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The Expressions for “The year consists of twelve months” and the like in Vedic Prose

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Hanns Oertel
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Extract

§ 1. The sentence “The year consists of twenty-four halfmonths” may be rendered in Vedic prose in three different ways : —

A. The nominatival type : ardhamāsāḥ saṁvatsaraḥ or, with resumptive pronoun (cf. my Syntax of Cases in the Narrative and Descriptive Prose of the Brāhmaṇas, i, § 3, p. 2, and §§ 8 f., pp. 10 ff.), ardhamāsāḥ sa saṁvatsaraḥ.

B. The genitival type: saṁvatsarasyārdhamāsāḥ.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 8 , Issue 2-3 , January 1936 , pp. 685 - 694
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1936

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References

page 685 note 1 This sentence is not quotable but formed by analogy to dvādaśa māsāḥ sa saṁvatsaraḥ (see below, § 2, g).

page 685 note 2 The compound ādityaraśmi- is wanting in pw.

page 685 note 3 Cf. also the compositional dve vai puruṣakapāle (read so with the MS. O), KB. 30.

page 685 note 4 (143, 24 ed. Lindner).

page 686 note 1 Passages from JB. for which no references in parentheses are given are not yet published.

page 689 note 1 The use of the present participle of the root 1 vas + apa to designate the waning moon (= apakṣīyamāṇa-; ŚB. 10. 4. 2. 17 pañcadaśāpūryamāṇasya rūpāṇi pañcadaśāpakṣīyamāṇasya) is noteworthy and does not appear to occur elsewhere. At Vādhūla S. (Caland, Acta Orient, vi, 133, 4, and 134, 11), avāchannāparapakṣais used in this sense in contrast to abhipūryamāṇa[pakṣa-].

page 690 note 1 The compounds pādāha- and pādarātri- are wanting in pw.

page 690 note 2 The compounds ardhāha- and ardharātri- are wanting in pw.

page 691 note 1 The adjectives ṣaḍṛtu- and are wanting in pw. Cf. śataśārada- in the Mantra TS. 5. 7. 2. 4 (etc.) teṣām ṛtūnāṁ śataśāradānām.

page 692 note 1 Cf. dvikapālaṁ hi śiraḥ, ŚB. 8. 4. 4. 4.

page 692 note 2 Cf. for a distantly similar contrast of nominative and genitive, JB. 2. 77 (JAOS. xv, 240, 6), katama ādityā iti, dvādaśa māsās saṁvatsara (so all the MSS.) iti hovācaita ādityā, ete hīdaṁ sarvam ādadānā yanti, tasmād ādityā iti, but the parallels ŚB. 11. 6. 3. 8 and 14. 6. 9. 6, dvādaśa māsāḥ saṁvatsarasya: “ ‘ Who are the Ādityas ? ’ ‘ The twelve months, the year (so JB.; the twelve months of the year ŚB.), these are the Ādityas.’ ”

page 694 note 1 Cf. for the genitival expression tasya (scil. atirātrasya) ṣaṣtiś ca trīni ca śatāni stotrīyāḥ K. 33. 2 (28, 5); teṣāṁ vā eteṣāṁ caturṇām ukthyānāṁ sahasraṁ stotriyāḥ KB. 21. 5 (95, 21); pañcadaśa hy asya (scil. ukthyasya) stotrāṇi bhavanti pañcadaśa śastrāṇi KB. 24. 9 (111, 12–13); tayor etayoḥ pañcadaśasaptadaśayor stotriyāḥ-ŚB. 10. 1. 2. 8; tasya (scil. stomasya) navatiśataṁ stotrīyāḥ PB. 16. 1. 8 tasya (scil. ekāhasya) dviśatāḥ stotrīyāḥ PB. 16. 9. 3 ; tasyai (scil. iṣteḥ) pañcadaśa sāmidhenyo bhavanti ŚB. 11. 4. 3. 18; 13. 4. 1. 13 ; 13. 4. 2. 7 ; tasyai (scil. iṣṭeh) saptadaśa sámidhenyo bhavanti ŚB. 13. 4. 1. 15; 13. 4. 2. 9 ; 13 ; navatiśatam u ha vā agniṣṭomasya stotriyāḥ Vādhūla S. (Caland, Acta Orient., vi, 234, 27).

page 694 note 2 The MS. has the locative : dvādaśāgniṣṭome stotrāṇi MS. 4. 5. 4 (68, 7–8, where the MSS. H and Bb read ˚gnistome, the other MSS. ˚gnistoma); 4. 5. 7 (74, 9, where all MSS. read ˚gniṣṭome).

page 694 note 3 Examples like ṣaṣṭiś ca ha vai trīṇi ca śatāni puruṣasyāsthīni and ṣaṣṭiś ca ha trīṇi ca śatāni pnruṣasya majjānah ŚB. 10. 5. 4. 2 ; trīṇi ca śatāni ṣaṣṭiś ca puruṣasyāsthīni and trīṇi ca śatāni ṣaṣtiś ca puruṣasya majjānah ŚB. 12. 3. 2. 3 ; sapta ca śatáni ca puruṣasyāsthīnī ca majjānaś ca ŚB. 12. 3. 2. 4 are logically different; for the human body consists (i.e. is wholly made up) not only of bones and marrow but of five elements (e.g. AB. 2. 14. 7 = 6. 29. 4 pañkto 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ pañcadhā vihito : lomāni tvañ asthi majjā); it can therefore properly be said to contain bones and marrow, but not to consist of them.