See also: 

Mehendale, M.A.  1977.  "aṃśalá" in Beiträge zur Indienforschung Ernst Waldschmidt zum 80, Berlin: Museum für Ind. Kunst, pp. 315-318.

In an unfortunate twist, my PDF of the article is apparently corrupted.  I will look for the paper copy in my files, but until then if anyone happens to have a PDF easily available, that would be much appreciated.

My best,

Steven

STEVEN LINDQUIST, PH.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, RELIGIOUS STUDIES

DIRECTOR, ASIAN STUDIES

____________________

Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, SMU

PO Box 750202 | Dallas | TX | 75275

Email: slindqui@smu.edu

Web: http://faculty.smu.edu/slindqui

From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces@list.indology.info> on behalf of Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@umich.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 2:59 PM
To: Herman Tull <hermantull@gmail.com>
Cc: Indology <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] amsala

Hello Dermot and Herman,

At least in Pāṇini's understanding, the words vatsa+la and aṃsa+la are derived respectively in the sense of kāma "love" and bala "strength," sūtra: vatsāṃsābhyāṃ kāmabale (P. 5.2.98).  Thus, for Pāṇini, these words mean "loving, affectionate" and "strong," respectively.  That meaning for aṃsala would not fit the Śatapatha passage: aśnāmy evāham aṃsalaṃ ced bhavati, suggesting that the word had some other meaning making the meat more edible/desirable, and hence "tender" is a likely contextual meaning.  May be "plump, juicy".

Madhav Deshpande

On Sat, Jun 25, 2016 at 3:43 PM, Herman Tull <hermantull@gmail.com> wrote:

​

Dermot,

I worked on this 30 years ago,​ and I remember asking the exact same question. If memory serves correctly (and it may be

​unreliable

 here), I believe Sayana's commentary

​is

 helpful here

​ in getting to Eggeling's definition​

.

​ 

(I'm away from my library right now, and I cannot check

​.​

)​

​Herman 

Herman Tull
Princeton, NJ

On Jun 25, 2016 11:19 AM, <dermot@grevatt.force9.co.uk> wrote:

Can someone help with a bit of brAhmaNa interpretation?

Monier-Williams and Mayrhofer both say aMsala means "strong", connecting it with aMsa
"shoulder". Mayrhofer adds that it's used mainly with reference to cattle and meat.

In xatapatha brAhmaNa 3.1.2.21 Eggeling translates it "tender".

The context is a prohibition on eating beef -- apparently not for everyone at all times, but for
someone undertaking dIkSA. After an arthavAda justifying the prohibition, YAjnavalkya is
quoted as saying "axnAmy evAham aMsalaM ced bhavati."

Eggeling: "I, for one, eat it, provided that it is tender."

Is there any evidence for a meaning "tender", or is Eggeling taking a liberty to give
YAjnavalkya a good punch line?

I realise that ancient Indian diet can be a sensitive issue, but the question here seems to be
about YAjnavalkya's culinary preference.

I'd be grateful for any clarification.

Dermot

--
Dermot Killingley
9, Rectory Drive,
Gosforth,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1XT
Phone (0191) 285 8053


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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

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