Amukha, Āmukha: 19 definitions
Introduction:
Amukha means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, 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 Amukh.
In Hinduism
Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma)
Āmukha (आमुख).—The introduction, which is technically called āmukha, may be of five different kinds, according to the Sāhitya-darpaṇa (6.288): “Introductions may be classified as follows:
- udghātyaka,
- kathodghāta,
- prayogātiśaya,
- pravartaka,
- avalagita.”
These five kinds of introduction are called āmukha.
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’).
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Āmukha (आमुख, “the introduction”) refers to one of the four varieties of the verbal style (bhāratī), according to the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 22. Bhāratī represents one of the four styles (vṛtti) employed in a dramatic production. Accordingly, “that part of a play where an actress, the jester or the assistant has a talk with the director on some relevant topic, and they use interesting words or adopt any type of the vīthī or talk in any other way, is called the introduction (āmukha) or the prologue (prastāvanā) by some”.
The five varieties (lit. elements) of the introduction (āmukha) are as follows:
- the accidental interpretation (udghātyaka),
- the opening of the story (kathodghātā),
- the particular presentation (prayogātiśaya),
- the personal business, (pravṛttaka),
- the transference (avalagita).
Āmukha (आमुख) or Mukha refers to the “beginning of the Drama”, according to the Sāhityadarpaṇa.—The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa says that at the very beginning of the Sanskrit drama, praveśaka i.e., the introducer should introduce the plot of the drama that has been continuing for many days and this narration must be very brief. In the Sāhityadarpaṇa also, the description of those incidents which have already been happened are suggested in the very beginning of the Drama and the technical term of this part of a Drama is known as mukha or āmukha.
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).
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Amukha (अमुख) refers to “those having no faces”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.43 (“Description of Śiva’s wonderful sport”).—Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada: “[...] Immediately the army of Śiva came there consisting of wonderful arrays of Bhūtas, Pretas and Gaṇas. [...] Some were awful with overgrown moustaches and beards. Some were lame. Some were blind. Some held staffs and nooses and some great iron clubs in their hands. Some rode on peculiar vehicles. Some played on horns. Some played on Ḍamarus. Some played on Gomukhas. Some had no faces (amukha). Some had distorted and deformed faces. Some had many faces. Some had no hands. Others had deformed hands. Some of them had many hands. [...]”.
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
Āmukha (आमुख).—
1) Commencement.
2) (In dramas) A prologue, prelude (prastāvanā); (every Sanskrit play is introduced by आमुख (āmukha). It is thus defined in S. D. नटी विदू- षको वाऽपि पारिपार्श्वक एव वा । सूत्रधारेण सहिताः संलापं यत्र कुर्वते ॥ चित्रैर्वाक्यैः स्वकार्योत्थैः प्रस्तुताक्षेपिभिर्मिथः । आमुखं तत्तु विज्ञेयं नाम्ना प्रस्तावनाऽपि सा (naṭī vidū- ṣako vā'pi pāripārśvaka eva vā | sūtradhāreṇa sahitāḥ saṃlāpaṃ yatra kurvate || citrairvākyaiḥ svakāryotthaiḥ prastutākṣepibhirmithaḥ | āmukhaṃ tattu vijñeyaṃ nāmnā prastāvanā'pi sā) || 287.
-kham ind. To the face.
Āmukha (आमुख).—adj., (presenting itself) before one's face; present, at hand: Jātakamālā 92.24 mṛtyor mukham ivāmukham (…vaḍabāmukham); Bhadracarī 58 āmukhi (m.c. for °khe; one ms. °kha) sarvi bhaveyu samagrāḥ, may they all be present (to me; āmukhi probably loc. sg., adverbial, rather than n. pl. with pronominal ending); Gaṇḍavyūha 54.20 (verse) māra- maṇḍalaraṇasmi āmukhe (loc. abs.), when the battle…is at hand; Bodhisattvabhūmi 14.13 -saddharmāntardhānim āmukhām upagatāṃ paśyati; Bodhisattvabhūmi 251.1 (bhayabhairavair) āmukhaiḥ. Cf. the following items, and s.v. poṣadha.
Āmukha (आमुख).—n.
(-khaṃ) 1. Prelude, prologue. 2. Commencement. ind. To the face. E. āṅ before mukha face or beginning.
Āmukha (आमुख).—[ā-mukha], n. Prelude.
