Nyāyakośa (`NYBJ`)

NYBJ is the Nyāyakośa — "dictionary of technical terms of Indian philosophy" — the principal reference for Nyāya-school vocabulary, composed by Mahāmahopādhyāya Bhīmācārya Jhalakīkara (third edition, 1928; revised and re-edited by Mahāmahopādhyāya Vāsudev Shāstrī Abhyāṅkar). It defines 2,479 technical terms from the Nyāya-sūtras of Gautama and the later logical literature — in Sanskrit, with the definitions attributed to the schools that use the terms.

At a glance


Code	`NYBJ` (source in `csl-orig/v02/nybj`; no separate repo)
Full title	Nyāyakośa or Dictionary of Technical Terms of Indian Philosophy
Author	Mahāmahopādhyāya Bhīmācārya Jhalakīkara; re-edited by Mahāmahopādhyāya Vāsudev Shāstrī Abhyāṅkar
Year / size	1928 (third edition, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona) · ~1,154 pages · 2,479 records
Direction / language	Technical terms of Indian philosophy; definitions in Sanskrit
Accents	No
Source	`csl-orig/v02/nybj/` · scan (Internet Archive)
Open	Basic · List · Advanced · Mobile
Data	Downloads
Digital edition	Ed. Dr. Dhaval Patel (University of Cologne, 2026)

note

Unlike most CDSL dictionaries, NYBJ's web application lives under a 2026 path (/scans/NYBJScan/2026/web/…), not the usual 2020. There is no csl-doc page for it yet.

When to use it

Reach for NYBJ when a philosophical term — akarmaka, anumāna, akṣara — is used in a darśana text and you need its definition as the tradition gives it, not a translator's gloss. Its definitions name the schools (Nyāya, Vedānta, Mādhyamika, Vallabha…) whose usage they follow. It complements Vācaspatyam (VCP) — the encyclopedic kośa — with a tighter, Sanskrit-only treatment of philosophical vocabulary. For ordinary Sanskrit words use Monier-Williams (MW).

Looking up a word

Open the Basic display and pick your input transliteration (see Encoding & Transliteration). Type the headword — e.g. akarmakaH (akarmaka, "intransitive"):

NYBJ Basic display showing the entry for akarmakaH: Sanskrit definition with bracketed school attributions and source citations

The List display browses neighbouring headwords; the Advanced display searches inside definitions. See Search & Display.

Reading an entry

The first record — aṃhaspati ("the month in which the sun does not cross"), from csl-orig/v02/nybj/nybj.txt:

<L>0001<pc>0001<k1>aMhaspatiH<k2>aMhaspatiH
;p{0001}
aMhaspatiH — kzayamAsaH. yasminmAse na saMkrAntiH saMkrAntidvayameva vA. saMsapahaspatI mAsAvaDimAsaSca ninditAH.. (pu0 ci0 pf0 16)
<LEND>

In the source	Meaning
`<L>0001<pc>0001`	Cologne record id 1, on printed page 1
`<k1>` = `<k2>`	search key vs display key, both SLP1 (aMhaspatiH) — headwords carry no accent marks
`;p{0001}`	print page marker
`aMhaspatiH — kzayamAsaH…`	the Sanskrit definition, introduced by the headword and an em-dash
`(pu0 ci0 pf0 16)`	source citations in sigla: the works and passages the definition draws on

Longer definitions — akarmaka (intransitive) carries five footnotes — attribute competing definitions to schools in square brackets ([ka], [kha], [ga], [gha], [ña]) and unfold them in <f id="…"> notes (see Data Formats for the markup reference).

What makes it distinctive

Definitions in Sanskrit. NYBJ glosses a term by stating it in the tradition's own language, then citing the works it follows — not by translating into English. You do not look it up to read Sanskrit but to reason in it.
Schools named inside the entry. A single headword can carry several definitions, each tagged [ka], [ga], [na] for the school whose usage it records — the entry akṣara collects six senses, from the Māyāvādins to the Vallabhiyas — so the disagreement between traditions is itself the entry.
A modern critical edition. The digitized 1928 text is the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute's third edition (No. XLIX), revised by Vāsudev Shāstrī Abhyāṅkar — the working reference for Nyāya studies since.
The newest arrival on CDSL (2026). Scans under a 2026 path, digital edition by Dr. Dhaval Patel, full B/L/A/M displays.

Headword key conventions

NYBJ is an alphabetical headword dictionary — search keys are plain SLP1, and the nominative is spelled out with a final visarga (-H), matching the printed akarmakaH. Definitions are given in Sanskrit.

Convention	Marker / form	Example	Note
Search key	`<k1>` (SLP1, no accent)	`akarmakaH`	With final visarga for nominals
Display key	`<k2>` (same SLP1 form)	`akarmakaH`	k1 = k2; no accents to choose
Definition	`headword — Sanskrit definition`	`aMhaspatiH — kzayamAsaH…`	Definitions are Sanskrit, not English
School tags	`[ka]`, `[ga]`, `[na]`	`[ka] vyApAravyaDikaraRa…`	The school whose definition follows
Footnotes	`[^n]` → `<f id="n">…</f>`	`[^1]`	The note unfolds the school debate
Source sigla	`(xx0 yy0 pf0 16)`	`(vAtsyA0 2. 1. 46)`	Abbreviated works the definition rests on
Page markers	`<pc>PPPP`, `;p{…}`	`<pc>0001`	Four-digit printed page

Abbreviations

No machine-readable abbreviation list yet; the legend lives in the scanned front matter.

At a glance​

When to use it​

Looking up a word​

Reading an entry​

What makes it distinctive​

Headword key conventions​

Abbreviations​

See also​