Abhira, Ābhīra, Abhīra: 27 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
India history
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
3. Hindi
4. Kannada
5. Nepali
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Introduction:

Abhira means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India, Marathi, Hindi. 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: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

1a) Ābhīra (आभीर).—Country of Ābhīras.¹ Dvijas of, became vrātyas after Puramjaya's days.² Purified of sin by devotion to Hari.³ Seven of this tribe ruled from Avabhṛti.⁴ The braḥmāṇḍa and vāyu say ten of them ruled after the Āndhras;⁵ for 67 years.

1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa I. 10. 35; Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 16. 46 and 57; 18. 48.
2) Bhāgavata-purāṇa XII 1. 38.
3) Ib. II. 4. 18.
4) Bhāgavata-purāṇa XII. 1. 29; Vāyu-purāṇa 99. 359; Viṣṇu-purāṇa IV. 24. 51, 68.
5) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 74. 174; Matsya-purāṇa 50. 76; 114. 40; 163. 72; 273. 18.

1b) A tribe of Dakṣiṇāpatha saw Arjuna singly carrying much wealth and women and attacked him; he took up his gāṇḍiva and found he had lost its secret and power;¹ freebooters and shepherds of the Pañcanada country who lived in villages; mlecchas; chief weapons of, staves and cudgels.²

1) Vāyu-purāṇa 45. 115, 126; 47. 46; 99. 269; Viṣṇu-purāṇa II. 3. 16.
2) Viṣṇu-purāṇa V. 38. 14-28, 50-52.

Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and places

Ābhīra (आभीर) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. II.29.9, VI.10.45) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Ābhīra) 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

Ābhira (आभिर) refers to an ancient country which should be shunned, according to the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—It looks upon Kurukṣetra, Matsya, Pāñcāla and Surasena as holy countries where Dharma is practiced. It advises people to shun Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Surāṣṭra, Gurjara, Ābhira, Kauṅkaṇa, Draviḍa, Dakṣiṇāpatha, Āndhra and Magadha.—(cf. verses 17.54-59) Thus it appears that this Purāṇa was written somewhere about the north-western part of northern India.

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.

Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstra

Ābhīra (आभीर) refers to one of the seven “minor dialects” (vibhāṣā) in language used in dramatic composition (nāṭya), according to Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 18.

context information

Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (shastra) of performing arts, (natya—theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing Dramatic plays (nataka), construction and performance of Theater, and Poetic works (kavya).

Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)

Source: Shodhganga: a concise history of Sanskrit Chanda literature

Ābhīra (आभीर) refers to one of the twenty-seven mātrāvṛttas (quantitative verse) dealt with in the second chapter of the Vṛttamuktāvalī, ascribed to Durgādatta (19th century), author of eight Sanskrit work and patronised by Hindupati: an ancient king of the Bundela tribe (presently Bundelkhand of Uttar Pradesh). A Mātrāvṛtta (e.g., ābhīra) refers to a type of metre found in classical Sanskrit poetry.

context information

Chandas (छन्दस्) refers to Sanskrit prosody and represents one of the six Vedangas (auxiliary disciplines belonging to the study of the Vedas). The science of prosody (chandas-shastra) focusses on the study of the poetic meters such as the commonly known twenty-six metres mentioned by Pingalas.

Arthashastra (politics and welfare)

Source: Wisdom Library: Arthaśāstra

Ābhīra (आभीर) refers to a “cowherd” and represents an official title used in the political management of townships in ancient India. Officers, ministers, and sovereigns bearing such titles [eg., Ābhīra] were often present in ancient inscriptions when, for example, the king wanted to address his subjects or make an important announcement.

context information

Arthashastra (अर्थशास्त्र, arthaśāstra) literature concerns itself with the teachings (shastra) of economic prosperity (artha) statecraft, politics and military tactics. The term arthashastra refers to both the name of these scientific teachings, as well as the name of a Sanskrit work included in such literature. This book was written (3rd century BCE) by by Kautilya, who flourished in the 4th century BCE.

Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)

Source: Wisdom Library: Brihat Samhita by Varahamihira

1) Ābhīra (आभीर) (lit. “shepherds”) refers to a country belonging to “Dakṣiṇa or Dakṣiṇadeśa (southern division)” classified under the constellations of Uttaraphālguni, Hasta and Citrā, according to the system of Kūrmavibhāga, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 14), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “The countries of the Earth beginning from the centre of Bhāratavarṣa and going round the east, south-east, south, etc., are divided into 9 divisions corresponding to the 27 lunar asterisms at the rate of 3 for each division and beginning from Kṛttikā. The constellations of Uttaraphālguni, Hasta and Citrā represent the southern division consisting of [i.e., Ābhīra] [...]”.

2) Ābhīra (आभीर) also refers to a country belonging to “Nairṛtī (south-western division)” classified under the constellations of Svāti, Viśākhā and Anurādhā, according to the system of Kūrmavibhāga.

context information

Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.

General definition (in Hinduism)

Source: archive.org: Indian Historical Quarterly Vol. 7

Ābhīra (आभीर) is the name of a country classified as Kādi (a type of Tantrik division), according to the 13th century Sammoha-tantra (fol. 7).—There are ample evidences to prove that the zone of heterodox Tantras went far beyond the natural limits of India. [...] The zones in the Sammoha-tantra [viz., Ābhīra] are here fixed according to two different Tantrik modes, known as Kādi and Hādi.

India history and geography

Source: archive.org: The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India

Ābhīra.—The South-eastern portion of Gujarat about the mouths of tho Norbudda wascalled Ābhīra,—the Aberia of tho Greeks. McCrindle states that tho country of tho Ābhīras lay to tho cast of tho Indus where it bifurcates to form tho delta (McCrindlc’s Ptolemy, p. 140 ; Viṣṇu-purāṇa, ch. 5). The Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa (ch. 6) also says that the Indus flowed through tho country of Ābhīra. According to tho Mahābhārata (Sabhā Parva, ch. 31), the Ābhīras lived near tbo seashore and on tho bank of tho Sarasvatī, a river near Somnāth in Gujarat. Sir Henry Elliot says that tho country on the western coast of India from the Tāptī to Devngaḍh is called Ābhīra (Elliot’s Supplemental Glossary, vol. 1, pp. 2, 3). Mr. W. H. Schoff is of opinion that it is tho southern part of Gujarat, which contains Surat (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, pp. 39, 175). Accordingto Lassen, Ābhīra is tho Ophir of tho Bible. The Tārā-tantra says that tho country of Ābhīra extended from Koṅkaṇa southwards to tho western bank of tho river Tāptī (sco Ward’s History, Literature and Religion of the Hindus, Vol. 1, p. 559).

Source: archive.org: Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions

Ābhīra (आभीर) is the name of a tribe mentioned in the Gupta inscriptions. The Gupta empire (r. 3rd-century CE), founded by Śrī Gupta, covered much of ancient India and embraced the Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. These tribes (e.g., the Ābhīras, latin: Abhiras) migrated to places other than their original settlemenets and gave their names to the janapadas they settled. They replaced the old Vedic tribes in Punjab and Rajasthan though some of them are deemed as offshoots of the main tribe..

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Indian Epigraphical Glossary

Ābhīra.—(IE 8-3), member of the cowherd community. Note: ābhīra is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions commonly written in Sanskrit, Prakrit or Dravidian languages.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

ābhīra (आभीर).—m S A cowherd or herdsman. According to Ptolemy's geography ā0 is the name of a tribe originally established about the mouths of the Indus.

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

ābhīra (आभीर).—m A cowherd or herdsman. ābhēḷa n The sky. Cloudiness.

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

Abhira (अभिर).—1 A. (rarely P.)

