Page 158 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

~IBHUS AND VRl~HAKAPI 143
I think it means lower, being akin to neath, beneath, nether• and
corresponding words in other languages. The suggestion, I know,
will be received by some with surprise and suspicion, and I must
give my grounds for proposing a new meaning. There is no passage
in the ~igveda where the use of ned£yas might be considered as
definitely deciding its meaning. In ~ ig. v. 52. 6, viii. 26. and x. 101.
3, nedi~h~ha or ned£yas might be supposed to mean lowest or lower.
But the passages are not conclusive on this point, as the word there
used might also be understood to mean 'nearest', :nearer',
according to Pattini. In the BrahmaQas we, however, meet with
more decisive passages. Thus in the Aitareya Brahmai).a vi. 27
ned£yas is contrasted with upari~h~hat.t Bohtlingk and Roth give
a passage from the Kathaka recension of Yajurveda ( 28. 4 ), which
says " he ascends ( arohati) to the heavens from the nethi~{ha
world. "t Here the word ' ascend ' clearly shows that the neti~h~ha
world must be understood to mean the ' lowest world, ' ' world
'at the bottom '. In the Ta11-~ya Bn\hma11-a ( iii 4, 2, 13, 2 ) there
occu~s a passage where the directions for lowering the tone are
given as follows :- " Just as after creeping up to the top of a
high tree ( a man) gradually comes lower and lower so, etc. "§
The word for lowering in the text in ned£yas sankramat and there
is no possibility of mistaking its meaning. In the Tandya Brahmai).a

• Bopp derives 0 . H. G. nidm from Sk. m down, and disapproves
Grimm's suggestion that it should be traced to a Gothi c verb nilllan,
naJII, tUtlrum, and divided as n/1-at·, being a comparative termination.
( Bopp. Com. Gr. Eng. Tr. t86o, Vol. I. p. 382 ). K. Bragmann compares
Sit. w:diyas with Av. nozd.yall meaning "nearer, " and derives the word
from nazd ( ni down and sri to sit) . Cf. Sit. nida, Lat. nidu, lr. t~t, 0. H. G
nest=a resting place ( Comp. Gr. i. § 591, ii. §§ 4, 135 ). Both Bopp and
Brugmann do not propose any new meaning of ndiyas. But it is evident
tha-t.ll:.hicbsoever derivation we adopl the word is connected wiLh tu
down , ai.J--i-£ we find pass~es in the Br1hmaJ)aS where it is contrasted
with upan-shtae, w ... c_an, I think, safely under~tand tt.ed iyas ro mean
' lower ' as suggested by Its etymology; ' nearer ' is a secondary meaning.
t a'fft:l!l~~ffi ~ Ait. Br. vi. 27.
:t ~~ ~)<iim'\'llRf I KAthak, 28. 4.
§ ~~r i{(l~~rti ~t('Cff ~~= ~ifilrrtt. ijlfil+!~<i~a~: ~~ ~:
~6Jtir~ I Tln. Br. iii. 4· 2.