नीक्षण

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Etymology

From the root निक्ष् (nikṣ) +‎ -अन (-ana), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *nayȷ́žʰ- (to pierce), with unetymological vowel lengthening. Related to नेक्षण (nekṣaṇa) (attested in Atharvaveda, which has regular guṇation of the root) and cognate to Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬉𐬰𐬀 (naēza, tip of a needle). Also compare Persian نیش (niš, lance), نیزه (spear).

Pronunciation

Noun

नीक्षण • (nī́kṣaṇa) stemn (Rigvedic)

  1. a long stick, possibly used variously as a spit, a fork and a ladle[1][2][3][4][5]
    • c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.162.13:
      यन् नीक्षणं मांस्पचन्या उखाया या पात्राणि यूष्ण आसेचनानि । ऊष्मण्यापिधाना चरूणाम् अङ्काः सूनाः परि भूषन्त्य् अश्वम् ॥
      yan nīkṣaṇaṃ māṃspacanyā ukhāyā yā pātrāṇi yūṣṇa āsecanāni. ūṣmaṇyāpidhānā carūṇām aṅkāḥ sūnāḥ pari bhūṣanty aśvam.
      The ladle of the meat-cooking cauldron, the vessels out of which the broth is sprinkled, The warming-pots, the covers of the dishes, hooks, carving-boards,-all these attend the Charger.

Declension

Neuter a-stem declension of नीक्षण
singular dual plural
nominative नीक्षणम् (nī́kṣaṇam) नीक्षणे (nī́kṣaṇe) नीक्षणानि (nī́kṣaṇāni)
नीक्षणा¹ (nī́kṣaṇā¹)
accusative नीक्षणम् (nī́kṣaṇam) नीक्षणे (nī́kṣaṇe) नीक्षणानि (nī́kṣaṇāni)
नीक्षणा¹ (nī́kṣaṇā¹)
instrumental नीक्षणेन (nī́kṣaṇena) नीक्षणाभ्याम् (nī́kṣaṇābhyām) नीक्षणैः (nī́kṣaṇaiḥ)
नीक्षणेभिः¹ (nī́kṣaṇebhiḥ¹)
dative नीक्षणाय (nī́kṣaṇāya) नीक्षणाभ्याम् (nī́kṣaṇābhyām) नीक्षणेभ्यः (nī́kṣaṇebhyaḥ)
ablative नीक्षणात् (nī́kṣaṇāt) नीक्षणाभ्याम् (nī́kṣaṇābhyām) नीक्षणेभ्यः (nī́kṣaṇebhyaḥ)
genitive नीक्षणस्य (nī́kṣaṇasya) नीक्षणयोः (nī́kṣaṇayoḥ) नीक्षणानाम् (nī́kṣaṇānām)
locative नीक्षणे (nī́kṣaṇe) नीक्षणयोः (nī́kṣaṇayoḥ) नीक्षणेषु (nī́kṣaṇeṣu)
vocative नीक्षण (nī́kṣaṇa) नीक्षणे (nī́kṣaṇe) नीक्षणानि (nī́kṣaṇāni)
नीक्षणा¹ (nī́kṣaṇā¹)
  • ¹Vedic

References

  1. ^ Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896) The Hymns of the Rigveda, page 93:The trial-fork of the flesh-cooking caldron []
  2. ^ Monier Williams (1899) “नीक्षण”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, [], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 565.
  3. ^ Ramendra Nath Nandi (2017) An Outline of the Aryan Civilization, Routledge, →ISBN, →OCLC, →ISBN:
    One of the stanzas in this hymn (1.162.13) mentions the cauldron for cooking the meat (māṃspacanyāḥ ukhāyāḥ), the fork for stirring up the meat inside the cauldron (nīkṣaṇa), the vessel for distributing the gravy (yūṣnaḥ āsecanāni), the lid of the cauldron for preventing the escape of the flavour (ūṣmaṇyā apidhānā), and a hooked saucepan for offering some special oblations (carūṇāṃ aṃkāḥ).
  4. ^ Arthur Berriedale Keith, Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1912) Vedic index of names and subjects, volume 1, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, W. [Published for the Government of India], →OCLC, page 458:Nekṣaṇa occurs once in the Atharvaveda, where a ‘spit’ seems to be meant. In the Rigveda Nīkṣaṇa occurs, and must have the same sense; Oldenberg inclines to think that this word refers to the ‘inspection’ of food, to see if it is ready (as from ni-īkṣ, ‘look into’).
  5. ^ Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “नीक्षण”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 934

Further reading

  • Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) “NIKṢ”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎[1] (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 41
  • Lubotsky, Alexander (2011) “niks.”, in The Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon (in progress) (Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project), Leiden University