Kuńála

Kuń + alac = kuńála or ku + ńála/nála = kuńála, kunála. The meaning of the root kuń is “to make a halting sound”, “to eat while making a halting sound”, “to move something around”, “to feel pain”, etc. Thus the etymological meaning of the word kuńála is “that which inflicts pain” or “that place which is full of much hardship or troubles when one goes there”.

Ku also means “soil”. Kuńála or kunála means “that tubular stalk which maintains contact with the soil”. So the etymological meaning of kuńála/kunála is that stalk or pipe which is very long and which maintains contact with the soil. Colloquially kuńála or kunála refers to the lotus stalk, another name of which is mrińála/mrinála.

In the history of the Buddhist era, Kuńála, the son of Ashoka, was a venerable gentleman. So one of the meanings of kuńála is the son of Ashoka, he who was the victim of his stepmother Tiśyarakśitá’s jealousy.

Kuńála means “that land which is difficult to cross”, where there is a high, insurmountable mountain range, an impassable mountain belt obstructing the journey. Thus the impassable Kouṋkańa and Malabar coasts were called kuńála. The people of these places were called Kuńáleya. Another name for the narrow strip of land that lies between the mountains and the Arabian Sea, beyond the Pashcimghat mountain range, is Kuntala, and one name for the people of that place is Kuntaláh (the plural form of the word nara).

Kuntha

The meaning of the verbal root kunth (kuth/kuthi) is “to put pressure”, “to inflict pain” or “to spread or scatter some-thing about”. Kunthana, derived by adding the suffix lyut́, means “to strain while evacuating”. Kunth + ka = kuntha.

1. Kuntha means kunthan, that is, straining at the time of evacuation.

2. Another meaning of the word kuntha is “that plant which inflicts pain”, that is, kusha (kusha’s thorns).

3. Another meaning of the word kuntha is a thorny tree, for example, the wood apple tree and the silk-cotton tree.

4. Another meaning of the word kuntha is siija, a plant of the cactus family (plural: cactii), a variety of thorny nat́e (kant́akiitańd́úleraka ). Since some people believe that this plant is born from a chemical transformation that transpires when water used for washing rice is left in one place and spoils, its [Sanskrit] name is tańd́uleraka (the etymological meaning is that which originates from water used for washing rice). The Bengali word for tańd́uleraka is nate sháka [Amaranthus tristis]. There are several varieties of nate sháka – large variety, small variety, red variety, punká variety, d́euṋgo stick variety, kauṋká variety, white Katwan stick variety, red Rampurhat stick variety, Alampur variety, which is sweet from the lower roots to the top of the branches; the big marsh variety from Burdwan, gailá variety, kasá variety, jiire variety and thorny variety. Tańd́uleraka refers to all of these [leafy vegetables]. However kuntha refers only to the thorny variety (káṋt́ánat́e ). This variety has some Ayurvedic qualities as well. In the avidyatántrik process of stambhana (to stop the movement of something, for example, mútrastambha or stoppage of urine movement, vákstambha or stoppage of speech, etc.) this káṋt́á nat́e [Amarantus spinosus Linn] is used.

5. In certain cases kuntha can also refer to crooked trees with large off-shoots.

Kunda

Kund + ka / ac = kunda. The root kund means “to lie in wait” or “to ambush”. The verbal root kund can be used to mean the preparatory process before performing any deed. The etymological meaning of the word kund is “one who is lying in wait”, “one who is lying in ambush”, “one who is preparing to do something”. The colloquial meaning of kunda is:

1. The kuṋd flower⁽¹⁾.

   There are three main varieties of the malliká family of flowers (jasmine, jesminá, jesáminá):

   a) Belá. In Bengali it is belphul [Jasminum sambae], in North India beli, and in Urdu motiiyá. In Punjabi the word magrá is more common.

   b) Yúthiká (juṋi in Bengali, juṋhi in Urdu).

   c) Kunda.

   Belphul blooms during spring and summer; its scent is strong and intense. The plant is a bush, neither very high nor very broad. Juṋi blooms during the rainy season and in autumn. Its scent is stronger but less intense than that of belphul. Rather, it is somewhat soothing. The plant is a creeper with white flowers. Kunda blooms in early winter and winter. Its scent is almost non-existent. It is a bush but has very long branches. Its flowers are normally bright white in colour. Rose-coloured and dark brown kundas do exist but they are rare. All these three flowers, bel, juṋi and kunda, have year-round varieties as well.

