खलु

Sanskrit[edit]

Alternative scripts

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

खलु • (khálu)

indeed; certainly; verily (particle indicating certainty or emphasis)
pray; may (particle indicating entreaty)
- c. 400 CE, Kālidāsa, Abhijñānaśākuntalam Act 1:
  न खलु न खलु बाणः सन्निपात्योऽयमस्मिन्
  मृदुनि मृगशरीरे पुष्पराशाविवाग्निः ।
  na khalu na khalu bāṇaḥ sannipātyoʼyamasmin
  mṛduni mṛgaśarīre puṣparāśāvivāgniḥ.
  Heaven forbid this arrow be shot into that feeble body of the fawn like fire upon a heap of flowers!
now; now then; now further; furthermore (particle indicating continuation, e.g. in reasoning or narration)
- c. 1 CE – 200 CE, Vimalakīrtinirdeśa 11.1:
  अथ खलु भगवान् विमलकीर्तिं लिच्छविम् एतद् अवोचत्
  atha khalu bhagavān vimalakīrtiṃ licchavim etad avocat
  Then the Blessed One said to Vimalakīrti the Licchavi, ...
particle indicating prohibition
खलु कृत्वा ― khalu kṛtvā ― don't do that; stop doing that already

Rarely used alone at the beginning of an expression; often combined with another particle such as अथ (atha). It can be merely expletive.
As a prohibitory particle, it is often used with the gerund.

Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “खलु”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan
Monier Williams (1899) “खलु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 338/2.