Yaska, Yāska: 12 definitions
Introduction:
Yaska means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Puranic EncyclopediaYāska (यास्क).—A famous Sanskrit Grammarian of ancient times. Although the people of India always believed in the greatness of the Vedas, the Vedas became unintelligible even to scholars owing to changes in language and differences in grammar. It was Yāska and Sāyaṇa who saved the country from that plight. Yāska became famous by composing "Nirukta" (etymology). There is a reference to this ancient sage in Mahābhārata, Chapter 342, Verse 72.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index1a) Yaska (यस्क).—An Ārṣeya pravara (Bhārgava).*
- * Matsya-purāṇa 195. 36.
1b) A Bhārgava branch.*
- * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 1. 100.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar)
Source: Wikisource: A dictionary of Sanskrit grammarYāska (यास्क).—A reputed ancient Niruktakara or etymologist, of the 6th century B.C. or even a few centuries before that, whose work, the Nirukta, is looked upon as the oldest authoritative treatise regarding derivation of Vedic words. Yaska was preceded by a number of etymologists whom he has mentioned in his work and whose works he has utilised. Yaska's Nirukta threw into the back-ground the older treatises on etymology, all of which disappeared gradually in the course of time.
Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) refers to Sanskrit grammar and represents one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas. Vyakarana concerns itself with the rules of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic analysis in order to establish the correct context of words and sentences.
Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)
Source: Shodhganga: a concise history of Sanskrit Chanda literatureYāska (यास्क) is the name of a pre-Piṅgalan author on the science of Sanskrit metrics (chandaśāstra): Yāska, the author of Nirukta describes the Vedic metres in Nirukta. Piṅgala also mentions him while discussing the metre urobṛhatī.
Chandas (छन्दस्) refers to Sanskrit prosody and represents one of the six Vedangas (auxiliary disciplines belonging to the study of the Vedas). The science of prosody (chandas-shastra) focusses on the study of the poetic meters such as the commonly known twenty-six metres mentioned by Pingalas.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Source: WikiPedia: HinduismYāska (यास्क) was an early Sanskrit grammarian who preceded Pāṇini (fl. 4th BC), assumed to have lived in the 6th or 5th century BC. Nothing is known about him other than that he is traditionally identified as the author of Nirukta, the discipline of "etymology" (explanation of words) within Sanskrit grammatical tradition. Yaska is the author of the Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of Sanskrit words. He is thought to have succeeded Śākaṭāyana, an old grammarian and expositor of the Vedas, who is mentioned in his text.
Yāska defines four main categories of words:
- nāma - nouns or substantives
- ākhyāta - verbs
- upasarga - pre-verbs or prefixes
-
nipāta - particles, invariant words (perhaps prepositions)
Yāska also defends the view, presented first in the lost text of Sakatayana that etymologically, most nouns have their origins in verbs.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryYāska (यास्क).—Name of the author of the Nirukta.
Derivable forms: yāskaḥ (यास्कः).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryYāska (यास्क).—m.
(-skaḥ) Name of the author of Nirukta.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryYāska (यास्क).—[masculine] [Name] of a teacher.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Aufrecht Catalogus CatalogorumYāska (यास्क) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—Quoted in Ṛkprātiśākhya 17, 25, in Bṛhaddevatā, etc.: Nirukta.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Yaska (यस्क):—[from yas] m. Name of a man ([plural] his descendants and a [particular] school; cf. yāska), [Kāṭhaka; Āśvalāyana-śrauta-sūtra] (cf. [Pāṇini 2-4, 63]).
2) Yāska (यास्क):—m. ([from] yasku) [patronymic] of the author of the Nirukta (or commentary on the difficult Vedic words contained in the lists called Nighaṇṭus; he is supposed to have lived before Pāṇini; cf. [Indian Wisdom, by Sir M. Monier-Williams 156 etc.]), [Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa; Ṛgveda-prātiśākhya; Mahābhārata]
3) [plural] the pupils of Yāska, [Pāṇini 2-4, 63 [Scholiast or Commentator]]
[Sanskrit to German]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Yaskadi, Yaskanirukta, Yaskayani, Yaskayaniya, Yaskopanishad.
Ends with (+7): Abhinavavayaska, Alpavayaska, Aniyaska, Aparavayaska, Apraptavayaska, Ardhavayaska, Ashreyaska, Ativayaska, Avayaska, Ayaska, Gatavayaska, Gunavatpayaska, Madhyamavayaska, Nutanavayaska, Payaska, Praptavayaska, Pravayaska, Purvavayaska, Sadyaska, Samanavayaska.
Full-text (+2504): Paingi, Vaiyaska, Gairikshita, Nirukta, Nighantu, Yaskanirukta, Shakatayana, Yaskayani, Idamyu, Aupamanyava, Papadhi, Darvihomin, Nicamana, Abhivahana, Parovarya, Abrahmacarya, Pijavana, Styayana, Sahapiti, Pratitartha.
Relevant text
Search found 62 books and stories containing Yaska, Yāska; (plurals include: Yaskas, Yāskas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Vivekachudamani (by Shankara)
Vakyapadiya of Bhartrihari (by K. A. Subramania Iyer)
Verse 2.340-341 < [Book 2 - Vākya-kāṇḍa]
Verse 3.8.11 < [Book 3 - Pada-kāṇḍa (8): Kriyā-samuddeśa (On Action)]
Verse 2.192 < [Book 2 - Vākya-kāṇḍa]
Women in the Atharva-veda Samhita (by Pranab Jyoti Kalita)
1. Woman in the Family and as a Daughter < [Chapter 3 - The Familial and Social Life of Women in the Atharvaveda]
21. Goddessess Sinīvālī, Kuhū, Anumati and Rākā < [Chapter 4 - Female Deities and the Glorification of Women in the Atharvaveda]
20. Goddess Sarasvatī < [Chapter 4 - Female Deities and the Glorification of Women in the Atharvaveda]
Rig Veda (translation and commentary) (by H. H. Wilson)
The Agnistoma Somayaga in the Shukla Yajurveda (by Madan Haloi)
Some Thoughts on the Veda and its Study < [January – March, 1978]
Poet Vyasa in the Mahabharata < [October – December, 1988]
Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy His understanding of < [October – December, 1988]
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