yAska muni, niruktha, Vedic Etymyology : अर्थं वाच: पुष्पफलम्
Vag Artha Gana
अर्थं = meaning
वाच: = of word
पुष्पफलम् = puSpasya phalam : the fruit of the flower
Meaning is the fruit of the flower (which is) the word – yAskacArya. yAska muni
Who you will ask, is Yaaskaachaarya?
Yaskacharya is the world’s first etymyologist!
He is the ancestor of our favorite hero Chanakya and the descendant of Bhrigu. (Chanakya was the son of Chanaka. One of his ancestors was Kutila and therefore he was also called Kautilya. The Kautilyas were a subdivision of the Yaskas who were also Bhargavas, the descendants of Bhrgu.)
What did he do ?
Rshis prior to Yaska like Kasyapa, had compiled lists of synonyms.. of the rare and difficult words in the Vedas to help us understand them.
Yaska studied these lists and wrote the nirukta which explains how these words evolved.. how they came to acquire the meaning that they did aquire and how new words might be coined.
- Yaska’s Niruktha in Devanagari Script : http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/nirukta/nirukta.pdf
- The manuscript at Saraswathi Mahal, Thanjavur : http://results2.ap.nic.in/general/s2/s2bookdet.jsp?L=1693%26vl%3D3
- Download Nirutktha and Nighantus (98 MB)
- According to the Mahabharat (Ch-342) of Moksha dharm Shlokas (86-87) sage Kashyap is the creator of ‘Nighantu’. Lakshman Sarup on Nighantu Niruktha : Google Books ; Mr. L. Sarup believes that the niruktha has grown over time and does not believe that Kasyapa Prajapati had anything to do with it. This may also reflect the time 1915, place Oxford and influence (his mentor was McDonnell).
How was his work used?
Using Yaska’s work sAyaNacArya, created large volumes translating every Veda Mantra in all the samhitas.
There has been lavish praise and severe criticism of Sayanacharya’s work, as being too “material” and “yajna-related” in its outlook. My Veda Guru has advised me that, it is not that Sayanacharya was unaware of the spritual and other meanings of the Veda., it is that he set himself to the task of giving this yAgnyik meaning.
Other quotes :
नैष स्थाणोरपराधो यदेनमन्धो न पश्यति । It is not a pillar’s fault if a blind man does not see it.
पुरुषापराध: स भवति । It is the fault if that man.
See Also : Learning Vedic Sanskrit
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula. All Rights for Sourced Material Vest with the source.
Details from the Saraswathi Mahal Library at Thanjavur :
Beginning:
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<ÊiÉ {É\SɨÉÉä(%)vªÉɪÉ: **Subject:
Nighantu. Naighantaka. Naigama and Daivata kandas. 1-5 Adhyayas. This
Ms.adopts the following division of Nighantu into kandas, Adhyayas
and Khandas:-
I. Naighantuka kanda First Adhyaya 1-17 Khandas.
I. Naighantuka kanda Second Adhyaya 1-22 Khandas.
I. Naighantuka kanda Third Adhyaya 1-30 Khandas.
II.Naigama kanda Fourth Adhyaya 1-3 Khandas.
III.Daivata kanda Fifth Adhyaya 1-6 Khandas.Remarks:
The Ms.is recent and is in good condition. It is accented. The Khanda
Index (giving the beginnings only) is given at the end of each Adhyaya
in this Ms.from : http://results2.ap.nic.in/general/s2/s2bookdet.jsp?L=1702%26vl%3D3
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±ÉäJÉxÉ ºÉ¨ÉÉ{iÉ ** EòɶÉÒÊ´É·Éä·É®úÉ{ÉÇhɨɺiÉÖ **Subject:
Nirukta , both a bhasya on the Naighantuka, Naigama and Daivata
Kandas and an independent treatise on Vedic Etymology, by Yaska
himself. It consists of 13 Adhyayas, mainly divided into
Purvasatka and Uttarasatka.
This Ms.adopts the following division into Adhyayas and Khandas:-
First Adhyaya = 1-20 Khandas.
Second Adhyaya = 1-28 Khandas.
Third Adhyaya = 1-22 Khandas.
Fourth Adhyaya = 1-27 Khandas.
Fifth Adhyaya = 1-28 Khandas.
