Atharvaveda
  • Acharya

    The greatest epithet of a teacher is Ācārya. In course of writing on several sūtra (sutra; formulae) of Pāṇini (Panini), Patañjali (Patanjali), the author of Mahābhāṣya(Mahabhashya) has mentioned four types of teachers — Ācārya (Acharya), Upādhyāya (Upadhyaya), Śikṣaka (Sikshaka) and Guru. Amongst these, Guru is the most common epithet, and Ācārya is the highest. Patañjali himself […]

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  • Agni – 1

    Agni is the Sanskrit word for ‘fire’. Agni is one of the foremost among the Vedic deities. In regard of the number of Vedic hymns (sūkta; sukta) attributed to the deities, Agni comes only second to Indra (almost two hundred hymns have been dedicated to Agni). Since Agni’s deeds and actions are mainly observable on […]

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  • Alamkara – 1

    Alaṃkāra (Alamkara; ornament) is celebrated as a giftable equipment, as described in Purāṇa(s) (Purana; Mythological Scripture). Alaṃkāra is to be dedicated to gods at the time of worshiping. Giving ornaments as gift can yield the fruits of caturvarga (the four-fold goals of life), happiness, and it determines development and satisfaction. Alaṃkāra is of forty kinds. […]

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  • Anga – 8

    A country or kingdom. The word Aṇga (Anga) is also used to refer to the citizens of the kingdom of Aṇga. Usually, it is mentioned along with four other kingdoms situated in eastern India—Aṇga, Vaṇga (Banga), Kaliṇga (Kalinga), Suhma (Suhma) and Puṇḍra (Pundra). Perhaps these five kingdoms formed a confederacy of which the capital was […]

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  • Anjanaparvata – 1

    A mountain called Trikakuda or Traikakuda has been referred to more than once in Atharvaveda and other Vedic literatures. Maybe the name was inspired by a presence of three peaks of the mountain (Sanskrit kakuda means ‘hump’ or ‘projection’). Atharvaveda was the first book to call this Trikakuda Hills Añjanaparvata (Anjanaparvata) —devāñjana traikakudaṃ pari mā […]

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  • Arka – 1

    The dhātu (dhatu; verb-root) ‘arc’ means ‘to pray, to praise and worship’. In one mantra of Ṛgveda (Rigveda), the term has been used in the sense of ‘one who is worthy of worship’. In the hymn dedicated to Indra, composed by Sage Madhucchandā (Madhucchanda), the first line is as follows — gāyanti tvā gāyatrino arcantyarkaṃ […]

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  • Asandi

    Āsandī (Asandi) is the Vedic name for the wooden platform used for sitting. The term, however, is not mentioned in Ṛgveda (Rigveda), but in Atharvaveda, āsandī is mentioned as a seat used during a marriage-ritual– yathāsandyāmupadhāne. In Atharvaveda, there is also a description of āsandī (asandi) used as a siting platform for vrātyajana (vratya jana; […]

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  • Ayodhya

    The birthplace of the famous Rāmacandra (Ramacandra), also the place of his many deeds, and the land of Ādikavi (Adikavi) Vālmīki’s conception. In Rāmāyaṇa (Ramayana), Kośala (Kosala) is described as a rich land, situated on the southern bank of Sarayū (Sarayu). The capital of this Kośala was Ayodhyā (Ayodhya). Rāmacandra (Ramachandra) ruled Ayodhyā. Manu, lord of […]

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