Roots for the word Anaira

671 views
Skip to first unread message

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 18, 2019, 9:46:23 PM2/18/19
to भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्
What are the roots of the word Anaira? How is it spelled in Devnagri?
Is the word ever been used in Vedantas?
More generally, what is the best way to research the roots of the Sanskrit words and trace their origin in Proto Indo European?

-Lokesh

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 18, 2019, 11:40:37 PM2/18/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Dear Lokesh Ji,

     For your last question, you may want to consult the following:


     Mayrhofer provides information regarding historical sources of Sanskrit vocabulary including Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic sources, and reports on secondary sources in research publications.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]


--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bvparishat+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 19, 2019, 8:33:15 PM2/19/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Hello Prof. Madhav,
That is a really hard book to get. Only a few libraries seem to have it and I have access to none of them.
I did find an online resource of a German scholar - Monnier with a good etymological dictionary but drew a blank on "anaira." 
-thx
Lokesh


You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/bvparishat/MzlpFEWn0_M/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to bvparishat+...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


--
Thanks,

Lokesh Johri 

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 19, 2019, 8:33:16 PM2/19/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 19, 2019, 9:56:41 PM2/19/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Dear Lokesh Ji,

     I will check my personal copy and will let you know if I find anything on this word.  Best,

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 19, 2019, 10:20:23 PM2/19/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Here is the download link to the first volume of Mayrhofer's dictionary, but it does not have anything on "anaira."


If I may ask you, where did you come across this word?  An actual reference may be useful.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

rniyengar

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 12:05:18 AM2/20/19
to भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्
"anira" but not 'anaira' is attested in RV

8.048.11a       apa tyÀ asthur anirÀ amÁvÀ nir atrasan tamiÍÁcÁr abhaiÍuÏ |

Sayanabhashya explains: अनिराः  प्रेरयितुमशक्याः ||

The word is seen in 7th, 8th and 10th Books.

RNI

Yogananda CS

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 12:29:35 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Namaste,

From our sources: अनिराः occurs in the 8th Mandala as you have pointed out.
But that is the only occurrence; other appearances, in 7th, 8th and 10th, are of अनिरां (- अनिरां इरान्नं अन्नाभावं)
अनिरेण (- इरान्नं) occurs in the 4th.
Sayana bhashya part is in ( ).

regards.......yoga

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 3:23:08 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
I cannot find Anira (also) in the etymological dictionary. What does it mean? What are its' roots in Sanskrit (and earlier)?

>>>The word is seen in 7th, 8th and 10th Books.
This is Rig Veda?

-Lokesh

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 3:23:08 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Madhavji,
Someone named their kid Anaira, A quick web search yields the meaning of the name as "Gift of God" or "brilliance" but otherwise I cannot find any scholarly root for the word.
"Ane" in the Mayrhofer and other places - means the "breath" or the "spirit". But, there is no further reference. Anaira may not mean anything but several non-scholarly sources seem to suggest otherwise.

-Lokesh

K S Kannan

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 5:30:10 AM2/20/19
to bvparishat
Root Ir is "to urge".
(The root prer = pra + Ir, means the same.
preraNa is impelling).

What cannot be actuated/activated/motivated/impelled/propelled is anIra.
The same is anira in the Veda.

I would be happy to get a better explanation.
Dr. K.S.Kannan

Academic Director, Swadeshi Indology.

Nominated Member, IIAS, Shimla.

Member, BoS, Chinmaya University.

Member, BoS, University of Hyderabad.

Former Professor, CAHC, Jain University, Bangalore.

Former Director, Karnataka Samskrit University, Bangalore.

Former Principal, Evening College, Samskrit University, Bangalore.

Former Head, Dept. of Sanskrit, The National Colleges, Bangalore.

Yogananda CS

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 5:38:59 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Namaste,

Given the context of the question - Someone named their kid Anaira - and that the language is also not mentioned, would it not be a futile exercise to go after the word?

A personal experience: I had a student by name Sumankar and wondered about it when he told me. He smiled and said `my father's name is Shankar and my mother Sumathi, so my sisiter was named Shanmathi and I, Sumankar'!

regards..........yoga

K S Kannan

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 6:13:57 AM2/20/19
to bvparishat
That's better, Dr Yogananda.

