- Amarakosha
The Amarakosha (from "amara" "immortal" and "kosha" "casket, pail, collection, dictionary"; also Namalinganushasana ("nama-linga-anu-shasana" - "instruction concerning the gender of nouns of "Amarasimha" ")) is a
thesaurus ofSanskrit written by the Buddhist scholar Amarasimha. Amarasimha was one of theNavaratnas ("nava" means nine and "ratna" refers to gem/precious stone) at the court ofChandragupta II , a Gupta king who reigned around AD400 . Some sources indicate that he belonged to the period ofVikramaditya of 7th century. He is believed to be son of aSudra woman.This book consists of verses that can be easily memorized. The book was originally called by Amarasimha as Ithyaamarasimhakruthov Namalinganushasane (Book of instruction concerning the gender of nouns written by Amarasimha), but is generally referred to as
Amarakosam .Textual organisation
Amarakosham is divided into three Khandas or chapters. The first Kandam "Svargadhikanda"(Heaven and others) has words pertaining to gods and heavens. The second Kandam "Bhuvargadhikanda"(Earth and others) deals with words of Earth, Towns, Animals and Humans. The third Kandam "Samanyadhikanda"(Common) has words related to grammar and other miscellaneous words."Svargadhikanda", the first Kandam of Amarakosham begins with the verse 'Svaravyam swarganakathridivatrishalaya..' describing various names of Heaven viz. Sva, Avya, swarga, Naka, Tridiva, Tridasalaya etc. The second verse 'Amara, nirjara, deva,’ describes various words that are equivalent to word God. The fifth and sixth verses give various names of
Gautama Buddha reinforcing the claim that he is a Buddhist.The second Kandam, "Bhuvargadhikanda", of Amarakosham is divided into ten Vargas or parts. The ten Vargas are "Bhuvarga" (
Earth ), "Puravarga" (Towns or Cities), "Shailavarga" (Mountains), "Vanoshadivarga" (Forests and medicines), "Simhadivarga" (Lions and other animals), "Manushyavarga" (Mankind), "Bramhavarga" (Brahmin ), "Kshatriyavarga" (Kshatriya s), "Vysyavarga" (Vysya s) and "Sudravarga" (Sudra s).The Third Kandam, "Samanyadhikanda" contains Adjectives, Verbs, words related to prayer and business etc.. The first verse "Kshemankaroristatathi Shivathathi Shivamkara" gives the Nanarthas of the word Shubakara or propitious as Kshemankara, Aristathathi, Shivathathi and Shivamkara.
Commentaries
The "Amarakoshad-ghatana" is a commentary by Kshirasvamin.
Bibliography
*cite book |last=Amarasimha |first= |year=1951 |title=Amarakosam |location=Kadapa |publisher=Rayalu and Co. education publishers
* Krsnaji Govinda Oka, Poona City, Law Printing Press, 1913 [http://sanskrit.gde.to/doc_z_misc_amarakosha.html]
* [http://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/amar/]
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