[INDOLOGY] mAtAjI

[Howard Resnick]

Thanks. The use of mother-terms is fairly widespread in Hinduism.

On May 22, 2013, at 3:29 PM, Jo <ugg-5 at spro.net> wrote:

> Well, if anyone would like contemporary usage, in Bengal girls are addressed by their fathers as Ma. At least they were last time I was there.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: INDOLOGY [mailto:indology-bounces at list.indology.info] On Behalf Of Howard Resnick
> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 4:04 PM
> To: Patrick Olivelle
> Cc: Indology List
> Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] mAtAjI
> 
> Thank you for this information. I may not have given the best variant of the text. 
> Clearly, as you point out, this statement is literally describing "correct" seeing, rather than mandating a term of address.
> That being the case, do we know why and when statements like this were deployed to justify 'mata/mataji' as the appropriate way to address (and think about) a lady, or even a girl in many cases. I wonder if anyone noticed or remarked that this custom was apparently at variance with forms of address found in influential shastras, such as itihasa-purana. 
> 
> Howard
> 
> 
> On May 22, 2013, at 2:27 PM, Patrick Olivelle <jpo at uts.cc.utexas.edu> wrote:
> 
>> I have seen and translated this or similar verse, but cannot put my finger on it. The issue, however, is NOT about speaking about about "seeing"  -- that is regarding. In the verse I have seen the locatives are given as accusatives: mātṛvat paradārañ ca etc. Also the last pāda, as I remember it runs: yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati -- one who sees (this way), truly sees.
>> 
>> Patrick
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On May 22, 2013, at 4:04 PM, Howard Resnick wrote:
>> 
>>> Do we know the history of the Hindu custom of addressing women as  mAtA or mAtAji?
>>> 
>>> Some Hindu traditions quote CANakya/KauTilya as follows: 
>>> 
>>> mAtRvat para-dAreSu, para-dravyeSu loSTravat, Atmavat sarva-bhUteSu, yaH paZyati sa paNDitaH
>>> 
>>> "A pandita is he who sees others' wives as mother, others' property as dirt, all beings as oneself."
>>> 
>>> Yet typically itihasa-purana texts do not show men addressing others' wives, and certainly not women in general, as "mother."
>>> 
>>> Any help with this is sincerely appreciated.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Howard Resnick
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>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>> http://listinfo.indology.info
>> 
>> 
> 
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