अर्जुन a. [अर्ज्-उनन् णिलुक् च Uṇ.3.58] (-ना, -नी f.). 1 White, clear, bright, of the colour of day; अहश्च कृष्णमहरर्जुनं च Rv.6.9.1; पिशङ्गमौञ्जीयुजमर्जुनच्छविम् Śi.1.6. -2 Silvery; यत्र वः प्रेङ्खा हरिता अर्जुना Av.4.37.5. -नः 1 The white colour. -2 A peacock. -3 A sort of cutaneous disease. -4 A tree (Mar. अर्जुनसादडा), with useful rind; Mb.3.64.3. -5 N. of the third Pāṇḍava who was a son of Kuntī by Indra and hence called ऐन्द्रि also. [Arjuna was so called because he was 'white' or 'pure in actions' (पृथिव्यां चतुरन्तायां वर्णो मे दुर्लभः समः । करोमि कर्म शुद्धं च तेन मामर्जनं विदुः). He was taught the use of arms by Droṇa and was his favourite pupil. By his skill in arms he won Draupadī at her Svayaṁvara (see Draupadī). For an involuntary transgression he went into temporary exile and during that time he learnt the science of arms from Paraśurāma. He married Ulūpī, a Nāga Princess, by whom he had a son named Irāvat, and also Chitrāṅgadā, daughter of the king of Maṇipura, who bore him a son named Babhruvāhana. During this exile he visited Dvārakā, and with the help and advice of Kṛiṣṇa succeeded in marrying Subhadrā. By her he had a son named Abhimanyu. Afterwards he obtained the bow (Gāṇḍiva from the god Agni whom he assisted in burning the Khāṇḍva forest. When Dharma, his eldest brother, lost the kingdom by gambling, and the five brothers went into exile, he went to the Himālayas to propitiate the gods and to obtain from them celestial weapons for use in the contemplated war against Kauravas. There he fought with Śiva who appeared in the disguise of a Kirāta; but when he discovered the true character of his adversary he worshipped him and Śiva gave him the Pāśupatāstra. Indra, Varuṇa, Yama and Kubera also presented him with their own weapons. In the 13th year of their exile, the Pāṇḍavas entered the service of the King of Virāṭa and he had to act the part of a eunuch, and music and dancing master. In the great war with the Kauravas Arjuna took a very distinguished part. He secured the assistance of Kṛiṣṇa who acted as his charioteer and related to him the Bhagavadgītā when on the first day of the battle he hesitated to bend his bow against his own kinsmen. In the course of the great struggle he slew or vanquished several redoubtable warriors on the side of the Kauravas, such as Jayadratha, Bhīṣma, Karṇa &c. After Yudhiṣṭhira had been installed sovereign of Hastināpura, he resolved to perform the Aśvamedha sacrifice, and a horse was let loose with Arjuna as its guardian. Arjuna followed it through many cities and Countries and fought with many kings. At the city of Maṇipura he had to fight with his own son Babhruvāhana and was killed; but he was restored to life by a charm supplied by his wife Ulūpī. He traversed the whole of Bharata-khaṇda and returned to Hastināpura, loaded with spoils and tributes, and the great horse-sacrifice was then duly performed. He was afterwards called by Kṛiṣna to Dvārakā amid the internecine struggles of the Yādavas and there he performed the funeral ceremonies of Vasudeva and Kṛiṣṇa. Soon after this the five Pāṅdavas repaired to heaven having installed Parīkṣit -the only surviving son of Abhimanyu- on the throne of Hastināpura. Arjuna was the bravest of the Pāṇdavas, high-minded, generous, upright, handsome and the most prominent figure of all his brothers. He has several appellations, such a Pārtha, Gudākeśa, Savyasāchī, Dhanañjaya, Phālguna, Kirītin, Jīṣṇu, Śvetavāhana, Gāṇḍivin &c.] cf. अर्जनः फाल्गुनो जिष्णुः किरीटी श्वेतवाहनः । बीभत्सुर्विजयः कृष्णः सव्यसाची धनञ्जयः ॥ -6 N. of Kārtavīrya, slain by Parasurāma See कार्तवीर्य. -7 N. of a country Bṛi. S.14. 