[Thread]

The cotton tree (Bombax ceiba L.), called ‘Śālmali’ in Sanskrit and ‘semal’/‘semar’ in Hindi, is well known in Sanskrit literature. One is amazed on seeing the rich set of names used for this tree in Sanskrit. The names indicate a very close observation of nature.

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1) ‘kaṇṭakadruma’ (कण्टकद्रुम): “the thorny tree”. The stem of the tree has conical spines

2) ‘devavṛkṣa’ (देववृक्ष): “the tree of the gods”. As per the Mahābhārata (XII.156.7, Gita Press edition), Pitāmaha (Brahmā) rested under a Śālmali tree after creating the worlds.

2/n Image
3) ‘nirgandhapuṣpa’ (निर्गन्धपुष्प): “with scentless flowers”. The red flowers of the tree (third image) do not have a strong odour. The flower is beautiful but when it ripens, there are only cotton fibres which cannot be eaten. This led the great poet Sūradāsa to write—

3/n ImageImage
“यह संसार फूल सेमर ज्यौं सुन्दर देखि लुभायौ। चाखन लाग्यौ रुई उड़ि गई हाथ कछू नहिं आयौ॥” = “This world is like the flower of a ‘semal’ tree. You were attracted by seeing the beautiful flower. When you started tasting the fruit, the cotton flew away, you did not get anything.”

4/n
4) ‘pañcaparṇī’ (पञ्चपर्णी): “five-leaved”. The tree has largely penta-foliate leaves. Even the flowers have five petals.

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‘picchilā’ (पिच्छिला): “having a gum”. This is one of the several feminine names. The bark of the tree exudes a dark-brown gum known as Mocharus (‘semal-gond’) in Hindi. It is believed the gum is a result of the tree’s natural wounds caused by decay, insects, or disease.

6/n Image
6) ‘pūraṇī’ (पूरणी): Another feminine name which means “she who fills or completes”. I do not know why the tree is called so. Possibly because of its large size? The tree can easily grow up to 40 metres high and in some regions up to 50 or 60 metres high.

7/n
7) ‘mocā’ (मोचा): Another feminine name. Means “she who releases [gum]”. The name Mocharus for the gum most likely comes from ‘mocā’.

8) ‘yamavṛkṣa’ (यमवृक्ष): “the tree of Yama”. This name is possibly due to the long life of the tree. See comment on ‘sthirāyu’ below.

8/n
9) ‘raktapuṣpa’ (रक्तपुष्प): “having red flowers”.

10) ‘śālmali’ (शाल्मलि): “he who covers and holds”. The most common name for the tree in Sanskrit. Source of Hindi ‘semal’ and ‘semar’.

11) ‘śālmalī’ (शाल्मली): “she who covers and holds”. Feminine form of ‘śālmali’.

9/n ImageImage
12) ‘sthirāyu’ (स्थिरायु): “long-lasting, having a permanent life”. The tree was believed to live for 60,000 years: षष्टिः वर्षसहस्राणि वने जीवति शाल्मलिः.

Image: V. Jain and S.K. Verma. Pharmacology of Bombax Ceiba Linn. 2012. Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-27903-4.

n/n Image

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More from @MisraNityanand

13 Sep
[Thread]

Question: “Many North Indians have the last name ‘Singh’. Why do they write and pronounce ‘Singh’ when the word is ‘simha’/सिंह? In Hindi they pronounce सिंघ but write सिंह. For example, Rajnath Singh is राजनाथ सिंह in Hindi. I am from South, I find it unusual.”

1/n
My answer

Yes, the original Sanskrit is ‘siṃha’ (सिंह), “a lion”. However, in Prakrit this becomes ‘sīha’, ‘siṃgha’, or ‘siṅgha’.

In the ancient Prakrit Grammar Prākṛta-prakāśa, by rule ईत्सिंहजिह्वयोश्च (1.17), Sanskrit ‘siṃha’ (सिंह) becomes Prakrit ‘sīha’ (सीह).

2/n
In later Prakrit, another form ‘siṃgha’ (सिंघ), which optionally becomes ‘siṅgha’ (सिङ्घ), is also attested. In his Prakrit grammar (eighth chapter of the Siddhahema-śabdānusāsana), Ācārya Hemacandra (12th century CE) has a rule मांसादेर्वा (1.29).

3/n
Read 6 tweets
29 Aug
सूचना

गुरुदेव (@JagadguruJi) कृत महावीरी व्याख्या का चतुर्थ संस्करण निःशुल्क अधोभारण (free download) और सशुल्क क्रय के लिए उपलब्ध है।

पुस्तक यहाँ से अधोभारित (download) करें—jagadgururambhadracharya.org/wp-content/upl…

पुस्तक यहाँ से मंगाएँ—amazon.in/dp/9382253076

पुस्तक का विवरण अधोलिखित है— ImageImage
शीर्षक: श्रीहनुमान्-चालीसा—महावीरी व्याख्या सहित

विषयवस्तु: गोस्वामी तुलसीदास कृत श्रीहनुमान्-चालीसा पर जगद्गुरु रामभद्राचार्य कृत महावीरी व्याख्या का चतुर्थ संस्करण। विशिष्ट शब्दार्थ और अनुवाद सहित व्याख्या। पद्यार्धानुक्रमणी, शब्दानुक्रमणी, और हनुमान्‌जीकी आरती सम्मिलित।
भाषा: हिन्दी

