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