Word

Amarakosam

Sanskrit

अमरकोश

IAST

amarakośa

In General

Amarakosam is a Sanskrit lexicon which was considered as a compulsory text by the traditional education system. Amarasamha, a scholar of 6th CE is its author. It is originally known as Namalinganushasana and the popular name amarakosam derived from the author’s name. Though there were many lexicon in sanskrit, the work got popularity because of its beautiful verses in aushtup meter which is easy to by heart.

The entire work is in three sections or kandas. The first section, the svargakanda is about heavenly matters. The second is called bhumikanda, which deals with earthly things. The third called samanyakanda is about all general matters.

Amarakosam focus on how to distinguish noun, verb and gender difference in words. Words are not arranged in alphabetical order as the custom of modern dictionaries. If one know meaning of the word amarakosa help to find further synonyms.