English
^, and the accent is used in the Vedic lan- • ^'^f^ -^le subject of 6&ntana's work would lead *^" -^^^ ^bat he was anterior to P&nini, though V^^L -;x3safeto draw any further conclusions IcL t>^ his. jpi^jKRXTKTA, OR EtymologT. ;^edtoga is Nirukta or Etymology. In ^, according to Indian authorsf Gram- ^TNirur. ^r^^*d by I>anini's ^fi ™^** lo represented bv but .^lly known by the name of Y^k^s ixx erster Versuch Ubi. J„ a ^ £*>i. page xii. "****' ^° Accent im San- NIRUKTA. 153 Nirukta. Nirukta, however, has had this advan- tage over Vy&karana, that Yd.ska's work applies itself exclusively to Vedic etymologies. In the same way as we considered P&nini's Grammar as the work where Vyfi,karana, as a Vedfl,nga, took its final shape, so Ydska also would seem to be one of the last authors who embodied the etymological lexico- graphy of Vedic terms in one separate work. Niruk- tak&ras, or authors of Niruktas, are mentioned by Ydska ; and some of them must have been as famous as Y&ska himself, because we find that their merits in this respect were not forgotten even at the time of the compilation of the PurlLnas.^ For explanations of old Vedic words, for etymologies and synony- mous expressions, the Br&hmanas contain very rich materials, and, with the exception of the Kalpa, no other Vedfl.nga has a better claim than the Nirukta to be considered as founded upon the Br£lhmanas. Whole verses and hymns are shortly explained there; and the Aranyakas and Upanishads, if included, would furnish richer sources for Vedic etymologies than even the Nirukta itself. The beginning of the Aitareya-^ranyaka is in fact a commentary on the 1 Tlias Sakapiirni is mentioned as a Niruktakrit in the Vishnu- pnrana (p. 277. n. 9.) ; but this is no reason whj ^kapiirni should be the same as Taska, as Ck)lebrooke supposed. (Miscell. Essays, i. 15.) In fact l^apiini is quoted bj Taska himself, for there can be no doubt that Sakap^rni is the same name as iSSkap^. In later times, also, Yaska and Sakapiini are regarded as distinct persons ; for instance, in a verse ascribed to Far&sara (Anukr. Bh. iv. 5. 7.), which occurs in the Brihaddevata, S^tlf^4,()J7' Another Niruktakrit mentioned by Sayana is the son of Sth^la- shthivi, or, as Taska calls him, Sthaulashthivi. 154 NIRUKTA. beginning of the Rig-veda ; and if all the passages of the Brfthmanas were collected where one word is explained by another ^vith which it is joined merely by the particle vai^ they would even now give a rich harvest for a new Nirukta. It is important, however, not to confound Y&ska's Nirukta with Yftska^s Com- mentary on the Nirukta, although it has become usual, after the fashion of modem manuscripts, to call that commentary Nirukta, and to distinguish the text of the Nirukta by the name of Nighantu. ^ The* original Niruktas that formed an integral part of the Vedftnga literature, known to Y&ska himself, can have con- sisted only of lists of words arranged according to their meaning, like that upon which Y&ska's Commentary is based. Whether the same Y&ska who wrote the Commentary had some part in the arrange- ment of the lists of words, is unknown; probably these lists existed in his family long before his time, as Y&ska implies himself (Nir. i. 20.). But, as he preserved them by his Commentary, it was natural that their authorship, too, should have been ascribed to him. S&yana gives the following account of this matter: — "Nirukta is a work where a number of words is given, without any intention to connect them in a sentence. In that book, where a traditional number of words is taught, which begin with Gauh, gm&, and end with Va- savah, Vfijinah, Devapatnyah, there is no intention to state things which are to be understood ^ because 1 If Sajana means to give in these lines an etymologj in- stead of a simple definition of Nirukta, the attempt would be veiy unsuccessfuJL Nirukta comes f^om nimmcky to explain. His definition, howeyer, is right, in so far as tlae BlrcifcU does nol NIHUKTA. 