Jahnava Nitai Das 2 Report post Posted July 6, 2001 Here was a message posted to another sanskrit forum. > Does anyone know the meaning of the name "Mirabhai"? Gopiparanadhana > Prabhu says it's definitely not Sanskrit. First of all... "bhai" is masculine... and in the name "Mirabhai it should be: "bai" - "Mirabai" - Meerabhai (the "i" being long... hence the "ee" phonetic pronunciation) and not "Mirabhai", which would indicate a male's name. "Bai" is a suffix that indicates feminine gender, and yes, that's in Hindi/Rajasthani. The famous "Meerabai"/"Mirabai" - famous as a devotee of Lord Krishna - who migrated to Vrindavan from Rajasthan after the death of her husband, a Rajput prince, died, was born at Merta in Marwar, a "section" of Rajasthan, and hence there is a "link" with the Hindi language, although in fact the dialect spoken there is "Marwari". Both of these languages derive from Samskritam, and hence "Meera" itself, although a name, must be derived from Samskritam. However, it's exact meaning, I won't be able to tell you offhand... however, I'll add both the "Spoken Samskritam" and "Sanskrit" conferences as receivers, with a request for someone who reads this text to do a bit of research on this - if they will, and get back to you. das, Basu Ghosh Das Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jagat 1 Report post Posted July 6, 2001 I would guess that it is derived from Arabic amr, from which comes the word amIr and its contracted form mIr, which was a fairly popular name for Indian Muslim males (Mir Qasam, etc.). The feminine form mIrA would be a purely local creation. amIr means "noble, prince, lord, person of rank or distinction," etc. (Cf. Platts Classical Urdu dictionary). Platts gives the derivation of bAI as coming from bhavatI, the Sanskrit polite form of address to a woman. Unfortunately nowadays, the term is somewhat pejorative ("dancing girl, harlot"), especially as bAI-jI. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vaishnava_das108 1 Report post Posted January 5, 2003 Dear Jahnava-Nitai prabhu, I suppose that this discussion no longer has any relevance to the "Sanskrit" category. How about moving it to the "Spiritual Discussions" forum, where we might get opinions/ideas from more posters? Just an idea .. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zjj 1 Report post Posted November 12, 2006 Mira is a Sanskrit name meaning a sparkling lake of crystal clear water. Bai is simply a term used denoting a great and respected lady. She became known as Mirabai when her poetry and devotion to Krishna became famous. Her name has nothing to do with the Arabic language. Jai Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drkpp 0 Report post Posted November 14, 2006 Mira is a Sanskrit name meaning a sparkling lake of crystal clear water. Bai is simply a term used denoting a great and respected lady. She became known as Mirabai when her poetry and devotion to Krishna became famous. Her name has nothing to do with the Arabic language. Jai Meer in Sanskrit means a deep lake of water or an ocean. It is indicative of the depth of devotion she had for Lord Krishna. Bai is a suffix meaning respected lady. By the Webmaster of: http://freetranslationblog.blogspot.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites