Who wrote Nighantu?

The study of Nirukta can be traced to the last centuries of the 2nd-millennium BCE Brahmanas layer of the Vedic texts. The most celebrated scholar of this field is Yāska, who wrote the Nighaṇṭu (book of glossary), the first book on this field. His text is also referred simply as Nirukta.

What is Yaska’s Nirukta?

Yaska is the author of the Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of Sanskrit words. He is thought to have succeeded Śākaṭāyana, an old grammarian and expositor of the Vedas, who is mentioned in his text.

What is the meaning of Nighantu?

Nighaṇṭu (Sanskrit: निघण्टु, IPA: [nɪɡʱɐɳʈʊ]) is a Sanskrit term for a traditional collection of words, grouped into thematic categories, often with brief annotations. Such collections share characteristics with glossaries and thesauri, but are not true lexicons, such as the kośa of Sanskrit literature.

How many Vedangas are there?

Six Vedangas
Six Vedangas are there in total. The Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas.

What is Chhandas?

Chhandas is a Sanskrit word that means “pleasing,” “delightful,” “alluring” and “charming”; it refers to the poetic meter in Hindu scriptures, specifically the Vedas. Chhandas is one of the six auxiliary disciplines known as the Vedangas, which support the study of the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures.

What is chhanda in Vedangas?

Chhanda (Vedic meter) It measures and divides Vedic Mantras by number of padas in a verse, which is called Padas. Number of padas divides each verse, hymn, or mantra and number of syllables divides each pada.

What is a nighantu?

Particular collections are also called nighaṇṭava . While a number of nighantavas devoted to specialized subjects exist, the eponymous Nighantu of the genre is an ancient collection, handed down from Vedic times. It was the subject of the Nirukta, a commentary, together with a treatise on etymology, by Yaska.

When was the commentary on the Naighantuka written?

A full word-by-word commentary on the Naighantuka was written by Devarajayajvan, some time before the 14th CE. A critical edition of the Nighantu and the Nirukta was published in the 1920s by Lakshman Sarup. In it, two major recensions were identified, one longer than the other, indicating additions at untraceable…

What does Daivata mean in Sanskrit?

daivata kāṇḍa: one adhyāya of epithets of divine beings. Yaska’s Nirukta covers the Naighantuka somewhat synoptically, often merely echoing a given gloss, but deals with the 278 words of the Naigama and the 151 names of the Daivata in detail.