पाताल

Etymology

From Sanskrit.

Noun

पाताल • (pātāl) m

1. (Hinduism) the underworld, nether

Etymology

According to Monier, it probably derives from Sanskrit पात (pāta, “watched, protected”), from √पा (pā)

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɑː.t̪ɑː.l̪ɐ/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /pɑːˈt̪ɑː.l̪ɐ/

Adjective

पाताल • (pātāla) n

1. an excavation, a hole in the earth
2. one of the 7 regions under the earth and the abode of the nagas and demons (cf. RTL. 102 n. 1 &c) sometimes used as a general noun for the lower regions or hells
   • c. 400 CE, Kālidāsa, Raghuvaṃśa 1.80

     हविषे दीर्घसत्रस्य सा चेदानीं प्रचेतसः।
     भुजङ्गपिहितद्वारं पातालमधितिष्ठति

     haviṣe dīrghasatrasya sā cedānīṃ pracetasaḥ.
     bhujaṅgapihitadvāraṃ pātālamadhitiṣṭhati

     present there in the netherworld -behind doors, sentineled by thicksnakes-
     was too the wise(man) with offertories for a long(standing) ritual

References

• Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1898) A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 0616