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[[File:Amarakosha.jpg|thumb|Cover of a modern copy of Amara kosha]]
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The '''Amarakosha''' ([[Devanagari]]: अमरकोशः , [[IAST]]: Amarakośaḥ , [[ISO 15919|ISO]]: Amarakōśaḥ ) is the popular name for ''Namalinganushasanam'' ([[Devanagari]]: नामलिङ्गानुशासनम् , [[IAST]]: Nāmaliṅgānuśāsanam , [[ISO 15919|ISO]]: Nāmaliṅgānuśāsanam ) a [[thesaurus]] in [[Sanskrit]] written by the ancient Indian scholar [[Amarasimha]]. It may be one of the oldest extant kosha. The author himself mentions 18 prior works, but they have all been lost. There have been more than 40 commentaries on the ''Amarakosha''.

==Etymology==
The word "Amarakosha" derives from the Sanskrit words ''amara'' ("immortal") and ''kosha'' ("treasure, casket, pail, collection, dictionary").
The actual name of the book "Namalinganushasanam" means "instruction concerning nouns and gender".{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

== Author ==
{{main article|Amara Sinha}}
Amarasimha is said to have been one of the [[Navaratnas]] ("nine gems") at the court of Vikramaditya, the legendary king inspired by [[Chandragupta II]], a [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] king who reigned around AD 400. Some sources indicate that he belonged to the period of [[Vikramaditya]] of 7th century.<ref>''Amarakosha'' compiled by [[Benjamin L. Rice|B.L.Rice]], edited by N.Balasubramanya, 1970, page X</ref>

Mirashi examines the question of the date of composition of ''Amarakosha''. He finds the first reliable mention in Amoghavritti of Shakatayana composed during the reign of [[Amoghavarsha]] (814-867 CE).<ref>
[https://books.google.com/books?id=X0JUwf2BXVAC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=amarakosha+date&source=bl&ots=zeylMxatYp&sig=3uYsj8UjCcHDA_KTzRGYGX7HU7A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUwJHki4fKAhXKKyYKHYScB1EQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=amarakosha%20date&f=false Literary and Historical Studies in Indology, Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, , Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1975, p. 50-51]</ref>

==Textual organisation==
The ''Amarakosha'' consists of verses that can be easily memorized. It is divided into three {{IAST|khāṇḍa}}s or chapters. The first, ''{{IAST|svargādi-khāṇḍa}}'' ("heaven and others") has words pertaining to gods and heavens. The second, ''{{IAST|bhūvargādi-khāṇḍa}}'' ("earth and others") deals with words about earth, towns, animals and humans. The third, ''{{IAST|sāmānyādi-khāṇḍa}}'' ("common") has words related to grammar and other miscellaneous words.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

''Svargadhikhaanda'', the first Khaanda of the ''Amarakosha'' 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 used for gods and demigods. The fifth and sixth verses give various names of [[Buddhahood|Buddha]] and Shakyamuni (i.e. [[Gautam Buddha]]). The following verses give the different names of Brahma, Vishnu, Vasudeva, Balarama, Kamadeva, Lakshmi, Krishna, Shiva, Indra etc. All these names are treated with great reverence. While Amara Simha is regarded to have been a Buddhist,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1036&dq=amarakosha+buddhist&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi75Lqsz97lAhWYtp4KHSOABs4Q6AEwBnoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=amarakosha%20buddhist&f=false Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti, Volume 2, Editor Amaresh Datta, Sahitya Akademi, 1988 p. 1036]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ql0BmInD1c4C&pg=PA494&dq=amarasimha+buddhist&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBpdbS0N7lAhWD4J4KHYmpAwYQ6AEwAnoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=amarasimha%20buddhist&f=false A History of Indian Literature, Moriz Winternitz, Motilal Banarsidass, 1985, p. 494]</ref> Amarakosha reflects the period before the rise of sectarianism. Commentaries on Amarakosha have been written by Brahmanical, Jain and well as Buddhist scholars.<ref>Anundoram Barooah Makers of Indian literature, Biswanarayan Shastri, Sahitya Akademi, 1984p. 79</ref>

The second Kanda, ''Bhuvargadhikanda'', of the ''Amarakosha'' 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'' ([[Shudra|Sudra]]s).{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

The Third Kanda, ''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.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

==Commentaries==
* ''Amarakoshodghātana'' by Kṣīrasvāmin (11th century CE, the earliest commentary)
* ''Tīkāsarvasvam'' by Vandhyaghatīya Sarvānanda (12th century)
* ''Rāmāsramī'' (Vyākhyāsudha) by Bhānuji Dīkshita
* ''Padachandrikā'' by Rāyamukuta
* ''Kāshikavivaranapanjikha'' by Jinendra Bhudhi
* ''Pārameśwari'' by Parameswaran Mōsad in [[Malayalam]]
* A Telugu commentary by Linga Bhatta (12th century)

==Translations==
"Gunaratha" of [[Ujjain]] translated it into [[Chinese language|Chinese]] in the 7th century.

The Pali thesaurus ''[[Abhidhānappadīpikā]]'', composed in the twelfth century by the grammarian Moggallāna Thera, is based on the ''Amarakosha''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Krsnaji Govinda Oka, Poona City, Law Printing Press, 1913
* [http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_amarakosha.html ''Amarakosha''] at sanskritdocuments.org
* [http://www.msc.uky.edu/sohum/amar.html ''Amarakosha'' files] by Avinash Sathaye
* [https://archive.org/details/namalinganusasan00amariala The Nâmalingânusâsana (Amarakosha) of Amarasimha ; with the commentary (Amarakoshodghâtana) of Kshîrasvâmin (1913)] at the [[Internet Archive]].
* [http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/scl/amarakosha/index.html A web interface to access the knowledge structure in ''Amarakosha''] at Department of Sanskrit Studies, University of Hyderabad.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amarakosha}}
[[Category:Sanskrit dictionaries]]
[[Category:Sanskrit texts|Sanskrit texts]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian literature]]
[[Category:Medieval literature]]
[[Category:History of literature]]
[[Category:Thesauri]]

Amarakosha - Revision history

imported>WikiCleanerBot at 05:28, 26 May 2021