> > mahaa + "she" = mahishi.
> I may be speaking out of context, since I do not know what Bapa Rao gaari
> gEde praSna was. If it is about the etymology of the word mahishi, then
> I think palaka is right in saying mahishi has connection to mahaa.
Bapa Rao gaaru asked the link between "mahishi" and "paTTamahishi".
> I remember reading that mahaa, mahat, mahi (great land=earth), mahisha,
> mahishi are all cognate words, and all these words imply something "great".
> mahisha-mRga was originally used for buffalo, and later the word seem to
> have continued with this meaning with mRga suffix dropped.
You are right. Let me attempt to precisely (?) answer Bapa Rao gaari's
question. Atlast today I made it to refer to Mayrhoffer's concise dict. on
etymo... of Sanskrit words. Also have gone through O. Boehtlingk's
Sanskrit-German dictionary.
mahisha (masc.) and mahishi (fem)
in paali: mahisha, mahiMsa Hindi: bhais
Mahishi = Woman of higher rank, 1st wife of a king (Frau hohen Ranges,
Hauptgemahlin eines Koenigs)
Suresh has already explaned the meanings big, great, .. (gross, maechtig,
gewaltig)
Compare --> mahishasya tanyatO@h --> big thunder (des gewaltigen Donners)
Often mahisha-mRga --> originally a BIG animal and not Buffalo.
(Urspruenglich das gewaltige Tier und nicht Bueffeltier, woraus sich durch
Ellipse von mRga die Bedingung Bueffel erklaert.)
Now, comes something interesting. Mayrhoffer does n't have an answer either,
and leaves with a question mark.
Is mahishi primarily the big, lady of higher rank, ...
and is it from Iranian "mazisi -yaa", meaning Woman ...?
------------------------------------
[Ist mahishi primaer "die gewaltige > hohe Frau" und erst durch Anlehnun an
das Mask. auch Bueffelkuh (wofuer die iranische Entsprechung "Frau" zu
sprechen scheint)? .... Bailey, BSOAS, 14, pp 431ff]
He also says that it could be from the Indian conception of comparing
a woman with a cow and refers to Grassmann.
Further info. on mahisha:
sarva mahishya - all wives of a king
mahishee - female bird (vom Weibchen eines Vogels)
Apparently mahishi also means a cockish woman and the money which her husband
earns through her prostitution (angeblich ein liederliches Weib und das Geld,
welches man aus der Prostitution seines Weibes loest.)
mahishika = a particular herb
mahishatwa ....
Regards,
Sreenivas
P.S. Sorry, I am n't good at translating German texts in to English, as I
seldom use the lang.. Other way round may be easier for me.