25. -8 The only son of his mother. -9 N. of Indra. -1 N. of a tree, Jerminalia Arjuna (Mar. अईन). The tree is rarer in south India. The colour of its bark is white. It is a forest-tree bearing fragrant flowers appearing in panicles like those of the Mango-tree. -नी 1 A procuress, bawd. -2 A cow. तथार्जुनीनां कपिला वरिष्ठा Mb.13.73.42. -3 A kind of serpent; अर्जुनि पुनर्वोयन्तु˚ Av.2.24.7. -4 N. of Uṣhā, wife of Aniruddha. -5 N. of a river commonly called करतोया. -6 (न्यौ, -न्यः dual and pl.) N. of the constellation Phalgunī. अघासु हन्यन्ते गावो$र्जुन्योः पर्युह्यते Rv.1.85.13. -नम् 1 Silver. वीरुद्भिष्टे अर्जुनं संविदानम् Av.5.28.5. -2 Gold. -3 Slight inflammation of the white of the eye. -4 Grass. -न (Pl.) The descendants of Arjuna; cf. अर्जुनः ककुभे पार्थे कार्तवीर्यमयूरयोः । मातुरेकसुते वृक्षे धवले नयनामये । तृणभेदे गवि स्त्री स्यात् ...Nm. -Comp. -अभ्रम N. of a medicament. -ईश्वरतीर्थम् N. of a holy place. Siva P. -उपमः the teak tree; also शाकद्रुम and महापत्राख्यवृक्ष. -काण्ड a. having a white stem or appendage. बभ्रोरर्जनकाण्डस्य यवस्य ते Av.2.8.3. -च्छवि a. white, of a white colour. -ध्वजः 'white-bannered', N. of Hanūmat. -पाकी N. of a plant and its fruits. -बदरः The fibre of the Arjuna plant; अर्जुन- बदरा मेखलाः क्रियन्ताभू । ŚB. on MS.9.4.25 -मिश्रः Name of a commentator on the Mb. -सखिः (L.) Kriṣṇa. -सिंहः N. of a prince (Inscriptions).
‘Day.’ Like other peoples, the Indians used night as a general expression of time as well as day, but by no means predominantly.Night is also termed the dark (krsna), as opposed to the light (arjuna), day. Aho-rātra is a regular term for ‘ day and night ’ combined.The day itself is variously divided. In the Atharvaveda a division into ‘ the rising sun ’ (udyan sūryah), ‘ the coming together of the cows’ (sam-gava), ‘midday’ (madhyam-dina),*afternoon ’ (aparāhna), and ‘ sunset ’ (astam-yan) is found. In the Taittirīya Brāhmana the same series appears with ‘ early ’ (prātar) and ‘ evening ’ (sāyāhna) substituted for the first and last members, while a shorter list gives prātar, samgava, sāyam. In the Maitrāyanī Samhitā there is the series ‘ dawn ’ (usas), samgava, madhyamdina, and aparāhna. The morning is also, according to Zimmer, called api-śarvara, as the time when the dark is just past. It is named svasara, as the time when the cows are feeding, before the -first milking at the samgava, or when the birds are awakening. It is also called pra-pitva, according to Zimmer. But Geldner points out that that term refers to the late midday, which also is called api-śarvara, as bordering on the coming night, being the time when day is hastening to its close, as in a race. From another point of view, evening is called abhi-pitva, the time when all come to rest. Or again, morning and evening are denoted as the dawning of the sun (uditā sūryasya)i or its setting (ni-mruc). The midday is regularly madhyam ahnām, madhye, or madhyamdina. Samgava16 is the forenoon, between the early morning (prātar) and midday (madhyamdina). The divisions of time less than the day are seldom precisely given. In the śatapatha Brāhmana, however, a day and night make up 30 muhūrtas; 1 muhūrta=ι5 ksipra; 1 ksipra — 15 etarhi; 1 etarhi= 15 idāni; 1 idāni = 15 breathings; 1 breath¬ing =1 spiration; 1 spiration = ι twinkling (nimesa), etc. In the śānkhāyana Áranyaka the series is dhvamsayo, nimesāh, kāsthāh, kalāh, ksanā, muhūrtā, ahorātrāh. A thirtyfold division of day as well as of night is seen in one passage of the Rigveda by Zimmer, who compares the Babylonian sixty¬fold division of the day and night. But the expression used— thirty Yojanas—is too vague and obscure—Bergaigne refers it to the firmament—to build any theory upon with safety.