   The kunda flower has been celebrated in Sanskrit literature since ancient times on account of its bright white colour. People with teeth as white as the kunda flower used to be praised as being kundadanta or kundadata – in feminine form, kundadantii or kundadatii. The word kundadatii was very popular. In Bankim’s novel, Viśabrikśa, the name of a woman character is Kundanandinii.

2. Another meaning of the word kunda is “treasury”. The word tijaorii, which is prevalent in North India, is derived from the English word “treasury”. The Bengali expression tejáratii kárbár [money-lending business] is derived from the English “treasury”.

   In ancient times the word navaratna was commonly used for the principal nine precious gems.

   a) One of them is máńikya (chunii in Bengali, “ruby” in English).

   b) Cat’s eye (vaeduryamańii);

   c) Coral (prabála in Sanskrit, palá in Bengali, muṋgá in Urdu);

   d) Topaz (pokhráj);

   e) Pearl (muktá in Bengali, motii in Urdu);

   f) Diamond (hiirá/hiire in Bengali, hiirá in Urdu);

   g) Sapphire (niilkantamańii in Sanskrit, nillá in Bengali, niilam in Urdu);

   h) Zircon (gomeda);

   i) Emerald (marakatamańii in Sanskrit, panná in Urdu).

   According to a story from the Puranas, these gems are kept in the treasury in the part of heaven where the god of wealth resides. In this treasury there are nine different compartments for the nine precious gems. Whatever gem the god of wealth considers to be the most precious he keeps in the ninth compartment. The name of this ninth compartment is kunda.

Kundana

Kund + lyut́. The etymological meaning of kundana is “one who by nature lies in wait”, or “one who by nature lies in ambush”. One of the colloquial meanings of the word kundana is:

1. “Red lotus”.

2. The second meaning is “red rose.” Kundinii in feminine gender means the place where many red lotuses or many red roses are in bloom. Kundanii means “bouquet of red lotuses” or “bouquet of red roses” (guldastá or guldastán in Urdu).

3. Another meaning of the word kundana is “male cat” (tomcat). Its feminine form is kundaná – “pussy cat” in English.

Kundama

Kundama (kunda + má + d́a or kuḿ + dama) also means “tomcat,” kundamá in feminine form. One etymological meaning of the word kundama is “one who is expert at lying in wait”. Another etymological meaning is “one who is difficult to subdue”.

Kundu

Kund + uń = kundu. The etymological meaning is “one whose nature is to lurk”. Suppose there are seven hundred rats in a room. A cat enters the room. The rats immediately know it; they understand the situation. Suddenly, from that very moment, they stop all movement, stop making any noise. Silence reigns in the room. It would be hard for anyone to know that seven hundred rats were lurking. So one colloquial meaning of the word kundu is a rat of any kind, whether a rat or a mouse. In Hindi a rat is called cuhá and a mouse is called cuhiyá. In Bihar the big ones are called muś, the small ones cut́ri. For a woodland rat or field mouse the word ákhu was common in old Sanskrit. In later times the word went almost completely out of use. Múśika or iṋdura refers to all kinds of rodents. Muśá was common in old Bengali. Now it has gone out of use.

Bháńd́árete rákhá chilo páli chaya dhán,
Gańesher muśáte karila jalapán.

[There were six pots of rice in the storehouse, The mouse of Ganesha made a good meal out of them.]

There is a particular community that is known as “Muśáhara” because they eat rats. Generally in Bihar large rats are called muśá and medium-sized rats are called muśa. These words are not used in standard Hindi and Urdu, however.

Kup

The root verb kup is used in many senses. In the form kupyati (kup in present tense) it means “to be angry”, “to be greatly annoyed”. We do not come across its causative form. The root kup in present tense is also kopayati, which means “to shine”. This root verb is like the root verb bhakśa. It becomes kopayayati in the causative form but it is hardly used.

Another form of the root kup in present tense is kumpati, which means “to scatter”, “to spatter”, “to remember”. Another form of this root verb is kumpayati. We do not come across any causative form for it.

Kupáńi

Ku + páńi. The etymological meaning of kupáńi is “one whose hand is bad”, or “one who has a low quality hand”, or “one whose hand is ill-shaped”. The colloquial meaning of the word kupáńi is “antisocial person”, that is, one who does evil actions, who causes innocent people to suffer, or who encourages antisocial activities from behind the scenes.

