Avatamsa, Avataṃsa, Avataṁsa, Avaṭaṃsa: 20 definitions
Introduction:
Avatamsa means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, Marathi, Jainism, Prakrit, 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 Avatans.
In Hinduism
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Source: Google Books: ManthanabhairavatantramAvataṃsa (अवतंस) refers to a “(decorative) diadem” [?], according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—Accordingly, “(Kubjikā’s) iconic form is threefold (according to whether it is) in (the transmission) of the Child, Middle One or the Aged. [...] (The snake) Ananta is always at her feet adorning her anklets. The snake Kārkoṭa, tied on (her) zone, adorns (her) hips. Takṣaka is (her) diadem [i.e., avataṃsa—takṣakaścāvataṃsaśca], Vāsuki the necklace on (her) neck. Kulika is said to be (hanging) on (her) ears and (she) is adorned with Kūrma as (her) earrings. Padma and Mahāpadma are on her eyebrows and all (of her) arms are adorned with thousands of snakes. [...]”.
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.
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English TranslationAvataṃsa (अवतंस) refers to “being bedecked (with streaks of the moon)”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.40 (“The Marriage Procession of Śiva”).—Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada: “[...] These and other leaders of Gaṇas of great strength and multitudinous in number joined the procession with joy and enthusiasm. They had a thousand hands. They wore matted hair and crowns. They were bedecked with streaks of the moon (candrarekha-avataṃsa). They had three eyes and blue necks (like lord Śiva). All of them wore garlands of Rudrākṣa beads. They had the holy ashes smeared over the body. They had the ornaments of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, crowns etc. [...]”.
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
Pali-English dictionary
Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionaryavataṃsa : (m.) a garland for the crest.
Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English DictionaryAvataṃsa, see vataṃsaka. (Page 82)
[Pali to Burmese]
Source: Sutta: Tipiṭaka Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary (တိပိဋက-ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန်)1) avataṃsa—
(Burmese text): (၁) နားတန်ဆာ၊ နားသွယ်ပန်း။ (၂) ဦးဆောက်ပန်း။ အဝဋံသ-လည်းကြည့်။
(Auto-Translation): (1) Ear ornaments, ear cuffs. (2) Head adornment. Also look at the decorations.
2) avaṭaṃsa—
(Burmese text): ဦးခေါင်း၌ စိုက်သော ပန်း၊ ဦးဆောက်ပန်း။ ဝဋံသက,အဝတံသ-တို့လည်းကြည့်။
(Auto-Translation): The flower planted on the head, the flower of the spine. Look at the others as well.
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.
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryavataṃsa (अवतंस).—m (S) A tuft or plume of feathers, flowers, gems for the head; a crest. Ex. bhuja paryanta lōḷē a0 || 2 An ear-ring.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishavataṃsa (अवतंस).—m A tuft or plume of feathers, flowers, gems for the head.
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 dictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस).—[ava-taṃsa-ghañ]
1) A garland.
2) An earring, a ring-shaped ornament, an ear-ornament (fig. also); गणा नमेरुप्रसवावतंसाः (gaṇā nameruprasavāvataṃsāḥ) Kumārasambhava 1.55; स्ववाहनक्षोभचलावतंसाः (svavāhanakṣobhacalāvataṃsāḥ) 7.38; चन्दनपल्लवावतंसाम् (candanapallavāvataṃsām) K.11,12,14,97; R.13.49; Dk. 5,88; Kirātārjunīya 3.11; Śiśupālavadha 3.81; °उत्पलम् (utpalam) a lotus used as an ornament; Kumārasambhava 4.8; oft. with अ (a) omitted; यैर्वतंसकुसुमैः प्रियमेताः (yairvataṃsakusumaiḥ priyametāḥ) Śiśupālavadha 1.67.
3) An ornament worn on the head, crest.
4) (fig.) anything that serves as an ornament; 'decked with'; तामरसावतंसा जलसंनिवेशाः (tāmarasāvataṃsā jalasaṃniveśāḥ) Chāt.2.3; पुण्डरीकावतंसाभिः परिखाभिः (puṇḍarīkāvataṃsābhiḥ parikhābhiḥ) Rām.5.4.25; पुष्पावतंसं सलिलम् (puṣpāvataṃsaṃ salilam) Suśr.; कल्याणावतंसा कल्याणसंपद् (kalyāṇāvataṃsā kalyāṇasaṃpad) Mālatīmādhava (Bombay) 6.
Derivable forms: avataṃsaḥ (अवतंसः), avataṃsam (अवतंसम्).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस).—mn.
(-saḥ-saṃ) 1. An ear-ring. 2. A crest. E. ava, tasi a Sautra root to adorn, ac aff.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस).—[ava-taṃs + a], m. and n. 1. A crest. 2. An ear-ring, [Daśakumāracarita] in
Avataṃsa (अवतंस).—[masculine] garland or ear-ring.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English DictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस):—[=ava-taṃsa] mn. (ifc. f(ā). ), (√taṃs), a garland, ring-shaped ornament, ear ornament, ear-ring, crest, [Rāmāyaṇa etc.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस):—[ava-taṃsa] (saḥ-saṃ) 1. m. n. Ear-ring; crest, ornament.
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Avataṃsa (अवतंस) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Avataṃsa, Avayaṃsa, Uttaṃsa.
[Sanskrit to German]
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 dictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस) [Also spelled avatans]:—(nm) crown; ornament.
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionaryAvataṃsa (अवतंस) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Avataṃsa.
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
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusAvataṃsa (ಅವತಂಸ):—
1) [noun] an ornament for the ears.
2) [noun] an ornament for the head.
3) [noun] an ornament in gen. 4) a wreath or woven chain of flowers; a garland.
4) [noun] a person whose character or talent adds lustre to the surroundings, society or a particular field of activity or knowledge, etc.
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: Tamsa, A, Tasi, Ava.
Starts with: Avatamsahva, Avatamsaka, Avatamsaka Realm, Avatamsaka Sutra, Avatamsana, Avatamsaniya, Avatamsasthaniya, Avatamsay, Avatamsayati.
Full-text (+1): Vatamsa, Vatamsaka, Avatamsaka, Avatamsita, Pundarikavatamsa, Avatamsasthaniya, Avatancam, Koshavatamsa, Avatamsikri, Uttamsa, Avatamsana, Avayamsa, Nandavatamsa, Avatans, Candravatamsa, Kannavatancam, Vitamsa, Candrarekha, Ganapa, Ganeshvara.
Relevant text
Search found 16 books and stories containing Avatamsa, Ava-tamsa, Ava-taṃsa, Ava-tasi-a, Ava-tasi-a, Avataṃsa, Avataṁsa, Avaṭaṃsa; (plurals include: Avatamsas, tamsas, taṃsas, as, Avataṃsas, Avataṁsas, Avaṭaṃsas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Madras (by M. Seshagiri Sastri)
Page 493 < [Volume 24 (1918)]
Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana (by Gaurapada Dāsa)
Cosmetics, Costumes and Ornaments in Ancient India (by Remadevi. O.)
2.2. Various other Ear Ornaments < [Chapter 3 - Ornaments]
Samarangana-sutradhara (Summary) (by D. N. Shukla)
Brahma Samhita (Jiva Goswami commentary) (by Srila Narayana Maharaja)
Vastu-shastra (Introduction to Indian architecture) (by D. N. Shukla)
Chapter 6 - Group A: Early Lāṭa Temples < [Volume 5 - Temple Architecture]