1) To be pleased or delighted (with loc.); दृष्टिरिहाभिरमते हृदयं च (dṛṣṭirihābhiramate hṛdayaṃ ca) Mṛcchakaṭika 4,5.15; न गन्धहरिणो दमनककेदारिकायामभिरमति (na gandhahariṇo damanakakedārikāyāmabhiramati) Vb.3; Ratnāvalī 2, Y.1. 252.

2) To please or gratify oneself, take pleasure or delight in (with loc.); विद्यासु विद्वानिव सोऽभिरेमे (vidyāsu vidvāniva so'bhireme) Bhaṭṭikāvya 1.9. -Caus. To gratify, please; मत्सपत्नीरभिरमयिष्यसि (matsapatnīrabhiramayiṣyasi) Daśakumāracarita 9,92,163.

Derivable forms: abhiram (अभिरम्).

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Abhīra (अभीर).—[abhimukhīkṛtya īrayati gāḥ, īr-ac]

1) A cowherd

2) Name of a pastora people; more usually written आभीर (ābhīra) q. v.

-rī The language of the अभीर (abhīra) people.

-ram Name of a metre, see आभीर (ābhīra).

Derivable forms: abhīraḥ (अभीरः).

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Ābhīra (आभीर).—[ā samantāt bhiyaṃ rāti, rā-ka Tv.]

1) A cowherd; आभीरवामनयनाहृतमानसाय दत्तं मनो यदुपते तदिदं गृहाण (ābhīravāmanayanāhṛtamānasāya dattaṃ mano yadupate tadidaṃ gṛhāṇa) Udb.; according to Manusmṛti 1.15 आभीर (ābhīra) is the offspring of a Brāhmaṇa and a female of the Ambaṣṭha tribe.

2) (pl.) Name of a country or its inhabitants; श्रीकोंकणा- दधोभागे तापीतः पश्चिमे तटे । आभीरदेशो देवेशि विन्ध्यशैले व्यवस्थितः (śrīkoṃkaṇā- dadhobhāge tāpītaḥ paścime taṭe | ābhīradeśo deveśi vindhyaśaile vyavasthitaḥ) ||

-rī 1 A cowherd's wife.

2) A woman of the Ābhīra tribe.

3) The language of the Ābhīras; आभीरेषु तथा- भीरी (ābhīreṣu tathā- bhīrī) (prayoktavyā) S. D.432.

Derivable forms: ābhīraḥ (आभीरः).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Abhīrā (अभीरा).—[, see āpīrā.]

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Ābhīra (आभीर).—(?) , see āpīrā.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Abhīra (अभीर).—m.

(-raḥ) A cowherd. E. abhi and īra to send, ac affix; also ābhīra.

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Ābhīra (आभीर).—m.

(-raḥ) A cowhered, sprung from a Brahman and female of the medical tribe or the Ambasht'ha. f. (-rī) A cowherd’s wife, or a woman of that tribe. E. āṅ, abhi and īra to send, affix ac and fem. ṅīṣ, or without the first prefix abhīra.

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

Ābhīra (आभीर).—m. 1. The name of a people, Mahābhārata 2, 1192. 2. The offspring of a Brāhmaṇa by an Ambaṣṭha woman, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 10, 15.

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

Ābhīra (आभीर).—[masculine] [Name] of a people & a caste.

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Abhirā (अभिरा).—bark at.

Abhirā is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms abhi and rā (रा).

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

1) Abhīra (अभीर):—(incorrectly) for ābhīra q.v.

2) Ābhīra (आभीर):—m. Name of a people, [Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa; Viṣṇu-purāṇa]

3) a cowherd (being of a mixed tribe as the son of a Brāhman and an Ambaṣṭha woman), [Manu-smṛti x, 15, etc.]

4) mfn. belonging to the Ābhīra people.

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

Abhīra (अभीर):—[tatpurusha compound] 1. m.

(-raḥ) A cowherd. ‘According to Manu (X. 15.) the Abhīra is of mixed origin, the offspring of a Brāhmaṇa father and a mother of the Ambashtha or medical caste; but the Abhīras were a people, a pastoral tribe, settled about the beginning of the Christian era, on or near the lower course of the Indus on a tract known to classical geographers, as the Abiria of Ptolemy, lying north of the Sahyadri mountain and of Syrastrene. The Abhīras of Saurāṣtra are mentioned in the Mahābhārata. From their pastoral habits the name came to be generally applied to the cowherds of Hindustan. In the spoken dialects of upper India the word is corrupted to Ahīr, Uheer; in Bengālī and Marāṭhī it is unchanged, occurring as Abhīr.’ (Wilson's Glossary of Indian Terms.) See Lassen's Ind. Alt. vol. 1. pp. 106. 396. 539. 546. 705. 798. 799. 823; Ii. pp. 385. 547. 553. 592. 792. 855. 953. 956. &c.—The word as a name of a people occurs in the Purāṇas ‘always conjoined with the Śūdras, as if conterminous’ (Wilson's Viṣṇu-P. p. 195 n. 154).—The Sāhityadarpaṇa mentions the Abhīras as assistants appointed in, or belonging to, the harem (together with dwarfs, eunuchs, Kirātas or mountaineers, Mlechchhas or barbarians, the mock-brother-in-law of a king, i. e. the brother of his concubine, hump-backs, mutes &c.: vāmanaṣaṇḍakirātamlecchābhīrāḥ śakārakubjādyāḥ). The same work, in defining the purposes for which Saṃskṛt and the Prākṛt-dialects are used in the dramatic dialogue, appropriates the dialect of the Abhīras (which therefore is not considered by the Sāh. as an Apabhraṃśa-dialect) to cowherds and woodcutters; comp. ābhīrī s. v. ābhīra; (ābhīreṣu tathābhīrī…. ābhīrī śāvarī cāpi kāṣṭhapattropajīviṣu); others hold the Abhīra-dialect as belonging to the Apabhraṃśa, when it would be excluded from dramatic use. See apabhraṃśa and Lassen's Institutiones Linguae Pracriticae.—(The word occurs usually in the form ābhīra; the dialect spoken by the Abhīras is always called ābhīrī, not abhīrī.) 2. n. (? -ram) The name of a Mātrāvṛtta or Prākṛt metre, regulated by quantity; it consists of a stanza of four lines with eleven mātrās in each line (the value of a mātrā being a short syllable, and a long syllable equal to two short), viz. each line being composed either of seven mātrās and a Scolius ({??}), or of a Dactylus ({??}), a Iambus ({??}) and a Scolius, or of a Scolius, a Tribrachys ({??}) and a Scolius. E. īr with abhi, kṛt aff. ac (according to several comm. of the Amarak.); but the word is probably not of Saṃskṛ4tic origin.

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

1) Abhīra (अभीर):—(raḥ) 1. m. A cowherd.

2) Ābhīra (आभीर):—[ābhī+ra] (raḥ) 1. m. A cowherd.

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

Ābhīra (आभीर) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Ahira, Ābhara, Ābhiriya.

[Sanskrit to German]

Abhira 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.

Hindi dictionary

Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary

Ābhīra (आभीर) [Also spelled abhir]:—(nm) name of an ancient rural region of India and its inhabitants; an ancient tribe; see [ahīra].

context information

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Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Abhīra (ಅಭೀರ):—

1) [noun] a person who tends grazing cattle; a cowherd.

2) [noun] name of a pastoral people (also written as abhīra).

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Ābhīra (ಆಭೀರ):—

1) [noun] a person who tends grazing cattle; a cowherd.

2) [noun] a person who earns a living by cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock; an agriculturist.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

Nepali dictionary

Source: unoes: Nepali-English Dictionary

Ābhīra (आभीर):—n. hist. 1. a cowherd; 2. a nomadic pastoral tribe of north-west India;

context information

Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.

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