Kupita

Kup + kta = kupita. Both the etymological meaning as well as the colloquial meaning of kupita is “one who is angry or greatly annoyed”, or “one who has suddenly turned red in anger”. You know that in the Ráŕh region there is normally very little water in ordinary rivers and streams. These rivers are rain-fed or fed by riverbed springs. In general, such springs generally do not normally descend from the mountains. They originate because here and there the underground water levels are high. They generate more water during the rainy season. The water pressure falls during winter. Sometimes during the summer the springs dry up due to lack of water pressure. There are quite a few of these subterranean springs in western Ráŕh.

Streams fed by rainwater flourish and swell whenever there is sudden rainfall near their source. Such a flash flood is called haŕká in Ráŕhii Bengali. While it is true that flash floods last only a few hours, they inflict heavy losses during that time. Small rivers that used to cause this type of heavy damage were given names according to their nature. Today people call the river Káṋsái by the name Kaḿsávatii but in former times people used to call it Káṋsái, which means “butcher”. Since its nature was like that of a butcher it was given the name “Káṋsái”. In Ráŕh the river Kopái in Birbhum District and the river Kupái in Purulia District derive their names from the word kupitá (kupitá > kupiá > kupái/kopái). The name “Álkusi” is used in western Ráŕh for that kind of river in which a flash flood creates sudden havoc. There is a small river Álkusi in Purulia District. There is also a small river called Kupá (kopavatii).

Kupyah

Kup + kyap = kupya. Its etymological meaning is “that which can be easily melted or moulded”. The colloquial meaning of kupya is “cheap and inferior metal”, that is, lead, zinc, tin, copper, bronze, etc. Generally in Sanskrit kupya refers to all metals except for gold and silver. Since dishonest attempts are made to pass these ordinary metals off as gold or silver, they all fall into the category kupya.

Kupyashálá

Kupya + shálá = kupyashálá. Etymologically it means a place where kupya metals are processed. The colloquial meaning of kupyashálá is “smithy”.

Kumára

Kumár + ac. Kumár + ti in present tense = kumárayati, which means “acting in a childlike manner”, “acting like a child”. The etymological meaning of the word kumára is “one who behaves like a child”. The colloquial meanings of kumára are:

1. A boy who still has his milk teeth, whose permanent teeth have not yet emerged.

2. Another meaning of the word kumára is a boy between two and five years of age. Some are of the opinion that a boy from the time of getting the milk teeth to the age of five, that is, who has learnt how to chew but whose intelligence has not matured, is called kumára.

3. Another meaning of the word kumára is Kárttika or Kárttikeya. According to the Puranic story, the mother of Shiva’s son Karttika was Gauṋgá or Jáhńavii. She thrust the infant into the waves and abandoned him to the adjoining sandbank. Finding the infant crying, six stars came down from the sky and began to breastfeed him. The infant started suckling with six mouths. As a result the baby subsequently came to be known as Śaŕánana (Śanmukham in South India or six-mouthed). Since he suckled from the breast of the star Krttiká with his main mouth, he later came to be known as Kárttika (krittiká + ań) or Kárttikeya (krttiká + śiṋeya). He is known in South India as Murúgam or Bálasubrahmańyam also. None of the stars knew his name, so all of them addressed him as Kumára. Thus he also came to be known as Kumára. The word kárttika is derived from the word krttiká. There are two ta-s in krttiká. It cannot be spelled with one ta. If it is, then the word becomes krtiká. So we must spell kárttika with two ta-s as well. Similarly we must spell várttika, derived from vrtta, with two ta-s, for if we spell it with one ta it becomes vrta, which has a different meaning.

4. If a little boy is educated he will be able to say many things, but by the sound of his voice one can understand that he is a little boy. Similarly, the parrot is an expert talker; it learns to speak everything it is trained to say. But if we listen closely we can understand that it is not a natural human sound; it is the sound of a bird. Since it sounds like a little boy, the parrot is also called kumára.

5. The tradition of addressing a prince as kumára sahib is an old one. Any son of a king is known as kumára. Hence people born into what was once a royal lineage, even if they are not presently related to any royal family, use the surname Kumára or Kuvaṋra or Kuṋára.

6. Another meaning of the word kumára is “crown prince”, that is, one who has been installed as a crown prince to be made king in the future.

7. Another meaning of kumára is “cavalry”. In ancient India the armed forces were generally divided into four groups: horse cavalry, elephant division, charioteers and infantry. The combined name for these four was caturauṋga váhinii [four-limbed army]. Those who belonged to the cavalry were called kumára.

