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Sanskrit Dictionaries – General Introduction

The history of Sanskrit dictionary is, perhaps, older than that of the Sanskrit Grammar. It got started with Vedic Concordance named ‘Nighantu’. In reality, instead of being a dictionary, Nighantu is more or less a word. During later period, various dictionaries were compiled but, unfortunately, we have lost their original scripts.

Amara Simha’s ‘Amarakosa’ has been considered to be the oldest and most popular compilation. It is also known as Namalinganusasana. in later period, Halayudha-kosa, Vaijayanti-kosa, Mankha-kosa, Nama-mala and Anekartha-samgraha etc. names are worth mentioning.

Two voluminous dictionaries compiled in the 19th century are – Vacaspatyam and Sabdakalpadruma, which stand apart their modern style and technique, Both the volumes are replete with the quotes from the contemporary literature to explain the words convincingly. These, thus may be called a bridge between the dictionary and the encyclopedia.

In the modern times, Sanskrit English Dictionary of H.H. Wilsonm, W. Monier and Sanskrit Worterbuch of Oto Bohtlingk’s and Sanskrit English Dictionary by Vamana Sivarama Apte are the excellent works in this tradition.

Sabda Kalpadruma: A Comprehensive Sanskrit Dictionary in 5 volumes

Sabda Kalpadruma is a well known Sanskrit lexicon compiled by a few Bengali scholars at the instance of Raja Radhakanta Deb of Bengal. In this book, the words have been analyzed into their base-forms and suffixes, their genders determined and their Sanskrit synonyms noted.

Download Sabda Kalpadrumam

Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5

Vacaspatyam: A Comprehensive Sanskrit Dictionaryin 6 volumes

Vacaspatyam is a Sanskrit Lexicon, of 5442 pages, by Pandit Taranatha Tarkavacaspati, Calcutta. It is very full up to the end of the letter Pa (page 4550), whilst the rest of the alphabet is squeezed into 900 pages! It is said that the Bengal Govt, which largely subsidized the undertaking, ordered it to be curtailed. If that is so, it did a very unwise thing! (Col. GA Jacob in “A Handful Of Popular Maxims Current In Sanskrit Literature”)

Download Vachaspatyam
Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 Volume 6

118 Responses to “Sanskrit Sanskrit Dictionaries – Sabdakalpadruma & Vachaspatyam”

  1. suzen says:

    I have downloaded the files but files are not opening with Acrobat reader and giving some error.

  2. balramshukla says:

    atyanta-sundarm-udaara-sukrityametat !!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Madhav Bharadwaj says:

    I find that pages 692 and 693 of vol.2 of sabdakalpadruma are mssing. can you insert them ?

  4. Dr Sant Swami says:

    Thank you 4 this worke. Now everybudy can read these dictionarys.

  5. gopesh says:

    good site

  6. S.Jagannatha says:

    Oh, really wonderful job you have done. In the first volume of Vachaspatya, only 51(In computer 219)pages I can open and not the rest. What is the reason?

    • bharateeya says:

      Jagannatha,

      To check the link, I downloaded and opened the file just now. All pages are opening. May be, there was some problem when you downloaded it and the file got corrupted. Pl download it again. It should be okay.

      • bharateeya says:

        Jagannatha,

        You are right, the file was incomplete. I have replaced it with a complete version of the book. I have also revised the download link.

        Thank you for pointing out this deficiency.

  7. Dr. SK Dwivedi says:

    Some one is transcripting this most important work in Roman from the Devnagar script… almost V volumes is close to finish.. and its is available shorty to the scholars of Sanskrit Words..

    • VSTSayee says:

      Could you please provide more details of this work – who is working on this and what is the current status?

      Regards,
      Sayee.

      • bharateeya says:

        Sayee,

        Both the dictionaries were written around 150 years ago by Sanskrit scholars from Bengal. More details about these books and their authors are there inside the book. Please download at least one volume and read the introductions and prefaces.

        These are not ongoing projects. I read somewhere that Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (New Delhi) has brought out a CD-ROM of “Sabdakalpadruma”. You may contact them via their website for more details.

    • VSTSayee says:

      I have purchased these two dictionaries few years ago from Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. I am asking for the details of the transcription work Dr. SK Dwivedi mentioned above.

      Regards,
      Sayee.

