Nirukta of anugraha?

[Dipak Bhattacharya]

The sense of ‘favour’ in anugraha – anu-gṛh originally  ‘to accept subsequently’, cf., Kauśika S.56.14 --does not appear to be old, at least not Vedic. The sense of favour could have grown by way of its employment as an antonym of nigraha ‘obstruction’ Yāska, N.1.3, ‘rebuke’, ‘tormenting’, Nyāya-S. 1.2.20. The pair of antonyms may be found the Bhakti and Pratyabhijñā literature.
Seasonal Greetings and Best Wishes
DB

--- On Mon, 27/12/10, Christopher Wallis <bhairava11 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:


From: Christopher Wallis <bhairava11 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Nirukta of anugraha?
To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
Date: Monday, 27 December, 2010, 3:03 AM


Dear esteemed colleagues,

In an inquiry apropos to the holiday season, I wonder if any of you have
ever seen a nirukta or nirvacana of anugraha, explaining its derivation,
since there is no obvious connection (that I can see) between anu + grah and
the meanings of anugraha.

thank you,
Chris

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Christopher D. Wallis, M.A. (Cal), M.Phil. (Oxon)