Abhishta, Abhīṣṭa: 19 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Purana
2. Shaktism
3. Shaivism
In Jainism
1. General definition
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
3. Hindi
4. Kannada
See also

Introduction:

Abhishta means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, 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.

The Sanskrit term Abhīṣṭa can be transliterated into English as Abhista or Abhishta, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

Alternative spellings of this word include Abhisht.

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) means “liked by”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.40.—Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada:—“[...] after going beyond Alakā, the capital of the king of Yakṣas and the Saugandhika park, they saw the fig-tree of Śiva. [...] Beneath that vaṭa of yogic potentialities, Viṣṇu and other Devas saw Śiva seated. [...] Lord Śiva had the divine form liked by the sages (tāpasa-abhīṣṭa). His fond love befriended everyone. He shone with the ashes smeared over his body”.

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.

Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) refers to the “(gesture of) wish-granting”, according to the Śāradātilaka chapter 12.—Accordingly, while describing Tripurabhairavī Tripurabhairavī: “I bow to the goddess who has the lustre of ten thousand reddish suns, whose matted hair is coloured by the moon digit fastened to it, who has three eyes, whose face is like the full moon, who holds a rosary, a manuscript, (makes the gestures of) protection (abhīti) and wish-granting (abhīṣṭa), who is discomforted by (the burden of her) fleshy and lofty breasts, whose waist is shining with (three skin) folds, whose body is adorned with a garland of (severed) heads shining with large quantities of blood (and) who (wears) very red silk garments and unguents”.

Source: Brill: Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions (shaktism)

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) refers to the “object of one’s desire” and is used to describe the deities of the ten gestures (mudrā-daśaka), according to the King Vatsarāja’s Pūjāstuti called the Kāmasiddhistuti (also Vāmakeśvarīstuti), guiding one through the worship of the Goddess Nityā.—Accordingly, “[...] May the deities of the ten gestures, who [have forms that] are in accordance with the powers of their respective gestures, are mild, and carry a snare and goad, endow me with the object of my desire (abhīṣṭa). May the sixteen goddesses of attraction, [representing] the perennial constitutive digits of Kalānidhi [i.e. the Moon], draw towards me the object of my desire. [...]”.

context information

Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.

Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)

Source: Brill: Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions (philosophy)

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) refers to “(that which is) expected” [?], according to the Utpaladeva’s Vivṛti on Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā 1.5.8-9.—Accordingly, “[...] And this mere [realization that the object is something separated from the subject] is not enough to transform this object into something on which [human] activity may be exerted; therefore [this object] is [also] made manifest as having a specific place and time, because only a particular having a specific place and time can be something on which [human] activity may be exerted, since [only such a particular] can be obtained and since [only such a particular] may have the efficacy that [we] expect (abhīṣṭa-arthakriyākārin-tva) [from it]. [...]”.

Source: Brill: Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) (Cf. Abhilakṣita, Abhilāṣita) refers to “that (cosmic level) which one desire”, according to the Jñānaratnāvalī, (p. 268).—Accordingly, “The remaining one is the inferior lokadharmiṇī [initiation], [which] after death [leads the candidate to] the universe he desired (abhīṣṭabhuvana). But the inferior [lokadharmiṇī initiation] bestows supernatural powers, starting with the power to become as small as one wishes, and the qualities of the deity presiding over the [respective cosmic level], after the purification of the cosmic path up to the level of the universe [the candidate] desires (abhilaṣita-bhuvana). And even on this desired cosmic level (abhīṣṭa-bhuvana), the cessation of karma is [only] of the unmeritorious part. [...]”

context information

Shaiva (शैव, śaiva) or Shaivism (śaivism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshiping Shiva as the supreme being. Closely related to Shaktism, Shaiva literature includes a range of scriptures, including Tantras, while the root of this tradition may be traced back to the ancient Vedas.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: The University of Sydney: A study of the Twelve Reflections

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) refers to “desired (happiness)”, according to the 11th century Jñānārṇava, a treatise on Jain Yoga in roughly 2200 Sanskrit verses composed by Śubhacandra.—Accordingly, “Having come previously, merciless Yama kills in an instant the inhabitants of the world whose desired happiness is unfulfilled (akṛta-abhīṣṭa-kalyāṇa) [and] whose undertaken desire is unaccomplished”.

Synonyms: Vāñchita, Abhimata.

context information

Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट).—p (S) Desired, liked, beloved. 2 Propitious, favorable, kindly or advantageously disposed towards or for. 3 Used as s n Welfare, weal, well-being.

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

abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट).—p Desired, wished. Dear, beloved. n Welfare, well-being.

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

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट).—p. p.

