-gṛhṇāti- (Potential-gṛh ṇīyāt-) to let loose, let go ; to keep back from (ablative), impede, stop ; to divide ; (in grammar) to separate (as words or parts of a word) etc. (seeava-grāham-below) ; to perceive (with one's senses), distinguish : Causal (ind.p.-grāhya-) to separate (into pieces).
m. separation of the component parts of a compound, or of the stem and certain suffixes and terminations (occurring in the pada- text of the veda-s) etc.
(1.kara-graha-;for 2.See) m. taking the hand (of the bride;one part of the ceremony being the placing of the bride's right hand with the palm uppermost in the right hand of the bridegroom), marriage
(1.kara-grahaṇa-;for 2.See) n.idem or '(1.kara-graha-;for 2.See) m. taking the hand (of the bride;one part of the ceremony being the placing of the bride's right hand with the palm uppermost in the right hand of the bridegroom), marriage ' (seepāṇi-gr-.)
P. A1.-gṛhṇāti-, ṇīte-, to hold or stretch forth, hold etc. ; to offer, present ; to seize, grasp, take hold of, take etc. ; to accept, receive ; to draw up, tighten (reins), stop (horses) ; to befriend, favour, further, promote ; to keep separated or isolated (see below) : Causal (infinitive mood-grāhitum-) to receive, accept
P. A1.-gṛhṇāti-, -gṛhṇīte-, to hold forth or stretch forth together ; to seize or take hold of together ; to take hold of ; to accept, receive (with vacanam-,"to receive any one's words well or kindly")
mfn. (in gram.) having the mark of separation or elision called avagraha- (q.v), being separated into its component parts or analyzed (as a word in the pada-pāṭha-q.v)
P.-gṛhṇāti- (Aorist-agrabhīt-) to seize from below ; to hold under, put under ; to support etc. ; to collect a fluid (by holding a vessel under) ; to seize, take possession of, take, obtain ; to subdue, become master of etc. ; to draw near (to one's self) ; to conciliate, propitiate ; to take as one's ally ; to comprehend ; to take up again, renew ; to accept, approve
mf(ā-)n. diverted from everything else, intent on, engrossed by, eagerly occupied with or employed in (instrumental caselocative case,or compound;sometimes said of hands and fingers) etc.
अग्र a. [अङ्ग्-रन् नलोपः Uṇ.2.28] 1 First, foremost, chief, best, prominent, principal, pre-eminent; ˚महिषी chief queen; ˚वातमासेवमाना M.1. front (and hence, fresh) breeze; ˚आसनम् chief seat, seat of honour; माम- ग्रासनतो$वकृष्टमवशं ये दृष्टवन्तः पुरा Mu.1.12. -2 Excessive, over and above, surplus; supernumerary, projecting (अधिक). -ग्रः Setting mountain; अग्रसानुषु नितान्तपिशङ्गैः Ki.9.7. -ग्रम् 1 (a) The foremost or topmost point, tip, point (opp. मूलम्, मध्यम्); (fig.) sharpness, keenness; धर्मस्य ब्राह्मणो मूलम् मग्रं राजन्य उच्यते Ms.11.83; दर्व्याम् अग्रं मूलम् मध्यम् &c.; नासिका˚ tip of the nose; सूचि˚ &c.; समस्ता एव विद्या जिह्वाग्रे$भवन् K.346 stood on the tip of the tongue; अमुष्य विद्या रसनाग्रनर्तकी N.1.5. (b) Top, summit, surface; कैलास˚, पर्वत˚, &c. -2 Front, van; अग्रे कृ put in the front or at the head; तामग्रे कृत्वा Pt.4. See अग्रे. -3 The best of any kind; स्यन्दनाग्रेण with the best of
chariots; प्रासादाग्रैः Rām. -4 Superiority, excellence (उत्कर्ष); अग्रादग्रं रोहति Tāṇḍya. -5 Goal, aim, resting place (आलम्बनम्); मनुमेकाग्रमासीनम् Ms.1.1, See ˚भूमि also. -6 Beginning, See अग्रे. -7 A multitude, assemblage. -8 Overplus, excess, surplus; साग्रं स्त्रीसहस्रम् Rām. 1 women and more; so साग्रकोटी च रक्षसाम्. -9 A weight = पल q. v. -1 A measure of food given as alms (ब्राह्मणभोजनम् occurring in अग्रहार); प्रयतो ब्राह्मणाग्रे यः श्रद्धया परया युतः । Mb.13.65.13. -11 (Astr.) Amplitude of the sun (˚ग्रा, अग्रका also). cf. ...अग्रमालम्बने$धिके । पुरोपरिप्रान्ताद्येषु न पुंसि प्रमिताशने । Nm. -12 Forepart of time; नैवेह किंचनाग्र आसीत् Bṛi. Up.1.2.1. In compounds as first member meaning 'the forepart', 'front', 'tip' &c.; e. g. ˚अक्चयः First procurement (cf. Daṇḍa-viveka G. O. S.52, p.43). ˚पादः -चरणः the forepart of the foot, toe; so ˚हस्तः, ˚करः, ˚पाणिः &c.; ˚सरोरूहम् the topmost lotus. पद्मानि यस्याग्रसरोरुहाणि Ku.1.16. ˚कर्णम् Tip-ear; top of the ear; Mātaṅga L.5.7. ˚कायः forepart of the body; so ˚नखम्, ˚नासिका tip of the nail, nose &c., -adv. In front, before, ahead. -Comp. -अंशुः [अग्रम् अंशोः] the focal point. -अक्षि n. [कर्म.] sharp or pointed vision, side-look (अपाङ्गवीक्षण); अग्राक्ष्णा वीक्षमाणस्तु तिर्यग् भ्रातरमब्रवीत् Rām. -अद्वन् a. having precedence in eating. -अनी (णी) कः (कम्) vanguard; दीर्घाल्लँघूंश्चैव नरानग्रानीकेषु योधयेत् Ms.7.193; [अग्राणीकं रघुव्याघ्रौ राक्षसानां बभञ्जतुः Rām. -अयणीयम [अग्रं श्रेष्टं अयनं ज्ञानं तत्र साधु छ]. 1 N. of a Buddhistic tenet (उत्पादपूर्वमग्रायणीयमथ वीर्यता प्रवादः स्यात् -हेमचन्द्रः). -2 title of the second of the fourteen oldest Jain books (Pūrvas). -अवलेहितम् [अग्रम् अव- लेहितम् आस्वादितं यस्य] food at a Śrāddha ceremony, the chief part of which has been tested. -आसनम् First seat of honour; मामग्रासनतो$वकृष्टमवशम् Mu.1.12. -उत्सर्गः taking a thing by leaving its first portion in conformity with the rule of laying by nothing for the next day (i. e. the rule of non hoarding); cf. Daṇḍaviveka G. O. S.52, pp.43-44. -उपहरणम् first supply. -उपहरणीय a. [अग्रे उपह्रियते कर्मणि अनीयर्] 1 that which is first offered or supplied. -2 [अग्रम् उपह्रियते यस्मै हृ- संप्रदाने अनीयर्] श्राद्धाद्यर्थमुपकल्पितस्य अन्नादेरग्रे दानोद्देश्यः वास्तु- देवादिः Tv. -करः 1 = अग्रहस्तः q. v. -2 the focal point. -केशः front line of hair; ˚शेषु रेणुः अपहरति K.86. -गः [अग्रे गच्छतीति, गम्-ड] a leader, a guide; taking the lead; marching foremost. -गण्य a. [अग्रे गण्यते$सौ] foremost, to be ranked first; शमनभवनयाने यद्भवानग्रगण्यः Mahān. -गामिन् a. [अग्रे गच्छति] a leader; प्रष्ठो$ग्रगामिनि P.VIII.3.92. -ज a. [अग्रे जायते; जन्-ड.] first born or produced; आनन्देनाग्रजेनेव R.1.78. (-जः) 1 the first born, an elder brother; सुमतिं ममाग्रजमवगच्छ M.5; अस्त्येव मन्युर्भरताग्रजे मे R.14.73. -2 a Brāhmaṇa. (-जा) an elder sister; so ˚जात, ˚जातक, ˚जाति. -जङ्घा the forepart of the calf. -जन्मन् m. [अग्रे जन्म यस्य सः] 1 the first-born, an elder brother; जनकाग्रजन्मनोः शासनमतिक्रम्य Dk.2. -2 a Brāhmaṇa (वर्णेषु मध्ये अग्रजातत्वात्, or अग्रात् प्रधानाङ्गात् मुखात् जातत्वात्, ब्राह्मणो$स्य मुखमासीत्, तस्मात् त्रिवृत् स्तोमानां मुखम... अग्निर्देवतानां ब्राह्मणो मनुष्याणाम्; तस्माद् ब्राह्मणो मुखेन वीर्यं करोति मुखतो हि सृष्टः Tāṇḍya); अतिवयसमग्रजन्मानम् K.12; अवो- चत् ˚न्मा Dk.13.3; N. of Brahmā, as he was the first to be born in the waters. cf. अग्रजन्मा द्विजे ज्येष्ठभ्रातरि ब्रह्मणि स्मृतम् Nm. -जिह्वा the tip of the tongue. -ज्या (astr.) the sign of the amplitude. -दानिन् [अग्रे दानम् अस्य; अग्र- दान-इनि] a (degraded) Brāhmaṇa who takes presents offered in honour of the dead (प्रेतोद्देशेन यद्दानं दीयते तत्प्रति- ग्राही); लोभी विप्रश्च शूद्राणामग्रेदानं गृहीतवान् । ग्रहणे मृतदानानां (ग्रहणात्तिलदानानां Tv.) अग्रदानी बभूव सः ॥ -दानीयः [अग्रे दानमर्हति छ] = अग्रदानिन्. -दूतः a harbinger; कृष्णाक्रोधा- ग्रदूतः Ve.1.22; ˚दूतिका Dk.2; महीपतीनां प्रणयाग्रदूत्यः R.6.12; -देवी the chief queen; समग्रदेवीनिवहाग्र- देवी... । Bu.ch.1.15. -धान्यम a cereal grain. (Mar. जोंधळा), Holcus soraghum or Holcus spicatus. (Mar. बाजरी). -निरूपणम् predestination; prophecy, determining beforehand. -नीः (णीः) [अग्रे नीयते असौ नी-क्विप्, णत्वम्] 1 a leader, foremost, first, chief; ˚णी- र्विरागहेतुः K.195; अप्यग्रणीर्मन्त्रकृतामृषीणाम् R.5.4. chief. -2 fire. -पर्णी [अग्रे पर्णं यस्याः सा-ङीप्] cowage, Carpopogon Pruriens (अजलोमन्). [Mar. कुयली]. -पातिन् a. [अग्रे आदौ पतति; पत्-णिनि] happening beforehand, antecedent; [˚तीनि शुभानि निमित्तानि K.65. -पादः the forepart of the foot; toes; नवकिसलयरागेणाग्रपादेन M.3.12; ˚स्थिता standing on tiptoe. Ś.5. -पाणिः = ˚हस्तः q. v. -पूजा the highest or first mark of reverence or respect; ˚जामिह स्थित्वा गृहाणेदं विषं प्रभो Rām. -पेयम् precedence in drinking. -प्रदायिन् a. giving in advance; तेषामग्र- प्रदायी स्याः कल्पोत्थायी प्रियंवदः Mb.5.135.35. -बीज a. [अग्रं शाखाग्रं बीजमुत्पादकं यस्य] growing by means of the tip or end of branches, growing on the stock or stem of another tree, such as 'कलम' in Mar. (-जः) a viviparous plant. -भागः [कर्म.] 1 the first or best part (श्राद्धादौ प्रथममुद्धृत्य देयं द्रव्यम्) -2 remnant, remainder (शेषभाग). -3 fore-part, tip, point. -4 (astr.) a degree of amplitude. -भागिन् a. [अग्र- भागो$स्यास्ति; अस्त्यर्थे इनि] first to take or claim (the remnant); अलङ्क्रियमाणस्य तस्य अनुलेपनमाल्ये ˚गी भवामि V. 5, claiming the first share of the remnant etc. -भावः precedence. उदारसंख्यैः सचिवैरसंख्यैः कृताग्रभावः स उदाग्रभावः Bu.ch.I.15. -भुज् a. 1 having precedence in eating. स तानग्रभुजस्तात धान्येन च धनेन च Mb.1.178.12. -2 gluttonous, voracious (औदरिक). -भूः [अग्रे भवति भू-क्विप्] = ˚ज. -भूमिः f. 1 goal of ambition or object aimed at; ततो$ग्रभूमिं व्यवसायासिद्धेः Ki.17.55; त्वमग्र- भूमिर्निरपायसंश्रया Śi.1.32 (प्राप्यस्थानम्). -2 the topmost part, pinnacle; विमान˚ Me.71. -महिषी the principal queen. -मांसम् [अग्रं भक्ष्यत्वेन प्रधानं मांसम्] flesh in the heart, the heart itself; ˚सं चानीतं Ve.3.2. morbid protuberance of the liver. -यणम् [अग्रम् अयनात् उत्तरायणात् णत्वं शकं˚ तद्विधानकालो$स्य अच् (?) Tv.] a kind of sacrificial ceremony. See आग्रयण. -यान a. [अग्रे यानं यस्य, या-ल्युट्] taking the lead, foremost. (-नम्) an army that stops in front to defy the
enemy. मनो$ग्रयानं वचसा निरुक्तं नमामहे Bhāg.8.5.26. -यायिन् a. [अग्रे यास्यति या-णिनि] taking the lead, leading the van; पुत्रस्य ते रणशिरस्ययमग्रयायी Ś.7.26. मान- धनाग्रयायी R.5.3,5.62.18.1. -योधिन् [अग्रे स्थित्वा युध्यते] the principal hero, champion राक्षसानां वधे तेषां ˚धी भविष्यति Rām.; so ˚वीर; कर्मसु चाग्रवीरः. -रन्ध्रम् opening fore-part; त्रासान्नासाग्ररन्ध्रं विशति Māl.1.1. -लोहिता [अग्रं लोहितं यस्याः सा] a kind of pot-herb (चिल्लीशाक). -संख्या the first place or rank; पुत्रः समारोपयदग्रसंख्याम् R.18.3. -वक्त्रम् N. of a surgical instrument, Suśr. -वातः fresh breeze; अग्रवातमासेवमाना M.1. -शोमा towering beauty or the beauty of the peaks; कैलासशैलस्य यदग्रशोभाम् । Bu. ch.1.3. -संधानी [अग्रे फलोत्पत्तेः प्राक् संधी- यते ज्ञायते $नया कार्यम् Tv.] the register of human actions kept by Yama (यत्र हि प्राणिवर्गस्य प्राग्भवीयकर्मानुसारेण शुभा- शुभसूचकं सर्वं लिख्यते सा यमपञ्जिका). -सन्ध्या early dawn; कर्कन्धूनामुपरि तुहिनं रञ़्जयत्यग्रसन्ध्या Ś.4. v.1. -सर = यायिन् taking the lead; आयोधनाग्रसरतां त्वयि वीर याते R.5.71. -सारा [अग्रं शीर्षमात्रं सारो यस्याः सा] 1 a sprout which has tips without fruits. -2 a short method of counting immense numbers. -हर a. [अग्रे ह्रियते दीयते$सौ; हृ-अच्] 1 that which must be given first. -2 = अग्रहारिन्. -हस्त (˚कर; ˚पाणिः,) the forepart of the hand or arm; अग्रहस्तेन गृहीत्वा प्रसादयैनाम् Ratn.3; forepart of the trunk (of an elephant); often used for a finger or fingers taken collectively; शीतलस्ते ˚स्तः Mk.3; अतिसाध्वसेन वेपते मे ˚स्तः Ratn.1; कुसुमित इव ते ˚स्तः प्रतिभाति M.1.; प्रसारिते ˚स्ते M.4; ˚हस्तात्प्रभ्रष्टं पुष्पभाजनम् Ś.4. slipped from the fingers; also the right hand; अथ ˚हस्ते मुकुलीकृताङ्गुलौ Ku.5.63. (अग्रश्चासौ हस्तश्च Malli.). Ki.5.29. -हायनः (णः) [अग्रः श्रेष्ठः हायनो व्रीहिः अत्र, णत्वम्] the beginning of the year; N. of the month मार्गशीर्ष; (मासानां मार्गशीर्षो$हम् Bg. 1.35.); ˚इष्टिः नवशस्येष्टिर्यागभेदः. -हारः 1 a grant of land given by kings (to Brāhmaṇas) for sustenance (अग्रं ब्राह्मणभोजनं, तदर्थं ह्रियन्ते राजधनात् पृथक् क्रियन्ते ते क्षेत्रादयः- नीलकण्ठ; क्षेत्रोत्पन्नशस्यादुद्धृत्य ब्राह्मणोद्देशेन स्थाप्यं धान्यादि, गुरुकुला- दावृत्तब्रह्मचारिणे देयं क्षेत्रादि, ग्रामभेदश्च Tv.); अग्रहारांश्च दास्यामि ग्रामं नगरसंमितम् Mb.3.64.4. कस्मिंश्चिदग्रहारे Dk.8.9. -2 the first offering in वैश्वदेव Mb.3.234.47.
अग्रतः adv. [अग्रे अग्राद्वा, अग्र-तसिल्] (with gen.) 1 Before (opp. पृष्ठतः), in front of, at the head of; forward; अग्रतश्चतुरो वेदान् प्रष्ठतः सशरं धनुः । इदं ब्राह्ममिदं क्षात्रं शापादति शरादपि ॥ Subhās. न गणस्याग्रतो गच्छेत् H.1.29. गच्छाग्रतः lead the way; ˚तो विलोक्य seeing before him. -2 In the peresence of; मेघनादस्य˚ Pt.1; अमात्यस्याग्रतः Mu.5; धनुर्भृतामग्रत एव रक्षिणाम् R.3.39 in the very presence of. -3 First; पुरुषं जातमग्रतः Rv.1.2.7; अग्रतः कृ to give precedence to, consider most important; to put in front or at the head of पुरस्तात्प्रथमे प्राच्यां पुरो$र्थे$ग्रत इत्यपि Nm.4. From; तदग्रतः स्वकर्मस्थं स्मृत्वा Rām 6.79.11. -Comp. -सर a. [अग्रतः सरति; सृ-ट] going in front, taking the lead. (-रः) a leader.
अभ्यग्र a. [अभिमुखं अग्रं यस्य] 1 Near, proximate; अभ्यग्रं च प्रपश्यन्ति युद्धमानन्दिनो द्विजाः Mb.6.2.18. -2 Fresh, new; -ग्रम proximity; vicinity. It is used adverbially also in इदं शोणितमभ्यग्रं संप्रहारे$च्युतत् तयोः Bk.4.28.
उपग्रह् 9 U. 1 To hold under, seize or collect from below; as रसम्. -2 To seize, take, take possession of; तवैव पादावुपगृह्य Rām.; उपगृह्यास्पदं चैव Ms.7.184. -3 To meet with, obtain; स मृत्युमुपगृह्णाति गर्भमश्वतरी यथा Chāṇ. 19. -4 To subdue, vanquish. -5 To provide. -6 To conciliate, take as one's ally, favour, support; तदुपगृहीतेन म्लेच्छराजबलेन Mu.1. -7 To conceive with one's mind, grasp mentally; धियोपगृह्णन्स्मितशोभितेन Bhāg.3.22.21. -8 To decide, determine. -9 To accept, approve.
उपग्रहः 1 Confinement, seizure. -2 Defeat, frustration; अपि च विहिते मत्कृत्यानां निकाममुपग्रहे Mu.4.2. -3 A prisoner. -4 Joining, addition. -5 (a) Favour, encouragement, assistance, conciliation; सोपग्रहम् K.156. परविषये कृत्याकृत्यपक्षोपग्रहः । Kau. A.1. अमित्रोपग्रहं चास्य ते कुर्युः क्षिप्रमापदि Mb.12.96.14. (b) Favourableness, kindness, complacence; सोपग्रहं K.264. -6 Use. -7 A kind of peace purchased by giving over every thing; cf. क्रियते प्राणरक्षार्थं सर्वदानादुपग्रहः H.4.121. -8 The voice or pada of a verb; सुप्तिङुपग्रहलिङ्गनराणां Mbh. III.1.85;1.4; and 2.127. -9 A pile or heap of kuśa grass. -1 The presiding spirit or cause which directs a planet's motion. -11 A minor planet राहु, केतु &c.), a secondary heavenly body, such as a comet, meteor.
