Guest guest Posted July 15, 1999 Report Share Posted July 15, 1999 [ A readers asked privately what the word 'adiyEn' means. I thought this may be of general interest, so I am posting my reply to the list as a whole. ] 'adiyEn' is Tamil for 'Your servant'. It has been used for years in Tamil as a humble way of saying 'I', since the usage of 'I' presumably signifies the ego. It was commonly used by servants in old Tamil society when they needed to refer to themselves in front of a king. The Alvars drew from this model and often referred to themselves as 'adiyEn' when speaking to God. Even today Sri Vaishnavas say 'adiyEn' when speaking to respected elders and swamis. However, we should be careful not to overuse this expression. As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy wrote over a year ago, "an indiscriminate use of expressions such as 'Adiyen' and 'Dasan' without understanding their meaning and purport also tend to make them look artificial." Or, as another member privately expressed, sometimes it seems that people say 'adiyEn' (Your servant) so vociferously that it actually seems like they mean 'adippEn' (I will hit you). :-) Mani ----- > Hi > I am sorry But I have to ask a really basic question: > > What is Adiyen? Why do people use it in place of "I" (at least it looks as > though that is how it is used). > > Thanks in advance !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 1999 Report Share Posted July 15, 1999 SrI: SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN- SatakOpa SrI nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha Dear devotees, namO nArAyaNA. > > What is Adiyen? Why do people use it in place of "I" (at least it looks as > > though that is how it is used). In addition to what Sri Mani wrote : The term "adiyEn" exclusively refers to the jIvAtma as being a servant of SrIman nArAyaNA. "I" etc can be used to denote either the body, soul etc. So, whenever oneself (ie.jIvAtma) is referred exclusively, "adiyEn" is used. In this way, it is a direct substitution for "I". "adiyEn" is also used to denote "your servant", where "your" stands for the person with whom conversation is made. Depending upon the context, one can understand the intention of the author. adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan ananthapadmanAbha dAsan krishNArpaNam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 1999 Report Share Posted July 15, 1999 Sri: Dearest Sisters and Brothers, Sri Mani wrote: > Or, as another member privately expressed, sometimes it > seems that people say 'adiyEn' (Your servant) so vociferously > that it actually seems like they mean 'adippEn' (I will hit you). :-) ======= Do you remember, Mani, when you were here at Singapore on the way to India, the same topic came, and you mentioned this: Sometimes people ask (during thadhIyaaraadhanai- Srivaishnava feast) "Swami.. adiyEnukku vadai illaiyaa?".. ) (there is no vadai for this humble servant..?) Regards Narayana Narayana Narayana dAsan Madhavakkannan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 15, 1999 Report Share Posted July 15, 1999 Hi. I am a bit confused. >Or, as another member privately expressed, sometimes it >seems that people say 'adiyEn' (Your servant) so vociferously >that it actually seems like they mean 'adippEn' (I will hit >you). :-) > >Mani Is it "adiyEn" or "aDiyEn" (with a retroflex D)? Because "I will hit you" is "aDippEn", and you don't seem to distinguish between "d" and "D". Does "adiyEn" have anything to do with "aDi" one of whose meanings is "bottom" (maybe at the feet of the Lord?) in Tamizh? Thanks, Ganesh. FREE Email for ALL! Sign up at http://www.mail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 16, 1999 Report Share Posted July 16, 1999 Hi, On Thu, 15 Jul 1999, Sankaran Panchapagesan wrote: > >Or, as another member privately expressed, sometimes it > >seems that people say 'adiyEn' (Your servant) so vociferously > >that it actually seems like they mean 'adippEn' (I will hit >you). :-) > > Is it "adiyEn" or "aDiyEn" (with a retroflex D)? Because "I will > hit you" is > "aDippEn", and you don't seem to distinguish between "d" and "D". I think "D", the retroflex/cerebral, was meant. > Does "adiyEn" have anything to do with "aDi" one of whose meanings is > "bottom" (maybe at the feet of the Lord?) in Tamizh? Yes, I think it does, tho here the meaning "feet" is used figuratively to mean "servant". Tamil is one of the few (?) languages that allow the somewhat exotic feature of polysynthesis, whereby a single word accomodates more than one part of speech so that it can actually represent a whole sentence or a word qualified by a relative clause. For example, Sri ANDAL in Tiruppavai: "aRiyAta piLLaykaL-OM" - we [who] are innocent/ignorant children Thus, "aDiyEn" means "I am (your) servant" or "I who am (your) servant" Namo Narayana, Srikanth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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