Guest guest Posted August 7, 2004 Report Share Posted August 7, 2004 Despite much discussion in the literature, the names are not satisfactorily derived. I surveyed literature on this a few years ago. If one were to consider cANakya as a patronymic deriving from caNaka (Sanskrit for chickpeas), one seems to be on strong ground as Monier Williams and other lexicons seem to mention it. That leaves us with the name kautilya. The vowels of these names are rather problematic. Take the second vowel for instance. It is variously 'i' or 'a'. The 'i' form seems to have no other origination except MudrArAkSasa's pat 'kauTilyah kuTilamatih' characterization which is essentially a backformation. The second vowel as 'a' seems not very uncommon either. Abhidanacintamani etc give it as 'kauTalya'. Even a 11th century manuscript found in a Jaina bhandar consulted by R P Kangle seems to like the 'a' form.(cf Kangle's Preface to Vol 1 of his Arthasastra translation). It is however clear that the name kautilya is a foreign one, definitely not Sanskrit. That is why there is so much confusion with respect to vowels in the root syllables. If one were to consider the onomastic aspect of caNaka, it certainly points southward since naming after fruit, vegetables, foodstuffs etc is a distinct southern practice. At least it is not a very strongly Indo Aryan practice (cf Hilka, Beitraege zur kenntnis der Indische Namengebung: Altindische Personennamen). This kind of onomastics is followed even now in rural Karnataka where names likes uLLi (onion), meNasinakAyi (chillies) etc are not at all uncommon. Or Andhra, for example, where last names like zonthi (asafoetida), vepa (neem) etc are not uncommon. This practice is certainly attested in Classical Tamil literature too where names plants, roots etc were used. If you kick this idea round a bit, one can see that the Tamil etymon kaTalai (chickpeas) (or kannada kaDale) can well be the basis of this acharya's father's name. The son of kaTalai can then be Sankritized to kATalya. From kATalya to kauTalya is but a step. This is certainly aided by the fact that in some Indian scripts, the vowel mark for 'au' is differentiated from that for the dirgha 'a' just by a curvy bulge. This makes cANakya just a loan translation. One can see that after a period of using the original form of the name kauTilya/kauTalya, the sources pretty much start using cANakya too interchangeably. MudrArAkSasa uses both. It is also interesting to note that this name is a hapax i.e., a standalone occurrence not used before or after for anyone else in literature. Hope this helps, Lakshmi Srinivas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Just a small thought: Could "Kautilya" be a derivative of "kutila" (kannada (approximate) meaning manipulation, other languages not known) ? It's a question, not a statement. Thanks Ravindra INDOLOGY, "lsrinivas" <lsrinivas> wrote: > Despite much discussion in the literature, the names are not > satisfactorily derived. I surveyed literature on this a few years > ago. > > If one were to consider cANakya as a patronymic deriving from caNaka > (Sanskrit for chickpeas), one seems to be on strong ground as Monier > Williams and other lexicons seem to mention it. > > That leaves us with the name kautilya. The vowels of these names are > rather problematic. Take the second vowel for instance. It is > variously 'i' or 'a'. The 'i' form seems to have no other origination > except MudrArAkSasa's pat 'kauTilyah kuTilamatih' characterization > which is essentially a backformation. The second vowel as 'a' seems > not very uncommon either. Abhidanacintamani etc give it > as 'kauTalya'. Even a 11th century manuscript found in a Jaina > bhandar consulted by R P Kangle seems to like the 'a' form.(cf > Kangle's Preface to Vol 1 of his Arthasastra translation). > > > It is however clear that the name kautilya is a foreign one, > definitely not Sanskrit. That is why there is so much confusion with > respect to vowels in the root syllables. > > If one were to consider the onomastic aspect of caNaka, it certainly > points southward since naming after fruit, vegetables, foodstuffs etc > is a distinct southern practice. At least it is not a very strongly > Indo Aryan practice (cf Hilka, Beitraege zur kenntnis der Indische > Namengebung: Altindische Personennamen). > > This kind of onomastics is followed even now in rural Karnataka where > names likes uLLi (onion), meNasinakAyi (chillies) etc are not at all > uncommon. Or Andhra, for example, where last names like zonthi > (asafoetida), vepa (neem) etc are not uncommon. This practice is > certainly attested in Classical Tamil literature too where names > plants, roots etc were used. > > If you kick this idea round a bit, one can see that the Tamil etymon > kaTalai (chickpeas) (or kannada kaDale) can well be the basis of this > acharya's father's name. The son of kaTalai can then be Sankritized > to kATalya. From kATalya to kauTalya is but a step. This is certainly > aided by the fact that in some Indian scripts, the vowel mark > for 'au' is differentiated from that for the dirgha 'a' just