Gavaksha, Gavākṣa, Gava-aksha: 19 definitions

Introduction:

Gavaksha means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Marathi, 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.

The Sanskrit term Gavākṣa can be transliterated into English as Gavaksa or Gavaksha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

Alternative spellings of this word include Gavaksh.

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

[«previous next»] — Gavaksha in Purana glossary
Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

1) Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—A monkey king. A terrific warrior, he helped Śrī Rāma with 60,000 monkeys. (Vana Parva, Chapter 283, Verse 4).

2) Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—Younger brother of Śakuni, the son of Subala. In the great war he broke into the military set up of the Pāṇḍavas. (Bhīṣma Parva, Chapter 90). He was killed by Irāvān, son of Arjuna. (Bhīṣma Parva, Chapter 90).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

1a) Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—A Dānava with manuṣya dharma.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 6. 16: Vāyu-purāṇa 68. 16.

1b) A Vānara chief.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 7. 243.

1c) A son of Śambhu.*

  • * Vāyu-purāṇa 67. 81.
Purana book cover
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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.

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Vastushastra (architecture)

Source: Shodhganga: Elements of Art and Architecture in the Trtiyakhanda of the Visnudharmottarapurana (vastu)

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) refers to the “latticed windows” of Temples (in ancient Indian architecture), 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 sarvatobhadra type is a special kind of temple which is a great one and appears to be very sophisticated. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the sarvatobhadra type of temple should have kuharas (interior windows) placed to adorn the śikharas and those kuharas are attached with gavākṣas i.e., latticed windows and a jāla i.e., a lattice over those.

Vastushastra book cover
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Vastushastra (वास्तुशास्त्र, vāstuśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science (shastra) of architecture (vastu), dealing with topics such architecture, sculpture, town-building, fort building and various other constructions. Vastu also deals with the philosophy of the architectural relation with the cosmic universe.

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In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Source: academia.edu: A Study and Translation of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) refers to “windows”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly: “Then the Bodhisattva Apāyajaha addressed himself to the Bodhisattva Gaganagañja: ‘Son of good family, please pacify three evil existences’. [...] Then, the rain of gifts, such as [...] chariots, foot-soldiers, vehicles, houses, villages, cities, towns, provinces, kingdoms, capitals, gardens, pavilions, palaces, portals, windows (gavākṣa), half-moon shaped decorations on building, thrones, palanquin, and chariots drawn by four cattle, sixteen cattle, and a thousand of good horses, poured down from the open space. [...]”.

Mahayana book cover
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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.

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In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: archive.org: Een Kritische Studie Van Svayambhūdeva’s Paümacariu

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) participated in the war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, on the side of the latter, as mentioned in Svayambhūdeva’s Paumacariu (Padmacarita, Paumacariya or Rāmāyaṇapurāṇa) chapter 57ff. Svayambhū or Svayambhūdeva (8th or 9th century) was a Jain householder who probably lived in Karnataka. His work recounts the popular Rāma story as known from the older work Rāmāyaṇa (written by Vālmīki). Various chapters [mentioning Gavākṣa] are dedicated to the humongous battle whose armies (known as akṣauhiṇīs) consisted of millions of soldiers, horses and elephants, etc.

Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) is the name of a Kapi or Monkey-chief, according to the Jain Ramayana and chapter 7.6 [Bringing news of Sītā] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra: an ancient Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three illustrious persons in Jainism.—Accordingly, as Hanumat said to Rāma: “There are many Kapis like me. King Sugrīva says this from affection. [e.g., Gavākṣa, ...], and many other Kapi-chiefs are here, master. Completing their number, I am ready to do your work. Shall I lift up Laṅkā with Rākṣasadvīpa and bring it here? Or shall I capture Daśakandhara and his relatives and bring them here? [...]”.

General definition book cover
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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.

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Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—m n (S) An air-hole; a loop-hole; a little and round window; a bull's eye. 2 A kind of monkey (having eyes like the eyes of an ox).

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—m n An air-hole, a little and round window.

context information

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.

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Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—

1) an air hole, a round window; विलोलनेत्रभ्रमरैर्गवाक्षाः सहस्रपत्राभरणा इवासन् (vilolanetrabhramarairgavākṣāḥ sahasrapatrābharaṇā ivāsan) R.7.11; कुवलयितगवाक्षां लोचनैरङ्गनानाम् (kuvalayitagavākṣāṃ locanairaṅganānām) 11.93; Ku. 7.58; Meghadūta 1. °जालम् (jālam) a lattice.

2) the mesh of a shirt of mail.

Derivable forms: gavākṣaḥ (गवाक्षः).

Gavākṣa is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms gava and akṣa (अक्ष).

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

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—m.

(-kṣaḥ) 1. An air hole, a loop hole, a round window, a bull’s eye, &c. 2. A monkey chief; one of the sons of Vaivaswata. E. go a ray of light, akṣ to spread, affix ghañ, or go an ox, and akṣa an eye; ox eyed. f. (kṣī) A sort of cucumber, (Cucumis madraspatanus.) 2. A plant, (Clitoria ternatea:) see aparājitā. E. go the earth, akṣ to spread, affix aṇ or ṅīp.

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

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—i. e. gava-akṣa, m. 1. An air-hole, a round window, a bull’s eye, [Rāmāyaṇa] 3, 61, 13. 2. (m. ?) The name of a sea, [Rājataraṅgiṇī] 5, 423. 3. The name of a monkey, [Rāmāyaṇa] 4, 25, 33.

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

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—[masculine] round window (lit. bull’s eye).

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

1) Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—[from gava > gav] m. ([Kāśikā-vṛtti on Pāṇini 5-4, 76 and vi, i, 123]) ‘a bull’s eye’, an air-hole, loop-hole, round window, [Rāmāyaṇa; Raghuvaṃśa] (ifc. f(ā). , [Raghuvaṃśa xi, 93]), [Kumāra-sambhava] etc.

2) [v.s. ...] the mesh of a shirt of mail, [Harivaṃśa 2439]

3) [v.s. ...] Name of a warrior (brother of Śakuni), [Mahābhārata vi, 3997; vii, 6944] ([Bombay edition])

4) [v.s. ...] of a monkey-chief attached to Rāma (son of Vaivasvata and leader of the Golāṅgūlas), [, iii, 16272; Rāmāyaṇa iv, 25, 33 and 39, 27; vi, 3, 36 and 22, 2]

5) [v.s. ...] mn. Name of a lake, [Rājataraṅgiṇī v, 423]

6) [v.s. ...] m. Name of a plant (Cucumis maderaspatanus, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]; Cucumis coloquintida, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]; Clitoria Ternatea, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]), [Caraka vi, 4, 53; Suśruta i, iv ff.]

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

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—[gavā+kṣa] (kṣaḥ-kṣā) 1. m. An air-hole, bull’s eye; a monkey chief. (kṣī) f. Sort of cucumber; a plant.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Gavakkha.

[Sanskrit to German]

Gavaksha in German

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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Hindi dictionary

[«previous next»] — Gavaksha in Hindi glossary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary

Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) [Also spelled gavaksh]:—(nm) an oriel, spyhole, bull’s eye.

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Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Gavākṣa (ಗವಾಕ್ಷ):—

1) [noun] the eye of a cow.

2) [noun] an opening in the wall of a house for ventilation; a ventilator.

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Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

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