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Karpat́a
By adding the suffix at́ac (at́an) to krp we get the word karpat́a. The meaning of the Vedic root verb krp is “to possess the ability to do some action” or “to be capable of doing something”. The word krpá has come from this root verb krp. Many people think that the root verbs krp and day (from which we get the word dayá [compassion]) have the same meaning. Many mix up karuńá with dayá/krpá. No, these three are not the same. Although the word karuńá has been used since ancient times, we find it used most frequently in Buddhist literature and philosophy. The actual meaning and significance of the word karuńá is “being overcome with affection for others after seeing their ignorance or reluctance in the spiritual sphere, and giving them help, either mentally or physically, or showing them compassion”.
Sonáe bhariti karuńá návii
Rúpá thoi náhika t́hávii
The couplet is ambiguous. Its literal meaning is that a boat named karuńá has been filled with gold so there is no room there to keep any silver. The inner meaning is that the formless Supreme Entity (in Buddhist thought, naerátmadevii) has filled the boat of my existence, so there is no room for the different inferences, such as form, etc. One is floating onward, from the world of forms to the world of the formless, and the binding saḿskaras [reactive momenta] from the cycle of birth and death will not be able to bind them.
Váhátu kamlii gaana uveshe
Gelii jám váhuŕai kaese
So you see, the word karuńá is an odd kind of self-contained word. The word dayá, which comes from the root verb day, means “to melt when seeing someone’s pain and to remove that pain – to be conscious of it”, in English, “kindness”, “grace”.
The word krpá, which comes from the root verb krp, means “to be capable of doing something for someone”. Weak people want krpá from strong people because the strong have that capacity; untalented people want psychic krpá from talented people because talented people have that capacity. Both the words krpa and karpa come from the root verb krp – both words mean “hardy, capable.”
Karpat́a → kappad́a → kappaŕa → kápaŕá/kápaŕa. It is kapaŕa in the languages descended from Shaorasenii Prákrta, kapaŕa in the languages descended from the Western Demi-Mágadhii branch of Mágadhii Prákrta, and kápŕa in the languages descended from Eastern Demi-Mágadhii. The etymological meaning of the word karpat́a is “that which gives shelter or which covers”; its colloquial meanings are:
1) Cloth or garment.
2) The second meaning is “a thick patchwork mattress which is capable of warding off the cold or which can be used as bedding”.
3) The third meaning of the word karpat́a is “a worn-out, torn piece of cloth”, what we call nyákŕá or káni or t́yáná [rag] in spoken Bengali. In Bihar we say nuḿgá, and in north India, cithŕá.
[4) The fourth meaning of the word karpat́a is nyátá [mop-rag]
5) Another meaning of the word karpat́a is “a rag which is used for wiping something without water”, what is called a “duster” in English. The word karpat́a can be used for the dry rag that is used to wipe a blackboard.
Anyhow, you should not confuse the two words nyátá and netá. In the word nyátá the attachment of the y is a must. I have seen some people write the word netá without the y to mean nyátá.
The root verb krp is of Vedic origin. The word karpat́a is also Vedic. After coming to Europe, especially in English, the word karpat́a has taken the form of the word “carpet”. The carpet which is decorated with various kinds of handiwork is called gálicá (in spoken Bengali gálce). The word gálicá is of Persian origin.
Karpat́in
By adding the suffix in to the word karpat́a we get the word karpat́in. Its etymological meaning is “one whose profession is associated with karpat́a”. Colloquially karpat́in refers to:
1) Mendicant.
2) A person clad in tattered clothes.
3) A Brahman who solicits donations, such as an Agradáni, a Brahman counsellor who takes donations for funeral services, those who take eclipse-donations for solar or lunar eclipses.
4) Those Cańd́als, or persons of inferior professions who take the clothes or bedding of the deceased as donations.
Karpara
By adding the suffix arac/arań to krp we get the word karpara. The etymological meaning of the word karpara is “hardy”; its colloquial meanings are:
1) Human skull [narakapálra] or cranium. The nerve centre of the body… the brain is situated inside the skull. The brain needs a strong container, thus the skull or cranium must be hardy, that is, strong. Bear in mind, that in this case that kapálra [skull] means “skull of the deceased” in Sanskrit, not “forehead”. Of course kapálra-likhana means “destiny” in both Bengali and Sanskrit. In Bhojpuri the word kapálra (pronounced kapár) means “head”.
2) The second meaning of the word karpara is “that bony framework situated in the skull which serves as the receptacle of the brain” – what is called “cranium” in English.
3) Cát́u [iron pan] (what some people also call tává). The word is adopted from Sanskrit – you are all familiar with the cát́u on which chapatis are cooked. There is a certain kind of cát́u which has a long handle in front which is the colour of iron. One grabs this handle with a rolled cloth or towel in the hand in order to put it on the stove. This handle is called a karpara. The two rings that one grabs on either side of the kaŕá or kaŕái [a wok-like iron pan] (kat́áha → kad́áha → kaŕáa → kaŕái → kaŕá) used in cooking in order to place it on the stove, are also called karpara.
4) You are surely familiar with the yajiṋa-d́umura [a large variety of fig]. Another name for it in Sanskrit is ud́umbara, and yet another name is karpara. Previously, the Aryans used to consider the wood of the yajiṋa-d́umur to be quite hardy, thus during sacrifices (yajiṋa) they would use it as sacrificial wood. Since it was used as sacrificial wood, its name became yajiṋa-d́umur.
5) Another meaning of the word karpara is what we commonly call bhojáli, a slightly curved weapon that is used both as a dagger and as a sword.
Karbúra
Karbu + urac/urań = karbúra. The etymological meaning of this word, karbúra, is “mixed-colour”, “varied nature”, “selfish”, and so on. Colloquially it means:
1) Any bright, yellow-coloured object, such as golden tinsel, golden garments, or any bright yellow thing.
2) The second meaning of the word karbúra is “pure gold” or “unalloyed gold”.
3) The third meaning of the word karbúra is “the all-season cucumber” (Shashaka variety).