Is the name of a hero frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which, however, gives practically no information about him, for he was no doubt already a figure of the mythic past. He is several times called Arjuneya, ‘descendant of Arjuna,’ and is usually associated with Indra in the exploit of defeating the demon Susna and winning the sun. He is said to have defeated Smadibha, Tugra, and the Vetasus, but, on the other hand, he is several times mentioned with Atithigva and Ayu as being vanquished by Indra, his defeat in one passage being attributed to Tūrvayāna. Elsewhere he appears with Atithigva as a friend of Indra’s. In the later literature he is seldom mentioned except in connexion with the myth of his binding Indra, which is found in the Brāhmanas, and which is based on an obscure verse in the Rigveda. The Kutsas, or descendants of Kutsa, are mentioned in one hymn of the Rigveda.
Is mentioned as a protśgáe of the Aśvins in two passages of the Rigveda,probably as the recipient of a husband, who is perhaps referred to in another passage as Arjuna, though this is not likely. Sāyana finds a reference there to a skin disease, which is considered in the later tradition of the Brhaddevatā to have been the cause of her remaining unwed, but this view is not tenable. According to Sāyana, her son, Suhastya, is alluded to in an obscure verse of the Rigveda; Oldenberg, however, here sees a reference to Ghosā herself, while Pischel thinks that the form (ghose) is not a noun at all, but verbal.
‘Name,’ is a common word from the Rigveda onwards. The Grhya Sūtras give elaborate rules for the formation of the names of children, but more important is the distinction between the secret (guhya) and the ordinary name, though the rules as to the secret name are not at all consistent. The secret name is already recognized in the Rigveda, and is referred to in the Brāhmanas, one secret name, that of Arjuna for Indra, being given in the Satapatha Brāhmana. It is to be noted that the rule as to giving the designation of a Naksatra (lunar asterism) as the secret name or otherwise is not illustrated by a single recorded name of a teacher in the Brāhmanas. The śatapatha Brāhmana several times mentions the adoption of a second name with a view to securing success, and also refers to the adoption of another name for purposes of distinction. In actual practice two names are usually found in the Brāhmanas, the second being a patronymic or a metronymic, as in Kaksīvant Auśija (if the story of the slave woman Uśij as his mother is correct), or Brhaduktha Vāmneya, ‘ son of Vāmnī,’ though the relationship may, of course, be not direct parentage, but more remote descent. Three names are less common—for example, Kūśāmba Svāyava Lātavya, ‘ son of Svāyu, of the Lātavya (son of Latu) family,’ or Devataras Syāvasāyana Kāśyapa, where the patronymic and the Gotra name are both found. In other cases the names probably have a local reference—e.g., Kauśāmbeya and Gāñgya. Fre¬quently the patronymic only is given, as Bhārgava, Maudgalya, etc., or two patronymics are used. The simple name is often used for the patronymic—e.g., Trasadasyu. In a few cases the name of the wife is formed from the husband’s name, as Uśīnarānī, Purukutsānī, Mudgalānī.
noun (neuter) a particular grass (used as a substitute for the Soma plant) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
gold (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
name of a Tīrtha
shape (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
silver (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
slight inflammation of the conjunctiva or white of the eye (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine) a peacock (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
cutaneous disease (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
name of a man (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
name of a Śāskya (known as a mathematician) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
name of different other persons (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
name of Indra (who was a son of Kṛtavīrya who was slain by Paraśurāma) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
Pentaptera arjuna Roxb.
Terminalia arjuna Bedd. (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the descendants of Arjuna (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the only son of his mother (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
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