Sunday, May 22, 2016

Double entendre 4: Corrigenda and bonus

First of all, I would like to update my notes on the verse I quoted in my previous post, based on the Modern Standard Hindi translation and explanation of Vajjalaggam by the scholar Vishwanath Pathak, published in 1984:

The Prakrit adjective candaNavaliyaM (चन्दणवलियं), when it describes an actual pestle, should be interpreted as "made of sandalwood" rather than "smeared with sandalwood paste"; kaJci (कञ्चि) refers to an iron ring fitted to a wooden pestle (called sem, सेम, in Hindi, according to Pathak, although I found no support for this claim in any of the Hindi dictionaries I consulted) or the corona of the glans penis.

And now, to make up for my errors in the previous post, here is another quote from the same chapter of Vajjalaggam. The following would be the words of a young woman sharing her frustrations with her peers ... or perhaps just bragging.

Maharashtri Prakrit text in the Devanagari script:

भमिओ चिरं असेसो गामो मइ सहियओ सयं वारं|
गेहुक्खलपरिमाणेण मामि मुसलं चिय न दिट्ठं||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

bhamio ciraM aseso gAmo ma-i sahiyao sayaM vAraM|
gehukkhalaparimANeNa mAmi musalaM ciya na ditthaM||
 Anonymous

Sanskrit translation in the Devanagari script:


भ्रान्तश्चिरमशेषो ग्रामो मया सख्यः शतवारम्|
गेहोलूखलपरिमाणेन मामि मुषलमेव न दृष्टम्||
 रत्नदेव
Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

bhrAntazciramazeSo grAmo mayA sakhyaH zatavAraM|
geholUkhalaparimANena mAmi muSalameva na dRSTam||
 ratnadeva

Loose translation: Friends! I have scoured the entire village a hundred times
– I am yet to see a pestle that matches the mortar in my home in size.

Source: Vajjalaggam Verse 541.

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