Guest guest Posted October 16, 1999 Report Share Posted October 16, 1999 From Barry Pittard bpittard Dear Scholarly Friends at Vivekananda Centre, Have you got anything on the etymology of 'nadi' - electronically or otherwise? There is, of course, a Tantric meaning. Who knows, there may be something cognate. Naturally, I'm after Sanscrit and Old Tamil origins, but it probably good to see what comes up in any of the Indic languages in general. It was tempting to consider naaDi as meaning 'river.' The Sanskrit word nadii (ii = long i usually transcribed with a macron over i) means 'river.' But the words nadii (river) and naa.di (tube) are different things altogether. Naa.di looks as though it might be a Dravidian loan, but it isn't in Burrow and Emeneau's DEDR 1. I don't have access to DEDR 2. I guess the naa.di (tube) becomes the subtle nerve of yoga physiology - as in susushumna nADi etc. Is this definitely correct? Monier-Williams gives the basic meaning of naa.dii as 'a hollow stalk ... any tubular organ (as a vein or artery of the body).' I wonder: could this have evolved into 'pulse,' which is certainly a meaning for nadi in Tamil. M-W traces the etymology to the Rigvedic word naa.da = naala, which likewise means 'hollow stalk'. He also mentions a feminine form (though ending in long a, rather than i), which is the 'name of a particular verse' according to the Vaitanasutra. A clue? I wonder if, somehow, the meaning relates to the nadi leaf AND the nadi reader being a sort of conduit. One down which is piped - or flows - the voice of the Rishi or god or goddess in whom a nadi is named. Too fanciful? If we take the meaning that relates to a vein or artery in the body, all the messages from rishi, god, goddess could be view - is it likely? - as a series of flows, extending across time, one " river " of information flowing to one querant, another flowing to another, and so on. How would we ever know? M-W traces the etymology to the Rigvedic word naa.da = naala, which likewise means 'hollow stalk'. He also mentions a feminine form (though ending in long a, rather than i), which is the 'name of a particular verse' according to the Vaitanasutra. Might this be a clue worth following up? Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 1999 Report Share Posted October 17, 1999 On Sat, 16 Oct 1999, Vivekananda Centre wrote: > " Vivekananda Centre " <vivekananda > > From Barry Pittard > bpittard > > Dear Scholarly Friends at Vivekananda Centre, > > Have you got anything on the etymology of 'nadi' - electronically or > otherwise? There is, of course, a Tantric meaning. Who knows, there may > be something cognate. > > Naturally, I'm after Sanscrit and Old Tamil origins, but it probably good to > see what comes up in any of the Indic languages in general. It can be more easier if the context in which u r looking for naa.di is known. > > It was tempting to consider naaDi as meaning 'river.' The Sanskrit word > nadii (ii = long i usually transcribed with a macron over i) means 'river.' > But the words nadii (river) and naa.di (tube) are different things > altogether. Naa.di looks as though it might be a Dravidian loan, but it > isn't in Burrow and Emeneau's DEDR 1. I don't have access to DEDR 2. > > I guess the naa.di (tube) becomes the subtle nerve of yoga physiology - as > in susushumna nADi etc. Is this definitely correct? Yes naa.di is definitely described that way i don't know if it can mean somethig else too. > > Monier-Williams gives the basic meaning of naa.dii as 'a hollow stalk ... > any tubular organ (as a vein or artery of the body).' I wonder: could > this have evolved into 'pulse,' which is certainly a meaning for nadi in > Tamil. I guess the pulse is kind of physical manisfestation of the activities in these naa.di's > > M-W traces the etymology to the Rigvedic word naa.da = naala, which > likewise means 'hollow stalk'. He also mentions a feminine form (though > ending in long a, rather than i), which is the 'name of a particular verse' > according to the Vaitanasutra. A clue? i don't know anything abt it. > > I wonder if, somehow, the meaning relates to the nadi leaf AND the nadi > reader being a sort of conduit. One down which is piped - or flows - > the voice of the Rishi or god or goddess in whom a nadi is named. Too > fanciful? If we take the meaning that relates to a vein or artery in the > body, all the messages from rishi, god, goddess could be view - is it > likely? - as a series of flows, extending across time, one " river " of > information flowing to one querant, another flowing to another, and so on. > How would we ever know? > Wat i can get frm above lines u have written is that can the flows in different naa.di's mean the message frm different gods n goddesses. Then i guess it is right in some sense. But remember these naa.di's r not something physical. Even if u dissect the whole body u can't find them. I don't remember the name of a doctor who tried finding the kundalini by dissecting the human body he has book realting to his work on it too. But he was unable to find these naa.di's. Try to get in touch with someone who is high on the path of kundalini awakening or a full kundalini awakened person i guess he/she can help u know more abt Naa.di's if these naa.di's mean the energy carrying channels. I guess the only way u can know them n understand them is through experience. > M-W traces the etymology to the Rigvedic word naa.da = naala, which > likewise means 'hollow stalk'. He also mentions a feminine form (though > ending in long a, rather than i), which is the 'name of a particular verse' > according to the Vaitanasutra. Might this be a clue worth following up? > > Barry > I remember u were looking for naa.di in the context of astrology. R u looking for naa.di as a energy channel or something that relates to astrology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 17, 1999 Report Share Posted October 17, 1999 > > M-W traces the etymology to the Rigvedic word naa.da = naala, which > > likewise means 'hollow stalk'. He also mentions a feminine form > (though > > ending in long a, rather than i), which is the 'name of a particular > verse' > > according to the Vaitanasutra. Might this be a clue worth following up? > > > > Barry [Madhava Replies:] Dear Barry: It is nice to hear from you again. I hope your research is going on well. There are letters in Sanskrit which are identified, by etymologists, as " abhEdaaksharas " ( letters of no difference). " Ra " , " la " -- sutra: " ralayOrabEdhaH " . There is no difference between " <Ra> and <la> " . For example: " babhluSAya vivyAdhinE annAnAM patayE namaH " - (yajurvEda). Means, " I bow to the master who rides a bull, who is the giver of food " . Here, " babhlu " should be read as " babhRu " , since there is " abhEdha " between the letters " Ra " and " La " , one should take the meaning " babhRu " (BULL). This interpretation works only at rare occasions. We can't take them for granted. There is this --- " Sha " , " kha " . In north india, veda pundits belong to " mAdhyaMdina " sAmpradAya (tradition) pronounce the word " purusha " as " purukha " . There is this " abhEda " applied... Same way, there is abhEdha between the words " Da " and " La " . That is why they interpret the word " nAda " as " nALa " also. That which has no beginning is " nAda " . Vedas say that " at first there was sound!. Since the origin of the sound is not known, they said " na+aada " No beginning. That is why they also called the vedic sound " OUM " as " nAda brahma " . Certainly! you could proceed in thinking " nAda " as " nALa " . But, I am not sure that you can relate the words " nADi " with either " nAda " or " nALa " . Of course, there is nothing wrong in giving it a try. Please let me know if you find any relation. Mean while, let me explain you what I know about " nADi " . It means " that which is flowing " . Life is a stream of consciousness. Consciousness flows through a stream called " prArabdha " (destiny). This stream can be pulsed by evoking certain kundalini powers. " NADi " readers can definitely tell you about your past, but the results are vague when they are questioned about the future. Because, future changes as per the purusardha (freewill). That is all I can contribute. All the best. Comments and corrections are most welcome! Regards, Madhava Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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