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Yaska: Encyclopedia - Yaska

Yaska Acharya is a celebrated Sanskrit scholar and grammarian of ancient India. He is believed to have flourished, according to one school as early as during eighth BCE, while according to other, as late as during third century BCE. Acharya Yaska is the author of a well known ancient work on etymology of Sanskrit words, known as Nirukta. He is thought to have succeeded Sakatayana, an old grammarian and expositor of the Vedas, as the lat ...

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Yaska: Encyclopedia - Yaska

Yaska

Yaska Acharya is a celebrated Sanskrit scholar and grammarian of ancient India. He is believed to have flourished, according to one school as early as during eighth BCE, while according to other, as late as during third century BCE. Acharya Yaska is the author of a well known ancient work on etymology of Sanskrit words, known as Nirukta. He is thought to have succeeded Sakatayana, an old grammarian and expositor of the Vedas, as the latter has mentioned the former in his Nirukta.

The Nirukta (etymology) of Yaska is in the form of explanations of words and it formed the basis for later lexicons and dictionaries. It is, in fact, a Vedic glossary of difficult words. The work tells of various attempts to interpret difficult Vedic mythologies.

Nirukta (etymology) of Yaska consists of three parts, viz.:(i) Naighantuka, a collection of synonyms; (ii) Naigama, a collection of words peculiar to the Vedas, and (iii) Daivata, words relating to deities and sacrifices.