"kaapya-" vs. "kaapeya-" (Re: Actual use of gotra (=vr.ddha) and yuvan

Tue Apr 14 12:25:09 UTC 2009

Dear Jean-Luc,
As for kaappia in Tol-kaappian/-n2 it would still be worthwhile to mention
the alternative theory, viz. that it derives from kaavya so that the
grammar's name would become "old kaavya".
Kapi (brown), kaapya and kaapeya are to be compared with similar words,
often color words, used for individuals, families and gotras: kapi-la (and
kaapila, kaapileya, kaapilika), kapi~njala (francoline partridge and gotra
name), kapi.s.tha-la; pi:nga, pi:nga-la. (Mayrhofer EWAIA notes for kapi
'ape' similarities with a Greek but also with non-ia words for ape ["akkad.
'uquupu' " etc.] and prefers to derive the meaning of the solidly attested
color-term kapi [also in proper names for plants] from 'ape': 'ape-colored'>
'brown'.)
C.G. Kashikar in his 1969 report of his tour "In search of mss of the
paippalaada literature" published in A. Ghosh, Aatharva.ná, Kolkata:
Sanskrit Book Depot, 2002, pp. 156-166, noted the gotra name Kaapyasa among
Paippalaada Atharvavedins and suggested (p. 164) to associate Kaapyasa with
Kaa;syapa.
Witzel et alii in the same volume (pp. 167-179) also notes Kaapyasa as a
gotra-name and expresses his doubts about the spelling.
Instead of resorting to speculation as to how Kaapyasa and Kaa;syapa might
or might not be related, we have to compare the word Kaapyasa with words of
the same semantic and functional domain, and pay special attention to the
similarities and contrasts between the two accounts of Kashikar and Witzel
et alii.
Kashikar (p. 164) notes among Paippalaada Atharvavedins the gotra names
Kaapya, ;Saa.n.dilya, Vaatsa, Kumuda (for those with surname Upaadhyaaya)
and adds that "many of them belong to the Kaapyasa (= Kaa;syapa?) gotra."
For those with Pa.n.daa as surname he notes the gotras Kaapya, Vaatsa and
Bharadvaaja; and again "many belong to the Kaapyasa gotra." Karas, acc. to
Kashikar, belong to the Paraa;sara gotra and the Mi;sras to the Haariita
gotra. Witzel et alii (p. 179) notes only Kaapyasa and omits Kaapya noted
twice by Kashikar (both for Upaadhyaayas and Pa.n.daas); Witzel et alii
further mentions, next to Kumuda (as noted by Kashikar), Kumudesa and adds
"(spelling?)"; and Kau.n.danasya (spelling?) ... Vaatsasa (spelling?) ...
 Haaritasya (spelling?). There is an apparent predilection for gotra-names
with an -as-/-asa-/-asya suffix (once, in Kumuda/Kumudesa, -sa with
palatalisation of preceding a) among Paippalaada Atharvavedins which in
Kashikar's report are mostly normalized to the corresponding gotra-name
without this suffix, except for Kaapyasa. If Kaapyasa could be shown to be
an old formation it could derive from an unattested *kapyas/*kapiiyas
"rather brown" next to kapi 'brown' and kapi.s.tha (in kapi.s.tha-la) ('most
brown'?). Otherwise, in the light of the above mentioned evidence, a
redundant and in pronunciation partly "verschliffen" genetive ending -asya
would explain Kaapyasa and the additional cases noted by Witzel et alii for
the Paippalaada Atharvavedins. Vaatsasa (Witzel et al.) would then
correspond to Vaatsa (noted by Kashikar and well attested next to Vaatsya
and Vaatsyaayana), Haaritasya (Witzel et al.) to the widely attested name
Haariita (Kashikar), etc.
Jan Houben

On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 5:10 PM, Jean-Luc Chevillard <
jean-luc.chevillard at univ-paris-diderot.fr> wrote:

> Dear Professor Cardona,
>
> thank you very much for this clarification. I shall try to find the 1963
> book by V.S. Agrawal.
>
> I have a related question, concerning another sūtra, namely PS_4,1.107:
>
> kapi-bodhād āṅgirase || PS_4,1.107 || {{Vasu: "The affix 'yañ' comes in the
> sense of a Gotra descendant, after the words /kapi/ and /bodha/, when the
> special descendants of the family of the Angiras are meant."}} {{Boehtlingk:
> "Von /kapi/ und /bodha/, wenn ein Âṅgirasa gemeint ist"}} {{Renou: "(Le
> suffixe secondaire 'yañ' est valable pour former un patronymique restreint)
> après les noms /kapiḥ/ et /bodhaḥ/ quand il s'agit du clan des Aṅgiras."
> [NOTE EXPLICATIVE: /kāpyaḥ/ 'petit-fils de kapi, des Aṅgiras', /baudhyaḥ/
> 'petit-fils de Bodha']}}
>
> I see in the 1953 book by John Brough (/The Early Brahmanical System of
> Gotra and Pravara/, Cambridge University Press), on p. 30 (fn. 1) and on p.
> 33, that the "kapis" oscillate between the the /Kevala Angirases/ and the
> /Bharadvājas/ (exogamous unit VII, subset of "Aṅgirases" [according to page
> 29: "both the Gautamas and the Bhāradvājas [are classified] under the
> Angirases"]).
>
> I see in the notes by Vasu (p.668 in the 1988 reprint) that the
> specification "āṅgirase" (inside PS_4,1.107) seems to be a criterion for
> choosing either the form /kāpyaḥ/ (if Angiras) or /kāpēyaḥ/ (if not
> Angiras?).
>
> Is it known in which part of India the form /kāpyaḥ/ was found and in which
> part of India the form /kāpēyaḥ/  was found?
>
> I am especially interested in the case of Tamil Nadu brahmins, because the
> inside /Karandai Tamil Sangam Plates/ (of king Rajendrachola I)
> [Archaeological survey of India, 1984, K.G. Krishnan (ed.)], 10 different
> brahmins (among the 1083 brahmins who are enumerated) have "kapi" as their
> gotra, namely the Brahmins numbered 167, 201, 225, 237, 239, 306, 439, 906,
> 937 & 954.
>
> I would be grateful for any comment on actual usage.
>
> -- Jean-Luc Chevillard (Paris)
>
>
> George Cardona a écrit :
>
>> Dear colleague, The "suutras" are clearly not part of the original
>> A.s.taadhyaayii text as known to Kaatyaayana and Patanjali. *4.1.166:
>> v.rddhasya ca puujaayaam is vaarttika 3 to 4.1.163 (jiivati tu va.m'sye
>> yuvaa.  *4.1.167: yuuna's ca kutsaayaam is included as part of the suutra
>> text of the Kaa'sikaav.rtti but is identified as not part of the original
>> text by Kaiya.ta in his Pradiipam (Rohtak ed. III.617) on 4.1.162 (apatyam
>> pautraprabh.rti gotram) vt. 2 (jiivadva.m'sya.m ca kutsitam), where Kaiya.ta
>> cites yuuna's ca kutsaayaam and remarks that this statement shows the suutra
>> in question does not stem from the sage: yuuna's ca kutsaayaam iti suutram
>> anaar.sam iti vacanam.  In his Bhaa.sya on 4.1.162 vt. 2 (Kielhorn-Abhyankar
>> ed. II.265.5-8), Patanjali remarks that someone whose father is still alive
>> but is independent is addressed using a gotra term; such an offspring bears
>> the technical name 'gotra' out of scorn, as when one addresses one who
>> should be called gaargyaaya.na (using a yuvan term) is addressed as
>> gargya.  Conversely, an elder who rspresents his line and is properly
>> referred to using a gotra term like gaargya may affectionately be addressed
>> using a yuvan term like gaargyaaya.na, now used as an honorific, since
>> youth is something desirable (Bh. on 4.1.163 vt. 3, II.265.23-25).  There is
>> a very old but still informative pamphlet by V. S. Agrawal, 'Gotras in
>> Paa.nini'(Varanasi, 1963), but I don't know of a detailed study of the usage
>> in the domains you mention.  I hope this helps.  George Cardona
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>>
>>> From: Jean-Luc Chevillard <jean-luc.chevillard at UNIV-PARIS-DIDEROT.FR>
>>> Sent: Apr 9, 2009 4:47 AM
>>> To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
>>> Subject: Actual use of gotra (=vr.ddha) and yuvan
>>>
>>> Dear list members,
>>>
>>> I would like to have information regarding the actual use of /gotra/ (or
>>> /vṛddha/ ?) and /yuvan/ for referring to individuals or for adressing them.
>>>
>>> I would like to have a clear understanding of the purport of the
>>> following two sūtra-s (found among the sūtra-s of Pāṇini but said to be in
>>> fact vārttika-s):
>>>
>>> vṛddhasya ca pūjāyām || PS_4,1.166 || {{Vasu: "The Gotra is sometimes
>>> optionally regarded as Yuvan, when respectful reference to him is
>>> intended"}} {{Boehtlingk: "Auch statt des Geschlechtsnamens kann man das
>>> zweite Patronymicum brauchen, wenn man Jemand ehren will."}} {{Renou: "(Le
>>> nom technique de /yuvan/) peut être le substitut (du patronymique restreint)
>>> dit /vṛddha/ quand il y a intention d'honorer."}}
>>>
>>> yūnaś ca kutsāyām || PS_4,1.167 || {{Vasu: "The Yuvan is optionally
>>> spoken of as Gotra, when contemptuous reference to him is intended"}}
>>> {{Boehtlingk: "Auch den Juvan kann man mit dem Geschlechtsnamen bezeichnen,
>>> wenn man ihn schmähen will"}} {{Renou: "(Le nom technique de /vṛddha/) peut
>>> être le substitut du nom de /yuvan/ quand il y a intention de critiquer"}}
>>>
>>> Has anybody written (in English, or French, or German, ...) on the actual
>>> use as seen in literature, in inscriptions, etc.?
>>>
>>> I would be grateful for any bibliographical pointer or for comments.
>>>
>>> -- Jean-Luc Chevillard (Paris)
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>