व्याख्याकार: जगद्गुरु रामानन्दाचार्य स्वामी रामभद्राचार्य

संपादक: मनीषकुमार शुक्ल और नित्यानन्द मिश्र

पुस्तकरूपरेखा: नित्यानन्द मिश्र

अक्षर-संयोजन: नित्यानन्द मिश्र

आवरण चित्र: भँवरलाल गिरधारीलाल शर्मा (सन् १९२४–२००७), राजस्थान चित्रकला के प्रसिद्ध पुरोधा
Read 5 tweets
15 Aug
[सूत्र]

‘स्वतन्त्र’ और ‘स्वतन्त्रा’

“जयतात्संस्कृता भाषा जयताद्भारतं तथा”।

आज भारत का स्वतन्त्रता-दिवस है। आज के दिन जन्मे बालक के लिए ‘स्वतन्त्र’ और बालिका के लिए ‘स्वतन्त्रा’ नाम उपयुक्त है। ये दोनों नाम पौराणिक और अन्य सहस्रनामों में प्राप्त हैं।

१/बहु
गणेश-पुराण के गणेश-सहस्रनाम में ‘स्वतन्त्र’ गणेश का नाम है। “स्वतन्त्रः सत्यसङ्कल्पः सामगानरतः सुखी”। इस नाम पर भास्करराय खद्योत भाष्य में लिखते हैं—“स्वतन्त्रः स्वयमेवासि नानातन्त्रात्मना यतः”, अर्थात् जो स्वयं नाना तन्त्रों के आत्मा (=सार) सहित हैं वे ‘स्वतन्त्र’ हैं।

२/बहु
इसके अतिरिक्त मन्त्र-महार्णव में प्राप्त हनुमत्सहस्रनाम में ‘स्वतन्त्र’ हनुमान् का नाम है। “नन्दीप्रियः स्वतन्त्रश्च मेखली डमरुप्रियः”।

ब्रह्माण्ड-पुराण के ललिता सहस्रनाम में ‘स्वतन्त्रा’ देवी ललिता का नाम है। “स्वतन्त्रा सर्वतन्त्रेशी दक्षिणामूर्तिरूपिणी”।

३/बहु
Read 6 tweets
14 Aug
Schwa syncope is not limited to Hindi. It is present in many northern, western, and eastern Indian languages.

What's more. Schwa syncope in Sanskrit names is today very common in South India.

Let us take the example of Karnataka. In December 2020, 90 out of 234 members of ...
the Karnataka Legislative Assembly had Sanskrit names which were spelt in Kannada without the terminal schwa. That is more than 35%.

If we omit (1) Sanskrit names not ending in a (2) Kannadized Sanskrit names ending in -appa, -aiah etc (3) names of women (4) Muslim names, ...
then the 35% number would probably exceed even 50%.

Here are the 90 names out of 246 MLAs of Karnataka (as of Dec 2020) spelt without schwa in Kannada:

ಡಿ ಎಸ್‌ ಸುರೇಶ್‌
ಬಿ ಸಿ ನಾಗೇಶ್‌
ಎಸ್‌ ಸುರೇಶ್‌ ಕುಮಾರ್
ಜಿ ಬಿ ಜ್ಯೋತಿ ಗಣೇಶ್‌
ಜಯರಾಮ್‌ ಎ ಎಸ್‌
ಡಾ. ಎಸ್ ಶಿವರಾಜ್ ಪಾಟೀಲ್
ಆರ್‌ ಶಂಕರ್‌
...
Read 10 tweets
13 Aug
[सूत्र]

‘नीरज’ = निर्मल, रजोगुणरहित (=सात्त्विक), शिव

नीरज चोपड़ा को स्वर्ण पदक मिलने के पश्चात् उनके नाम के अर्थ को लेकर बहुत चर्चा चली। अधिकांश लोगों से पूछें तो ‘नीरज’ नाम का अर्थ ‘कमल’ ही बताते हैं। ‘नीर’ = ‘जल, पानी’, और ‘नीर’ में जनमने वाला है ‘नीरज’ = ‘कमल’।

१/बहु
यह सत्य है संस्कृत में ‘नीरज’ शब्द का एक अर्थ ‘कमल’ है, पर इस अर्थ में प्रायः ‘नीरज’ शब्द नपुंसकलिङ्ग है। अपि च, ‘नीरज’ का ‘कमल’ अर्थ किसी व्यक्ति अथवा देवता पर घटित नहीं होता। ‘नीरजाक्ष’ = ‘कमलनेत्र’ फिर भी हो सकता है, पर केवल ‘नीरज’ = ‘कमल’ ऐसा अर्थ नहीं।

२/बहु
फिर ‘नीरज’ नाम क्या अर्थ लें? संस्कृत में एक शब्द है ‘रज’। यह शब्द ‘रजस्’ इस सकारान्त शब्द से भिन्न है। शब्दकल्पद्रुम और वाचस्पत्य के अनुसार इस ‘रज’ शब्द के अर्थ हैं, “पराग’, ‘रेणु’ (=धूलि), ‘गुणविशेष’ (=सत्त्व, रजस्, तमस् में दूसरा गुण), ‘आर्तव’, आदि।

३/बहु
Read 6 tweets

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