Dharini, Dhārinī, Dhāriṇī: 11 definitions

Introduction

Introduction
Image gallery
In Hinduism
1. Purana
In Buddhism
1. Tibetan Buddhism
In Jainism
1. General definition
Languages
1. Sanskrit
See also

Introduction:

Dharini means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit. 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.

Images (photo gallery)

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

Dhāriṇī (धारिणी).—A daughter born to the Manes (Pitṛs) created by Brahmā, by their wife Svadhā. Dhāriṇī had an elder sister named Menā. Both were expounders of the Vedas and of good qualities. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Aṃśa 1, Chapter 10).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

Dhārinī (धारिनी).—A Pitṛkanyā, a daughter of Svadhā;¹ mindborn daughter of Barhiṣadas, became the wife of Meru; son Mandara, and three daughters, Velā, Niyatī and Āyatī;² a brahmavādinī.³

1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa IV. 1. 64.
2) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 13. 30ff; Vāyu-purāṇa 30. 28; 33. 4; 62. 192.
3) Viṣṇu-purāṇa I. 10. 19.

Source: Shodhganga: The saurapurana - a critical study

Dhāriṇi (धारिणि) refers to one of the two daughters of Pitṛ and Svadhā: one of the twenty-four daughters of Dakṣa and Prasūti, according to the Vaṃśa (‘genealogical description’) of the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—Accordingly, Ākūti was married to Ruci and Prasūti to Dakṣa. Dakṣa produced in Prasūti twenty-four daughters. [...] [Svadhā was given to Pitṛs.] Pitṛ and Svadhā had two daughters—Menā and Dhāriṇi. Dhāriṇi was married to Meru and had a son named Mandara and three daughters—Velā, Niyati and Āyati.

context information

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.

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: archive.org: The Indian Buddhist Iconography

Dhāriṇī (धारिणी) refers to a peculiar kind of Buddhist literature which is supposed to generate great mystic power if repeated continually for a long time. They are short works mostly composed of meaningless syllables, sometimes revealing traces of a language now defunct. [...] The Buddhists believe that when the Dhāriṇī is repeated in deep meditation for a long time with concentration and faith, the mantra vibrations grossen themselves in the concrete form of a deity which the worshipper visualizes, and thus obtains siddhi or success. Once realized, the deity never leaves the worshipper and gives him everything that he desires.

The Niṣpannayogāvalī acknowledges altogether twelve Dhāriṇī deities and gives their descriptions. These Dhāriṇīs look alike when represented and they are usually two-armed, holding the Viśvavajra in the right hand and their special symbols in the left.

The names of the twelve Dhāriṇīs as given in the Niṣpannayogāvalī are these:—

Sumati,
Ratnolkā,
Uṣṇīṣavijayā,
Mārī,
Parṇaśabarī,
Jāṅgulī,
Anantamukhī,
Cundā,
Prajñāvardhanī,
Sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśodhanī,
Akṣayajñānakaraṇḍā
Sarvabuddhadharma-Koṣavatī.

These Dhāriṇīs are collectively assigned to the Dhyāni Buddha Amoghasiddhi, and are described later in this book.—Amongst the Dhāriṇī deities Uṣṇīṣavijayī, Jāṅgulī, Parṇaśabarī and Cundā are popular, and there are sādhanas and images of these deities in art. But they represent nothing more than the respective vidyās or mantras of which they are the embodiments.

The Dhāriṇīs are mostly unmeaning strings of words which are required to be kept inmemory, so that they may be repeated at will for the purpose of developing psychic powers. The Dhāriṇīs sometimes reveal traces of alanguage now unknown. Several Dhāriṇīs are recorded in the Sādhanamālā. Niṣpannayogāvalī spells the word somewhat differently as Dhāriṇīs and recognizes a group of Twelve Dhāriṇīs. In the process of deification these Dhāriṇīs also became deities with form, colour and symbols. The Dhāriṇīs collectively are placed in the family of the Dhyāni Buddha Amoghasiddhi of green colour.

context information

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.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Jainism

Dhāriṇī (धारिणी) is the wife of Cakṣuṣmān, who is a kulakara (law-giver) according to Digambara sources, while Śvetāmbara names his wife as Candrakānta. The kulakaras (similair to the manus of the Brahmanical tradition) figure as important characters protecting and guiding humanity towards prosperity during ancient times of distress, whenever the kalpavṛkṣa (wishing tree) failed to provide the proper service.

