Amarakosha

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The Amarakosha (Devanagari: अमरकोशः , IAST: Amarakośaḥ , ISO: Amarakōśaḥ) is the popular name for Namalinganushasanam (Devanagari: नामलिङ्गानुशासनम् , IAST: Nāmaliṅgānuśāsanam, ISO: Nāmaliṅgānuśāsanam, which means "instruction concerning nouns and gender") a thesaurus in Sanskrit written by the ancient Indian scholar Amarasimha.^[1] The name Amarakosha derives from the Sanskrit words amara ("immortal") and kosha ("treasure, casket, pail, collection, dictionary").

According to Arthur Berriedale Keith, this is one of the oldest extant Sanskrit lexicons (kosha).^[1] According to Keith, Amarasiṃha, who possibly flourished in the 6th century, " knew the Mahāyāna and used Kālidāsa."^[1]

The author himself mentions 18 prior works, but they have all been lost. There have been more than 40 commentaries on the Amarakosha.