Meanings of upasargas in Sanskrit

[Guest guest]

The most detailed meanings of the upasargas (prefixes) in Sanskrit are found in

the daNDanAtha-vRtti (11th or 12th c. AD) of the grammatical work

"sarasvatiikaNThAbharaNa" of Bhojadeva. Please refer also to

"nipaataartha-nirNayaH" by Dr harishcandramaNi tripaaThii, sampuurNaananda

saMskRta vishvavidyaalaya, vaaraaNasii, pp.165-186.

 

Sl.No. upasarga No. of meanings

------ -------- ---------------

1. pra 33

2. paraa 17

3. apa 23

4. sam 33

5. anu 30

6. ava 35

7. nis(nir) 23

8. dus(dur) 5

9. vi 57

10. aa;n 67

11. ni 36

12. adhi 22

13. prati 33

14. pari 36

15. upa 54

16. ati 20

17. api 17

18. su 4

19. ut 39

20. abhi 35

 

In his autocommentary "bRhannyaasa (shabda-mahaarNava-nyaasa)" on his

grammatical work, hemacandra (12th c. AD) also deals with the meanings of

upasargas. Cf pp.51-54 of "shriisiddha-hemacandra-shabdaanushaasanam", ch.1,

edited by shrii vijayalaavaNya suuri.

 

In his bRhadvRtti on sUtra 3.1.1, hemacandra says:

 

"up to 5 concatenated prefixes are in use --

aa-harati, vyaa-harati, abhi-vyaa-harati, sam-abhi-vyaa-harati,

pra-sam-abhi-vyaa-harati".

 

 

Kind regards.

 

Narayan Prasad