The object of the present treatise is a complete, critical and systematic examination of the etymologies of Yaska in the light of comparative philology. A closer study of these etymologies is now all the more necessary, when we take into account the fact that opinions about the quality of these etymologies differ widely. While orthodox tradition in India hails Yaska as the premier etymologist of India and often tends to identify his work with that Nirukta which is esteemed as one of the six auxiliary sciences of the Vedas, even a modern writer like Skold, speaking about Yaska's etymologies, says '...we ought rather to be astonished, because the Nirukta contains so many good and true etymologies as it does". Similarly, according to Dr. Sarup, Yaska is 'the first to claim the scientific foundation, and also the first to formulate the general principles for etymology". On the other hand, V. K. Rajavade, in his remarkable edition of the Nirukta, says 'The Nirukta does not deserve these high compliments; it is not a science but a travesty of science. And, again, '...the derivations given by Yaska have nothing to do with sound-laws. The present treatise, by a close examination of Yaska's data, is an attempt to evaluate these etymologies and to show that though of a primitive character, they were, on the whole, not unscientific.
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