I had a student called vandhyA.
Horrified, I asked her to spell properly.
She said Vandhya is fine.
I asked her to confirm with her parents.

Next day she came with the answer:
My father is Vandan, and mother is Sandhya.
So I was named Vandhya!

(For those few who could not guess why I was horrified,
vandhyaa is a sterile woman,
one who has the problem of infertility).

I have come across a girl who said she has a sweet-sounding name:
gaNikA
(which means a prostitute).

Aren't our Dittha and Dapittha better names?
"gataH khalu bhAvo'bhAvam"!

After all, nIlakaNTha dIks"ita did not know these when he said
tasmai s'rIkalaye namaH

Walter Slaje

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 7:01:34 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
> I would be happy to get a better explanation.

anīra does not exist independently as a noun or an adjective according to the lack of respective entries in any of our dictionaries. There is also no trace of it to be found in Sanskrit literature. Except for a verbal form anīrayitvā (Gopathabrāhmaṇa), where it negates the verbal action īr-.

"anira in the Veda"
is not the same as anīra. anira- is derived from írā, a feminine noun meaning "draught, refreshment", which it negates. Accordingly, the noun án-irā in the Veda means "want of vigour, want of food". Used as an adjective (an-irá), it means "destitute of vigour". Āpte follows Mādhava's explanation anirāḥ prerayitum aśakyāḥ for an alleged adjectival meaning ("that cannot be propelled or driven along") only for the sole instance in RV 8.48.11. For RV 7.71.2 however, his derivation from írā is in full accord with all other dictionaries.

For the linguistic etymology of írā (and of án-irā / an-irá as cognate to írā), see the historic explanation in Manfred Mayrhofer's "Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen", 1. Band. Heidelberg 1992: p. 195.

Kind regards,
Walter Slaje


Subrahmanyam Korada

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 8:57:12 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

What are the roots of the word Anaira? How is it spelled in Devnagri?
Is the word ever been used in Vedantas?

                                              ---- Vid Lokesh Johri

अनैरः --

ईर = गतौ कम्पने च -- अदादिः -- ईर्ते  ईराते ईरते  : ईर = क्षेपे - चुरादिः -- ईरयति / ईरति 

स्वादीरेरिणॊः -  वार्तिकम् ( एत्येधत्यूठ्सु - पा 6-1-89) 

ईर्ते इति ईरः - पचाद्यच् ( नन्दिग्रहिपचादिभ्यो ल्युणिन्यचः - पा 3-1-134 ) -- the one who goes as he likes or the one who
shivers / trembles -- तस्य अयम् -- ऐरः- अण् ( तस्येदम् - पा 4-3-120 ) , न ऐरः अनैरः ।

धन्यो’स्मि




Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam
Professor of Sanskrit, CALTS,
University of Hyderabad,
Ph:09866110741(M),91-40-23010741(R),040-23133660(O)
Skype Id: Subrahmanyam Korada

Subrahmanyam Korada

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 9:00:00 AM2/20/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

अनैरः is not there in वेदान्त ।

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 9:26:10 AM2/20/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Naming in modern times is not always Sanskritic.  Our friends Anil and Shobha named their daughter अभा and their son शोनील. Our own family members born in recent years have names that cannot be explained in Sanskrit terms.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 20, 2019, 1:02:13 PM2/20/19
to भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्
Thanks, everyone. Much appreciate your responses.
Several non-scholarly sites give this meaning to Anaira: http://www.moonastro.com/babyname/baby%20name%20anaira%20meaning.aspx
I think these sites are copying each other with no real basis.

-Lokesh

Nityanand Misra

unread,
Feb 21, 2019, 8:30:14 AM2/21/19
to भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्


On Wednesday, 20 February 2019 16:43:57 UTC+5:30, ks.kannan.2000 wrote:
That's better, Dr Yogananda.

I had a student called vandhyA.
Horrified, I asked her to spell properly.
She said Vandhya is fine.
I asked her to confirm with her parents.

Next day she came with the answer:
My father is Vandan, and mother is Sandhya.
So I was named Vandhya!



Is it possible she was named वन्द्या (वन्दितुं योग्या वन्द्या) which was spelled Vandhya in Roman (an ‘h’ is often added after ‘d’ to transliterate द् in the South), and later everybody forgot it is वन्द्या and not वन्ध्या? If she was named वन्ध्या indeed, then Bhagavaan save us! 

