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4a. upapanno, uf. upa-panna-s (175a), √pad+upa, p. 186. As a prepositional cpd, this must be sought under the root, not under the preposition—read p. 290, paragraph 8. For the form panna, see 957d: lit., it has only an indefinite past sense, not a passive sense, see 9522 —guṇāir, uf. guṇāis, 174: declension, 330, —iṣṭāi, uf. iṣṭāis, which becomes iṣṭāir (174 again) before the following sonant initial; and since this is r, the final r is dropped—see 179: iṣ-ṭá is ppl. of √1iṣ, 953: the t of ta becomes ṭ by progressive assimilation (197), which is far less common than regressive assimilation. The half-line means, ‘endowed with (desired, ie. desirable or) excellent virtues.’ For the use of the instr., see 278. 4b. rūpavān, see 452 and 453, and cf. 447, For rū, cf. Whitney 10d. —açvakovidaḥ, u.f. açvakovidas, 170a, an extremely common change. Nala’s skill in the manege is a point of prime importance in the story—see p. 299, §16. 5a. atiṣṭhan, u.f. atiṣṭhat (161) is 3d s. imf. act. of √sthā, 742. [The a is augment, 585: ti is reduplication (for t, see 590c; for i, 660): the i alters s to ṣ (180 and 184c), and this ṣ involves the conversion of th to ṭh (197—cf. iṣṭa). Orig. sthā belonged to the reduplicating class (671—cf. ἵ-στη-μι, ἵ-στη-ς, ἵ-στη-σι), but has been transferred (749) to the commonest of all classes, the a-class, and is inflected as if the stem were tiṣṭha, i.e. as if we had in Greek ἵ-στω, ἵ-στεις, ἵ-στει.] —manujendrāṇām, gen.pl. of manujendra: after the lingual r, the n of the ending is changed to lingual ṇ—see 189 and 190a: for the combination of manuja+indra, see 127; for dr, Whitney 14. 5b. mūrdhni, loc.s. of mūrdhan, 424: for rdh, see Whitney 14. —devapatir, u.f. devapatis, 174: declension, 339. —yathā, see s.v. 4, —‘He (stood, i.e.) was at the head of princes, as Indra (sc. is at the head of gods)’: ie. ‘He was as much superior to other princes as Indra to other gods.’ “As handsome as Indra” was a proverbial expression. |
6a. upary, uf. upari, 129: the word is repeated for emphasis, 1260; ‘above, above,’ ie. ‘far above.” —sarveṣām, gen.pl. of sarva, 522 and 524: for construction, see s.v. upari and 1130 end. 6b. āditya, u.f. ādityas, 175b. —tejasā, 414: as referring to the sun, it means ‘splendor,’ and as referring to Nala, it has the transferred mg, ‘majesty’: the instr., prop. the ‘with’-case, is here best rendered by ‘by,’ ie. ‘in virtue of” —The force of atiṣṭhat extends through the çloka or distich. ‘He was far above all in majesty, as the sun (is) in splendor. 7a. vedaviç chūro, u.f. vedavit çūras: the final t is changed to the palatal c, before the palatal sibilant ç (regressive assimila. tion, 203), and the sibilant ç is also changed to the mute ch, 203: the same changes appear in paryupāsac chacīm, 27, abhūc chṛṇvatoḥ, 218, hṛcchayaḥ, 219, and tac chrutvā, 46, 416: vedavit is nom.s.m. of vedavid (301), the d being changed to t (159) before the s of the case-ending, which last, however, is dropped—see 150. 7b. niṣadeṣu, ‘among the Nishadhans’ or ‘in Nishadha’, —mahīpatiḥ, uf. mahīpatis, 170a: declension, 339. —It is not known where Nishadha was. Vidarbha, the modern Berar, is at the head- waters of the Tapti, between Nagpore and the Nizam’s Kingdom, and about five hundred miles from Oudh. The general run of the story makes it highly probable that Nishadha was between Berar and Oudh. From chapter ix., it would seem to have been north of Oujein (ujjayinī). From an allusion in the Çatapatha-brāhmana, ii.3.2, Weber thinks it is in the south (ie. from Madhya- deça). These premises give some ground for the inference that Nishadha was in the valley of the Sind, which traverses Gwalior State, Central India. On the Sind is Narwār; and local tradition connects this place with “King Nala” in a story whose leading features bear a striking resemblance to those of our poem. Finally, Nala is said, chap.xv., to have reached Oudh on the tenth day after quitting Damayantī, and this time suits the |
