Pancakanyaa

[Harunaga Isaacson]

Quoting "Jan E.M. Houben" <j_e_m_houben at YAHOO.COM>:

> but what would that mean? one should not (na
> metrically lengthened? or should one read vaa?)
> regularly remember the capital-sin-destroying
> quintet Ahalyaa etc. ?

naa is nom. sg. of n.r 'a man', 'a person'. In other words 'one should always
remember/be mindful of this set of five: Ahalyaa etc.'

Like Madhav I'm inclined to think pa~ncaka.m naa may well be more 'original'.

> Curiously, Madhav Deshpande's version occurs in
> V.S. Apte's Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary
> s.v. ahalyaa (with preface by V.S. Apte dated
> December 1890, revised edition 1958), whereas the
> above, to me more intelligible version occurs in
> V.S. Apte's Student's Sanskrit-English
> Dictionary, likewise s.v. ahalyaa (preface by
> V.S. Apte dated February 1890).
>
> J.H.
>
> --- Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at UMICH.EDU> wrote:
> > Evidently the verse occurs with many variants.
> > The one I have heard goes like this:
> >
> > ahalyaa draupadii siitaa taaraa mandodarii
> > tathaa /
> > pancakam naa smaren nityam mahaapaatakanaazanam
> > //
> >
> > It is likely that a more archaic pancakam naa
> > got transformed into pancakanyaa in oral
> > transmission.

Harunaga Isaacson

--
Harunaga Isaacson
South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
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