The Concise English-Sanskrit Dictionary

The aim in the preparation of this work has all along been to express accurately in simple and classical Sanskrit the various senses of all common words and phrases collected from well-known and upto date English Dictionaries, care being taken not to overload the work with words which as ordinary reader of English is hardly expected to come across in the course of his reading. Thus this work is of two fold: Firstly, incorporating new English words and phrases and finding suitable Sanskrit equivalents for them - a work of peculiar difficulty, and secondly, of eschewing those which have either become obsolete or which being purely technical are used only in philosophical or scientific treatises. Several ways of compressing words into a small volume, such as syllabic replacement and super-addition has therefore to be resorted to. This work will be useful to the students and ordinary writers of vernaculars who may have to run for suitable Sanskrit word or expression when a common English word presents a difficulty in its translation into a vernacular.

Preface

The idea of compiling an upto-date English-Sanskrit Dictionary for High-school and College students had suggested itself to me while I was engaged in preparing the Crown Sanskrit-English Dictionary. I was fully conscious of the various difficulties attending such attempt, but the prospective pleasure of doing some little service to the rising generation of students overcame all fears which were at first deterring me from undertaking the work.

It cannot be said that the market is over-flooded with English-Sanskrit Dictionaries. Two or three lexicons of more or les ambitions nature are no doubt already in the field, but they were prepared ages ago and much water has flowed under the bridge since they first made their appearance. Moreover their high prices have placed them completely beyond the reach of students. The only work, so far as I know, prepared with a view to meet the requirements of High school and College students is that of the late Principal V.S. Apte, M.A., of the Ferguson College, Poona, prepared some thirty years ago. This excellent work also has now become antiquated and is no longer able to satisfy the growing wants of the student world. Many new worlds and phrases have gained currency in English literature in recent times and the cry for an upto-date and concise handy English-Sanskrit Dictionary is ever growing. Thus it was with the object of keeping pace with the times and of combining usefulness with cheapness that the present work was undertaken and I leave it to those competent to judge to pronounce to what extent the object is achieved.

The aim in the preparation of this work has all along been to express accurately in simple and classical Sanskrit the various senses of all common words and phrases collected from well-known and upto-date English Dictionaries, care being taken not to overload the work with words which an ordinary reader of English is hardly expected to come across in the course of his reading. Thus my work was two-fold: firstly, incorporating new English words and phrases and finding suitable Sanskrit equivalents for them-a work of peculiar difficulty, and secondly, of eschewing those which have either become obsolete or which being purely technical are used only in philosophical or scientific treatises. This was inevitable if it was intended to make the present dictionary really serviceable to students and ordinary writers of vernaculars. Several ways of compressing words into a small volume, such as syllabic replacement and super-addition had therefore to be resorted to. This I am sure has enhanced the usefulness of the work without sacrificing to any appreciable extent, the convenience of those who may have to use this dictionary.

In compiling the present work my labours were limited chiefly to the following points viz:

(i) Selection of words and phrases- In regard to this I have been principally guided by the principle of utility both in its literary and practical aspects. In discharging this part of the work I have spared no pains in finding the most suitable expressions already current in Sanskrit literature; but where these were not available I have boldly faced the difficult situation by coining new expressions in consultation with the best scholars of Sanskrit in all parts of India.

(ii) Compound words and phrases- Particular care has been takento introduce a fairly large number of compound words, phrases and idioms in common use. This was necessary, as meanings of words often change materially when they are used along with certain other words, and in case of phrases and idioms it is unnecessary to add how meanings of words sometimes change beyond recognition in the English language.

(iii) Arrangement:- In this work words have been arranged in the usual alphabetical order, except in cases, where for the purpose of condensation it was found necessary to usher in a compound word under its first member by joining the second to it with a hyphen. This, it is hoped, will not cause any practical inconvenience, as the compound sought for may be readily found under the first member of the compound. In very rare cases I have carried this device of compression to an extreme, where I have given a number of words carrying a well-known prefix under that prefix instead of entering them in their own alphabetical place. But such cases are very rare, and considering my necessity they will, I hope, be condoned.

(iv) Orthography:- In point of orthography of Sanskrit words I have mostly followed Principal Apte, the being freely used when according to the street rules of Sanskrit grammar a Nasal would have been more appropriate. In case of nouns, the forms of nominative singular are given. In the case of adjectives, the simple base in given as they take different forms according as they are used along with nouns of different genders. These and other innovations of a similar character had to be made for the purpose of preventing the growth of the bulk of the book.

It will not be out of place here to draw the attention of readers to the Appendix, which constitutes a peculiar feature of this dictionary. No English-Sanskrit dictionary extant, as far as I know, gives Sanskrit equivalents for words and phrases which are taken bodily into English literature from Latin, Greek, French and foreign tongues, and which form an important factor of graceful and high-class English. I have spared no pains in finding out suitable Sanskrit expressions conveying their full sense, and in some cases I have been able to exact parallels for them from Sanskrit literature. My efforts in this direction, I trust, will be fully appreciated.

Before closing this preface I must frankly state that the present work does by no means pretend to offer help to the scholar engaged in the work of translating into Sanskrit, but it is intended to meet the want of High School and College students, and ordinary writers of vernaculars who may have to run for a suitable Sanskrit word or expression when a common English word presents a difficulty in its translation into a vernacular.

I cannot conclude this preface without acknowledging my indebtedness to previous workers in this field, such as Monier Willims, Ananadram Borooah, Principal V.S. Apte, M. A. and other scholars whose valuable works I have freely drawn on in the preparation of this dictionary. I must also acknowledge the material help given by my friend, Mr. Govind B. Modak, Jagannath Shanker Seth Scholar and teacher of Sanskrit in the New English school, Poona, whose wide reading of Sanskrit literature and experience of teaching Sanskrit were taken advantage of by me in the early portion of this dictionary.