1) Amukha (अमुख):—[=a-mukha] ([Taittirīya-saṃhitā]) or a-mukha ([Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa xiv]) mfn. having no mouth.
2) Āmukha (आमुख):—[=ā-mukha] n. commencement, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
3) [v.s. ...] prelude, prologue, [Sāhitya-darpaṇa]
4) [v.s. ...] mfn. being in front or before the eyes, [Jātakamālā]
Āmukha (आमुख):—[ā-mukha] (khaṃ) 1. n. Prelude, commencement. adv. To the face.
Amukha (अमुख):—(3. a + mukha) adj. ohne Mund [The Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 14, 6, 8, 8.] [?= Bṛhadāranyakopaniṣad 3, 8, 8.]
--- OR ---
Āmukha (आमुख):—(2. ā + mukha) n.
1) Beginn [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 3, 2, 30.] —
2) Vorspiel, Einleitung [Sāhityadarpana 131, 15.] [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa] [Mṛcchakaṭikā 5, 8.]
--- OR ---
Amukha (अमुख):—(3. a + mukha) adj. mundlos [Taittirīyasaṃhitā 7, 5, 12, 1.]
--- OR ---
Āmukha (आमुख):—
2) [DAŚAR.3,5. fgg.] [?(vgl. S. 27). PRATĀPAR. 23,a,5. Sāhityadarpana 279. 282. 286.]
Amukha (अमुख):—([Taittirīyasaṃhitā]) und amukha ([Śatapathabrāhmaṇa]). Adj. mundlos [Indische sprüche 7655.]
--- OR ---
Āmukha (आमुख):—n. —
1) *Beginn. —
2) Vorspiel , Einleitung.
Amukha (अमुख) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Amuha.
Āmukhā (in Sanskrit) can be associated with the following Chinese terms:
1) 將欲 [jiāng yù]: “am going to...”.
Note: āmukhā can be alternatively written as: āmukhām.
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
Āmukha (आमुख) [Also spelled amukh]:—(nm) the preamble.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Āmukha (ಆಮುಖ):—[noun] (drama.) an introduction to a play, esp., introductory lines spoken by a member of the cast before a dramatic performance; a prologue; a prelude.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
1) Āmukha (आमुख):—n. 1. preface; introduction; commencement; 2. Poetics. prologue; prelude;
2) Āmukha (आमुख):—pp. in front of;
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
amukha (အမုခ) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[na+mukha]
[န+မုခ]
[Pali to Burmese]
amukha—
(Burmese text): အဝ-မျက်နှာဝ-မရှိသော၊ ရေဝင်ပေါက်မရှိသော။
(Auto-Translation): No face, no inlet.
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)
Partial matches (+0): Mukha, A, Na.
Starts with (+0): Amukham, Amukhara, Amukharin, Amukhasthita, Amukhayati.
Full-text (+16): Tadamukha, Mandamukhi, Amukham, Mohanamukha, Amatamukha, Amukh, Amukhasthita, Mukha, Prastavana, Mukhattha, Bharati, Amuha, Amu, Amukhikri, Amukhibhu, Kathamukha, Pravrittaka, Aramukha, Nandimukhasughosha, Akashamukhin.
Relevant text
Search found 37 books and stories containing Amukha, A-mukha, Ā-mukha, Āmukha, Āmukhā, Na-mukha; (plurals include: Amukhas, mukhas, Āmukhas, Āmukhās). 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 53 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 189 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 1]
Page 190 < [Hindi-Gujarati-English Volume 1]
Mudrarakshasa (literary study) (by Antara Chakravarty)
4.4. Bhāratī-vṛtti < [Chapter 5 - Adoption of Style and Language in Mudrārākṣasa]
Hanuman Nataka (critical study) (by Nurima Yeasmin)
Dasarupaka (critical study) (by Anuru Ranjan Mishra)
Part 8 - Styles (vṛtti) of the Bhāṇa < [Chapter 2 - Bhāṇa (critical study)]
Part 8 - Styles (vṛtti) of the Vyāyoga < [Chapter 5 - Vyāyoga (critical study)]
Part 8 - Styles (vṛtti) of the Samavakāra < [Chapter 6 - Samavakāra (critical study)]
Lord Hayagriva in Sanskrit Literature (by Anindita Adhikari)
Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)
Appendix 2.3: new and rare words < [Appendices]