    • girish says:

      Hi,
      did we get the response from Dr.SK Dwivedi on translation of shabdakalpadhrumah into roman (english)? Do we know who is doing it and if it available either in book form or online?

      Thanks
      Girish

      • bharateeya says:

        Girish

        I didn’t get any response from Dr Dwivedi. If you are interested in Sanskrit dictionary software containing Sabdakalpadruma and Vachaspatyam, they are available at http://www.aupasana.com/stardict

        The above Sanskrit lexicon softwares can be installed on PC, laptop, ipad or android phones.

  8. Sreekanth gurupadham says:

    This is Very helpfull.

  9. B.V.Subramanian says:

    Legibility is poor probably because it is an old publication

    • bharateeya says:

      Subramanian,

      I agree with you. These rare books were published first almost 100 years back and what we have on here is their scan made available by Digital Library of India. I have read that these books were recently re-published by Rasthriya Sanskrit Sansthan. I have not seen them; I heard from a friend that they have used the old typesetting – may be considering the difficulty of typesetting and proof-reading thousands of pages.

      • Respected Subramanian Sir, I am very much glad in getting your kind reply. I am a lover of our very ancient literature. I request to you to kindly arrange and make it Convenient forme to get all the six volumes Of VAchaspathyam by downloading through Snooks PDF files of iPad free of cost !!! Thank you,

      • Surya Venkitesh says:

        Vande guru parambaram. What a divine work. Thank you very much.

  10. why don’t you allow us to read your dictionary!

    • bharateeya says:

      Kashish Gidwani,

      I am not able to understand your question. All the books (5 volumes of Sabda Kalpadruma & 6 volumes of Vachaspatyam) mentioned in the post are available for download. I think you did not notice the download links. Please look for the download links and click on them to download the dictionaries. Also, please write to me in case you come across any difficulty.

  11. Pandit PP. says:

    Appriciable attempt in favour of Sankrit Seva..

  12. Pandit PP. says:

    संस्कृति एवं संस्कृत की उत्तम सेवा के लिए धन्यवाद…

  13. Your service to sanskrit is very great.Congratulations.

  14. Thank you very much. I have been waiting for “Vaachaspatyam” -all volumes. I got here
    ok goodluck
    sampath kumar Medavarapu

    • bharateeya says:

      Sampathji,

      I am glad that you visited my blog and were benefited by my humble efforts. I have visited your folder at scribd.com and also downloaded some rare books from there.

  15. Deepak says:

    thanks alot for your precious services

  16. yashwant singh jadoun says:

    Respected sir,
    kindly suggest me some good books on initial learning of sanskrit language,thanks
    regards

  17. Sharath Bhat says:

    Thanks for Shabdakalpadruma

  18. venkat says:

    Sir,

    Namaste.May the lord bestow you all with health,peace and glory as these are sustained efforts whose worth would be realized not just by reading but by AbhyAsA with Bhakthi.The soul is self luminous as it is, but few of us realize in our precious lives.These would be the cornerstone on which we would leave indriyAs behind and attain NirvAnA.”JantUnAm Narajanma Durlabham”.SarveshAm Mangalam Bhavathu.

    Om Sri Hari

  19. Gopal Sharma says:

    Can post all CBSE Sanskrit Books here .

    • bharateeya says:

      Gopal Sharmaji,

      We cannot post them without permission from CBSE Board. It is not an easy task. The goal of this blog is to make available Sanskrit books in public domain. It is good to focus on that.

  20. iragavarapu narasimhacharya says:

    Yours is a memorable and remarkable service to the cause of Sanskrit.
    Heart-felt Congratulations.

  21. amiya kumar satpati says:

    It’s an amusing site to download all of our necessary books. thank you all for giving us this type of facility…………..

  22. Sumod Acharya says:

    Dear Sir,
    I need the Vaidik Padanukrama Kosha
    Can you help me?

  23. ketan says:

    how to download..?

  24. krishna.s.katavker says:

    whare can i get to down load mahabharata, ramayana, puranas, 108 upanisheds

  25. R.N.Iyengar says:

    This is great help for research workers and lovers of our ancient culture.
    Keep up the good work. I have downloaded Shabdkalpadruma and found many interesting information hitherto not known or not easily available.

