Anrita, Anṛta, Ānṛta: 20 definitions
Introduction:
Anrita means something in 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.
The Sanskrit terms Anṛta and Ānṛta can be transliterated into English as Anrta or Anrita, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Anṛta (अनृत).—Son born to Hiṃsā by Adharma. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa)
Anṛta (अनृत) refers to “untruth”, which is considered as having evil influences (vyasana), according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.1.17. Accordingly, “[...] who is he that is not broken up by the evil influences (vyasana) of hunting (mṛgayā), wine (madya), slander (paiśunya), untruth (anṛta), theft (caura), gambling (durodara) and prostitutes (vāradāra)? The wicked fellow (Guṇanidhi) used to lay his hands on whatever he could see in the house, a cloth, a base metal etc. and take it to the gambling den, there to lose the same to his brother gamblers (dyūtakāra)”.
1a) Anṛta (अनृत).—(as opposite to satya) when falsehood is tolerated.1 Bali shrinks from it.2 No pātaka on five occasions: Jest or fun, speaking to women, for a marriage, when life is in danger, and when deprived of his wealth.3
1b) Son of Hiṃsā and Adharma; father of Bhaya and Naraka.*
- * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 9. 63; Vāyu-purāṇa 10. 39.

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.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Ānṛta (आनृत) refers to “lying”, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 15) (“On the nakṣatras—‘asterisms’”), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “[...] Those who are born on the lunar day of Mṛgaśirṣa will delight or deal in perfumes, dress, pearls, flowers, fruits, precious stones, wild beasts, birds and deer; will be Somayajis or singers; will be lascivious; will be good writers or painters. Those who are born on the lunar day of Ārdrā will delight in killing, torturing, lying (ānṛta), in adultery, thieving, cheating and tale-bearing; will deal in pod-grains, black magic, sorcery and exorcism. [...]”.

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.
Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)
Anṛta (अनृत) refers to “false” (as opposed to Satya—‘true’), according to the Netratantra of Kṣemarāja: a Śaiva text from the 9th century in which Śiva (Bhairava) teaches Pārvatī topics such as metaphysics, cosmology, and soteriology.—Accordingly, [verse 19.84-85, while describing the ritual that protect the king and his kingdom]—“The tradition is secret and confers happiness and the best of all fortune. The pleased and pious adepts strive to obtain the favor of [Mṛtyujit]. They are liberated from all suffering. What I say is true, not false (satya—te satyaṃ me na anṛtaṃ vacaḥ)”.

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.
Vedanta (school of philosophy)
Anṛta (अनृत) refers to “(that which is) unreal”, according to the Aṣṭāvakragītā (5th century BC), an ancient text on spirituality dealing with Advaita-Vedānta topics.—Accordingly, [as Aṣṭavakra says to Janaka]: “[...] You are the one witness of everything, and are always totally free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other than this. [...] You are unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable, unfathomable awareness and unperturbable, so hold to nothing but consciousness. Recognise that the apparent is unreal (anṛta), while the unmanifest is abiding [sākāramanṛtaṃ viddhi nirākāraṃ tu niścalam]. Through this initiation into truth you will escape falling into unreality again. [...] ”.

