R. Salomon's question

[aklujkar at unixg.ubc.ca]

I think in the verse concerned we should, on the yaaga side, take kaumudam
as meaning 'full moon day of A'svina/Kaarttika' (a meaning attested in the
dictionaries of Apte, Monier-Williams etc.) or as meaning 'kau # mudam, on
earth ... delight' (a sabha.nga-'sle.sa). In the first case, the suggestion
would be that the yaagas were so numerous that they turned all days into
the bright full moon days of A'svina-Kaarttika. However, since this may
imply the unlikely situation that the yaagas were performed at night, the
second meaning should not be ruled out. Use of ku in the sense of 'earth'
is not uncommon in Skt punning. 

Ashok Aklujkar, Professor, Department of Asian Studies, University of B.C.,
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z2. Tel: O: (604) 822-5185, R: (604) 274-5353.
 Fax O:
822-8937. E-mail: aklujkar at unixg.ubc.ca