1) Wished, desired.

2) Dear, favourite, darling; अनभीष्टदम्पत्योः (anabhīṣṭadampatyoḥ) Pañcatantra (Bombay) 1.174; oft. with gename of person; H.1.12.

3) Optional.

-ṣṭaḥ A darling.

-ṣṭā 1 A mistress, beloved woman.

2) Betel.

-ṣṭam 1 An object of desire.

2) A desirable object (abhimata); अन्यस्मै हृदयं देहि नानभीष्टे घटामहे (anyasmai hṛdayaṃ dehi nānabhīṣṭe ghaṭāmahe) Bhaṭṭikāvya 2.24.

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

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट).—mfn.

(-ṣṭaḥ-ṣṭā-ṣṭaṃ) Wished, desired. f.

(-ṣṭā) A perfume. See reṇukā. E. abhi repeatedly, and iṣṭa wished.

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

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट).—[adjective] longed for, wished, pleasant, dear. [masculine] favourite, lover; [neuter] wish.

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

1) Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट):—[from abhīṣ] mfn. wished, desired, dear, [Taittirīya-saṃhitā] etc.

2) [v.s. ...] m. a lover, [Pañcatantra; Sāhitya-darpaṇa] (cf. -tama below)

3) Abhīṣṭā (अभीष्टा):—[from abhīṣṭa > abhīṣ] f. a mistress

4) [v.s. ...] betel, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

5) Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट):—[from abhīṣ] n. wish.

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

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट):—[tatpurusha compound] 1. m. f. n.

(-ṣṭaḥ-ṣṭā-ṣṭam) 1) Longed for, dear, beloved; (Rāyam. on the Amarak.: abhi punaḥ . punariṣṭamabhīṣṭam); e. g. Hitop.: prāṇā yathātmanobhīṣṭā bhūtānāmapi te tathā . ātmaupamyena bhūteṣu dayāṃ kurvanti sādhavaḥ; or Panchatantra: āha ca . bho mitra tvaṃ vadhāya mayā samānīto bhāryāvākyena viśvāsya . tatsmaryatāmabhīṣṭadevatā.

2) Wished, desired (in general); e. g. Bhaṭṭik.: samāranta mamābhīṣṭāḥ saṃkalpāstvayyupāgate; or utkāreṣu ca dhānyānāmanabhīṣṭaparigrahāḥ (scil. yūyaṃ yāta).

3) Optional, arbitrary, any one or any one thing of several; e. g. Lilāvatī: [dvidhā bhavedrūpavibhāga evaṃ] sthānaiḥ pṛthagvā guṇitaḥ sametaḥ . iṣṭonayuktena guṇena nighnobhīṣṭaghnaguṇyānvitavarjito vā (Colebrooke: [These (the preceding) are two methods of subdivision by form.] Or multiply separately by the places of figures and add the products together. Or multiply by the multiplicator diminished or increased by a quantity arbitrarily assumed; adding or subtracting the product of the multiplicand taken into the assumed quantity); or Vījagaṇita: ṛṇātmikā cetkaraṇī kṛtau syāddhanātmikāṃ tāṃ parikalpya sādhye . mūle karaṇyāvanayorabhīṣṭā kṣayātmikaikā sudhiyāvagamyā (Colebrooke: if there be a negative surd-root in the square, treating that irrational quantity as an affirmative one, let the two surds in the root be found, and one of them, as selected by the intelligent calculator, must be deemed negative). 2. m.

(-ṣṭaḥ) A beloved person, a sweatheart; said esp. of a man; e. g. Śiśupālab.: abhīṣṭamāsādya cirāya kāle samuddhṛtāśaṃ kamanī cakāśe . yoṣinmanojanmasukhodayeṣu samuddhṛtāśaṅkamanīcakāśe; or (superl.) Sāhityad.: smitaśuṣkaruditahasitatrāsakrodhaśramādīnām . sāṅkaryaṃ kilakiñcitamabhīṣṭatamasaṃgamādijāddharṣāt; but also used in a general sense of either sex; e. g. Sāhityad.: tatra tu ratiḥ prakṛṣṭā nābhīṣṭamupaiti vipralambho’sau (comm.: abhīṣṭaṃ nāyakaṃ nāyikāṃ vā). 3. f.

(-ṣṭā) 1) A beloved woman, a mistress.

