Pollock in Pollock, LCH, p. 42, dates him to shortly after the 4th century. But usually he's assumed to belong to the 6th; see Yigal Bronner in David Shulman & Shalva Weil, Karmic Passages: Israeli Scholarship on India, Oxford University Press (New Delhi 2008), p. 92.
He also composed some verses preserved in anthologies. Sternbach, Sources, p. 457.
Shakya, Self-Arisen, p. 181.
Bibliography:
Amarakoṣa ('Chi ba med pa'i mdzod). Tôh. no. 4299. Dergé Tanjur, vol. SE, folios 126v.1-243r.7. Tr. by Kīrticandra and Yar lungs pa Grags pa rgyal mtshan. Revised by Dharmapālabhadra. In grammar (sgra mdo) section.
Dergé colophon: paṇḍi ta chen po kīrti tsandra'i zhal snga nas / yar lung ba grags pa rgyal mtshan gyis bal yul yam bu'i grong khyer du bsgyur ba'o // gang yin pa / de bzhin gshegs pa nyid kyis bka' stsal te // de skad gsung ba'i tshul can dge sbyong che // // shu bhaṃ mastu sarba dza ga tāṃ / slad nas 'gos lo tsā ba dge slong shrī dharma pā la bha dra zhes bgyi bas / rgya dpe dang 'gyur rnying la gtugs te / don la ci nus dpyad de 'gyur bde bar bgyis pa'o // sna tshogs dngos po rnams kyi mngon brjod pa // rin chen 'byung gnas la 'gran bstan bcos 'di // sngon gyi paṇḍi ta dang lo tsā bas // gangs can skad du bsgyur ba'i rjes su yang // ma dag dka' ba rnams // gtsug lag dpang po bgyis te ci nus bcos // slad nas 'jig rten mig mchog rnams kyis kyang // 'grel dang bstun nas byi dor rnam dag zhu // sarba mangga laṃ.
Note: The correct spelling of the title, according to the author's own rules (3.3.221), would be Amarakoṣa, although the spelling Amarakośa later became the rule.
Satis Chandra Vidyābhūṣaṇa, Amarakoṣa and Its Tibetan Translation 'Chi med mdzod, "A metrical dictionary of the Sanskrit language by Amarasiṃha with its Tibetan translation made by Mahāpaṇḍita Kīrticandra and Yar-lungs Lo-tsā-ba Grags-pa-rgyal-mtshan," Sherab Gyaltsen Lama (Gangtok 1984), reprint of Calcutta : Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1911-1912.
Unfortunately no indexed version of this extremely important source of Tibskrit vocabulary has ever been done (i.e., never one that includes the Tibetan). However, Lozang Jamspal has announced that he is doing this (based on Si tu Paṇ chen's version), and it should appear before long.
Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Cosha, or Dictionary of the Sanscrit Language by Amera Sinha, with an English Interpretation and Annotations (Serampore 1808).
Amarakocha ou Vocabulaire d'Amarasinha, A Loiseleur Deslongchamps (Paris 1839-1845), published in two parts, with Sanskrit, French translation, notes and index.
Amarakośa, with the Commentary of Maheśvara, enlarged by Raghunath Shastri Talekar, edited with an index by Chintamani Shastri Thatte under the superintendence of F. Kielhorn (Bombay 1882), 1st edition 1877.
The Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana {Amarakosha} of Amarasimha, with the Commentary {Amarakoshodghātana} of Kshīrasvāmin, ed. by Krishnaji Govind Oka (Poona 1913). "Edited with critical Notes, an Essay on the time of Amarasimha and Kshīrasvāmin, a list of works and authors quoted, glossary of words, &c. &c." A copy has been archived on the internet.
'Chi med mdzod (Amarakoṣa). Tibetan translation by Kīrticandra and Yar lungs Lo tsā ba Grags pa rgyal mtshan. IASWR fiche set XII under "Amarakosa."
