Aguna, Aguṇa: 16 definitions
Introduction:
Aguna means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, Jainism, Prakrit. 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)
Aguṇa (अगुण) refers to “one who is devoid of attributes”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.25 (“The seven celestial sages test Pārvatī”).—Accordingly, as Pārvatī said to the seven Sages: “[...] O excellent sages, what you have just spoken shall be interpreted in another way. I shall explain it in brief. When you glorify Viṣṇu as the abode of noble qualities or as a sportive deity I do not contradict. As to your statement that Sadāśiva is devoid of attributes [i.e., aguṇa] I shall tell you the reason. [...]”.
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.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Aguṇa (अगुण).—a.
1) Destitute of attributes (referring to God).
2) Having no good qualities, worthless; अगुणोऽ यमकोशः (aguṇo' yamakośaḥ) M.3, गुणयुक्तो दरिद्रोऽपि नेश्वरैरगुणैः समः (guṇayukto daridro'pi neśvarairaguṇaiḥ samaḥ) || Mṛcchakaṭika 4. 22.
-ṇaḥ [na. ta.] A fault, defect, demerit, vice; तद्वः सर्वं प्रवक्ष्यामि प्रसवे च गुणागुणान् (tadvaḥ sarvaṃ pravakṣyāmi prasave ca guṇāguṇān) Manusmṛti 3.22; गुणागुणज्ञ (guṇāguṇajña) knowing merit and demerit; लोभश्चेदगुणेन किम् (lobhaścedaguṇena kim) Bhartṛhari 2.55; अगुणेषु तस्य धियमस्तवतः (aguṇeṣu tasya dhiyamastavataḥ) Kirātārjunīya 6.21. vices;
-ṇam 1 Absolution (mokṣa, kaivalya); धर्मादयः किमगुणेन च काङ्क्षितेन (dharmādayaḥ kimaguṇena ca kāṅkṣitena) Bhāg. 7.6.25.
2) Supreme Being (parabrahma).
Aguṇa (अगुण).—m.
(-ṇaḥ) A defect, a fault. mfn.
(-ṇaḥ-ṇā-ṇaṃ) 1. Void of good qualities, bad. 2. Void of attributes. E. a neg. guṇa qualities.
Aguṇa (अगुण).—m. a bad property, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 3, 22.
Aguṇa is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms a and guṇa (गुण).
Aguṇa (अगुण).—[adjective] having no qualities or virtues. worthless; [masculine] bad quality. vice.
1) Aguṇa (अगुण):—[=a-guṇa] mfn. destitute of qualities or attributes (said of the supreme Being cf. nirguṇa)
2) [v.s. ...] destitute of good qualities
3) [v.s. ...] m. a fault.
Aguṇa (अगुण):—I. [tatpurusha compound] m.
(-ṇaḥ) A defect, a fault. E. a neg. and guṇa. Ii. [bahuvrihi compound] m. f. n.
(-ṇaḥ-ṇā-ṇam) 1) Void of attributes.
2) Void of good qualities, bad. E. a priv. and guṇa.
1) Aguṇa (अगुण):—[a-guṇa] (ṇaḥ-ṇā-ṇaṃ) a. Defective, of bad quality; 1. m. A fault.
2) [(ṇaḥ-ṇā-ṇaṃ) a.] Without qualities (God).
Aguṇa (अगुण):—m. schlechte Eigenschaft, Fehler, Untugend: tadvaḥ sarvaṃ pravakṣyāmi prasave ca guṇāguṇān [Manu’s Gesetzbuch 3, 22.] deśānāṃ ca guṇāguṇān [9, 331.] na tvaṃ vetsi guṇāguṇam [Rāmāyaṇa 6, 66, 23.] guṇāguṇajña [Prooemium im Hitopadeśa 47.]
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Aguṇa (अगुण):—adj. ohne Qualitäten [Sânkhya Philosophy 17.] [KAṆ. 1, 1, 17.] der Vorzüge ermangelnd, werthlos: vākya [Spr.] hetupramāṇayuktaṃ im 4ten Theile.
Aguṇa (अगुण):—1. m. schlechte Eigenschaft , Untugend [184,17.]
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Aguṇa (अगुण):—2. Adj. —
1) ohne Qualitäten —
2) der Vorzüge ermangelnd , werthlos.
Aguṇa (अगुण) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Aguṇa.
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.
Prakrit-English dictionary
Aguṇa (अगुण) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Aguṇa.
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
Aguṇa (ಅಗುಣ):—[adjective] destitute of attributes, qualities or characters.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Aguṇa (अगुण):—n. defect; fault; vice; adj. 1. without good qualities; 2. Philos. unqualified (the ultimate being); destitute of attributes;
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.
Pali-English dictionary
aguṇa (အဂုဏ) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[na+guṇa]
[န+ဂုဏ]
[Pali to Burmese]
aguṇa—
(Burmese text): (၁) (က) ကျေးဇူးမဲ့သော တရား။ (ခ) အကုသိုလ်အမှု၊ အကုသိုလ်ကံ။ (၂) ညှို့မရှိသော။
(Auto-Translation): (1) (a) Thankless duty. (b) Unlucky matter, ill fortune. (2) Without deceit.
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.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Agunabhava, Agunabhavaparikappana, Agunagavesaka, Agunajna, Agunakatha, Agunannu, Agunapariyesaka, Agunarupin, Agunashila, Agunata, Agunateja, Agunatva, Agunavadi, Agunavadin, Agunavant, Agunavat, Akunam.
Full-text (+13): Guna, Gunaguna, Agunavadin, Agunashila, Agunatva, Agunata, Agunabhava, Agunateja, Nivaranadiagunanga, Agunagavesaka, Agunapariyesaka, Agunavadi, Agunavat, Agunakatha, Akunam, Agunarupin, Gunatthava, Gunandhara, Kunakunam, Gunashila.
Relevant text
Search found 56 books and stories containing Aguna, A-guna, A-guṇa, Aguṇa, Na-guna, Na-guṇa; (plurals include: Agunas, gunas, guṇas, Aguṇas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
A critical study of Ānandajñāna’s Tarkasaṅgraha (by Satyan Sharma)
Part 1.1 - The refutation of Guṇa < [Chapter 3 - Refutations in the Dvitīya Pariccheda]
Part 2.9 - The refutation of Ātmatva < [Chapter 2 - Refutations in the Prathama Pariccheda]
Part 2.7 - The refutation of Pṛthaktva < [Chapter 3 - Refutations in the Dvitīya Pariccheda]
The “Tempered Radical” Revolution < [Volume 12, Issue 8 (2021)]
Execute Justice and Charity for Your People < [Volume 16, Issue 1 (2025)]
The Donation Act of Hagi Constantin Pop’s Family for the Annunciation Church... < [Volume 11, Issue 3 (2020)]
Vaisheshika-sutra with Commentary (by Nandalal Sinha)
Sūtra 1.1.17 (Characteristics of Action) < [Chapter 1 - Of Substance, Attribute, and Action]
Sūtra 2.1.25 (Sound not an Attribute of tangible things) < [Chapter 1 - Of Earth, Waters, Fire, Air, and Ether]
Samkhya elements in the Bhagavata-purana (by Jumli Nath)
Part 1.2 - Nature of Puruṣa < [Chapter 3a - Puruṣa, Prakṛti and Guṇa in the Sāṃkhya philosophy]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 167 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 1]
Page 133 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 1]
Page 38 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 1]
Mahabharata (English) (by Kisari Mohan Ganguli)
Section CCXII < [Markandeya-Samasya Parva]