उपग्रहणम् 1 Seizing (from below); taking hold of; as in पादोपग्रहणम्. -2 Seizure, capture, taking one prisoner. -3 Supporting, furthering, promoting. -4 Holy study, study of the Vedas (after being initiated into them); वेदोपग्रहणार्थाय तावग्राहयत प्रभुः Rām.
प्रग्रह् 9 U. 1 To take, hold, seize, grasp. -2 To receive, accept. -3 To curb, restrain. -4 To stretch forth, extend. -5 To favour, behave friendly with. -6 To keep separate (as the प्रगृह्य vowels). -7 To offer. -8 To unite with. -Caus. To receive, accept.
प्रग्रह a. 1 Holding in front, stretching forth (hands); एवमुक्तस्तु मुनिना प्राञ्जलिः प्रग्रहो नृपः । अभ्यवादयत प्राज्ञः Rām. 7.82.14. -2 Seizing, taking. -हः 1 Holding or stretching forth, holding out. -2 Laying hold of, taking, grasping, seizing; न हि मे मुच्यते कश्चित् कथञ्चित् प्रग्रहं गतः Mb.3.179.16. -3 The commencement of an eclipse. -4 (a) A rein, bridle; धृताः प्रग्रहाः अवतरत्वायुष्मान् Ś.1; Śi.12.31. (b) A whip, lash, scourge. -5 A check, restraint; यः प्रग्रहानुग्रहयोर्यथान्यायं विचक्षणः Rām.2.1.25. -6 Binding, confinement; सो$स्माकं वैरपुरुषो दुर्मतिः प्रग्रहं गतः Mb.12.7.33. -8 A prisoner, captive. -8 Taming, breaking (as an animal). -9 A ray of light. -1 The string of a balance. -11 A vowel not subject to the rules of Sandhi or euphony; see प्रगृह्य. -12 N. of Viṣṇu. -13 The arm. -14 A leader, guide. -15 Kindness, favour, a reward; अपराधं सहेताल्पं तुष्येदल्पे$पि चोदये । महोप- कारं चाध्यक्षं प्रग्रहेणाभिपूजयेत् ॥ Kau. A.2.7.25. -16 The Karṇikāra tree. -17 The gains in the form of gifts to courtiers; राजोपजीविनां प्रग्रहप्रदेशभोगपरिहारभक्तवेतनलाभम् Kau. A.2.7.25. -18 Hoarding, collecting (संग्रह); असाधुनिग्रहरतः साधूनां प्रग्रहे रतः Mb.12.21.14. -19 Folding, joining (hands); श्वश्रूणामविशेषेण प्राञ्जलिप्रग्रहेण च Rām.7. 48.1. -2 Obstinacy, stubbornness. -21 A companion, satellite.
प्रत्यग्र a. 1 Fresh, young, new, recent; प्रत्यग्रहतानां मांसम् Ve.3; कुसुमशयनं न प्रत्यग्रम् V.3.1; Me.4; R.1. 54; Ratn.1.21. -2 Repeated. -3 Pure. -Comp. -वयस् a. young in age, in the prime of life, youthful.
प्रत्यञ्च् pratyañc प्रत्यच् pratyac
प्रत्यञ्च् प्रत्यच् a. (-प्रतीची f. or according to Vopadeva प्रत्यञ्ची also) 1 Turned or directed towards; turned inward; मनः प्रत्यक् चित्ते सविधमवधायात्तमरुतः Śivamahimna 25. -2 Being behind. -3 Following, subsequent; समेत्य तरसा प्रत्यग्द्वाभ्यां तद्भ्यां बलं बली । निहत्य Bhāg. 1.15.3. -4 Averted, turned away, turning back;
Pt.3.181. -5 Western, westerly. -6 Inner, interior. -7 Equal to, a match for. -m. 1 The individual soul. -2 Future time. -Comp. -अक्षम् (प्रत्यगक्षम्) an inner organ. -आत्मन् m. (प्रत्यगात्मन्) the individual soul; कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्षदावृत्तचक्षुरमृतत्वमिच्छन् Kaṭh.2.1.1. -आनन्द a. inwardly joyful. -आशापतिः (प्रत्यगाशापतिः) 'The lord of the western direction', an epithet of Varuṇa. -उदच् f. (प्रत्यगुदच्) the north-west. -चेतन a. 1 whose thoughts are turned upon himself. -2 intelligent. (-नः) 1 the supreme soul; the Puruṣa in the Sāṅkhya philosophy. -2 the soul. -दक्षिणतः (प्रत्यग्दक्षिणतः) ind. towards the south-west. -दृश् f. (प्रत्यग्दृश्) an inward glance, a glance directed inwards; स्वांशेन सर्वतनुभृन्मनसि प्रतीतप्रत्यग्दृशे भगवते बृहते नमस्ते Bhāg.8.3.17. -धामन् a. internally illuminated. -पुष्पा Achyranthes aspera (Mar. आघाडा); Mātaṅga L.11.26. -प्रवण a. devoted to the individual soul. -मुख a. (प्रत्यङ्मुख) 1 facing the west; श्रियं प्रत्यङ्मुखो भुङ्क्ते Ms.2.52. -2 having the face averted. -रथाः (Pl.) (प्रत्यग्रथाः) N. of the Ahichchhatra country; L. D. B. -स्रोतस् (प्रत्यक्स्रोतस्) flowing towards the west; Malli. on Śi.4.66. (-f.) an epithet of the river Narmadā.
व्यग्र a. [विगतमग्रं यस्य] 1 Bewildered, perplexed, distracted; तं व्यग्रचक्रं दितिपुत्राधमेन Bhāg.3.19.6. -2 Alarmed, frightened. -3 Eagerly or intently occupied (with loc., instr. or in comp.) स राजककुदव्यग्रपाणिभिः पार्श्ववर्तिभिः R.17.27; Mv.1.13;4.28; Ku.7.2; U.1. 23; Bv.1.123; आरभन्ते$ल्पमेवाज्ञाः कामं व्यग्रा भवन्ति च Śi.2.79. -4 Being in motion (as a wheel). -ग्रः N. of Viṣṇu.
समग्र a. 1 All, whole, entire, complete; सर्वैरुस्रैः समःस्त्वमिव नृपगुणैर्दीप्यते सप्तसप्तिः M.2.12. -2 One who has everything; समग्रमिह संप्राप्तं मां द्रक्ष्यसि सुहृद्वृतम् Rām. 2.39.35.
n. front; beginning; point, tip, top, main thing: -m, before (g., --°ree;); in. before (ac.); lc. before, in presence of (g., --°ree;); in the beginning, at first, in the first place; after (ab.): -bhû, come forward.
m. finger; first ray; -ga, a. going in front; going through the end of (--°ree;); -ganya, fp. to be accounted the first of (g.); -ga, a. firstborn; m. elder brother; -ganman, m. Brâhman.
m.n. tip of the nail; -nâ sikâ, f. tip of the nose, -beak; -payodhara, m. teat; -pâda, m. toe; -pûgâ, f. precedence; -bindu, m. first drop; -bhâga, m. upper part, point, top; -bhûmi, f. top storey; highest aim; -mahishî, f. chief consort of a king; -yâyin, a. going before; best of (--°ree;); -vîra, m. chief hero, champion.
a. being in front; immi nent; -½a&ndot;ga, m. anointing; ointment; -½añg aka, a. anointing; -½añgana, n. anointing with fatty matter; -½añgyã, fp. to be anointed.
a. (having its top elevated), upraised, high; long; large; lofty, exalted; heightened or increased (by, --°ree;); advanced (age); excited, carried away by (--°ree;); exceedingly (°ree;--); -pluta, a.making high bounds: -tva, n. abst. n.
m. holding forth, stretching out; grasping, seizing; seizure of the sun or moon, beginning of an eclipse; kindness; obstinacy (rare); rein, bridle (ord. mg.); leader, guide; companion, satellite; -grahana, m. leader, guide (only --°ree; a. = led by); n. grasping, seizing; commencement of an eclipse; -grâham, abs. keeping the words separate (i. e. not combining them according to the rules of Sandhi: Br.); -grîva, m.railing or fence enclosing a house.
a. [being at the beginning], new, fresh; young; early (rays); recent; renewed, repeated: °ree;-or -m, ad. recently; -prasavâ, a. f. having recently brought forth, -calved; -yauvana, a. being in early youth; -rûpa, a. youthful; -vayas, a. of youthful years.
a. having the point di rected forwards or eastwards; -apavargam, ad. concluding in the east; -abhâva, m. pre vious non-existence; -abhihita, pp. pre viously discussed.
a. possessed of the crocodiles of passion; -dravya, n. colour ing substance, dye; -prâpta, pp. conform able to desire, gratifying the senses; -bandha, m. (manifestation of) affection;-bhañgana, m. N. of a fairy; -mañgarî, f. N.: i-kâ, f. dim. of id.; -maya, a. red; enamoured; -raggu, m. god of love; -lekhâ, f. streak of colour; -vat, a. red; fond; enamoured.
a. attending to no particular point (opp. eka½agra), distraught, inattentive; bewildered, agitated; diverted from every thing else, intent on, engrossed by, entirely occupied with (in., lc., --°ree;; frequently said of fingers, hands, arms): -m, ad. with great excitement; -tâ, f. intentness on (--°ree;); -tva, n. id.; distraction.
n. taking of a religious vow, turning mendicant: -nimittam, ad. in order to fulfil a religious vow; -kary&asharp;, f. performance of a religious work or observance; -kâr-ín, a.practising a religious ob servance, observing a vow: (-i)-tâ, f. observance of a vow.
a. (&asharp;) entire, complete, whole, all, every (very rare in V.); C.: abso lute (darkness); fully provided with (in., --°ree;); n. (C.) everything: °ree;--, entirely: -vartin, a. entirely resting orfixed (eyes) on (lc.); -sau varna, a. entirely golden; -½indu, m. full moon.
