Abhisara, Abhīsārā, Abhīsāra: 24 definitions
Introduction:
Abhisara means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, the history of ancient India, Marathi, Jainism, Prakrit, 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.
Alternative spellings of this word include Abhisar.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Abhīsāra (अभीसार) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. VI.10.52, VIII.51.18) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Abhīsāra) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

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.
Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma)
Abhisāra (अभिसार) refers to:—Rendezvous or tryst with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. (cf. Glossary page from Bhajana-Rahasya).

Vaishnava (वैष्णव, vaiṣṇava) or vaishnavism (vaiṣṇavism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshipping Vishnu as the supreme Lord. Similar to the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions, Vaishnavism also developed as an individual movement, famous for its exposition of the dashavatara (‘ten avatars of Vishnu’).
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Abhisāra (अभिसार) refers to a country belonging to “Aiśānī (north-eastern division)” classified under the constellations of Revatī, Aśvinī and Bharaṇī, 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 Revatī, Aśvinī and Bharaṇī represent the north-eastern consisting of [i.e., Abhisāra] [...]”.

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.
Shyanika-shastra (the science of Hawking and Hunting)
Abhisāra (अभिसार) refers to the “hunting (of animals)”, according to the Śyainika-śāstra: a Sanskrit treatise dealing with the divisions and benefits of Hunting and Hawking, written by Rājā Rudradeva (or Candradeva) in possibly the 13th century.—Accordingly, “Hunting on horseback (āśvina) represents one of the eight subdivisions of Hunting (mṛgayā). [...] But something should be said in brief about hunting, for the diffusion of its knowledge. [...] In an open space, with followers spread down-wind and acting in concert, the hunting of animals (mṛga-abhisāra) proves an easy success [balaṃ mṛgābhisāreṇa sānāyāsena sidhyati]. [...]”.

Shyanika-shastra (श्यैनिकशास्त्र, śyainikaśāstra) deals with ancient Indian skill of hawking/falconry (one of the ways of hunting) which were laid down in a systematic manner in various Sanskrit treatises. It also explains the philosophy behind how the pleasures derived from sense-experience could lead the way to liberation.
India history and geography
Abhīsārā.—Same as Abhisāri (Padma-purāṇa, Ādikhhaṇḍa, ch. 6).
Abhisāra (अभिसार) is the name of a tribe mentioned as inhabiting the region around ancient Kaśmīra (Kashmir valley) according to the Nīlamatapurāṇa.—The Abhisāras were the famous people who helped the Assakenoi in offering resistance to Alexander but later on made alliance with Alexander who confirmed their ruler under the title of Satrap. The expression Dārvābhisāra occurs mostly as the name of one continuous territory. According to Stein, it lay between the river Vitastā and Gandrabhāgā and included the provinces of Jammu, Punch etc.

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
Pali-English dictionary
Abhisara, (fr. abhi + sarati, of sṛ to go) retinue J.V, 373. (Page 72)
abhisara (အဘိသရ) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[abhi+sara+a]
[အဘိ+သရ+အ]
[Pali to Burmese]
abhisara—
(Burmese text): အခြံအရံ၊ ကိုယ်ရံတော်။ (က) ကိုယ်ရံတော်-တပ်-တပ်သား။ စောင့်ရှောက်ရန် ဝန်းရံလိုက်ပါသော လက်နက်ကိုင်လူစုပရိသတ်။ (ခ) အတူသွားအတူလာ၊ သွားဖော် လာဖက်အပေါင်းအသင်း၊ ရောင်းရင်းဘက်၊ အဖော်သဟဲ။
(Auto-Translation): (1) Bodyguard, we are the bodyguards. (a) Bodyguard - Troop - Soldiers. A group of armed people who are there to provide protection. (b) Going and coming together, a collective group that travels together, and close associations.

Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Marathi-English dictionary
abhisāra (अभिसार).—m abhisāraṇa n S Spilling or shedding; dispersing, scattering, spreading far and wide.
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
Abhisara (अभिसर).—&c. See under अभिसृ, अभिसृज् (abhisṛ, abhisṛj) &c.
See also (synonyms): abhisarga, abhisarjana.
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Abhisara (अभिसर).—
1) A follower, an attendant; Daśakumāracarita 73,127.
2) A companion. मन्मथाभिसरा तदागारमभिसराभि (manmathābhisarā tadāgāramabhisarābhi) Daśakumāracarita 15; शिवराजस्याभिसराः प्रसरन्ति पुरः पुरः (śivarājasyābhisarāḥ prasaranti puraḥ puraḥ) Śivabhārata 24.39.
3) Name of a people.
Derivable forms: abhisaraḥ (अभिसरः).
