Bruhat Katha kosha

SR No.: 016060
Original Sutra Author: Harishen Acharya
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1943
Total Pages: 566
Language: Prakrit, Sanskrit
Classification: Dictionary & Dictionary
File Size: 16 MB

Page 132

INTRODUCTION
taram (II. 32); alpa and manak (73. 42); kasmat and kim (46. 103); vidhaya and kṛtva (105. 49); vithī-mārgam (76. 14); sobhanam and yujyate (106. 128); sarva and sakala (68. 63).
At times even proper names are easily translated: Śakracāpa and Indradhanuş (33. 87 and 99). The author is in the regular habit of dividing the members of a compound expression, more usually proper names, by inserting words like ādi, anta, purva etc.; only a few select illustrations may be noted here: anu-nagaram Giri-pūrvakam (127. 206), kāṇḍādikam patam (8. 19), candrantam S'rutasāgaram (11. 64), Jina-Vasvaādikau dattau (49.4), paryadi-vrājikā (76. 181), pūrvottara-padāyukta-Mathurā (13. 125), malanta Kanakādikā (5.4), Rajopapadam grham (9. 1), Rāja-pūrva-gṛham (9.2), saranam samavādikam (10.46), etc.
101
The lexical material presented by this text is of great interest for the student of Sanskrit vocabulary. These stories, as we have seen above, arise out of a Jaina religious text; naturally they contain so many Jaina technical terms that are freely used. It is true that they are not usually recorded in ordinary Sanskrit Dictionaries with their specific shades of meaning. A specialist, however, can very easily ascertain their meanings by using various Jaina texts and their commentaries. In view of the linguistic purpose of the present study, Jaina technical terms are not included in the following list. Besides these terms, we come across a large number of words which can be classified' according to some predominant tendencies represented by them. First, there are many new words and formations, and also such words as are recorded in indigenous lexicons but are of rare usage in classical literature; a few are found in the Vedic language and are used here perhaps through the source of Kosas; some of them show notable variation either in their form or meaning, and as such they deserve to be taken into account. Secondly, there are Back-formations. Phonetically and apparently they look like Sanskrit words, but really speaking they are skilfully Sanskritised, rightly or wrongly, from well known Prakrit words used in Prakrit literature and recorded in Prakrit Dictionaries either as Prakrit or Desi. Thirdly, there are Hyper-Sanskritisms. These are also back-formations in a way, but they are given a super-Sanskritic appearance and they exist by the side of other ordinarily Sanskrit words of accepted usage. Fourthly, there are Prakritisms which are straight way borrowed from Prakrit with some or without any minor changes like the addition of ka-suffix. Lastly, there are the Vernacularisms, in view of their form or meaning. They easily remind us of some words in modern Indian languages, Aryan or Dravidian, for which Prakrit or Desi words may be or may not be detected. This fivefold classification cannot be rigorous, but it holds good for all practical purposes. In recording the following facts, I have constantly used A Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Monier-Williams
1
In view of the requirements of this text, my classification slightly differs from that proposed by Bloomfield in his paper 'Some Aspects of Jaina Sanskrit'.