    • bharateeya says:

      Iyengarji,

      Glad to know that you liked this blog. Thanks for visiting this blog and also for your kind words of appreciation.

  26. Ashok Kumar Sahu says:

    Sir, Namaskar,
    I am post Graduate in English Litrature.It was through this western language that I was ignited and attracted to the language of Sanskrit Lexicon ,language and Literature.Your efforts to provide the desired literature is laudable.I wish you all my best wishes and that the Sanskrit language of Rishi/Muni may rule the world.
    I am also greatful to Rishi Dayanand Saraswati who opened the vista of VEdas and Sanskrit to all mankind.

    Ashok Kumar Sahu,
    Advocate,
    High Court,
    Lucknow,U.P.,India
    Dated:07.04.2013

    • bharateeya says:

      Sahuji,

      Glad to know that you like this blog. I am also an admirer of Maharshi Dayanand. I have read his Satyarthaprasha and some other works.

  27. gurudas menon says:

    I am glad that our Samskr’tham language preservation is done wisely.

  28. manubhai parmar says:

    very usefull

  29. Anantha.B.G. says:

    Namaste.
    I want shabdakalpadruma and vachaspatyam on my mobile. pls guide me how to get it.

  30. Pankaj Kumar Chaubey says:

    sir
    please tell me the proper meaning of “Kanishk”…word origin and its meaning…
    is it a sanskrit word or not?

  31. Eliezer Talkar says:

    I am really happy to know about this site. I learnt sanskrit in the year 1970-71. I am interested to learn subhashitas.

  32. Chetan says:

    Would like thank all for making effort to bring back Sanskrit to front, engaging people to learn.

  33. uma kumar says:

    i want an essay on rakshabandhan festival written in sanskrit

  34. Srinivasa Iyengar K. S. says:

    Very useful. Many Thanks.
    I am interested in 1)Vasudeva Samhita 2) Pranava Kalpa Druma 3) ghanta swadurachana. If you can kindly help me in locating these books, I will be very very greatful.
    Fortunate and blessed are those who work for sanskrit. It is a DEVA BHASHA and leads us to DEVADIDEVA
    NAMASKARAM

    • bharateeya says:

      Iyengarji,

      It would be easier for me to locate these books if you could provide their bibliographical details such as author, publisher, year of publication, etc.

  35. chhaya pandey says:

    thank u very much for exilent collection of sanskrit books

  36. mahesh bhat says:

    wonderful site

  37. Manik Apte says:

    Hari om,
    Thank you for providing me the dictionary. It was really helpful to me. I was searching since many days for a site where I could get ancient sanskrit literature.But now I think my search is completed. Its really appreciable work.

  38. Manik Apte says:

    Hari Om
    Thank you for providing the dictionary. I was searching since many days for a site where I could get ancient sanskrit literature. But I feel now that my search is completed.The work is really appreciable.Thanks once again.

  39. Pavamana Holavanahalli says:

    Thanks very much for this excellent effort. This is truly amazing to find almost anything you need here. That said, I am still in search of a commentary on any of kalidasa’s kavya which are student oriented (MandopakaariNi, with word by word meaning). If you come across any such book please do let me know.
    Thanks.

  40. Dr. ashutosh jha says:

    Old books of sanskrit vyakaran and Josh books bit comentry should be added

  41. Shyam Dambal says:

    sir

    I want to teach sanskrit to my eight year old son.
    Please suggest books which are available for download from the internet.

    Namaskar
    Shyam Dambal
    09923133033

  42. Hemmadi says:

    Hi,

    for last two days I am trying to download shabd Kalpadruma volumes… but it’s showing”server nt found”..

    Can you help?

    with regards

    • bharateeya says:

      Hemmadi,

      I checked Sabda Kalpadruma links just now. They are working. If you are not able to download them, you may have to contact your system administrator.

  43. Hemmadi says:

    Respected Sir,

    I have downloaded the volumes of Vachaspatyam & shabd-lakp-druma (except vol 5) .

    the script seems to be having BENGALI alphabets MIXED along WITH DEVANAGARI alphabets.

    Are there any NEW EDITIONS of these books available which have COMPLETE DEVANAGARI script?

    regards

    • bharateeya says:

      Hemmadi,

      I don’t know about modern print versions of Vachaspatyam & Sabda Kalpadruma. (None of the reprints are newly typeset). Best option is to use dict files of Vachaspatyam & Sabda Kalpadruma available at http://www.aupasana.com/stardict which can be installed in computers, pads or mobile phones. Additional advantage is that they have searchable text, which can be copied and pasted anywhere in email, articles & books.