Slob dpon 'chi med seng ges mdzad pa'i ming dang rtags rjes su bstan pa'i bstan bcos 'chi med mdzod ces bya ba'i gzhung skad gnyis shan sbyar ba (Dehradun 1968), in 185 pages (modern book format) IASWR fiche no. R-1109. A bilingual edition. This is a recopying of the Dergé edition of the revised translation done in 1764 by Si tu Chos kyi snang ba (1700-1775), and therefore the Dergé edition itself would most likely be preferable.
The Amarakośa in Tibet, Satapitaka Series no. 38. I'm not sure what is actually in this volume, which couldn't be located in the IASWR fiche collections (it should have been at no. R-1121, but is not).
Mngon brjod kyi bstan bcos 'chi ba med pa'i mdzod. Oriental Institute Library, St. Petersburg. B8646/14 (woodblock print in 113 folios) and B8927/1 (print in 389 folios, apparently bilingual). B8646/14 contains the following informative colophon: paṇḍi ta chen po kīrti tsandra'i zhal snga nas dang / yar lung pa grags pa rgyal mtshan gyis bal yul dbu'i grong khyer du bsgyur ba las slad nas bsod nams chen po'i dpal gyi 'dzin ma'i khyon yangs par stobs kyi 'khor los bsgyur ba'i sa skyong chen po // mi 'phrog pa'i mkhyen rab dkar po dri ma med pa dang ldan pas / mtha' yas pa'i shes bya'i bya lam yangs pa la thogs pa med cing / khyad par bde bar gshegs pa'i gsung rab thams cad kyi phul du gyur pa dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'i phyi nang gzhan gsum gyi tshul rnam par 'byed pa la / dpal shambha la'i yul gyis bcu pa'i sprul pa'i sku rigs ldan padma dkar po slar yang gangs can khrod pa'i dpal mgon du bsam bzhin du skye ba bzhes pa lta bu'i mi'i dbang po chen po shākya rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po'i zhal snga nas mkhas pa rnams kyi yid brtan par 'os pa'i bstan bcos 'di'i / rgya gar gyi skad dang bod kyi skad zung du sbyar ba / ma 'khrugs shing thad sor sbyor ba / kun gyis go bde ba zhig gi glegs bam gsal bar bsgrub shig ces bka' gnang ba la brten nas / bstan bcos 'di'i rgya dpe gnyis dang bod dpe 'gyur snying yar lung ba grags pa rgyal mtshan gyis bsgyur ba dang / 'gyur gsar yar lung pa grags pa mtha' yas kyis mkhyen rab kyi dbang phyug dpal stag lung thang pa chen po ngag gi dbang phyug grags pa'i zhal snga nas kyis bka' stsal pa bzhin bsgyur ba dang / 'grel ba'i rgya dpe dang bod dpe'i dum bu ji ltar rnyed pa la gtugs te / bod la mkho che ba rnams legs par btus shing / phan tshun ya 'dres pa / rgya bod kyi skad thad sor sbyar zhing / rgya dpe dang snga 'gyur la yod pa'i rtags ngos 'dzin pa'i tshig rnams dang / bod la nye bar mi mkho zhing go dka' ba 'ga' zhig bor te / rang gis ji ltar rtogs pa rnams gsal bar sbyar la / rgya gar gyi skad rnams rgya dpe las go rim bzhin bris na / bod skad dang 'byor dka' bar snang bas rnam dbye dang kha skong gi tshig bor nas sdeb sbyor spang te kun gyi go sla bar bris pa 'di'i byed pa po ni / legs par sbyar ba'i skad kyi brda sprod pa'i bstan bcos kā la pa dang tsandra pa cha lag dang bcas pa rnams cha shas tsam rig pa / zha lu lo tsā ba dge slong chos skyong bzang po zhes bgyi ba'o // shu bha ma stu dza ga tam / de yang rje 'jam dbyangs bzhad pa mdo smad du byon nas dgung lo re bdun dang re brgyad pa'i lo snga phyir / 'chi med mdzod kyi 'gyur rnying la hor khrungs su lus pa dang / 'gyur skyon kyang 'ga' re 'dug gsungs nas na ga ra'i dpe zhig la brten nas 'go 'jug tshad ma bsgyur bar mdzad / ces rnam thar las 'byur ba ltar / skyabs mgon sku phreng gnyis pa'i drung nas na ga ra'i yi ge shan sbyar gyi phyag dpe ngo ma byung ba par du sgrub rtsis kyis zhus dag pa la gtad kyang thog tu ma khel / 'chi med mdzod dpal ldan zla bas kyang sgron gsal du khungs su drangs pa'i gzhung tshad ldan dang / lhag par kun mkhyen bla mas 'gyur bcos gnang ba gal che snyam nas phyis su rtsar bcad pas mkhas dbang dbyig kya {?