Kannada word for Dharma

[Robert Zydenbos]

Am 5 Dec 2000, um 15:57 schrieb N. Ganesan:

> Once, Prof. George Hart told me that Kannada in old times
> used the word, "a.ram" in the place of dharma.
>
> Is this so? In early Kannada texts (Jain?) or in inscriptions,
> is a word like "ara" or "aram" or "aRam" ever occur?

Yes indeed, Kittel's dictionary lists a_ra / a_ru with the meaning
'virtue, law, charity' or 'Yama'. Its use however seems to be more
frequent as a first member in compounds; as a simple word, Kittel
only refers to ancient lexica. I have to admit that I have not come
across the word in my reading.


Robert Zydenbos
Institut für Indologie und Iranistik
Universität München