Re: [INDOLOGY] vekurañja, Turner's article

[Roland Steiner]

> Against the dictionary entries as quoted by Roland Steiner, Van Buitenen
> translates /kharīvātsalya/ (MBh) as „a she-ass’s love“ (p. 435).

This corresponds to Ganguli's translation::
 
“If, O Sanjaya, thou art about to be stained with infamy and I do not  
(from affection) tell thee anything, then that affection, worthless  
and unreasonable, would be like that of the she-ass’s for her young.”
 
taṃ tvām ayaśasā spṛṣṭaṃ na brūyāṃ yadi saṃjaya
kharīvātsalyam āhus tan niḥsāmarthyam ahetukam (MBh 5.133.6)
 
The reason for this interpretation is obvious: The standard dictionary  
meaning of /khara /is “donkey” (/kharī /“she-donkey”), but why should  
the affection of a she-donkey towards her foal be “inappropriate” and  
“groundless”? The PW (and other dictionaries), however, lists further  
meanings of /khara/, including “mule” (“Maulthier”).
The fact that the female form /kharī /according to the same dictionary  
also should mean “she-hinny” (“Mauleselin”) besides “she-donkey” could  
be a further hint that the difference between mules and hinnies was  
not taken into account here.

By the way, Böhtlingk's main source for the meaning "/khara/ = mule  
('Maulthier')" is Puruṣottamadeva's /Trikāṇḍaśeṣa /2.8.44, where three  
words meaning "mule" (and/or "hinny"?) are listed (/veśara /[=  
/vesara/], /aśvatara/, and /khara/).

Best regards,
Roland Steiner


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