Digital Ebook (PDF) — A Landmark Scholarly Study of the Etymological Method of Yāska, Author of the Nirukta
Author: Siddheshwar Varma, Śāstrī, M.A. (Pb.), D.Litt. (London) | With the assistance of Bhim Dev, Śāstrī, M.A., M.O.L. (Pb.) | Vishveshvaranand Institute Publications, Hoshiarpur (Vishveshvaranand Indological Series)
Key Features
The Etymologies of Yāska is a distinguished scholarly study by the celebrated Indian linguist Siddheshwar Varma, devoted to the etymological method of Yāska — the ancient sage who stands at the very dawn of the science of language. Published by the renowned Vishveshvaranand Institute of Hoshiarpur and prepared with the assistance of Bhim Dev, this work examines, word by word, the way Yāska derived and explained the difficult and archaic words of the Vedas, offering the serious reader an authoritative guide to the oldest system of etymology known to the world.
Yāska, who flourished sometime between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE and pre-dated even the great grammarian Panini, is traditionally regarded as the author of the Nirukta — the oldest Indian treatise on etymology, philology, and semantics — and is closely associated with the Nighantu, the ancient glossary of rare and obscure Vedic words. The Nirukta, counted among the six Vedangas or "limbs of the Veda," was composed to recover the meanings of Vedic hymns whose language had, over the centuries, grown obscure even to the learned. In it, Yāska advanced the profound linguistic principle that words — nouns, verbs, and the rest — can be traced back to verbal roots, and in doing so became the first scholar in history to treat etymology as an independent science.
Siddheshwar Varma's study brings modern philological rigor to this ancient method. It illuminates how Yāska analyzed and derived the Vedic vocabulary, how he classified the parts of speech, and how his rules for interpreting words in context laid the groundwork for all later Sanskrit grammar, lexicography, and Vedic exegesis. Far more than a technical exercise, Yāska's work engaged deep questions about the nature of words, the relationship between speech and meaning, and the permanence of language — questions that place him among the great philosopher-grammarians of the world's intellectual heritage.
For students of Sanskrit, linguistics, and the Vedas, this volume is an essential companion — a careful, learned exploration of the foundational figure of Indian etymology and of the interpretive genius that shaped how the sacred texts of ancient India have been understood ever since.
Ebook Details
- Format: PDF (digital download)
- Language: English
- Author: Siddheshwar Varma, with the assistance of Bhim Dev
- Publisher: Vishveshvaranand Institute Publications, Hoshiarpur (Vishveshvaranand Indological / Grantha-mala Series)
- Content: A complete scholarly study of Yāska's etymological method, faithfully reproduced from the classic printed edition
- Ideal For: Students and scholars of Sanskrit, Vedic studies, historical and comparative linguistics, philology and semantics, and readers interested in the Nirukta, the Nighantu, and the intellectual history of language
Why You'll Love It
A landmark work of Indian philology in a single download — Siddheshwar Varma's authoritative study of Yāska, the founder of the science of etymology, opening up the method behind the Nirukta and the recovery of the Vedas' most ancient and obscure words for the modern student and scholar.
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