Dear Colleagues,

     In the Pali canonical literature, we come across the word "Mantānī" as the name of a Brahmin woman.  Her husband is "Gagga", which can be easily traced to Sanskrit "Garga".  I have been wondering about the Sanskrit counterpart of the name "Mantānī".  If one assumes something like "Mantrāṇī" in (vernacular?) Sanskrit, that would correspond to Pali "Mantānī".  The other possibility I was thinking is if Skt. Maitrāyaṇī may be the counterpart for Pali "Mantānī".   I am not sure about this alternative, since Skt. "maitra" would correspond to Pali "metta".   The Pali expression "Mantānīputta" occurs as a characterization of two individuals, i.e. Aṅgulimāla and Aññākoṇḍañña.  If these twp figures appear in Sanskrit Buddhist literature, there is a possibility of finding a Buddhist Sanskrit expression corresponding to Pali "Mantānīputta".  I would appreciate any suggestions/explanations/conjectures.  Thanks in advance.

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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, MI 48104-1608, USA