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prefers the Title Desipamamala' and Benerjee edition also adopts this title, 15 because it more clearly defines the scope of the work than 'Desi sabda samgraha' in which the term 'sabda' has a wider denotation as it applies to both 'nama' and 'dhâtu', the latter of which are oxcluded by Hemacandra from the list of Desi words collected in the work. Of course this name is also occuring at the end of or in the colophone of each chapter. II. About the text :
The text of the Dešinamamala (=DNM) is written in Präkrt gâthās (of Aryametre) containing the Deśi words and their meanings in Tatbhava equivalents. Some times these prakrt equivalents are given in other deši words.
Desipānamala is accompanied by a self commentary in Sanskrit of great mcrit, in which Hemacandra above all to explain his reasons for including or omitting certain words and for adopting or discarding certain spellings and meanings. And with illustrative găthās.
Thus the work can be said to have three types of compositions : 1. Desi words in gåthă metres. 2. Sanskrit comm. in Prose. 3. Illustrative verses in Prākst. III. The total aumber of words occuring in the DNM are 3978. In an article bearing the title 'Palt, Sanskrit and Prākrt etymology" by Richard Morris, many Desi words found in the Dešinamamala are traced to sanskrit origin. The same writer traces somo more Desi words to sanskrit origin. 16 Pischel in his "Grammatic der Prakrt sprachen' has diminished considerably the number of dest words given in the Dešinamamālā. Researches conducted on similar lines yield the following result.
The total number of Desi words in the desipamamala are 3978. These contain the following group : Tatsamas
100 Disguised Tatbhayas
1850 Doubtful Tatbhavas
528 Desis
1500
Total
3978 IV. What is a Deti word ?
Hemacapdra, at the beginning of the work, explains what he considers to be a desi word in the following words:
je lakkhane na siddhā ga pasiddhā sakkayābihänesu / na ya gauņalakkhapā sattisambhavā te iha nivaddhā // de sa višesa pasiddhii bhappamapa apantayā hunti / tambă ani pāipayațţa bhāsāvisosao des[18 il
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