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''Dasa'' is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the ''Rigveda'' and ''Arthasastra''.〔 It usually means "enemy" or "servant",〔 however, ''dasa'' or ''das'' also means a "servant of God", "devotee," "votary" or "one who has surrendered to God". Dasa may be a suffix of a given name, in order to indicate "servant" of a revered person or a particular deity.〔 ''Dasa'', in some contexts, is also related to ''dasyu'' and ''asura'', which have been translated by some scholars as "demon", "harmful supernatural forces", "slave", "servant" or "barbarian", depending on the context in which the word is used.〔〔Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 159-169〕 ==Etymology== ''Dāsa'' (Sanskrit: दास) first appears in Vedic texts from the second millennium BCE.〔 There is no consensus on its origins. Karl Heinrich Tzschucke in 1806, in his translations of the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, noted etymological and phonological parallels between ''dasa'' and the ethonyms of the Dahae – Persian داها; Sanskrit ''Dasa''; Latin ''Dahae''; Greek Δάοι ''Daoi'', Δάαι, Δᾶαι ''Daai'' and Δάσαι ''Dasai'' – a people who lived on the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea in ancient times (and from whom modern Dehestan/Dehistan takes its name).〔See, for example: Pomponius Melo (transl. and ed. by Karl Henrich Tzschucke) ''De sitv orbis libri tres: ad plvrimos codices mostos vel denvo vel primvm consvltos aliorvmqve editiones recensiticvm notis criticis et exegeticis vel integris vel selectis Hermolai Barbari (al ) conlectis praeterea et adpositis doctorvm virorvm animadversionibvs additis svis a Carolo Henrico Tzschvckio'', Vol. II, Pt 1 (1806), p. 95 and; Pomponius Mela (transl. and ed. by Karl Henrich Tzschucke) ''Pomponii Melae de situ orbis: libri tres, ad plurimos codices msstos vel denvo vel primum consultos aliorumque editiones recensiti'', Vol. II, Pt 3 (1806), p. 136.〕 Likewise Max Muller proposed that ''dasa'' referred to indigenous peoples living in South Asia before the arrival of the Aryans. However, such theories have long been controversial and are considered by many scholars as inconsistent with the broader usage of ''dasa'' in the ''Vedas''.〔Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura- in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 162-165〕〔Edwin Bryant (2004), The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195169478, pages 59-67〕 Monier Monier-Williams in 1899, stated that the meaning of ''dasa'' varies contextually and means "mysterious forces", "savages", "barbarians" or "demons" in the earliest layer of Vedic literature – in other contexts, is a self-effacing way to refer oneself as "worshipper" or "devotee aiming to honor a deity", or a "servant of god".〔Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 475〕 In later Indian literaure, according to Monier-Williams, usage of ''dasa'' is used to refer to "a knowing man, or a knower of the universal spirit".〔Monier Monier-Williams, ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages'', Motilal Banarsidass, page 476〕 In the altter sense, ''dāsa'' is masculine, while the feminine equivalent is ''dāsi''.〔 Some early 20th Century translations, such as P. T. Srinivas Iyengar (1912), translate ''dasa'' as "slave".〔P. T. Srinivas Iyengar (1912), The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 60, No. 3113 pages 841-846〕 Kangle in 1960,〔R.P. Kangle (1960), The Kautiliya Arthasastra - a critical edition, Vol. 2 and 3, University of Bombay Studies, ISBN 978-8120800427〕 and others〔B. Breloer (1934), Kautiliya Studien, Bd. III, Leipzig, pages 10-16, 30-71〕 suggest that, depending on the context, ''dasa'' may be translated as "enemy", "servant" or "religious devotee". More recent scholarly interpretations of the Sanskrit words ''dasa'' or ''dasyu'' suggest that these words used throughout the Vedas represents "disorder, chaos and dark side of human nature", and the verses that use the word ''dasa'' mostly contrast it with the concepts of "order, purity, goodness and light."〔 In some contexts, the word ''dasa'' refers to enemies and in other contexts, those who had not adopted the Vedic beliefs.〔Barbara West (2008), Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, ISBN 978-0816071098, page 182〕 Michael Witzel in his review of Indo-Iranian texts in 1995, translates ''dasa'' and ''das-yu'' in Vedic literature as "enemy, foreigner",〔Michael Witzel, Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts, Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, Volume 7, Issue 3, page 67〕 and notes that these could have "apparently become slaves" if captured. Witzel compares the etymological root of ''dasa'' to words from other Indo-European languages that imply "enemy, foreigner", including the Avestan ''dahåka'' and ''dŋha'', Latin ''dahi'' and Greek ''daai''.〔Michael Witzel (1995), Early Indian history: Linguistic and textual parameters, in The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia (Editor: G. Erdosy), de Gruyter, pages 85-125〕 Asko Parpola in 2015, has proposed that ''dasa'' is related to the ancient Iranian and proto-Saka word ''daha'', which means "man".〔Asko Parpola (2015), ''The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization'', Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0190226923, pp. 100-106.〕 Parpola sates that ''Dasa'' referred only to Central Asian peoples.〔Asko Parpola (2015), The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0190226923, pages 82-85, 96-106〕 This is contrasted with ''arya'', the word for "man" used by, and of, Indo-European people from Central Asia. Consequently, a Vedic text that include prayers for the defeat of the ''Dasa'' as an "enemy people", according to Parpola, possibly refers to people from the so-called Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), who spoke a different language and opposed Aryan religious practices.〔 Parpola uses archaeological and linguistic arguments to support his theory, but this is controversial.〔Colin Renfrew (1991), (The Coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the Cultural and Ethnic Identity of the Dāsas by Asko Parpola ), Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 1, No. 1, pages 106-109〕 ''Dasa'' in Buddhist texts is typically translated as "servant" or "devotee".〔Gregory Schopen (2004), Buddhist Monks and Business Matters, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824827748, page 202-206〕 It appears in ancient Buddhist literature in various contexts. For example, a ''Buddha-dasa'' is a person in the service of Buddha and a king's ''dasa'' is a personal servant.〔Gregory Schopen (2004), Buddhist Monks and Business Matters, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824827748, page 201〕 In Buddhist contexts, ''dasa'' does not refer to a slave or bonded servant and the word ''kapyari'' is used instead. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dasa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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