4) The fourth meaning of the word karbúra is “the spotted cucumber” (kśiiriká variety). The cucumber is generally divided into two groups: the first, which is somewhat small in size, predominantly green in colour, and which grows chiefly in the rainy season; and the second, which is grown with a scaffold – this rainy season cucumber is called shashakphalam. This shashaka phala is a favourite food of the shashaka (in English, “hare”). For this reason its name became shashaka phala. However, one shouldn’t think by this that rabbits don’t also love to eat cucumbers. Cucumbers which are not grown in the rainy season, but which are grown on scaffolds rather than being allowed to creep along the ground are also called shashaka phala. If this shashaka variety of cucumber is left to creep along the ground then it easily falls prey to insect attacks and its fruit is destroyed. The field cucumber is called kśiiriká. The kśiiriká variety of cucumber is also eaten raw as fruit by people as well as being used as a cooking vegetable.
5) Something whose surface is spotted – spotted clothes, spotted leaves on a tree, and so forth.
6) If it is spelled karbúrii in feminine form then it means Chinnamastá [a truncated form of the goddess Durgá].
7) One meaning of the word karbúra is daetya [demon].
8) Another meaning of the word karbúra is the red́i plant [castor oil plant] (erańd́ah → erańd́a → erańd́i → eŕi → reŕi). According to the Prákrta rule where ra takes the place of a and a takes the place of ra, eŕi becomes reŕi. This word reŕi is used in Bengali and also in the languages of Bihar – in Hindi, however, it is áńd́i. There are two main varieties of reŕi. – cultivated reŕi and wild reŕi. The leaves of the cultivated reŕi are deep green and its seeds (castor seed) yield a very quality oil. Its chaff also makes a good fertilizer for mustard fields. Wild reŕi is usually known as bhereńd́á in Bengal. The word bhereńd́á has come from the word bhaerańd́a. The leaves of this plant are somewhat reddish and its fruit is poor in quality. The non-mulberry silk that we get from the cocoons of the silk-worms that grow in the leaves of the reŕi plant is called eńd́i silk. At one time Assam was famous for this eńd́i silk; it still is. If some efforts are made, reŕi can be cultivated nicely in those parts of Bengal, north Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where there is alluvial soil, and eńd́i silk can be produced.
9) Another meaning of the word karbúra is “gnat”. In this case its feminine form will be karbúrá, not karbúrii. Karbúrii means “Chinnamastá”. Both karbúra and karbúrii, however, are spelled with vargiya ba.
Karmańa
By adding the suffix man/manin to kr we get the word karmańa which refers to five kinds of actions:
1) That action whose flow is from the crude towards the subtle.
2) That action whose flow is from the subtle towards the crude.
3) That action whose flow is from the inside towards the outside.
4) That action whose flow is from the outside towards the inside.
5) That action which happens spontaneously.
Each of the above-mentioned actions is classified as pratyayamúlaka actions. Their reaction or redress is direct. There is no reaction or redress for saḿskára-based actions. “Saḿskára-based actions” refers to those actions which occur as a reaction to previous actions, or prárabdha.
Karmakára
Karma + kr + ghaiṋ = karmakára. The etymological meaning of karmakára is “one who is there with work”; colloquially it means: (1) engineer or one who is skilled in technology; (2) blacksmith; and (3) one whose work concerns metal, such as a goldsmith, a brazier, and so on.
Karmari
By adding ariń to karma we get karmari. It means “that which, when in the hand, facilitates work” or “that with whose help hand-work is done”; colloquially karmari means “bamboo branch”, or kainchi. A bamboo branchlet, that is, an offshoot of a kainchi or karmari is called karmariká (bákhári).
Karmaraka/Karmiraka
The word karmaraka means “small action”, “inferior action”. The meaning of the word karmiraka is “small plant” or “thicket”.
Kalra
Kalr + ac = kalra. The meaning of the root verb kal is “to sound”, “to count”, “to measure”, “to weigh”, “to be filled with vitality or keep filled”, “semen”, and so on. The etymological meaning of the word kalevara is “that which arises out of semen”; its colloquial meaning is “living body”. Thus it is said about the human body: Shukrádyah bhasmántakah, that is, it begins in semen and ends in ashes – in the end the body is cremated and turned into ash.
Kalraka
Kalra + ka = kalraka. Etymologically it means “that which makes a kinu kinu sound”. But whether or not it makes a kinu kinu sound, colloquially kalraka refers to the párse fish.
Kalratra
Kalra +trae + d́a = kalratra. The meaning of the word kalra is “sound”. The etymological meaning of the word kalratra is “that which saves by sound”. The colloquial meanings of the word kalratra are:
1) Strong fortress.
2) the town within a fortress.
3) fortress-wall.
4) the fortress in which a king lives.
5) a place during the time that a king lives there (that place
need not be the capital).
6) kalratra’s other meaning is “wife”. A wife may not be
physically strong but in a vocal battle she can free her husband
from danger by defeating the enemy, thus a wife is called
kalratra. When the word kalratra is used to mean “wife” it is
used in masculine gender (kalratrah, like the conjugation of the
word nara), or, rather than feminine gender (kalratrá like the
conjugation of the word latá), it is neuter, that is, the word
is kalatram (like the conjugation of the word phalra). Shiva has
said: Yad bharttureva hitamicchati tad kalatram [One who is
always wishing for her husband is known as kalatra.].
Kalrana
Kalr + lut́ = kalrana. Kalrana means “black spot”.
Kalrama
Kalra + amac = kalrama. Its etymological meaning is “one who lets out a sigh while labouring”. Colloquially, kalrama means kalmá or kalmakát́hi dhán [a type of paddy].
Kalramba
Kalr + ambac = kalamba. Etymologically, “that which is joined to a word”; colloquially it means:
1) The kadama flower or kadama tree.
2) An all-metal arrow.
3) The stem of the sháluka (In some parts of Bengal the sháluka is called sháplá).
