The Desinamamala of Hemacandra by Muralidhar Banerjea

Summary

1. Hemacandra and the Desinamamala: - Hemacandra, a Jaina monk (1088-1172 AD), composed the Desinamamala during the reign of King Kumarapala of Anahillapura (Pattana). This work is a collection of Prakrit words (desi) and their Sanskrit equivalents. Hemacandra's methodology for selecting words was based on a principle of economy, aiming to provide a practical, not philological, approach to lexicography. - The work's name evolved through various interpretations; while Desinamamala is preferred by scholars for its clarity, earlier manuscripts used other titles such as Desifabdasamgraha. - Hemacandra's scope for "desi" words was clearly outlined to exclude words derived by grammatical rules or those found in Sanskrit dictionaries, focusing on long-standing Prakrit words. 2. Philosophy Behind the Selection of Words: - Hemacandra excluded "desi" roots from the work, despite their inclusion by predecessors, because they were already covered in his grammar. He focused on words that were common in Prakrit but absent in Sanskrit, with an emphasis on practical application rather than historical or philological accuracy. - The inclusion of many tadbhava (Sanskrit-derived) words was a deliberate choice, made to popularize the work and serve readers familiar with Prakrit but not Sanskrit. 3. Criticisms and Clarifications: - Hemacandra faced criticism for including tadbhava words and omitting certain desi terms, but he defended his approach by explaining that these choices were intentional, grounded in the need to make the work more accessible and relevant to his audience. - His work was compared with Pawlacchinamamala by Dhanapala, a predecessor, who also used practical criteria in his lexicon. However, Hemacandra's work was more systematic and methodically explained. 4. Content Structure: - The Desinamamala is written in Prakrit gathas (verses), with Sanskrit equivalents for each desi word provided in the commentary. The text is divided into 8 sections (vargas) based on the initial letters of words. - The total word count in the text and commentary is 3978, with illustrative gathas numbering 782. 5. Authors and Works Quoted: Hemacandra cites about fifty authors and eighty-one works in his commentary, offering a comprehensive perspective on Prakrit lexicography. Notable authors mentioned include Abhimana, Avantisundara, Gopala, and Dhanapala. 6. Literary Contribution: The Desinamamala is valuable not only for its linguistic content but also for its contributions to Prakrit lyric poetry, containing stanzas that are comparable to Hala's Sattasal and Bhartrihari's Niti-shataka. These gathas are miniature poems exploring themes such as love, virtue, vice, and religious devotion. 7. Comparisons and Later Works: Hemacandra's Kavyanusasana, another of his significant works on Sanskrit poetics, is compared with Visvanatha's Sahiryadarpana, written 200 years later. This positions Hemacandra as a key figure in the development of classical Sanskrit poetics.