K S Kannan

unread,
Feb 21, 2019, 8:59:22 AM2/21/19
to bvparishat
The first thing I told her was to remove the mahAprANa, but she resisted. Her later justification was that her mother's name had the mahAprANa at the end!
Gooovinda!

--

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 21, 2019, 9:18:03 AM2/21/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
What to do with Vidya often being spelled as Vidhya.  Or Samskrutham? Or Seetha?  During a Sanskrit competition in my college days somewhere in South India, I received a certificate with my name represented as यम यम देशपांडे [for M. M. D.].  Never thought I was that scary.  

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

Shrikant Jamadagni

unread,
Feb 21, 2019, 9:23:20 AM2/21/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
It is our collective fault that no one to this day has ever advocated for correct transliteration of bharatiya words. 

Maybe BVP should lead way. An app is required for easy transliteration. 

hnbhat

unread,
Feb 21, 2019, 9:55:12 AM2/21/19
to bvparishat@googlegroups com

गतानुगतिको लोकः! महाजनो येन गतः स पन्थाः!

विश्वासो वासुकेयः

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 2:31:40 PM2/26/19
to भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्


On Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 6:18:03 AM UTC-8, Madhav Deshpande wrote:
What to do with Vidya often being spelled as Vidhya.  Or Samskrutham? Or Seetha? 

While I personally prefer distinguishing alpa and mahAprANas by h, one must recognize that this is not the historically popular romanization in much of South India, where h served to distinguish the mUrdhanya from the dantya. That, of course, does not automatically make this romanization technique "wrong" or even inferior. So, the right thing to do is think: "Oh - so their romanization map is different from ours", and not act as if they are bumbling.

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 3:08:31 PM2/26/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Dear Vishvas Ji,

     Just for my understanding, what is the conventional South Indian way to transcribe ट, ठ, ड, ढ, त, थ, द, ध?  Are these distinctly Romanized in some way, or some of the distinctions are not represented in the Roman transcription?  Is there some regularity, or the transcriptions differ in different regions of South India?  I am aware that the Tamil script does not have all these distinctions, but Grantha does.  As far as my second hand knowledge goes, other scripts like Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam do have distinct written characters for all these distinctions.  Any clarification will shed light on the practice of Romanization.  Best wishes,

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 9:48:59 PM2/26/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Prof. Deshpande,

I can't speak for other languages, however in Tamil, ta = tha, Ta=ta, da = dha and Da = da. Since there are no mahaAprANa consonants, they are not transcribed. Unless a Tamilian learned Sanskrit, they would not even know these consonants and so it's moot. The Tamilians who did learn how to chant Vedas etc., traditionally used grantham books, but the situation over the last 50 - 60 years has changed - probably for the worse. Note that in Tamil the Ta -> Da and ta -> da under certain conditions (follows a specific set of rules found in the tolkAppiyam) and so the transliteration would reflect that as well. So not ANTAL but ANDAL (ITRANS, not  to be mistaken for all capital letters :-)) or without capitalization Andal. Also the ca is pronounced more like sha (not the same as Sanskrit sha) is some cases and the transliteration would reflect that - shivan or sivan and not civan). All in all it's not one-to-one, and was never meant to achieve that.

Ramakrishnan

K S Kannan

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 11:25:33 PM2/26/19
to bvparishat
Even in the case of Roman transliteration,
I do not know whether the problem of these have been addressed:
- Can तितउ (Vedic) and तितौ (one can think of such a string)
be represented differently  (titau stands for both as of now) ?
- Similarly with Prakrts :
pasIau for पसीअउ (for Sanskrit प्रसीदतु), and even पसीऔ.


विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 11:34:25 PM2/26/19
to bhAratIya-vidvat-pariShad भारतीय-विद्वत्परिषद्
On Tue, Feb 26, 2019 at 12:08 PM Madhav Deshpande <mmd...@umich.edu> wrote:
Dear Vishvas Ji,

     Just for my understanding, what is the conventional South Indian way to transcribe ट, ठ, ड, ढ, त, थ, द, ध?  Are these distinctly Romanized in some way, or some of the distinctions are not represented in the Roman transcription? 

Without diacritics or capitalization or redefining the sounds of some characters like z or q, it is simply impossible to represent distinct sounds using the common English alphabet.

