Dhaivata: 15 definitions
Introduction:
Dhaivata means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi. 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
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstraDhaivata (धैवत) refers to the sixth of the seven “musical notes” (svara), according to the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 6, chapter 19 and chapter 28. These seven notes are part of the ‘vocal representation’ (vācika), which is used in communicating the meaning of the drama and calling forth the sentiment (rasa). The seven notes (svara) are to be used in different sentiments (rasa). For example, dhaivata is to be used in the odious (bībhatsa) and the terrible (bhayānaka) sentiment.
The presiding deity of the dhaivata musical note (svara) is defined by various sources:
Nāradīyā-śīkṣā 1.5.13-14 mentions that the dhaivata note is sung by Tumburu.
Bṛhaddeśī 75-76 mentions Gaṇeśa as the presiding deity of dhaivata.
Saṅgītaratnākara 1.3.57-58 mentions Gaṇeśvara as the presiding deity of dhaivata.
Saṃgītamakaranda 1.1.38, Idem.
Cf. Saṃgītarāja 2.1.1.264.
The following animal sounds are associated with this note:
Nāradīyā-śīkṣā 1.5.3 assigns this note to the horse (aśva).
Bṛhaddeśī 64, p13, 2.1-5 assigns this note to the croaking of the frog (dardura).
Saṃgītamakaranda 1.1.13, Idem Nāradīyā-śīkṣā.
Saṅgītaratnākara 1.3.4.6, Idem Bṛhaddeśī.
Cf. Saṃgītarāja 2.1.1.212.

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)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexDhaivata (धैवत).—The deity over the svaramadhyama.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 21. 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.
Shilpashastra (iconography)
Source: archive.org: Illustrations of Indian Music and Dance in Western Indian StyleDhaivata (धैवत).—Illustration of the dhaivata-svara according to 15th century art.—The colour of the body of dhaivata-svara is golden (or white). He has four hands. He holds a lotus flower in his upper right hand and Khaṭvāṅga in the left hand, a vīṇā (Indian lute) in the lower right hand and a fruit in the left hand. His vehicle is a horse. The colour of his scarf is rosy with a red design and the colour of his lower garment is green with a black design.
The illustrations (of, for example Dhaivata) are found scattered throughout ancient Jain manuscripts from Gujarat. The descriptions of these illustrations of this citrāvalī are based on the ślokas of Vācanācārya Gaṇi Sudhākalaśa’s Saṅgītopaniṣatsāroddhāra (14th century) and Śārṅgadeva’s Saṅgītaratnākara (13th century).

Shilpashastra (शिल्पशास्त्र, śilpaśāstra) represents the ancient Indian science (shastra) of creative arts (shilpa) such as sculpture, iconography and painting. Closely related to Vastushastra (architecture), they often share the same literature.
Gitashastra (science of music)
Source: Shodhganga: Elements of Art and Architecture in the Trtiyakhanda of the Visnudharmottarapurana (gita)Dhaivata (धैवत) refers to one of the Seven svaras (“notes of music”), according to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, an ancient Sanskrit text which (being encyclopedic in nature) deals with a variety of cultural topics such as arts, architecture, music, grammar and astronomy.—The sound which has the quality of satisfying nature to please the listeners’ minds and also has śrutis immediately before it is called a svara. In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa and the Saṃgītaratnākara, seven kinds of svara [e.g., dhaivata] are accepted. [...] It is seen that when two separate musical sounds occur at one time and both are gradually rising in one pitch following a particular direction, those sounds can be called as svaras.
Source: Shodhganga: Kohala in the Sanskrit textual tradition (gita)Dhaivata (धैवत) refers to one of the seven Svaras which is mapped to the Vedic Agnigīta-svara, according to the Kohalamatam, one of the works ascribed to Kohala—a celebrated authority of the ancient period along with others such as Bharata, Yāṣṭika, Śārdūla, Kāśyapa etc.—Kohalamatam has dealt with the aspect of svara in great detail. It also refers to the Vedic origin of svaras. The list of Laukikasvaras (=seven notes) has been mapped with corresponding Vaidikasvaras (=Vedic svaras)—For example, Dhaivata-svara has been mapped to the Vedic Agnigīta-svara. Note: The Nāradīyā-śikṣā presents a very different scheme. Here Dhaivata-svara is mapped to the Vedic Mandra-svara. Moreover, the Nāradīyā-śikṣā presents the notes in the order of the sāman scale viz.—ma, ga, ri, sa, dha, ni, pa—whereas in Kohalamatam we find a straight delineation of the svaras.
