>
> Sarah + chandra -> SaraSchandra
>
> This will be due to a sanskrit sandhi.
> Another similar example is
>
> punah + charaNa -> punaScharaNa
>
>
>- Syamala Rao
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had a suspision that someone is going to say this.
I believe that the first word in the sandhi is 'Sarat', and not 'Sarah'. I
think
Sarah = arrow, 'Saramu'. Therefore 'SaraSchandra' would mean 'moon like an
arrow' ==> We are all familiar from the pauraaNika movies with 'artha
chandra baaNam', so 'SaraSchandra' describes the moon, say, on the fourth
night after amavaasya.
The word for SaradRtuvu would be 'Sarat'. Another proof of this: The dEvi
nava raatri which occurs during this same season is also called 'Sarannava
raatri'.
Sarat + nava ==> Sarannava, according to anunaasika sandhi.
The bottomline: I think that the Slokam should read 'Saratchandrika'. If,
indeed, it reads 'SaraSchandrika', then the poet means 'moon like an
arrow', and not 'moon on an autumn night'.
As an aside, I named our recent deepaawaLi celebration as 'Saratchandrika'
on the program sheet; several people called me to argue that it should have
been SaraSchandrika! I was pretty sure of my version until all the big guys
in this group started talking 'SaraSchandrika'. Hence, my doubt.