bhakti- etc.

[K. S. Arjunwadkar]

At 01:14 PM 3/27/99 +0300, you wrote:
>Dear colleagues,
>I would be most grateful for references to different etymologies of the
words:
>*bhagavat*, *bhakti*, *bhakta* (even to those that you think are wrong)
and to
>different ideas on the history of their semantics.
>     Thanks in advance,
>                                Yaroslav Vassilkov
>

Reply
March 27,99

bhAgavata < bhagavat = bhaga + vat = one possessed of 'fortune'. zaNkara in
his commentary on the Bhagavad-gItA (3.37) quotes a verse enlisting six
attributes together called 'bhaga'. The word bhagavat usually refers to
God, and, in a secondary sense, to any revered person. Resulting meaning:
worshipful, revered. bhAgavata(bhagavat + the secondary suff. a) refers to
a devotee of God.

bhakti (devotion) and bhakta (devotee) come from the root 'bhaj' to worship
-- the first ending in the suffix 'ti' and the second in 'ta' (past part.
suff.). bhaga also comes from the same root with the suffix 'a', changing j
to g. (Cp. tyAga < tyaj)

KSA