iraman ,, ” ~ 222 (C) Indo-Aryan » 223 (D) Basic Indo-European Postulates ” + 223 APPENDIX Types C,D as noted above in Chap Ill 231 Type E » » » 233 Types F,G ,, ” » 234 Type H ” ” » 235 » I ” ” , 236 » J ” ” » “ 237 Types L,M,N ” » : 238 Type O ” ” ” 239 Types R,T ,, » ” we 241 Type U » ” » ae 242 IIndex of Appendix Words, Etymologisd by Yaska 245 Il—Reverse Index . ” » ” 246 Additions and Corrections 247+ CHAPTER I Yaska as an Etymologist 1 The first thing which 1s likely to strike a careful student of the Novukta 1s the unusual interest for etymology evinced by Yaska, an interest, the magmitude of which has no parallel im ancient history That this magnitude of interest for etymology was very remarkable, 1f not unique, in ancient times, 1s indicated by the fact that im antiquity, next to India, Greece was the only country in which a real and considerable interest for etymology was mantfested It is to Greece that we owe the term ‘etymology’, the literal meaning of which 15 “true account’ t’ But the word actually goes back to Indo-Eur. put ‘young’ Te seems as if this tendency to read ‘condensed words’ inun] THE CHARACTERISTICS OF YASkA'S ETYMOLOGIES 21 single letters was another indication of the analytical tendencies of the Hindu mind (7) Inevery language there are ‘popular etymologies’ and Yaska has evidently incorporated many of the etymologies 1n bis work, some from Brahmanas, some from tradition, seme from folklore and some out of his own fanciful creation Like other popular etymologies, a notable featuce of Yaska’s popular etymologies 1s that they are phonologically very loose and sometimes wild This 1s illustrated by the following examples — () wieea: (araitg, ai, N IIL, 17) ‘name of a sage’, has been derived from #WR-, so called because he 1s said to have been born in [ive coals But the Indo-Eur prototype was angiros ‘messenger’, Gr dngellos ‘messenger’ Thus, though the original pre-Aryan meaning of the word was ‘messenger’, popular legend about the name transformed the etymology. (u) aft. (Rreremnetda, aft se ema ‘8 alae gt og fea’, N IV, 4) ‘a stone’ 1s traced to vag ‘to eat’, referring to a legend in which adns are spoken of as ‘eaters of Soma’ or, when meaning ‘thunderbolt’ to #+vg ‘to tear’, referring to the legend of Indra’s destroying mountains with his thunderbolt (cf Ch. III, Types J, M sv) (a) age (OO AQT, SET SAT ga ATL ae aUSAR srr - &a agea:, N I.8) im its later pejorative sense has been derived as @+@+eat ‘not very happy’ as the Asuras, when driven out of their original place, became unhappy, or the word has been traced to vaTq, lit ‘thrown out of thet positions’ (em ena fa an). This 1s a typical case of a popular etymology. Though the real correct derivation has also been given, viz, from erg- with a possessive suffix T lit ‘full of life or energy’ (argtefe srorara, &a agra ), but in ignorance of the fact that the meaning of a word may sometimes degencrate, even the former, popular etymologies were also incorporated by Yaska in his work (vi) gfe Cat, N IIL, 4) 15 derived as gigm=qt fear ‘good when at a distance’. Phonologically, this etymology 1s very loose, but the popular view of a daughter has evidently read this etymology in the word Otherwise, the Indo-Eur prototype ts dhug(h)ter_‘daughter’, Av dugedat eee (v) Fae Cz wernt, fasted ae =qB, NLIIT,15) 1s traced to fReta--+az-, Itt ‘one who can be chosen as a second husband’ Here Yacka reads the customs of his age in the etymology of this word The28 THE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA { Chap actual Indo-Eur prototype 1s daiuér ‘husband's brother’, Gr daér “husband's brother’ (vi) eae Cw, eae aaa, N VI, 9) ‘wife’s brother’, 1s derived from &f +e18-, lit ‘one who pours fried rice from a winnowing basket during the marriage ceremony’ But the Indo-Eur prototype has no such sense, being sv@(u) 10-,s1?ur 40 ‘wife’s brother’, Rus gunn ‘wife's brother’ (8) Some etymologies of Yaska are evidently erroneous They secm to be due, not only to the prumitive phonetic