Last updated: Jul 14, 2026

Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary (`BHS`)

BHS is Volume II (the Dictionary) of Franklin Edgerton's Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary (1953). It is the specialist reference for Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit — the non-classical Sanskrit of the Buddhist texts (the Mahāvastu, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Divyāvadāna, Lalitavistara, and others), full of forms a classical dictionary won't list. Its hallmark is that almost every entry triangulates the word against Pali and classical Sanskrit. Glosses are in English.

At a glance


Code	`BHS` (GitHub repo `BHS`)
Full title	Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, Vol. II: Dictionary
Author	Franklin Edgerton
Year / size	1953 · ~634 pages
Direction	Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit → English
Accents	No
Source	`csl-orig/v02/bhs/`
Open	Basic · List · Advanced · Mobile
Data	Downloads
csl-doc	bhs.rst (front matter / abbreviations)

A companion to the Grammar

BHS is the dictionary half of a two-volume work; Volume I is Edgerton's Grammar. Many entries cross-reference it with a section sign — e.g. 〔§ 23.17〕 points to a paragraph of the Grammar, not to a text passage. CDSL digitizes the Dictionary (Vol. II).

When to use it

Reach for BHS when you are reading Buddhist Sanskrit and a word, form, or meaning isn't in Monier-Williams — or looks like a Sanskritized Pali/Prakrit form. It is not a general classical dictionary; for that use:

Monier-Williams (MW) — the broad classical reference.
Apte (AP90/AP) — classical reading with numbered senses.

Use BHS alongside them: it tells you whether a form is shared with Pali, how it relates to a classical Sanskrit counterpart, and where it occurs in the Buddhist canon.

Looking up a word

Open the Basic display, choose your input/output transliteration (see Encoding & Transliteration), and type the headword. The List and Advanced displays browse the index and search inside entries — see Search & Display.

Reading an entry

BHS sets headwords and Sanskrit in {@…@} (bold), English glosses in {%…%} (italic), tags languages with <lang> and literary sources with <ls>, and puts the citation locus in 〔〕 brackets. The entry akampiya "unshakable" (csl-orig/v02/bhs/bhs.txt):

<L>14<pc>001,2<k1>akampiya<k2>akampiya
{@akampiya@}¦, <lex>adj.</lex> (= <lang>Pali</lang> <ab>id.</ab>, <lang>Skt.</lang> ˚pya), {%unshakable%}: <ls>Gv</ls> 〔25.21〕 (<ab>vs</ab>).

In the source	Meaning
`<pc>001,2`	page-column reference (p. 1, col. 2)
`{@akampiya@}`	the headword — the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit form (search key `<k1>` is SLP1)
`<lex>adj.</lex>`	grammatical category (adjective)
`(= <lang>Pali</lang> id., <lang>Skt.</lang> ˚pya)`	the cognate triangulation: identical in Pali; the classical Sanskrit form would be akampya (`˚pya` abbreviates the differing ending)
`{%unshakable%}`	the English gloss
`<ls>Gv</ls> 〔25.21〕`	a Buddhist-text citation — here the Gaṇḍavyūha — with the locus (page.line) in `〔〕`
`(<ab>vs</ab>)`	the passage is in verse (`vs`), as opposed to prose

See Data Formats for the full markup reference, and the csl-doc page for Edgerton's text abbreviations (e.g. Mv = Mahāvastu, SP = Saddharmapuṇḍarīka).

What makes it distinctive

Pali / Sanskrit triangulation. Nearly every entry marks whether the form is shared with Pali (= Pali …) and how it maps to classical Sanskrit — the core scholarly value.
Indexes the Buddhist canon. Citations point into the Mahāvastu, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Divyāvadāna, Mahāvyutpatti, and many more, by abbreviation + locus.
Records non-classical forms. Headwords, meanings, and morphology that MW and Apte omit because they fall outside classical usage.
Bound to a Grammar. The 〔§ …〕 references send you to Vol. I (the Grammar) for the phonological/morphological explanation.

Headword key conventions

<k1> = <k2> = SLP1 (BHS spellings, which often differ from classical Sanskrit). Citation loci use 〔〕 brackets rather than <pc> page references — they point to Buddhist texts and Edgerton's own Grammar.