Sixth Adhyaya = 1-36 Khandas.
Seventh Adhyaya = 1-31 Khandas.
Eighth Adhyaya = 1-22 Khandas.
Ninth Adhyaya = 1-43 Khandas.
Tenth Adhyaya = 1-47 Khandas.
Eleventh Adhyaya = 1-50 Khandas.
Twelfth Adhyaya = 1-46 Khandas.
Thirteenth Adhyaya = 1-50 Khandas.Remarks:
The Ms.is in good condition. The Khanda index(giving the
beginnings only) is given at the end of each Adhyaya of this Ms. For
example, the index of the thirteenth Adhyaya
(Parisistadhyaya) is given as follows:
+lÉä¨ÉÉ ªÉtÉ´ÉÉä ªÉnÖùnù\SÉÉä Ê´ÉʽþºÉÉäiÉÉä: ºÉÞhªÉä´ÉiÉ®úiºÉ: SÉi´ÉÉÊ®ú¶ÉÞRÂóMÉÉ
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¾þnùÉiɹ]äõ¹ÉÖ ´ªÉÉJªÉÉiÉÆ nèù´ÉiÉÆ +ÎMxÉ®úκ¨É VÉx¨ÉxÉÉ{ɶªÉÆ MÉÉä{ÉɨÉÉEòɶÉMÉÖ -
hɺiÉÆ {ÉÊ®ú´ÉiÉǨÉÉxÉÆ ºÉªÉtxÉÖ°üvªÉiÉä¹]õÉäkÉ®ú¨ÉlÉ ªÉä ˽þºÉɨÉÉʸÉiªÉÉlÉ
˽þºÉɨÉÖiºÉÞVªÉ xÉ iÉÆ ½ÆþºÉÉä vɨÉÇ: ºÉÉä¨É: {É´ÉiÉä ¥ÉÀ näù´ÉÉxÉÉÆ ÊiÉ»ÉÉä´ÉÉSÉ
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ºÉiÉÒ: ºÉ{iÉÉvÉÇMɦÉÉÇxÉÊ´ÉVÉÉxÉɨªÉ{ÉÉRÂó|ÉÉRäóÊiÉ iÉÊnùnùÉºÉ EòÉä +{É(t)ªÉÖRÂóHäò
Eò <ǹÉiÉä EòÉ +ÎMxɨÉÒ]Âõ]äõ i´É¨ÉRÂóMÉ ½ÆþºÉ: ¶ÉÖÊSɹɼ´ÉɺÉÖ{ÉhÉÉÇ ªÉɽþÒxpù Ê´É|ÉÆ
Ê´É|ÉɺÉÉä VÉÉiÉ´ÉänùºÉThe rks that are taken for interpretation are fully given in this
Ms. and they are accented. In the Nirukta text also, a vertical
stroke is given in red ink, to show where the student of Nirukta may
stop while pronouncing the text in Samhitapatha. This Ms.is dated
Samvat 1875 in Virodhi year or 1818 A.D.
The scribe’s name is Sivarama Kesava Ambadkar. The Nirukta is edited
by Dr.Roth along with Nighantu. Along with Durga’s commentary it is
edited by Jivananda Vidyasagar in Calcutta.
Notes :
Source : “The world’s first-known and extant thesaurus is Nighantu, a glossary of 1,800 Vedic words, arranged subject-wise. Its compiler, Kashyap, was bestowed with the lofty title ofPrajapati, the progenitor. Nirukt, the sage Yask’s treatise on Nighantu, may have been the world’s first dictionary-encyclopaedia; it gives words and their meanings which are elaborated upon in great detail.
There were several subsequent compilations of Sanskrit dictionaries. The Shabdakalpadrum, a Sanskrit dictionary of an unknown date, lists twenty-nine such works, most of which were arranged subject-wise and were, in a broad sense, thesauruses.
Amar Kosh is the bible of all the Sanskrit thesauruses. Its author, Amar Singh (AmarSimha in Roman Devanagari) gave his work the title of Namalinganushasan (the Discipline of Names and Genders). It was also called Trikaand, because it was divided in three hierarchical cantos with twenty-five chapters having a total of 8,000 words in 1,502 shlokas or verses. It is popularly known as Amar Kosh to acknowledge the achievement of its author.“