theories of the age, but also to Yaska’s own carelessness, looseness or inadequacy of investigation, These etymologies are of two kinds (A) those containing phonological errors, (B) those showing errors of iterpretation A Examples of phonological errors — Q) fara (Ca gaat, areftatas, N V,22) ‘a gambler’, 1s derived as garam, lic ‘may he be successful’ betng a blessing given by the gambler’s friends, But the correspondence #@-, fa- 1s imposible in Old Indo- Aryan Nor 1s there any strong evidence that Prakritism may be reflected in this word (cf Ch III Type S,sv) (u) Bef (°F at, N VI12 ) 1s derived from vary This vocalic correspondence 18 impossible, cf Indo-Eur qurm: ‘a worm’ B_ Examples of errors of interpretation — Q) Witwer (Cae TH, Tita Tat aH N XI, 25) ‘might? 1s rendered as Wita-+tawaa-, lit ‘that on both sides of which there 1s heat? But PW rightly pomts out that this 1s an error of interpretation The word in the text means ‘wrong course’ (cf Ch III, Type S, sv) (ut) fa (N. VI, 18) 1s rendered as frqit, but PW 1s right in tracing the form to yfary ‘to lack in’, cf the parallel passaze in PW (au) sree ( weet, euaeenitieat, N XI, 21) ‘they overpower? has been derived from a fictitious verb vert ‘to reach’, which does not occur in Vedic literature But, as PW on the basis of many parallel forms has pointed out, the word 1s derived from 9 + veq (ev) Sanit ( Rgarrerean ayer w wart a, N.II,11) name of a king, 1s traced to Fa-+-yank, lit ‘one who has obtained the gods’ In this word, however, emff- means ‘a frend” or ‘an acquaintance’, a sense in which 1t often occurs in Rgveda (cf PW ) It goes back to Indo-Eur apr ‘comrade’, Gr apios ‘friendly’Hj THE CHARACTERISTICS OF YASKA’S ETYMOLOGIES 29 The above example. indicate that Yaska has studied Vedic texts somewhat carelessly and inadequately The above etymologies are evidently wrong, but nevertheless they can still be called ‘primitive’, but, neither ‘absurd’ nor ‘unscientific’ Some of them could possibly have been corrected by Yaska himself uf he had devoted more attention to them (9) Some etymologies of Yaska shock the philologist on account of their absurdities, as they wildly go against the fundamental laws of phonology Now, it 1s a fact that nearly all languages possess some words which are deformities, 1e the formation of which 1s abnormally opposed to the laws of that language and, it 1s possible, that the sight of such deformities might have emboldened Yaska to take liberties with the derivation of many words, the etymology of which was obscure But it must be notcd that their number 1s not very larges being, according to my calculation, only 55 out of the total number of 1158, Examples — () SH CR ve QreQaPrd a, N 11,8) ‘food’, 1s traced to wwe or vr Between #& and T{only Ris sometimes common, when yYHassumes a form like oe (u) qq (at watat + aradats NV, 1) ‘a messenger’, 1s derived from vq ‘to speed’, or vareg ‘to ward off (evils )’ In the former derivation, at least, % 1s common to ¢a- and Vv, but no sound 1s common toq@and vareg(cf Ch Ill, Type T, sv), Gu) da: ( oRaiarara, N. IL 15) ‘a rein’, 1 traced to yam ht ‘that which restrains’ (10) There ss a large number—199, according to my calculation, of Yaska’s etymologies, the exact evaluation of which belongs to future research These obscurities are due to one or several of the following reasons — (t) The Vedic words to be derived are by themselves very obscures having apparently no Indo-European parallels, some of them, possibly, going back to 2 Munda-substratum, a matter for future investigation (1) No sufficient evidence 1s available to show that Yaska’s interpretation of these words 1s correct or incorrect (iu) In many cases Yaska himself gives many alternative etymologtes for such words, so that he himself 1s not sure of these etymologies fav) The phraseology of some of the etymologies gtven by Yaska himself Js obscure.30 THE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA C Chap (v) Som-times, he gives the derivation of a difficult word, but