शाखा

Sanskrit

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱak- (“branch”). Cognates include Old Armenian ցախ (cʿax, “branch, twig”), Gothic 𐌷𐍉𐌷𐌰 (hōha, “plough”), Old East Slavic соха (soxa, “stake, club, brace, plough”), Lithuanian šaka (“branch”), Old Irish géc (“branch”) and Persian شاخ (šâx, “branch”).

Noun

शाखा (śā́khā) f

1. branch (literally and figuratively)
   • RV 7.43.1

     पर वो यज्ञेषु देवयन्तो अर्चन दयावा नमोभिः परिथिवी इषध्यै |

     येषां बरह्माण्यसमानि विप्रा विष्वग वियन्ति वनिनो न शाखाः ||

     pra vo yajñeṣu devayanto arcan dyāvā namobhiḥ prithivī iṣadhyai |

     yeṣāṃ brahmāṇyasamāni viprā viṣvagh viyanti vanino na śākhāḥ ||

     SING out the pious at your sacrifices to move with adorations Earth and Heaven-

     The Holy Singers, whose unmatched devotions, like a tree's branches, part in all directions.

2. a limb of the body, arm or leg
3. finger
4. the surface of the body
5. a door-post (compare द्वारशाखा (dvāra-śākhā))
6. the wing of a building
7. division, subdivision
8. the third part of an astrological संहिता (saṃhitā) (also शाखास्कन्ध (śākhā-skandha), m.)
9. shakha: a branch or school of the Veda (each school adhering to its own traditional text and interpretation)
10. a branch of any science
11. year
12. = पाक्षान्तर (pā-kṣā-ntara)
13. = अन्तिक (antika)

Declension

    Feminine ā-stem declension of शाखा

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	शाखा (śākhā)	शाखे (śākhe)	शाखाः (śākhāḥ)
Vocative	शाखे (śākhe)	शाखे (śākhe)	शाखाः (śākhāḥ)
Accusative	शाखाम् (śākhām)	शाखे (śākhe)	शाखाः (śākhāḥ)
Instrumental	शाखया (śākhayā)	शाखाभ्याम् (śākhābhyām)	शाखाभिः (śākhābhiḥ)
Dative	शाखायै (śākhāyai)	शाखाभ्याम् (śākhābhyām)	शाखाभ्यः (śākhābhyaḥ)
Ablative	शाखायाः (śākhāyāḥ)	शाखाभ्याम् (śākhābhyām)	शाखाभ्यः (śākhābhyaḥ)
Genitive	शाखायाः (śākhāyāḥ)	शाखयोः (śākhayoḥ)	शाखानाम् (śākhānām)
Locative	शाखायाम् (śākhāyām)	शाखयोः (śākhayoḥ)	शाखासु (śākhāsu)

References

• Sir Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898, page 1062