Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhan - Sri Haridas Das

Can anyone with access to GVA supply a translation for the major divisions? I believe there are four. I can upload scans, if necessary.

abhidhAna-vyavahAre kuJcikA

General index of the dictionary



prathama khaNDa

• saMskRta-prAya zabdAvalI - kadAcit dezaja o apracalita zabda
  A collection of words mostly from Sanskrit (Including some vernacular and obsolete words.)

dvitIya khaNDa

• padAvalI - sAhitye vyavahRta prAcIna bAGgAlA, hindI, maithilI, vrajabhASA o utkalIya bhASAdira durUha, apracalita, apabhraSTa o tadbhava zabdAvalIra artha o prayoga
  Poetry - Hard to understand, uncommon, and obsolete words found in old Bengali, Hindi, Maithili and Vrajabhasha literature, definitions and usages for them.
• pariziSTe {ka} - padAvalIra bhASA, chanda, vyAkaraNa, rasa, alaGkArAdi | kIrtane upAGgabheda, cauSaTTi rasera kIrtana, vAdya, nRtya, gauracandra ityAdi |
  Appendix {a} - Poetic language, meters, grammar, rasa, ornaments and so forth used in the vernacular songs. Differences in various styles of kirtan, kirtan of 64 rasas, instruments, dance, gaura-chandrikas and so forth.
• saGgIta-paribhASAdi {kha} -
  Musical terminology {b}

tRtIya khaNDa

• caritAvalI - zrIman mahAprabhu o tatpArSadAdira jIvanI
  Biographies - The biographies of Sriman Mahaprabhu and his associates.
• pariziSTe {ka} - devadevI-viSayaka vRttAnu
  Appendix {a} - Descriptions of gods and goddesses.
• granthAvalI {kha} - gauDIya-vaiSNava-sAhitya-samUhera gaveSaNA-mUlaka-sAra-saGkalanAdi
  Literature {b} - Well-researched resumes on all Gaudiya Vaishnava literature.

caturtha khaNDa

• tIrthAvalI - gauDIya-vaiSNava tIrtha, zrIpATa evaM dhAma prabhRtira itivRtta
  Holy places - Information about the places of pigrimage, shripats and holy abodes of Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
• pariziSTe {ka} - saMskRta o bAGgAlA
  Appendix {a} - Sanskrit and Bengali
• candaH - {kha} dhAtu-rUpAvalI, {ga} samagra abhidhAne anukta zabdAvalIra arthAdi
  Sanskrit and Bengali meters - {b} Verbal roots, {c} Meanings of words not explained elsewhere in the dictionary.

Oh translation, sorry, not transliteration. I'll get back to this in a moment.

Well...I did want the transliterations too but thought I was asking a bit much! Thanks for supplying them.

Would you mind also explaining the small piece above the main title also--"Sri Haridas Das -- [something like] k(??)k sankalit (?)" (The next line is "Sri Sri Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhan". Both the front cover and the title page have this.)

I did figure the fourth part was on geography--the maps and references to the gazettes helped.

zrI-haridAsa dAsa-karttRka-saGkalita means that he "made" and "compiled" the work.

zrI-haridAsa dAsa-karttRka-saGkalita means that he "made" and "compiled" the work.

The translations have now been inserted into the index. Someone (such as Jagat or Malika) should go over that too, they're far more familiar with the terminology. Someone will have to help me decipher the description of granthAvalI.

Actually kartRka is a Sanskrit/Bengali instrumental marker. It just means "by". So "compiled by Haridas Das."

I made a few other changes in the outline above.

Right. Thank you.

Thanks everyone. What a nice piece to have on record!

kartRka: It is a pretty strange character isn't it!? My conjuncts haven't reached this far yet. In fact, I'm back to page 10 in the "30 Days" booklet. But standing at the doorway of this treasure house seems like the best form of enticement.

That's a double t there, looks like a 3 reversed. Makes perfect sense when you think of two t:s on top of each other. Then r on the top and ri on the bottom, and voilà.

Something useful attached to help you out with conjuncts.

Very nice! I wanted to print up a poster with as many characters as I could muster. This is a great help.

on a related subject does anyone have an explanation why kirtan is spelt kirttan in bangla?

ditto
karma spelt karmma
dharma spelt dharmma etc.

Also can anyone tell me where I can get a copy of this sent by mail order to the UK?

I've been told too that I need a copy of a very thick grantha called Vaishnav Padavali by somebody called something Mukhopaddhyay.

Gaur Haribol! Good work, Madhava!

Except one little thing; it's 'chandaH' instead of 'candaH' in caturtha khaNDa.

Bengalis (and Orissans) reduplicate consonants after the reph, except for some reason the habit is dying out where Bengali is concerned. This is actually a Sanskrit sandhi rule that is optional.

The kirtan book is by Hare Krishna Mukhopadhyaya and I strongly recommend it as the best current collection, with about 5000 padas altogether. It was first published in 1961. It also has a very good introduction and a glossary in the back that nicely supplements the Padavali dictionary in GVA.


You can order it from Sahitya Samsad, 32A Prafulla Chandra Road, Calcutta, 700009.

Other addresses you might try writing to if Sahitya Samsad is slow--

Indian Books Center
40/5 Shakti Nagar, Delhi 110007.

Indian Book Distributing Co.
65/2 Mahatma Gandhi Road
Calcutta 700009

In the translation the word "utkalIya" has been dropped. The word oDiyA has to be inserted after vrajabhASA.