Dictionary

double danda en · NOUN

Etymology

From double + danda.

Meanings

1. A punctuation mark (॥) used in many Indic scripts, denoting the end of a paragraph or verse of poetry.
   • The characters belong to the Siddhamātṛkā alphabet and may be assigned to the eighth century A.D. on grounds of palaeography. [...] The inscription begins with the siddham symbol and ends with a double daṇḍa. 1971, Dineshchandra Sircar, Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India, Motilal Banarsidass Publications, →ISBN, page 140:
   • In Sanskrit prose, the only punctuation marks are a single daṇḍa, used to mark the end of a sentence, and a double daṇḍa, used to mark the end of a paragraph. 2020, Lokanath Swami, Sanskrit Pronunciation: A Comprehensive Guide, Padayatra Press, →ISBN, page 121:
   • Generally a single daṇḍa is found at the end of the first half and a double daṇḍa at the end of the second half of a verse as well as after an invocation. But instances of indiscriminate employment of the marks of punctuation are also too numerous to be enumerated exhaustively. 1995, Ajay Mitra Shastri, Inscriptions of the Śarabhapurīyas, Pāṇḍuvaṁśins, and Somavaṁśins: Introduction, Motilal Banarsidass Publications, →ISBN, page 43:

Forms