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Abhisāra (अभिसार).—
1) Going to meet (as a lover), appointment, assignation; रतिसुखसारे गतमभिसारे मदनमनोहरवेशम् (ratisukhasāre gatamabhisāre madanamanoharaveśam) Gītagovinda 5.
2) The place where lovers meet by appointment, rendezvous; त्वरितमुपैति न कथमभिसारम् (tvaritamupaiti na kathamabhisāram) Gītagovinda 6.
3) An attack, assault; श्वोऽभिसारः पुरस्य नः (śvo'bhisāraḥ purasya naḥ) Rām.
4) War, battle.
5) A follower, companion.
6) Might, power.
7) An instrument, means; अभिसारेण सर्वैण तत्र युद्धमवर्तत (abhisāreṇa sarvaiṇa tatra yuddhamavartata) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 3.15.4.
8) A purificatory rite.
9) (°rāḥ pl.) Name of a people.
-rī Name of a town.
Derivable forms: abhisāraḥ (अभिसारः).
Abhisāra (अभिसार).—m. (nowhere recorded; corresponds to Pali abhihāra, also [Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit], see s.v., which in Pali is [compound] with bhatta-, compare bhaktābhisāra below; abhi-harati has a meaning appropriate to this in Sanskrit, and abhi-sarati does not; only in Divyāvadāna, MPS, and Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya; var. twice atisāra), gift, present, honorarium: Divyāvadāna 6.18, 20 (here given to a bringer of good tidings); usually of food offered to the Buddha and or his monks, Divyāvadāna 187.23, and almost always in the [compound] bhaktābhi° offering of food, MPS 6.8; Divyāvadāna 43.22 (mss. °āti°); 65.2; 81.16; 85.16; 97.3 (ed. °saras); 177.26 (mss. °āti°); 183.21; 285.2—3; 286.26; of a physician's fee, Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya i.218.10 f.; ii.25.20.
Abhisara (अभिसर).—m.
(-raḥ) A companion, a follower. E. abhi after or near, and sara who goes; from sṛ to go, and ac aff.
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Abhisāra (अभिसार).—m.
(-raḥ) 1. Strength. 2. War, battle. 3. A companion, a follower. 4. The instrument or agent. 5. An assignation, an appointment. E. abhi before sṛ to go, affix ghañ.
Abhisara (अभिसर).—i. e. abhi-sṛ + a, m. Companion, [Daśakumāracarita] in
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Abhisāra (अभिसार).—i. e. abhi-sṛ + a, m. 1. A lover’s appointment, a rendezvous. 2. An attack, [Rāmāyaṇa] 6, 9, 19. 3. plur. The name of a people.
Abhisāra (अभिसार).—[masculine] approach, attack; love-visit, appointment.
1) Abhisara (अभिसर):—[=abhi-sara] a etc. See abhi-√sṛ.
2) Abhisāra (अभिसार):—[=abhi-sāra] a etc. See abhi-√sṛ.
3) Abhisara (अभिसर):—[=abhi-sara] [from abhi-sṛ] b m. (ifc. f(ā). ) a companion, [Daśakumāra-carita]
4) Abhisāra (अभिसार):—[=abhi-sāra] [from abhi-sṛ] b m. attack, assault, [Rāmāyaṇa]
5) [v.s. ...] meeting, rendezvous (of lovers), [Sāhitya-darpaṇa; Gīta-govinda] etc.
6) [v.s. ...] ‘pay for coming’, messenger’s pay, [Buddhist literature]
7) [v.s. ...] companion, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
8) [v.s. ...] a purificatory rite, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
9) [v.s. ...] (eṇa) [instrumental case] (with sarveṇa) = sarvābhisāreṇa q.v., [Mahābhārata iii, 639] (cf. lohābhisāra and abhīsāra)
10) [v.s. ...] Name of a people, [Mahābhārata] etc.
11) Abhīsāra (अभीसार):—[=abhī-sāra] [from abhi-sṛ] a m. assault, [Mahābhārata vii, 8785.]
12) [=abhī-sāra] b See abhi-√sṛ
Abhisara (अभिसर):—[tatpurusha compound] 1. m. f. n.
(-raḥ-rā-ram) A companion, a follower; e. g. Daśakumārach.: ahaṃ…avocam . sakhe samāpatitamevāṅganāthābhisaraṃ rājamaṇḍalaṃ sugūḍhameva saṃbhūya pauravṛddhaistadupāvartaya. 2. m. pl. (rāḥ) The name of a people or country; (thus in Weber's Catal. of the Berlin Mss.; but the name is probably a misreading of abhisāra). E. sṛ with abhi, kṛt aff. ap (cf. Pāṇ. Iii. 3. 57; acc. to Sāy. on Ṛgv. I. 3. 8., however, sara belongs to the pacādi—Pāṇ. Iv. 1. 134.—, when the aff. would be ac which is given also of abhisara by the comment. of the Amarak. and the Śabdamuktāmah.; in either case, however, the fem. would be in ṭāp and the accent the adātta on the last syllable; comp. Pāṇ. Vi. 2. 144.).
