Sanskrit has been accused of possessing 100 loanwords, words which have been borrowed from other languages yet the modus operandi of this ancient language is that it produces its words from over 2000 roots hence if it does not come from a Sanskrit root its not Sanskrit, hence, according to tradition it possesses no loanwords.

 

The language of the 'English' is a complete and utter mongrel where some 80% has been borrowed from other languages while the Ancient language of Greece is said to have borrowed as much as 1700 words so Sanskrit is not doing too bad with 100 borrowings but it seems it may be a lot less.

 

Greece accuses India of borrowing thirteen of their words and it has already been seen in a previous article how one of these thirteen ( vrscika ) is not a borrowing, and so its now twelve, and when we consider that ten of these thirteen words are related to astronomy it seems there may be something else going on.

 

 

Greece has also accused India of borrowing the word 'Peristroma' whose meaning is 'bedspread' a word also seen within Latin as 'Peristroma' meaning 'covering' 'curtain' 'carpet' and according to Greece it resides within the language of Sanskrit as 'Paristoma' meaning 'cushion' and 'bedspread'.

 

Why this word has not simply been declared as a 'cognate' is a mystery as its a compound possessing two words 'Pari' and 'Stoma' words whose origin are declared to be PIE and as a compound it exists as a legitimate Sanskrit word just as it exists within both Greek and Latin languages.

 

Sanskrit has many compounds whose endings are 'Stoma' words such as 'Agnistoma' and 'Jyotistoma' and 'Tristoma' and we find many compounds beginning with 'Pari' such as 'Parikrama' and 'Parimana' and 'Parivarta' and along with 'Paristoma' they are all words belonging to Sanskrit.

 

 

Within the Ancient language factory of Sanskrit there resides over 2000 roots all of which were mentioned by the great Panini some 2500 years ago and one of these roots is 'Stu' meaning to 'praise' to 'chant' to 'worship in hymns' to 'sing their glories' to 'eulogise'.

 

'Stu' whose meaning is to 'praise' to 'extol' to 'eulogise' to 'glorify' to 'laud' expands as 'Stup' which then takes on the meaning of 'raising' 'erecting' 'heaping' 'piling' and this then becomes 'Stupa' meaning 'mound' 'heap' 'pile' and also the name of a 'Buddhist monument'.

 

'Stu' meaning to 'praise' to 'eulogise' to 'extol' which expands as 'Stupa' meaning 'mound' 'heap' 'pile' also expands as 'Stoma' meaning 'praise' 'hymn' 'sacrifice' 'celebrate' 'chant' 'assembly' 'group' 'heap' 'multitude' and the same 'Stoma' we find within 'Paristoma' which for some strange reason is said to be borrowed from Greece.

 

'Pr' is one of over 2000 roots which reside within the language factory of Sanskrit and it has been described by the ancients as to reach ( r ) that which is pure ( p ) a root whose meaning is to 'reach the other side' to 'bring over' to 'save' to 'rescue' to 'deliver from' to 'nourish' to 'protect' to 'advance'.

 

'Pr' whose meaning is to 'reach the other side' to 'bring over' to 'advance' expands as 'Pari' meaning to 'move towards' to 'move around' to 'move about' to move in a 'direction' to be 'opposite' to 'circumambulate' to 'surround' to 'move beyond' to 'move against'.

 

'Pari' whose meaning is 'around' is very much a word from the language factory of Sanskrit and within the Ancient Puranas which are over 5000 years old we find 'Pariksit' a famous king who was saved within the womb by Sri Krsna and as he grew up he was always looking ( iksate ) around ( pari ) for that beautiful personality who appeared within the womb, hence his name 'Pariksit'.

'Pari' whose meaning is 'around' and 'Stoma' whose meaning is 'heaped' combine together to produce 'Paristoma' as in that which is heaped ( stoma ) around ( pari ) and that which is piled ( stoma ) around ( pari ) and whose meaning is 'cushions' and 'coverlets' and 'painted cloths'.

 

'Agni Purana' is one of the 18 Puranas which go back in time over 5000 years and within chapter 366 it describes words which are related to the Ksatriyas and the Vaisyas and other classes and when we get to verse 9 we find the god of fire 'Agni' giving the following description.

"A goad is known as srni, in the feminine and ankusa, in the masculine. ( The words ) paristoma and kutha ( denote ) the carpet on the back of an elephant in both ( the genders ). ( A vehicle used by ladies for transport is called ) karniratha and pravahanam ( pravahana ). The words dola ( palanquin ) and prenkha ( swing ) etc, ( are used ) in the feminine."

 

And so the Puranas which tradition dates at 5000 years mentions 'Paristoma' as a 'carpet' and so we have its meanings of 'carpet' 'cushions' 'coverlets' all of which correspond to the compound whose meaning is that which is piled ( stoma ) around ( pari ) and within the 'Arthasastra' which is 2400 years according to academics and 5000 years according to tradition we find the following verse.

"The blanket, the kaucapaka, the kulamitika, the saumitika, the horse's saddle - cloth, the coloured blanket, the talicchaka, the armour, the paristoma and the samantabhadraka are varieties of woollen cloth".

 

And so now we can add the meaning of 'blanket' to 'carpet' and 'cushions' and its clear why they have been given the name of 'Paristoma' as in that which is piled ( stoma ) around ( pari ) that which is heaped ( stoma ) around ( pari ) and so when we take in all this information it seems to be a mistake to say that this is a word which has been borrowed from Greece, hence, we now have only 11 words which are supposedly borrowed from Greece.