Vaijayantīkośa- Nature and Methodology

One of the important features of Sanskrit language is the long tradition of lexicons. The early sources of this tradition of lexicons in Sanskrit language can be traced in the Vedic age itself. The Nighaṇṭu which is an exegetical annotation of obscure and difficult Vedic vocabulary, is the earliest known lexicon in Sanskrit. The date of its composition is assumed to be the last phase of Vedic age, viz. a period before the sixth century BCE. Thenceforth a large number of lexical works of different natures had been written in Sanskrit throughout the two and a half millennia. These lexicons bear a prominent place in the history of the Sanskrit language and literature since they, in different ways, have helped the development of the language and its knowledge system