Valakhilya, Vālakhilya: 13 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Purana
2. General definition
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
See also
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Introduction:

Valakhilya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य) refers to a group of deities that sprang from the semen of Brahmā, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.49 (“The delusion of Brahmā”).—Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada: “[...] O dear, my semen pressed very frequently, turned into several sparkling drops. Thousands of sages called Vālakhilyas sprang up from the sparkling drops. O sage, then the sages, gathered near me with great pleasure and said—‘O father O father’. They were then sternly told by you urged by Śiva’s wish. The Vālakhilyas were rebuked angrily by you”.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

1a) Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य).—The name of a saṃhitā imparted by Bāṣkali to Bālāyani and others.^*

* Bhāgavata-purāṇa XII. 6. 59.

1b) A class of seers, 60,000 in number, born of Kratu:¹ advised Citraratha, who fell to the ground to gather Kauśika's bones to throw them into the Sarasvatī and get redemption;² They go in front of the Sun from his rise to his setting, singing his glory;³ live on air; sages by tapas; authors of certain saṃhitas; live in Brahmaloka;⁴ Ṛṣis by tapas.⁵ Of the category of Sāvarna;⁶ were born out of kuśa grass and endowed with all powers in vāruṇi yajña;⁷ Puṇyā and Sumatī are younger sisters of.⁸

1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa III. 12. 43; IV. 1. 39; V. 21. 17; Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa I. 2. 27; Viṣṇu-purāṇa I. 10. 11; II. 10. 22.
2) Bhāgavata-purāṇa VI. 8. 40.
3) Ib. XII. 11. 49; Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 11. 37; 21. 115; 23. 28 and 49, Matsya-purāṇa 126. 28; Vāyu-purāṇa 2. 27; 23. 159; 28. 31; 50. 168; 52. 26 and 49; 54. 8; 55. 41; 59. 91.
4) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 25. 4; 26. 43; 32. 99; 35. 71 and 94; III. 1. 55; 15. 16; IV. 2. 216.
5) Matsya-purāṇa 126. 45; 145. 93; 200. 8.
6) Vāyu-purāṇa 61. 62, 84.
7) Ib. 65. 55; 101-213.
8) Ib. 28. 33.

Source: Archaeological Survey of India: Śaiva monuments at Paṭṭadakal (purāṇa)

Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य).—Sage Kaśyapa was engaged in performing a sacrifice with a desire to get a valorous child. The Vālakhilya group of sages, whose height was not more than a human thumb, were making herculean efforts to carry a twig of a fig tree to the sacrifice. Indra, the chief of gods, laughed at this comical scene. Enraged at this mockery of Indra, Vālakhilya sages started another sacrifice with the intention of producing another character equal to Indra. Afraid of their ambition, Indra went and begged Kaśyapa to sooth the anger of Vālakhilya ascetics. Accordingly, Kaśyapa pacified the sages. In return, they offered him the fruits of the sacrifice.

Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and places

Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. I.31, III.88.9, IX.44.8, XIII.116.1, XIII.115) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Vālakhilya) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

Source: Shodhganga: The saurapurana - a critical study

1) Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य) refers to the sons of Kratu and Saṃtati: one of the twenty-four daughters of Dakṣa and Prasūti, according to the Vaṃśa (‘genealogical description’) of the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—Accordingly, Ākūti was married to Ruci and Prasūti to Dakṣa. Dakṣa produced in Prasūti twenty-four daughters. [...] [Saṃtati (Santati) was given to Kratu.]. Kratu and Saṃtati gave birth to sixty-thousand Vālakhilyas.

2) Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य) refers to thumb-sized sages born from Prajāpati’s semen, according to the Saurapurāṇa.—The Vālakhilyas are mythical sages. The myth of the origin of the Vālakhilyas is referred to in the Saurapurāṇa 59.54-60.

