Picture of Vishnu

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Post No. 12,622

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A J 

To:Santhanam Swaminathan

Sat, Oct 21 at 7:35 PM

Namaskāram Santanam Swāmināthan ji,

I have been searching for the etymological derivation of the Tamizh word (maal) for Bhagvaan Vishnu since 2021. Yesterday while studying Śrī Vishnu Sahasranāma, I came across the name (vyaalah in Samskritam) for Vishnu. Hence the root word is (vyaala) for Vishnu.

Now we know that regional Prākrits cannot write joint letters in 90 to 95% cases. The same rule applies for Tamizh too. So this (vyaala) of Samskritam will become (vaal) in Prākrits. We also know that (pa,pha,ba,bha,ma,va) interchangeability rule holds in case of all languages but not always.

Taking this into account, this (vaal) of Prākrits can easily become (maal) of Tamizh. Hence we have the Tamizh name for Bhagvaan Vishnu as (maal). This word (maal) is a pure Tamizh word for Bhagvaan Vishnu. But it is derived from (vyaala) of Veda Bhāshā (Samskritam) which also is a name of Bhagvaan Vishnu. There is no verbal root in Tamizh from which this word (maal) can be derived. I may be thoroughly wrong but I will stick my neck out on this derivation. Please tell if this derivation is correct or false. 

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Picture of Yali (from Wikipedia)

My Reply

I don’t agree with you for the following reasons.

Wisdom library website gave 25 definitions for Vyaala.

Of these Adi Shankara has taken the meaning SNAKE in his Vishnu  Sahasranama commentary

sureshah sharanam sharma vishvaretaah prajabhavaha |

ahah samvatsaro vyalah pratyayah sarvadarshanaha || 10 ||

Shankara says Vishnu is Vyalah; being unseparable like a serpent.

Sanskrit dictionary  describes Shiva as VYAALA HAARA= one who wears SNAKE as garland.

In SHILPA SHASTRA it refers to YAALI seen in all the NAYAK temples all over Tamil Nadu.

Wisdom Library definitions are given at the end. The summary is a fierce animal. We also see Elephant+Lion Combination in all Nayak architecture.

Earlier I reported in this blog that the English word Lion, Leo etc came from Yali. If you reverse YALI you get LIYA (leo,lion); It is called mirror image in linguistics

Tamil word THER (Ratha) is not Tamil. If you reverse RATHA , you get THER. All the South Indian and Sri Lankan temples do Ratha Utsava like Puri Jagannath.

Back to Vyala now

You are right in saying V=M

I have given the following in my research articles earlier:

koManam= koVanam (Kaubeenam in Skt)

Vandodari (Tam) = Mandodari Skt

Virugam (Tam) = Mirugam Skt

sVapna= soMna(mbulism) in Latin

puVi in Tamil= bhuMi in Skt.

So we see this change not only in Sanskrit and Tamil but also in Latin

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But in Vyala, we see only Fierce animal, a composite animal like YAALI or just a snake as we see in Vishnu Sahasranama and Adi Shankara’s commentary on it.

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THEN WHO IS MAAL, TIRU MAAL மால், திருமால்?

Following is the Tamil Dictionary for MAAL

University of Madras Lexicon

மால்

māl   n. மால்¹-. 1. Illusion, delusion, aberration of mind; dullness; stupor;confusion; மயக்கம். பரேரம் புழகுடன் மாலங்குடைய மலிவன மறுகி (குறிஞ்சிப். 96). 2. Desire;ஆசை. (பிங்.) என் பேய்மன மால் கொண்டதே(திருநூற். 1). 3. Love; lust; காமம். மடப்பிடிகண்டு வயக்கரி மாலுற்று (பரிபா. 10, 42). 4. Blackness; கருமை. மால்கடல் (பெரும்பாண். 487). (பிங்.)

மால்

māl   n. cf. mahat. 1. Greatness;பெருமை. (பிங்.) சினமால் விடையுடையான் (திருவாச. 34, 3). 2. Great man; பெருமையுடையவன்.மாமஞ்ஞை யூர்ந்து நின்றமால் (சீவக. 286). 3. cf.māla. Viṣṇu; திருமால். நீர் செல நிமிர்ந்த மாஅல்போல (முல்லைப். 3). 4. Arhat; அருகன். இன்பக்கடலாக்கித் தரு மாலை (சீவக. 961). (சூடா.) 5.Indra; இந்திரன். தன்றிரு மகனெனப் பெற்ற மால்(குமர. பிர. முத்து. காப். 6). (பிங்.) 6. Wind;காற்று. (பிங்.) 7. Mercury; புதன். (பிங்.) 8. Cōḻaking; சோழன். (பிங்.) 9. Mountain; மலை. (அக.நி.) 10. Plenty; fertility; வளமை. (அக. நி.) 11.Antiquity; பழைமை. (அக. நி.) 12. Cloud;மேகம். (பிங்.) சிலைமா லுருமு (தஞ்சைவா. 164).13. See மால்பு. (பிங்.) 14. A plant that growsonly in hot and dry places; விஷ்ணுகரந்தை.(மூ. அ.)

மால்

māl   n. Arab. māl. 1. Woodenmould for forming the mouldings of a pillar orcornice of wall; எழுதகக்கருவி. (W.) 2. Mouldfor making bricks; செங்கற்கட்டளை. Loc. 3.Brick-kiln; காளவாய். Loc. 4. Form, plan,fashion; மாதிரி. (W.) 5. Demarcation, limit;எல்லை. (W.) 6. A kind of net; வலைவகை. (W.)7. Stable, stall; இலாயம். (W.) 8. Quit-rent;அரசிறைவகை. (W.) 9. Property; சொத்து.

