[INDOLOGY] scarecrow again [addendum]

Sun Apr 7 06:06:39 UTC 2024

I was reminded that I had not quoted the Sanskrit passage. Sorry!
The servant who impersonates Bhiṣāyaka is described as *tṛṇacchanna*. This
is the relevant wording:

sthāne *Bhiṣāyakasya*itāv ādiśya svānujīvinam |

*tṛṇacchannaṃ* mahāratnaiś caitryāṃ pūjayatas sma tau || Jonar. RT 44 ||

The scarecrow function also seems to have been fulfilled by wooden figures
carved in the shape of birds of prey:

yat kārukḷptakoṇasthadārugāruḍamūrtibhiḥ |

trastāś caranto nāyānti pakṣiṇas tan nabho’dhvanā || Śrīvara RT III.175 ||

"When they get scared by the wooden figures of Garuḍa on the juts of the
[palace] where the craftsmen have placed them, the birds fly about in the
air [and] do not return there."

WS

Am Sa., 6. Apr. 2024 um 15:12 Uhr schrieb Walter Slaje <
walter.slaje at gmail.com>:

> Dear Arlo,
>
> > very literally the sense of bibhīṣikā/bibhīṣikā
> I recall one proper name with a causative element of "scaring" (bhiṣāyaka)
> - unfortunately not with mumaṇḍi/ mumaṇḍī - in connection with a straw
> figure. The point is that a Yakṣa of this name was apparently the object of
> worship in the form of a scarecrow. This is illustrated by a story of two
> swindlers who relieved a naïve Kashmiri ruler (Paramāṇuka [1155-1164]) of
> his precious jewellery by having a servant covered with straw take the
> place of Bhiṣāyaka to accept this 'gift of jewellery' from the king and
> making him disappear into the forest with it. This how the amusing story
> ends:
>
> "Today, you have satisfied Kubera by adorning him with a variety of
> jewels. He gave you his blessings and then disappeared before the eyes of
> the people."
> [And that was not all:] the rogues thereupon caused the infantile,
> pitiable ruler to make them a gift as a token of favour. In this manner, by
> means of terrifying this weak king like a little child, the two bon-vivants
> completely plundered his treasure  (Rājataraṅgiṇī of Jonarāja 41-47,
> Pseudo-Jonarāja 1 [B 47-49]).
>
> Best,
> Walter
>
> Am Sa., 6. Apr. 2024 um 13:21 Uhr schrieb Arlo Griffiths via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info>:
>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> I wish to thank the numerous colleagues who responded to my query on and
>> off the list. In alphabetical order, they are Sadananda Das, Vincent
>> Eltschinger, Rupert Gethin, Suhas Mahesh, Andrew Ollett, Walter Slaje,
>> Harry Spier, Carmen Spiers. Forgive me if I forget anyone.
>>
>> Below I assemble all the data I have received or found myself, starting
>> with references to Michaël Meyer's most convenient aggregation (known to
>> me) of all relevant modern dictionaries.
>>
>> But all of this started for me with an attempt to help my student
>> Zakariya Pamuji Aminullah edit the Sanskrit-Old Javanese lexicographic text
>> part of the Old Javanese Candrakiraṇa (alias Chandakaraṇa) that he is
>> editing for his PhD thesis. At the moment, his edition has two juxtaposed
>> synonym sets (where Old Javanese ṅa means iti and introduces the Old
>> Javanese terms corresponding to the Sanskrit ones).
>>
>> 307 Synonyms of Effigy
>> cañcā, ṅa riṅgit.
>> 308 Synonyms of Scarecrow
>> kuṣmāṇḍī, ṅa pitakut.
>>
>> He has direct access to three Javanese palm-leaf manuscripts (J1, J2, J2)