155 it is only said there that * so many are the names of earth,' * so many the names of gold/ " &c. This Nirukta consists of three parts, as may be seen firom the Commentary on the Anukramanikd.. Here we read : " The first part is the Naighantuka, the second the Naigama, and the third the Daivata, and thus must this traditional doctrine be considered as con- sisting of three parts, " The Naighantuka begins with Gauh^ and goes as far as Apdre} The Naigama begins with Jahd^ and goes as far as Ulbam RiMiam.^ The third, or Deity- chapter, begins with Agni and ends with the Deva- patnis.^ Here the gods from Agni to Devi Uijfthuti* are gods of the earth ; from V&yu to Bhaga *, gods of the air ; from SArya to the Devapatnis^, gods of contain a connected string of ideas, but merely an enumeration of words. There is another definition of Nirukta, which is quoted hj Badhakant in his ^bdakalpadroma, and occurs as one of the Earikas in the Kasikavritti (F&n. vi. 3. 109.) : ** A Nirukta contains the doctrine of five things ; of the addition, transposition, change, and dropping of letters, and of tlie use of one particular meaning of a root.*^ Instances of this are given in another verse : ^ Hdnsa is formed by an addition, Sinha by a transposition, Gu- 4hoimh by a change, PfisJiodara by a dropping of lettezs.'* > 1-3 Adhy&ya. > 4 Adhyaya. a 5 Adhy&ya. * §§ 1—3. * §§ 4--6. 6 § 6. NIRUKTA. ^^^^ople learn the whole traditional number ^^%^ ^^'^h to Devapatnyah. ^^^ ^ ^^ ^ighantu applies to works where, C^^ -^^ ^ part, synonymous words are taught. Vv^ -j^r^^^^L^ig^^^t^s are usually mentioned; and \y^ ^j^ ^^^ been applied to such works as Amara- %, *'^ l^^^^^ntt, HaUyudha, &c. Therefore S the ^"^^^^53 ^^ t^^® yrovk also has been called Naighan- v^i ^ ^^ A^ synonymous words are taught there. ^ ^^Le<^^^^ -fcli^^^ ^^^ three lectures : in the first, we ^1 /V>^^*^ ^nnected with things of time and space ^^^ ^3^^ -isl^^ ^*^^^ worlds ; in the second, we have ^^ . 0,t>^ o*^^ ^^*^ ™^^^ ^^^ human affairs ; and, ^'^ oo^^^^A words expressing qualities of the ^^ , ^ ^^^^'ectB? such as thinness, multitude, short- recedit^S ^ gjc. cai^s Veda. As Yflska has quoted many " ^J^ig^'^^ th^ Veda, which he usually introduces passag^^ froi^ ^ ^P^^. this there is also a Nigama ;' and by the word^^ ^ ^ext^ consisting of the fourth Adh- as, in ^^ ^^^^ taught which usually occur in the yftya, ^words a-^ ^ext is called Naigamct. Veda only, thi^^ l^p^rt, consisting of the fifth AdhylLy a, " Wliy *^^ *^^^ -^ ol^ar. The whole work, consisting is called 2>a/mft^ ^ ^^j three parts, is caUed Nirukta, of five Adhyftyaa ^^^ ^j ^^^ds is given there irre- because the ^^^^^^ else. A commentary on this spective of anytl^^ "^ ibe historical order of things, because I s&yana inverts J*^*^ J%^^® ^e^ ^*^^®^ ^^ *^^® name before the YlUkaS NigbantumU^^^^ry. Several Koshas are quoted which ^_ of Amara'8 Dicti^ ^t^ in manuscript : 6arva Kosba, Ranti or W not yet been met ^' JCosha, Bb&gn Kosba, Bala Kosba, all RantiaeTaKosha, Y&^^ in existence as late as the CJommentary of wliicli must have b^^ on the M^hadfita. NIRUKTA- 157 has been composed by Y&ska in twenty Adhyftyas. This also is called Nirukta, because the real meaning conveyed by each word is fully given therein,"^ The Nirukta, together with the Pr&tis&khyas and ^ I have translated this passage of Sajana, because Dr. Roth has adopted a different division of the Nirukta in his edition, where he calls the first five books, containing the list of words, Nai- ghantuka; the first six books of Yaska's Commentary, Naigama; and the rest Daivata. It would have been better to preserve the old divisions, which are based not only upon the authority of Yaska himself, but also of his commentators, with this exception only that, according to them, the Naigama may also be called the Aikapadika. Thus Durga says, i?^*ll*nf^ ^ "Iff* M<<lfiiR*i^* TRf ITOTWI ^w W^ "m^ iPRT? 'rart^ *im^iiii*<itii ^w Agun, after having defined the third part, the Daivata, Durga goes on saying : And farther on : rTf% j<i^M^i(^ rmtt^ %inf% m?frt% He afterwards seems to imply that the whole may also be called HISTORY OF GRAMjVtA^. <-,.ammar, supply the most interesting and '.^=5-'' ^' ^ i„forma4;ioii on the growth of grammatical KT*-^*-!^ India.