The origin of the Vālakhilyas is stated in the Saurapurāṇa thus:—

“At the time of the wedding of Śiva and Pārvatī, the daughter of the King of mountains came to the marriage altar (vedī). She looked extremely beautiful and seeing her amorous form Prajāpati’s semen (śukra) was immediately discharged like water from the broken jar. Prajāpati rubbed the fallen Semen with his feet while Śiva was perceiving the action. Then Śiva told the former not to do like that but ordered him to offer the semen to the fire. Prajāpati taking those semen by his left hand offered to the fire as oblations. Those oblations reached Savitṛ and became lusturous Vālakhilyas 8800 in number. These austere sages living in chastity became thumb-sized. They became the followers of the sun. They lived on the rays of the sun and were like the fir”.

context information

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

General definition (in Hinduism)

Source: Apam Napat: Indian Mythology

Valakhilyas are a group of divine sages, who are small of body, but great in their ascetic powers. Indeed, according to the Mahabharata, they are only as large as a thumb. Unlike the SaptaRishis, their names are not individually spelt out. When Kashyapa performed a sacrifice, all deities and sages were asked to contribute. Indra brought a whole mountain of trees for firewood, but the Valakhilyas were able to bring only a single twig amongst themselves. Indra made fun of them, and they cursed that his slayer would be born as the son of Kashyapa. However, when Indra apologized and Brahma intervened on his behalf, they modified the curse that the son shall be initially an enemy of Indra, but later will become his friend. This son born was Garuda. The incidents related to Garuda's birth are narrated here.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

vālakhilya (वालखिल्य).—m (S) A divine personage of a particular class. They are enumerated at sixty thousand. They were produced from the hair of Brahma's body, and they are of the size of the thumb. Ex. tōṃ sāṭha sahastra bā0 dhāvinnalē ||. 2 n pl (i. e. vālakhilyēṃ) An assembly or a multitude of little urchins; a group of tom-thumbs.

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

vālakhilya (वालखिल्य).—m A divine personage of a particular class.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य).—1 See बालखिल्य (bālakhilya); Rām.3.6.2.

-lyam Name of a collection of 11 hymns of the ऋग्वेद (ṛgveda).

Derivable forms: vālakhilyaḥ (वालखिल्यः).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य).—[adjective] ([with] mantrās or ṛcas) cert. hymns of the Rigveda; [masculine] [plural] a class of dwarfish Ṛṣis.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य):—n. (also written bāl, of doubtful derivation) Name of a collection of 11 ([according to] to some only 6 or 8) hymns of the Ṛg-veda (commonly inserted after viii, 48, but numbered separately as a supplement by some editors; they are also called vālakhilyāḥ, with or [scilicet] mantrāḥ, or ṛcaḥ, and daśatī vālakhilyakā), [Brāhmaṇa; ???] etc.

2) (lya) [plural] Name of a class of Ṛṣis of the size of a thumb (sixty thousand were produced from Brahmā’s body and surround the chariot of the sun), [Taittirīya-āraṇyaka; Mahābhārata; Kāvya literature] etc.

3) Vālakhilyā (वालखिल्या):—[from vālakhilya] f. Name of a [particular] kind of brick, [Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa]

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Vālakhilya (वालखिल्य) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Vālahilla.

[Sanskrit to German]

Valakhilya in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

Relevant text

Search found 33 books and stories containing Valakhilya, Vālakhilya, Vālakhilyā; (plurals include: Valakhilyas, Vālakhilyas, Vālakhilyās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Chapter 79 - Greatness of Vālakhilyāśrama (Vālakhilya-āśrama) < [Section 1 - Tīrtha-māhātmya]

Chapter 39 - Importance of Offering Barley to the Worshipable Liṅga of Śiva < [Section 3 - Arbuda-khaṇḍa]

Chapter 26 - The Marriage Celebration of Śiva and Pārvatī: Auspicious Festivities < [Section 1 - Kedāra-khaṇḍa]

+ 46 more chapters / show preview

Section XXX < [Astika Parva]

Section XXXI < [Astika Parva]

Section CXXV < [Tirtha-yatra Parva]

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Kāṇḍa VIII, adhyāya 3, brāhmaṇa 4 < [Eight Kāṇḍa]

Kāṇḍa VIII, adhyāya 3, brāhmaṇa 2 < [Eight Kāṇḍa]

Kāṇḍa X, adhyāya 4, brāhmaṇa 3 < [Tenth Kāṇḍa]

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