>> plus Lokesh Chandra's edition which was based only on a Romanized
>> transcript of J1.
>>
>> Lokesh Chandra. 1997. “Chanda-Karaṇa: The Art of Writing Poetry.” *Cultural
>> horizons of India, vol 6*, by Lokesh Chandra, 140–242. Śata-Piṭaka
>> Series 390. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya
>> Prakashan.
>>
>> Apparatus for the above passage:
>>
>> riṅgit] EdLC, riṅgit[... J1, ruṅgīt J2, lac. J3 (larger gap)
>> riṅgit … (310.1) śiṅśapa] A gap due to loss intervenes in J1.
>> kuṣmāṇḍī] conj., mumaṇḍih EdLC, mumaṇḍī J2, lac. J1 (larger gap), lac. J3
>> (larger gap).
>>
>> Alas, we have only one ms. that gives the OJ word pitakut, which
>> expresses very literally the sense of bibhīṣikā/bibhīṣikā (the base takut
>> means 'to fear', the prefix pi- adds causative meaning), and the
>> corresponding Sanskrit was still preserved in ms. J1 when the person who
>> made the transcription used by Lokesh Chandra had access to it in the
>> course of the 20th c. and read mumaṇḍih, while we find mumaṇḍī in J2.
>> Despite all the data received on Sanskrit terms meaning 'scarecrow', we
>> still seem to have no word that is similar enough to mumaṇḍih/mumaṇḍī that
>> Zakariya could adopt instead of the unconvincing conjecture kuṣmāṇḍī.
>>
>> Since cañcā does seem to be standard term for 'scarecrow' while the terms
>> tr̥ṇapuruṣa/tr̥ṇapūruṣa is also common in that meaning, while an authority
>> like the Viśvaprakāśa combines them both in one synonym set (cañco
>> nalādinirmāṇe cañcā tu tr̥ṇapūruṣe |), I am even wondering if we should
>> radically intervene in the transmission to merge both entries into one and
>> get two Sanskirt terms for a single Old Javanese gloss, like this:
>>
>> 307 Synonyms of Scarecrow
>> cañcā, tr̥ṇapuruṣa, ṅa pitakut.
>>
>> Suggestions are welcome.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Arlo
>>
>>
>> Dictionary entries
>>
>> cañcā      https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/ca%C3%B1c%C4%81
>> cañcāpāñcajana
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/ca%C3%B1c%C4%81p%C4%81%C3%B1cajana
>> cañcāpuruṣa
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/ca%C3%B1c%C4%81puru%E1%B9%A3a
>> cañcāveṣā
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/ca%C3%B1c%C4%81ve%E1%B9%A3%C4%81
>> jharaṅka https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/jhara%E1%B9%85ka
>> tr̥ṇakāminī
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/t%E1%B9%9B%E1%B9%87ak%C4%81min%C4%AB
>> tr̥ṇapuruṣa
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/t%E1%B9%9B%E1%B9%87apuru%E1%B9%A3a
>> bibhīṣikā
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/bibh%C4%AB%E1%B9%A3ik%C4%81
>> bibhīṣikā
>> https://michaelmeyer.fr/sanskrit/meta/terms/vibh%c4%ab%e1%b9%a3ik%c4%81
>>
>> Text passages
>>
>> Sanskrit 1. [Carmen Spiers]
>> lemma: *śakuniprapatana-.
>> attestation: Paippal¯¯dsaṁhitā 19.47.8
>> māṁsam ivāsinā śakuniprapatanāṁ kr̥dhi |
>> mr̥gām̐ anu pra pātaya marīcīr anu nāśaya ||
>> comment Carmen Spiers: "śakuniprapatanā- seems to refer to something like
>> a scarecrow in Atharvaveda, Paippalāsaṁhitā 19.47.8b; though it is an
>> epithet applied to a woman whom the speaker wishes to become insane or
