'Aasti' ?

[Martin Gansten]

Venkataraman Iyer wrote:

>This is correct. aastika = 'possessor' (of belief in God),
>and naastika = 'non-possessor'. naasti is explaine as the
>opposite of aasti by pauranikas.

Naasti as in naastika negates asti (a verb: '[there] is'), not aasti. Aasti
(as found in the text under discussion: the Dhruvanaa.dii) is a noun.

Thomas Burke wrote:

>Since Sanskrit muula can mean 'capital, principal', shouldn't one translate
>'from the capital of his master...'?

Not, I think, in the present context. The idiom of the text is highly
stereotyped, and -muulaat is used very frequently, always in the sense of
'by means of, on account of' -- e.g., vyaapaaramuulaat 'by means of
business', vivaahamuulaat 'on account of marriage', etc.

Regards,
Martin Gansten