} rab 'byams pa 'jam dbyangs dpal ldan pa'i dpe tsam las gzhan ma byung la / der yar lung lo tsā ba grags pa rgyal mtshan dang / / yar lung pa grags pa mtha' yas gnyis kyi 'gyur la zhwa lu lo tsā ba chos skyong bzang pos 'gyur bcos mdzad pa nyid gzhir bzhag 'dug kyang de'i dpe zur ba gzhan yang ma rnyed pas de dang mi 'dra ba'i lhag khyad dang / 'go 'jug rdzogs ma rdzogs kyi zhib cha ma nges / 'on kyang ma dpe gcig bu de yang chu zos dogs nas mchan bu dang tshig gi gcod 'tshams kyi rtags sogs de na gang yod sor bzhag la zhu dag phran tshegs byas nas par du bkod pa yin pas slar yang don du gnyer zhing rnam dpyod kyi rtsal dang ldan pa dag gis kun mkhyen bla ma'i phyag dben ga ra'i yi ge shan sbyar nyid 'bad pas btsal nas bsdur rgyu byung na shin tu legs so.
Robert Birwé, The Amarakośa and the Lexicographical Chapters of the Agnipurāna, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 96, no. 3 (1976), pp. 383-403. This has outlines of the contents with information on the various editions, on the commentators (Kṣīrasvāmin, Sarvānanda, Liṅgayasūrin, Mallinātha Rāyamukuṭa, Bhāruji Dīkṣita [Rāmāśrama]) and on the Tibetan translation. The Tibetan version divides the first kāṇḍa into 2 vargas, those of heaven and hell (other versions give 9, 10, or 12 vargas).
Otto Boehtlingk, Ueber eine tibetische Uebersetzung des Amara-Kosha im Asiatischen Museum der Kaiserliches Akademie der Wissenschaften, Bulletin de la Classe des Sciences historiques, philologiques et politiques de l'Acad´´mie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, vol. 3, no. 14 (1847), pp. 209-220. Includes some example verses with Sanskrit and Tibetan in their own scripts, with German interlinear translation.
Gaṇapati Shāstrī, ed., The Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana of Amarasiṃha (Trivandrun 1915). There is a commentary on this by Sarvānanda entitled Ṭīkāsarvasva. See Hahn, HG, p. 27.
Jhalakikar Vamanacharya, Amarakośa (with the Commentary of Maheśvara), Motilal Banarsidass (Delhi 2002), reprint in 469 pages.
EoB, with a discussion of content. The original name of the book, given by the author, was Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana. People date it somewhere between 400 and 600 CE.
KCDS, p. 15. Palmleaf Sanskrit manuscript in 161 folios belonging to the Nor bu gling ka. See also p. 49 for the strange title Amaramālāvṛṃ (title translated into Tibetan as 'Chi med mdzod), with the note: A ma ra ko ṣa 'di dpyal lo tsā ba chos bzang gi phyag dpe stong 'gyur gyi mchan lo tsā ba byang 'bum gyis btab pa yin mkhan chen ma hā lo tsā ba gsung. Apparently this was the personal copy of Dpyal Lo, with notes added by his apprentice Byang chub 'bum.
KCDS, p. 90. Sanskrit palmleaf manuscript now belonging to the Potala. Title given as Nāmaliṅgasaṃgraha (in Tibetan, 'Chi med mdzod). Probably the same (?) as the text listed with the title Ākhyayisarvanāmaliṅgāḥ at KCDS, p. 151: a 35-folio Sanskrit palmleaf manuscript now belonging to the Potala, formerly from Ngor Monastery.
Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana.
This is just another name for the Amarakoṣa (the name the author originally gave for it).
