Page 72 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

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AGRAHAYANA 59
of the year. In other words the month of Margashtrtha would
itself, in that case, be called Agrahdyana. Boehtlingk and Roth
do interpret the word Agrahdy~a in thi~ way on the authority of
Shabda-kapla-druma and TAranatha has done the same probably
on the same authority, for none quotes any passage where the
word is so used. Now if Agrahdyana ever meant the month of
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Margash!nha the word would also assume the form Agrahdy~a
on the ground given above by BhaHoji;• and we shall have Agra-
hay~ as another name of the month of Margashtrtha. The word
occurs in the Gauradi list (PAn iv. 1. 41) and therefore must be
taken to have been known to Pai].ini. What did he understand it
to mean .? There is strong ground to hold that he could not have
understood it to mean the month of Margashtrtha. For if we
suppose that in Pal).ini's times there were two forms of the word
in this sense-igrdhaydna and Agrdhdy~ika-he would have
rather mentioned Agrahdy~t, in iv. 2. 23t along with Chaitrt
otc. which gives the double forms Chaitra and Chaitrika and not
with Ashvattha in iv. 2. 22t as he has now done. We may, therefore
infer that Avahdy~ika was the only sanctioned form of the word
to denote the month of Margashtrtha in Pal).ini's time. This means
that Pal).ini did not know of the theory which makes the year
commence with the Margashtrthi full-moon night or the month
of MArgashtrtha ( A"grahdy~a ). If so, he could not have derived
the word Agrahay~t for the full-moon night directly by tl!.king it
to be a Bahuyt!bi compound.:t The only other alternative is to
derive it as we derive Chaitrt and other similar words; and I think
~is what Pal).ini meant. For if he had been aware of any such
diiticulty in the formation of Agrdhay~i, - a word thrice used

• Bhlnu Dikshita, in his commentary on Amara i. 4. S4, gives
AgnJz(iyar,a as a synonym for Mlrgashlrsba on the authority of Puru-
sbottama and obtains the initial long vowel by includ1ng the word in
the }yotanldi Hat.
t The sUiras are- iillliltll4Vf4.111~ ( iv. 2. 22 ) ~ m~~­
i61MW1tlf: l iv. 2. 23 ). As the s*ras follow each other it is natural to
suppoae that AgrtJzaYIJI#, if it gave rise to two forms, would have been
included in the aecond sUirt~.
t For then the full-moon night, and hence the month would itaelf
be the commencement of the year.