As such, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, त, थ, द, ध when transcripted may show up as t, t, d, d, th, th, dh, dh.

Like maruthi. Every southern Karnataka or Tamil person will almost surely read it as मारुति . Or vidhya for विद्या - though vidya is also used in karnataka.

 
Is there some regularity, or the transcriptions differ in different regions of South India? 

Slightly irregular and region-dependent as noted above.

 
I am aware that the Tamil script does not have all these distinctions, but Grantha does. 

Transcription differences in Tamil nadu sometimes accurately reflect their (sometimes comically) defective pronunciation arising from modern reliance on this defective script. "Abastamba soodra". As a joke verse of mine goes:
द्राविडा वाङ्गतुल्याश्च वाङ्गा द्राविडसन्निभाः।
तयोरुच्चारितं को वा तदन्यो वेत्ति भूतले॥

 
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/bvparishat/MzlpFEWn0_M/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to bvparishat+...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


--
--
Vishvas /विश्वासः

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 11:40:54 PM2/26/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Dear Professor Kannan,

     Some scholars have recognized the need for a different notation.  Prof. Alexander Lubotsky of Leiden in one of his publications uses the following:

image.png

The issue in Prakrit is somewhat different, since none of the Prakrits have ऐ, औ, and hence the transcriptions "ai, au" represent two consecutive vowels.  Similarly, the Prakrits can have "ae, āe, oi, ei, īe" etc., sequences that do not occur in Sanskrit. With best wishes,

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 11:43:09 PM2/26/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Dear Vishvas Ji,

Congratulations for your comic verse.  Please write more.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

K S Kannan

unread,
Feb 26, 2019, 11:48:44 PM2/26/19
to bvparishat
Dear Prof. Deshpande,

How then with Hindi where we get such 'ligatures' as well as ऐ and औ?
Any solution attempted?

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Feb 27, 2019, 12:17:34 AM2/27/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
This happens in part because languages like Hindi and Marathi contain vocabulary that comes from both Prakrit sources and directly from Sanskrit.  Occasionally ऐ, औ result from changes Prakrit > Apabhraṃśa > New Indo-Aryan languages like Hindi and Marathi.  For example, we can see changes like: Skt bhavati > bhavai > havai > hoi > HIndi है.  A good example in Marathi is the town name पैठण < प्रतिष्ठान.  Here we see the sequence: pratiṣṭhāna > patiṭṭhāna > paiṭṭhāna > पैठण.  

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

K S Kannan

unread,
Feb 27, 2019, 1:00:35 AM2/27/19
to bvparishat
My query was not with regard to the genesis of the issue,
but rather with any handling of the same in transliteration.

Radhakrishna Warrier

unread,
Feb 27, 2019, 2:11:03 AM2/27/19
to K S Kannan, bvpar...@googlegroups.com
तितउ can be transcribed in Harvard-Kyoto Roman as tita-u and तितौ can be transcribed as titau.

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of K S Kannan <ks.kann...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 8:25 PM
To: bvparishat
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Roots for the word Anaira
 

Radhakrishna Warrier

unread,
Feb 27, 2019, 2:11:03 AM2/27/19
to Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan, bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu all have these four categories of consonants:   the khara-s (ka, ca, Ta, ta and pa), the ati khara-s which are mahAprANa-s (kha ,cha, Tha, tha, pha), the mRdu-s (ga, ja, Da, da, ba) and the ghOSa-s which are also mahAprANa-s (gha, Jha, Dha, dha, bha).  However, a large number of people speaking these languages are unable to differentiate mahAprANa-s from non-mahAprANa-s.  Hence, confusion often prevails not only in Roman transliteration but even when writing in the native scripts.  This is similar to the confusion I see among Gujarati and Marathi speakers with regards to the distinction between hrasva (short) /u/ and dIrgha (long) /U/, and also hrasva (short) /i/ and dIrgha (long) /I/.  Open any Gujarati or Marathi newspaper, and you can see a large number of instances this confusion.

Regards,
Radhakrishna Warrier

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan <b.ra...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 3:05 PM
To: bvpar...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Roots for the word Anaira

Siddharth Wakankar

unread,
Feb 27, 2019, 5:08:36 AM2/27/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Dear Shri Warrier,

Your observation about the confusion among Marathi and Gujarati spellings or way of writing/printing cannot be considered to be absolutely valid because,now a days,no newspaper in any language prints the words as they should be and hence newspaper printing should not be considered to be valid proof of any sort.

