Bhayankara, Bhaya-akara, Bhaya-kara, Bhayakara, Bhayākāra, Bhayaṃkara, Bhayamkara, Bhayaṅkara, Bhayāṅkara: 32 definitions
Introduction:
Bhayankara means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, 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.
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In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
1) Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर).—A prince of the country of Sauvīra. He was a dependant of Jayadratha. It was this Bhayaṅkara who followed Jayadratha with his flag when he was trying to kidnap Pāñcālī. Arjuna killed him. (Chapter 265 and 271, Vana Parva, Mahābhārata).
2) Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर).—A sanātana Viśvadeva. (Chapter 91, Anuśāsana Parva, Mahābhārata).
Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर) refers to a “terrifying” sun, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.34. Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada:—“[...] When Vīrabhadra set off thus, bad omens were seen by Dakṣa and the Devas. [...] The quarters became dirty and gloomy. The sun appeared spotted and terrifying (bhayaṅkara) with thousands of circlets all round”.
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.
Kavya (poetry)
Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर) or Bhayaṃkara is one of the ministers of Sūryaprabha, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 45. Accordingly, as Kaśyapa said to Maya, Sunītha and Sūryaprabha: “... and those Dānavas, who formerly existed under the names of Sunda and Upasunda, have been born as his ministers Sarvadamana and Bhayaṅkara”.
In chapter 47, Bhayaṅkara’s strength is considered as equaling a double-power warrior (dviguṇaratha). Accordingly, as the Asura Maya explained the arrangement of warriors in Sunītha’s army: “... [Bhayaṅkara, and others], these are all warriors of double power”.
The story of Bhayaṅkara was narrated by the Vidyādhara king Vajraprabha to prince Naravāhanadatta in order to relate how “Sūryaprabha, being a man, obtain of old time the sovereignty over the Vidyādharas”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Bhayaṅkara, is a famous Sanskrit epic story revolving around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the vidyādharas (celestial beings). The work is said to have been an adaptation of Guṇāḍhya’s Bṛhatkathā consisting of 100,000 verses, which in turn is part of a larger work containing 700,000 verses.
Kavya (काव्य, kavya) refers to Sanskrit poetry, a popular ancient Indian tradition of literature. There have been many Sanskrit poets over the ages, hailing from ancient India and beyond. This topic includes mahakavya, or ‘epic poetry’ and natya, or ‘dramatic poetry’.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)
1) Bhayāṅkara (भयाङ्कर) (lit. “one who is dark”) is a synonym (another name) for the Owl (Ulūka), according to scientific texts such as the Mṛgapakṣiśāstra (Mriga-pakshi-shastra) or “the ancient Indian science of animals and birds” by Hamsadeva, containing the varieties and descriptions of the animals and birds seen in the Sanskrit Epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
2) Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर) (lit. “one who is terrible, or fearful”) is a synonym (another name) for the Hawk/Falcon (Śyena)
Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर, “horrible”) refers to one of the sixty defects of mantras, according to the 11th century Kulārṇava-tantra: an important scripture of the Kaula school of Śāktism traditionally stated to have consisted of 125.000 Sanskrit verses.—Accordingly, as Īśvara says to Śrī Devī: “For those who do japa without knowing these defects [e.g., bhayaṅkara—horrible], there is no realization even with millions and billions of japa. [...] Oh My Beloved! there are ten processes for eradicating defects in Mantras as described. [...]”.
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) refers to one of the eight Servants (ceṭa-aṣṭaka) associated with Pūrṇagiri or Pūrṇapīṭha (which is located in the northern quarter), according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—[...] The eight servants: Pulinda, Śavara, Unmatta, Palāśana, Ulūka, Mārīca, Sumatta, Bhayaṃkara.
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.
In Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
1) Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) refers to one of the eight charnel grounds (śmaśāna) of the Medinīcakra, according to the 10th century Ḍākārṇava chapter 15. Accordingly, the medinīcakra refers to one of the three divisions of the dharma-puṭa (‘dharma layer’), situated in the Herukamaṇḍala. Bhayaṃkara is associated with the tree (vṛkṣa) named Dāḍima; with the female world-guardian (lokapālinī) named Yakṣiṇī; with a female serpent (nāginī) and with a female cloud (meghinī).
2) Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) is also one of the eight charnel grounds (śmaśāna) of the Kāyacakra, according to the same work. Accordingly, the kāyacakra refers to one of the four divisions of the nirmāṇa-puṭa (‘emanation layer’), situated in the Herukamaṇḍala. Bhayaṃkara is associated with the tree (vṛkṣa) named Gambhīra and with the hell-guardian (narakapāla) named Gambhīrī.
Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) refers to “one who causes fear” [as taught by the Bhagavān in the ‘great heart called the Garuḍa-flame’], according to the Vajratuṇḍasamayakalparāja, an ancient Buddhist ritual manual on agriculture from the 5th-century (or earlier), containing various instructions for the Sangha to provide agriculture-related services to laypeople including rain-making, weather control and crop protection.
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
Pali-English dictionary
bhayaṅkara : (adj.) dreadful; horrible.
1) bhayakara (ဘယကရ) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[bhaya+kara+a]
[ဘယ+ကရ+အ]
2) bhayaṅkara (ဘယင်္ကရ) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[bhaya+kara+a]
[ဘယ+ကရ+အ]
3) bhayākāra (ဘယာကာရ) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[bhaya+ākāra]
[ဘယ+အာကာရ]
[Pali to Burmese]
1) bhayakara—
(Burmese text): ဘေးရန်ကို ပြုတတ်သော။
(Auto-Translation): Are capable of being dangerous.
2) bhayaṅkara—
(Burmese text): ကြောက်ခြင်းကို ပြုတတ်သော၊ ကြောက်မက်ဖွယ်ဖြစ်သော။
(Auto-Translation): Frightening, fear-inducing.
3) bhayākāra—
(Burmese text): ကြောက်ရွံ့သော အခြင်းအရာ။
(Auto-Translation): Fearful things.
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
bhayaṅkara (भयंकर).—a (S) That causes fear; frightful, terrible, formidable, dreadful.
bhayaṅkara (भयंकर).—a Frightful, dreadful.
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
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर).—a. = भयकर (bhayakara) q. v. (-raḥ) A kind of owl.
Bhayakara (भयकर).—(also bhayaṃkara) a.
1) frightening, terrible, fearful.
2) dangerous, perilous; so [bhayakāraka],
Bhayakara is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms bhaya and kara (कर).
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर).—name of a son of Māra, unfavorable to the Bodhisattva: Lalitavistara 311.10.
Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर).—mfn.
(-raḥ-rā-raṃ) Fearful, formidable, frightful. E. bhaya fear, kṛ to make, khac aff.
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर).—i. e. bhaya + m -kara, adj., f. rī, Terrific, [Hitopadeśa] i. [distich] 88, M. M.; formidable, [Pañcatantra] iii. [distich] 83.
Bhayakara (भयकर).—[adjective] causing fear.
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर).—([feminine] ī), & kartṛ [adjective] = [preceding]
Bhayakara (भयकर):—[=bhaya-kara] [from bhaya] mfn. causing f°, terrible, dangerous, [Mahābhārata]
1) Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर):—[=bhaya-ṃ-kara] [from bhaya] mf(ī)n. terrible (am ind.), [Mahābhārata; Kāvya literature] etc.
2) [v.s. ...] m. a kind of small owl, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
3) [v.s. ...] a kind of falcon, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] Name of one of the Viśve Devāḥ, [Mahābhārata]
5) [v.s. ...] of various persons, [ib.; Kathāsaritsāgara; Lalita-vistara]
Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर):—[bhaya-ṅkara] (raḥ-rā-raṃ) a. Idem.
Bhayakara (भयकर):—(bhaya + 1. kara) adj. Furcht erregend, Gefahr bringend: ninada [Mahābhārata 8, 1552.] senāpateḥ [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 34, 10.]
