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ajaya-, ajeya- and ajayya
M.A. MEHENDALE*
According to the lexicons of Böhtlingk-Roth (BR), Monier-Williams (MW), V.S. Apte and Deccan College (DC) all the three words mean “invincible, unconquerable, unsurpassable'. Of the three words ajaya occurs both as an adjective and noun, while the other two only as adjectives. As noun, ajaya means 'defeated'.
It is necessary to look a little more closely at the adjectival meaning of these words.
1. ajaya- : As mentioned above, it functions both as adjective and as noun.
A. ajaya- Adjective: i) Meaning 'invincible'. In this meaning na jayah yasya or nūsti parair jayo yasya (Apte) 'who cannot be defeated' the genitive yasya is treated as objective genitive (karmaņi şaşthi).? There are many examples of this meaning given in the dictionaries.
ii) Meaning 'who cannot win'. This meaning is given only by the author of Kāśikāvrtti while commenting on Pāṇini 6.2.157. According to this sūtra?, if the words ending in the suffix uc (a) and ka (a) are preceded by nañ and if the meaning intended to be conveyed is incapability (to do something), the end syllable of the compound receives the acute accent. The Kāśikā gives two examples for the affix -ac, viz. apacá and ajaya and explains the former as yah paktum nu saknoti ‘one who cannot cook'. Obviously, the latter example ajaya is to be understood as yah jetum na saknoti' who cannot win’.4 However, there is no example of the use of ajayá in this meaning in any of the dictionaries.
B. ajaya- noun : Meaning ‘non victory, defeat (na jayah).
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There are many examples of this meaning given in the dictionaries.
2. ajeya- Adjective : According to BR, MW and DC dictionaries, the meaning of ajeya is 'invincible'. They give many examples for this meaning. However, according the Pāṇinean tradition, the meaning of ajeya should really be 'one who does not deserve to be conquered, whom it is improper to conquer’. While commenting on the Pāṇinisūtra 6.1.81 (sce below under ajayya-), commentators observe that jeya means 'whom it is proper to conquer, who deserves to be conquered' (jetun yogyah). Hence ajeyu should mean its opposite 'whom it is improper to conquer, who does not deserve to be conquered'. However, the citations given in the dictionaries (especially DC) point to the meaning 'one who cannot be conquered, invincible' (however, see below) i.e. ajeya is synonymous with ajaya and ajayya. The word ajaya has received this meaning only on the strength of convention (rūdhi).
The V. S. Apte dictionary and the Śabdakalpadruma, however, assign to ajaya the meaning which is in keeping with the grammatical tradition noticed above. Apte gives the meaning ‘not fit to be conquered', but does not give any example to support the meaning. The Sabdakalpadrunna gives the meaning 'ajayanīya, ajetavya and cites in support a part of the stanza from the Skandapurana, Kāśikhanda 23.60. The citation reads as- ajayas (vañ ca sanigrāme mamūpi bhavişyasi'. But this example does not seem quite appropriate. The stanza in question appears in the praise of Vişņu by Siva. In that context the word ajaya is more likely to mean 'one who cannot be conquered' rather than one who does not deserve to be conquered'. ("You will be invincible for me in battle").
But it is possible to point to another citation as a suitable example. It is given in the DC dictionary. It occurs in the Jaiminiya Brâhmaņa 1.265 and in the dictionary it is taken to
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29 mean “invincible, unconquerable'. The passage reads as: yato na vā idam etā vigīyante lato nedan brāhmaṇā jīyante! atha yarhy etā na vijagur ajeyā na brāhmaṇā āsuh/
Since the context is of conquering or not conquering the Brāhmanas, it does not seem natural to interpret ajeya as unconquerable. It should be taken to mean 'one who does not deserve to be conquered, whom it is not proper to conquer'. The passage says that when the Brāhmaṇas sang the samans pertaining to the three savanas properly, they were held in respect, they were deemed as not deserving the humiliation of defeat (ajeyāḥ). But now, since the Brāhmaṇas sing them in an improper way (vigiyante), they have lost their respectable position and are made to suffer defeat (jīyante).
If this interpretation is accepted we have at least one example of ajaya in the meaning acceptable to the Pāṇinean tradition. Since the example occurs in a Brāhmaṇa it is likely to be closer to the date of Pāniņi who apparently know the word ajeya only in this meaning. The word came to be used in the other meaning 'invincible' sometime after Pāniņi. Its earliest use, according to the DC dictionary, is since the epics.
3. ajayya : Adjective: According to Pāniņisūtra kşayyajayyau sakyārthe (6.1.81), the word jáyya means 'one who can be conquered, whom it is possible to conquer' (sakyo jetum). Consequently ajayya would mean 'whom it is not possible to conquer, invincible?." There are many examples of this meaning given in the dictionaries.
Conclusion: According to the grammatical tradition ajayya is the only word which unambiguously means “invincible'.
The word ajaya may mean “invincible'. But it is ambiguous, since it may also mean ‘one who cannot win’.
The word ajeya has come to be used in the meaning ‘invincible'since the epictimes. It has no basis in grammar. The word should really mean ‘whom it is not proper to conquer'.
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________________ Footnotes 1. That ajaya- and ajeya- occur also as proper names is beside the point. 2. But in Sabdakalpadruma, ajaya is explained as na jiyate parasiyate asau / ji karmani ac. 3. ackav asaktau. 4. This meaning of ajaya 'who cannot win' can be had also by interpreting the genitive in 'na jayah yasya as subjective genitive. 5. Sabdakalpadruma, by mistake, prints bhavisyati. 6. BR gives one more meaning for ajayya- viz. 'that what it is improper to win (in play)' ('was nicht abgewonnen werden diirfte (im spiele)') and refers to Vopadeva's Mugdhabodha 5.6: ajayyan jigaya tan. It is difficult to know that what could be the subject of ajayya. What could possibly be which Krsna should not have won while playing with the cowherd boys? The whole line runs as - gopalan anvasat kelims tatrajayyam jigaya tan. But since Vopadeva also gives the meaning of jayya as 'who (or which) can be conquered under 26.16 (jerum sahyani), his meaning of ajayyu should be its opposite. This meaning is, however, not suitable in the context of the above line. Hence we have to assume that ajayyam is a mistake, inadvertently M. A. MEHENDALE BHANDARKAR ORIENATAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE PUNE 411004