The Dhaivata note is associated with Yakṣarāja representing the celestial being from whom the underlying śrutis originated.
The following śrutis are associated with Dhaivata according to the Saṅgītārṇavacandrikā (Cf. the Saṅgītanārāyaṇa, Vol. I, V. 1.49-1.55, pp.24-26):
- śāntā,
- vikalpinī,
- hṛdayonmīlinī .
Earlier authors like Śārṅgadeva assign the following śrutis to Dhaivata:
- madantī,
- rohiṇī,
- ramyā .
Gitashastra (गीतशास्त्र, gītaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science of Music (gita or samgita), which is traditionally divided in Vocal music, Instrumental music and Dance (under the jurisdiction of music). The different elements and technical terms are explained in a wide range of (often Sanskrit) literature.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionarydhaivata (धैवत).—m (S) The sixth note of the gamut.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishdhaivata (धैवत).—m The sixth note of the gamut.
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 dictionaryDhaivata (धैवत).—The sixth of the seven primary notes of the Indian gamut. गत्वा नाभेरधो भागं वस्तिं प्राप्योर्ध्वगः पुनः । धावन्निव च यो याति कण्ठदेशं स धैवतः (gatvā nābheradho bhāgaṃ vastiṃ prāpyordhvagaḥ punaḥ | dhāvanniva ca yo yāti kaṇṭhadeśaṃ sa dhaivataḥ) || Saṅgītadāmodara.
Derivable forms: dhaivataḥ (धैवतः).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryDhaivata (धैवत).—m.
(-taḥ) The sixth note of the gamut. E. dhī intellect, deriv. irr.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English DictionaryDhaivata (धैवत):—n. the sixth note of the gamut, [Mahābhārata xii, 6859.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryDhaivata (धैवत):—(taḥ) 1. m. The sixth note of the Indian gamut.
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Dhaivata (धैवत) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Dhevaya.
[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.
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusDhaivata (ಧೈವತ):—[noun] the sixth tone or note in the ascending scale of both Karnāṭaka and Hindūstāni systems of music.
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)
Starts with: Dhaivatasvara.
Full-text (+28): Svara, Saptasvara, Shuddhadhaivata, Dhaivatasvara, Bhashamgi, Madhyama, Dhevaya, Mandra, Sampurne, Gandhari, Dhaivati, Raktagandhari, Ramya, Madanti, Yaksharaja, Vikalpini, Hridayonmilini, Rohini, Santa, Murchana.
Relevant text
Search found 33 books and stories containing Dhaivata; (plurals include: Dhaivatas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Kohala in the Sanskrit textual tradition (Study) (by Padma Sugavanam)
Kohala and Gītā (2): The concept of Śruti < [Chapter 2 - Kohala as seen in citations]
Kohala and Gītā (3): The concept of Svara < [Chapter 2 - Kohala as seen in citations]
Kohala and Gītā (5): The concept of Tāna < [Chapter 2 - Kohala as seen in citations]
Natyashastra (English) (by Bharata-muni)
Chapter XXVIII - On the Instrumental Music (ātodya)
Chapter XXIX - On Stringed Instruments (tata)
Part 2 - The Ancient Indian Theory and Practice of Music < [Introduction, Part 2]
Amarakoshodghatana of Kshirasvamin (study) (by A. Yamuna Devi)
Music (Nāṭya-varga) < [Chapter 4 - Cultural Aspects]
Musical Instruments in Sanskrit Literature (by S. Karthick Raj KMoundinya)
Some Technical aspects of Indian Music < [Chapter 2 - Origin and evolution of Music and Musical instruments]
Chapter 1 - Introduction: Musical instruments in India
Arts in the Puranas (study) (by Meena Devadatta Jeste)
2. History of Music from the Vedic period < [Chapter 1 - Music in the Puranas]
6.1. Music in the Vishnudharmottara Purana < [Chapter 1 - Music in the Puranas]
9. Music in the Narada Purana < [Chapter 1 - Music in the Puranas]
Vakyapadiya of Bhartrihari (by K. A. Subramania Iyer)
Verse 1.35 < [Book 1 - Brahma-kāṇḍa (or Āgama-samuccaya)]
Verse 1.119 < [Book 1 - Brahma-kāṇḍa (or Āgama-samuccaya)]