The elephant naLagiri/nalagiri

[Madhav Deshpande]

        Some clarification on nara -> nArAyaNa may be useful.  While such
a derivation of the word nArAyaNa from nara- may be theoretically
possible, cf. dak.sa -> daak.saaya.na, the tradition does not derive
naaraaya.na from nara-.  It derives the word naaraaya.na from the word
naaraa (f. 'water', cf. aapo naaraa iti proktaa.h) by adding ayana.
        While the derivation of nALAyaNI from naLa, on the face of it, may
be similar to the derivation of daak.saaya.nii from dak.sa, the derivation
of naa.laa in naa.laagiri from na.la does not seem so straight forward.
        Also the meaning 'black' for nala- is not known in its Sanskrit
usage.  Sorry for using different notations for diacritics.
                                Madhav Deshpande

On Wed, 14 Apr 1999, Georg von Simson wrote:

> Swaminathan Madhuresan asked:
> >The jAtaka usage is nAlAgiri. Does IA grammar allow
> >for this development from naLa/nala-giri?
> >Ie., like nara -> nArAyaNa and naLa -> nALAyaNI,
> >could the jAtaka 'nAlA-giri' can be developed from 'nala-giri'?
>
> There is no such direct way from nala-giri to nAlAgiri. This latter form of
> the name seems to presuppose a feminine nAlA, known by some sanskrit
> lexicographers beside nAlI with the meaning "hollow stalk", "reed".
>