ऋभु

Sanskrit[edit]

Alternative scripts

Presumedly from Proto-Indo-Aryan *Hr̥bʰúṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hr̥bʰúš, but of uncertain origin:

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos (“servant, worker; orphan”), the same source of Proto-Germanic *arbaidiz (“toil, labor, work”) and Proto-Slavic *orbota (“work”). (See अर्भ (arbha).)
Perhaps a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (“white”). Compare Proto-Germanic *albiz (“elf”) (whence English elf). This supposedly points to the original mythical sense in which elves or craftsmen gods were luminous heavenly workers,^[1] thus given the name “white one”, later interpreted in Sanskrit as “skilled one”. The connection with the Germanic mytheme of elves is further said to be supported by cognate poetic formulas, such as “chariot made by craftsmen” as an allegory of the sun; cf. Old Norse Alfrǫðull (“sun”, literally “elf-wheel”).^[2] The root *h₂elbʰ- (“white”) is otherwise absent from Indo-Iranian.
Alternatively non-Indo-European, such as from a pre-Indo-Aryan substrate language; however, this is highly improbable due to the presence of a syllabic consonant ऋ in the word, a characteristic of Indo-European words.

ऋभु • (ṛbhú) stem

ऋभु • (ṛbhú) stem, m

Masculine u-stem declension of ऋभु (ṛbhú)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ऋभुः ṛbhúḥ	ऋभू ṛbhū́	ऋभवः ṛbhávaḥ
Vocative	ऋभो ṛ́bho	ऋभू ṛ́bhū	ऋभवः ṛ́bhavaḥ
Accusative	ऋभुम् ṛbhúm	ऋभू ṛbhū́	ऋभून् ṛbhū́n
Instrumental	ऋभुणा / ऋभ्वा¹ ṛbhúṇā / ṛbhvā́¹	ऋभुभ्याम् ṛbhúbhyām	ऋभुभिः ṛbhúbhiḥ
Dative	ऋभवे / ऋभ्वे¹ ṛbháve / ṛbhvè¹	ऋभुभ्याम् ṛbhúbhyām	ऋभुभ्यः ṛbhúbhyaḥ
Ablative	ऋभोः / ऋभ्वः¹ ṛbhóḥ / ṛbhvàḥ¹	ऋभुभ्याम् ṛbhúbhyām	ऋभुभ्यः ṛbhúbhyaḥ
Genitive	ऋभोः / ऋभ्वः¹ ṛbhóḥ / ṛbhvàḥ¹	ऋभ्वोः ṛbhvóḥ	ऋभूणाम् ṛbhūṇā́m
Locative	ऋभौ ṛbhaú	ऋभ्वोः ṛbhvóḥ	ऋभुषु ṛbhúṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

^ Calin, Didier (2017) ““elf” (elves = heavenly smiths)”, in Dictionary of Indo-European Poetic and Religious Themes (Linguistique; 3), Les Cent Chemins, →ISBN, page 78: “PIE *álbʰo-/-u-, G. *l̥bʰéus”
^ Calin, Didier (2017) “chariot of the elves/heavenly smiths”, in Dictionary of Indo-European Poetic and Religious Themes (Linguistique; 3), Les Cent Chemins, →ISBN, page 49

Monier Williams (1899) “ऋभु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 226, column 2.