does not give the meaning of the same If the meaning of the word itself be obscure, it would be difficult to adyudge the etymology offered (v1) Sometime, the grounds for particular dertvation are obscure (vu) In many cases it becomes very difficult to ascertain whether acertain rendenng 1s Yaska's etymology or a mere paraphrase (vit) In some cases, though Yaska’s etymology be clear, comparative philology has no matersal or means to adjudge the validity of such an etymology Under such obscure conditions 1t would be reasonable to suspend the definite adyudgment of these etymologies until more investigation has been made At any rate it would be rash either to welcome or condemn these etymologies at the present stage of our knowledge’. ‘The following examples illustrate Yaska’s obscure etymologies — A’ Words, the meanings of which are obscure — (®) we (°s sEAOTa, N VI, 17) ‘rampart’?, is derived from atv: lit. ‘that which is to be attacked? Yaska eves no meaning of this word Durga renders it as ‘a rampart’ (wrett) PW = renders as ‘quick, stormy’, but with a question mark‘? In the phrase occurring an the text concerned ‘wmtaafe (RV Ill, 1,12) ‘protecting hike a rampart’, the meaning ‘rampart’ seems to be plausible, but, even then, the etymology 1s obscure and defective (b) rq ( fetertal, NX, 41) ‘happiness? Yaska, while derrving this word, occurring inRV I, 129,6( 9 agtad were’), gives no meaning of thts word, while Durga renders gq@ as street, for the sake of happiness’ Yaska derives it from WEF or Wet both of which are phonologically unsound (©) amert-(N V, 26) ‘a reservoir of water’? This word has been derwed only in passing while deriving atoera- Ie 1 not clear what Yaska meant by this word, which does not occur in the Sambitas Durga renders st,as ‘a reservoir of water’, B Words, the etymologies of which as given by Yaska are obscure -— (a) orga: ( erera errata» NV, 26 ) ‘a vessel, a pot’, occurring in 1 In Ch Mit, under Type U, an attempt has been made to discuss these obscure words and to bring together some material in order to further the investigation of ‘these obscuritiesa) ‘THE CHARACTERISTICS OE YASK'S ETYMOLOGIES aL torgra- ‘using the boot of a chariot as a vessel’ 1s traced to v% May it be presumed that 1t was a peculiar kind of vessel which produced a tinkling sound indicated by the word ‘call’ ( gra- ) ? (b) aaft- (NVI, 12) ‘powerful, brillant’ 7, an epithet of “ WP ‘hight’, 1s connected with wai( wit afe, the meaning of which 1s obscure» equally so Durga’s rendering thereof, ‘having self-effulgence’, for it seems to have no bearing on Yaska’s rendering The word seems to be an extension of #1 ‘power’, being derived from yerq + Unadi suffix wit (cf VVP 1,378") C Words, tne meanings of the etymologies whereof are clear, but the grounds for the etymologies are obscure — (a) sms: (°@ wate, smite, N Vill) ‘a kind of Stoma’, has been rendered as #t-@-, probably from yg¥, which 1s defective phonologically The word seems to be of technical nature and the ground for the etymology 1s obscure (cf Ch IV, sv) ib) wiafa- (ieedten Fae, N_IV,22) 18 derived from vat ‘to bind, to restrain’ with # (neg ), lit ‘unbound, unhumuliated’ Whether it was a popular etymology incorporated by Yaska in his work or his own derivation, and if so, on what grounds, 1s obscure (cf Ch Ill, Type Us s v) (c) arate. (sn aeaeaiter serfterite at, N 112) ‘name of a people and its country (to the north-west of India)’, It has been dertved as @raarite, ‘that who uses blankets’ or aaftavita ‘that whose food 1s pleasant’ But evidence is required to test the validity of either of these etymolosies (cf Ch III Types O,U sv) D> Words about the renderings of which st 1s difficult to sudge whether they are a mere paraphrase or denwations — (q) ear (Cat gaefifiid aait,N V,1) has been rendered as aiafia- ‘unprepared’ It 1s difficult to judge whether afafia- here 4s a paraphrase as VVP I, 3798 suggests or 1s a derivation. If it 15 an etymology, st 1s further difficult to ascertam whether