Sanskrit Manuscripts : Amarakośa

Amarasiṃha

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> The <i>Amarakośa</i> by Amarasiṃha, probably a Buddhist author, is the most renowned Sanskrit lexicographical work, seemingly composed around the middle of the first millennium CE. "The bulk of the <i>Amarakośa</i> is a synonymic dictionary whose articles are grouped subjectwise" (Vogel 1979: 311). The fame of the "Immortal Lexicon" goes far beyond the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent, as testified by its renderings in Tibetan, Chinese, Mongolian, Sinhalese and Burmese, among others. A further proof of its importance and popularity is the number of commentaries dedicated to it: at least eighty, of which many still remain unpublished. According to the colophon, this palm-leaf manuscript has been written in the Yaṃpiṃvihāra in Patan in Nepāla Saṃvat 500, i.e. 1380 CE (thus, during the reign of Jayārjunadeva, 1361-82) by a scribe named Rāmadatta, "for the sake of others" (<i>parārthe hetunā</i>): although the name of the person who commissioned the manuscript is mentioned in the colophon, unfortunately it is faded, but it was probably a certain dignitary during the reign of Sajabhārāka.</p>