4) Tálamákháná. The tálamákháná is a thorny aquatic plant with black seeds. Khai [a puffed grain or seed preparation] made from its seeds is called mákháná or tálamákháná. A type of small worm which lives in the mákháná is a favourite food of jiyal fish [a variety of barbed fish which includes the catfish], such as kai, siuṋgi, mágur, and so on. Thus, although it is difficult to farm large fish, such as rui, kátlá, kálbosh (in the language of Rarh, kálibáush), mrgel (in Rarh language, mirik), and so forth, in reservoirs and ponds where the thorny mákháná plant grows, jiyal fish live and grow quite well there. They are principally farmed in Mithila. In Maethilii it is called mákhán.
5) The backstroke that swimmers do in the water is also called kalamba-tarańa.
6) The cowboy hat that some people wear on their head is called kalamba.
7) Swimming in the prone position is called kalambii.
8) Still, the most prevalent meaning of the word kalambii is “the aquatic kalmia plant (kalmii)”. Bear in mind, the aquatic kalmia is called kalambii, not the dry-land kalmia. The dry-land kalmia is called nálitá shák (not náliká shák – nálitá shák is the same as nálte shák).
9) In some places in Vaeshnava literature kalambakuiṋja is used for the kadambakuiṋja [kadamba grove] of Shrii Krśńa.
10) Kalamba also refers to the spits of a stove. The raised metal portion of the stove where the utensils are placed used to be called kalambii. Ka means “head”; lambii means “that which is tall”. Kalambii is used in this sense to refer to the tall part at the head of the stove.
Kalka
Kalr + ka = kalka. The etymological meaning of kalka is “fickle-minded”. Colloquially, kalka means “wicked-natured person”, “knave”, “social rebel”, “reactionary”. Kalka is a harsh expression, so don’t use the word unless absolutely necessary.
Kalki
Kal + ki = kalki. The meaning of the word kalki is “omni-integral stance”, or viśńu. In the Dashávatára stotra Kalki Avatára is described as the tenth and final avatar of Viśńu:
Mlecchanivahanidhane kalayasi karaválam
Dhúmaketumiva kimapi karálam
Keshavadhrtakalkishariira jaya jagadisha hare
“You brandish your sword for the destruction of the people who have deviated from morality; you are severe like the comet – terrible! O Viśńu in the form of Kalki, victory unto you.”
Keep in mind that in this case mleccha means “one who has deviated from morality”. It is not in any way used to mean “those who do not follow the Vedas”. Those who use it in that way do so in order to vent their spleen.
Kalpa
Kalp + ac = kalpa. The etymological meaning of the word kalpa is “the state of imagining”; colloquially kalpa means:
1) The mental measurement of motivity of action, or temporal division.
2) The collective name of Satya, Tretá, Dvápara and Kali Yugas.(1) The end of one round of the four yugas is called kalpánta. According to the common belief, if a person possesses devotion then they will get liberation at this kalpánta, regardless of whether or not they have any other qualities. A devotee normally remains patient so they don’t mix any alloy with their devotion. They remain absorbed in their devotion in the belief that, if not today, then at the kalpánta they will get liberation.
Kali
Kal + i = kali. Its etymological meaning is “that which is chiefly sound” – more talk than action. Mukhena máritaḿ jagat. The colloquial meaning of the word kali is “the fourth or final yuga of the kalpa”. The other etymological meaning of the word kali is “to move while measuring”, that is, that time through which people measure and understand everything, doing things carefully out of magnanimity of mind. In many people’s opinion there are four yugas in one kalpa – satya, tretá, dvápara and kali. In satya yuga there is jiṋána-bhakti-karma [knowledge, devotion, action] – an auspicious harmony among these three. Along with this, the Satya yuga is sádhaná[spiritual practice]-predominant. People accept renunciation for the sake of sádhaná; they practise austerities. For this reason Satya yuga is also called Krta yuga [krta means “performed”].
Uttiśt́han tretá bhavati, krtaḿ sampadyate carań. “Tretá yuga is devotion-predominant, however the austerities of jiṋána-karma sádhaná are also practised.” Dvápara yuga is action-predominant, however the austerities of jiṋána-bhakti sádhaná are also practised. Kali yuga is talk-predominant. In Kali yuga living beings are short-lived. Moreover, they waste their short lifespan in vain talks and vocal fireworks.
Kalrila
Kalr + ilac = kalrila. Etymologically, kalrila means “one who moves in their own bháva”;(2) colloquially kalrila means:
1) Difficult to penetrate.
2) That which cannot be fragmented.
3) The smallest entity of measurement.
4) When, after dividing something, we arrive at such a state where it can no longer be divided any further, that is, “molecule”, “atom”; thereafter, that entity which is even smaller and whose existence becomes more cognitive than material, that is, that in which there is an equalization between matter and cognition, or where merges in cognition – that is kalrila. The largest entity in the manifest universe we call akhila, or bhúmá, and its controller or cognitive counterpart we call Parama Puruśa, or Citishakti. In the unmanifest universe the knower, knowledge and known do not remain. They join and become one and what remains is Nirguńa Brahma, that is, Parama Puruśa; there He does not remain as the cognitive counterpart; moreover we can say that the known remains non-existent. The witness-ship or cognitive counterpart of kalrila belongs to Parama Puruśa alone. Thus it has been said in the Shruti:
Anádyanantaḿ kalrilasya madhye vishvasya
sraśt́áramanekarúpam
Vishvasyaekaḿ pariveśt́itáraḿ jiṋátvá devaḿ mucyute
sarvapáshaeh
Since kalrila is an equalization between matter and cognition, it is smaller than molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons. It has also been said:
Súkśmátisúkśmaḿ kalrilasya madhye vishvasya
sraśt́áramanekarúpam
Vishvaesyakaḿ pariveśt́itáraḿ jiṋátvá Shivaḿ
shántimatyantameti.
Kalya
Kal + yak = kalya. Since the root verb kal has many different meanings, kalya also has many different etymological meanings, and its colloquial meanings are even more numerous. Colloquially, kalya means:
1) Extremely clever; due to that cleverness one advances in everything.
