Increase in flourishing: Vedic púraṃdhi-, Av. parəṇdi-
Résumé
There has been a large consensus about the understanding of Ved. púraṃdhi- and its match Av. parəṇdi- as meaning ‘plenty’, ‘plentifulness’ or ‘abundance’, which would be supported by the etymological connection with the root Ved. pari- ‘to fill’, featuring an allomorph pur- in several derivatives. The analysis of the word as a determinative compound remains however quite difficult. A major insight, due to Karl Hoffmann (communicated to Johanna Narten, 1986), led to recognize in it a second member -andhi- ‘blooming, flourishing’, cognate with Ved. ándhas- ‘plant’, Gk. ἄνθος ‘flower’, etc. This notion is actually related to the original function of Ved. púraṃdhi- as associated with the soma plant. After reviewing the evidence of the Rigveda, one proposes a new analysis of Indo-Iranian *pr̥Handhi- as a governing compound meaning ‘furthering the flourishing’, with a derivative from the root Ved. par- ‘to bring across, help, further’ as first member. This noun was secondarily reinterpreted as an abstract related to the notion of abundance which was expected as reward from the soma cult, and then extended to plentifulness in general.