Gandhi (‘ having the smell of bull’s grease ’) appears in the Atharvaveda as the name of an Apsaras, beside other names, of which Guggulū and Naladī clearly indicate plants. This name, therefore, presumably also denotes some sort of fragrant plant. Auksa in the same Samhitā means bull’s grease ’ (from īiksan, ‘ bull ’).
The primitive sense of this word, which occurs frequently from the Rigveda onwards, appears to have been village.’ The Vedic Indians must have dwelt in villages which were scattered over the country, some close together, some far apart, and were connected by roads.The village is regularly contrasted with the forest (
‘Four-monthly,’ denotes the festival of the Vedic ritual held at the beginning of the three seasons of four months each, into which the Vedic year was artificially divided. It is clear that the sacrifices commenced with the beginning of each season, and it is certain that the first of them, the Vaiśvadeva, coincided with the Phālgunī full moon, the second, the Varuna-praghāsas, with the AsadhI full moon, and the third, the Sāka-medha, with the Kārttikī full moon. There were, however, two alternative datings: the festivals could also be held in the Caitri, the Srāvanī, and Agrahāyanī (Mārgaśīrsī) full moons, or in the Vaiśākhī, Bhādrapadī, and Pausī full moons. Neither of the later datings is found in a Brāhmana text, but each may well have been known early, since the Taittirīya Samhitā and the Pañcavimśa Brāhmana both recognize the full moon in the month Caitra as an alternative to the full moon in the month Phālguna, for the beginning of the year. Jacobi considers that the commencement of the year with the full moon in the asterism Phālgunī, which is supported by other evidence, indicates that the year at one time began with the winter solstice with the moon in Phālgunī, corresponding to the summer solstice when the sun was in Phālgunī. These astronomical conditions, he believes, existed in the time of the Rigveda, and prevailed in the fourth millennium B.C. The alternative dates would then indicate periods when the winter solstice coincided with the Caitrī or the Vaiśākhī full moon. But Oldenberg and Thibaut seem clearly right in holding that the coincidence of Phālgunī with the beginning of spring, which is certain, is fatal to this view, and that there is no difficulty in regarding this date as consistent with the date of the winter solstice in the new moon of Māgha, which is given by the Kausītaki Brāhmana, and which forms the basis of the calculations of the Jyotisa. The full moon in Phālguna would be placed about one month and a half after the winter solstice, or, say, in the first week of February, which date, according to Thibaut, may reasonably be deemed to mark the beginning of a new season in India about 800 B.C. At the same time it must be remembered that the date was necessarily artificial, inasmuch as the year was divided into three seasons, each of four months, and the Indian year does not in fact consist of three equal seasons. The variations of the other datings would then not be unnatural if any school wished to defer its spring festival, the Vaiśvadeva, to the time when spring had really manifested itself. See also Samvatsara.
‘forest fire,’ is mentioned in the Atharvaveda and the Satapatha Brāhmana. In the latter work such fires are referred to as occurring in spring. According to Sieg, a hymn of the Rigveda describes a forest fire. Watchers were employed to guard against surprise from such conflagrations (dāva-pa).
Is a word of obscure origin and derivation. The Indian interpreters already show a great divergence of opinion as to its primary meaning. The śatapatha Brāhmana resolves it into na-ksatra (‘ no power ’), explaining it by a legend. The Nirukta refers it to the root naks, ‘obtain/ following the Taittirīya Brāhmana. Aufrecht and Weber derived it from nakta-tra, ‘ guardian of night/ and more recently the derivation from nak-ksatra, ‘ having rule over night/ seems to be gaining acceptance. The generic meaning of the word therefore seems to be ‘star/ The Naksatras as Stars in the Rigveda and Later.—The sense of star ’ appears to be adequate for all or nearly all the passages in which Naksatra occurs in the Rigveda. The same sense occurs in the later Samhitās also : the sun and the Naksatras are mentioned together, or the sun, the moon, and the Naksatras, or the moon and the Naksatras, or the Naksatras alone; but there is no necessity to attribute to the word the sense of lunar mansion ’ in these passages. On the other hand, the names of at least three of the Naksatras in the later sense occur in the Rigveda. Tisya, however, does not seem to be mentioned as a lunar mansion. With Aghās (plur.) and Arjunī (dual) the case is different: it seems probable that they are the later lunar mansions called Maghās (plur.) and Phālgunī (dual). The names appear to have been deliberately changed in the Rigveda, and it must be remembered that the hymn in which they occur, the wedding hymn of Sūryā, has no claim to great age. Ludwig and Zimmer have seen other references to the Naksatras as 27 in the Rigveda, but these seem most improbable. Nor do the adjectives revatī (£ rich ’) and punarvasīi (‘ bringing wealth again’) in another hymn appear to refer to the Naksatras. The Naksatras as Lunar Mansions.—In several passages of the later Samhitās the connexion of the moon and the Naksatras is conceived of as a marriage union. Thus in the Kāthaka and Taittirīya Samhitās it is expressly stated that Soma was wedded to the mansions, but dwelt only with Rohinī; the others being angry, he had ultimately to undertake to live with them all equally. Weber hence deduced that the Naksatras were regarded as of equal extent, but this is to press the texts unduly, except in the sense of approximate equality. The number of the mansions is not stated as 27 in the story told in the two Samhitās: the Taittīriya has, and the Kāthaka no number; but 27 appears as their number in the list which is found in the Taittirīya Samhitā and elsewhere. The number 28 is much less well attested: in one passage of the Taittirīya Brāhmana Abhijit is practically marked as a new comer, though in a later book, in the Maitrāyanī Samhitā, and in the Atharvaveda list,27 it has found acceptance. It is perfectly possible that 28 is the earlier number, and that Abhijit dropped out because it was faint, or too far north, or because 27 was a more mystic (3x3x3) number: it is significant that the Chinese Sieou and the Arabic Manāzil are 28 in number.28 Weber, however, believes that 27 is the older number in India. The meaning of the number is easily explained when it is remembered that a periodic month occupies something between 27 and 28 days, more nearly the former number. Such a month is in fact recognized in the Lātyāyana and Nidāna Sūtras as consisting of 27 days, 12 months making a year of 324 days, a Naksatra year, or with an intercalary month, a year of 351 days. The Nidāna Sūtra makes an attempt to introduce the Naksatra reckoning into the civil or solar (sāvana) year of 360 days, for it holds that the sun spends 13J• days in each Naksatra (13^x27 = 360). But the month of 27 or 28 days plays no part in the chronological calculations of the Veda. The Names of the Naksatras.—In addition to the two mentioned in the Rigveda, the earlier Atharvaveda gives the names of Jyesthaghnī (the later Jyesthā) and Vicrtau, which are mentioned as in close connexion, and of Revatīs (plural) and Kyttikās. With reference to possible times for the ceremony of the Agnyādhāna, or Maying of the sacred fires/ the Kāthaka Samhitā, the Maitrāyanī Samhitā, and the Taittirīya Brāhmana mention the Naksatras called Krttikās, Rohinī, Phalgunyas, Hasta; the latter Brāhmana adds Punar- vasū, and in an additional remark excludes Pūrve Phālgunī in favour of Uttare Phālgunī. The śatapatha Brāhmana adds Mrgaśīrsa and Citrā as possibilities. On the other hand, Punarvasū is recommended by all authorities as suitable for the Punarādheya, 'relaying of the sacred fires,’ which takes place if the first fire has failed to effect the aim of its existence, the prosperity of the sacrificer. The Kāthaka Samhitā, however, allows Anurādhās also. In the ceremony of the Agnicayana, or 'piling of the fire- altar,’ the bricks are assumed to be equal in number to the Naksatras. The bricks number 756, and they are equated to 27 Naksatras multiplied by 27 secondary Naksatras, reckoned as 720 (instead of 729), with the addition of 36 days, the length of an intercalary month. Nothing can be usefully derived from this piece of priestly nonsense. But in connexion with this ceremony the Yajurveda Samhitās enumerate the 27, The Taittirīya Brāhmana has a list of the Naksatras which agrees generally with the list of the Samhitās. It runs as follows: Kyttikās, Rohinī, Invakās, Bāhū (dual), Tisya, Aśleṣās, Maghās, Pūrve Phālgunī, Uttare Phālgunī, Hasta, Citrā, Nistyā, Viśākhe, Anūrādhās, Rohinī, Mūlabarhanī, Pūrvā Asādhās', Uttarā Asādhās, Sronā, Sravisthās, Satabhisaj, Pūrve Prosthapadās, Uttare Prosthapadās, Revatī, Aśvayujau, Apabharanīs. In a later book, however, the list grows to 28, and the full moon is inserted after number 14, and the new moon after number, as an attempt to bring the Naksatra (lunar) month into accordance with the Sāvana (solar) month of 30 days. The names in this second list