Convention	Marker / form	Example	Note
Search key	SLP1 — in BHS spelling	`akampiya` (≠ classical akampya)	Headwords reflect BHS phonology — search with the BHS form
Cognate note	`= <lang>Pali</lang>…` / `<lang>Skt.</lang>…`	`= Pali id., Skt. ˚pya`	The defining triangulation: Pali + classical equivalents
Text citation locus	`〔page.line〕` in `〔〕` brackets	`〔25.21〕` = p. 25, l. 21	Differs from the standard CDSL `<pc>` format
Grammar reference	`〔§ N.N〕`	`〔§ 23.17〕`	Points to Edgerton's Grammar (vol. I) section
Verse / prose marker	`(<ab>vs</ab>)` / `(<ab>pr</ab>)`	`(<ab>vs</ab>)`	Whether the cited passage is verse

Abbreviations

source: bhsfm_abbr.txt

Literary sources 230

Show first 60 of 230 abbreviations

AbhidhK.	Abhidharmakośa, transl. LaVallée Poussin, Paris and Louvain, 1923—31; many technical words cited from Index, transl., and notes. References, as in the Index, are to Book (of the original) and page of the translation.
AbhK.	preceding.
AdP Konow MASI	Sten Konow, Central Asian Fragments of the Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikā, in Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 69, 1942. Only a few rare and important words.
AsP	Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, ed. Rajendralala Mitra, Calcutta, 1888.
Av	Avadāna-śataka, ed. Speyer, 2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1902, 1906; transl. Feer, Annales du Musée Guimet 18 (1891).
Bbh	Bodhisattvabhūmi, ed. Wogihara, Tokyo, 1930—36. Includes the editorʼs dissertation, Lexikalisches aus der Bodhisattvabhūmi, which is referred to as Wogihara, Lex.
Bcṭ	Bodhicaryāvatāra-ṭīkā, ed. LaVallée Poussin, Brussels, 1898. Technical terms cited from Index.
Bca.ṭ.	Bodhicaryāvatāra-ṭīkā, ed. LaVallée Poussin, Brussels, 1898. Technical terms cited from Index.
Bhad	Bhadracarī, ed. Watanabe, Leipzig, 1912. Identical with Gv 543.9—548.2. Cited by numbered verses.
Bhīk	Bhikṣunī-karmavācanā, ed. Ridding and LaVallée Poussin, BSOS 1, Part 3, 123—143. Cited by page and line of the manuscript as reproduced in ed.
Buddhac.	Buddhacarita, ed. Johnston, Calcutta, 1935. The language is standard Skt.; a few words, chiefly religious, are cited by chapter and verse.
Calc.	Calcutta; see LV.
Dbh	Daśabhūmikasūtra, ed. Rahder, Paris and Louvain, 1926.
Dbs	Daśabalasūtra, in Waldschmidt, Kl. Skt. Texte 4, 209 ff.
Dharmas	Dharmasaṃgraha, ed. Müller, Oxford, 1885. Cited by section numbers.
Divy	Divyāvadāna, ed. Cowell and Neil, Cambridge, 1886.
Gv	Gaṇḍavyūha, ed. Suzuki and Idzumi, Kyoto, 1934—36; 2d ed., photographically reproduced with corrections, 1949.
Jm	Jātakamālā, ed. Kern (HOS 1), Boston, 1891. Its language is close to standard Skt., but contains quite a number of BHS words, and even a few forms; see § 1.53, fn. 17. Transl. Speyer, London, 1895.
Karmav	(Mahā-)Karmavibhaṅga, and Karmavibhaṅgopadesa, ed. Lévi, Paris, 1932.
Kl. Skt. Texte	Kleinere Sanskrit Texte (5 vols.; Kgl. Preuss. Turfan-Expeditionen), Leipzig (Vol. 1 Berlin), 1911—39.
KP	Kāśyapa Parivarta, ed. Staël-Holstein, Shanghai, 1926. Cited by sections as numbered in edition, and lines.
Kv	Kāraṇḍavyūha, in The Hindu Commentator, vol. 5; 1872.
Laṅk	Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra, ed. Nanjio, Kyoto, 1923; transl. Suzuki, London, 1932; Index, by Suzuki, Kyoto, 1934; ‘Studies’ = Suzuki, Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra, London, 1930.
LV	Lalitavistara, ed. Lefmann, Halle, 1902; Critical Apparatus, 1908; abbreviated Lefm.; ‘Calc.’ = ed. of Rajendralala Mitra, Calcutta, 1877; transl. Foucaux, Annales du Musée Guimet 6, and Notes, 19; Tibetan version (partial), with transl., by Foucaux, Paris, 1847; Weller = F. Weller, Zum Lalita Vistara, I. Über die Prosa des Lal. Vist., Leipzig, 1915.
MadhK	Mūla-Madhyamaka-kārikās, with comm., ed. LaVallée Poussin, St. Petersburg, 1903—1910. Only partially excerpted.
Mahāsamāj.	Mahāsamājasūtra, in Waldschmidt, Kl. Skt. Texte 4.
Māy	Mahā-Māyūrī. Two figures refer to page and line of ed. by Oldenbourg in Zapiski Vostochnago Otdelenija Imp. Russk. Archeol. Obschestva, Tom 11 (1899), 218—261. A single number refers to the numbered lines of ‘Le catalogue géographique des yakṣa dans la Mahā-Māyūrī’, by S. Lévi, JAs. XI. 5 (1915), pp. 1—138.
Megh	Meghasūtra, ed. Bendall, JRAS 1880, 288 ff.
Mmk	(Ārya-)Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, ed. Gaṇapati Śāstri, 3 vols., Trivandrum, 1920, 1922, 1925. See Lalou, in the following list of abbreviations.
