yudhiSThira

[Roland Steiner]

On Thu, 24 Jul 1997 10:41:40 BST, Dominique.Thillaud wrote:

>Dear Indologists,
> The name of the eldest pAndava seems to be 'steady in the fight'
>but he's not a great warrior as bhIma or arjuna ...
> Can we understand this nominal compound as 'steady about the
>fight', hence 'not giving way to the violence', the 'i' in yudhi- being
>perhaps an ancient low grade dative ? Are other names or words ending by
>-sthira ?
> Advices and/or references would be welcomed. Thanks in advance,
>Dominique
>
>Dominique THILLAUD
>Universite' de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France

Cf., e.g.,
-- aayudhi.s.thira- (?) N.pr. of a Bodhisattva (EDGERTON BHSD, s.v., p. 102)
-- yaudhi.s.thira- "relating to Yudhi.s.thira" ([BOETHLINGK/ROTH] 
P[etersburger] W[oerterbuch]
-- gavi.s.thira- N.pr. of a .R.si (PW 715) ("strong with respect to a cow")
-- gaavi.s.thira- (PW 741)
-- .rbhu.s.thira- "strong as the .Rbhus" (.Rgveda 8.77.8)
-- jaatuu.s.thira- perhaps "ever solid" (.RV 2.23.11)
-- bhaavasthira- "rooted in the heart" ("Saakuntala 5.9d, ed. SCHARP!)

See also WACKERNAGEL, Altindische Grammatik II.1, pp. 208 and 234.

Best regards, Roland.
Fachgebiet Indologie
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e-mail: steiner at mailer.uni-marburg.de