India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s15.6

c8.s15.6

*CONTRACTION*—Contraction of names is unknown to Vedic literature, since the *Gotra* names were not susceptible to abbreviation. Only in the compound names do we find the elision of the *uttarapada* (V.3.82), or the retention only of its first two syllables (V.3.83). The contraction of a personal name is dictated by affection or endearment (*anukampāyām*, V.3.76); *e.g.*, Vyāghrājina was simplified to Vyāghraka (V.3.82); and Devadatta to Devika, Deviya, and Devila (V.3.79). It might also be expanded into Devadattaka (V.3.78). In the opinion of the eastern grammarins, Upendradatta was shortened to Upaḍa and Upaka (V.3.80), and to Upiya and Upila, the last being the form which must have been transformed into Upāli, a name so well-known in Buddhist literature.