grahaṇa (5930)

grahaṇa
Entry 5930, Page 218, Col. 2

(grahaRa, grahaRa)
grahaṇa¦, nt., confused with gahana, thicket, entan- glement (?): in Mv i.34.7 (prose) -durga-saṃsāra-kāntāra- grahaṇa-dāruṇāto mahā-prapātāto uddharitvā, Senart thinks that grahaṇa is a copyist's hyper-Skt. alteration of gahana, which is a near-synonym of kāntāra (esp. in Pali, where diṭṭhi-kantāra and diṭṭhi-gahana are often closely associated); in spite of this, I think grahaṇa may be sound and orig.: rescuing from a great abyss that is dreadful because of the grip of the forest of the saṃsāra etc. In Mv i.91.14--17 occur four lines of verse in which the mss. repeatedly vary between gahana and grahaṇa; the text is both very corrupt and fragmentary; Senart's note is a very earnest effort to disentangle it, but I find it hardly convincing, tho I am inclined to agree that puns are here contained, involving gahana, entanglement, obstruction, difficulty, as well as thicket, and grahaṇa, seizure, imprisonment (perhaps also eclipse, as by Rāhu, so Skt.); the text, with the most important vv.ll., reads: 14 vanagahanaṃ (mss. °grahanaṃ or °ṇaṃ) balagahanaṃ (3 mss. °grah°) girigahanāni (em.; 5 mss. °gahanaṃ, one °grahaṇaṃ) tyāgagrahaṇāni (3 mss. °gahanāni), 15 viṣa- māprati- (mss. viṣamapati-)-saṃniṣaṇṇavanāni tu manu- ṣyagahanāni (5 mss. °graha°), 16 tṛṇagulmakaṇṭakalatā- kulāni vṛkṣagrahaṇā- (mss. °grahaṇya- or °nya-) gahanāni (3 mss. grahaṇāni), 17 śaṭhanikṛtipaiśunyāni tu manuṣya- gahanāni (5 mss. °grahanāni or °ṇāni). Tho Senart's interpretation seems very dubious, I cannot suggest with confidence any improvements. The meter is meant for āryā. See also gahana, gahana-tā.