this word has anything to do with Indo-Eur mes ‘arrow’, Lat moema ‘will’ (b) safiniger (a1 sufi, N 111,20) ‘a variety of ant’, 1s rendered as ‘that which smells’ Its not clear whether switef- 1s paraphrase or a derryation If it 1s a derivation, it 1s evidently unsound.32 THE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA { Chap E Words, the meanings as well as the etymologies of which an obscure — (®) werem- (N VI,2) 15 rendered as w@arada-, which rendering 1s very obscure and which Durga interprets as ‘full of water’ PW renders it as ‘that from which nothing can come out’ deriving 1t as ABA+A+VaT, lit ‘fitted to block up’. The relation of q- (N TI, 13) to vaqcan hardly be accepted The meaning of the word 1s equally obscure (cf Ch II] Type U, svsand Ch IV, sv) ) Reider (Cm camer sitdwerm aw, N- IV, 13) ‘an epithet of the sun's horses’, ts traced to aat+vaElit ‘whose muldic 18 extended’ or to sfifweta- ‘whose head 1s in the interior’ Both the meaning and the etymologies are obscure F Words of which many alternatwe etymologies have been gin and $0, of the etymologies whereof Yaska himself 1s not sur. — @) ser Car wera TIM, aR wea Site, aétat wai a, a3 ga gitar, N Il, 13) ‘the sun’, 1s derrved from: (1) atta, hit ‘that which takes, 1 € draws, vapours’ or ‘that which takes away the light of other stars on account of 1ts superior effulgence’, (it a+ vata, lit. ‘brightened with light’, or (1) af¥fa-1e ‘a son of Aditr’ (b) Among others there are five etymoloutes of sFR- (°R EW comet at, ect Tan an, get TaN aT, a aa aD eT Meta aT, N X,8) in which gq 1s derived from gu ‘material good’ plus some verb, eg RUe+VE, RETNA FT-+ VT ET +VIRA, FT + va = The meanings of these verbs represent two opposite scts (1) “he who wives material good’ and (11) ‘he who destroys the enemy’s material goou’.CHAPTER III Types of Yaska’s Etymology In this Chapter we shall evaluate in detail the various Types of Yaska’s etymology, already discussed briefly in pp 10-32. Type A Words, the etymologies of which are possibly based on what 1s now called ‘contamination’ — HAT CCRV 1, 164,39, ara Tee wafers avatser gh at, N XII,12) ‘a letter’, as traced to (1) #+-verZ, lt ‘which does not perish’ (said to abide in ang-, as Durga explains it ), and (11) #g-+t-, lit ‘that which serves as an axle’, 1,e the mainstay of speech A merely philosophical view of the amperishability of sound could not give to the man in the street a concept of sat A word like sy- may have further co-operated in bringing about the peculiar sense of #et- ean (Cm serrata wana, Seatal sara, RtATal, N IX, 19) ‘a whip’, 1s derived from (1) vara, lit ‘that which shows fear to the horse’, (11) vq lit. ‘that which, m a finer form, 1s drawn out of leather’, and (ut) vapa, lic ‘that which makes noise’. 2 strat (Car, RV 1X,40,4, Car fretat, amrtat, genta, N 1,28) ‘neck’, 1s traced to (1) as ‘to swallow’, (1) vq ‘to speak’ and (11) vag ‘to take’ (cf Ch HL, (@), 5, a,v) BIK- (ge voc, RV X, 1105, grt aadal, gaat, areatal, N VIII,10) 1s traced to () Wa, (u) vy and (um) vera Though this etymology was partly absurd, yet with the limited knowledge of those times, the principle of contamination in the etymology of the word was resorted to when a correct prototype was not available ; Indo-Eur prototype dhubr ‘door’, Gr théira ‘door’ fararg- (N. 1, 1) According to Aupamanyava, lexicographical collections of Vedic words were called frawea because they were feat 1 @ ‘those which determined the meanings of the texts’ It seems that Yaska unconsctously supposed the structure of faweg- as being 1, As per detailed treatment in Ch 17,1 EY 54 THE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA { Chap due to the contamination of H+ a+ veq ‘to collect’ and of fttvaq ‘to communicate’? We have no means to verify whether this contamination actually led to the formation of the word fravg-, but st 1s possible that the principle of contamination was sub-consciously felt to have operated here* afaa- (aa RV IV, 40,4, vet gadal, qatal, weatat, N II, 