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356
Annals BORI, LXIX (1988)
when he is busy defining näma and akhyāta. The interpretation of this passage very much depends on what immediately follows, viz. pūrvāparl. bhūtam bhāvam etc. which is clearly intended to explain the distinction between vrajati and vrajya, pacati and pakti. Hence tad yatra ubhe can only meanpow in forms where both ( i. e. a verb and a verbal ) noun ...' and not pow in a sentence where both ( i. e. verb and noun in general )... '. On the basis of what has been said above it is difficult to agree with the author when he says "Whether the interpretations offered by Durga and Skanda-Maheśvara are in keeping with the intentions of Yáska or not, we shall probably never be able to make out" (p. 121). One can, and say, they are not '1
In the article “ A Káfir on the Kafir Life Cycle," Knut Kristiansen notes the birth, marriage, illness and death customs in pre-Islamic Kafiristan ( now Nuristan ) on the basis of a Urdu text written by a Kafir whose name was Azar. In the article on “ The' water-Miracle' in Tibet " Per kavāērne calls attention to one of the later legends, known as 'water-miracle', associated with the Iranian god Mitbra. This legend is not known in Iran or Iodia, but is known in Tibet (p. 160 ).
In a very interesting and well-reasoned article “R$yaśråga: Ursprung und Hintergrund " Georg von Simson states that the motif of drought is pot secondary in the legend and that the legend could have, right from the beginning, the two “Frauengestalten " viz. the hetaera and the daughter of the king for two different functions -- one as seducer, and the other as marraige-partner (p. 207 ). The author of this article discusses at some length the Rgvedic Sūryāsūkta (X, 85 ) and raises the question whether it is possible to discern pature-mythology as the background of the RSyaśåga legend ip addition to its interpretation as a raio-myth (p. 214). The autbor seems to favour such a view but has to assume for tbis purpose far-fetched identifications such as Roma pāda ( Haarfuss ) = tree (which has hair for feet, or wbicb has hair on foot', where hair = roots p. 215), or Sãota = earth, one whose burning ( as the result of the preceding summer-heat is extinguished ( by the onset of the rainy season) (die, deren Brand (nach der vorsommerlichen Hitze durch die einsetzende Regenzeit) gelöscht ist. p. 216 ). The fact that to make this adjective-turned-noun (santa ) applicable to earth requires putting into brackets so many words shows that the identification is not easily obtained. And even after this strenuous effort what one gets is not the complete identification of Santa with the earth but Only a temporary one i. e. the earth in rainy season.
1 Tocidentally vinaśyati in the Nirukta passage 1. 2. (şad bhavavikāra bhavanti...) is better rendered disappears' and not is destroyed' (p. 117).
Madhu Vidya/677
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