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Help[Facts] Re: Ashlesha
in reply to a message by ADT
It is Sanskrit, and is the name of an asterism: a particular 13 1/3 degrees along the ecliptic named after a prominent star or constellation within it, in this case the constellation Hydra. Currently (i.e. for the next 1000 years or so), a full moon around the beginning of January is around this asterism.
The words representing these asterisms are very old: AshleSA' appears already in the Vedic literature and so is definitely more than 2500 years old, but probably not as a human name (in fact the male form had a slightly negative connotation: sometimes used for spirits that can grab you). The etymology involves the particle A' which qualifies verbs with a meaning of nearness, towardness, or completeness followed by the verb shliS, to join (metaphorically also to result in) or to connect, to embrace etc. AsleSA is the feminine of a noun meaning intimate contact, embracing, clinging or entwining.
The forms ashleSA and AshreSA are also attested in Sanskrit, probably as variants of the above.
The words representing these asterisms are very old: AshleSA' appears already in the Vedic literature and so is definitely more than 2500 years old, but probably not as a human name (in fact the male form had a slightly negative connotation: sometimes used for spirits that can grab you). The etymology involves the particle A' which qualifies verbs with a meaning of nearness, towardness, or completeness followed by the verb shliS, to join (metaphorically also to result in) or to connect, to embrace etc. AsleSA is the feminine of a noun meaning intimate contact, embracing, clinging or entwining.
The forms ashleSA and AshreSA are also attested in Sanskrit, probably as variants of the above.
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Replies
The correct spelling should be perhaps Aashlesha, because single A often makes the word negative while AA converts it into a verb. In the sense of embracing Ashelsha and Aashelsha can have different meanings with the original word being shlesha. As the name of constellation, I am not aware what is the correct spelling.
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Correct in general, but there are exceptions.
In many cases, like in ashleSA, the usage seems to be just due to a mispronounciation of AshleSA (I follow a slightly modified version of the so-called Harvard-Kyoto transliteration in which my capital A is your aa, whereas my lower case a is your single a). The original usage in atharvaveda for the asterism is AshleSA; AshreSA appears in the taittirIYa brAhmaNa (the saMhitA uses AshleSA instead; and atharvaveda does have the masculine AshreSa as the name of an evil spirit). ashleSA does not appear till the mahAbhArata, and is thereafter used only as a name. I do not know of it being used in the a-sleSA sense ever (but then, someone somewhere could certainly have used it).
Note that even mahAbhArata does not follow pANini in places (or, if you prefer, has a lot of ArSa usage), and the Sanskrit language wasn't quite standardized at that time. What seems to have happened is that the -r-/-l- alteration is very old: In fact rlo bhavaH is an old maxim. It is also seen in other parts of the Indoeuropean family of languages. But, the beginning syllable was definitely an open long A- at this earliest stage (stressed when used with a verb, unstressed when the suffix usurps the stress). Somewhere before/around the beginning of the common era, the name asleSA seems to have appeared (and around this time, stress disappeared except in ritual contexts).
The original A- is clearly the prefix A- (which appears in Agama, AmantraNa etc.) which in Vedic was a separate indeclinable particle, but like in German untrennbar verbs became an integral part of the verb AshliS in classical Sanskrit (except, of course, the perfective/past marker a- still slips between it and the verb.)
In many cases, like in ashleSA, the usage seems to be just due to a mispronounciation of AshleSA (I follow a slightly modified version of the so-called Harvard-Kyoto transliteration in which my capital A is your aa, whereas my lower case a is your single a). The original usage in atharvaveda for the asterism is AshleSA; AshreSA appears in the taittirIYa brAhmaNa (the saMhitA uses AshleSA instead; and atharvaveda does have the masculine AshreSa as the name of an evil spirit). ashleSA does not appear till the mahAbhArata, and is thereafter used only as a name. I do not know of it being used in the a-sleSA sense ever (but then, someone somewhere could certainly have used it).
Note that even mahAbhArata does not follow pANini in places (or, if you prefer, has a lot of ArSa usage), and the Sanskrit language wasn't quite standardized at that time. What seems to have happened is that the -r-/-l- alteration is very old: In fact rlo bhavaH is an old maxim. It is also seen in other parts of the Indoeuropean family of languages. But, the beginning syllable was definitely an open long A- at this earliest stage (stressed when used with a verb, unstressed when the suffix usurps the stress). Somewhere before/around the beginning of the common era, the name asleSA seems to have appeared (and around this time, stress disappeared except in ritual contexts).
The original A- is clearly the prefix A- (which appears in Agama, AmantraNa etc.) which in Vedic was a separate indeclinable particle, but like in German untrennbar verbs became an integral part of the verb AshliS in classical Sanskrit (except, of course, the perfective/past marker a- still slips between it and the verb.)
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