Dvarapala, Dvara-pala, Dvārapāla: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Dvarapala means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Buddhism, Pali, the history of ancient India, 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.
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In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल) refers to the “gatekeepers” (during a Vedic ritual), as mentioned in the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.27. Accordingly as Brahmā narrated to Nārada:—“[...] once a great sacrifice was started by Dakṣa, [...] The guardians of the quarters (dikpāla) became the gatekeepers (dvārapāla) and watchmen. They were well-equipped in arms and had many attendants to assist them. They were very enthusiastic”.
1a) Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—A description of, on the gate-way to Śiva's abode; tiger's skin as clothing and holding triśūla and paṭṭiśa;1 eight of them invoked in tank rituals.2
1b) See Dauvārikas.*
- * Matsya-purāṇa 103. 15.
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. II.29.10) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Dvārapāla) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.
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)
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल) refers to the “guardian of the gate”, according to Bāṇa’s Kādambarī (p. 224-228).—Accordingly, “[Then he notices the dvārapāla (guardian of the gate), about which it is said that] [Caṇḍikā] had protected her entrance with an iron buffalo installed in front, which, because of the fact that it had been marked by palms [dyed with] red-sandalwood, seemed to have been stamped by Yama’s hand-prints red with blood, the red eyes of which were being licked by jackals greedy for drops of blood”.
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’.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल, “gate-keeper”).—Dvārapālas of temples or gate-keepers of the various fortifications of the Samavasaraṇa are interesting. Nowhere are Gaṅgā and Yamunā mentioned as gate-keepers of a Jaina shrine, but Indra, Indrajaya and Īśāna are noteworthy. In the Samavasaraṇa, Tumbaru is one of the gate-keepers. Indra and others, the dvārapālas carved on door-frames facing the four sides of a Jaina shrine, are noted by Śilpa works like the Aparājitapṛcchā, the Rūpāvatāra or the Devatāmūrti-prakaraṇa.
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.
India history and geography
Dvārapāla.—(EI 22), a door-keeper. Note: dvārapāla is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions commonly written in Sanskrit, Prakrit or Dravidian languages.
The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
dvārapāla : (m.) gate-man; gatekeeper.
1) dvārapāla (ဒွါရပါလ) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[dvārapāla+a]
[ဒွါရပါလ+အ]
2) dvārapāla (ဒွါရပါလ) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[dvāra+pāla]
[ဒွါရ+ပါလ]
[Pali to Burmese]
1) dvārapāla—
(Burmese text): တံခါး-စောင့်-မှူး။
(Auto-Translation): Gatekeeper.
2) dvārapāla—
(Burmese text): တံခါး-စောင့်-မှူး-နှင့် တူသော။
(Auto-Translation): Similar to a door guard.
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
dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—m (S) A doorkeeper, janitor, porter, warder.
dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—m A door-keeper.
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
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—a door-keeper, porter, warder.
-paḥ Name of Viṣṇu.
Derivable forms: dvārapālaḥ (द्वारपालः).
Dvārapāla is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms dvāra and pāla (पाल). See also (synonyms): dvāragopa, dvāranāyaka, dvārapa, dvārapālaka.
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—m.
(-laḥ) A warder, a door-keeper. E. dvāra a door, and pāla who protects; also with kan added dvārapālaka, or with the radical finals dropped dvārapa .
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—m. a door-keeper, a porter.
Dvārapāla is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms dvāra and pāla (पाल).
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल).—[masculine] door-keeper, warder.
1) Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल):—[=dvāra-pāla] [from dvāra > dvāḥ] m. idem, [Mahābhārata; Harivaṃśa] etc. (f(ī). [gana] revaty-ādi)
2) [v.s. ...] Name of various Yakṣas and of sacred places connected with them, [Mahābhārata]
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल):—[dvāra-pāla] (laḥ) 1. m. A warder.
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल):—(dvāra + pāla) m.
