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ArchivesRe: Meaning of the name
in reply to a message by Priya
The etymology is from the very old root mIl (I use capitals for long vowels) meaning to close one's eyes, wink, twinkle, etc. with a prefix pra which is related to Latin pro, German vor, and English fore. So, pramIlA means somthing like lassitude, enervation, or exhaustion. (mil instead of mIl means to collect, but is probably unrelated).
The most famous mythological character occurs in the story of a great horse sacrifice in the epic book mahAbhAarata. The horse is let wander before the sacrifice, and all lands it goes through must accept the protectors of the horse (the sacrificer) as their overlord, or be defeated in a fight. The leader of the nation of women, pramIlA, captured the horse and met the heroic warrior arjjuna (a very famous character in the epic), and one thing led to another, and they end up married. So, most Indians hearing pramIlA, even if they recognize the meaning, immediately think of arjjuna's wife.
Hope this longish email helped
Tanmoy
The most famous mythological character occurs in the story of a great horse sacrifice in the epic book mahAbhAarata. The horse is let wander before the sacrifice, and all lands it goes through must accept the protectors of the horse (the sacrificer) as their overlord, or be defeated in a fight. The leader of the nation of women, pramIlA, captured the horse and met the heroic warrior arjjuna (a very famous character in the epic), and one thing led to another, and they end up married. So, most Indians hearing pramIlA, even if they recognize the meaning, immediately think of arjjuna's wife.
Hope this longish email helped
Tanmoy
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