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Thursday, July 22, 2010

the cars, oops kAra's in sanskrit

the suffix -kAra makes the 'doer of' 'maker of/by/with'
  • स्वर्णकारः = swarNa-kAraH = maker (kAraH) [with] gold (swarNa)= goldsmith; 
  • लौहकारः = lauha-kAraH = maker [with] iron (lauha) ; 
  • मालाकारः = mAlA-kAraH = maker of garlands, gardener; 
  • चित्रकारः = chitra-kAraH = maker of drawings (chitra), painter; 
  • चर्मकारः = charma-kAraH = maker with leather, cobbler (charma = leather); 
  • कुम्भकारः = kumbha-kAraH = maker of pots, potter (kumbha = pot)

but don't confuse with other words like
  • पुरस्कार = puraskAra = prize
  • सत्कार = satkAra = hospitality
  • निराकार = nirAkAra = formless
  • चमत्कार = chamtkAra = miracle
  • नमस्कार = namaskAra = salutation
  • तिरस्कार = tiraskAra = neglect, insult
  • उपकार = upakAra = favor
  • अ-कार, उ-कार, म-कार = akAra, ukAra, makAra = sound of a-, u-, m- (as in OM)


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4 comments:

  1. How would you translate kAra when used with ॐकार onkAra, or अ-कार, उ-कार, म-कार = akAra, ukAra, makAra

    ReplyDelete
  2. -kAra means either the action or the act.
    so in the first set it means the actor/doer.
    in the second set it means the act.
    a-kAra means the sound of 'a'
    u-kAra means the sound of 'u' etc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What does MAKARA mean (as in the Makara fish in the ocean). How do you split the word and what does it mean etymologically?

    Giridhari
    (giridhari_108@yahoo.com)

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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