8. Those who were skilled in riding horses, that is, adroit riders, who for this reason did or could participate in horse races, were also known as kumára. Thus jockeys were also called kumára.

9. If you want to look at the top branches of those trees that are taller than the rest, then you have to turn your face upward. This kind of very large tree is also called kumára. Generally the banyan tree, the Indian fig, the pákuŕa [Ficus intectoria Roxb], the tamarind tree, and also the mango tree in certain cases, fall within the category of kumára.

10. The common word for very large rivers like the Sindhu, the Gauṋgá, the Brahmaputra, the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Amazon, etc. is kumára.

11. Those who are naeśt́hika brahmacáriis, that is, those who observe a vow of celibacy, are also known as kumára.

12. In Jainism the assistants or associates of the twenty-four Tirthauṋkaras [Jain-prophets] were also known as Kumára.

13. The revered personalities of the Jain community have been called Kumára since ancient times. Both the Shvetámbaras and the Digambaras accepted this convention. This custom was also in vogue in a branch known as Terapanthii.

14. If the word kumára is used in neuter form then it refers to the pure, unalloyed gold excavated from a mine.

15. Another meaning of the word kumára is kumure poká [a kind of insect].

16. One branch of the Kayastha community was also known as Kumára.

Kumáraka

By adding the suffix kan to the root word kumára we get the word kumáraka which means someone who has crossed boyhood and reached the stage of adolescence. There is a controversy among scholars about the age range of adolescence. Moreover it also differs in different countries. In cold countries a person reaches adolescence somewhat latter than one does in tropical countries. But in general, adolescence covers the period from fifteen or sixteen to eighteen or nineteen. Some are of the opinion that adolescence lasts until the growth of one’s wisdom teeth. Boys of this age were called chokrá in the Bengali of yesteryear. They are called chukrá in Hindi – choṋŕá in slang – and, chuṋŕii in feminine form. They are called “lad” in English and “lass” in feminine form. The word kumáraka means a boy of this age.

Kumárii

Kumára+iṋiic = kumárii.

1. One meaning of the word kumárii is a woman who has dedicated herself to an ideology and at the same time taken a vow of lifelong celibacy.

2. The other meaning of the word kumárii is a girl between ten and twelve years of age.

3. According to the old Tantric rituals, the word kumárii meant a girl between ten and sixteen years of age.

4. Another meaning of the word kumárii is any minor girl.

5. Kumárii also means a girl who is an adult but not yet married. Enquiries are being made for a suitable match.

6. Kumárii also refers to a girl who in ancient society was regarded as a marriageable girl.

7. Kumárii also refers to kumure poká [a kind of insect].

8. One meaning of the word kumárii or kumáriká is Párvatii.

9. Another meaning of kumárii or kumáriká is a piece of land that gradually narrows into a point in the front of the sea, that is, a cape. The kumáriká or Kanyá Kumárii that stands at the southern tip of India is also a cape. That is why it is so named. If a Kumáriká is called a “cape”, it becomes a tautology, like a golden gold armlet.

10. Another meaning of kumárii or kumáriká is “large cardamoms” or sthúlaelá (sthula + elá).

11. Kumárii or kumáriká also means “clustered jasmine” (a special jasmine with many petals). It is also called snigdhakumárii to distinguish it from other varieties.

12. Another meaning of the word kumarii is the atasii flower [a kind of golden coloured flower]. Some people call it svarńakumárii to distinguish it from other flowers.

13. Kumárii also refers to the aparájitá flower [Blue pea flower; Clitoria ternatea Linn]. There is no convention for using any additional word to distinguish it from other flowers. In ancient times people thought that the two flowers, atasii and aparájitá, were the special favourites of Párvatii.

    Atasii Aparájitá
    Yáte Durgá haraśitá.

    [Atasii and aparajitá make Durgá joyful.]

14. Kumárii also means ghrtakumárii [Aloe vera]. In English it is “aloe”, in Bihar ghiukumár, and musabbar in Islamic medicine. To distinguish it from others, the word ghrta has been added to the beginning of its name, that is, it is called ghrtakumárii. But it is not incorrect to call it simply kumárii.

15. Kumárii also means an ornamental metal girdle worn around the waist (got́ha or candrahára).

16. Kumárii also means the Karatoyá River of North Bengal.

17. Kumárii also refers to the Kumárii River of Ráŕh that flows through the districts of Purulia and Bankura where it meets the Káṋsái or Kaḿsávatii River. As in the case of the Suvarńarekhá River, gold dust is also found in the sands of this Kumárii River.

