On this occasion, let me cite a few examples for padma as used in the masculine gender by outstanding classical Kavis in addition to those already quoted by Dr. Steiner:
In his Harṣacarita (Ed. Kane, 1918), for instance, Bāṇa seems to use exclusively the masculine gender for padma (no trace of usage in the neuter). This is all the more remarkable as Bāṇa writes in prose. One can therefore not invoke the metre as a possible cause:
tac chrutvā bāṇasya catvāraḥ pitāmahamukhapadmā iva […]
(HC III p. 39,29)
atha […] dvijavarasvecchāgṛhītakoṣo nābhipadma iva […]
(HC IV, p. 56,6)
āśliṣyāsya sakaladurmadamahīpālamaulimālālālitau pādapadmāv […]
(HC V, p. 86,24)
lilekha maṇikuṭṭimam itaraḥ pādapadmaḥ
(HC VI, p. 96,23)
Moreover,
Śrīharṣa (Naiṣadhacarita):
[…] sa cen mukham ayaṃ padmaḥ priye tāvakam [22.140]
Or, Maṅkhakavi (Śrīkaṇṭhacarita):
[…] padmaḥ sa vaḥ padmabhuvaḥ punātu । yaḥ […] ॥ 1.22. ॥
Explanation by Kavi Jonarāja: yaḥ padma […] sa padmo vaḥ punātu
Their usage is fully in line with the grammatical genders of padma (m., n.) as given in the major Sanskrit dictionaries (pw, MW, Apte).
It is however a bit
unfortunate that the Rigveda is unaware of the word padma, which has become so common in later literature. We have no idea what gender the rigvedic kavis would have assigned to padma, had it been part of their vocabulary
and poetic imagination.
Regards,
WS
Übung macht den Meister - so let my try again:
मानवरोगसंचारवर्जनार्थं स बुद्धिमान् ।
रामो लाङ्गूलिनं ह्येव किं नु लङ्कामचारयत् ॥
Did Rama the wise send none other than a monkey to Lanka
in order to avoid transmission of a human disease?
(Please note that I do not consider myself a paṇḍit or a kavi but rather
a humble student of Sanskrit language and literature. I very much
appreciate your patience with my sometimes faulty compositions as well
as your improvements and the interesting discussions triggered by them.)
Christian Ferstl
Am 05.04.2020 15:34, schrieb Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY:
> A distraction from the Coronavirus
>
> कोरोनाभयभीतोऽसौ
> चिन्ताक्रान्तो दशानन: ।
>
> मुक्त्वा स जानकीं सद्यो
> राघवं शरणं ययौ ।।
>
> Scared of the danger of the Coronavirus, overcome by worry, Ravana
> freed Sita and quickly took refuge with Lord Rama.
>
> Madhav M. Deshpande
> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>
> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
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