[Facts] Re: Meaning of the name Sajith
by তন্ময় ভট (guest)
5/5/2009, 8:59 PM
Why do you think ajay came from ajeya?
ajaYa (I am using the last -a to indicate the Sanskrit spelling) is actually a pretty old word meaning invincible, and is a standard epithet of viSNu, and there was also a grammarian by that name. The feminine ajaYA is a standard epithet of mAYA.
Grammatically, in Sanskrit, many compound words can be parsed both as what it is technically called tatpuruSa compounds or as vahuvrIhi ones. tatpuruSa compounds roughly imply that the compound refers to a qualified form of the second element: naJa-tatpuruSa (The J is the symbol for palatal n) a-jaYa means victory qualified by the negative, i.e. non-victory or defeat. The vahuvrIhi compounds refer to something else which is qualified by the phrase contracted, and the vahuvrIhi ajaYa refers to one over who is not (or cannot be) victory: i.e. undefeated or invincible (both meanings are attested). Good dictionaries (e.g. Monier-Wlliams) will show all three meanings.
(And, incidentally, there are two other compound modes in Sanskrit: dvandva, where both elements are equally present as in hariharau meaning hari and hara; and avyaYIbhAva, where the first element is qualified by the second, and so the form does not like to take declenational suffixed, e.g. pAragangam, the bank of ganges, used as an adverb of place.)