18. During the British era, the leaders of the Bráhma Samaj introduced the custom of using the word kumárii before the name of any unmarried woman. They were looking for a Bengali equivalent for the English word “Miss”. However, there was no such custom in India of calling an unmarried woman of any age “Kumárii” before the advent of the Bráhma religion. It was mainly due to the influence of the Bráhma Samaj leaders that women started using their father’s surnames when unmarried and their fathers-in-law’s when married instead of the words “Devii” and “Dásii”. Before then, this custom was totally non-existent. For instance, if the father’s name was Ramnivasa Vajpeyii, his daughter, Kamala Kumárii, used to write “Devi” at the end of her name instead of Vajpayii. Presently Amarakrisna Chakrabartii’s daughter will write her name as “Shipra Chakravartii” instead of “Shipra Devii.”

19. The bird known as phiuṋe [folk-tailed shrike], which is commonly seen in rural Bengal, also has the proper name “kumárii bird”.

20. The vegetable (shada⁽²⁾; small and large) known as kuṋdrii that is found in abundance in certain places in rural Bengal is also called kumárii.

Kumuda

Ku + mud + ka = kumuda. The etymological meaning is “that which has been recognised as small”. Colloquially kumuda means:

1. A person who lives in an untidy manner or wears dirty and torn clothes or a person whom other people want to avoid.

2. Another meaning of kumuda is an odd-looking person devoid of any charm or feeling or compassion. If someone is in trouble and asks for help, such a person does not come forward. They shed no tears when they see the sufferings of other people, the type of person who cruelly harms others.

3. Kumuda also refers to sháluk [a kind of small water-lily] of any colour (called sháplá in some places).

4. In ancient Sanskrit literature the use of the word kumuda was limited to the red lotus.

5. Kumuda meant “white elephant” in the Sanskrit literature of the Middle Ages. Actually elephants are never white. However, there was a type of medium-sized elephant, few in number, that was found in North-East Asia; it was ash-coloured. Today this elephant is scarcely found. There was a time when this white elephant was adored as a sacred animal in Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

6. Kumuda also means “pure silver”.

7. One meaning of the word kumuda is a monster or a person of a monstrous nature.

8. The word kumuda was used for “camphor” in the Sanskrit prevalent in Southeast Asia.

9. Kumuda also refers to a certain species of monkey.

10. The place where a large number of water lilies bloom is called kumudinii.

11. Kumudii or kaomudii means “moonlight”.

    Áhá, kii sundara nishi
    Candramár udaýa,
    Kaomudii ráshite yeno
    Dhaota dharátala.

    [O, how beautiful is the night, the moon has risen, the earth seems flooded with an abundance of Kaomudii.]

12. Another meaning of kumuda is “to lie down with eyes closed pretending to be asleep”, or “to lie motionless and pretend to sleep”.

13. What is known as chaŕá [folk-rhyme] in Bengali is called kumuda or kumuda pauṋkti in Sanskrit.

Kumbha

Kumbh + ka/ac = kumbha. The meaning of the root verb ku is “to fill”, “to stuff”, “to fill up”. The etymological meaning of the word kumbha is “that which is filled”. The colloquial meaning of the word kumbha is:

1. “Cooking pot” (used for cooking rice).

2. Another meaning of the word kumbha is the eleventh sign of the zodiac, that is, the sign Aquarius, dulph in Old Arabic, kumbha in Bengali. The Bengali names for the twelve signs in order are: Meśa, Vrśa, Mithuna, Karkata, Siḿha, Kanyá, Tulá, Vrshcika, Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Miina. In Latin they are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. In Arabic they are Bakar, Torá, Dopatkar, Kalkaṋ, Sher, Khuskkhu, Tarájum, Gazdum, Nerusk, Bahik, Dulph, and Mahik. When the sun is in the sign of Kumbha, it is the eleventh solar month of the Bengali calendar.