2) Smart – caltápúrjá in the languages of north India.
3) Skilled in action, or deft.
4) One who has finished the preparations for doing an action.
5) One who is enthusiastic about doing a certain action.
6) One who is well-equipped with weapons for doing battle, or who is rich in logic and facts for waging a war of words.
7) Uncommonly robust and healthy.
8) One who is free from disease as a result of treatment.
9) That which infuses strength in the mind through the recitation of mantra or the giving of a blessing – which gives encouragement.
10) The rohińii variety of myrobalan. Just as there are different varieties of myrobalan and differences in the size of this plant due to differences in locality and weather, there are also differences in its fruit. Some are round, some are long, some are without costas. Some myrobalan have very few costas while others have more. Some myrobalan have a uniform colour while others don’t. Some are quite astringent while others are virtually non-astringent. The seeds of some myrobalan are quite small and slender while those of others are well-developed and can be eaten like nuts. Due to the differences in size and quality and variety, myrobalan has different names, such as gaoŕii, mágadhii, rohińii, and so on. The rohińii variety of myrobalan is called kalya. Since the word is feminine in gender it takes the form kalyá (like the word latá).
11) The eleventh meaning of the word kalya is “yesterday”. In this case the word is an indeclinable and it takes the form kalyam – as in neuter gender. Since the word is an indeclinable it will have no case endings, that is, kalyam is used in every case.
12) The twelfth meaning of the word kalya is “tomorrow morning” – what is called vihána – pratyúśe bhavet kalyam. Bear in mind that we only say kalyam for the morning portion of tomorrow, not for the rest of the day. However shva refers to the morning along with the entire rest of the day. For “the day after tomorrow” we say parashva (parshu). This “tomorrow morning”, which we call kalya, is also an indeclinable and its form also becomes kalyam.
13) Another meaning of the word kalya is “both deaf and mute in one”, “deaf-mute” in spoken English. Mute and deaf – what we call in spoken Bengali hábá.
14) Another meaning of the word kalya is “one who doesn’t have any kind of mental distortion”.
15) Yet another meaning of the word kalya is “one who doesn’t suffer from any kind of mental agony”, that is, the mind is in a state of freedom.
16) Kalya also means “wealthy”. When a person is in economic difficulties and goes to another person and gets advice in order to find a solution to his economic predicament, then in that case the one who gives that advice is called kalya.
17) Any kind of advice.
18) One who gives counsel for a litigation or for any other subject, such as a barrister.
19) One who has the capacity to give advice – a jurist, a legal advisor.
20) The wine that was used in the name of religious observances, or still is, is also called kalya. Just as the wine that was used as a part of religious rites during the Vedic era (the Vedic names for it were madya, madirá, madhu, somarasa, and so on) can be called kalya, the wine or holy water that was used in Tantric rites, or still is, can also be called kalya. Whatever wine is used for religious observances, in whatever community, is called kalya.
21) To wish someone well, to give a victory ovation, to encourage everyone, to congratulate, to give a blessing for greater development – the word kalya can be used for all of these.
22) Another meaning of the word kalya is “royal proclamation” or “saying something publicly for the purpose of informing the people”. In a railway station, the announcer who informs the public when a train arrives and when it leaves is also called kalya in this case, or if somewhere one beats a drum and informs that “Section 144” has been introduced in this city, then that is also called kalya.
Kalarava
Kala means “sound”; rava also means “sound”. Thus, kala-i rava = kalarava. It is just like lajjá-sharam [both mean “shame” or “modesty”], or ashru-jal [tear-water]. Lajjá-i sharama = lajjásharam, ashru-i jal = ashrujal (nitya samás [a Sanskrit rule for word combining]).
Kavaka
Ku + aka = kavaka. Etymologically, kavaka means “that which is concerned with ku”, or “soil”. Its colloquial meanings are:
1) One meaning of the word kavaka is “fungus-variety plants”, such as poyál mushroom and other kinds of mushrooms – rui, durgá, gobar, toadstool, and so on.
2) Another meaning of the word kavaka is “all kinds of plants”, or pádapa (that which drinks through its feet, or “plant”).
3) The third meaning of the word kavaka is “earthworm”.
4) Kavaka also refers to different kinds of upright posts, such as “lamppost”, “telegraph post”, “electric post”, and so forth.
5) The prop which is used to keep plants or anything else from falling is also called kavaka.
Kavaca
Ku + acas = kavaca. The etymological meaning of kavaca is “protector”. Colloquially kavaca means:
1) Something for defence against attack, for example, shield, armour, fish scales, wood-apple shell, turtle shell, etc.
2) The second meaning is “infallible weapon” – that weapon which normally succeeds. The Páshupat [Shiva’s weapon] of the Puranas, the brahmástra [a divine missile], Gáńd́iiva [a mythological bow], and so on, can all be considered kavaca.
3) A mystic amulet or ornament is called kavaca – for example, Sarasvatii kavaca, Mahákálii kavaca, Shani kavaca, etc. The earring of Karńa as mentioned in the Mahabharata was a kavaca. According to the story, Krśńa approached Karńa’s wife, Padmávatii, in the guise of a Brahman and got Karńa’s kavaca by begging. Thereafter Karńa was slain by Arjuna and as a result one of Arjuna’s attributes is karńári or karńaráti. Ári and aráti both mean “enemy”.
4) Any object with special qualities which is worn against the skin.
5) Another meaning of kavaca is “to declare war by beating the drums”.
6) Another meaning of kavaca is “victory-drum”.
7) Another meaning of kavaca is “to proclaim victory at the end of a war by beating the drums”.
8) The acoustic root of battle is huḿ. For this reason the sound of war is called huḿkár or rańahuḿkár. The word kavaca can also be used for this huḿ sound.
9) The religious ceremony that is performed to ward off the effect of malefic planets is also called kavaca.
10) The recitation of mantras which is done for rescuing from danger or for survival is also called kavaca.