28) ‘a path’, 15 traced to VW ‘to fall’, yaE ‘to step’ or vWF ‘to go’ Though FN goes back to Indo-Eur pent(h)- or pont(h),as PW. would have st, cf Gr péntos ‘sea-route’, it 18 conceivable that the formation of the Indo-Eur stem, also, was affected by Indo-Eur ped+(cf p&dyate) ‘to go’, a case of contamination qaqa CHERV X, 27,23, efegremna, adttat aeqean, wartal, N II, 22) ‘water’, 1s traced to vA ‘to sound’ or ye ‘to fall’ 8 RUGS Cor RV VIl103,1, st ager wena, ATaaT Atafeeio, Teqaat afgarinn avert tht Saree, wee qarite gitar, N 1X,5) ‘a frog’, 1s traced to VAT, VAT WAT ‘to be saushied’, yas or aTs--+etwA-, hit ‘onc whose abode 1s in water’ Some of these words may have co-operated in the formation of aTqs- ats area (Cea SAY, BEF, Sraaal, N VI,26) ‘tail’, has been traced to VA, Vea and v@rq, for it 1s attached to an anual as well as 1t hangsdown 1 NS, accepting the etymology of famuzq as femrea:, explaina the modifications of m> and of g>z by resorting to gitgaf%- mule of Pap, an evident indication of incapacity to explain (qiearTe, TATTR THIN HK , THT BAT) RN (p XI) interpre s mary as “itted together with one another in a series’ referring to y@Z ySUE and the epithet Fmugg. ‘secondanly attached name of an object’, 2s opposed to its actual name ButRN has failed to substantiate the use of ygug im this suns from any parallel in Sanskrit SN (p 4) connects fizyg- with the name of Mahavrra in Buddhist texts, vi, Raraartga, a5 well as with the name of theold sect Pres ‘devoid of fetters', the ffmag brings the words ‘unfettered’, 1e takes them out of their Vedic frame This etymology 1s objectionable on two grounds — (i) phonologically neither frea- nor fares. could correspond to fmag-, even if the Praknt basis of frwug- could be assumed, the correspondence of OIA gh to MIA g 1s not pomble, (11) semantically, ‘boundlessness’, taken as the basic meaning of a lexicon, 18 an over stretching without showing 2 single parallel from the semantics of any language. SK, (p. 111), however, makes 2 valuable remark on Sayana’s identification of the free with the Swag im bis introduction to his commentary on Reveda ( wate Prtqaat oer afer) He says that Prqag- 1s here used, figuratively, asa part for the whole, in the sense of the Pree 2 Asper detailed study in Ch 1,7, 1,Il, Types A,B] TYPES OF YASKA’S ETYMOLOGY 35 WW connects wage with wme-, both being derived from Indo-Bur léng- ‘to swing’, Lith. Imgots ‘to rock, waver’, Gr. langazdo‘to linger’, Lat langueo ‘to be languid’ If the literal sense of the stem Jeng- was originally ‘to swing’, then, of course, the derivation from ye would be out of the question But WW ''s juxtaposition of Lat langueo with leng- seems to indicate that evenin the Lat word there may bea contami nation from Indo-Eur leg- ‘to be lax’ > vet (so connected by WW ) Lat. laxus ‘lax* ga CaRRV 1,32,11, st qutdal, aetdat, wdaat, N 11,17) ‘name of a demon’, has been traced to ¥@ ‘to envelop’, vga ‘to turn’, or yaw ‘to grow’ Considering the well known legends about ga-, 1t seems that the word 1s a result of the contamination of several verbs like these mentioned here For NA ‘to turn’, cf RN (p 374,5) where we have this legend from the TS. ‘Vrtra arose out of the offering which had been turned into the angaxta- fire’ sae (at sereronE, saraTa Gath aT, NIL,18 ) ‘a tiger’, 1s traced to (1) + attvm, lit ‘that smells’ and (u) &+entvatt+ ved, lie ‘that kills with its mouth wide open’ @ar- CAARV X,98,5, °R wet, egrharrena, aatiqasteme, ..