by a > curvy bulge. > > This makes cANakya just a loan translation. One can see that after a > period of using the original form of the name kauTilya/kauTalya, the > sources pretty much start using cANakya too interchangeably. > MudrArAkSasa uses both. It is also interesting to note that this > name is a hapax i.e., a standalone occurrence not used before or > after for anyone else in literature. > > Hope this helps, > > Lakshmi Srinivas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Rangarajan(Penguin India, 1995) tries to solve the riddle of triple name : Vishnugupta is the personal name of the author, chanakya being derived from his father's name Canaka and Kautilya is due to his gotra,derived from sage Kutila. You can also refer : http://www.angelfire.com/fl/bharatbhushan/newspage.html " The name Kautilya, is apparently derived from the word "kutila". The lexicon Amarakosa explains that kutila probable means "vakra" or `crooked'. Other suggestions include that "kutila" would probably be an old gotra (= caste /family terminology) name and was derived from his clan patronym. Another hypothesis suggests that Kutila is derived from the now-lost river Sarasvati, a centre of learning in the Vedic days, since lost in the Rajasthan desert (Monier-Williams). The name is however written as Kautalya in some old manuscripts and perhaps may have been derived from another ancient gotra name, Kutala. Kautilya, instead of Kautalya, however occurs in various other ancient texts and is generally preferred." Kutila also seems to the matrynomic name of skanda/kartikeya (ref skanda purana) whose worship was widespread during the times of Kautilya. (http://murugan.org/research/seth.htm) Kutila could be another name of Ashtavakra or canakya must have got this name because of his ugly body. However, there is widespread speculation that Kautilya has come from South India, thanks to his color and foretuft. kishore INDOLOGY, "vivaswat" <pvravi@h...> wrote: > Just a small thought: > > Could "Kautilya" be a derivative of "kutila" (kannada (approximate) > meaning manipulation, other languages not known) ? > > It's a question, not a statement. > > Thanks > Ravindra > > INDOLOGY, "lsrinivas" <lsrinivas> wrote: > > Despite much discussion in the literature, the names are not > > satisfactorily derived. I surveyed literature on this a few years > > ago. > > > > If one were to consider cANakya as a patronymic deriving from > caNaka > > (Sanskrit for chickpeas), one seems to be on strong ground as > Monier > > Williams and other lexicons seem to mention it. > > > > That leaves us with the name kautilya. The vowels of these names > are > > rather problematic. Take the second vowel for instance. It is > > variously 'i' or 'a'. The 'i' form seems to have no other > origination > > except MudrArAkSasa's pat 'kauTilyah kuTilamatih' characterization > > which is essentially a backformation. The second vowel as 'a' > seems > > not very uncommon either. Abhidanacintamani etc give it > > as 'kauTalya'. Even a 11th century manuscript found in a Jaina > > bhandar consulted by R P Kangle seems to like the 'a' form.(cf > > Kangle's Preface to Vol 1 of his Arthasastra translation). > > > > > > It is however clear that the name kautilya is a foreign one, > > definitely not Sanskrit. That is why there is so much confusion > with > > respect to vowels in the root syllables. > > > > If one were to consider the onomastic aspect of caNaka, it > certainly > > points southward since naming after fruit, vegetables, foodstuffs > etc > > is a distinct southern practice. At least it is not a very > strongly > > Indo Aryan practice (cf Hilka, Beitraege zur kenntnis der Indische > > Namengebung: Altindische Personennamen). > > > > This kind of onomastics is followed even now in rural Karnataka > where > > names likes uLLi (onion), meNasinakAyi (chillies) etc are not at > all > > uncommon. Or Andhra, for example, where last names like zonthi > > (asafoetida), vepa (neem) etc are not uncommon. This practice is > > certainly attested in Classical Tamil literature too where names > > plants, roots etc were used. > > > > If you kick this idea round a bit, one can see that the Tamil > etymon > > kaTalai (chickpeas) (or kannada kaDale) can well be the basis of > this > > acharya's father's name. The son of kaTalai can then be > Sankritized > > to kATalya. From kATalya to kauTalya is but a step. This is > certainly > > aided by the fact that in some Indian scripts, the vowel mark > > for 'au' is differentiated from that for the dirgha 'a' just by a > > curvy bulge. > > > > This makes cANakya just a loan translation. One can see that after > a > > period of using the original form of the name kauTilya/kauTalya, > the > > sources pretty much start using cANakya too interchangeably. > > MudrArAkSasa uses both. It is also interesting to note that this > > name is a hapax i.e., a standalone occurrence not used before or > > after for anyone else in literature. > > > > Hope this helps, > > > > Lakshmi Srinivas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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