Kavaca! Kavaca means rakśákavaca [safeguard, or an amulet used as a safeguard]; everyone knows this. For the people of the Burdwan river-basin, the Damodar Dam is also a kavaca.
It was the month of Jyaeśt́ha. At that time Burdwan District was as hot a district as it is now. The lu(3) winds were blowing from the west were blocked to some extent by the Durgápur jungle. Still, it must be said that Burdwan, this crown jewel of Rarh, is hotter than other places in Bengal.
Midnight was upon me. It was as if the Mahákaola [the great spiritual master] was saying: “The midnight of your life has come. Throw off the earthly bondages and come out. It is not the new moon night but the full moon night. The darkest, subtlest particles of the new moon night can be transformed into particles of moonlight. Cannot the new moon night of one’s life take the form of the full moon? That terrible shadow of time that has trampled the human soul for so long, sometimes frowning outwardly, sometimes merged deep in the third eye of ignorance, making the human being stumble on their path – is it eternal?” Truly, the Mahákaola was calling me.
I went out alone and found myself in the middle of the forest. To the south was the Damodar River and to the east was the Deviidaha. At that time this part of Burdwan District was vast marshland. Whatever it be – pond, lake, marsh – the Deviidaha doesn’t have any comparison. The prehistoric Gáunguŕa or Behula River was a lost tributary of the Damodar River. The Behula of legend took the dead body of the imaginary Lakhindar on her lap, climbed on a raft and floated down this Gáunguŕa towards heaven. This Behula River has turned into the Deviidaha of today.
I walked slowly and came to the edge of the Deviidaha. The Deviidaha that we are talking about was partially destroyed in the Damodar flood of 1913. It was swallowed anew by the Damodar during the time of the Second World War. The time that I am talking about was shortly before the Second World War.
The Deviidaha was created during the time when Shasháuṋka was the king of Rarh. The Deviidaha was not simply a large pond. Like the Damodar, Banka, Khaŕi, Vadai and other rivers, the vast waters of the Deviidaha as well as the Gáunguŕa used to keep Burdwan District green with grain. Sugar cane was first cultivated in Rarh on both banks of the Deviidaha while cotton was cultivated on its west bank. Historically, it can be seen that this Burdwan District was the pioneer in sugar cane and cotton cultivation, the leading producer. The sugar cane there was sweeter than any place else. Unfortunately the farmers in Burdwan today are not so eager to cultivate sugar cane because sugar cane ties up the land for nearly the entire year, while if other crops would be grown on that same land then three harvests could be taken home.
For this very same reason, the cultivation of both the mághii and caetii types of pigeon-peas is fast diminishing in Burdwan. They are scarcely to be seen nowadays. Even though the Balágaŕ area of neighbouring Hooghly District was at one time considered the best for pigeon-pea cultivation, it bears mentioning that there also this cultivation has diminished greatly. Nowadays Purulia and Nadia Districts are preserving the standard of pigeon-pea production in Bengal. If some of the land in Purulia was not used for pigeon-peas then it would remain barren for most of the year, thus there is no recourse but to grow pigeon-peas there. And in Nadia the greater part of the soil is donyásh [mixed sandy and clayey soil]. Since there is very little clayey soil many crops cannot be grown there. Still, in the Chakdaha, Haringhata and Kalyani areas of Nadia the cultivation of both sugar cane and pigeon-peas (kandula: kandulaḿ baladaḿ jineyaḿ cośńaḿ tu hitakárakaḿ) is diminishing and kitchen vegetables are being grown in their place. Today Nadia District has turned into the world’s best district for growing vegetables. Of course, the traditional areas for growing potatoes have been Hooghly, Burdwan, Nalanda and Farukhbad Districts. The seeds that we import while sitting in Calcutta, such as the recently brought biliti tomato seeds from America, the difficult-to-get red radish seeds from Japan, the extremely long kuli eggplant seeds from China – some perhaps come from abroad but the better part of them are brought from Nadia District’s Nagar-ukhŕá, bought at bulk rate and stuffed into jute sacks.
The variety of cotton plant which was known as deva-kápás in Burdwan has the longest fibres and is suitable for making the finest thread. The climate of Burdwan is somewhat drier than that of the rest of Bengal, thus those areas which are wetter than Burdwan used to buy cotton thread from Burdwan for weaving fine cloth. Cotton doesn’t grow well in wetter climates; the cotton is subject to insect attack. However these wetter climates are more suitable for weaving fine cloth. Thus Burdwan was not as famous for the weaving of cloth as it was for the production of cotton. This is not Burdwan’s fault; its weather is to blame. This situation continued unchecked up until the time of Akbar.
I went and sat under a huge silk-cotton tree on the western bank of the Deviidaha. Behind me stretched a vast, dense jungle. This jungle stretched up to my village in one direction, and to the Damodar River in the other. It would not do it justice to simply call it a jungle – it was a dense jungle. There were large snakes in this jungle, not large but medium-sized tigers, wild boars and the niilgái and krśńasár varieties of antelope. The roaring of tigers could be heard at night from the courtyard of my house.
I was sitting on the western bank of the Deviidaha, a short ways from the village of Pátun, the village of Maharshi Patanjali, the propounder of Seshvara Sáḿkhya philosophy. Patanjali had not been satisfied with the Sáḿkhya philosophy of Kapil. Kapil didn’t say anything clearly one way or the other about Parama Puruśa though he accepted His existence. Patanjali openly acknowledged His existence.
I sat and thought for a while about Patanjali. On the other side of the Deviidaha I saw six or seven wild boars drinking water. A short distance from me there was a large crocodile, half in and half out of the water; he seemed to be staring in some direction.
I was alone and solitary. I didn’t see any other living creatures in the vicinity, nor did I hear any tiger roars. A short distance away ran the ruined remains of the Badshahi road, the same road that Pathan Badshah Shershah made at the beginning of the Mughal era, with only a few skeletal traces left to identify it. Burdwan was then the capital of the province of Bengal. This Badshahi road used to connect Burdwan to Dehli in one direction, and in the other direction it connected to the principal port of the time, Saptagrám or Sátgáon, to which the Portuguese gave the name Port-de-Grandee – it extended south along the Bhagirathi till Shyampur and on the other bank it used to go via Jessore to Dhaka District’s Suvarnagram (Sońárgáno). At that time Hooghly was part of Burdwan District.