are as in the Samhitās with the following exceptions. The seven stars of the Krttikās are named as Ambā, Dulā, Nitatnī, Abhrayantī, Meghayantī, Varsayantī, Cupunīkā, names found also in the Taittirīya and Kāthaka Samhitās. Beside Mrgaśīrsa, Invakās are also mentioned. Then come Ardrā, Punarvasū, Tisya, Aśresās, Maghās (beside which Anaghās, Agadās, and Arun- dhatīs are also mentioned), Phalgunyas (but elsewhere in the dual, Phalgunyau), Phalgunyas, Hasta, Citrā, Nistyā, Viśākhe, Anūrādhās, Jyesthā, Mūla, Asādhās, Asā(jhās, Abhijit, śronā, Sravisthās, Satabhisaj, Prosthapadās, Prosthapadās, Revatī, Aśvayujau, Bharanyas, but also Apabharanīs. Abhijit, which occurs also in an earlier part of the Brāhmana, is perhaps interpolated. But Weber’s argument that Abhijit is out of place in this list because Brāhmana is here mentioned as the 28th Naksatra, loses some force from the fact (of course unknown to him) that the list in the Maitrāyanī Samhitā contains 28 Naksatras, including Abhijit, and adds Brāhmana at the end as another. In another passage the Taittirīya Brāhmana divides the Naksatras into two sets, the Deva Naksatras and the Yama Naksatras, being 1-14 and 15-27 (with the omission of Abhijit) respectively. This division corresponds with one in the third book of the Brāhmana60 where the days of the light half of the month and those of the dark half are equated with the Naksatras. The Brāhmana treats the former series as south, the latter as north; but this has no relation to facts, and can only be regarded as a ritual absurdity. The late nineteenth book of the Atharvaveda contains a list of the Naksatras, including Abhijit. The names here (masc.), Viśākhe, Anurādhā, Jyesthā, Mūla, Pūrvā Asādhās, Uttarā Asādhās, Abhijit, śravana, śravisthās, śatabhisaj, Dvayā Prosthapadā, Revatī, Aśvayujau, Bharanyas. The Position of the Naksatras.—There is nothing definite in Vedic literature regarding the position of most of the Naksatras, but the later astronomy precisely locates all of them, and its statements agree on the whole satisfactorily with what is said in the earlier texts, though Weber was inclined to doubt this. The determinations adopted below are due to Whitney in his notes on the Sūrya Siddhānta. 1.Krttikās are unquestionably η Tauri, etc., the Pleiades. The names of the seven stars forming this constellation, and given above from Yajurveda texts, include three --------abhrayantī, forming clouds meghayantī, ‘making cloudy’; varsayantī, ‘causing rain’—which clearly refer to the rainy Pleiades. The word krttikā possibly means ‘web/ from the root krt, spin.’ 2. Rohinī, ‘ ruddy,’ is the name of the conspicuously reddish star, a Tauri or Aldebaran, and denotes the group of the Hyades, <* θ y 8 e Tauri. Its identification seems absolutely assured by the legend of Prajāpati in the Aitareya Brāhmana. He is there represented as pursuing his daughter with incestuous intention, and as having been shot with an arrow (Isu Trikāndā, ‘ the belt of Orion ’) by the huntsman ’ (Mrgavyādha, Sirius ’). Prajāpati is clearly Orion (Mrgaśiras being the name of the little group of stars in Orion’s head). 3.Mrgaśīrsa or Mrgaśiras, also called Invakā or Invagā, seems to be the faint stars λ, φ,1 φ2 Orionis. They are called Andhakā, * blind,’ in the śāntikalpa of the Atharvaveda, probably because of their dimness. 4.Ardrā, ‘ moist,’ is the name of the brilliant star, α Orionis. But the names by which it is styled, in the plural as Árdrās in the śāñkhāyana Grhya Sūtra and the Naksatrakalpa, and in the dual as Bāhú, in the Taittirīya Brāhmana, point to a constellation of two or more stars, and it may be noted that the corresponding Chinese Sieou includes the seven brilliant stars composing the shoulders, the belt, and the knees of Orion. 5. Punarvasu, the two that give wealth again,’ denotes the two stars, a and β Geminorum, on the heads of Castor and Pollux. The name is no doubt connected with the beneficent character of the Aśvins, who correspond to the Dioscuri. 6.Tisya or Pusya includes the somewhat faint group in the body of the Crab, 7, δ, and θ Cancri. The singular is rather curious, as primarily one star would seem to have been meant, and none of the group is at all prominent. 7. Aśresās or Aślesās, which in some texts is certainly to be read Aśresās or Aślesas, denotes δ, e, η, p, σ, and perhaps also ζ, Hydrse. The word means ‘embracer,’ a name which admirably fits the constellation. 8. Maghās, the ‘bounties,’ are the Sickle, or α, γ, ζ, μ, e Leonis. The variants Anaghā, the ‘ sinless one,’ etc.,clearly refer to the auspicious influence of the constellation. 9. 10. Phālgunī, Phalgunyau, Phalgū, Phalg-unīs, Phal- gunyas, is really a double constellation, divided into Pūrve, ‘ former,’ and Uttare, ‘latter.’ The former is δ and θ Leonis, the latter β and Leonis. According to Weber, the word denotes, like Arjunī, the variant of the Rigveda, a ‘ bright- coloured ’ constellation. 11. Hasta, ‘hand,’ is made up of the five conspicuous stars (δ> Ί, e, a, β) in Corvus, a number which the word itself suggests. According to Geldner, the ‘ five bulls ’ of the Rigveda are this constellation. 12. Citrā, ‘bright,’ is the beautiful star, a Virginis. It is mentioned in a legend of Indra in the Taittirīya Brāhmana, and in that of the ‘ two divine dogs ’ (divyau śvānau) in the śatapatha Brāhmana. 13. Svāti or Nistyā is later clearly the brilliant star Arcturus or a Bootis, its place in the north being assured by the notice in the śāntikalpa, where it is said to be ‘ ever traversing the northern way ’ (nityam uttara-mārgagam). The Taittirīya Brāhmana, however, constructs an asterismal Prajāpati, giving him Citrā (α Virginis) for head, Hasta (Corvus) for hand, the Viśākhe (α and β Librae) for thighs, and the Anurādhās (β, δ, and 7r Scorpionis) for standing place, with Nistyā for heart. But Arcturus, being 30° out, spoils this figure, while, on the other hand, the Arabic and Chinese systems have respectively, instead of Arcturus, Virginis and κ Virginis, which would well fit into the Prajāpati figure. But in spite of the force of this argument of Weber’s, Whitney is not certain that Nistyā here must mean a star in Virgo, pointing out that the name Nistyā, ‘outcast,’ suggests the separation of this Naksatra from the others in question. 14.Viśākhe is the couple of stars a and β Librae. This mansion is later called Rādhā according to the Amarakośa, and it is curious that in the Atharvaveda the expression rādho Viśākhe, the Viśākhe are prosperity,’ should occur. But probably Rādhā is merely an invention due to the name of the next Naksatra, Anurādhā, wrongly conceived as meaning that which is after or follows Rādhā.’ 15. Anūrādhās or Anurādhā, propitious,’ is β, δ, and tγ (perhaps also p) Scorpionis. 16. Rohinī, ‘ ruddy ’; Jyesthaghnī, * slaying the eldest ’; or Jyesthā, ‘eldest,’ is the name of the constellation σ, α, and τ Scorpionis, of which the central star, a, is the brilliant reddish Antares (or Cor Scorpionis).
17.Vicrtau, ‘ the two releasers ’; Mūla, ‘ root or Mūla- barhanī, ‘ uprooting,’ denote primarily λ and v at the extremity of the tail of the Scorpion, but including also the nine or eleven stars from e to v.
18.19. Asādhās (‘ unconquered ’), distinguished as Pūrvās, ‘ former,’ and Uttarās, ‘ latter,’ are really two constellations, of which the former is composed of γ, δ, e, and η Sagittarii, or of 8 and e only, and the latter of θ, σ, t, and ξ Sagittarii, or of two, σ and ζ, only. It is probable that originally only four stars forming a square were meant as included in the whole constellation —viz., σ and f, with 8 and e.
20. Abhijit is the brilliant star a Lyrse with its two companions e and ζ. Its location in 6o° north latitude is completely discordant with the position of the corresponding Arabian and Chinese asterisms. This fact is considered by Oldenberg to support the view that it was a later addition to the system; its occurrence, however, as early as the Maitrāyanī Samhitā, which he does not note, somewhat invalidates that view. In the Taittirīya Brāhmana Abhijit is said to be ‘over Asādhās, under śronā,’ which Weber held to refer to its position in space, inferring thence that its Vedic position corresponded to that of the Arab Manāzil and the Chinese Sieou—viz., a, β Capricorni. But Whitney argues effectively that the words ‘ over ’ and ‘ under ’ really refer to the place of Abhijit in the list, ‘ after ’ Asādhās and ‘ before ’ Sronā.
21. Sronā, ‘lame,’ or Sravana, ‘ ear,’ denotes the bright star a Aquilai with β below and 7 above it. Weber very need- lessly thinks that the name Sravana suggested two ears and the head between. It is quite out of correspondence with the Manāzil and the Sieou, and is clearly an Indian invention.
22. śravisthās, ‘ most famous,’ or later Dhanisthās, ‘most wealthy,’ is the diamond-shaped group, α, β, δ, and 7, in the Dolphin, perhaps also ζ in the same constellation. Like the preceding Naksatra, it is out of harmony with the Manāzil and Sieou. 23. Satabhisaj or śatabhisa, ‘having a hundred physicians,’ seems to be λ Aquarii with the others around it vaguely conceived as numbering a hundred.
24. 25. Prostha-padās (fem. plur.), ‘ feet of a stool,’ or later Bhadra-padās,100 ‘auspicious feet,’ a double asterism forming a square, the former (pūrva) consisting of a and β Pegasi, the latter (uttara) of γ Pegasi and a Andromedse.
