________________
130
TULSI-PRAJNA
sanskrit words as for example in I. 18, 39, 43 II. 104, III. 2 etc. Hemacandra excuses himself by saying. sans sanskrtånabhijña präkrtajñamanyadurvidagdha janavarjanärtham
Again Hemacandra has included in the kośa many words which are actually taught or derived from words taught by Sanskrit writers in their lexicons and other works. For example the word pari'a milk pail' is reckoned a dest word in VI. 37 which is used in sans. with the same sense. Again in VI. 55 is found pūrilladevo in the sense of an Asura, which is according scholars a bhāva of pūrvadeva In VI. 90 bambhani is said to be a desi word in the sense of a lizard, in sa ns. also it signifies the same meaning.
The Dictionary of Hema. is a definite and substantial improvement on the previous košas in Prakst i e. Paiyalacchinamamala.
He has evolved clear cut principles as to the general classification into vargas and also the internal arrangement of the initial syllable etc. which is missing in paiyalacchinamamala
He has further grouped the words on the basis of the length and number of syllables containing in a word,
When ever he agreed or disagreed to a particular meaning ho gives proper reason bohind it. Sometimes i.c. in some cases he admits the meaning assigned by others although he himself gives a quite different meaning. In every case in which there is difference of opinion he takes care to give the opinion of the later lexiconrapher also. Besides referring to them by such general terms as pūrvācāryāḥ, sarve, eke, anye, kascit and kecit he quotes eight of his predecessors by name : such as Abhimanacinnah gopala and Dhanapala are quoted in five places each; Devaraja is quoted three times; whereas Droņa is quoted six times; while Rabulaka is quoted only once, and Silanka and Devaraja are referred to in 3 occasions. I may conclude this paper by quoting the observation made by Prof. Paravastu Venkata Ramānia Swami. "Hema has evolved a new diffinition of the torm Desi which excludes all words derived from the sans. source. In this he has chalked out a new line and risen above all the lexicographors. But at times he has consciously slipped down and included words which show evident sigos of derivation from sanskrit and at times he had consciously donc so, not being bold enough to go counter to his predecessors. But it must bo said to his credit that Hemacandra inagurated a new era in Prakrt lexicography and the oxperiment made by him was a really success. He has excluded a large number of Tatbhavas and Tatsamas from his lexicon because the former can be known from his grammar and the latter from the Sanskrit lexicons. The latter, infact, have no place in Prakt lexicons.”35
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