  44. ravindranathmachavolu says:

    the book is very good i want to read

  45. ravindranathmachavolu says:

    sir I am sanskrit lecturer I want down load sabda kalpa druma

  46. Hemmadi says:

    Respected sir,

    thanks for the help..

    I am looking for some good book on
    (1) amarakosh with COMMENTARY & with its English/Hindi translation
    (2) Ramashrami teeka with English/Hindi translation

    (3)is the book “bruhad dhatu kusumakar” available? I tried to check on web.

    with regards

    • bharateeya says:

      Hemmadi,

      Various editions of Amarakosa are available at https://archive.org/details/AmaraKosha
      I have not come across English translation of Ramasrami tika anywhere on the internet. It is not listed at worldcat.org too.
      Brihad Dhatu Kusumakara is a recent publication and is copyrighted. Please do not request for soft copies of copyrighted books. It is against the policy of this blog.

  47. Hemmadi says:

    Respected Sir,

    I have been going thru Vachaspatyam….

    Most of the words have texts with that word…names of that reference books appear in abbreviation …

    BUT I couldnt find the list of these “abbreavaition & the full name of book” eg. “Kumaa.” is “kumaarasambhav”.

    Can you please guide me regarding this.

    with regards,

  48. kanakavalli says:

    बहुसन्तोषः जातः यत् शब्दकल्पद्रुमः तथा वाचस्पत्यसदृशी निघण्टुः अत्र उपलभ्यते । यदि शक्यते Monier Willem’s Dictionary अप्यत्र उपलभ्यते चेत् वरं भवति ।

  49. Japesh says:

    I want to download Shabda-kalpa-druma as well as Vachaspatyam. But I am getting this message:

    QUOTE

    Sify
    Web page blocked
    The requested url is blocked, based on the blocking Instruction order received from the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India.

    UNQUOTE

    Please let me know why this page is blocked by the Govt.

    • bharateeya says:

      Japesh,

      I checked the download links of Sabdakalpadruma and Vachaspatam just now. All links are working.

  50. Sanskrit sahitya ka itihas

  51. sivanandan p says:

    Respected Sir,
    Let me know the detailed meaning of skanda as according to niruktha and vyakarana vakya vigraha.

    Thanking to the lotus feet,

    sivanandan

    • bharateeya says:

      Sivanandan, I could not find any entry for Skanda in Nirukta. Valmiki Ramayana provides the following explanation for the name Skanda (courtesy: http://valmiki.iitk.ac.in).

      स्कन्द इत्यब्रुवन् देवा: स्कन्नं गर्भपरिस्रवात्।।1.37.27।।
      कार्तिकेयं महाभागं काकुत्स्थ ज्वलनोपमम्।

      Translation: काकुत्स्थ O Rama, ज्वलनोपमम् equal to flaming fire, महाभागम् very fortunate, गर्भपरिस्रवात् embryo from womb, स्कन्नम् descended, कार्तिकेयम् Karthikeya, स्कन्द: इति will be known as Skanda, देवा: devatas, अब्रुवन् spoke.

      O scion of the Kakusthas, Karttikeya lustrous like flaming fire, was very fortunate Descended from the womb of the Ganga, he is named Skanda by the gods.
      ——————–
      You may post your query at Samskrita Google Group – https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/samskrita or Bharativa Vidvat Parishat Google group – https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/bvparishat

      Scholars of the above groups will surely provide you more detailed reply to your query.

  52. srinidhi says:

    namaskara IS chaturvargachintamani pdf is available ?

  53. deep says:

    ohhhh god sanskritttttttttttttttttttt !!

  54. Y S KUMAR says:

    Could any one inform how our country came to be known as BHARATAVARSHA. What does VARSHA indicate here?