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Abhisāra (अभिसार):—[tatpurusha compound] 1. m.
(-raḥ) 1) An assignation, a lover’s appointment; e. g. Gītagov.: ratasukhasāre gatamabhisāre madanamanoharaveśam . na kuru nitambini gamanavilambamanusara taṃ hṛdayeśam; or in the following verse (which exemplifies an alliteration called mahācakra or kulālacakra q. v.): rādhā śrutālivacanā virasābhisārā rāsābhisārasamaye vivṛtāpakārā . rākā patāvṛtaparāpyapayātamārā rāmātayā paramadurgalitāśrudhārā; or Vivādachint.: striyaṃ puruṣaṃ vābhisāraṃ prati saṃcārayati yaśca tayorabhisārasthānaṃ dadāti tau pāradārikavaddaṇḍyau.
2) An army.
3) An attack; e. g. Rāmāy.: pravṛttistairihākhyātā śvobhisāraḥ purasya naḥ (Dharaṇik.: = yuddha; battle, war).
4) A follower.
5) A purificatory ceremony; (viz. lustration of arms). [In the explanation of the Dharaṇik.: abhisāro bale yuddhe sahāye sādhanepi ca, the meaning bala and sādhana are clearly founded on the compound words sarvābhisāra and lohābhisāra, the former meaning the making a whole army ready for attack or battle, and the latter a ceremony observed by princes before opening a campaign; the meaning bala in the Dharaṇik. should therefore not be rendered ‘strength’, not the meaning sādhana ‘instrument’.]
6) A fish; (according to the Nighaṇtaprakāśa). 2. m. pl.
(-rāḥ) The name of a country, in the southwest of Kashmir, the modern Hazār; usually mentioned together with the Dārva (e. g. Bhīṣmap. Mahābh.: dārvābhisārā dāradāḥ puṇḍrāścaiva sahasraśaḥ; or Rājatar.: śīte dārvābhisārādau ṣaṇmāsānpārthivovasat); the Abisares of Arrian; (comp. Wilson's Arr. Antiq. p. 190; Troyer's Rājatar. 11. cc. s. v.; Lassen's Ind. Alterth. Ii. pp. 138. 144. 146. 154 ff. 235. 467. 669. 887. &c.). 3. f.
(-rī) The name of a town; probably the capital of the country Abhisāra; Sabhāp. Mahābh.: abhisārīṃ tato ramyāṃ vijigye kurunandanaḥ. E. sṛ with abhi, kṛt aff. ghañ; the fem. in ī is irregular. Comp. also the two following articles.
1) Abhisara (अभिसर):—[abhi-sara] (raḥ) 1. m. A companion.
2) Abhisāra (अभिसार):—[abhi-sāra] (raḥ) 1. m. Strength; war; assignation; agent; follower.
Abhisara (अभिसर):—(von sar mit abhi) m.
1) Gefährte [Amarakoṣa 2, 8, 39.] —
2) Name eines Volkes [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 14, 29.] in [Weber’s Verzeichniss 242.]
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Abhisāra (अभिसार):—(von sar mit abhi) m.
1) Angriff: śvo bhisāraḥ purasya naḥ [Rāmāyaṇa 6, 9, 19.] —
2) ein Stelldichein: abhisārasthānāni [Sāhityadarpana 47, 14.] krīḍābhisārotsave 5. kṛtābhisārāṇāṃ puṃścalīnām 17. rājaputryabhisārāya ([BROCKH.]: zum Gebrauch der Königstochter) [Kathāsaritsāgara 10, 108.] —
3) Gefährte [Dharaṇīkoṣa im Śabdakalpadruma] —
4) Kampf dies. —
5) Macht dies. —
6) Instrument (sādhana) dies. —
7) Nomen proprium eines Volkes [Viṣṇupurāṇa 191.] häufig in Verbindung mit vorangehendem dārva [Mahābhārata] in [Griechischen und Indoskythischen Könige], Pent. [18.] [Rājataraṅgiṇī 1, 180. 4, 711. 5, 141.] [Lassen’s Indische Alterthumskunde II, 138,] [Nalopākhyāna 154.]
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Abhisara (अभिसर):—
1) [Daśakumāracarita] in [Benfey’ Chrestomathie aus Sanskritwerken 201, 6.] am Ende eines adj. comp. f. ā [187, 1.] —
2) zu streichen; vgl. abhisāra [7]).
