This is about some words which are common to two languages, viz, Tamil and Sanskrit.
As both the languages are ancient ones and have been in use in a large part of India for a very long time, some words are used in both the languages.
On passage of time certain words though pronounced similarly, have quite different meanings in the two languages. A typical example of this is 'Kevalam' which in Sanskrit means alone or only but in Tamil it means menial or poor.
In Sanskrit the word 'kevalam' is used when a king or lord or God is praised saying that "you are my only solace or "my only faith'.
In Tamil it is quite the opposite. It is used to denote poor state of affairs or poor health of a person; It is also used to indicate the miserly nature of a person.
'Attahaasam' is another word which in Sanskrit denotes angry laughter especially to describe the laughter of Devi Durga before slaying the asura Mahishasura. But in Tamil the word is used to mean pomp and festivity, great celebration and the like.
Another such word is 'pramaadam'- In Sanskrit it means carelessness, whereas in Tamil it is used to denote greatness viz, great performance or great food etc. In Tamil it is also used to denote effortlessness, or easy achievement. for example, if one is asked to perform a difficult task such as moving a heavy object, one may reply " what is it? pramaadam, I can do it in no time". In this context the word has almost the same meaning as in Sanskrit; since one can do such tasks carelessly that is without effort.
I would like to quote the Upanyasakar Sri Velukkudi Krishnan swami; He said "the next time when you describe about the upanyasam, don't say that the upanyasam was pramaadam: then you mean to say that the upanyasakar was speaking carelessly". In this context I beg to differ with him on the following points:
As pointed out earlier same words may have different meanings in different languages. Another is that even if the meaning careless (effortless) is considered , when a performance is said to be pramaadam it means that the artist or performer need not take any effort to achieve his best as the art comes to him naturally , like Mr. T. N Krishnan or Mr.Lalgudi Jayaraman playing on the violin.
So the upanyasakar can rest assured that when his discourse is said to be pramaadam it means great and effortless performance only.
There are other words which are used by a certain class of Tamil people in the same sense as in Sanskrit. Even without knowing its origin in Sanskrit. One such word is 'kashmaalam' used as cuss word in slums of
Chennai. In Sanskrit it means dirt or soiled. It is part of the mantra for changing the soiled upaveetham or poonool.
Another word which came to my mind is 'sakalapati' which is used to mean a relative who is ones wife's sister's husband. I think it might have emanated from the Sanskrit word sakapati which means classmate at the Veda patasala.
In olden days, the vidyartis who have completed the education go into the Grahasthasrama - that is married life. The students of the same patasala go out together in quest of higher education to far away places.On their way they will be interrupted by parents of brides who wish to give their daughter in marriage to these bramacharies. mostly it happens that if there is more than one girl in a house, they are married to
these classmates or 'sakapatis' hence those who marry the sisters become shapatis or sakalapatis as it has become by usage.
After reading this, I am sure that my friends would remark "'பிரமாதப்படுத்தி ட்டே போ. அட்ட ஹா ஸமா இருக்கு" '
As both the languages are ancient ones and have been in use in a large part of India for a very long time, some words are used in both the languages.
On passage of time certain words though pronounced similarly, have quite different meanings in the two languages. A typical example of this is 'Kevalam' which in Sanskrit means alone or only but in Tamil it means menial or poor.
In Sanskrit the word 'kevalam' is used when a king or lord or God is praised saying that "you are my only solace or "my only faith'.
In Tamil it is quite the opposite. It is used to denote poor state of affairs or poor health of a person; It is also used to indicate the miserly nature of a person.
'Attahaasam' is another word which in Sanskrit denotes angry laughter especially to describe the laughter of Devi Durga before slaying the asura Mahishasura. But in Tamil the word is used to mean pomp and festivity, great celebration and the like.
Another such word is 'pramaadam'- In Sanskrit it means carelessness, whereas in Tamil it is used to denote greatness viz, great performance or great food etc. In Tamil it is also used to denote effortlessness, or easy achievement. for example, if one is asked to perform a difficult task such as moving a heavy object, one may reply " what is it? pramaadam, I can do it in no time". In this context the word has almost the same meaning as in Sanskrit; since one can do such tasks carelessly that is without effort.
I would like to quote the Upanyasakar Sri Velukkudi Krishnan swami; He said "the next time when you describe about the upanyasam, don't say that the upanyasam was pramaadam: then you mean to say that the upanyasakar was speaking carelessly". In this context I beg to differ with him on the following points:
As pointed out earlier same words may have different meanings in different languages. Another is that even if the meaning careless (effortless) is considered , when a performance is said to be pramaadam it means that the artist or performer need not take any effort to achieve his best as the art comes to him naturally , like Mr. T. N Krishnan or Mr.Lalgudi Jayaraman playing on the violin.
So the upanyasakar can rest assured that when his discourse is said to be pramaadam it means great and effortless performance only.
There are other words which are used by a certain class of Tamil people in the same sense as in Sanskrit. Even without knowing its origin in Sanskrit. One such word is 'kashmaalam' used as cuss word in slums of
Chennai. In Sanskrit it means dirt or soiled. It is part of the mantra for changing the soiled upaveetham or poonool.
Another word which came to my mind is 'sakalapati' which is used to mean a relative who is ones wife's sister's husband. I think it might have emanated from the Sanskrit word sakapati which means classmate at the Veda patasala.
In olden days, the vidyartis who have completed the education go into the Grahasthasrama - that is married life. The students of the same patasala go out together in quest of higher education to far away places.On their way they will be interrupted by parents of brides who wish to give their daughter in marriage to these bramacharies. mostly it happens that if there is more than one girl in a house, they are married to
these classmates or 'sakapatis' hence those who marry the sisters become shapatis or sakalapatis as it has become by usage.
After reading this, I am sure that my friends would remark "'பிரமாதப்படுத்தி ட்டே போ. அட்ட ஹா ஸமா இருக்கு" '
