Date
The study of ''Nirukta'' can be traced to the last centuries of the 2nd-millennium BCE Brahmanas layer of the Vedic texts. The most celebrated scholar of this field is , who wrote the ''Nighaṇṭu'' (book of glossary), the first book on this field. His text is also referred simply as ''Nirukta''. The study of ''Nirukta'' has been closely related to the ancillary Vedic science of '' Vyakarana'', but they have a different focus. ''Vyakarana'' deals with linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words to properly express ideas, while Nirukta focuses on linguistic analysis to help establish the proper meaning of the words, given the context they are used in. Yaska asserts that the prerequisite to the study of ''Nirukta'' is the study of ''Vyakarana''. The texts of the ''Nirukta'' field of study are also called ''Nirvacana shastra''. A critical edition of the Nighantu and the Nirukta was published by Lakshman Sarup in the 1920s. The critical edition by Lakshman Sarup places it between 700 and 500 BCE, i.e., beforeEtymology
Nirukta (Sanskrit), states Monier-Williams, means "uttered, pronounced, explained, expressed, defined, loud". It also refers to the etymological interpretation of a word, also the name of such works. The related Sanskrit noun ' means "poetical derivation" or "explanation of a word."Discussion
The field of ''Nirukta'' deals with ascertaining the meaning of words, particularly of archaic words no longer in use, ones created long ago and even then rarely used. The Vedic literature from the 2nd millennium BCE has a very large collection of such words, with nearly 25% of the words therein being used just once. By the 1st millennium BCE, interpreting and understanding what the Vedas meant had become a challenge, and ''Nirukta'' attempted to systematically propose theories on how words form, and then determine their meaning in order to understand the Vedas. Yaska, the sage who likely lived around the 7th–5th century BCE, approached this problem through a semantic analysis of words, by breaking them down into their components, and then combined them in the context they were used to propose what the archaic words could have meant.A central premise of Yaska was that man creates more new words to conceptualize and describe action, that is nouns often have verbal roots. However, added Yaska, not all words have verbal roots. He asserted that both the meaning and the etymology of words are always context dependent. Words are created around object-agent, according to Yaska, to express external or internal reality perceived by man, and are one of six modifications of ''Kriya'' (action) and ''Bhava'' (dynamic being), namely being born, existing, changing, increasing, decreasing and perishing. A sentence is a collection of words, a word is a collection of phonemes, according to Nirukta scholars of Hindu traditions. The meaning of Vedic passages has to be understood through context, purpose stated, subject matter being discussed, what is stated, how, where and when.Don't memorize, seek the meaning
— Yaska, ''Nirukta 1.18-1.20''
What has been taken rom the teacher's mouthbut not understood,
is uttered by mere emoryrecitation,
it never flares up, like dry firewood without fire.
Many a one, lthoughseeing, do not see Speech,
many a one, lthoughhearing, do not hear Her,
and many a one, She spreads out erbody, like a wife desiring her husband.
The meaning of Speech, is its fruit and flower.
Texts
The only basic ''Nirvacana shastra'' (Nirukta-related text) that has survived from ancient times into the modern era is the one by Yaska, and it is simply called ''Nirukta''. ThreeUsage
Ancient
Yaska, in his famous text titled ''Nirukta'', asserts that Rigveda in the ancient tradition, can be interpreted in three ways - from the perspective of religious rites (''adhiyajna''), from the perspective of the deities (''adhidevata''), and from the perspective of the soul (''adhyatman''). The fourth way to interpret the Rigveda also emerged in the ancient times, wherein the gods mentioned were viewed as symbolism for legendary individuals or narratives. It was generally accepted that creative poets often embed and express double meanings, ellipses and novel ideas to inspire the reader. ''Nirukta'' enables one to identify alternate embedded meanings that poets and writers may have included in old texts.Medieval
Many examples of the rhetorical use of nirukta occur in Bhaskararaya's commentaries. Here is an example from the opening verse of his commentary on the Ganesha Sahasranama. The opening verse includes ' as a name for Ganesha. The simple meaning of this name, which would have seemed obvious to his readers, would be "Protector of the Ganas", parsing the name in a straightforward way as ' (group) + ''nātha'' (protector). But Bhaskararaya demonstrates his skill in nirukta by parsing it in an unexpected way as the Bahuvrīhi compound ' + ''atha'' meaning "the one the enumeration () of whose qualities brings about auspiciousness. The word ''atha'' is associated with auspiciousness ()."गणनं गुणसंख्यानामथशब्दात्तु मङ्गलम् । कृते तयोर्बहुव्रीहौ गणनाथ इति स्मृतः ॥ ५ ॥ This rhetorical flourish at the opening of the sahasranama demonstrates Bhaskaraya's skills in nirukta at the very beginning of his commentary on a thousand such names, including a clever twist appropriate to the context of a sahasranama.See also
*References
Bibliography
* * * * * * * *Lakshman Sarup, ''The Nighantu and The Nirukta'' (London, H. Milford 1920–29), Repr. Motilal Banarsidass 2002, . *Rudolph Roth, ''Introduction to the Nirukta and the Literature related to it'', (tr. D. Mackichan), University of Bombay, 1919.External links
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