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It is not uncommon in the Puranas to come across etymologies of words. They occur for different purposes of explanation of particular shades or nuances of their meanings or for elucidation of an idea or just for emphasis. Quite a few are fanciful and farfetched. Some are genuine and acceptable. A close look at them in any case is a desideratum in bringing to light the motivation of the author or authors of the Puranas to go in for them and in tracing the development of the process of derivation of words down the centuries. Each Purana needs to be subjected to a thorough analysis from this point. The material yielded thus needs to be correlated to that from other works of the same genre as also earlier works like the Brahmanas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and so on to draw a connected picture. It is in this spirit that the present study is undertaken. Here while dealing with the etymologies the context in which they occur is also traced. This is done to put them in proper perspective. It is from the context that they flow. An effort is also made here to reproduce etymologies of the same words, as far as they are available, from other works to institute comparisons to enable a reader to judge for himself the propriety or otherwise of a given etymology. The Puranas are no texts on etymology. If they still furnish examples of it, they show the influence this discipline exercised on their author/authors. The etymologies appear in their works just by the way. Even this 'by the way' attempt could be, as indeed it is, useful.

Etymologies in the Devibhagavatapurana 69 The first etymology that one comes across in the Devibhagavata is of the word grha which is derived from 鈭歡rah, 'to hold': grhnati purusam yasmad grham tena prakirtitam,' grha is so called because it holds a person, it keeps him to it. This derivation agrees with Panini as well who explains the formation of the word from 鈭歡rah with the suffix ka, vide his rule gehe kah.2 The word putra carries in this Purana its traditional derivation from Put, a hell of that name: punnamanarakad yasmat trayate pitaram svakami putreti nama sartham syat tena tasya mahatmanahir³ punnamno narakad yasmat trayate pitaram sutah tasmat putra it proktah svayam eva svayambhuva if Putra is so called because he protects, i.e. keeps away the forefathers from the hell called Put. Putra thus is put+ tra. The story of Daksina gives the rationale of different words for husband. In this context occurs the etymology of the words bhartr and pati; bharanad eva bharta ca palanat patir ucyate.5 bhartr is so called because he supports and pati because he protects or supports (palana may mean support too). The etymologies are given here keeping the sense and the sound in view. Since it is the husband who is the main support of the household, it is proper that he be called bhartr, derived as the word is from 鈭歜hr, the first part in the word suggesting it: bhar< bhr+ try the first part in pati suggests pa in it: pa+ti, pa meaning 'to protect' though in the etymology as given is the Purana it is taken to mean palana, 'to support', the same meaning as that of 鈭歜hr. Interestingly with such exceptions as mentioned above, all the etymologies in the Devibhagavata pertain to proper names and are based on some similarity of the word with its inferred source, the connection between the two being explained, not unoften, from the point of view of sense on the basis of some myth or legend. Thus medini meaning the earth is derived from medas, marrow; that is how the first part in it is taken. Once this view is

taken, the word will have to be connected with some myth. That myth happens to be in this case the slaying of the demons Madhu and Kaitabha whose marrow on being destroyed had swamped the entire ocean turning it into a mass of land. It was because of their medas, marrow, that the mass of land comes to acquire the name medini: sagarah sakalo vyapatah tada vai medasa tayoh mediniti tato jatam nama prthvyah samantatah if The story of Vrtrasura in the Devibhagavata depicts him as the son of Tvastr who says that he would be known by the name Vitra because of his capacity of guarding against or protecting l.c. (People) from vrjina (sin): vrjinat tratum adhuna yasmac chakto 'si putraka i tasmat vrtra iti khyatam tava nama bhavisyati il The Purana thus seems to derive vrtra from 鈭歷rj with the suffix tra. Kakutstha came to be so called because in a battle he had stood at the hump of a bull sthitah kakudi yenasya kakutsthas tena cabhavat Just as he was called Kakutstha on account of having stood on the hump of a bull, he was called Indravahaka for using Indra as his vehicle. So was he called Puranjaya for his having conquered the city of the demons: indro vahah krto yena tena namnendravahakahi puram jitam tu daityanam tenabhuc ca puranjayahil As is the case with the deity who is referred to by diverse names because of his great number of qualities, vide the Nirukta: mahabhagyad devataya eka atma bahudha stuyate 10 so it is with human beings. They too came to be called by different names because of their varying circumstances and accomplishments. Thus Vyasa is called Dvaipayana because as an infant he was placed in a dvipa: dvipe nyastas taya balas tena dvaipayano 'bhavat.11

