Hemacandra, Abhidhānacintāmaṇi (ABCH)
ABCH is Hemacandrācārya's Abhidhānacintāmaṇi — one of the most celebrated synonym
dictionaries (kośa) in the Sanskrit tradition. Unlike a bilingual dictionary, it is a
versified thesaurus: it groups the synonyms of a concept together, arranged by subject
sections (kāṇḍa). It is a Jain work (the first section treats the Arhat / Jina).
At a glance
| Code | ABCH (source in csl-orig/v02/abch; no separate repo) |
| Full title | Abhidhānacintāmaṇi |
| Author | Hemacandrācārya |
| Size | ~58 pages (xiv+58) |
| Type | Synonym kośa (Sanskrit, in verse) |
| Accents | No |
| Source | csl-orig/v02/abch/ |
| Open | Basic · List · Advanced · Mobile |
| Data | Downloads |
| csl-doc | abch.rst |
When to use it
Reach for ABCH to find the classical synonyms of a word, or to read the kośa tradition
directly. It answers "what are the Sanskrit words for X?" rather than "what does X mean in
English." For meanings in English use Monier-Williams (MW). See also the
supplement (ACPH) and gleanings (ACSJ) to this kośa, and the larger
modern kośas SKD / VCP.
Looking up a word
Open the Basic display, pick your input/output transliteration (see Encoding & Transliteration), and type a word — you land in the synonym group that contains it. See Search & Display.
Reading an entry
Each entry is a synonym group (<syns>) for one concept, followed by the verse that
states them; the section is named in <info kvvv>. The first entry — synonyms of the Arhat
(csl-orig/v02/abch/abch.txt):
<L>1<pc>5
<info kvvv="<s>devADidevakARqaH</s>"/>
<eid>1<syns><s>arhan-puM,jina-puM,pAragata-puM,trikAlavit-puM,…</s>
<s>arhaYjinaH pAragatastrikAlavitkzIRAzwakarmA paramezWyaDISvaraH .</s>
| In the source | Meaning |
|---|---|
<info kvvv="…devADidevakARqaH"> | the subject section (kāṇḍa) — here "of gods" |
<eid>1 | the entry id |
<syns><s>arhan-puM, jina-puM, …</s> | the synonyms (each tagged with gender, e.g. -puM = masculine) |
the line of <s>…</s> verse | the original verse stating those synonyms |
See Data Formats for the markup reference.
What makes it distinctive
- A synonym thesaurus, in verse. Groups the Sanskrit words for a concept, by section.
- The classic Jain kośa by Hemacandra — with its own supplement and gleanings.
Headword key conventions
ABCH is a synonym thesaurus, not an alphabetical headword dictionary. There is no single <k1> key per entry — search matches synonyms listed inside <syns>. Entries are grouped by subject section (<info kvvv> gives the kāṇḍa name); each group is identified by a sequential <eid> number.
| Convention | Marker / form | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject section | <info kvvv="…"> | <info kvvv="…devADidevakARqaH"> | The thematic kāṇḍa (here "of gods") |
| Entry id | <eid>N | <eid>1 | Identifies the synonym group, not an alphabetical key |
| Synonym list | <syns><s>word-gender, …</s> | <s>arhan-puM,jina-puM,…</s> | Gender codes: -puM masc., -klI neut., -strI fem. |
| Search | Search on any synonym to find its group | type jina to reach the Arhat entry | There is no single alphabetical headword to look up |
Abbreviations
No machine-readable abbreviation list yet; the legend lives in the scanned front matter. View front matter →
See also
- Abhidhānacintāmaṇi-pariśiṣṭa (ACPH) · Abhidhānacintāmaṇi-śiloñcha (ACSJ) — its supplement and gleanings
- Abhidhānaratnamālā (ARMH) · Nāmamālikā (NMMB) — other synonym kośas · SKD / VCP — the large modern kośas
- The full catalog · csl-doc abch.rst