There is very nice example of pun and the many meanings of सुवर्ण in Hindi:
subirana ko DhoonDhata-phirata kavi, vyabhichArI, chora
subirana (hindi) = suvarNa (sanskrit)
kavi = poet
vyabhichArI = licentious person (one whose conduct is wanton)
chora (hindi) = chaura (sanskrit) = thief
So the saying goes, all of them are looking for सुवर्ण - the poet (looking for good letters/words/sounds), the wanton man (for the fairer complexion, women) and the thief (for gold).
Here are names of some of the colors as in Sanskrit. These are in masculine form. Most feminine are made by changing the last -aH to -aa, and neutral by changing it to -am like, श्वेत, श्वेता, श्वेतम् (shvetaH, shvetA, shvetam) or रक्तः, रक्ता, रक्तम् (raktaH, raktA, raktam).
| श्वेतः | shvetaH | white |
| धवलः | dhavalaH | white |
| अर्जुनः | arjunaH | white |
| कृष्णः | kRiShNa | black |
| श्यामः | shyAmaH | black |
| रक्तः | raktaH | red |
| पीतः | pItaH | yellow |
| हरितः | haritaH | green |
| नीलः | nIlaH/neelaH | indigo |
| पाटलः | pATalaH | pink |
| शोणः | shoNaH | purple |
| कपिलः | kapilaH | brown |
| अरुणः | aruNaH | reddish brown |
| कषायः | kaShAyaH | yellowish red |
| कापोत | kApotaH | dull white grey |
And the rainbow is called 'इन्द्र-धनुष' (indra-dhanuSha) or the bow of 'indra' - the king of the gods.
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अरुणः is not exactly reddish-brown. It is Orange Colour - The colour of setting sun.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeletePlease check Apte's dictionary
http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:4458.apte
In most of the dictionaries by English writers, अरुणः is described as red or reddish brown. It is actually orange colour - the colour of setting sun. Due to this mistranslation, most of the people, who search for the translation of Orange colour in Sanskrit use the term नारङ्गः for orange colour. But this is not true. The term नारङ्गः was never used as the name of a colour in Sanskrit. The term नारङ्गः (Orange fruit) is derived from नाग-रङ्ग implying that Orange is a fruit which has the colour of lead (red lead or minium नागसंभवम्- an oxide of lead). नागम् in neuter gender word meaning lead. Hence, it will be correct to use अरुणः as the translation for Orange colour in Sanskrit. रक्तारुणपीतहरितनीलादिवर्णानां शोभितम् इन्द्रचापम्...
ReplyDeleteShankar,
DeleteVaman Shivaram Apte was not an English writer :)
Excerpt from shabdakalpadrum:
अरुः = रक्तखदिरः
अरुणम् = कुंकुम
अरुणः = सूर्यसारथि ... कृष्णमिश्रितरक्तवर्णविशेषः (kRiShNa-mishrita-rakta-varNa-viSheshaH) = black-mixed red = brown ??
I was not referring to Apte, but wrote in general. Anyhow, Apte himself describes अरुणः as tawny (a shade of orange-brown or burnt orange). There is a word in Sanskrit बभ्रुः (बभ्रु reddish-yellow) which means brown. But brown is commonly translated as पिङ्गलः (yellowish brown) or कपिलः (dark brown). Etymologically saying the English word 'brown' is derived from Sanskrit 'Babhru'.
DeleteThe term अरुणः some times refers to reddish-orange, sometimes refers to burnt-orange or tawny. But in general, we can say अरुणः refers to Orange colour.
In his article itself, Apte also gives some descriptions for अरुणः. 1. प्रत्याख्यातविशेषकं कुरबकं श्यामावदातारुणम् (of the colour of the morning as opposed to the darkness of night) 2. अरुणः Red colour, the colour of the dawn or morning twilight. 3. The dawn personified as the charioteer of the Sun. 4. Sun - अरुण- कररुचायते$न्तरीक्षे 5. Gold - अम्भो अरुणं रजतम् Gold looks like Orange-red coloured silver. I think, all these implies अरुणः is Orange, (precisely reddish-orange, or orange in general).
If it is as you illustrated कृष्णमिश्रितरक्तवर्णविशेषः, it will be maroon. Confusion :D
लोहितः - dark red / reddish brown / maroon
ReplyDeleteकृष्णरक्तः - dark-red colour.
ReplyDeleteबभ्रुः - deep brown colour.
पाण्डुः - The yellowish-white colour.
ARUNODAY. A PHASE BEFORE SUNRISE, DAWN- IS VIOLET IN COLOR.
ReplyDeleteARUNODAY MEANS DAWN, 40-30 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE. THE COLOR THEN IS VIOLET TO INDIGO. Arun means violet color.
ReplyDeletewhoever you are, I can see the immense time and effort you have put into this. I am thankful for putting out this information and helping in enrichment and conservation of the sanskrit language , which really needs it. Such an amazing work. I am really mesmerized. Thank you and please keep working in this field.
ReplyDeleteRegards.