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206
BRIHADARANYAKA-UPANISHAD.
Then Gautama went where (the place of) Pravahana Gaivali was, and the king offered him a seat, ordered water for him, and gave him the proper offerings. Then he said to him : 'Sir, we offer a boon to Gautama.'
5. Gautama said: “That boon is promised to me; tell me the same speech which you made in the presence of my boy.'
6. He said: “That belongs to divine boons, name one of the human boons.'
7. He said: “You know well that I have plenty of gold, plenty of cows, horses, slaves, attendants, and apparel; do not heap on me what I have already in plenty, in abundance, and superabundance.'
The king said : 'Gautama, do you wish (for instruction from me) in the proper way?' Gautama replied : 'I come to you as a pupil.'
In word only have former sages (though Brahmans) come as pupils (to people of lower rank), but Gautama actually dwelt as a pupil (of Pravâhana, who was a Râganya) in order to obtain the fame of having respectfully served his master 2.
· Abhyavadânya is explained as niggardly, or unwilling to give, and derived from vadânya, liberal, a-vadânya, illiberal, and abhi, towards. This, however, is an impossible form in Sanskrit. Vadânya means liberal, and stands for avadanya, this being derived from avadâna, lit. what is cut off, then a morsel, a gift. In abhyavadânya the original a reappears, so that abhyavadânya means, not niggardly, but on the contrary, liberal, i. e. giving more than is required. Avadânya has never been met with in the sense of niggardly, and though a rule of Pânini sanctions the formation of a-vadânya, it does not say in what sense. Abhyavadâ in the sense of cutting off in addition occurs in Satap. Br. II, 5, 2, 40; avadanam karoti, in the sense of making a present, occurs Maitr. Up.VI, 33.
2 The commentator takes the opposite view. In times of distress, he says, former sages, belonging to a higher caste, have
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