How busy this Badshahi road used to be! Gazing in the direction of the road, I thought back to how many horse-carts used to travel along it at one time, how many marriage processions, how many richly ornamented newly-married brides, how many funeral bearers – the finality of the human being’s existence is reduced to ashes and those ashes used to be left to float in the waters of the Bhagarathi. Today that Badshahi road is abandoned; some can recognize it if they see it, and some cannot.
This is the Burdwan District about which Maharaj Vikramaditya had said: “Burdwan District is my desire, without which the learned society will never be established in my kingdom.”
I was sitting alone on the western bank of the Deviidaha. Silently I started reciting to myself:
Kál-sáyarer váluká-beláy base base pal guńi
mane bhávi yadi cetaná-viińáy tava kathá kichu shuni.
Dúr theke ese dúre bhese jáy se viińár tár ańuke nácáy
se maháchande paramánande kalpaná-jál buni.
Kivá áse jáy yadi ekvár palake dánŕáo sumukhe ámár
máni náhi kona sádhaná ámár d́aki bháve anurańi.
[In the childhood of the sea of time I am sitting counting the moments/I wonder if I might hear something of you on the lyre of consciousness/From the distance it comes, into the distance it floats, that lyre making the particles dance/ in that universal rhythm, in that supreme bliss I weave the net of imagination/ what would happen if once you would stand in front of me for a moment/I know I haven’t accomplished anything, but I call anyhow hoping the echoes bring you]
I looked up. It was a moonlit night. I couldn’t see the stars. They had become lost in the light of the moon. The lesser light becomes lost in the greater light. The light of the firefly becomes lost in the light of the hurricane lantern. The light of the hurricane lantern becomes lost in the light of the hyáják; the light of the hyáják becomes lost in the light of the sun.
Na tatra súryo bháti na chandratárakamaḿ
Nemá vidyuto bhánti kuto’ayamagnih
Tameva bhántamanubháti sarvaḿ
Tasya bhásá sarvamidaḿ vibháti
The awareness of Burdwan becomes lost in Rarh-awareness, Rarh-awareness becomes lost in Bengal-awareness, Bengal-awareness becomes lost in universal awareness, universal awareness becomes lost in your footsteps, the unknown eternal traveller.
Who was this person who had come and was standing before me? I looked at him and he looked at me. He said: “What is this, you haven’t asked me to sit down?”
“Tell me, how could I know that you had come here to see me?” I replied.
“Because you called me.”
“What! I didn’t call you.”
“You called. You’ve just forgotten.”
“It may be,” I replied, “that you called me and the force of your own call has made you rush here. You haven’t understood that I am not replying to your call; you are replying to my call.”
“You are right. That may very well be.”
“Who are you?” I asked. “Where do you live?”
“If my name is tvaḿ [‘you’ in Sanskrit] to me,” he said, “then to you my name is ahaḿ (‘I’), and in the same way if your name is tvaḿ for you, then for me your name is ahaḿ.”
“But you didn’t tell me where you live.”
“Just think about it for a moment,” he replied, “and see whether or not I live in a corner of your mind.”
“You are quite right. Your home is inside my mind. But then tell me where my home is,” I asked.
He smiled softly and said: “In every part of my mind.”
I looked at him and saw that he was exactly the same age as me. Not one bit less nor one bit more – the same clothes, the same inner vibration.
“I don’t know much mathematics,” I said. “Could you tell me how far away I am from you?”
“It will have to be measured,” he replied.
“But I don’t know math,” I said, “so I have no way to measure.”
Then I said: “When I forget you then the distance between us is so great that it cannot be measured how many miles it is, and when I remember then the distance becomes so small that it cannot be conceived of. Then you and I merge and become one. ‘I’-‘you’ become one, and these two are one, one and indivisible.”
There were small, gentle waves in the water of the Deviidaha. The pandits call these waves kamala. The lotus flowers [kamala] that bloom so beautifully on the surface of the Deviidaha float on these waves.
Burdwan’s safeguard [rakśákavaca] is not the Damodar’s Ring Dam. It is not humanity’s safeguard. Humanity’s safeguard is its inner firmness. This firmness has saved it from all the storms and will continue to do so as long as the fountain of time remains.
Suddenly he became invisible. Where did he go?
This lotus bower in the Deviidaha, this vast, tiger-ruled forest, those crystal-clear waters of the Damodar, that big field of watermelon and gomukha – where had he disappeared to, behind what screen was he hiding? Was he hiding inside me? Was he hiding within my mind, wishing to play hide-and-seek with me?
I looked inside my mind and said: “Where and when will you come again?”
“I am always with you,” he replied. “I don’t come or go. I am not invited or abandoned. I do not spin on the potter’s wheel, nor am I broken beneath the blacksmith’s hammer. I was, am, and always will be.”
The moon slowly passed behind a sliver of cloud. A kind of soft shadow fell over the moonlight. The water of the Deviidaha became a little blackish.
The summer nights are not long. I guessed that shortly after the silvery moon came out from behind the black cloud the ruddy glow of dawn would begin to bloom east of the Deviidaha… it would begin to bloom.
Karva/Karvva
The meaning of the root verb krv is “to influence”, “to strike”, “to drive according to one’s own desire”. Krv + va = karva. The etymological meaning of the word karva is “one who is attached to the completion of one’s efforts”. Its colloquial meanings are:
1) Love.
2) Desired object.
3) Handkerchief [rumál] (the word rumál/romál is of Farsi origin). The word mukhamárjanii is also used in Sanskrit, but mukhamárjanii can also refer to “towel”, or gámchá. However karvva only refers to “handkerchief”.
