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ArchivesWhat does Yahvi mean?
I have heard this Hindu name for girls. It means heaven. Does this name belong to Sanskrit?
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Yes, it is Sanskrit, but it is one of those words from the Rgveda whose correct meaning and etymology is difficult to recover today.
There is a cluster of words in Rgveda that seem to point to a lost root yah that has something to do with flowing or moving swiftly or powerfully. The word yahu used as an adjective has been translated as great and the corresponding masculine noun as children by the ancients (e.g., Sayana), but there are too few occurences to be sure. The word yahas does associate with water and power. The adjective yahva does seem to mean restless etc. and is commonly applied to agni, indra, soma etc., or to the waters, though Sayana again glosses it as great. The masculine form usual refers to the person for whom a sacrifice is being done (but that may be a different word).
The form yahvi (udAtta stress on the last syllable) that you want is the feminine of this last word. In the plural it clearly refers to the great rivers (the "seven rivers"). In the dual (yahvI with a long i) it seems to refer to "heaven and earth", a common concept in the Rgveda. So, saying it means heaven, is probably not quite correct: it probably refers more to the two major flows (or movements) in the ancient concept: this world of our movement (earth) and the world where the bright ones move (heavens).
Sorry, but when talking about texts from more than 3000 years back, some words will always be difficult.
There is a cluster of words in Rgveda that seem to point to a lost root yah that has something to do with flowing or moving swiftly or powerfully. The word yahu used as an adjective has been translated as great and the corresponding masculine noun as children by the ancients (e.g., Sayana), but there are too few occurences to be sure. The word yahas does associate with water and power. The adjective yahva does seem to mean restless etc. and is commonly applied to agni, indra, soma etc., or to the waters, though Sayana again glosses it as great. The masculine form usual refers to the person for whom a sacrifice is being done (but that may be a different word).
The form yahvi (udAtta stress on the last syllable) that you want is the feminine of this last word. In the plural it clearly refers to the great rivers (the "seven rivers"). In the dual (yahvI with a long i) it seems to refer to "heaven and earth", a common concept in the Rgveda. So, saying it means heaven, is probably not quite correct: it probably refers more to the two major flows (or movements) in the ancient concept: this world of our movement (earth) and the world where the bright ones move (heavens).
Sorry, but when talking about texts from more than 3000 years back, some words will always be difficult.
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Thanks!!
:)
:)
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