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फेब्रुअरी २०११
long life, being attested as late as the middle of the 19th century. The provenances of manuscript colophons or inscriptions where k. occurs point to a geographical area of expansion limited to Western India and the areas of North India where Śvetāmbara monastic orders were prevalent.
१७७
(3)16
Skt. karmavati is thus an isolated and rather puzzling term, the actual meaning of which is obscure. Superficially, however, it has the structure of a compound word. Analyzing its two members in turn and the relation they have could be rewarding.
(a) -vāți and time divisions
In Hemacandra's auto-commentary on the Abhidhānacintamani, karmavāți is analysed very briefly: karmmaṇām vāțiva karmmavāṭi, tat-pratibaddhatvāt teṣām.17 "k.v. like an enclosure of activities, because they are demarcated by it".
This explanation is the basis of the expanded definitions found in Böhtlingk-Roth and Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionaries (see above 2). It is not especially illuminating. Nevertheless, it invites to understand Skt. vāți, which normally means "orchard" or "enclosure", with a metaphorical connotation because it is here applied to an abstract notion. The Sāroddhāra commentary by Śrivallabhagaṇi (VS 1667 = 1610
16. Sections 3(b) and 4 have largely benefited from several observations and hints given by Prof. Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma (Aligarh/ Düsseldorf), a renowned specialist of the history of Indian sciences, to whom part of the material was submitted. I am most grateful to him for his interest and generous help. Some of his suggestions or remarks are marked as such. I am only responsible for any mistake or shortcoming.
17. P. 33 in The Abhidhana Chintamani Nāmamālā ... ed. by ... Shree VijayNemiSurishwarji Mahārāj... Jain Sahitya Vardhak Sabha. Ahmedabad. V.S. 2032. Vira Samvat 2502. Nemi Samvat 28 (Shree-Vruddhi- NumiAmrut-Granthamālā 72).
