Dear Harry,
as several colleagues have already tried to make it clear in earlier posts on
this list, it is not Monier-Williams, but Otto von Böhtlingk who is to be
credited for such dictionary entries as the one concerning yaṣṭi which you are
referring to.
In his monumental "Sanskrit-Wörterbuch" (1855–1875; co-authored with
Rudolph Roth) Böhtlingk has written the following on yaṣṭi: "f. nom. act. von
1. yaj P. 3,3,110, Sch. wohl fehlerhaft für iṣṭi." (PW, vol. 6, p. 95a, s.v. yaṣṭi
2). In his unsurpassed "Sanskrit-Wörterbuch in kürzerer Fassung"
(1879–1889) Böhtlingk kept this entry revising and abridging somewhat his
earlier explanation: "f. Nom. act. von 1. yaj. Richtig iṣṭi." (pw, vol. 5, 134a,
s.v. yaṣṭi 2). In the first edition of Monier-Williams's dictionary (published in
1872) its compiler simply translated Böhtlingk's explanation which he found
in the newly published volume six of PW, skipping thereby one part of the
information (in particular the details concerning Pāṇini's sūtra): "sacrificing,
(perhaps incorrect for 3. ishṭi.)" (MW, p. 804b, s.v. yashṭi 1). In the second
edition of Monier-Williams's dictionary (published in 1899) we read
"sacrificing, Pāṇ. iii. 3, 110, Sch. (prob. w. r. for ishṭi)" (mw, p. 840c, s.v.
yashṭi 1). From this explanation and from the history of the dictionary itself
as reflected in its introduction it can be assumed that it was Carl Cappeller
who added the note on Pāṇ. 3.3.110 after consulting the entry in PW which
he knew certainly very well. In this sense Monier-Williams has said nothing
about yaṣṭi and probably had no idea which commentator on Pāṇini Böhtlingk
has been referring to.
I suspect that Böhtlingk had in mind a passage which he had published
himself in his edition of Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī (published in 1839; Böhtlingk was
24 years old at that time!). At the end of the commentary on Pāṇ. 3.3.110
we read there: "... kāṃ yaṣṭim ityādi" (Pânini's acht Bücher grammatischer
Regeln. Vol. 1, p. 173). In the "Einleitung" added at the beginning of the
second volume of this edition (published in 1840) Böhtlingk has provided
information about the Calcutta commentary on the Aṣṭādhyāyī on which his
own edition was based. I don't have it at hand to check, but I suppose that
the same text is to be read in this modern commentary began by
Dharanīdhara and completed by Kāśīnātha at the suggestion of Colebrooke in
1809 (see vol. 2, pp. xxxvii–xxxviii of Böhtlingk’s edition).
All the best,
Dragomir Dimitrov
________________________________________
Dr. habil. Dragomir Dimitrov
Indologie und Tibetologie
Philipps-Universität Marburg
Deutschhausstr. 12
D-35032 Marburg
Germany
Tel.: +49 6421 28 24640, +49 178 9190340
E-mail: dimitrov@staff.uni-marburg.de
http://www.uni-marburg.de/indologie
________________________________________
> Thank you to Corinna Wessels-Mevissen and Nivedita Rout who replied
> off-list.
>
> Harry Spier
>
> On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 8:22 PM, Harry Spier
> <hspier.muktabodha@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear list members:
>
> A gāyatrī mantra mantra to Vāyu is:
> sarvaprāṇāya vidmahe
> yaṣṭihastāya dhīmahi
> tan no vāyuḥpracodayāt
> I've seen a translation of yaṣṭihastāya as "holding the mace"
> but are statues or pictoral representations of Vāyu, and if so
> with a mace? but Monier-Williams also has a meaning of yaṣṭi
> as "sacrificing" which he says comes from a commentator on Panini
> 3-3-110 . By any chance could someone point out the commentator
> and point me to the passage MW refers to. Also based on that
> definition of yaṣṭi does a translation of yaṣṭihastāya as
> "to the one who sacrifices with his hands" make sense. refering to
> the wind fanning the flames of the sacrifice. Thanks, Harry Spier
>
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