Agraha, Āgraha: 18 definitions
Introduction:
Agraha means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, 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)
Agraha (अग्रह).—The name of an Agni, a son of the Agni named Bhānu. Bhānu married Suprajā, daughter of the sun and Agraha was one of the six children born to them. In the Cāturmāsikayajña Agraha receives eight kinds of havis (Oblations). (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 221).
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.
Vedanta (school of philosophy)
Agraha (अग्रह) refers to the “absence of perception (of duality)”, according to the Māṇḍūkyopaniṣatkārikā 3.31-32.—Accordingly, while discussing duality and mental activity: “All this duality which is [comprising of] whatever is moving and motionless is [just] a visible object of the mind. For when [the state of] no-mind of mind [arises], duality is not perceived. [Why is this?] When the mind does not conceptualize because [one has] realized the truth of the self, then, it goes to the state of no mind. Therefore, in the absence of perceivable objects, there is no perception [of duality] (agraha)”.
Vedanta (वेदान्त, vedānta) refers to a school of orthodox Hindu philosophy (astika), drawing its subject-matter from the Upanishads. There are a number of sub-schools of Vedanta, however all of them expound on the basic teaching of the ultimate reality (brahman) and liberation (moksha) of the individual soul (atman).
In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Agrāha (अग्राह) [=Āgrāha?] refers to “holding on to (the dharma)”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly, “[...] The Bodhisattva Gaganagañja then sustained the jewel-canopy of ten thousand yojanas high over the Lord’s lion throne in the sky, joined the palms of his hands, saluted, and praised the Lord with these suitable verses: ‘[...] (6) Since the concept of mine (mamakāra) does not exist in the dharma of the Sugata, you neither depend (āśrita) nor hold (agrāha) on the dharma. But having known the discipline (vinaya) for all kinds of beings through conceptions (saṃkalpa) of the dharma, you always teach the supreme (annutara) dharma. [...]”.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
āgraha (आग्रह).—m (S) Unyielding maintenance of an opinion or a purpose; inflexibility. v dhara. 2 Importunity, earnest solicitation: also urgent invitation or earnest pressing. v kara.
āgraha (आग्रह).—m Inflexibility. Importunity. Urgent invitation.
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
Agraha (अग्रह).—a. Without any escort, retinue etc. A vānaprastha etc.
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Āgraha (आग्रह).—
1) Seizing, taking.
2) Attack.
3) Determination, strong attachment, persistence, insisting (sneha, abhiniveśa); चलेऽपि काकस्य पदार्पणाग्रहः (cale'pi kākasya padārpaṇāgrahaḥ) Naiṣadha; Daśakumāracarita 176; also Malli. on Kumārasambhava 5.7.
4) Favour, patronage.
5) Surpassing, surmounting.
6) Moral power, courage.
Derivable forms: āgrahaḥ (आग्रहः).
Agrāha (अग्राह).—(a-grāha), m. (neg. to -grāha), (no-belief) false bettel, attachment to an erroneous view: Vajracchedikā 42.13; 45.5 (cited s.v. -grāha, q.v.).
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Āgraha (आग्रह).—(presumably m.; compare āgṛhīta), niggardliness, holding back (from giving): Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 257.1 (after long description of how the Bodhisattva gave away everything, even his life) na ca me kadācid āgrahacittam utpannam, and I never conceived a thought of holding back (wrongly Burnouf and Kern); Avadāna-śataka i.174.5 (verse; after 4 nādattvā paribhuñjīran na syur matsariṇas tathā,) na caiṣām āgrahe cittam utpa- dyeta kadācana, and there would never arise for them a thought of holding back (from giving). As Speyer points out in his Index to Avadāna-śataka, KSS 90.22 probably contains the word āgraheṇa with niggardliness, holding back from giving; but this meaning has not been recognized; the ordinary Sanskrit usage is not quite the same.
Agraha (अग्रह).—m.
(-haḥ) An anchorite, a man who has retired from the world. E. a neg. and graha a house, being no loger householder.
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Āgraha (आग्रह).—m.
(-haḥ) 1. Favour, patronage. 2. Seizing, taking. 3. Surpassing, surmounting. 4. Power, ability. E. āṅ, graha to take, ap aff.