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MY COMMENTS

Of these I take the meaning கருமை. மால்கடல் (பெரும்பாண். 487) from Sangam Literature.

Sangam Corpus which is 2000 year old has already Tamilized VISHNU DAASAN as Vinnan Thaayan and KANNA DAASAN as Thaayan Kannan.

Maal is not a Tamil word. It is Sanskrit word used all over the world as Mal(appropriation)

Melanesia (Islands with Blac People)

English has a lot of words with Mal as prefix. The implied meaning is a black deal, a shady deal. Meaning is Black Market, Black deal

But the same word can be used in good context as well; whenever you want to say BLACK, DARK you may use MAAL.

Vishnu is Black; Krishna was Black; Draupadi was Black; Vyasa was black; Yama is Black and yet we worship them every day.

In short Black is worshipped in Hinduism.

Black is praised in Hinduism Crow is black, Sani is black, Yama is black.

I, as a Brahmin worship YAMA three times a day saying Oh Ye Blacky! (Neelaaya, Anthakaaya = black, dark, blind)

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Picture of Vishnu and Apsaras on French stamps

Conclusion

Maal in Tamil for Vishnu comes from his blackness.

Wisdom library

Vyāla (व्याल) refers to “snakes”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.31

Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous (V) next»] — Vyala in Sanskrit glossary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Vyāla (व्याल).—a.

1) Wicked, vicious; व्यालद्विपा यन्तृभिरुन्मदिष्णवः (vyāladvipā yantṛbhirunmadiṣṇavaḥ) Śiśupālavadha 12.28; यन्ता गजं व्यालमिवापराद्धः (yantā gajaṃ vyālamivāparāddhaḥ) Kirātārjunīya 17.25.

2) Bad, villainous.

3) Cruel, fierce, savage; जहति व्यालमृगाः परेषु वृत्तिम् (jahati vyālamṛgāḥ pareṣu vṛttim) Kirātārjunīya 13.4.

-laḥ 1 A vicious elephant; व्यालं बाल- मृणालतन्तुभिरसौ रोद्धुं समुज्जृम्भते (vyālaṃ bāla- mṛṇālatantubhirasau roddhuṃ samujjṛmbhate) Bhartṛhari 2.6.

2) A beast of prey; वसन्त्यस्मिन् महारण्ये व्यालाश्च रुधिराशनाः (vasantyasmin mahāraṇye vyālāśca rudhirāśanāḥ) Rām.2.119. 19; वनं व्यालनिषेवितम् (vanaṃ vyālaniṣevitam) Rām.

3) A snake; H.3.29.

4) A tiger; Mālatīmādhava (Bombay) 3.

5) A leopard.

6) A king.

7) A cheat, rogue.

8) Name of Viṣṇu.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vyāla (व्याल).—mfn.

(-laḥ-lā-laṃ) 1. Wicked, villainous, bad. 2. Cruel, fierce. m.

(-laḥ) 1. A snake. 2. A beast of prey. 3. A rogue, a cheat. 4. A vicious elephant. 5. A king. 6. A species of the Dandaka metre. E. vi and āṅ before al to adorn, aff. ac; or aḍ to make effort, aff. ghañ and ḍa changed to la; hence also vyāḍa .

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vyāla (व्याल).—I. adj. 1. Wicked, [Kirātārjunīya] 17, 25. 2. Cruel. Ii. m. 1. A snake, [Hitopadeśa] iii. [distich] 30. 2. A beast of prey, [Pañcatantra] i. [distich] 420. 3. A vicious elephant, [Bhartṛhari, (ed. Bohlen.)] 2, 6. 4. A rogue. 5. A king. Iii. f. lī, A female snake, Chr. 22, 22.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vyāla (व्याल).—[adjective] mischievous, malicious. [masculine] a malicious elephant, beast of prey, snake ([feminine] vyālī).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Vyāla (व्याल):—mfn. ([probably] connected with vyāḍa q.v.) mischievous, wicked, vicious, [Atharva-veda; Kāvya literature; Kathāsaritsāgara]

2) prodigal, extravagant, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

3) m. (ifc. f(ā). ) a vicious elephant, [Kāvya literature]

4) m. a beast of prey, [Gautama-dharma-śāstra; Mahābhārata] etc.

5) a snake, [Mahābhārata; Kāvya literature] etc.

6) a lion, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

7) a tiger, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

8) a hunting leopard, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

9) a prince, king, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

10) Plumbago Ceylanica, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

11) the second dṛkāṇa (q.v.) in Cancer, the first in Scorpio, and the third in Pisces, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

12) a kind of metre, [Colebrooke]

13) Name of the number ‘eight’ [Gaṇitādhyāya]

14) Name of a man (cf. vyāḍa), [Catalogue(s)]

15) n. Name of one of the three retrograde stages in the motion of the planet Mars, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vyāla (व्याल):—[vyā+la] (laḥ-lā-laṃ) m. A snake; beast of prey; vicious elephant; cheat; king. a. Vicious; cruel.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Vyāla (व्याल) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Vāla, Viāla.

Wisdom Library has more definitions; it is free.

–subham—

Tags, Tamil Vishnu, Vyala, Yali, Mal, Tirumal, Melanesia,Black