orphan/orphanage

[Donald R. Davis, Jr.]

The word anaatha occurs in a dvandva with daridra at Brhaspatismrti 
17.11 (cited in Smrticandrikaa, also in DhK Vol. 1 Pt 2) in a sense that 
probably includes orphans but is not limited to them (as you suspected 
originally).  Ashok's comments about the nature of the joint family and 
adoption, at least as presented in dharma texts, make perfect sense to 
me and obviate the need for a distinctive term to represent the sense of 
orphan as a child in need of charitable protection.  It is interesting, 
however, that anaathan is the most common modern Malayalam word for orphan.

Best,

Don Davis
Dept of Languages & Cultures of Asia
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ashok Aklujkar wrote:
> anaatha can refer to anyone lacking a protector, caretaker etc.; it is
> clearly wider in meaning than "orphan" and occurs with that wider meaning in
> appeals to gods and goddesses.
>
> If a society has extended/joint family system, adoptive relationships (the
> bhaa.ii-bahan way of relating to other community members) taken seriously
> and, on the whole, little mobility (geographically as well as in terms of
> social arrangement), would it really need a type-casting or set-denoting
> term for someone who is oprhaned? Occasionally it may need to speak of a
> person as maat.r-pit.r-vihiina (/virahita), but it is unlikely to feel the
> need to speak of his/her condition in a generalizing or institutionalizing
> way.
>
> ashok aklujkar
>
>
>
>
> On 7/24/06 3:03 PM, "Jonathan Silk" <silk at HUMNET.UCLA.EDU> wrote:
>
>   
>> Can anyone tell me of a classically attested Skt term for orphanage
>> and/or orphan? As far as I can see, the forms cited by
>> Monier-Williams in Eng-Skt Dict are not classical Skt., and I have
>> been unable to locate a clear example in my perhaps insufficent
>> search. (One candidate is anaatha, but I'm not sure it ever clearly
>> refers to orphan).
>>
>> thanks so much!  JAS
>>