The Sanskrit term Śyāmaśavala can be transliterated into English as Syamasavala or Shyamashavala, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Śyāmaśavala (श्यामशवल).—(Senart's em., mss. śāma-, semi-MIndic, or soma-, intending sāma-, MIndic), pl., dogs: (so pi agninā dagdho mahānarake) upapanno °lehi aho- rātrāṇi khādyati Mahāvastu iii.361.15, born in hell, is eaten by dogs (? see below) day and night. This old Vedic dvandva [compound], there used of the dogs of Yama, is not otherwise clearly used in the meaning dog. The commentary to Hāla (Weber) verses 185 and 211 knows a vrata called śyāma-(also śāma, sāma-)-śavala (also -sa°), which has something to do with fire and water; whether it is to be equated with kukkura- vrata implied by [Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit] °vratika, q.v., seems doubtful; Weber assumes that it refers to the two dogs of Yama, but admits inability to explain the term. In Pali sāma and sabala are used as adj. with soṇa, dog (so correctly commentary) Jātaka (Pali) vi.106.21, and as names of two dogs in the Lokantara hell Jātaka (Pali) vi.247.16; barely possibly, the Mahāvastu may mean the word as a dvandva, two nn. pr.

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Shyama, Savala.

Full-text: Sama.

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