4) One who goes around all the time for the purpose of getting or eating something or other is karvva. Rats are always going around looking for food. If they don’t find anything edible they will cut things with their teeth thinking that after it is cut up it might turn into food. In this sense, the word karvva also means “rat”. Of course, karvva doesn’t mean “mouse” (plural, “mice”).
5) The wolf – lákŕá or lákaŕ vághá in north India – is always going out for the purpose of eating. In some people’s opinion the wolf can take into its stomach quite a bit more than the weight of its own body. Just as the ant can carry a load that is much heavier than its own body, the wolf can eat more. The wolf has very little capacity for carrying loads. Due to his excessive gluttony, the second Pandava brother, Bhima, used to be called Vrkodara (one whose stomach is like a wolf’s). During the time that the Pandavas were incognito, mother Kunti would take the food they would bring home from begging and give half of it to Bhima. The remainder she and her other four sons would eat.
Ardha khán Kuntii saha cári sahodare,
Ardhek bánt́iyá den viirvrkodare
[Half the four brothers eat along with Kunti, half is apportioned to the brave Bhima]
6) The python can eat a tremendous amount. Once they have filled their stomach they remain in a still, motionless state for many days. Thereafter, once the food has been digested, they again start to move around. Thus, another meaning of the word karvva is ajagar [python]. In this case aja means “goat”. That which can swallow a goat is ajagar.
7) The d́ánsh [gnat] variety of mosquito can also drink excessive quantities of blood. After they drink an excessive quantity of blood they remain torpid for quite some time. Some are of the opinion that their stomach often bursts and they die as a result of drinking too much blood.
The dánsh variety of mosquito is called “gnat” in English. Karvva also means “gnat”. Use the word karvá for “female gnat”, rather than the word karvii. The meaning of the feminine gender word iip added to karva, that is, karvii, is “the goddess Chinnamastá” [a truncated form of Durgá].
Karvat́a
The meaning of the word karvat́a is “to feel pride”, “when a person says something with pride”. By adding the suffix at́ac (at́an) to karva we get the word karvat́a, whose etymological meaning is “that for which there is pride”. Colloquially, karvat́a means:
1) Palace-city, that is, that city which is decked out with a string of palaces. At one time Jaipur was known far and wide as a palace-city. This city was made of a collection of “p”-s of which one was “palace”. The others were “peacock”, “prince”, and “pink”. The founder of the city was Maharaj Jayasiḿha and its architect was Puśpadhara Mitra.
2) The second meaning of the word karvat́a is “that city which is situated inside a fort”. The last capital of Mughal Bengal, Monghyr, was one such fort-city. Beyond the moat there were the ramparts. Within the ramparts was the city. At that time most of the cities had a moat or a ditch around them, whether or not they had any fortress walls. That used to be the boundary limits of the city, or, in certain cases, the revenue village. The other side of this moat or boundary limit was the jurisdiction of a different police officer. Thus, in many cases, social miscreants used to flee to the other side of the moat or ditch in order to escape from the hands of the police. Even today, in those places where there is no surrounding moat or ditch, we say “he has crossed over the ditch” when someone passes a little out of reach.
Previously I said that even when there were no ramparts within the moat or ditch, the people used to consider what was inside the moat as a fort (gaŕ). There was such a ditch between British Chandannagar and French Chandannagar. Even though there was no fixed fort the people used to use the word gaŕ. This city inside a fort used to be called karvat́a.
The king of Nadia, Maharaja Krśńacandra, had special kinds of moats dug in several of the important places of his zamindaris. For these the poetic words aiṋjaná, kaḿkaná, and so on, were used (probably during the time of Dewan Raghunandan Mitra).(4)
3) Formerly, most of the important cities were surrounded by a wall and had a main portico. The gate was kept open or closed at particular times according to the instructions of the city police. Normally the gate was closed after nine o’clock at night.
Often social miscreants or people with infectious diseases used to be kept outside these city walls. The keys to the gate used to remain with the constable or with some senior person of the city. This wall-encircled city used to be called karvat́a. The people of north India used to say hávelii – in certain places háoli in the spoken language. There was a city in Monghyr District by the name of Hávelii-Khaŕgpur. In Europe, the one with whom the key to such a hávelii gate was kept was called the “city father” or “sheriff”. Our Calcutta is not a walled city but here also there is a sheriff in order to maintain the aristocratic tradition. Most likely he also has a key for show. The word “sheriff” has come from the Farsi word shariif from which comes the substantive sharáfat.
4) Another meaning of the word karvat́a is “the chief city of any country or state”, or “metropolis”. This metropolis may or may not be the capital of the country. During British rule in India, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras used to be considered metropolises or metropolitan towns, and in English the expression “presidency town” used to be used for “metropolitan town”. In the same way, the concerning provinces went by the name of Bengal Presidency, Bombay Presidency, and Madras Presidency. Some people use the word “metropolis” in an offhand way for the capital of a country, even though it isn’t the metropolitan city of that country.
5) Many people call a cosmopolitan city – or a city in which people from different countries, speaking different languages, live – a metropolitan city. In this case also, the word karvat́a can be used.
6) The principal official headquarters of a district or county is called karvat́a. For example, the karvat́a of Birbhum District was Shiurii (Shivapurii), then Maldaha District’s Engrejbazar, Rajshahi District’s Rampur (Boyalia), Murshidabad’s Baharampur, 24 Paraganas’ Alipur (its old name was Alinagar), Bakharganj District’s Barishal, West Dinajpur District’s Balurghat, the then British Tripura’s Comilla, and Hooghly District’s Chunchro.
The modern Bengali synonym for the Sanskrit word bhukti is zilá (zilla). The word is of Farsi origin. Its proper English equivalent is “county”. In England a zilá is called a “county”; in India, a zilá is called a “district” in English. Most likely it was called “county” since in ancient England each county used to remain under the control of a particular count.
Karvara
By adding varac to kr we get the word karvara. Colloquially it means:
1) The meaning of the word karvara is “proud demon”.
2) The second meaning of the word karvara is “proud animal” or “large tiger”. Another name for what we call “royal Bengal tiger” in English kundo bágh in Bengali is karvara. It is the largest member of the cat family. Among its various traits are its keen intelligence and its powerful sense of smell. It is able to ascertain which animals lie in which direction by checking the wind.
