Sanskrit Tidbits-20:More about the sanskrit thesaurus Amarkosha
In last week’s tidbits, I introduced you to Amarkosha. This week’s tidbits will also be on that. After that, I hope I have been able to persuade you to use, if not read, Amarkosha. I am taking examples at random now and will no longer quote entire shlokas from Amarkosha.
What are the names of the five celestial or divine trees? मन्दार: पारिजातक: संतान: कल्पवृक्ष: हरिचन्दनम्.
According to our beliefs, the eight directions are guarded by eight elephants, known as दिग्गज:, elephants in charge of the directions. What are the names of these eight elephants? Though I am not quoting it, you will also find the names of the female elephants. ऐरावत: पुण्डरीक: वामन: कुमुद: अञ्जन: पुष्पदन्त: सार्वभौम: सुप्रतीक:
What does the word मुहूर्त mean? We might say an instant, a second, the twinkling of an eye. The word is nowadays often used in that sense. But मुहूर्त is certainly not an instant, the twinkling of an eye. By the way, I am following Amarkosha. In all fairness, I should tell you that measurements of time did differ. Anyway, the twinkling of an eye is निमेष. Eighteen निमेष-s give us a काष्ठा. Thirty काष्ठा-s give us a कला. A कला is 8 seconds. You can yourself divide and figure out the counterparts for काष्ठा and निमेष. The word कला is also used for the sixteen phases the moon goes through. Don’t confuse the word for measurement of time with that. Thirty कला-s give us a क्षण. So a क्षण is also not the brief instant of time we usually interpret it as. It is 4 minutes, not exactly a short instant. There are 30 मुहूर्त-s in a day. So a मुहूर्त is actually 48 minutes. Do you know what a याम is? It is 4 hours and both night and day (12 hours each) are divided into three divisions of 4 hours each. Therefore, both night and day are called त्रियाम.
What are names for the Ganga? गङ्गा विष्णुपदी जन्हुतनया सुरनिम्नगा भागीरथी त्रिपथगा त्रिस्रोता भीष्मसूरपि. I have said this before. To appreciate Sanskrit, you need to know a little bit about myths and legends. For example, in this list of Ganga’s names, you need to know about the stories of Jahnu, Bhagiratha and Bhishma. You need to know that the Ganga has three flows – one in heaven, one on earth and one in the nether regions. What are names for the Yamuna? कालिन्दी सूर्यतनया यमुना शमनस्वसा. Again, you need to know a little bit about myths, for example, that Yama and Yamuna were the sun’s offspring and that the river turned black because of Shiva. Let me not get into those legends. That’s not the intention.
What are names for a brinjal? वार्ताकी हिङ्गुली सिंही भण्टाकी दुष्प्रधर्षिणी. You might want the Sanskrit word for an animal, a bird, a flower, a tree, a herb, a fruit or a vegetable. You will typically find it in Amarkosha. I have made it sound like an encyclopedia, rather than a thesaurus or dictionary. It is a bit of an encyclopedia too and I hope you will make use of it.
Finally, let me leave you with a shloka. I told you that Amarsimha is believed to have been one of the nine famous jewels in King Vikrama’s court. This shloka gives the names of the nine jewels - धन्वन्तरि क्षपणक अमरसिंह शङ्कु वेतालभट्ट घटकर्पर कालिदास वराहमिहिर वररुचि. This suggests to me that I should also pay attention to these other jewels intidbits. Of course, we know more about some of them and less about others.
धन्वन्तरिक्षपणकामरसिंह शङ्कु वेतालभट्ट घटकर्पर कालिदासाः ।
ख्यातो वराहमिहिरो नृपतेः सभायां रत्नानि वै वररुचि र्नव विक्रमस्य ॥