The elephant naLagiri/nalagiri

[Roland Steiner]

In the "Nepalese recension" of the B.rhatkathaa the name of 
Pradyota´s elephant is Nalaagiri; cf. Budhasvaamin´s 
B.rhatkathaa"slokasa.mgraha (ed. Lacôte) 5.316d. This seems to be 
merely a variant of the form Na.daagiri which is transmitted in the 
"Kashmirian version" of the B.rhatkathaa; cf. K.semendra´s 
B.rhatkathaama~njarii (ed. Shivdatta/Parab): 2.2.26ab 
[Ca.n.damahaasenakathaa]; 2.2.139a [Devasmitaakhyaayikaa]; and 
Somadeva´s Kathaasaritsaagara (ed. Durgaprasad/Parab): 11.42ab; 
12.10b; 13.7c.   

Linguistically, Middle Indo-Aryan nala (or na.la, still more precise) 
cannot be derived from Skt. nada ("boaring"), but only from Skt. 
na.da (or nala) "reed".

The name na.daagiri is already found in Dhaatupaa.tha 50.3 (ed. 
Boehtlingk) [ki.m"sulakaadaya.h or ki.m"sulukaadaya.h] ad Paa.nini 
6.3.117 (the word is omitted by [at least various mss of] the 
Ka"sikaa).

Roland Steiner