What is the meaning of 'Site' and 'Radhe'?

JanakiRaghunath

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Posted: 02 July 2011 at 8:29pm | IP Logged

I have a question which has been nagging me for some time now. Why is it that North Indian mythological movies and soaps refer to Sita and Radha as 'Site' and 'Radhe'? Is there any specific meaning for the replacement of 'a' with 'e'?

In telugu, we sometimes refer to Rama and Krishna as 'Ramudu' and 'Krishnudu', which is just another way of referring to them in the colloquial language. Are 'Site' and 'Radhe' nicknames or are they just other colloquial names?

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Urmila11

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Posted: 02 July 2011 at 9:59pm | IP Logged

This is a grammatical rule of Sanskrit language. Both the names Sita & Radha are Sanskrit words, & as per the rule of Sanskrit language, when a person will address another person having a name which is ended by 'a' (for the case of females only) then he have to address it as 'e'. For example, when we learn Sanskrit grammar, we have to study this rule with the word 'Lata' (flower-plant) & there in the Sambodhan pad (which is used for addressing) the word becomes 'Late'. All the female names ended with 'a' is under this rule, so Sita & Radha are also included. Thus they becomes 'Site' & 'Radhe'. They are not nicknames at all.
But this rule is not obeyed in many cases. I have noticed its violation in many scenes of RS shows.
P.S, Lalitha di, you will be addressed as 'Lalithe' too in Sanskrit

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JanakiRaghunath

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Posted: 03 July 2011 at 4:08am | IP Logged

Originally posted by Urmila11

This is a grammatical rule of Sanskrit language. Both the names Sita & Radha are Sanskrit words, & as per the rule of Sanskrit language, when a person will address another person having a name which is ended by 'a' (for the case of females only) then he have to address it as 'e'. For example, when we learn Sanskrit grammar, we have to study this rule with the word 'Lata' (flower-plant) & there in the Sambodhan pad (which is used for addressing) the word becomes 'Late'. All the female names ended with 'a' is under this rule, so Sita & Radha are also included. Thus they becomes 'Site' & 'Radhe'. They are not nicknames at all.
But this rule is not obeyed in many cases. I have noticed its violation in many scenes of RS shows.
P.S, Lalitha di, you will be addressed as 'Lalithe' too in Sanskrit

Thanks a lot, Sema for the info.

But you know what's weird? Old Telugu mytho movies from the 50s and 60s did not address Sita as 'Site', though majority of their dialogue was in tough sanskrit.

But there's this one Durga stotram I heard that had 'Durge Namoh Namah'...I think it may be this one. I'm highlighting the places where the e was used.

Uma Parvati Anandamayii
Kali Durge Namoh Namah
Ma Kali Durge Namoh Namah

Jayanti Mangala Kali
Bhadra-kali Kapalini
Durga Kshama Shiva Datri
Swaha Swadha Namostute

http://svayambhu.blogspot.com/2008/04/narayani-stotram.html

Also, in this stotra 'Gange cha Yamune Chauva, Godavari Saraswati, Narmada Sindhu Kaveri Jalesmin Sanidhim Kuru', Ganga is referred to as Gange and Yamuna as Yamune.

So it's a Sanskrit reference to Sita and Radha? Were only Goddesses whose names ended in a called this, or did normal women have that rule too?

Edited by JanakiRaghunath - 03 July 2011 at 4:09am

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...PARiNA...

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Posted: 03 July 2011 at 5:27am | IP Logged

i completely agree with Urmila11
its just the language diff and pronunciation

So it's a Sanskrit reference to Sita and Radha? Were only Goddesses whose names ended in a called this, or did normal women have that rule too?

as far as i know it was for all ... coz sanskrit lang was followed
Arjun was not i GOD but normally in English we write Arjuna

Edited by ...PARiNA... - 03 July 2011 at 5:30am

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AishuHiBawari

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Posted: 03 July 2011 at 10:44am | IP Logged

Well, they're not really nicknames, but different ways of saying the name.
Usually, if someone loving calls to either one of them, they chant Radhe Radhe, and not Radha Radha.
Any female name that ends with an a can end with an e. Mita becomes Mite, Durga, Durge, Ganga, Gange.
I think that names sound more elegant with the e rather than the a, but that's just me.
I assume Aishwarya can be Aishwarye, but that doesn't have the same ring to it as shorter names with e's do, lol.
I'll ask my parents about it and see what they know.
*edit:
My mom said that when you call out to someone lovingly it's with an e.
As Sema di said, it might have been different with Sanskrit as then the proper way to say a woman's name might have been with an e, but in modern Hindi and Marathi, the actual name is with an a, but if you call out to someone you can use the e.

Edited by AishuJSKfan - 03 July 2011 at 11:06am

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Urmila11

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Posted: 03 July 2011 at 11:00am | IP Logged

@ Lalitha di,

All the female names ended with 'a' becomes 'e' while addressing, it's not the rule for Goddesses only.It's the rule of Sanskrit language.

@ Parina di,

Arjuna will not become Arjune, because this is the rule of addressing females only. The word Arjuna will follow the rule of word 'Nara' (man) as it's a male name ended with 'a'. Only the female names ended with 'a' will follow 'Lata' word's structure.

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radt

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Posted: 03 July 2011 at 12:31pm | IP Logged

Originally posted by Urmila11

This is a grammatical rule of Sanskrit language. Both the names Sita & Radha are Sanskrit words, & as per the rule of Sanskrit language, when a person will address another person having a name which is ended by 'a' (for the case of females only) then he have to address it as 'e'. For example, when we learn Sanskrit grammar, we have to study this rule with the word 'Lata' (flower-plant) & there in the Sambodhan pad (which is used for addressing) the word becomes 'Late'. All the female names ended with 'a' is under this rule, so Sita & Radha are also included. Thus they becomes 'Site' & 'Radhe'. They are not nicknames at all.
But this rule is not obeyed in many cases. I have noticed its violation in many scenes of RS shows.
P.S, Lalitha di, you will be addressed as 'Lalithe' too in Sanskrit

Amazing topic Janu Di! Hug

I so agree with you Urmila... Thumbs Up

I asked this from my mum coz I always assumed them to be nicknames...

She told me the same reason..

Besides... I read in one of the books the these were used to show respect and lover to the person being addressed.

As in, Sita + Jee = Site

Radhe + Jee = Radhe

Although, I am not quite sure of the form and the proper explanation I read about it~! Ouch

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arun-deeps

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Posted: 03 July 2011 at 11:38pm | IP Logged

No Janu di!! Seete and Radhe are not @ all their nick names...in Sanskrit the names are addressed as Seete and Radhe...as Urmi di said..its only used for females...n dat too whose names end with letter 'a' not for all female names..like for Janki..we cannot add 'e' to it and for males we add He before name..like 'He Ram!... 'He Krishna!... 'He Madhusoodan!...so in Sanskrit these are the ways of calling a person..wth respect..like in Hindi we call Janki ji..as well clarified by Radt

Hope U got it Lalithe

Edited by arun-deeps - 03 July 2011 at 11:40pm

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