II. Kathkari. 



By B. A. Gupte. 

 Communicated by Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri. 



Sir James Campbell, the editor of the Bombay Gazetteer, 

 to which work he devoted the best energies of his life, derives 

 the word « Katkari ' (Catechu-maker) from Kath (Catechu). But 

 K.C. M., writing in the July number of the " Indian Antiquary,'' 

 page 206, states that the derivation is u thoroughly untenable." 

 Mr. K. C. M. following Rajwade's Marathi essay derives the 

 word from the word ' Karaskara' used in Baudhayana, Kama- 

 parva of Mahabharata and Panini. He never gives any inter- 

 pretation of the word 4 Karaskara/ that is what ■ Kara ' means. 

 But deriving 'Kathkara' from 'Karaskara' in the following 

 way (Karaskar-Karachkara-Kachkara-Katkara) . But the elim- 

 ination of "R" in this way is against all rules of Prakrit 

 Grammar. It is only in modern Marathi that "3" changes 

 into''C,'' but not in the Marathi Prakrit. His appeal to 

 Panini is of no avail to him, for that eminent Grammarian says 

 that ' ' Karaskara ' 5 means only a tree. Even if it is not a Sutra 

 but a Gana, there too it means a " Vriksa " or tree. // it 

 meant a tribe or a country it would have been " Karakara." So 

 Panini's reference does not help either Mr. K. C. M. or Mr. 

 Raj wade. It seems that Panini knew no country or tribe as 

 " Karaskara." He knew only a tree of that name. Do these 

 scholars agree to derive the word "Kathkar" from "Kara- 

 kara " 1 If they agree, I would demand from them the rule of 

 Prakrit Grammar which they want to apply. 



The reference to Karnaparva of Mahabharat and also to 

 Baudhayana as against Panini is but very weak. The use of 

 the word " Karaskara " in these two instances might be as an 

 adjective, meaning tree-like, hard, and so on. 



Sir James Campbell's derivation however stands good, for 

 " Kath " in Marathi means " Catechu " and " Kara " means 



< c 



does 



It was no business of his to indulge into antiquarian vagaries 

 about the derivation. 



