नीक्षण

Sanskrit[edit]

Alternative scripts

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 (niš, “lance”), (“spear”).

नीक्षण • (nī́kṣaṇa) stem, n (Rigvedic)

a long stick, possibly used variously as a spit, a fork and a ladle^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]
- c. 1700 BCE – 1200 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.

Neuter a-stem declension of नीक्षण (nī́kṣaṇa)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	नीक्षणम् nī́kṣaṇam	नीक्षणे nī́kṣaṇe	नीक्षणानि / नीक्षणा¹ nī́kṣaṇāni / nī́kṣaṇā¹
Vocative	नीक्षण nī́kṣaṇa	नीक्षणे nī́kṣaṇe	नीक्षणानि / नीक्षणा¹ nī́kṣaṇāni / nī́kṣaṇā¹
Accusative	नीक्षणम् nī́kṣaṇam	नीक्षणे nī́kṣaṇe	नीक्षणानि / नीक्षणा¹ nī́kṣaṇāni / nī́kṣaṇā¹
Instrumental	नीक्षणेन nī́kṣaṇena	नीक्षणाभ्याम् nī́kṣaṇābhyām	नीक्षणैः / नीक्षणेभिः¹ nī́kṣaṇaiḥ / 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
Notes	¹Vedic

^ Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896) The Hymns of the Rigveda, page 93: “The trial-fork of the flesh-cooking caldron […]”
^ Monier Williams (1899) “नीक्षण”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 565.
^ 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).
^ 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’).”
^ Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “नीक्षण”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 934