"Saisha" as the name of a goddess?

[Herman Tull]

"ka" is perhaps the best known pronoun to undergo this sort of 
transformation.  But, one doesn't hear of many children with this name.

Herman Tull

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Michael Witzel" <witzel at FAS.HARVARD.EDU>
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:44 AM
To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: "Saisha" as the name of a goddess?

> Naciketas / Naciketā  <   na ciketa,  --  well he learned something...
>
> sāman = sā + ama   : sā = eye,  ama = mind   (in Brahmana texts,  ChU 
> 1.7.1)
>
> ...
>
> MW
>
> On Mar 8, 2010, at 11:22 AM, Dominik Wujastyk wrote:
>
>> ko jānāti?
>>
>>
>> On 8 March 2010 15:39, Deshpande, Madhav <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Indologists,
>>>
>>> Recently I met a Brahmin family from Karnataka who have a newborn 
>>> daughter
>>> named "Saisha".  They asked me what the word means.  I could not  think 
>>> of a
>>> Sanskrit word close to "Saisha."  Then the grandfather said that  this 
>>> is a
>>> name of goddess Lakshmi used in a Sanskrit stotra popular among 
>>> followers of
>>> Ramanuja.  The line from the stotra he recited was:  saiṣā devī
>>> sakala-bhuvana-prārthanā-kāmadhenuḥ.  It was immediately  apparent to me 
>>> that
>>> the "Saisha" was simply sā eṣā, and not a name of the goddess,  but I 
>>> was not
>>> able to convince the grandfather of the child, who fervently  argued 
>>> that
>>> "Saisha" was an authentic name of the goddess.  I wonder if others  have 
>>> come
>>> across similar examples.
>>>
>>> Madhav
>>>
>>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>>> Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
>>> Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
>>> 202 South Thayer Street, Suite 6111
>>> The University of Michigan
>>> Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-1608, USA
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: Indology [INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Alexander von
>>> Rospatt [rospatt at BERKELEY.EDU]
>>> Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:42 PM
>>> To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
>>> Subject: Update: Berkeley Summer Program: Words of Wisdom: Toward  a 
>>> Western
>>> Terminology for Buddhist Texts
>>>
>>> Dear Colleagues,
>>>
>>> there are still a few free places on the 2010 Berkeley Summer  Program:
>>> Words of Wisdom: Toward a Western Terminology for Buddhist Texts.
>>>
>>> I would be grateful if you could remind potentially interested  students 
>>> of
>>> this special opportunity. The announcement can now also be found  online 
>>> at
>>> http://mangalamresearch.org/summer.htm.
>>>
>>> With many thanks (and apologies for cross-listing with H-Buddhism),
>>>
>>>
>>> Alexander von Rospatt
>>>
>>> ------------
>>>
>>> Mangalam Research Center for Buddhist Languages
>>> Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California
>>> Ho Center for Buddhist Studies, Stanford University
>>>
>>> Summer Program: Words of Wisdom: Toward a Western Terminology for 
>>> Buddhist
>>> Texts
>>> Berkeley, CA, USA. June 14-July 2, 2010
>>> Core Faculty: Luis Gomez, Michael Hahn
>>> Associate Faculty: Paul Harrison, Alexander von Rospatt, Carmen 
>>> Dragonetti,
>>> Fernando Tola
>>>
>>> Putting the Dharma into the words of a new culture is a task that has
>>> traditionally unfolded over several generations. In the West,  where the
>>> languages of educated discourse are sophisticated and rich with  layers 
>>> of
>>> meaning, the challenges of being able to convey the Buddhist  teachings 
>>> as
>>> faithfully as possible are especially daunting.
>>> This intensive three-week program, intended primarily for graduate 
>>> students
>>> in Buddhism, Indology, or allied fields, is a small step toward a  clear 
>>> and
>>> consistent terminology or (more modestly) developing skills and 
>>> strategies
>>> for finding the best translation equivalents in contemporary English.
>>> The text for the program is the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra. We  will read 
>>> the
>>> Sanskrit together with the Tibetan and Chinese translations. This  close
>>> reading will address problems of interpretation, as well as the 
>>> technical
>>> and stylistic challenges faced by the translator of classical  Buddhist
>>> texts. Students should have facility in Sanskrit; knowledge of  Tibetan 
>>> or
>>> Chinese will be helpful.
>>> Format and Facilities Guided by distinguished faculty, students  will 
>>> meet 5
>>> hours a day, five days a week to work with the challenges posed by  the 
>>> text.
>>> Sessions will be held from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm –  5:30 pm. 
>>> Meals
>>> are provided, and housing is an easy walk. Students will have  access to 
>>> the
>>> libraries of the Mangalam Research Center and the University of 
>>> California
>>> at Berkeley (a 10-minute walk). Rapid Transit to San Francisco is
>>> half-a-block away.
>>> Focus The focus will be on key terms of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa- sūtra in 
>>> the
>>> context of the profound Mahayana vision it sets forth. We will  examine
>>> vocabulary choices in  both source and target languages, sensitive  to 
>>> subtle
>>> shifts in meaning between languages with different philosophical
>>> underpinnings. Among the topics to be explored and skills to be  honed:
>>> •  Sanskrit roots, etymology, and the relation of Buddhist  Sanskrit to
>>> other forms of Sanskrit
>>> •  Issues of context and intertexuality.
>>> •  comparison with the Tibetan and Chinese, with reference to 
>>> commentaries.
>>> •  stylistic choices and terminology in existing translations in  both
>>> canonical and modern languages
>>> •  general issues in the theory and practice of translation as  they 
>>> arise
>>> in rendering a classic Buddh ist text into a modern idiom.
>>> Costs: Tuition: $1,200 (includes lunch daily). Food and lodging: 
>>> $1,350.
>>> Total cost: $2,550.
>>>
>>> Applications The program is intended for advanced graduate  students, 
>>> but
>>> applications from all qualified candidates will be considered.  Please 
>>> submit
>>> an application by March 15, 2010 to 
>>> summerprograms at mangalamresearch.org.
>>> Include a short statement of purpose, a description of language  skills 
>>> and
>>> how acquired, and a 1–2 paragraph letter of endorsement from your 
>>> principal
>>> adviser. Students completing the program will receive a formal  letter 
>>> from
>>> the Buddhist Studies program of the University of California,  Berkeley,
>>> certifying that the course corresponds to a semester long graduate 
>>> seminar
>>> of fifteen weeks with five hours of instruction per week."
>>>
>>>  Maximum number of participants is 15. Applicants will be notified  by 
>>> April
>>> 10, 2010.
>>>
>
> ============
> Michael Witzel
> witzel at fas.harvard.edu
> <www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm>
>
> Dept. of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University
> 1 Bow Street,
> Cambridge MA 02138, USA
>
> phone: 1- 617 - 495 3295, 496 8570, fax 617 - 496 8571;
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>