  55. M L N Gowtham Sarma says:

    Hi there…

    can i get pdf of any link of “brahmakarma samuchchaya (hiranyakeseya)” of Nirnaya sagar press
    please

  56. Suvo Chakraborty says:

    Namaskar.can i have satapath brahmain in bengali

  57. g.swamy prasad says:

    very useful to sanskrit learners and readers

  58. രാജേഷ്പണിക്കർ says:

    സാർ,

    തന്ത്രവാർത്തികം , ശ്ലോകവാർത്തികം എന്നീ മീമാംസാഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങൾക്ക് മലയാളവ്യാഖ്യാനം ലഭ്യമാണോ

  59. s umapathi says:

    sir i badly require a very rear book namely ‘shabdarnavam’ by vaschpati . i am a professor at madras sanskrit college. i badly require this book can u pls help me.

    • bharateeya says:

      Sir, I think Vachaspati’s Sabdarnava was only partially published in 3 or 4 parts in ‘Journal of American Oriental Society’ by Robert Birwe between 1965 and 1968. Copies of these journals should be available in your University library.

      In case you are sure that this kosa is published in complete, please provide its publication details. I will try to locate it.

  60. Pandit Srikant nanda says:

    I am glad to inform that u are very very thankful for providing this book and links .Please give the link or provide the books for our necessity(Viswamitra Sahmita in sanskrit)and like these ancient vedic and culture books. thanks.

  61. Balubhai Thoriya says:

    Sir,
    Namaste .For the following volumes The URL is banned.
    This type of block is occurred. What I have to download them.
    Sabd kalp- Vol . 2, 3 & 5
    Vacasp- Vol. 2,3,4,5,&6
    Please help me.

    • bharateeya says:

      I checked the links. They are working. Some setting in your PC/device is causing the problem. Try from some other computer.

  62. Surajratan nathani says:

    Dear sir I am looking for a book which contains ten thousands name of Lord Shiva I had this book I lost it I gave this book to one Telugu lady for translation She did this in Hindi language and in Hindi Alphabetical order i e from aa to obtain. She did this in two parts Ist part content 2500 names from aa to ta (which I lost) 2nd part of Hindi Alphabetical order 7500 names are with me is tatwatatwavivekatwane Naman to khyemakaray namaha Sir what I want is 1st 2500 names or this book which have all 10000 Names of Lord Shiva, please find and let me know about this, I thank you very much, Yours sincerely Surajratan Nathani

    • bharateeya says:

      Sir, I have sent mail to you in reply to this.

      • Surajratan nathani says:

        dear sir, i by mistake gave you a wrong email address of mine therefore I am sending you my new email address along with my mobile no.(0930037788) if you need to contact me any further. I have made several mistakes in my previous post and I request you to neglect them and read them duly corrected. Please send your reply email again. Thanking you for your anticipation and help.

  63. E V S N MURTHY says:

    very good work. most useful to students and scholars of Sanskrit. All volumes downloaded. thank you.

  64. Pe Traz says:

    Dear sirs,

    i would like to paint a picture for my children with their names on it an the “Om Kumara Kushalo Dayayei Namaha” mantra.
    To do this, i would like to paint this mantra in Sanskrit.
    But i can`t find any template in sanskrit writing.
    Can yuo help me an show me the rigt sanskrit writing for this mantra?
    Thanks in advance

  65. ओम माथुर says:

    आपकी सेवा को कोटिशः धन्यवाद !!!

    मुझे कृषिपाराशर पुस्तक संस्कृत-हिंदी में चाहिये

  66. आशीष कुमार 'आर्त says:

    If was searching for शुकसप्तति(shukasaptati) in sanskrit but could not find. From where I can find it

  67. DKM Kartha says:

    Have you all seen this online resource: http://www.upasanayoga.org/docs/VacD.htm

  68. Shree Janajagriti Basic school says:

    good

  69. prabhavathi devi ayyagari says:

    dear sirs,
    namaamsi bhooyaamsi.
    please give me an opportunity to have and read some dictionaries
    sabda kalpadrumam,and vachasptyam.how can i get them

  70. Zerry says:

    Pranam Sir,

    Please provide authentic copy of All Ved and Puran in Sanskrit Only. Please sir mail me at zerrysagar@gmail.com

  71. Shyma says:

    Sir, could you pls help me to get the sanskrit guide for 5th grade for my son. His book name is khan manjusha sanskrit paattyapustak bhaagh 1

  72. Shyma says:

    Sorry , the book name is kjnan manjusha sanskrit paattyapustak bhag 1

  73. rajeshwari says:

    sir, is mankha-kosha available?

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