Amarakosha
Topic: Gupta Empire and the Classical Age · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Amarakosha is a Sanskrit thesaurus, a word-book that groups words with the same meaning. It is written in verse so that it is easy to learn by heart. It was written by Amarasimha. Tradition places him at the court of Chandragupta II "Vikramaditya", but his exact date is not certain. It is the best-known ancient Sanskrit lexicon (dictionary). Students learnt it for centuries.
Example
The Amarakosha gives many Sanskrit words for one idea, such as the many names of a god, a river or the sun. A student could memorise them as a single verse. Amarasimha is listed among the "nine gems" of Vikramaditya's court.
Don't confuse with
- Brihat Samhita: written by Varahamihira at Ujjayini, it is an encyclopedia of astronomy, weather, architecture and farming. It is not a word-book.