Even Times of India has scores of mistakes in English grammar, construction etc. In our childhood,we were required to read Times of India to improve our proficiency and vocabulary,but,that is not a case now.

It is a pity that most of the reporters of almost all the newspapers in English and Indian languages as well as the speakers or news.writings on the TV are faulty.e.g.where to keep the Repha( half र्) is a problem.What to do under these circumstances? 

So, newspaper language cannot be counted to be always correct.

Excuse me if I hurt anybody's feelings by this observation.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.
Vadodara. 9427339942.

Lokesh Johri

unread,
Feb 28, 2019, 11:39:21 AM2/28/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Prof. Siddharth:
I think it is wrong to say TOI has fallen in the standard. Newspapers are a mass market product and what they publish should be easily readable by their customers.  For instance, BBC is no more conforming to the "Gold Standard" used (even) 15 years ago. Languages are living and breathing entities. They change and adapt. Who is to decide what is right and wrong? Is American English a "wrong English" because it does not conform to British English? Who carries the mandate to make these decisions? Writing badly out of ignorance of Grammer is lazy but adopting the common usage as the present state of the language is not so. Does Sanskrit suffer from rigidity brought to it by the "scholars" affecting its' mass adoption even as the language is so beautiful on its'own? The invention of words like "lauhpathgamini" etc. are a pathetic attempt to preserve the purity of a language and would remain confined to the world of trivia.

-Lokesh

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/bvparishat/MzlpFEWn0_M/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to bvparishat+...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


--

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

unread,
Mar 4, 2019, 2:04:26 PM3/4/19
to bhAratIya-vidvat-pariShad भारतीय-विद्वत्परिषद्
The name of our hero who fell into Terrorist State of Pakistan and narrowly escaped the jaws of death is of interest here: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, son of Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman (both beautiful names). Note the "th" in varthaman. Now, I am not sure if that was deliberately chosen to represent ध (plausible) or त, and if the latter - was his name actually वर्तमान (unlikely) or if it accurately records the tamil mispronunciation of ध (also plausible).

On Tue, Feb 26, 2019 at 8:34 PM विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki) <vishvas...@gmail.com> wrote:

Madhav Deshpande

unread,
Mar 4, 2019, 2:12:43 PM3/4/19
to Bharatiya Vidvat parishad
Thanks, Vishvas Ji.  I did notice that spelling and thought about the recent discussions regarding Romanization of Tamil names on the BVP.  Another spelling that previously I noticed was Seetha Nilakantan, associated with the Adyar Library in Chennai.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

unread,
Mar 4, 2019, 10:16:54 PM3/4/19
to Radhakrishna Warrier, bvpar...@googlegroups.com


On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 6:06 PM Radhakrishna Warrier <radwa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
I think Abhinandan is from a Tamil Jain family. 

Contradicts data :-) Well, you can clearly hear Wing Commander abhinandan declare his hindu religion in the blindfolded-interrogation video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq3jZhPO-HY (10-15s mark) .
 

Interestingly, Abhinandan's father's name is Simhakutty Varthaman.  Simhakutty sounds like a Malayalam word.  In Malayalam, Simhakutty can mean either cub lion or the offspring of a lion.

It is pertinent to note here that Vardhaman in "Abhinandan Varthaman" and Simhakutty in "Simhakutty Varthaman" are very likely to be patronymics (following the modern tamiL pattern).



 

Regards,
Radhakrishna Warrier

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki) <vishvas...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 4, 2019 11:04 AM
To: bhAratIya-vidvat-pariShad भारतीय-विद्वत्परिषद्

Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Roots for the word Anaira

Vishal Agarwal

unread,
Mar 4, 2019, 11:27:41 PM3/4/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Abhinandan and Vardhaman Mahavir are names of Jain Teerthankars. During his captivity, his family organized prayers in Jain Temples. He might have been forced to declare his religion as Hindu, or he said so because many Jains identity themselves as Hindus also. In my city, the Jain Temple is right inside the garbhagriha of the Hindu temple, and many of my childhood friends as well as family members who are Jain’s also called themselves as Hindus. 