26. Revatī, ‘ wealthy,’ denotes a large number of stars (later 32), of which ζ Piscium, close upon the ecliptic where it was crossed by the equator of about 570 a.d., is given as the southernmost. 27. Aśva-yujau, ‘the two horse-harnessers,’ denotes the stars β and ζ Arietis. Aśvinyau101 and Aśvinī102 are later names. 28. Apabharanīs, Bharanīs, or Bharanyas, ‘ the bearers,’ is the name of the small triangle in the northern part of the Ram known as Musca or 35, 39, and 41 Arietis. The Naksatras and the Months.—In the Brāhmanas the Naksatra names are regularly used to denote dates. This is done in two ways. The name, if not already a feminine, may be turned into a feminine and compounded with pūrna-māsa, ‘the full moon,’ as in Tisyā-pūrnamāsa, ‘the full moon in the Naksatra Tisya.’103 Much more often, however, it is turned into a derivative adjective, used with paurnamāsī, ‘the full moon (night)/ or with amāvāsyā, ‘the new moon (night)/ as in Phālgunī paurnamāsl, ‘the full-moon night in the Naksatra Phālgunī’;104 or, as is usual in the Sūtras, the Naksatra adjective alone is used to denote the full-moon night. The month itself is called by a name derived105 from that of a Naksatra, but only Phālguna,106 Caitra,107 Vaiśākha,108 Taisya,109 Māgha110 occur in the Brāhmanas, the complete list later being Phālguna, Caitra, Vaiśākha, Jyaistha, Asādha, Srāvana, Prausthapada, Aśvayuja, Kārttika, Mārgaśīrsa, Taisya, Māgha. Strictly speaking, these should be lunar months, but the use of a lunar year was clearly very restricted: we have seen that as early as the Taittirīya Brāhmana there was a tendency to equate lunar months with the twelve months of thirty days which made up the solar year (see Māsa). The Naksatras and Chronology.—(i) An endeavour has been made to ascertain from the names of the months the period at which the systematic employment of those names was intro¬duced. Sir William Jones111 refers to this possibility, and Bentley, by the gratuitous assumption that śrāvana always marked the summer solstice, concluded that the names of the months did not date before b.c. Ii8I. Weber112 considered that there was a possibility of fixing a date by this means, but Whitney113 has convincingly shown that it is an impossible feat, and Thibaut114 concurs in this view. Twelve became fixed as the number of the months because of the desire, evident in the Brāhmanas, somehow or other to harmonize lunar with solar time; but the selection of twelve Naksatras out of twenty-seven as connected with the night of full moon can have no chronological significance, because full moon at no period occurred in those twelve only, but has at all periods occurred in every one of the twenty-seven at regularly recurrent intervals. (2) All the lists of the Naksatras begin with Krttikās. It is only fair to suppose that there was some special reason for this fact. Now the later list of the Naksatras begins with Aśvinī, and it was unquestionably rearranged because at the time of its adoption the vernal equinox coincided with the star ζ Piscium on the border of Revatī and Aśvinī, say in the course of the sixth century A.D. Weber has therefore accepted the view that the Krttikās were chosen for a similar reason, and the date at which that Naksatra coincided with the vernal equinox has been estimated at some period in the third millennium B.C. A very grave objection to this view is its assumption that the sun, and not the moon, was then regarded as connected with the Naksatras; and both Thibaut and Oldenberg have pronounced decidedly against the idea of connecting the equinox with the Krttikās. Jacobi has contended that in the Rigveda the commencement of the rains and the summer solstice mark the beginning of the new year and the end of the old, and that further the new year began with the summer solstice in Phālgunī.121 He has also referred to the distinction of the two sets of Deva and Yama Naksatras in the Taittirīya Brāhmana as supporting his view of the connexion of the sun and the Naksatras. But this view is far from satisfactory: the Rigveda passages cannot yield the sense required except by translating the word dvādaśa123 as 4 the twelfth (month) * instead of consisting of twelve parts,’ that is, ‘year/ the accepted interpretation; and the division of the Naksatras is not at all satisfactorily explained by a supposed connexion with the sun. It may further be mentioned that even if the Naksatra of Krttikās be deemed to have been chosen because of its coincidence with the vernal equinox, both Whitney and Thibaut are pre¬pared to regard it as no more than a careless variant of the date given by the Jyotisa, which puts the winter solstice in Māgha. (3) The winter solstice in Māgha is assured by a Brāhmana text, for the Kausītaki Brāhmana12® expressly places it in the new moon of Māgha (māghasyāmāυāsyāyām). It is not very important whether we take this with the commentators as the new moon in the middle of a month commencing with the day after full moon in Taisa, or, which is much more likely, as the new moon beginning the month and preceding full moon in Māgha. The datum gives a certain possibility of fixing an epoch in the following way. If the end of Revatī marked the vernal equinox at one period, then the precession of the equinoxes would enable us to calculate at what point of time the vernal equinox was in a position corresponding to the winter solstice in Māgha, when the solstitial colure cut the ecliptic at the beginning of Sravisthās. This would be, on the strict theory, in the third quarter of Bharanī, 6f asterisms removed from Sravisthās, and the difference between that and the beginning of Aśvinī = if asterisms = 23 (27 asterisms being = 360°). Taking, the starting-point at 499 a.d., the assured period of Varāha Mihira, Jones arrived at the date B.C. 1181 for the vernal equinox corresponding to the winter solstice in Māgha—that is, on the basis of ι° = 72 years as the precession. Pratt arrived at precisely the same date, taking the same rate of precession and adopting as his basis the ascertained position in the Siddhantas of the junction star of Maghā, a Leonis or Regulus. Davis and Colebrooke arrived at a different date, B.C. 1391, by taking as the basis of their calculation the junction star of Citrā, which happens to be of uncertain position, varying as much as 30 in the different textbooks. But though the twelfth century has received a certain currency as the epoch of the observation in the Jyotisa, it is of very doubtful value. As Whitney points out, it is impossible to say that the earlier asterisms coincided in position with the later asterisms of 13J0 extent each. They were not chosen as equal divisions, but as groups of stars which stood in conjunction with the moon; and the result of subsequently making them strictly equal divisions was to throw the principal stars of the later groups altogether out of their asterisms. Nor can we say that the star ζ Piscium early formed the eastern boundary of Revatī; it may possibly not even have been in that asterism at all, for it is far remote from the Chinese and Arabic asterisms corresponding to Revatī. Added to all this, and to the uncertainty of the starting-point— 582 a.d., 560 a.d., or 491 a.d. being variants —is the fact that the place of the equinox is not a matter accurately determin¬able by mere observation, and that the Hindu astronomers of the Vedic period cannot be deemed to have been very accurate observers, since they made no precise determination of the number of days of the year, which even in the Jyotisa they do not determine more precisely than as 366 days, and even the Sūrya Siddhānta136 does not know the precession of the equinoxes. It is therefore only fair to allow a thousand years for possible errors,137 and the only probable conclusion to be drawn from the datum of the Kausītaki Brāhmana is that it was recording an observation which must have been made some centuries B.C., in itself a result quite in harmony with the probable date of the Brāhmana literature,138 say B.C. 800-600. (4) Another chronological argument has been derived from the fact that there is a considerable amount of evidence for Phālguna having been regarded as the beginning of the year, since the full moon in Phālgunī is often described as the ‘ mouth (mukham) of the year.’139 Jacobi140 considers that this was due to the fact that the year was reckoned from the winter solstice, which would coincide with the month of Phālguna about B.C. 4000. Oldenberg and Thibaut, on the other hand, maintain that the choice of Phālguna as the ‘ mouth ’ of the year was due to its being the first month of spring. This view is favoured by the fact that there is distinct evidence of the correspondence of Phālguna and the beginning of spring : as we have seen above in the Kausītaki Brāhmana, the new moon in Māgha is placed at the winter solstice, which puts the full moon of Phālgunī at a month and a half after the winter solstice, or in the first week of February, a date not in itself improbable for about B.C. 800, and corresponding with the February 7 of the veris initium in the Roman Calendar. This fact accords with the only natural division of the year into three periods of four months, as the rainy season lasts from June 7-10 to October 7-10, and it is certain that the second set of four months dates from the beginning of the rains (see Cāturmāsya). Tilak, on the other hand, holds that the winter solstice coincided with Māghī full moon at the time of the Taittirīya Samhitā (b.c. 2350), and had coincided with Phālgunī and Caitrī in early periods—viz., B.C. 4000-2500, and B.C. 6000¬4000. (5) The passages of the Taittirīya Samhitā and the Pañca¬vimśa Brāhmana, which treat the full moon in Phālguna as the beginning of the year, give as an alternative the full moon in Caitra. Probably the latter month was chosen so as to secure that the initial day should fall well within the season of spring, and was not, as Jacobi believes, a relic of a period when the winter solstice corresponded with Caitra. Another alternative is the Ekāstakā, interpreted by the commentators as the eighth day after the full moon in Maghās, a time which might, as being the last quarter of the waning half of the old year, well be considered as representing the end of the year. A fourth alternative is the fourth day before full moon; the full moon meant must be that of Caitra, as Álekhana quoted by Ápastamba held, not of Māgha, as Asmarathya, Laugāksi and the Mīmāmsists believed, and as Tilak believes. (6) Others, again, according to the Grhya ritual, began the year with the month Mārgaśīrsa, as is shown by its other name Agrahāyana (‘ belonging to the commencement of the year ’). Jacobi and Tilak think that this one denoted the autumn equinox in Mrgaśiras, corresponding to the winter solstice in Phālgunī. But, as Thibaut shows clearly, it was selected as the beginning of a year that was taken to commence with autumn, just as some took the spring to commence with Caitra instead of Phālguna. (7) Jacobi has also argued, with the support of Buhler, from the terms given for the beginning of Vedic study in the Grhya Sūtras, on the principle that study commenced with the rains (as in the Buddhist vassā) which mark the summer solstice. He concludes that if Bhādrapada appears as the date of commencing study in some texts, it was fixed thus because at one time Prosthapadās (the early name of Bhadra- padās) coincided with the summer solstice, this having been the case when the winter solstice was in Phālguna. But Whitney155 has pointed out that this argument is utterly illegitimate; we cannot say that there was any necessary connexion between the rains and learning—a month like Srāvana might be preferred because of its connexion with the word Sravana, 4 ear ’—and in view of the precession of the equinoxes, we must assume that Bhādrapada was kept because of its traditional coincidence with the beginning of the rains after it had ceased actually so to coincide. the other astronomical phenomena; the discovery of a series of 27 lunar mansions by them would therefore be rather surprising. On the other hand, the nature of such an operation is not very complicated ; it consists merely in selecting a star or a star group with which the moon is in conjunction. It is thus impossible a priori to deny that the Vedic Indians could have invented for themselves a lunar Zodiac. But the question is complicated by the fact that there exist two similar sets of 28 stars or star groups in Arabia and in China, the Manāzil and the Sieou. The use of the Manāzil in Arabia is consistent and effective ; the calendar is regulated by them, and the position of the asterisms corresponds best with the positions required for a lunar Zodiac. The Indians might therefore have borrowed the system from Arabia, but that is a mere possibility, because the evidence for the existence of the Manāzil is long posterior to that for the existence of the Naksatras, while again the Mazzaroth or Mazzaloth of the Old Testament may really be the lunar mansions. That the Arabian system is borrowed from India, as Burgess held, is, on the other hand, not at all probable. Biot, the eminent Chinese scholar, in a series of papers published by him between. 1839 and 1861, attempted to prove the derivation of the Naksatra from the Chinese Sieou. The latter he did not regard as being in origin lunar mansions at all. He thought that they were equatorial stars used, as in modern astronomy, as a standard to which planets or other stars observed in the neighbourhood can be referred; they were, as regards twenty-four of them, selected about B.C. 2357 on account of their proximity to the equator, and of their having the same right ascension as certain circumpolar stars which had attracted the attention of Chinese observers. Four more were added in B.C. IIOO in order to mark the equinoxes and solstices of the period. He held that the list of stars commenced with Mao (= Krttikās), which was at the vernal equinox in B.C. 2357. Weber, in an elaborate essay of i860, disputed this theory, and endeavoured to show that the Chinese literary evidence for the Sieou was late, dating not even from before the third century B.C. The last point does not appear to be correct, but his objections against the basis of Biot’s theory were rein¬forced by Whitney, who insisted that Biot’s supposition of the Sieou’s not having been ultimately derived from a system of lunar mansions, was untenable. This is admitted by the latest defender of the hypothesis of borrowing from China, Lśopold de Saussure, , but his arguments in favour of a Chinese origin for the Indian lunar mansions have been refuted by Oldenberg, who has also pointed out that the series does not begin with Mao ( = Krttikās). There remains only the possibility that a common source for all the three sets—Naksatra, Manāzil, and Sieou—may be found in Babylonia. Hommel has endeavoured to show that recent research has established in Babylonia the existence of a lunar zodiac of twenty-four members headed by the Pleiades ( = Krttikās); but Thibaut’s researches are not favourable to this claim. On the other hand, Weber, Whitney, Zimmer, and Oldenberg all incline to the view that in Babylonia is to be found the origin of the system, and this must for the present be regarded as the most probable view, for there are other traces of Babylonian influence in Vedic literature, such as the legend of the flood, perhaps the Adityas, and possibly the word Manā.
