kosha

English

Alternative forms

• kosa

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit कोश (kóśa, “sheath, vessel, container, layer”).

Noun

kosha (plural koshas)

1. (philosophy) Any of five sheaths that are thought to cover the Atman, or True Self, according to Vedantic philosophy.
2. A particular type of Sanskrit dictionary.
   • 2006, Encyclopedia of language and linguistics 2ed, Elsevier, page 614:

     The koshas, which are not based on any specific text, have some unusal properties. They are written in verse and include nouns and indeclinables but not verbs. The words are arranged according to topics. They deal with synonyms and homonyms and were meant for the use of poets. The best-known kosha in Sanskrit is the lexicon prepared by a Buddhist scholar Amarasinha, who was also a poet. This dictionary is usually known as Amarakosha (‘Amara's dictionary’) rather than by its actual name, Namalinganushasana.

Related terms

Related terms

• Anandamaya kosha
• Annamaya kosha
• Manomaya kosha
• Pranamaya kosha
• Vijnanamaya kosha

Anagrams

• Ashok, Hoaks, hakos, kohas, shako