Although they are much stronger than people, they are much less intelligent and they know this. So if they catch a human scent on the wind they don’t like to tread that path. However, if they happen on a person unexpectedly they will attack them out of a sense of self-preservation. There are a small number of karvara tigers who, despite belonging to the same family, develop a taste for human flesh by eating dead bodies in burial grounds or in the forest. Some can no longer struggle with other animals in their old age, and kill and eat human beings because humans can not run from them or match them in physical strength. It is very easy for them to kill humans, so those karvara tigers who become maneaters in this way, and remain so for a long time, undergo some physical changes. Their snout becomes comparatively long and their stomach becomes thinner. If people are aware which Bengal tigers are maneaters and which are not, they can take more precautionary measures.
The word vyághra [tiger] is derived by adding the suffix d́a to vi-á-ghrá; its etymological meaning is “possessing a special form of olfactory ability”.
3) Another meaning of the word karvara is “lustrous, multi-coloured object”. In this sense the peacock’s throat and the rainbow are both called karvara.
4) Another meaning of the word karvara is “large sword”.
5) The clanking of swords is also called karvara.
6) The meaning of the word karvarii, obtained by adding the suffix iip in feminine gender, is the goddess Durgá mentioned in the Márkańd́eya Purańa.
7) The feminine form of the word karvara, obtained by adding the suffix áp, karvará, means “bug”. Keep in mind that both karvarii and karvará are feminine forms, but karvarii, formed with iip refers to the goddess Durgá, and karvará, formed with áp, means “bug”.
Karvura
Karva + urac/urań. Etymologically, karvura refers to “one who is proud” or “that for which one takes pride”, and “one who attracts” or “that for which there is attraction”. Colloquially it means:
1) Any attracted object.
2) Any type of such object for which there is attraction.
3) Gold in the sense of that which attracts through the lustre of colour (The correct spelling of the Sanskrit-derived word is sońa. The original word, svarńa contains ńa).
4) Water is much more attractive to a thirsty person than sarvat, milk, rice pudding or any other drinkable thing, so another meaning of the word karvura is “drinking water”.
5) The thorn-apple flower (datura) is Shiva’s favourite – many people say this, but although the thorn-apple fruit is poisonous it carries a lot of value for patients and healers. Various kinds of medicines are produced from the thorn-apple fruit, among which is medicine for rheumatism. Medicine for disorders of the parathyroid gland are made from the fruit of the black thorn-apple. The saptaparńii or the chátim also has this quality.(5) One meaning of the word karvura is “thorn-apple fruit” because it is attractive.
6) If we use the word karvura in feminine gender, which gives us karvurii, then it refers to the goddess Chinnamastá.
7) Karvura was the name of a Puranic demon who used to draw other creatures to him through the attractive power of his eyeballs, and then eat them.
8) Another meaning of the word karvura is “an extremely base level of sin”, or mahápátaka – that sin which cannot be expiated, such as treachery.
9) The word karvura can be used for any striped object such as a shirt, bird feather, tree leaves, etc. This kind of decora or croton plant [Codiaeum variegatum] will be called karvura.
10) If more than one colour remain in a mixed condition in one structure then that is also called karvura. For example, if a cow has a little black and a little white then we can call it a karvura-cow. You must have seen many karvura dogs.
11) If a tree or its leaves or its roots give off a pleasant smell then we can also call that tree karvura (for example, sandalwood, eucalyptus, dhúman).
12) That paddy which grows in more watery land or that paddy which matures a little late is called karvura paddy. In Bengal, sháli dhán or uŕki dhán is called karvura. It was given this name because at one time this paddy held a great attraction in the life of the people of Bengal.
Ám káṋt́áler bágán doba cháyáy cháyáy jete
Uŕki dháner muŕki doba pathe jal khete
[I will plant mangoes and jackfruit trees to give you shade/ I will give you muŕki [balls of puffed rice and molasses] made of uŕki dhán for your tiffin]
For the second line some people say:
Sháli dháner moyá doba shváshuŕii bholáte
[I will give moyá [a sweet] made of sháli dhán to make the mother-in-law happy]
13) That tulsi leaf whose leaves are blackish, or whose leaves are completely encircled by black, or whose leaves are black on one side, or whose leaves have black spots, that is, broadly speaking, krśńa tulsi or rámtulsi, is called karvura (black basil).
14) Any large tree is called karvura (to whose trunk boats are bound).
15) Another name for “leech”, which is called jalaoká or jaloká or jalauká in Sanskrit, is karvurá. The word is derived by adding the suffix áp to the root word karvura. Keep in mind, karvurii doesn’t mean “leech”; it refers to the goddess Chinnamastá.
Some people use antahstha va to spell karvurii, and some use vargiiya ba.
Since ancient times the two va’s have been used side by side. However, it is better if, among the two va’s, the first is vargiiya ba and the last is antahstha va.
Karśú
The word comes from adding the suffix u’s to the root verb krś. Its etymological meaning is “that which is connected to agriculture”; its colloquial meanings are: (1) system of agriculture according to rules; (2) land superintendent; (3) one who tills naturally (cultivation with a plough); and (4) cow dung fertilizer.
Footnotes
(1) The four ages in Hindu mythology. –Trans.
(2) The Sanskrit word bháva has no direct English equivalent; in the following text it has been rendered as “cognition” but also carries the sense of “existence”, “essence”, “idea”, etc. – Trans.
(3) A very hot summer wind considered dangerous by north Indians. –Trans.
(4) This same Dewan Raghunandan Mitra cut a canal virtually overnight from the Mathabhanga river in order to irrigate the parched lands of the zamindaris of Nadia. Since the water was stolen, that is, it was brought by theft, so to speak, the canal was known by the name of Cúrńii [stolen]. Now the Cúrńii canal is accepted as a river.
(5) In the author’s Calcutta garden there is black thorn-apple and different varieties of saptaparńa.