‘ Fresh butter,’ is mentioned frequently in the later Samhitās and the Brāhmanas. According to the Aitareya Brāhmana this is the kind of butter which is fitted for anointing an embryo (,garbha), while the gods receive Ajya, men fragrant ghee (Ghrta), and the fathers Ayuta. Elsewhere4 it is contrasted with Ghrta and Sarpis.
Occurs once in the Atharvaveda as the name of an Apsaras, being no doubt originally a name of some fragrant plant, like Naladī and Guggulū, two other names of Apsarases given in the same verse.
Receiving gifts,’ is the term applied to those people of the royal entourage in whose houses the Ratna-havis, a special rite, was performed in the course of the Rājasūya or ‘ royal consecration.’ The list given in the Taittirīya Samhitā and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa consists of the Brahman (i.e., the Purohita), the Rājanya, the Mahiṣī (the first wife of the king), the Vāvāta (the favourite wife of the king), the Parivṛktī (the discarded wife), the Senānī, ‘ commander of the army ’; the Sūta, ‘ charioteer ’; the Grāmaṇī, ‘ village headman ’;. the Kṣattṛ, ‘ chamberlain ’; the Samgrahītṛ, ‘ charioteer ’ or ‘ treasurer ’; the Bhāgadugha, ‘ collector of taxes ’ or ‘ divider of food ’; and the Akṣāvāpa, ‘ superintender of dicing ’ or ‘ thrower of dice.’ In the śatapatha Brāhmaṇa the order is Senānī; Purohita; Mahiṣī; Sūta; Grāmaṇī; Kṣattṛ; Sam- grahitṛ; Bhāgadugha; Akṣāvāpa; Go-nikartana, ‘ slayer of cows’ or ‘huntsman’; and Pālāgala, ‘courier’; the ‘discarded wife’ being mentioned as forbidden to stay at‘home on the day of the ceremony of offering a pap for Nirṛti in her house. In the Maitrāyaṇī Samhitā the list is Brahman (i.e., Puro¬hita) ; Rājan; Mahiṣī; Parivṛktī; Senānī; Saṃgrahītṛ; Kṣattṛ; Sūta; Vaiśyagrāmaṇī; Bhāgadugha; Takṣa-Rathakārau, ‘ carpenter and chariot-máker ’; Akṣāvāpa; and Go-vikarta. The Kāthaka Samhitā substitutes Go-vyacha for Govikarta, and omits Takṣa-Rathakārau. It will be seen that the list is essentially that of the royal household, and of the king’s servants in the administration of the country, though the exact sense of SamgTahītf, Bhāga- dug'ha, Sūta, Grāmaṇī, Kçattp, is open to reasonable doubt, mainly as to whether public officers or private servants are meant, for the names are of uncertain significance. A briefer list of eight Vīras, ‘ heroes,’ as among the friends of the king, is given in the Pañcavimśa Brāhmana : brother, son, Purohita, Mahisī, Sūta, Grāmaṇī, Kṣattṛ, and Samgrahītṛ.
Is included in the list of victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda, where, however, no further explanation of the name is given. Fuller information is furnished by the Atharvaveda, the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa, and the Sūtras, which describe at length a certain rite intended for the use of Vrātyas. According to the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa, there are four different kinds of ‘outcasts’—viz., the hīna, who are merely described as ‘depressed’; those who have become outcasts for some sin (nindita); those who become outcasts at an early age, apparently by living among outcasts; and those old men who, being impotent (śama-nīcamedhra), have gone to live with outcasts. The last three categories are by no means of the same importance as the first. The motive of the fourth is hard to understand: according to Rājārām Rām- krishṇa Bhāgavat,5 they were men who had enfeebled their constitutions by undue intercourse with women in the lands of the outcasts, and returned home in a debilitated state. But this is not stated in the text. It seems probable that the really important Vrātyas were those referred to as Itlna, and that the other classes were only subsidiary. According to Rāj'ārām,® there were two categories of the first class: (a) The depressed (hīna), who were non- Aryan ; and (6) degraded Aryans (gara-gir). This, however, is a mere guess, and devoid of probability. There seems to have been but one class of Vrātyas. That they were non-Aryan is not probable, for it is expressly said7 that, though unconse¬crated, they spoke the tongue of the consecrated: they were thus apparently Aryans. This view is confirmed by the state-ment that ‘they call what is easy of utterance, difficult to utter’: probable they had already a somewhat Prakritic form of speech (cf. Vāc). The Sūtras mention their Arhants (‘saints’) and Yaudhas (‘warriors’), corresponding to the Brahminical Brāhmana and Kṣatriya. Other particulars accord with the view that they were Aryans outside the sphere of Brahmin culture. Thus they are said not to practise agriculture or commerce (an allusion to a nomadic life), nor to observe the rules of Brahmacarya—i.e., the principle regulating the Brahminic order of life. They were also allowed to become members of the Brahminical community by performance of the ritual prescribed, which would hardly be so natural in the case of non-Aryans. Some details are given of the life and dress of the Vrātyas. Their principles were opposed to those of the Brahmins: they beat those unworthy of correction. Their leader (Gṛhapati) or householder wore a turban (Uçṇīçε), carried a whip (Pratoda), a kind of bow (Jyāhroda), was :lothed in a black (krçnaśa) garment and two skins (Ajina), blxk and white (krsna-valaksa), and owned a rough wagon (Vijatha) covered with planks (phalakāstīrna). The others, subordinate to the leader, had garments with fringes of red (valūkāntāni dāmatūsām), two fringes on each, skins folded double (dvisamhitāny ajinūni), and sandals (Upānah). The leader wore also an ornament (Niçka) of silver, which Rājārām converts into a silver coinage. The Vrātyas, on becoming consecrated, were expected to hand over their goods to the priest. Many other details are given in the Sūtras (e.g., that the shoes or sandals were of variegated black hue and pointed), but these are not authenticated by the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa. The locality in which the Vrāiyas lived cannot be stated with certainty, but their nomad life suggests the western tribes beyond the Sarasvatī. But they may equally well have been in the east: this possibility is so far supported by the fact that the Sūtras make the Brahmin receiving the gift of the Vrātya's outfit an inhabitant of Mag’adha. The Atharvaveda does not help, for it treats the Vrātya in so mystical a way that he is represented as being in all the quarters. Indeed, Roth believed that it was here not a case of the Vrātya of the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa at all, but of a glorification of the Vrātya as the type of the pious vagrant or wandering religious mendicant (Parivrājaka). This view is clearly wrong, as the occurrence of the words usnīsa, vipatha, and pratoda shows. It is probable that the 15th Book of the Atharvaveda, which deals with the Vrātya, and is of a mystical character, exalts the converted Vrātya as a type of the perfect Brahmacārin, and, in so far, of the divinity.
‘Son of a female descendant of śalanku,’ is the name of a teacher, a, pupil of Vārçagraṇīputra in the last Vamśa (list of teachers) of the Mādhyaipdina recension of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.
Is a word of somewhat doubtful sense in the Rigveda. Roth renders it either * battle’ or ‘festival.' Pischel thinks that it was a general popular festivity to which women went to enjoy themselves, poets to win fame, bowmen to gain prizes at archery, horses to run races; and which lasted until morning or until a conflagration, caused by the fires kept burning all night, scattered the celebrators. Young women, elderly women, sought there to find a husband, and courtezans to make profit of the occasion.
Was the famous plant which was used for the preparation of the libation of Soma made at the Vedic sacrifice. Its importance is sufficiently shown by the fact that the whole of the ninth Maṇdala of the Rigveda, and six hymns in other Maṇdalas, are devoted to its praise. Nevertheless, little is actually known of the plant. Its twigs or shoots are described as brown (babhru), ruddy (aruna), or tawny (hari).s Possibly its twigs hang down if the epithet Naicāśākha refers to the plant as Hillebrandt thinks. The shoot is called amśu, while the plant as a whole is called andhas, which also denotes the juice. Parvan is the stem. Kξip, ‘finger,’ is used as a designation of the shoots, which may therefore have resembled fingers in shape; vaksanā and vāna also seem to have the sense of the shoot. There is some slight evidence to suggest that the stem was not round, but angular. The plant grew on the mountains, that of Mūjavant being specially renowned. These notices are inadequate to identify the plant. It has been held to be the Sarcostemma viminalc or the Asclepias acida (Sarcostemma brevistigma). Roth held that the Sarcostemma acidiim more nearly met the requirements of the case. Watt suggested the Afghan grape as the real Soma, and Rice thought a sugar-cane might be meant, while Max Mūller and Rājendralāla Mitra suggested that the juice was used as an ingredient in a kind of beer—i.e., that the Soma plant was a species of hop. Hillebrandt considers that neither hops nor the grape can explain the references to Soma. It is very probable that the plant cannot now be identified. In the Yajurveda the plant is purchased ere it is pressed. Hillebrandt considers that the sale must be assumed for the Rigveda. It grew on a mountain, and could not be obtained by ordinary people: perhaps some special tribe or prince owned it, like the Kīkatas. As it stands, the ritual performance is clearly an acquisition of the Soma from the Gandharvas (represented by a śūdra), a ritual imitation of the action which may have been one of the sources of the drama. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining the real plant from a great distance, several substitutes were allowed in the Brāhmaṇa period. The plant was prepared for use by being pounded with stones or in a mortar. The former was the normal method of pro¬cedure, appearing in the Rigveda as the usual one. The stones are called grāvan or αdn, and were, of course, held in the hands. The plant was laid on boards one beside the other (Adhiṣavana), and, according at least to the later ritual, a hole was dug below, so that the pounding of the plant by means of the stones resulted in a loud noise, doubtless a prophylactic against demoniac influences. The plant was placed on a skin and on the Vedi—-which was no longer done in the later ritual—Dhiṣaṇā in some passages denoting the Vedi. Sometimes the mortar and pestle were used in place of the stones. This use, though Iranian, was apparently not common in Vedic times. Camū denotes the vessel used for the offering to the god, Kalaśa and Camasa those used for the priests to drink from. Sometimes the Camū denotes the mortar and pestle. Perhaps the vessel was so called because of its mortar-like shape. The skin on which the shoots were placed was called Tvac, or twice go (‘cow-hide). Kośa, Sadhastha, Dru, Vana, Droṇa, are all terms used for Soma vessels, while Sruva denotes the ladle.’ Apparently the plant was sometimes steeped in water to increase its yield of juice. It is not possible to describe exactly the details of the process of pressing the Soma as practised in the Rigveda. It was certainly purified by being pressed through a sieve (Pavitra). The Soma was then used unmixed (βukra, śuci) for Indra and Vāyu, but the Kanvas seem to have dropped this usage. The juice is described as brown (babhru)," tawny (hart), or ruddy (aruna), and as having a fragrant smell, at least as a rule. Soma was mixed with milk (Gavāśir), curd or sour milk (Dadhyāśir), or grain (Yavāśir). The admixtures are alluded to with various figurative expressions, as Atka, ‘ armour ’j Vastra or Vāsas, 'garment'; Abhiśrī, 'admixturerūpa, ‘beautyJ; śrl, ‘splendour’; rasa, ‘flavour’; prayas, ‘ dainty ’; and perhaps nabhas, ‘ fragrance.’ The adjective tīvra denotes the ‘ pungent ’ flavour of Soma when so mixed. The Soma shoots, after the juice has been pressed out, are denoted by rjīsa, ‘residue.’ It seems probable that in some cases honey was mixed with Soma: perhaps the kośa madhti-ścut, ' the pail distilling sweetness,’ was used for the mixing. It seems doubtful if Surā was ever so mixed. There were three pressings a day of Soma, as opposed to the two of the Avesta. The evening pressing was specially connected with the Rbhus, the midday with Indra, the morning with Agni, but the ritual shows that many other gods also had their share. The drinker of Soma and the nondrinker are sharply discriminated in the texts. Localities where Soma was consumed were Árjīka, Pastyāvant, śaryaṇāvant, Suṣomā, the territory of the Pañcajanāh or ‘five peoples,’ and so on. The effects of Soma in exhilarating and exciting the drinkers are often alluded to. It is difficult to decide if Soma was ever a popular, as opposed to a hieratic drink. The evidence for its actual popularity is very slight, and not decisive.
In the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa is applied to an ornament (alamkāra) meaning 'made of the fragrant substance Sthagara,' which elsewhere appears as Sthakara.
noun (neuter) a measure of food given as alms (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a weight equal to a pala (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
aim (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
foremost point or part (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
front (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
goal (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
multitude (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
point (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
sharpness (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
summit (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
surface (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the beginning (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the climax or best part (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the nearest end (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the sun's amplitude (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
tip (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
top (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
uppermost part (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective anterior (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
best (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
chief (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
first (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
foremost (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
projecting (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
prominent (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
supernumerary (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a houseless man (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
non acceptance (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
not an eclipse Frequency rank 17459/72933
noun (masculine) a Brahman (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
an elder brother (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the first-born (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a Brahman (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a member of one of the three highest castes (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
an elder brother (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
Brahmā (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the first-born (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) finger (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
first ray (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the fore part of the hand (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
indeclinable (with gen.) before (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
before (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
first (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
in front (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
in presence of (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
in the beginning (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 9 ātmanepada) to disjoin (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take away (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to tear off (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective constant (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
fresh (as blood) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
having the point turned or directed towards (acc.) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
near (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
perpetual (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
quick (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 9 ātmanepada) (in Gr.) to separate (as words or parts of a word) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to divide (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to impede (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to keep back from (abl.) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to let go (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to let loose (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to perceive (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to stop (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a form of knowlege (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a herd of elephants (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
an elephant's forehead (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
an imprecation or term of abuse (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
an iron hook with which elephants are driven (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
drought (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
impediment (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
nature (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
obstacle (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
original temperament (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
restraint (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
separation of the component parts of a compound (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
separation of the stem and certain suffixes and terminations (occurring in the Pada text of the Vedas) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the mark or the interval of such a separation (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the syllable or letter after which the separation occurs (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective cool (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
deliberate (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
not in danger (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
safe (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
steady (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
unconfused (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
undisturbed (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
unoccupied (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective advanced (in age) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
enraptured (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
excited (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
fierce (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
haughty (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
having the top elevated or upwards (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
high (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
increased (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
intense (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
large (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
long (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
loud (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
over-topping (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
projecting (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
tall (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
towering or pointing upwards (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
vast (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 9 ātmanepada) to accept (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to approve (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to become master of (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to collect a fluid (by holding a vessel under) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to comprehend (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to conciliate (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to draw near (to one's self) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to hold under (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to obtain (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to propitiate (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to put under (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to renew (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to seize (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to seize from below (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to subdue (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to support (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take as one's ally (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take possession of (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take up again (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a handful (of Kuśa grass) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a kind of demon causing diseases (supposed to preside over the planets) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a kind of Sandhi or peace (purchased by the cession of everything) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a prisoner (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adding (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
addition (of a sound) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
alteration (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
an e used as Nidhana at the end of a Sāman (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
change (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
coaxing (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
conciliation (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
confinement (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
propitiation (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
seizure (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the Pada or voice of a verb (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (neuter) capture (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
comprehending (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
holding under (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
learning (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
seizure (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
supporting (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the act of seizing from below (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the taking any one prisoner (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) clinging to the neck (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
embrace (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
embracing (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) 1 karṣa
a gargle (G.J. Meulenbeld (0), 209)
a weight (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the taking a mouthful of water for swallowing (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
water for rinsing the mouth (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a fish-sauce (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
begun but immediately interrupted study (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
compression of the throat (a kind of disease) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
Kehlkrampf
name of certain days in the dark fortnight (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
seizing by the throat (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
throttling (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective headstrong (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
independent (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
self-willed (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
unrestrained (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 9 parasmaipada) to connect (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to join (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to string together (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 1 ātmanepada) to devour (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to eat up (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to swallow (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 9 ātmanepada) to accept (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to befriend (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to draw up (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to favour (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to further (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to grasp (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to hold (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to hold or stretch forth (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to keep separated or isolated (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to offer (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to present (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to promote (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to receive (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to seize (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to stop (horses) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to take hold of (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
to tighten (reins) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a companion (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a guide (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a particular manner of fighting (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a ray of light (like all words meaning "rein" or "bridle") (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a rein (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a rope (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
beginning of an eclipse (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
binding (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
breaking (a horse) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
bridle (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
Cassia Fistula (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
clutching (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
cord (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
favour (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
friendly reception (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
halter (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
holding in front (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
kindness (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
leader (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
obstinacy (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
ruler (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
satellite (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
seizing (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
stretching forth (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
string (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
stubbornness (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
taking hold of (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
taming (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the arm (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the cord or string suspending a balance (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the seizure of the sun or moon (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
thong (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine neuter) a check (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a leader (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a means for taming or breaking in (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
a rein (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
authority (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
bridle (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
commencement of an eclipse (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
dignity (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
guide (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
holding (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
offering (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
restraint (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
seizing (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
stretching forth (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
taking (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the being a leader or guide (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the seizure of the sun and moon (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective fresh (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
new (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
pure (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
repeated (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) name of a particular joint of the body (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
name of the knot which ties together the 3 threads forming the sacred cord (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective being in motion (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
bewildered (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
distracted (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
eagerly occupied (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
excited (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
exposed to dangers (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
intent on (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
not attending to any one particular point (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
tottering (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
unsteady (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective eclipsed (as the moon) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
filled with crocodiles (as a river) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
seized by the demon Rāhu (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
taken up by means of ladles or other vessels (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
von einem Geist besessen Frequency rank 40313/72933
adjective all (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
complete (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
each (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
entire (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
every (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
fully provided with (instr. or comp.) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
one who has everything or wants nothing (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
whole (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
verb (class 9 ātmanepada) to accept
to hold forth or stretch forth together
to receive
to seize or take hold of together
to take hold of Frequency rank 20227/72933
noun (neuter) as much land as is pierced by the point of a needle (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the point of a needle (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
very little (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective appropriating all (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
taking all to one's self (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
taking with a ladle (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
Sanskrit Dictionary understands and transcodes देवनागर्-ई IAST, Harvard-Kyoto, SLP1, ITRANS. You can type in any of the Sanskrit transliteration systems you are familiar with and we will detect and convert it to IAST for the purpose of searching.
Using the Devanagari and IAST Keyboards
Click the icon to enable a popup keybord and you can toggle between देवनागरी and IAST characters. If you want a system software for typing easily in देवनागरी or IAST you can download our software called SanskritWriter
Wildcard Searches and Exact Matching
To replace many characters us * example śakt* will give all words starting with śakt. To replace an individual character use ? for example śakt?m will give all words that have something in place of the ?. By default our search system looks for words “containing” the search keyword. To do an exact match use “” example “śaktimat” will search for this exact phrase.
Special Searches
Type sandhi: and a phrase to search for the sandhi of the two words example.
sandhi:sam yoga will search for saṃyoga
Type root: and a word to do a root search only for the word. You can also use the √ symbol, this is easily typed by typing \/ in SanskritWriter software.
Feedback
icon to enable a popup keybord and you can toggle between देवनागरी and IAST characters. If you want a system software for typing easily in देवनागरी or IAST you can download our software called SanskritWriter