Origin and first use of Lila (leela) (Sanskrit: लीला)

[Onkara]

Namaste,
I would be both interested and grateful if anyone could indicate when and where the concept of Lila was introduced and used. I would like to know its origin.

Thank you, Snip.

[sm78]

Namaste,
I would be both interested and grateful if anyone could indicate when and where the concept of Lila was introduced and used. I would like to know its origin.

Thank you, Snip.

I think it occurs first in the 2 epics...but I am not at all sure. Ofcourse if you are referring to the interpretation of lila as divine play which is beyond the regulations of law of karma - it is only comes with vaishnavism, and modern vaishnavism (even the more archiac sri vaishnavism) is a quite late affair.

[saidevo]

One of the best sources of tracing a word is a detailed dictionary. Here is what I have found about the word 'lIlA' from Apte's Sanskrit Dictionary, supplemented with some efforts of searching through the texts quoted there to find the context:

It seems, the great poet kAlidAsa has used the word frequently in his compositions:

lIlA: 1. as play, sport, pastime, diversion, pleasure, amusement

'klamaM yayau kanduka lIlayApi' -- kumAra saMbhavam 5.19, kAlidAsa
refers to the play with a kanduka--ball

• 'lIlA-kamalaM' in shrImad bhAgavadam 12.11.18 means 'His pastime lotus' (prabhupAda). Carrying a lotus flower held sportively in hand is often seen in the portrait of Hindu Goddesses.

• 'lIlA-shukaH': the sportive parrot: in his poem 'shyAmalA daNDakaM', kAlidAsa praises Goddess sarasvatI as 'jaya lIlA-shuka-priye'--"Victory to her who likes the playful parrot."

lIlA: 2. as amorous pastime; wanton, amorous or playful sport

• 'utsRuShTa--lIlA--gati': abandoned/let loose--wantonly sportive--slow gait: speaking about a woman's gait.--raghuvaMsham 7.7.

lIlA: 3. as ease, facility, mere sport, child's play

• 'lIlAya jaghAna' means 'killed with ease'.

lIlA: 4. as appearance, semblance, air, mien

• 'saMyati prApta-pinAki-lIlaH': appearing like pinAkin, the rudra-shiva, armed with the bow--ku

lIlA: 5. as beauty, charm, grace

• 'muhuH avalokita maNDana lIlA': repeatedly adjusting the ornaments to give her more beauty.--gIta govindam, ch.6

rAdhA is in a state of ecstasy, immersed in her thoughts of kRShNa. Her friend returns to kRShNa to tell him about it and describes how rAdhA is trying to imitate him, wearing the same ornaments as kRShNa and looking into a mirror adjusting them to look exactly with more beauty and charm and saying, "I am kRShna'.

lIlA: 6. as pretence, disguise, dissimulation, sham

• 'lIlA-manuShya': paramAtma is 'lIlA-manuShya' when he/it takes an avatar, pretending to behave exactly like a human.

lIlA in combination with other words: some examples

• 'lIlA-jAraH': a paramour
• 'lIlA-gRuham, lIlA-veshanam': a pleasure house
• 'lIlA-anga': having graceful limbs
• 'lIlA-avataraH': descent of viShNu on the earth for amusement
• 'lIlA-udyAnam': a pleasure garden
• 'lIlA-kalaha': sportive quarrel
• 'lIlA-chatura': sportively charming (kumAra saMbhavam 1.47)
• 'lIlA-naTanam': sportive dance
• 'lIlA-manuShya': a sham man, a man in disguise
• 'lIlA-mAtram': just for sport, child's play
• 'lIlA-ratiH': enjoyment, diversion
• 'lIlA-vApi': a pleasure pond or tank
• 'lIlAbharaNa': a sham ornament
• 'lIlAvatI': an amorous or wanton woman; Goddess durgA.

I have today posted a link to the book 'Sanskrit words list from mahAbhArata and rAmAyaNa': http://www.sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/sanshab.pdf This work has a long list of words covering over 700 pages; it lists the words 'lIla, lIlAya, lIlAyaMtyaH'.

Perhaps if someone with a better fluency in looking for Sanskrit words could search the texts I have posted under the section 'nirukta', we might have an idea if the word 'lIlA' was used in the Vedic texts.

[Onkara]

Thank you SM78 and Saidevo,
Your replies surpass my expectation. They are useful, I will follow your leads. Thank you.

Snip.

[atanu]

Namaste,
I would be both interested and grateful if anyone could indicate when and where the concept of Lila was introduced and used. I would like to know its origin.

Thank you, Snip.

Brahma Sutra
Chapter II

Topic-11: Need of Motive
32. (Brahman is) not the cause, owing to the need of some motive (for creation).
33. But (creation for Brahman is) a mere pastime like what is seen in the world.
---------------------

The first line conveys the view of purvapakshin who holds that Brahman cannot be the cause of this Universe for want of a motive. This view of the opponent is rejected by the Vedantin, Badari, the writer of Brahma Sutra, by asserting that it is merely the pastime.

Om