2) Betel (Piper betel); see tāmbūlī. [Wilson's first ed. and Rādhāk.'s Śabdakalpadr. give the meaning ‘perfume’ and refer for its being a synonyme of reṇukā to the authority of the Śabdachandrikā; but this reference contains an error, caused perhaps by an omission of a copyist of the Śabdachandrikā. The latter vocabulary has been composed by Chakrapāṇidatta with a view of being a supplement to the Amarak.; it does not contain as much matter as this vocabulary nor does it follow throughout its order; but in certain portions it has the same order and it gives always literally the text of the Amarak., whereever additional synonymes have been intended by the author, these synonymes being either immediately annexed by him to the words of the Amarak. in a subsequent verse or pointed out through the repetition of the word to be enlarged upon, which then is put in the locative. The end of the enumeration is marked by the repetition of the word synonymized, between two full stops. Thus the Śloka of the Amarak. Ii. 4. 4. 8. which contains, up to nāgavallī, synonymes of ‘piper betel’, and afterwards those of the perfume reṇukā (viz. tāmbūlavallī tāmbūlī nāgavallyapyatha dvijā . hareṇū reṇukā kauntī kapilā bhasmagandhinī) runs thus in the Bodleian copy of the Śabdach., of Professor Wilson's collection: tāmbūlavallī tāmbūlī nāgavallyapyathā dvijā . hareṇū reṇukā kauntī kapilā bhasmagandhinī . tāmbūlyāṃ kaṭukābhīṣṭā devābhīṣṭā gṛhāśayā (these four words mean therefore Betel) . reṇukāyāṃ bhavejjyotsnī kṛtāntā kharanādinī . varāvaramukhī pucchārśoghnī śyāmā varatkarī (and these eight words the perfume Reṇukā) .. reṇukākhye gandhadravye ... The mentioned Ms. omits, as may be observed, (contrary to its practice, and merely from carelesness of the copyist,) the ending word, .. tāmbūlī .., before reṇukāyāṃ, and as it has served both, Professor Wilson and Rādhākaṇtadeva, the oversight becomes thus explainable.] 4. n.

(-ṣṭam) 1) A desired object, desire; e. g. Sāhityad.: jñānābhīṣṭāgamādyaistu saṃpūrṇaspṛhatā dhṛtiḥ; or Bhaṭṭik.: kva ca khyāto raghorvaṃśaḥ kva tvaṃ paragṛhoṣitā . anyasmai hṛdayaṃ dehi nānabhīṣṭe ghaṭāmahe (Jayam.: = anabhimate viṣaye; Bharatas.: = anucite vastuni).

2) The name of a plant; see tilaka; (according to the Nigh. Prak.; but as the gender is not given in this work, it is doubtful whether the word is in this sense a m. or a n.). E. iṣ with abhi, kṛt aff. kta; in the first meaning perhaps better abhi and iṣṭa.

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

1) Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट):—[abhī+ṣṭa] (ṣṭaḥ-ṣṭā-ṣṭaṃ) par. Beloved.

2) Abhīṣṭā (अभीष्टा):—[abhī+ṣṭā] (ṣṭā) 1. f. A perfume.

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

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Abhiṭṭhia.

[Sanskrit to German]

Abhishta 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

Abhīṣṭa (अभीष्ट) [Also spelled abhisht]:—(a) desired, cherished; —[lakṣya] desired goal, cherished aim; —[lābha] attainment of what is desired; —[siddhi] attainment of the desired objective/ thing.

context information

...

Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Abhīṣṭa (ಅಭೀಷ್ಟ):—[adjective] wished; desired.

--- OR ---

Abhīṣṭa (ಅಭೀಷ್ಟ):—

1) [noun] preference; taste; pleasure.

2) [noun] fondness; affection.

context information

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

Relevant text

Search found 8 books and stories containing Abhishta, Abhīṣṭa, Abhista, Abhīṣṭā; (plurals include: Abhishtas, Abhīṣṭas, Abhistas, Abhīṣṭās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Verse 2.5.20 < [Part 5 - Permanent Ecstatic Mood (sthāyī-bhāva)]

Verse 3.3.42 < [Part 3 - Fraternal Devotion (sakhya-rasa)]

Verse 2.1.124 < [Part 1 - Ecstatic Excitants (vibhāva)]

+ 1 more chapters / show preview

Verse 2.5.85 < [Chapter 5 - Lord Nityānanda’s Vyāsa-pūjā Ceremony and His Darśana of the Lord’s Six-armed Form]

Verse 1.7.24 < [Chapter 7 - Śrī Viśvarūpa Takes Sannyāsa]

Verse 2.6.161 < [Chapter 6 - The Lord’s Meeting with Advaita Ācārya]

+ 4 more chapters / show preview

Text 10.203 [Viṣama] < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]

Text 10.47 < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]

show preview

Verse 1.6.77 < [Chapter 6 - Priyatama (the most beloved devotees)]