[INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses

[Whitney Cox]

Equally, and by a set of sound changes essentially identical to those
described by Palaniappan, the second element in tēvantikai could be
referred to -vandyā ('praiseworthy').  Skt. Devavandyā, I find, occurs in
list of 1008 names of the Gāyatrī mantra: this slightly obscure place
notwithstanding, it also makes better sense semantically: "she who is to be
praised by the gods" rather than "a barren woman of [?] the gods", thus "a
divine barren woman".




On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 12:24 PM, Suresh Kolichala <
suresh.kolichala at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> A more plausible derivation for *t**ēvanti*/*tāvantikai *would be from
>  the flower name *c**ēmantī*/*s**ē**mantī*/*s**ēmantika *ʻthe Indian
> white rose Rosa glanduliferaʼ*.*
>
> The alternation of  the radical vowel between ē- and ā- would point to a
> possible presence of palatal.  In Telugu, this flower is known as cā
> mantī, cēmantī or cēvanti. Irregular word-initial *c*- > *t*- is not
> uncommon in Tamil and other Dravidian languages[1][2], as evident in the
> transformations of the following borrowings from Indo-Aryan:
>
> *sattva *ʻstrengthʼ > *cattuvam, tattuvam*
> *snānam *ʻbathʼ > *tānam*
> *samtati *ʻlineageʼ >* tantati*
> *āsanam *ʻpostureʼ > *ācanam *> *ātanam*
>
> Intervocalic /m/ > /v/ is well-known in South Dravidian.
>
> Therefore, I propose:
>
> **c**ā-/**c**ē**ma-**nt-i**> c**ē**mantī > t**ēvanti *ʻthe Indian white
> rose Rosa glanduliferaʼ*.*
>
> It goes well with the other flower names used for characters in the
> *Cilappatikāram *such as *m**ātavi *(related to *m**ādhavi*).
>
> Regards,
> Suresh.
>
> [1] Emeneau, Murray, Proto-Dravidian *c-:Toda t-" BSOAS 1953
> [2] Emeneau, Murray, Proto-Dravidian *c- and Its Developments JAOS1988.
>
> On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 6:43 AM, Tieken, H.J.H. <
> H.J.H.Tieken at hum.leidenuniv.nl> wrote:
>
>>  Instead of devavandhyā, could tēvantikai not correspond to Skt
>> devāntikā, fem. of devānta(ka), a name of a rākṣasa and of a daitya (MW)?
>>
>>  Herman Tieken
>> University of Leiden
>> The Netherlands
>>  website: hermantieken.com
>>    ------------------------------
>> *Van:* INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info] namens
>> palaniappa at aol.com [palaniappa at aol.com]
>> *Verzonden:* donderdag 14 november 2013 12:11
>> *To:* indology at list.indology.info
>> *Onderwerp:* [INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses
>>
>>  Dear Indologists,
>>
>>  The Cilappatikāram, the Tamil epic, has a character named
>> Tēvanti/Tāvantikai.  She was a brahmin and was a friend of the heroine,
>> Kaṇṇaki. She married Cāttaṉ, a god in human form. Eight years after
>> marriage, he revealed to her his real nature and left her asking her to
>> come to his temple. Accordingly, she worshipped at the temple of Cāttaṉ. At
>> the end of the epic, when  the temple to Kaṇṇaki is inaugurated,
>> Tēvantikai, under possession by Cāttaṉ, Tēvantikai entered a trance and
>> danced and Cāttaṉ spoke through her. Later, the Cēra king Ceṅkuṭṭuvaṉ
>> established a grant for worship and daily celebration at the Kaṇṇaki temple
>> and appointed her to offer flowers, incense, and fragrances at the temple.
>> After worshipping Kaṇṇaki, the king and others including a brahmin named
>> Māṭalaṉ entered a separate sacrificial hall where Tēvantikai again spoke as
>> an oracle.
>>
>>
>>
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-- 
Whitney Cox
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
South Asian Languages and Civilizations
University of Chicago


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