Meaning of 'siddham'
kalyans at ix.netcom.com
kalyans at ix.netcom.com
Tue Jul 4 22:41:53 UTC 1995
siddham
This ancient word has many meanings in south asian
languages, evidenced in many epigraphs.
I shall be grateful for information from scholars on
cognate words in South Asian and other languages and
their guidance on the possible ancient or early
'meanings' assigned to this word.
What does siddha-mAtrkA 'mean' when such a name is
assigned to an ancient script which originated from
brAhmI and spread to Cambodia and Thailand?
SUCCESS OR READINESS
pra-siddham = famous; What is the etymology for this
word?
?Perhaps from siddham = success?
e.g. siddhi-r-astu = let there be success.
siddham also connotes 'readiness' when for e.g. the
armored guard of a king says, 'siddham' or 'I am
ready (to carry out your orders)'
e.g. saMsiddham in Sanskrit.
PERFECTION
siddhi = (attaining) perfection, e.g. siddha-pITha =
yoga-pITha a holy place where an ascetic attained
perfection (siddhi) by his austerities.
PROPERTY RIGHTS
siddhi = income (Tamil); sidd-Ayam = prob.
agricultural income; a fixed assessment; siddha =
income from land under cultivation; right of
cultivating land, one of the eight kinds of rights of
enjoying landed property; e.g.
Urdhv-Adhah-siddhi-yutA = with income from the
produce above and below the surface of the ground or
together with income from horticulture and
agriculture; antah-siddhika = privilege of
the donee of rent-free land (privilege of the donee
offering full power of adjudication in law-suits);
siddha-sAdhya present income and the income that may
accrue in future.
SCRIPT
siddha-mAtRkA = name of the Indian alphabet derived
from late brAhmI script which is the source of many
scripts of south asia; wrongly called kuTila.
siddham is word that occurs at the beginning of
inscriptions; is often denoted by a sign at the
beginning of epigraphic inscriptions perhaps to
ensure the success of the undertaking? Several
symbols occur, sometimes the word is denoted by the
script syllable for CHA. This symbolic representation
is different from the symbol used for the praNava or
syllable oM.
SYMBOLS IN brAhmI SCRIPT
The syllable 'cha' is a circle with a vertical line
dissecting through the middle and protruding on top
of the circle.
The syllable 'tha' is a circle with a central dot.
SYMBOLS IN TELUGU SCRIPT
In Telugu, the dotted circle denotes 'Tha';
in general, a dot inserted connotes an aspirate, e.g.
'da' becomes 'dha' when a 'dot' is inserted in the
'leaf or kidney' symbol.
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