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Abhisāra (अभिसार):—
2) [Gītagovinda 5, 8.] tvaritamupaiti na kathamabhisāram [Gītagovinda 6, 6.] evaṃ kṛtābhisārāṇāṃ puṃścalīnām [Sāhityadarpana 117.] —
5) Angriffstruppen: abhisāreṇa sarveṇa tatra yuddhamavartata [Mahābhārata 3, 639.] tataḥ sarvābhisāreṇa harīṇāṃ vātaraṃhasām . bhedayāmāsa laṅkāyāḥ prākāraṃ raghunandanaḥ .. [13, 6345.] yamanasya bhaṭāḥ sarvābhisāreṇābhyaṣeṇayan [PĀRŚVANĀTHAK.] bei [AUFRECHT,] [Halāyudha] [Ind.] u. sarvābhisāra (= sarvaugha, sarvasaṃnahana [Amarakoṣa 2, 8, 2, 62.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 789.] [Halāyudha 2, 306]). —
7) [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 14, 29. 32, 19.] — Vgl. lohābhisāra .
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Abhisāra (अभिसार):—Lohn für Meldung [DIVYĀVAD. 4.] — Vgl. bhaktābhisāra weiter unten.
Abhisara (अभिसर):—m. (adj. Comp. f. ā) Gefährte.
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Abhisāra (अभिसार):——
1) m. (adj. Comp. f. ā) — a) Angriff. — b) Angriffstruppen. — c) Besuch in Liebesangelegenheiten , Stelldichein. — d) Lohn für Meldung (buddh.). — e) *Gefährte. — f) * = sādhana. — g) Pl. Nomen proprium eines Volkes. —
2) f. ī Nomen proprium einer Stadt [Mahābhārata 2,25,19.]
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
Abhisāra (अभिसार) [Also spelled abhisar]:—(nm) meeting; rendezvous (of lovers).
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
Abhisara (अभिसर) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Abhisṛ.
Prakrit is an ancient language closely associated with both Pali and Sanskrit. Jain literature is often composed in this language or sub-dialects, such as the Agamas and their commentaries which are written in Ardhamagadhi and Maharashtri Prakrit. The earliest extant texts can be dated to as early as the 4th century BCE although core portions might be older.
Kannada-English dictionary
Abhisāra (ಅಭಿಸಾರ):—
1) [noun] a going to meet a lover at a prefixed place and at prefixed time.
2) [noun] any purification process.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Abhisāra (अभिसार):—n. 1. lover's meeting; appointment; 2. rendezvous; 3. union;
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.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): Abhi, Sara, A, Cara.
Starts with (+0): Abhisarabh, Abhisaradyashtarasa, Abhisaram, Abhisaran, Abhisarana, Abhisaranata, Abhisaranavesha, Abhisaranti, Abhisarasthana, Abhisarat, Abhisarati, Abhisarayati.
Full-text (+9): Abhisarika, Abhisarana, Lohabhisara, Sarvabhisara, Abhisarasthana, Abhisata, Abhisaranti, Abhisarati, Abhissara, Abhisaram, Abhisari, Abhisaritva, Abhisarayati, Abhisar, Darva, Darvabhisara, Mrigabhisara, Anabhisarana, Abhisarga, Abhishri.
Relevant text
Search found 22 books and stories containing Abhisara, Abhi-sara, Abhi-sāra, Abhī-sāra, Abhi-sara-a, Abhīsārā, Abhisāra, Abhīsāra, Abhisaras; (plurals include: Abhisaras, saras, sāras, as, Abhīsārās, Abhisāras, Abhīsāras, Abhisarases). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
List of Mahabharata tribes (by Laxman Burdak)
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 114 < [Hindi-Assamese-English Volume 1]
Page 111 < [Hindi-Gujarati-English Volume 1]
Page 179 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 1]
Dasarupaka (critical study) (by Anuru Ranjan Mishra)
Part 2b - Justification of the title (Ubhayābhisārikā) [ubhaya-abhisārikā] < [Chapter 2 - Bhāṇa (critical study)]
List of Mahabharata people and places (by Laxman Burdak)
The Shorter Kurma-Vibhaga Text of the Puranas < [Purana, Volume 9, Part 1 (1967)]
The Kamboja Country < [Purana, Volume 6, Part 1 (1964)]
Kamboja-Janapada < [Purana, Volume 6, Part 1 (1964)]
Srila Gurudeva (The Supreme Treasure) (by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja)
Śrī Ramaṇa-māñjarī-aṣṭakam (visamavṛttena viracitam) < [Chapter 2.18 - Prayers to Śrīla Gurudeva]