Etymologies in the Devibhagavata-purana 71 The sage Galava came to acquire that name because of his having been taken out by his mother, the wife of Visvamitra, for sale under the stress of famine with a rope tied round his neck: so 'bhavad galavo nama galabandhan mahatapah12 The first two syllables seem to have suggested here on account of the similarity of sound with gala, the derivation of the word from the same. With that it was not difficult to connect it with a myth. Va interchangeable with ba, once this derivation was decided upon, was taken to be remnant of bandha, galabandha > galava. Ganga came to be known by the name of Visnupadi because of its having flown out of the feet of Visnu: nirgata visnupadabjat tena visnupaditi ca 13 In the Daksina episode the word daksina for the southern quarter is explained on the basis of the myth of its having come into being from the southern side of Laksmi: avirbhuta daksinamsal laksmyas ca tena daksina¹4 The names of the goddesses Sasthi, Mangalacandi, Manasa, etc. are explained as follows: S daksa ya vartate candi kalyanesu ca mangala mangalesu ca ya daksa sa ca mangalacandika 11 Pressi pujyaya vartate candimangalo pi mahisutah dusare 2011 77 sri mahi rejs az dagh mangalabhistadevi ya'sa ca saptadvipadharapatih y mangalo manuvamsyas ca saptadvipadharapatih tasya pujyabhistadevi tena mangalacandika 1115 H The above gives a threefold explanation of the name Mangalacandika: One, who is expert and auspicious for good things or who is expert in good things. Two, Mangala is the son of the earth. Since she is his favourite deity, she is called Mangalacandika. Three, Mangala was a king in the.race of Manu. Since the goddess was adored and worshipped by him, she came to be called Mangalacandika. The goddess is called Manasadevi because she meditates on the Supreme Lord and shines in union with Him:

manasa dhyayate ya ca paramatmanam isvaram tena sa manasadevi tena yogena divyati 1116 She is called Sasthi because she represents in her the sixth portion of Prakrti: sastyamsa prakrter ya ca sa ca sasthi prakirtita 117 i In the same strain as above is the derivation of the names of the goddesses Radha, Vani, Sarasvati, Bhramari, etc. Radha is so called because she fulfils all desires: radhnoti sakalan kaman tasmad radheti kirtitan¹³ 18 She is called Vani because she is the presiding deity of vani, the speech: vanyadhisthatrdevi sa tena vani prakirita She is called Sarasvati because she belongs to Hari who is the possessor of lakes and is to be seen everywhere, in a lake, in an oblong tank and in channels: sarovapyam ca srotassu sarvatraiva hi drsyate harih sarasvan tasyeyam tena namna sarasvati 1119 She is surrounded by bhramras, bees, so she is Bhramari: bhramarair vestita yasmad bhramari sa tatah smrta 20 The words sakti and krsna have been explained with the ascription of a particular meaning to each of their syllables much in the Tantric way of the bijaksaras: aisvaryavacanah sas ca ktih parakrama eva ca i tatsvarupa tayor datri sa saktih prakirtita 121 Sakti has two components, sa and kti. Sa means aisvarya, supremacy, might and kti means prowess. One who is of the form of both and one who bestows both is called Sakti. Similarly krsna has two components krs and na where both are capable of twofold interpretation. According to one interpretation krs means devotion and na means service to the Supreme Lord: in sa catma sa param brahma krsna ity abhidhiyate! krsis tadbhaktivacano nas ca taddasyavacakahi?? 1

Etymologies in the Devibhagavatapurana 73 According to another interpretation krs means all and na means the seed. Krsna, therefore, is one who is the seed (=source) of all (=everything): krsis ca sarvavacano nakaro bijam eva ca 1 sa krsnah sarvasrastadau sisrksann eka eva ca 123 If i in krsi is taken to represent a root as in Panini, then the derivation of krsna would be krsi + na which would turn into krsna with the dropping of i and the cerebralization of na with the proximity of s. These are thus the etymologies in the Devibhagavata, fanciful no doubt, but certainly quite ingenious and interesting. REFERENCES 1. 1.14.53. With single t it means 'one who purifies forefathers', etc. punati pitradin. With doubt it it is derived in many a work including the Devibhagavatapurana from Put, a hell of that name and tra, vide the Ramayana, II. 107, 12; Mbh. 1.74.37. 2. 3.1.144 3. 4.8.4. A meaning given of the word elsewhere is 'that which possesses or keeps grains etc. for sustenance', grhnati dhanyadin jivanartham. 4. Manusmrti, IX. 138. 5. 9.45.24. The Mbh. also derives it from 鈭歜hr: bharyaya bharanad bharta palanac ca patih smrtah. 6. 1.9.83-4. 7. 6.2.44. 8. 7.9.27. 9. 7.9.28. 10. VII, 1.4. 11. 2.2.4. 12. 7.140.42. According to the Sabdakalpadruma (SKD) the word is derived from the causal form of gal with ghan, the meaning being 'one by whom ignorance is destroyed or dispelled': galyate jnanam anena. 13. 9.14.20. 14. 9.45.73 15. 9.46.4. 1 (1 K

. 9.47.3-4. 17. 9.47.40. 18. 8.8.2. 19. 9.8.3. 20. 9.50.18. According to SKD the word means 'one who has bee-like complexion: bhramarasyam iti bhramarah, bhramaravad y/ varnah, so 'syastiti. There is reference to Bhramari in the Markandeyapurana too where she speaks of her future incarnation wherein she would kill the demon Arunaksa by assuming the form of countless bees, 91.47.49. 21. 10.13.99. 22. 9.2.10. 23. 9.24.26.