3. Another meaning of the word kumbha is “proper noun”.

4. Kumbha also means one’s proper name. Generally people have three names. One name is their nickname or what they are called at home, for example, Bhulo, Hulo, Bhoṋdá, Háṋdá, Khyáṋdá, Kheṋdi, Puṋt́i, Khokan, Phaizu, Richi, Jicky, etc. Their birth name is the name which is accepted in schools and colleges, offices and courts, and in civilized society; for instance, Niranjana, Amitabha, Ajatashatru, Arindama, Richard, Henrietta, Barakat-ulla, Sikandar Hayat, Azim-ush-shan, etc. The third name is their zodiac name. When the horoscope is prepared, this name is selected on the basis of letters fixed in accordance with the position of planets in the zodiac. Someone’s nickname may be “Bhuto”, their proper name “Parimal Bhattacharya”, and their zodiac name “Saḿkarśańa”. This zodiac name is not used in mundane or practical spheres in most countries. It is used for astrological purposes or when examining the horoscopes of the bridegroom and bride before the marriage. Because the nickname is used in the household setting, no one apart from family members, neighbours and close friends know it. In most cases the birth name is used. This birth name is also called kumbha or the kumbha name.

5. The state of breath retention in the yogic practice of práńáyáma is called kumbhaka or kumbha kriyá.

6. Kumbha or Kumbhásura refers to Kumbhakarna, the mighty brother of Ravana.

Kumbhi

Kumbh + i = kumbhi. The word kumbhi means “earthen lid”. An earthen pan (used for warming up bread or making pancakes) is also called kumbhi.

Kumbhila

Kumbh + ilac. The etymological meaning of kumbhila is “that which remains full”, or “one who fills”, or “one for whom something is filled”. The word kumbhila has a number of colloquial meanings:

1. A person who enters somebody else’s room and fills their bundle with whatever they find there. That person is called kumbhila since they are filling something. In other words, one meaning of kumbhila is “thief” (although in Bengali both the words cora and caora are correct, the word caora is more common; caoraḿ drśt́vá paláyate – “one who flees when seeing a thief”).

2. Another meaning of the word kumbhila is “premature baby”, that is, one who is born in a somewhat immature state, what is called át́áse [born in eight months] in the spoken language. In olden times such a child was smeared with ghee and kept in a kumbhá [earthen container], so they were called kumbhila.

3. The elder brother-in-law (wife’s elder brother) generally gives the husband of the younger sister various kinds of gifts either out of affection or under the pressure of circumstance. So kumbhila also means “elder brother-in-law”. Kumbhila also means “younger brother-in-law” (wife’s younger brother).

4. Another meaning of the word kumbhila is ghat́a, the earthen pot that is used as a musical instrument, known in South India as ghat́am.

5. Another meaning of kumbhila is “guest”, or “an invitee”. If a person visits somebody’s house for a meal and gives the host trouble by eating excessively, then that type of person is also described as kumbhila.

Kumbhika

Kumbh + ikan = kumbhika. Kumbhika means “brothers-in-law”. Suppose there are two sisters. Their husbands are kumbhika to each other. In some places in Bengal such brothers-in-law are called shyáliipatibhái and in some other places they are called sáŕhubhái. Kumbhika also refers to a kind of pancake or the South Indian dhosá. Madhukumbhika means “sweet patty”.

Kumbhii

Kumbh+ii=kumbhii. Kumbhii means ghat́i [metal water-pot].

Kumbhiipáka

Kumbhii + pac + ghaiṋ = kumbhiipáka. According to the Puranas, kumbhiipáka is the name of a type of hell. According to some Puranas the sinner is made to revolve in this hell. Others believe that the sinner is cooked in a hot cauldron in this hell, while still others believe that in this hell the sinner is fried in oil (fried repeatedly like frying anabas fish).

Kumbhiira

Kumbhii+rá+d́a=kumbhiira. The etymological meaning is “that which makes a gulping sound while eating”. The colloquial meaning of kumbhiira is “man-eating crocodile” (Crocodile gangelitis). Among the fish-eating crocodiles, those with long snouts eat in the same way. Hence kumbhiira also means “alligator”. In North India man-eating crocodiles are called magarmaccha. The word is derived from the word makara. At one time this crocodile was found in large numbers in the Ganges, so in the Puranas the mount of the goddess Gauṋga is a crocodile. Thus one name of the goddess Gauṋga is Makaraváhinii. In Bihar, especially in the Auṋga region, this type of crocodile is called boṋchhá. The fish-eating crocodile is also called ghaŕiyál in many places in Bengal and northern India. What is called kumbhiiráshru [crocodile tears] in proper Bengali, is called ghaŕiyalii áṋshu in North India. At one time in Bengal, ghaŕiyál was used as an adjective for clever and skilful people. Even now it is occasionally said: lokt́á khub ghaŕel [that person is extremely clever].

Footnotes

(1) This can be found in the author’s garden in Kolkata.

(2) Shada means raw or cooked vegetables.