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर):—(bhayam, acc. von bhaya . + 1. kara)
1) adj. f. ī dass. [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 3, 2, 43.] [Vopadeva’s Grammatik 26, 57.] [Amarakoṣa 1. 1. 7, 20.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 302.] [Mahābhārata 3, 2558. 8, 1505. 9, 3295.] [Rāmāyaṇa 2, 75, 29.] [Spr. 773. 1180. 1613.] [Kathāsaritsāgara 29, 133.] [Rājataraṅgiṇī 3, 404.] [Mārkāṇḍeyapurāṇa 14, 85.] [PAÑCAR. 1, 3, 6. 7, 62.] su [Mahābhārata 4, 160.] sarvaprāṇi [2, 931.] śatru [7,7652.] nānāsattva [Lassen’s Anthologie (II) 47, 5.] sarvabhūta [Rāmāyaṇa 3, 23, 37.] sarvaloka [6, 91, 1.] atibhayaṃkaram adv. [Mahābhārata 1, 1164.] —
2) m. a) eine kleine Eulenart (duṇḍula) [Rājanirghaṇṭa im Śabdakalpadruma] — b) Nomen proprium eines der Viśve Devāḥ [Mahābhārata 13, 4356.] verschiedener Personen [Duaupadīpramātha 2, 11.] [Kathāsaritsāgara 45, 382. 47, 16.] [Rgva tch’er rol pa ed. Calc. 391, 8.] —
3) f. ī Nomen proprium einer der Mütter im Gefolge des Skanda [Mahābhārata 9, 2622.]
Bhayakara (भयकर):—Adj. Furcht erregend , Jmd (Gen.) Gefahr bringend.
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर):——
1) Adj. (f. ī) dass. Das Wem im Comp. vorangehend. —
2) m. — a) *eine kleine Eulenart [Rājan 19,123.] — b) *eine Falkenart [Rājan 19,86.] — c) Nomen proprium — α) eines der Viśve Devās. — β) verschiedener Männer. —
3) f. ī Nomen proprium einer der Mütter im Gefolge Skanda's.
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Bhayaṃkara.
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
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) [Also spelled bhayankar]:—(a) fearful, frightful, dreadful, terrible, horrible; dangerous; hence ~[tā] (nf).
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
Bhayaṃkara (भयंकर) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Bhayaṃkara.
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
Bhayaṃkara (ಭಯಂಕರ):—
1) [adjective] causing fear or dread; formidable.
2) [adjective] awe-inspiring; strikingly impressive.
--- OR ---
Bhayaṃkara (ಭಯಂಕರ):—
1) [noun] a thing, circumstance, event that causes fear or dread.
2) [noun] a thing or perons that is strikingly impressive.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
1) Bhayakara (भयकर):—adj. fearful; frightful; appalling; distressing;
2) Bhayaṅkara (भयङ्कर):—adj. fearful; dreadful; ferocious;
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)
Partial matches (+0): Bhaya, Akara, A, Kara.
Full-text (+23): Pratibhayakara, Marabalabhayamkara, Vairibhayamkara, Bhayamkaram, Bhayankar, Atopa, Rat, Mahabhayamkara, Bhusita, Bhaykar, Bhayamkari, Avyavasthita, Nagaratala, Khatatopa, Payankaram, Apayakaram, Phata, Ashvavan, Sumatta, Gambhiri.
Relevant text
Search found 37 books and stories containing Bhayankara, Bhaya-akara, Bhaya-ākāra, Bhaya-kara, Bhaya-kara-a, Bhaya-kara-a, Bhayakara, Bhayākāra, Bhayaṃkara, Bhayamkara, Bhayaṅkara, Bhayāṅkara; (plurals include: Bhayankaras, akaras, ākāras, karas, as, Bhayakaras, Bhayākāras, Bhayaṃkaras, Bhayamkaras, Bhayaṅkaras, Bhayāṅkaras). 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 685 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 3]
Page 706 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 3]
Page 376 < [Hindi-Kannada-English Volume 1]
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 4.14.30 < [Chapter 14 - The Story of the Jālandharīs]
Verse 2.23.33 < [Chapter 23 - The Killing of Śaṅkhacūḍa During the Rāsa-dance Pastime]
Verse 2.11.12 < [Chapter 11 - The Liberation of Dhenukāsura]
Rudra-Shiva concept (Study) (by Maumita Bhattacharjee)
2.7. Rudra as Bhīma < [Chapter 6a - The Epithets of Rudra-Śiva]
Ushaharana Kavya of Trivikrama Pandita (Study) (by Pranesh R. Archak)
Part 5 - The story of Usha and Aniruddha in the Harivamsa Purana < [Chapter 3 - Sources of the Ushaharana-kavya]
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Madras (by M. Seshagiri Sastri)
Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Page 288 < [Volume 2 (1872)]