MPS	E. Waldschmidt, Das Mahāpariṇirvānasūtra. 3 parts; Abhandlungen der deutschen Akademie…zu Berlin, 1950, 1951. Arrived too late to be extensively used; references are to Waldschmidtʼs numbered divisions.
MSV	Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya; Gilgit Manuscripts, ed. Nalinaksha Dutt, Vol. 3, Parts i (undated), ii (1942), iii (1943), Srinagar, Kashmir. Part iv (1950) arrived late, but its most important words have been included. Unfortunately this valuable series came to hand so late in the progress of my task that I felt it impossible to include Volumes 1 and 2, which seem somewhat less important.
Mv	Mahāvastu, ed. Senart, Paris, 1882, 1890, 1897. The first volume of Jonesʼs translation (London, 1949) appeared, to my regret, too late to be much used (I received it in 1950).
Mvy	Mahāvyutpatti. Cited by numbered entries in ed. of Sakaki, Kyoto, 1916, with Sanskrit and Tibetan Indexes, 1925 and 1936; some variants are cited from Mironov (2d ed. of Minaeff, which is cited in BR and pw), St. Petersburg, 1910—11. Tibetan version cited from Sakaki; also translations of many Chinese and Japanese renderings ibidem.
Prāt	Prātimokṣasūtra des Sarvāstivādins, ed. Finot (with translation of Chinese version by Huber), JAs. XI.2 (1913), 473 ff.
RP	Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā, ed. Finot, St. Petersburg, 1901.
Sādh	Sādhanamālā, ed. Bhattacharya, Baroda, 2 vols., 1925, 1928.
Śāl	Śālistambasūtra, (reconstructed) ed. LaVallée Poussin; Bouddhisme, Études et matériaux, Théorie des douze causes (Gand, 1913), pp. 69—90.
Samādh	Samādhirājasūtra, (1) chapters 8, 19, 22, ed. Régamey, Warsaw, 1938, cited by chapters and numbered sections or verses; (2) ed. Das and Vidyābhūshan (Calcutta, 1896); references (only a few; text incredibly corrupt) cited by page and lien, thus: ‘p. —, line —’.
Saṃy. Āg.	Saṃyuktāgama; fragments from Stein mss. ed. LaVallée Poussin, JRAS 1913, 569 ff.; a few references to numbers of fragments (1—15), followed by r(ecto) or v(erso) when necessary, and line of mss.
Śikṣ	Śikṣāsamuccaya, ed. Bendall, St. Petersburg, 1897—1902; transl. Bendall and Rouse, London, 1922.
SP	Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, ed. Kern and Nanjio, St. Petersburg, 1912, abbreviated KN; supplementary references to ed. of Wogihara and Tsuchida, Tokyo, 1934—35, abbreviated WT; fragments of ‘Kashgar’ or Central Asiatic recension, ed. Thomas and Lüders, ap. Hoernle, MR 133 ff., 144 ff.; others, ed. LaVallée Poussin, JRAS 1911, 1070 ff.; transl. Burnouf (Lotus de la Bonne Loi, Paris, 1852), and Kern (SBE 21, Oxford, 1884). Tibetan citations chiefly from block-print in my possession, partly from WT. When my work was practically ready for print, my colleague Professor Rahder received, and lent to me, the photostatic reproduction of the ms. referred to by WT as Ḱ. It has been cited a very few times. The quotations from it in WT seem to be very inaccurate.
ŚsP	Śatasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, ed. P. Ghoṣa, Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1902 ff.
Sukh	Sukhāvatīvyūha (‘Larger’ and ‘Smaller’), ed. Müller, Oxford, 1883.
Sūtrāl.	Asaṅga, Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkāra, ed. and transl. Lévi, Bibliothèque de lʼÉcole des Hautes Études, 159 and 190, Paris, 1907, 1911. The language is standard Skt., but the text and Léviʼs notes are important for the understanding of many technical terms. Cited by chapter and verse (with commentary after each verse).
Suv	Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra, ed. Nobel, Leipzig, 1937; Tibetan version, ed. same, Leiden and Stuttgart, 1944.
Ud	Udānavarga; chap. 1—21, ed. Chakravarti (1930; except ch. 4, for which see Lévi, JAs. X. 20, 1912, 203 ff.); ch. 29, ed. Pischel, SBBA 1908, 968 ff.; ch. 30, 31, 32, ed. LaVallée Poussin, JRAS 1912, 369 ff. Cited by chapter and verse.
Vaj	Vajracchedikā, ed. Müller, Oxford, 1881; fragments of Central Asiatic version, ed. Pargiter, ap. Hoernle MR 179 ff.
AB	Aitareya Brāhmaṇa.
Abhidh-s.	Abhidhammatthasaṃgaha (Pali).
ABORI	Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (Poona).
Add.	Addendum, Addenda (e.g. to BR, pw).
AIS	Delbrück, Altindische Syntax.
Ait. Br.	Aitareya Brāhmaṇa.
AKM	Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
Amarak.	Amarakośa.
AN	Aṅguttaranikāya (Pali).
Ap.	Apabhraṃśa; Apadāna (Pali text).
App.	Appendix.
ApŚ.	Apastamba Śrauta Sūtra.
Apte	Apte, Studentʼs Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1922).