>> shunned, a masculine form meaning "scarecrow" might be the inspiration for
>> it."
>>
>> Sanskrit 2. [Suhas Mahesh]
>> lemma: tr̥ṇa-pūruṣa
>> attestation: Bhallaṭaśataka 1.74
>> saṁrakṣituṁ kr̥ṣim akāri kr̥ṣīvalena paśyātmanaḥ pratikr̥tis
>> **tr̥ṇapūruṣo** 'yam |
>> stabdhasya niṣkriyatayāstabhiyo 'sya nūnam aśnanti gomr̥gagaṇāḥ pura eva
>> sasyam ||
>>
>> Sanskrit 3. [Suhas Mahesh]
>> lemma: tr̥ṇa-kr̥ta-kr̥trima-puruṣa
>> attestation: Nītidviṣaṣṭikā of Sundarapāṇdya 104
>> yo na dadāti na bhuṅkte vibhave sati naiva tasya tad dravyam |
>> **tr̥ṇa-kr̥ta-kr̥trima-puruṣo** rakṣati sasyaṁ parasyārthe ||
>>
>> Sanskrit 4. [Andrew Ollett]
>> lemma: vīrut-tr̥ṇa-maya-puruṣa in
>> attestattion: Subhāṣitaratnakōṣa 264
>> kāmaṁ kūlē nadīnām anugiri mahiṣīyūthanīḍōpakaṇṭhē
>> gāhantē śaṣparājīr abhinavaśalabhagrāsalōkā balākāḥ
>> antarvinyastavīruttr̥ṇamayapuruṣatrāsavighnaṁ kathañcit
>> kāpotaṁ kodravāṇāṁ kavalayati kaṇān kṣētrakōṇaikadeśe
>>
>> Ingalls' translation:
>> By the streambank, up toward the hills,
>> close by where the buffaloes are lying,
>> the cranes stalk calmly through the young grass
>> hunting for fresh locusts;
>> the flock of doves, though hindered by their fear
>> of straw-filled scarecrows set therein,
>> yet manages to peck up grains of beggarweed
>> along a corner of the field.
>>
>> Sanskrit 5. [Suhas Mahesh]
>> lemma: cañcā
>> attestation: Līlāvatīsāra 11.86 (L.D. Series edition)
>> mahākulaṁ kalāsthānaṁ yuvānam api khecaram |
>> manyate sva-guṇāhaṁyuś **cañcā**-sadhryañcam eva sā ||
>>
>> Sanskrit 6. [Arlo Griffiths]
>> lemma: cañcā
>> attestation: Amaraṭīkāsarvasva ed. Ganapati Sastri, vol. IV, p. 172
>> manuṣyaḥ cañceva cañcāmanuṣyaḥ kharakuṭī nāpitaśālā | cañcā tr̥ṇamayaḥ
>> puruṣo yaḥ kṣetrarakṣaṇāya kriyat
>>
>> Sanskrit 7. [Suhas Mahesh]
>> lemma: *mr̥ga-kula-udbhēṣaka.
>> See Prakrit 1 below.
>>
>> Pali 1 [Rupert Gethin]
>> lemma: tiṇa-purisaka
>> attestation: Visuddhimagga 457 (XIV.113); Atthasālinī (111)
>> comment Rupert Gethin: In the Abhidhamma definition of saññā we find:
>> yathā-upaṭṭhitavisayapadaṭṭhānā tiṇapurisakesu migapotakānaṁ purisā ti
>> uppannasaññā viyā, 'Its footing is an object as presented, as when young
>> animals have the cognition ‘people’ with regard to scarecrows.'
>>
>> Prakrit 1 [Suhas Mahesh]
>> jahiṁ tumaṁ saccaviā viṇiaṁsaṇa-lolirī juānehiṁ |
>> te tattha cciya chette **maa-ula-ubbhesaā** jāā || Śr̥ṅgāraprakāśa p.
>> 1195 (Josyer’s edition)
>> ** Skt mr̥ga-kula-udbhēṣaka.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Arlo
>> Griffiths via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>> *Sent:* Sunday, March 31, 2024 1:17 AM
>> *To:* INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] scarecrow
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> Looking through NWS (search term Vogelscheuche), MW, and even the
>> English-Sanskrit dictionaries at
>> https://sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/simple/, it is hard to find any
>> words that evidently means 'scarecrow' in Sanskrit.
>>
>> Would anyone be able to point me to words expressing this meaning with
>> some degree of plausibility?
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Arlo Griffiths
>>
>>
>>
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>
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