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).
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
anṛta (अनृत).—n (S) Falsehood. 2 Attrib. False.
anṛta (अनृत).—n Falsehood, untruth. a False.
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
Anṛta (अनृत).—a. [na. ta.]
1) Not true, false (words); °तं धनम् (taṃ dhanam) Manusmṛti 4.17 wrongly got; प्रियं च नानृतं ब्रूयात् (priyaṃ ca nānṛtaṃ brūyāt) 4.138.
-tam Falsehood, lying, cheating; deception, fraud; सत्यानृते अवपश्यञ्जनानाम् (satyānṛte avapaśyañjanānām) Ṛgveda 7.49.3; अनृतं जीवितस्यार्थे वदन्न स्पृश्यतेऽनृतैः (anṛtaṃ jīvitasyārthe vadanna spṛśyate'nṛtaiḥ) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 7.19.47;1.74.15;8.69.65. ऋतानृते (ṛtānṛte) Manusmṛti 1.29; साक्ष्येऽनृतं वदन् (sākṣye'nṛtaṃ vadan) 8.97; oft. in comp.; पशु°, भूमि°, गो°, पुरुष° (paśu°, bhūmi°, go°, puruṣa°) giving false evidence in the matter of &c.; Manusmṛti 9.71.; cf. also : पञ्च कन्यानृते हन्ति दश हन्ति गवानृते । शतमश्वानृते हन्ति सहस्रं पुरुषानृते (pañca kanyānṛte hanti daśa hanti gavānṛte | śatamaśvānṛte hanti sahasraṃ puruṣānṛte) || Pañcatantra (Bombay) 3.18. अनृत (anṛta) personified is the son of अधर्म (adharma) and हिंसा (hiṃsā), husband and brother of निकृति (nikṛti), father of भय, नरक, माया (bhaya, naraka, māyā) and वेदना (vedanā). Viṣṇu P.
2) Agriculture, 'सेवाश्ववृत्तिरनृतं कृषिः (sevāśvavṛttiranṛtaṃ kṛṣiḥ)' इति कोशात् (iti kośāt); आमिषं यच्च पूर्वेषां राजसं च मलं भृशम् । अनृतं नाम तद् भूतं क्षिप्तेन पृथिवीतले (āmiṣaṃ yacca pūrveṣāṃ rājasaṃ ca malaṃ bhṛśam | anṛtaṃ nāma tad bhūtaṃ kṣiptena pṛthivītale) || Rām.7.74.16. (opp. satya); Occupation of a Vaiśya (vāṇijya); सत्यानृतं तु वाणिज्यं तेन चैवापि जीव्यते (satyānṛtaṃ tu vāṇijyaṃ tena caivāpi jīvyate) Manusmṛti 4.5.
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Ānṛta (आनृत).—a. (-tī f.) [अनृतं शीलमस्य अण् (anṛtaṃ śīlamasya aṇ)] Always telling lies, untruthful.
Anṛta (अनृत).—n.
(-taṃ) 1. Falsehood. 2. Agriculture. E. an neg. ṛta truth.
Anṛta (अनृत).—I. adj. untrue, [Rāmāyaṇa] 3, 53, 18; unjust, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 4, 170. Ii. n. 1. untruth, [Rāmāyaṇa] 3, 53, 16; a lie,
— Cf. [Latin] ratus, irritus;
Anṛta is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms an and ṛta (ऋत).
Anṛta (अनृत).—[adjective] untrue, false. [masculine] a liar; [neuter] untruth, falsehood, fraud.
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Anṛta (अनृत).—[adjective] untrue, false. [masculine] a liar; [neuter] untruth, falsehood, fraud.
1) Anṛta (अनृत):—[=an-ṛta] mf(ā)n. not true, false
2) [v.s. ...] n. falsehood, lying, cheating
3) [v.s. ...] agriculture, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) Ānṛta (आनृत):—mf(ī)n. ([from] an-ṛta [gana] chattrādi, [Pāṇini 4-4, 62]), untruthful, lying, false.
Anṛta (अनृत):—[tatpurusha compound] I. 1. m. f. n.
(-taḥ-tā-tam) Untrue. 2. n.
(-tam) Untruth, falsehood. (In the mythology of the Purāṇas Anṛta is the son of Adharma (vice) and Hiṃsā (violence), and the brother of Nikṛti (immorality); they intermarry and have two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell) and twins to them, two daughters, Māyā (deceit) and Vedanā (torture) who became their wives.—In the Rāmāyaṇa Anṛta is the name of one of the mystical weapons delivered to Rāma by Viśvāmitra.) E. a neg. and ṛta. Ii. n.
(-tam) Agriculture. E. According to the native comm. the etym. would be the same as before; their account for the meaning ‘agriculture’ however is not very plausible, some explain it: ‘because agriculture is like falsehood’ or ‘because agriculture cannot be carried on without falsehood’, another refers ṛta in this sense to the radical ṛ ‘to hurt’ and explains it as a [bahuvrihi compound] ‘that from which injury does not arise’. The etym. of this meaning and its probable connection with pramṛta used in the same sense by Manu will be discussed in the Preface.
Anṛta (अनृत):—[a-nṛta] (taṃ) 1. n. Falsehood. a. False.
[Sanskrit to German]
Anṛta (अनृत) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Aṇiya.
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
Anṛta (अनृत) [Also spelled anrt]:—(nm) untruth; falsehood, lie.
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Kannada-English dictionary
Anṛta (ಅನೃತ):—
1) [noun] that which is not true; a statement, etc. that does not accord with fact or reality; the condition or quality of being false; falsehood.
2) [noun] work of cultivating the soil, producing required crops; agriculture.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Rita, Nrita, An, A.
Starts with (+6): Anritabhashana, Anritabhisamdha, Anritabhisandha, Anritabhishamsana, Anritabhishasta, Anritadeva, Anritaduta, Anritadvish, Anritaka, Anritakatha, Anritakhyana, Anritam, Anritamaya, Anritamvada, Anritapashu, Anritapurvam, Anritasamgara, Anritasamhita, Anritasarvasva, Anritaspardhi.
Full-text (+53): Anritavac, Anritavadin, Satyanrita, Anritamaya, Anritadeva, Anritadvish, Gavanrita, Bhumyanrita, Anritavrata, Anritavadana, Anritakhyana, Anritabhashana, Anritapashu, Anritasamgara, Anritakatha, Anritasarvasva, Anritin, Anritasamhita, Anritam, Ananrita.
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Search found 78 books and stories containing Anrita, Anṛta, Anrta, Ānṛta, An-rita, An-ṛta, An-rta, A-nrita, A-nṛta, A-nrta; (plurals include: Anritas, Anṛtas, Anrtas, Ānṛtas, ritas, ṛtas, rtas, nritas, nṛtas, nrtas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Tattvartha Sutra (with commentary) (by Vijay K. Jain)
Verse 7.14 - Definition of anṛta (falsehood) < [Chapter 7 - The Five Vows]
Verse 7.9 - Contemplations with regard to the opposites < [Chapter 7 - The Five Vows]
Verse 7.15 - Definition of steya (stealing) < [Chapter 7 - The Five Vows]
Devala-smriti (critical study) (by Mukund Lalji Wadekar)
5. Papadosas (treatment of the threefold vices) < [Chapter 10 - Philosophical aspect of the Devalasmriti]
6.1. The threefold bondage < [Chapter 10 - Philosophical aspect of the Devalasmriti]
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 4.8.28 < [Chapter 8 - In the Story of the Yajña-sītās, the Glories of Ekādaśī]
Rig Veda (translation and commentary) (by H. H. Wilson)
Chandogya Upanishad (english Translation) (by Swami Lokeswarananda)
Kathopanishad (Madhva commentary) (by Srisa Chandra Vasu)
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