+ 170 more — see the full list in the source file

Grammatical & general 122

Show first 60 of 122 abbreviations

(Hoernle) MR	Hoernle (general editor), Manuscript Remains of Buddhist literature found in Eastern Turkestan, Oxford, 1916. BHS fragments ed. by Hoernle, Lüders, Pargiter, Thomas.
abl.	ablative.
abstr.	abstract.
acc.	according; accusative.
act.	active; action.
adj.	adjective.
al.	alibi, elsewhere.
analog.	analogical(ly).
aor.	aorist.
ap.	apud.
app.	apparently.
assoc.	associated.
B.	Buddha.
caus.	causative.
cf.	compare.
ch., chap.	chapter.
comb.	combination.
comm.	commentary.
comp.	composition.
compv.	comparative.
corr.	correct(s), correction.
corresp.	correspondent, corresponding, corresponds.
cpd.	compound.
crit. app.	critical apparatus.
dat.	dative.
def.	definition.
denom.	denominative.
der(iv).	derived, derivative.
dial.	dialectic.
diff.	different.
dim.	diminutive.
ed.	editor, edition.
em.	emended, emendation.
ep.	epithet.
equiv.	equivalent.
erron.	erroneously.
etym.	etymology.
esp.	especially.
exc.	except.
expl.	explained, explanation.
f.	feminine; following.
fem.	feminine.
ff.	following.
fig.	figurative(ly).
fn.	footnote.
foll.	followed (by); following.
fut.	future.
gdve.	gerundive.
gen.	genitive.
ger.	gerund.
haplogr.	haplography.
haplol.	haplology.
ifc.	at the end of compounds.
impf.	imperfect.
impv.	imperative.
incl.	including, inclusive.
indecl.	indeclinable.
indic.	indicative.
inf.	infinitive.
inst., instr.	instrumental.

+ 62 more — see the full list in the source file

At a glance​

When to use it​

Looking up a word​

Reading an entry​

What makes it distinctive​

Headword key conventions​

Abbreviations​

See also​