1) Thürhüter [Amarakoṣa 2, 8, 1, 6.] [Mahābhārata 3, 10624. 12, 9658. 12239.] [Harivaṃśa 6804. 14461.] [Pañcatantra 29, 6. 7.] [Bhāgavatapurāṇa 1, 18, 34.] [Scholiast] zu [Kātyāyana’s Śrautasūtrāṇi 16, 6, 7.] wohl Grenzwächter [Mahābhārata 2, 1045.] pālī f. gaṇa revatyādi zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 4, 1, 146.] —
2) Beiw. verschiedener Yakscha und mit solchen in Verbindung stehender heiliger Localitäten: tato maṅkaṇakaṃ nāma dvārapālaṃ mahābalam . yakṣaṃ samabhivādyaiva [Mahābhārata 3, 5079.] abhivādya tato yakṣaṃ dvārapālaṃ macakrukam (als Localität [3, 7078. 9,
3032) 7070.] tato gaccheta rājendra dvārapālaṃ taraṇḍakam . tacca tīrthaṃ sarasvatyāṃ yakṣendrasya mahātmanaḥ [6022.] tato gaccheta dvārapālaṃ tarantukam [5085.] dvārapālaṃ ca tarasā vaśe cakre [2, 1194.]
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल):——
1) m. — a) Thür — , Thorhüter [Mahābhārata 2,28,8.] — b) Beiw. verschiedener Yakṣa und mit solchen in Verbindung stehender heiliger Orte. —
2) *f. ī Thürhüterin.
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
Dvārapāla (ದ್ವಾರಪಾಲ):—[noun] = ದ್ವಾರಪಾಲಕ [dvarapalaka].
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Dvārapāla (द्वारपाल):—n. a door-keeper; porter; warder;
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: Dvara, Dvarapala, Pala, A.
Starts with: Dvarapalaka, Dvarapalaka Vimana, Dvarapalakarupa, Dvarapalakavimana, Dvarapalamantra, Dvarapalapuja, Dvarapalapura, Dvarapalarupa, Dvarapalarupaka, Dvarapalas.
Full-text (+29): Dvarapalamantra, Dvarapalarupa, Dvarapalarupaka, Durdharshadvarapala, Dvarapalapura, Dvarapalaka, Dvarapalas, Na fu luo bo luo, Tarantuka, Dvarapalapuja, Tarandaka, Dwarpal, Shou men tian, Shou men zun, Dvarapa, Dvaragopa, Sambadhana, Dvaranayaka, Bu ke yue shou hu, Shiva.
Relevant text
Search found 51 books and stories containing Dvarapala, Dvara-pala, Dvāra-pāla, Dvārapāla, Dvarapala-a, Dvārapāla-a; (plurals include: Dvarapalas, palas, pālas, Dvārapālas, as). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Middle Chola Temples (by S. R. Balasubrahmanyam)
Temples in Attur < [Chapter II - Temples of Rajaraja I’s Time]
The Central Shrine < [Tanjavur/Thanjavur (Rajarajesvaram temple)]
Rajadhiraja I (a.d. 1018-1054) < [Chapter V - Successors of Rajendra I (a.d. 1018 to 1070)]
Later Chola Temples (by S. R. Balasubrahmanyam)
Temples in Darasuram < [Chapter VIII - Temples of Rajaraja II’s Time]
Appendix 2: Inscriptions in the Airavatesvarar temple at Darasuram < [Chapter VIII - Temples of Rajaraja II’s Time]
Temples in Chengam (Chengama or Sengaima) < [Chapter XII - Temples of Kulottunga III’s Time]
Temples of Munnur (Historical Study) (by R. Muthuraman)
Images of Dvarapalas < [Chapter 5]
Images of Siddhi Vinayaka < [Chapter 5]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 469 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 1]
Page 359 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 152 < [Gujarati-Hindi-English, Volume 2]
The Sculptures of Madan-Kamdev (Study) (by Kamal Nayan Patowary)
Part 3 - Madan-Kamdev in Comparison with Orissan Product < [Chapter 6 - Madan-Kamdev: A product of Pan-Indian affiliation]
Part 12 - Iconographic details of Ganga Yamuna < [Chapter 3 - Iconographic-sculptural study]
Part 11 - Iconographic details of Dvarapala < [Chapter 3 - Iconographic-sculptural study]
Pallava period (Social and Cultural History) (by S. Krishnamurthy)
Architecture of the Mahendra style < [Chapter 2 - Origin of Sculptural Art—Its Development and Scheme]
Scheme of Pallava Sculptures < [Chapter 2 - Origin of Sculptural Art—Its Development and Scheme]
Architecture of the Mamalla Style < [Chapter 2 - Origin of Sculptural Art—Its Development and Scheme]
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