Vishal

Sent from my iPhone

Radhakrishna Warrier

unread,
Mar 4, 2019, 11:40:40 PM3/4/19
to विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki), bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Maybe this Wikipedia entry is more authentic than what Abhinandan told his Pakistani interrogators:

"Abhinandan's family hails from Thirupanamoor, a village near Kanchipuram.[5] They are a Tamil Jain family and frequently visit the nearby Karanthai temple." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhinandan_Varthaman
Abhinandan Varthaman is a wing-commander in the Indian Air Force. He received widespread recognition for being shot down in an aerial dogfight, captured and held for three days in Pakistan during the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff.
Regards,
Radhakrishna Warrier


From: विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki) <vishvas...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 4, 2019 7:16 PM
To: Radhakrishna Warrier
Cc: bvpar...@googlegroups.com

Radhakrishna Warrier

unread,
Mar 4, 2019, 11:40:41 PM3/4/19
to विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki), bvpar...@googlegroups.com
I think Abhinandan is from a Tamil Jain family.  So, the intended name is most likely Vardhamān (वर्धमान) as in Vardhamāna Mahāvīra.  Tamil writing does not distinguish ta, tha, da, and dha.  All these sounds are transcribed by the Tamil character ta (த) which the Tamils usually Romanize as 'th'. That could be the reason for the spelling Varthaman.

Interestingly, Abhinandan's father's name is Simhakutty Varthaman.  Simhakutty sounds like a Malayalam word.  In Malayalam, Simhakutty can mean either cub lion or the offspring of a lion.

Regards,
Radhakrishna Warrier

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki) <vishvas...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 4, 2019 11:04 AM
To: bhAratIya-vidvat-pariShad भारतीय-विद्वत्परिषद्
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Roots for the word Anaira

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

unread,
Mar 5, 2019, 12:02:34 AM3/5/19
to bhAratIya-vidvat-pariShad भारतीय-विद्वत्परिषद्
On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 8:27 PM 'Vishal Agarwal' via भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत् <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Abhinandan and Vardhaman Mahavir are names of Jain Teerthankars. During his captivity, his family organized prayers in Jain Temples.
I see!

 
In my city, the Jain Temple is right inside the garbhagriha of the Hindu temple

That's interesting! Can you share pics and/ or more detailed description?

Vishal Agarwal

unread,
Mar 5, 2019, 10:47:57 AM3/5/19
to bvpar...@googlegroups.com
For pictures, you can look up Hindu Society of Minnesota > Home



Due to the bitter cold here, the Garbhagriha is a giant indoor hall housing around 2 dozen separate shrines, of which 1 is a Jain shrine containing the Murtis of Parshvanath, Adinath and Mahavir, in between the shrines of Durga and Meenakshi. All major Jain festivals are observed right there.

Regards,

Vishal Agarwal

________________________

विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)

unread,
Mar 5, 2019, 1:41:59 PM3/5/19
to bhAratIya-vidvat-pariShad भारतीय-विद्वत्परिषद्
On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 7:47 AM 'Vishal Agarwal' via भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत् <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
For pictures, you can look up Hindu Society of Minnesota > Home



Due to the bitter cold here, the Garbhagriha is a giant indoor hall housing around 2 dozen separate shrines, of which 1 is a Jain shrine containing the Murtis of Parshvanath, Adinath and Mahavir, in between the shrines of Durga and Meenakshi. All major Jain festivals are observed right there.

Ah I see - it is a diaspora multiplex. I recall seeing a jaina niche in Sunnyvale Hindu temple. In India, it is much rarer - I recall the Kagvad temple.


 

Regards,

Vishal Agarwal

________________________
On Monday, March 4, 2019, 11:02:34 PM CST, विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki) <vishvas...@gmail.com> wrote:

On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 8:27 PM 'Vishal Agarwal' via भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत् <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Abhinandan and Vardhaman Mahavir are names of Jain Teerthankars. During his captivity, his family organized prayers in Jain Temples.
I see!

 
In my city, the Jain Temple is right inside the garbhagriha of the Hindu temple

That's interesting! Can you share pics and/ or more detailed description?

 
, and many of my childhood friends as well as family members who are Jain’s also called themselves as Hindus. 

 

Vishal


--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/bvparishat/MzlpFEWn0_M/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to bvparishat+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages