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An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles (PD)

PD is the Deccan College Encyclopedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles (Poona, from 1976; gen. eds. A. M. Ghatage, later V. P. Bhatta) — the most ambitious Sanskrit dictionary project ever undertaken. Modelled on the Oxford English Dictionary, it treats each word "on historical principles": senses arranged chronologically and documented with dated textual citations, drawn from a vast purpose-built citation corpus. It is published in fascicles and remains in progress (it has so far covered only the early alphabet across thousands of pages).

Catalogued, but not online here

On CDSL, PD is listed in the catalog only — there is no digital text, no display, and no download for it (unlike the other dictionaries in this guide, it has no csl-orig source). This page therefore describes it rather than quoting a sample entry. For the work itself, consult the printed/scanned volumes from the Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute.

At a glance​

CodePD (no GitHub repo; catalogued only)
Full titleAn Encyclopedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles
General editorsA. M. Ghatage; V. P. Bhatta (Deccan College, Poona)
Year / sizefrom 1976 (ongoing) · ~4328 pages so far
DirectionSanskrit → English
On CDSLCatalogued only — no online display, download, or csl-orig source

What makes it distinctive​

  • On historical principles (an "OED for Sanskrit"). Each entry traces a word's senses chronologically, each sense backed by dated citations from the literature.
  • A vast citation corpus. Built on the largest collection of excerpted Sanskrit passages assembled for lexicography.
  • Monumental and ongoing. Decades in the making, published fascicle by fascicle; still incomplete, with extraordinary depth within its range.

When to use it​

Reach for PD (in print) when you want the fullest historical documentation of a word that falls within its published range — far more citations and sense-history than a one-volume dictionary gives. For everyday lookup on this site, use Monier-Williams (MW), Apte (AP90), or Böhtlingk-Roth (PWG).

See also​