[INDOLOGY] Tantrapāla

[Arlo Griffiths]

FYI, the Malay/Indonesian word for army (and soldier) is tentara, an evident loan from Sanskrit tantra. The Indonesian armed forces formed during the Indonesian war of independence are known as Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI). The word is attested already in early "Classical Malay" works such as the Sejarah Malayu, dating from around the 14th c. (Simple search at https://mcp.anu.edu.au/.) If I am not mistaken, the word is not attested in Old Malay, where the word bala tends to be used for "army".
Malay Concordance Project<https://mcp.anu.edu.au/>
The Malay Concordance Project, Australian National University offers a searchable corpus of over 5.8 million words of pre-modern Malay text.
mcp.anu.edu.au
Anyhow, the spread of the word tantra to Southeast Asia suggests that the meaning "army" must have been rather common in South Asia.


Arlo Griffiths



________________________________
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: Monday, July 4, 2022 6:46 AM
To: Christian Ferstl <christian.ferstl at univie.ac.at>
Cc: Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Tantrapāla

Dear Christian,

I'm afraid I can't answer either question at the moment. The
history/etymology of the term was the first thing I wondered about too,
and one may speculate that the underlying idea is line of marching
soldiers stretching out (tan-), but I don't know for sure. Perhaps
others do?

Best wishes,
Martin



Den 2022-07-04 kl. 08:17, skrev Christian Ferstl:
> Dear Martin,
>
> is the meaning 'army' for tantra (and 'soldier' for tantrin)
> explainable on historical or etymological grounds, or is it even
> explained by Sanskrit commentators?
>
> Christian
>
> Am 04.07.2022 05:52, schrieb Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY:
>> Thank you, Patricia, that's one place I hadn't looked. The meaning
>> 'commander of (a subdvision of) an army', particularly the infantry,
>> was also suggested privately by Walter Slaje and is almost certainly
>> correct. The meaning 'army' for tantra (and 'soldier' for tantrin) is
>> found in most dictionaries, but Walter tells me it is very common in
>> the Rājataraṅgiṇīs of Kalhaṇa, Jonarāja, Śrīvara and Śuka,
>> the first of which is roughly right for the period and geographic area
>> that I'm interested in. Thanks to all who replied to my query!
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Martin
>>
>> Den 2022-07-04 kl. 03:17, skrev Patricia Sauthoff:
>>
>>> The Indian Epigraphical Glossary [1] gives tantrapāla [2] as "chief
>>> of the army" and other high level positions of protector of kings,
>>> which seems to fit your verse.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 3, 2022 at 1:40 AM Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY
>>> <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I wonder if anyone knowledgeable about (north)western India
>>>> around the 13th century might have an idea about how the epithet
>>>> tantrapāla should be understood in that context? I am looking at
>>>> these two verses from an astrological text:
>>>>
>>>> kasya samīpe candro ravimuthaśilage nṛpatipārśve |
>>>> śaninā ca muthaśile ’smin nīcānām ijyamuthaśile ca satām
>>>> ||
>>>> śukreṇa ca yuvatīnāṃ jñena vyavahāripaṇḍitānāṃ ca
>>>> |
>>>> bhaumena <ca> śatrūṇāṃ krūreśānāṃ ca tantrapālānām
>>>> ||
>>>>
>>>> 'In whose company is the moon? If it forms a _muthaśila _[Ar.
>>>> _muttaṣil_, applying aspect] with the sun, [the querent travels]
>>>> at the side of the king; if it has a _muthaśila _with Saturn, [at
>>>> the side] of low people, and if a _muthaśila _with Jupiter, of
>>>> good people; with Venus, of women; with Mercury, with merchants
>>>> and scholars; with Mars, of his enemies, cruel lords and
>>>> _tantrapālas_.'
>>>>
>>>> The standard dictionaries failling me, I did a simple web search,
>>>> which turned up some suggestions; but the present context seems to
>>>> call for something more warlike, violent and/or sinister than just
>>>> 'high official' or 'secretary of council'.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance for any thoughts,
>>>>
>>>> Martin Gansten
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Patricia Sauthoff, PhD
>>>
>>> Assistant Lecturer
>>> Department of History, Classics, and Religion
>>> University of Alberta
>>>
>>> Edmonton, Canada
>>>
>>> (I will respond as quickly as I can. In the meantime, here is a pdf
>>> [3] of some of my favorite simple guided meditations.)
>>>
>>> Author: Illness and Immortality: mantra, maṇḍala, and meditation
>>> in the Netra Tantra [4]
>>>
>>> UAlberta resources
>>> Sexual assault centre: sexualassaultcentre at ualberta.ca
>>> Office of Safe Disclosure and Human Rights: osdhr at ualberta.ca The
>>> Landing: thelanding at su.ualberta.ca
>>
>>
>>
>> Links:
>> ------
>> [1]
>> https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/IEGScan/2020/web/webtc/indexcaller.php
>> [2]
>> https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/csl-apidev/servepdf.php?dict=IEG&page=337
>> [3] https://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/med-guided2.pdf
>> [4]
>> https://global.oup.com/academic/product/illness-and-immortality-9780197553268?cc=us&lang=en&#:~:text=Patricia%20Sauthoff%20examines%20the%20role,to%20alleviate%20illness%20and%20death.&text=It%20asks%20how%20ritual%20alleviates,rites%20described%20within%20the%20text.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
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