Āgraha (आग्रह).—[ā-grah + a], m. 1. Favour, [Kumārasaṃbhava, (ed. Stenzler.)] 5, 7. 2. Pertinacity, Śukasapt. 6; 8; [Kathāsaritsāgara, (ed. Brockhaus.)] 25, 9.
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Agraha (अग्रह).—m. refusal, [Rājataraṅgiṇī] 5, 441.
Agraha is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms a and graha (ग्रह).
1) Agraha (अग्रह):—[=a-graha] [from a-grabhaṇa] mfn. = mukhya (Comm.), [Mahābhārata iii, 14189; Brāhmaṇa] propose to read agra-ha, destroying the best part
2) [v.s. ...] (also) where no ladleful is drawn, [Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra]
3) [v.s. ...] m. non acceptance, a houseless man id est. a Vānaprastha, a Brāhman of the third class, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) Āgraha (आग्रह):—[=ā-graha] [from ā-grah] m. insisting on, strong or obstinate inclination for, obstinacy, whim, [Kathāsaritsāgara; Śārṅgadhara]
5) [v.s. ...] (= grahaṇa) seizing, taking, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
6) [v.s. ...] favour, affection, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
Agraha (अग्रह):—[bahuvrihi compound] m.
(-haḥ) An anchorite or Vānaprastha, a Brahman of the third order, one who has retired from the world. E. a priv. and graha a house, ‘being no longer a householder’. Also written agṛha.
1) Agraha (अग्रह):—[a-graha] (haḥ) 1. m. An anchorite.
2) Āgraha (आग्रह):—[ā-graha] (haḥ) 1. m. Favor; seizing.
[Sanskrit to German]
Āgraha (आग्रह) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Aggaha.
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
Āgraha (आग्रह) [Also spelled agrah]:—(nm) insistence, pertinacity; persistence; ~[hī] insistent, pertinacious, persistent.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Āgraha (ಆಗ್ರಹ):—
1) [noun] the act of holding or taking in the hand; seizing; receiving in one’s hand.
2) [noun] an act of attack; assault.
3) [noun] insistence; compulsion; persuasion.
4) [noun] a feeling of intentness; concern or curiosity about something; interest.
5) [noun] favour; patronage.
6) [noun] a feeling of displeasure resulting from injury, mistreatment, opposition, etc., anger; wrath.
7) [noun] moral power, courage.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Āgraha (आग्रह):—n. 1. request; (humble, polite) appeal; 2. insistence; pertinacity; 3. assiduity; zeal; enthusiasm;
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)
Starts with (+8): Agraha-garnu, Agrahamadu, Agrahamagu, Agrahamberasu, Agrahamgey, Agrahana, Agrahaniya, Agrahapadisu, Agrahapurna, Agrahapurvaka, Agrahara, Agrahara-pradey-amsha, Agraharika, Agraharike, Agraharin, Agraharina, Agraharina-mahattara, Agrahasta, Agrahat, Agrahava.
Full-text (+21): Duragraha, Asadagraha, Niragraha, Korada Agraha, Pratyagraha, Agraha-garnu, Agrah, Graha, Aghrava, Aagrah-garnu, Agriha, Agrahat, Mithyagraha, Agrahena, Akkirakam, Panigrahana, Aggaha, Fei zhi, Turakkirakam, Anagara.
Relevant text
Search found 37 books and stories containing Agraha, A-graha, Ā-graha, Āgraha, Agrāha; (plurals include: Agrahas, grahas, Āgrahas, Agrāhas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 889 < [Hindi-Malayalam-English Volume 2]
Page 121 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 249 < [Telugu-English-Malayalam (1 volume)]
The concept of Mind in the Major Upanishads (by Gisha K. Narayanan)
7(a). The Concept of Mind in the Māṇḍūkyopaniṣad < [Chapter 4 - The concept of Mind in the Major Upaniṣads]
Jnaneshwari (Bhavartha Dipika) (by Ramchandra Keshav Bhagwat)
Verse 17.13 < [Chapter 17 - Shraddha-traya-vibhaga-yoga]
Bhajana-Rahasya (by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura Mahasaya)
Text 17 < [Chapter 2 - Dvitīya-yāma-sādhana (Prātaḥ-kālīya-bhajana)]
A True Servant—A True Master (by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja)
Siddhanta Sangraha of Sri Sailacharya (by E. Sowmya Narayanan)