- waa a, N 1,10) ‘a sea’, 1s traced to vg, lit ‘that from which waters flow’ or ‘that to which waters flow’, and to ya-q ‘to wet’ The contamination of y3q and \g may have facilitated % in aye- Type B Words, indicating the mechanical nature of Yaska’s etymologies aR geaq- (Cer RV IL 14,1, aaa, avarita wale, adtscara aeaa, aieaz vam wate a ett, NV, 1) ‘food’, 1s derived from e+ yen, lit. “that for which one thinks’, but arg ‘darkness’ 1s derived from @t+-yeq, lit ‘that in which no attention 1s possible’ aftea- (Ra agaeget aia, Weret satfisea»N XI 1) mn du ‘the twin-gods of that name’, one of them reaching everything by water and the other by light The word 1s traced to vara ‘to reach’ Similarly, the verb yam has been mamtpulated for the derivation of very remote words like wit, Rar, wea, a etc, weg (OS, aS. wag | adas, eq eqs, eT, N IV, 18); when at means ‘the peculiar mouth of the tortouse’ it is derived as wet eq >are-, lit ‘covering space’, but when it means ‘the bank 1. Asper detailed study im Ch 111136 THE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA { Chap of a river’, it 13 derived as @-+V8q, lit, ‘covered with water’ With one derivation, the original word begins with @, with the other, it begins with & (cf Type U,sv ) wag: Cra RV V, 85,3, Hay, sarges wale, sehen, oqeaiy sarageaa, aftartana, satrgem, N X, 4) ‘a cloud’, 1s derived from wat -+yat, lit ‘that in which water (#aa) lies’s but as ‘water’, it 1s derived as --+vaeq, ‘to disturb’, lit ‘that which produces happiness and disturbance’ According to PW , #arq- means ‘a cask’ or ‘a barrel’, and this sense 1s transferred to a ‘c'oud’ (cf Ch IV, sv) Waaq- (Ca_RV VI,75,13, °# sEPTR, N IX,20) thorse’s hip’, is traced to vey ‘to strike’, lit ‘that which 1s greatly struck with the whip’ Yasha here overlooks the fact that @@A- 1s used for men’s hips as well. fASrET- Co, ata, Raragn, Ranta fons | aaatsh fggn sea’, a ‘aftaq ema, N V,18) as ‘an epithet of Soma’, it ts traced to + yaa4-vT. lit_ that which, when sipped, pleases’, but as ‘a kind of sacred bath’, to WE +-yanz, being equivalent to feggu- with dissimilation of ® into % lit, ‘that during which one mutters mantras quietly’ FAME RV VIL, 18, 21, 104,21, °¢ weer aReser whee wae TAS eat Seat TeMAhat arawmL, N VI 30) when ‘the name of a sage’, 1t 1s traced to WH +1% ‘to decay’, lit ‘born of afats (who was decayed Fert), but when ‘an epithet of Indra’, to wat + vere, lit, a destroyer of evil spirits or sorcerers’ gee (Ra =eq, aagedon, ga saga, N VI, 13) represents quite different attributes of Indra — (1) as ‘a docr of many decds’, ts traced to 3B +h, it ‘having many deeds’, (1) as ‘a destroyer of cities’ to Sot VAT, lit ‘destroyer of enemy- cities’ So, for one attribute the central word W-, for the other attribute it 1s vaTey, AUE- (ELRV J,61,7, VIU,77,10, et Bat wae ace, + eeardtedt aay grange, TER Tet, a ae AS TEMA aT, N. V,4), as ‘a cloud’, 1 derived from at ‘water’ +eTgR ‘food’, lit ‘one whose water 18 food’, but as ‘a pig’, 1s traced to vagq-+r(qw-), lt ‘one who removes the roots’ or to ae +-vaq, lit ‘one who removes choice roots’ (cf Ch IV, sv.). iy Type C Words, indicating Yaska’s poverty of imagination — arate syprea- Cary Lease’) RV 11,244; amaaves, arereqaaray, N. X, 13) 1 As per detasled treatment m Ch 1,7, 1 2 Ibid, Ch 1,12,I, Type C J TYPES OF YASKA’S ETYMOLOGY 37 ‘acloud’, 1s traced to vera + very, it ‘that which reaches and flows’, while, actually, it means ‘having a strong mouth’ and 1s metaphorically used in the sense of ‘acloud’, for the cloud im the text concerned has been imagined to be too obstinate to be broken Be (ag? RV IL, 55, 19, °g agena, aeqertaty, semaeraat, N X, 34, RV X,53,4, sma, wer wat? waft, N III,8) means ‘wisdom’, because ‘it eliminates undesirable objects’ ard because ‘objects are recerved by it (lit, thrown into it)’, both the ideas being derived from yarq ‘to throw’ But atg- ‘life’ 1s also derived from the same verb yam, so called because life ‘1s thrown into the body’. Thus, Yaska felt the need of a separate etymology for every distinct shade of meaning of a word It did not occur to him that #g- ‘Ife’ could be figuratively used in thesense of ‘wisdom’ saa Heb-qut (a AV X, 8,9, madara, sedataat ay, N XII,38) ‘whose root 1s upwards’, referring to the soul, 1s rendered as sea-araa— ‘whose attachments are upwards’ or ‘whose understanding 1s upwards’ The metaphor of ‘root’ could not be imagined by Yaska This epithet 1s parallel to the well known epithet sedqetsargara of Katha- Upanisad (II, 3,1) and medyeara- ara of Bhagavad-gita (KV, 1) SET (Cat RV I, 24,10 , Cat satntata waraee, N III, 20) ‘Ursa mayor’, 1s traced to y+ yea, lit, ‘that which 1s seen gone out (of the sea into the sky)’ Actually, however, the word meant ‘a bear’ and was used metaphorically for this group of stars, as 1t has been in Lat and Eng Indo-Eur kthos ‘a bear’, Gr. arktos ‘a bear’ aed (eit RV X,94,7, en weraaita atte, N IIL9) ‘a finger’, 1s traced to VBI ‘to reveal’ so called because it mansfests different actions But as RN (453) has shown, the actual meaning of the word here 1s ‘caparison’, to which fingers have been compared, and in this sense the word goes back to Indo-Eur qagh- ‘a pen, fold’, AngloSax haga ‘hedge’ Rfira? aira- C@LRV V, 32,1, °¢ arent, N X,9)an epithet of wda-» whose destruction has been mentioned in the text concerned, 1s rendered as ¢ Now, the etymological outlook 1s so predominant in Yaskas that he overlooks the mythological aspect of the word qa, and renders it as ‘the giver of water’ as Durga explainsit SN explains 14a as the ‘son of Danu’, being the demon Vrira-, or any other being sewing and taking possession of the cloud, 1 As per detatled account sn Ch, I 12,11 2 Tid, Ch I, 1244 .38 ‘1HE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA C Chap wae Ca, ena Rawat afy aa oa emg faite za ante a, N I,14) ‘the sun’, has been traced to vit ‘to carry” +3, lit ‘that which carries away the light of the stars’, or to Haq from y*#a- ‘to shine’ by metathesis, or tom ++ va, lit ‘not not that shines, 1e shines brightly’ Yaska did not use his tmagination to realize that the common meaning of waa, viz ‘the sky’ can easily be transferred to ‘the sun’, e g Ul means ‘heaven’ as well as ‘the sun’ RY: CAM voc RV X, 84,1, egdeaadifiretio., atacrtit caeetat at, NX, 29) ‘anger’, has been traced ‘to vWa ‘to be ablaze’ No verb vaq with this meaning has been noticed in the Vedic language Yaska could scarcely imagine that such a verb could be metaphorically used in the sense of ‘being ablaze’, Indo-Eur men- ‘to think’, Gr ménos ‘fury’ ara: Cat RV I, 92, 1, wat fratea, N XII, 7) ‘hight’, has been traced to frq-+t-va, lic ‘that which creates’ Yaska could not imagine that a poet could concetve of ‘light’ as ‘mother’ are (°at voc RV X, 18,1, qatentia aa, aa crate caret wizea., N XI, 6) ‘the god of death’, has been traced to vareq, lit one who kills * But sf this had been the origin, the form should have becn something luke *ag- Yaska failed to imagine that death itself could be metaphorically spoken of as the ‘Lord of Death’ Or, according to Maudgalya, 4g- was derived as @a- -+yeaTay, lit ‘one who throws down the dead person.” Here a lack of imagination led Maudgalya not to see the active aspect of ¢ Death, and to manufacture another verb year out of the suffix gy It seems as if a lack of imagination was a Characteristic feature of the ety- mologists of Yaska's age ates- Cana RV X, 94,7, wart aterafa, NII, 9) ‘a finger’, 18 traced to vatwrz, so called because ‘it joins together various things’ But asRN (453) has shown, the word actually means a leather strap by which horses are yoked and in this sense the word goes back to Indo-Eur 1 u g- ‘to bind’, gg: (PAA voc VS, VIII, 18, AV VII,102, 4; °wat afgaae aay, aa onfier ‘eant fraraaa,, N XII,41), the god-name as ‘Vasu’, 18 derived from vara ‘to protect’ ; but as ‘the sun's ray’, 1t 1s traced to yfaatag ‘to drive out darkness’ Yaska failed to smagine that vasu-(which, according to philology, originally meant ‘good’, Indo-Eur u € su ‘good’,) Av vanhus ‘good’ could also include ‘a ray of of the sun’ which could be metaphorically regarded as ‘good” like other Vasus )wae (a. RV. VI, 37, 3; aware, aga eft aa, N X 3.) ‘food’, with “reference to Soma 1s derived from ¥@ ‘to hear’ so called, as Durga explains 1t, because ‘people hear about it everywhere.’ But, as PW. has pointed out, even Sayana generally interprets it as ‘food’ when it refers to Soma, Now, during the pressing of Somas a sound 1s heard, it fs hence }I, Types C, D TYPES OE YASK'S ETYMOLOGY 39 that Soma has received this epithet» and Soma being a nourishing herb, was consequently called ‘food’ afta, Cfta RV 1, 115, 4, exarg enfgereeita,N IV, 11) ‘a ray of the sun's 1s traced to ¥€, so called because ‘st draws out vapours’ The actual reference in the etymology of this word 1s to the colour of that ray, which 1s often spoken of as ‘yellow’ or ‘golden’, Indo-Eur gher- ‘yellow’, Lat heluus ‘yellow’ Type D Words, the etymology of which would be entirely acceptable to comparative philology + -- BAC Ce Lovee ght RV X, 89,6 , seiaftetaks, NV, 3) ‘he reaches’ Gizmatic aorist) in the phrase tat wear 1s formed from vera ‘to reach’, Indo-Eur enk- ‘to reach’, Gr enenkem ‘to carry” ate (Ceea RV I, 161,11, e snfyertsagtta, N XI, 16) ‘an epithet of enfgea-" 1, traced to vag, lit ‘one who cannot be concealed’, Indo-Eur. ghugh- ‘to conceal’, Av guz- ‘to conceal” smart (Cat RV I, 22, 12 , ft wee get, N IX, 33) ‘the wife of Agni’, sragia- (aH Loasa’_i RV VII, 104,2, arer afro, N VI, 11) ‘evil- intentioned’, ts traced to era-+yatq, the suffix #- being used in the sense of the agent wega- STH (CHL, sara , NIV, 3) 1s traced to vera ‘to bend’, (see sv eRe) agfa- Coa mam wafea, N IL,8) 1s traced to yaa to bend’ (see sv wae) ‘agit 1s connected with Indo-Eur ang- ‘to bend’ ( for in Indo-Eur there was a doublet ank, ang-, to bend’) cf Eng ankle RN (p 450) connects wgfe- with Lac unguis ‘the nail of finger or toe’. But according to comparative philology, Lat unguis 1s related not to axfe- but to 7e-, Indo-Eur nogh- ‘nail” TANT (RV I, 163,7, frrhifiieteeat a1, N VI, 10) ‘swallowed’ 1s traced to V. ‘toswallow’s Indo-Eur gfera-‘to swallow’, Lith. gérti- ‘to drink,’ Lat voro’ ‘Leat’ (cf Ch. Il, (a), 7) ‘WSA- CoMRV I, 163, 10, watery, anf N IV, 13) ‘a path of the horse’, 1 As per detailed study m Ch I, (a) 2 and (@) 1,140 THE ETYMOLOGIES OF YASKA { Chap and ‘a battle’, 1s traced to yaar, ‘to drive, to lead, Indo-Eur ag-men- ‘to drive’, Lat agmen ‘a train’ aeq- Cot RV I, 163, 10, aaat, N IV, 13) ‘a horse’, 1s traced to yer ‘to move’, Indo-Eur at- ‘to go’: Lat anmus ‘year’ from *atnos ‘AT (Pa, fea ate, N I, 6), lit ‘on this day’, 1s derived as #-(pron ) -+ufa, going back to Indo-Eur pronominal steme ‘this or that’ and dui, det ‘to shine’ The @ in sta goes back to Indo-Eur dissyllabic light base *dyewos, with full-grade vowels, as indicated by OLA. et (philological transcribed dyaiis), Lat dws ‘day.’ The dropping of u in mt 1s an anomaly in OIA, as u was not expected to be dropped here (cf Ch I, 3, x1, HIG Il, pp 160, 150) warts wara-(Cwa RV IV, 20, 10, cat eget, N XI 47) ‘wind’, 1s traced to Ay ‘to breathe’, Indo-Eur an- ‘to breathe’, Lat untma ‘life’ (cf Ch IL @), c, tv) RAGE SY saehHaTt, Terie fragt aaa wergetah xfer are, N VII, 13), 1s traced to wg-+tyegay, lit ‘an additional expression of pratse’ being formed by the addition of a pada to the threc padas of aerit The verb yeqyy ts the bh- extenston of Indo-Eur steu- ‘to oraise loudly’, Av staoits ‘he praises’ (cf Ch II, (a}, 8, v1) gra- Ca were , Teal, N III, 9) ‘food’, 1s traced to yarq ‘to eat’, Gr. édomat ‘I eat? (cf Ch 1,2 and Ch IIL, Type T, sv.) aeamat- (°F voc RV X, 1461, at, erewrer gat N_1X,29) ‘wife of awa, probably ‘a sylvan Deity’ gala. Car RV Il, 23,9, aqreratat a, sare at N IIIs11) ‘an enemy’, 1s traced to &+y@ ‘to give’ signifying ‘one whose acts are not generous" or ‘one whose intentions are not charitable’, Indo-Eur ral1)- ‘to give’, or ‘athing’, Lat rés ‘a thing’ a C{RV 1 10,1, St Bat wale atawdPs, Sl wat wale agtarite, tat aaft agdfa yma, N V, 4) ‘God, mantra, food’, 1s traced to vert ‘to worship, honour, satisfy’; Indo-Eur erk- ‘to sound clearly’, Amn, erg ‘song’ ard: ( ordiseeemeit a, N I, 18) ‘wealth’, 1s traced to va, it ‘whichis goneto1 e sought for’ or ‘stayingin a stranger’ The former meaning would be clearly acceptable to linguistics, as the word goes back to Indo-Eur er- ‘to beset in motion’, Gr erethizdo ‘I excite’ 1 As per ditailed study mm Ch U, (2), 1,1

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