Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

Author(s): K R Chandra, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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4.2 Some justification for the new interpretations was thought essential and he adduced reasons for the peculiar interpretations he offered. The arguments were of the popular etymological type (sahetukam katvā vacanan. The way for such a procedure was always paved by the vast Brahmana Lit. and more especially by the Nirukta school of etymological exegesis.
4.3 These etymologies need not be examined scientifically as the Buddha never set before himself the task of supplying scientific etymologies. His interest in the language was pragmatical. He looked at the words only as means to convey the ethico religious import of his teachings. There are places in the Canon (see Db, verses 266, 268, 270 etc.) where the Buddha even shows a disapproval of true etymologies. To illustrate, it appears in Buddha's times the word ärya was connected by the then etymologists to the V (to attach) from which perhaps we have a cogpate in ari(attacker, an enemy). But the Buddha, a staunch non-violent as he was, could not concède to this and in bold defiance to the then prevalent ideas he said 'na tena ariyo hoti yena pāņāni himsati [Trans. A man is not noble (or elect) because he injures living creatures. S. RADHAKRISHNAN] and we in Pali the word ariya derived from ara (far off), meaning one who keeps himself far off from violence or depravities. [At A. IV. 145. (Roman) we have ari hattă ariyo hoti and a little later ārakatta kilesanaṁ...etc.)
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4.4 Thus, it can be appreciated that, after all, the Buddha did not misetymologise certain words as he re-etymologised them. The re-etymologising was achieved through a skilful employment of puns (pseudo metaphors), a poetic quality which POTEBNJA recognises under the name 'inner etymo. logy'. The purning unlike other tropes, is not merely a confrontation or a mecbanical sum of juxtaposed terms. It is 'Energy' in the Aristotalian sense. The Buddha is to be credited with the authorship of such 'inner etymologies.'
4.5 Following the footsteps of the Lord, the commentators perfected this art and we read the following from the VA (Samantapasūdika) about the brahmana; Bramham anati'ti brabmano, mante sajjhayati'ti attho / idameva hi jalibrámhanānam niruttivacanaṁ | Ariya fana hahitapā patta brahmana ti vuccanti Thus the vocable B(b)rāhmaṇa, to use the words of Balley, is "homonymes etymologiques' (two different words having the same sound). Brahmana has two derivations in Pali, one Brabmanical and the other Buddhistic. In most of the contexts the words ariya, brāhmana etc, are to be understood in their Buddhistic derivations (Ariya nirutti) alone
4.6 When the Buddha derived purindada from pure pure dānam adasi so called because he gave gifts from town to town or as 'pure danam adasi he was a giver of alms in the past. This alone is to be accepted as a right