Amarakośa of Amarasiṃha

Amarakośa^[1] (hereafter Amarakośa) of Amarasiṃha is the earliest lexicon available belonging to the 6th C. A.D, followed by the other lexicons mentioned above. Amarakośa is called Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana by the author himself because, along with the synonyms, the genders are also denoted by certain techniques mentioned at the beginning of the work. The Amarakośa itself is a compilation of earlier lexicons and other relevant works, as stated by the author^[2]. He further declares that the words arranged wrongly in earlier lexicons are rearranged by him according to certain principles; also the multitudinous classes unnecessarily sectioned in the earlier lexicons have been shortened by him.

Amarakośa is divided into three Kāṇḍas and each Kāṇḍa is further divided into various Vargas or groups. The first Kāṇḍa is classified into nine Vargas–Svar, Vyoma-dig, Kāla, Dhī, Śabdādi, Nāṭya, Pātālabhogi, Naraka and Vāri; the second Kāṇḍa is again divided into ten sections–Bhūmi, Pura, Śaila, Vanauṣadhi, Siṃhādi, Nṛ, Brahma, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra; and the third Kāṇḍa is divided into five Vargas–Viśeṣyanighna, Saṅkīrṇa, Nānārtha, Avyaya and Liṅgādisaṅgraha.

The contents of Amarakośa show that as the alternative name of the lexicon Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana indicates, it deals with names and genders; in addition it draws from medical and botanical Nighaṇṭus also. In the portion on synonyms various names of particular object or animal or a class of objects and its related terms are presented in succession. The portion on homonymns is arranged in the order of the final consonants. A separate chapter is allowed for indeclinables; and the last portion is dedicated to the determination of genders.