These law-givers and their wifes (e.g., Dhāriṇī) are listed in various Jain sources, such as the Bhagavatīsūtra and Jambūdvīpaprajñapti in Śvetāmbara, or the Tiloyapaṇṇatti and Ādipurāṇa in the Digambara tradition.

Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra

1) Dhāriṇī (धारिणी) is the wife of Viśākhabhūti and mother of Viśvabhūti, according to chapter 4.1 [śreyāṃsanātha-caritra] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra (“lives of the 63 illustrious persons”): a Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three important persons in Jainism.

Accordingly:—“Now in the city Rājagṛha King Viśvanandin had a son, Viśākhanandin, by his wife Priyaṅgu. Viśvanandin had a younger brother, crown prince, Viśākhabhūti, intelligent, heroic, well-bred, politic. Marīci’s jīva became the son of Viśākhabhūti by his wife Dhāriṇī because of rewards gained in a former birth. His parents gave him the name Viśvabhūti and he gradually grew up, cherished by nurses. He learned all the arts and acquired all the virtues and gradually attained youth—the embodied ornament of the body”.

2) Dhāriṇī (धारिणी) is the name of the Yakṣiṇī (i.e., Śāsanadevatās, ‘messenger-deities’) associated with Ara-nātha, according to chapter 6.2 [aranātha-caritra].—Accordingly:—“Yakṣendra, six-faced, three-eyed, dark, with a conch for a vehicle, his six right arms holding a citron, an arrow, a sword, a hammer, a noose, and bestowing fearlessness, his six left arms holding an ichneumon, a bow, and shield, a trident, a goad, and a rosary; a goddess Dhāriṇī, blue-bodied, with a lotus-seat, with two right arms holding a citron and a blue lotus, with two left arms holding a red lotus and a rosary, became the Lord’s messenger-deities, always near at hand”.

context information

Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Dhāriṇī (धारिणी).—The earth.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Dhāriṇī (धारिणी).—f. (-ṇī) 1. The earth. 2. The silk cotton tree, (Bombax heptaphyllum.) E. dhṛ, and ṇini aff.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Dhariṇi (धरिणि):—[from dhara] m. Name of an Āgastya, [Pravara texts]

2) Dhāriṇī (धारिणी):—[from dhārin > dhāra] f. the earth, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.] (cf. bhūta-)

3) [v.s. ...] Name of a daughter of Sva-dhā, [Bhāgavata-purāṇa] (cf. raṇī)

4) [v.s. ...] Name of a deity, [Jaina literature]

5) [v.s. ...] of the wife of Agni-mitra, [Mālavikāgnimitra]

6) [v.s. ...] of other women, [Hemacandra’s Pariśiṣṭaparvan]

7) [v.s. ...] [plural] a collect. Name of the 74 wives of the gods, [Vahni-purāṇa]

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Dhāriṇī (धारिणी):—(ṇī) 3. f. The earth; the silk-cotton tree (Bombax heptaphyllum).

[Sanskrit to German] (Deutsch Wörterbuch)

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Böhtlingk and Roth Grosses Petersburger Wörterbuch

Dhariṇi (धरिणि):—(?) m. Nomen proprium eines Āgastya [Pravarādhyāya] in [Weber’s Verzeichniss 59, 10.]

context information

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.

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Search found 16 books and stories containing Dharini, Dhārinī, Dhāriṇī, Dhariṇi; (plurals include: Dharinis, Dhārinīs, Dhāriṇīs, Dhariṇis). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Figure 161-164 - Emanations of Vairocana: Cundā

Figure 156-157 - Emanations of Vairocana: Uṣṇīṣavijayā

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Read Contents

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Part 2: Birth of Rājīniatī < [Chapter VIII - The episode of Sāgaracandra]

Part 4: Early life of Kaṃsa < [Chapter II - Marriages of Vasudeva with maidens]

Part 10: Incarnation as Viśvabhūti < [Chapter I - Previous births of Mahāvīra]

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Verse 149 [Śakti ॐ Kārarūpa, Pañcayonirūpa] < [Chapter 3 - Third Vimarśa]

Verse 188-189 [Reflection without an external object] < [Chapter 4 - Fourth Vimarśa]

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