Gavaksha, Gava-aksha, Gavākṣa: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Gavaksha means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, the history of ancient India, 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)
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).
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.
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.
Vastushastra (architecture)
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 (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.
In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
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 (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.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
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.
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? [...]”.
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
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) or Gavākṣatantra is the name of a Tantra categorized as “Viṣṇukrānta”, and is mentioned in a (further unknown) book in the possession of Kamlesh Punyark [=Śrī Kamaleśa Puṇyārka or श्री कमलेश पुण्यार्क].—This book contains a detailed discussion of the basics of Tantra and opens with a list of three times sixty-four Tantras. One such text is the गवाक्ष-तन्त्रम् [gavākṣa-tantram] or गवाक्ष [gavākṣa].
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
Marathi-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).
gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—m n An air-hole, a little and round window.
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
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).
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.
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.
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष).—[masculine] round window (lit. bull’s eye).
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.]
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—[gavā+kṣa] (kṣaḥ-kṣā) 1. m. An air-hole, bull’s eye; a monkey chief. (kṣī) f. Sort of cucumber; a plant.
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—(gava + akṣa)
1) m. [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 5, 4, 76,] [Scholiast 6, 1, 123,] [Scholiast] [Vopadeva’s Grammatik 2, 15. 6. 77.] a) oeil-de-boeuf, rundes Fenster, Luftloch [Amarakoṣa 2, 2, 8. 3, 4, 26, 202.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 1012.] [Anekārthasaṃgraha 3, 733.] [Medinīkoṣa ṣ. 35.] dāntikaiḥ rājataiścaiva gavākṣaiḥ priyadarśanaiḥ . hemajālāvṛtaiścaiva ramyaiḥ sāgravitānakaiḥ .. [Rāmāyaṇa 3, 61, 13.] tāpanīya [Rāmāyaṇa 4, 50,30.] [Suśruta 2, 244, 8.] [Raghuvaṃśa 7, 7.] [Kumārasaṃbhava 7, 58. 62.] [Meghadūta 96.] gavākṣagatā pravātamāsevamānā tiṣṭhati [Mālavikāgnimitra 8, 5. 50, 11.] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S.] [42(43), 57.] gavākṣavātāyanena [Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, 19],a. Am Ende eines adj. comp. f. ā [Raghuvaṃśa 11, 93.] Masche eines Panzerhemdes: lohajālena mahatā sagavākṣeṇa daṃśitaḥ [Harivaṃśa 2439.] gavākṣajāla n. a lattice, a jealousie, trellice work [Wilson’s Wörterbuch] — b) Nomen proprium eines Kriegers [Mahābhārata 6, 3997.] — c) Nomen proprium eines Affen im Gefolge von Rāma, des Führers der Golāṅgūla, [Hemacandra’s Anekārthasaṃgraha] [Medinīkoṣa] [Mahābhārata 3, 16272.] [Rāmāyaṇa 4, 25, 33. 39, 27. 6, 3, 36. 22, 2.] — c) Nomen proprium eines Sees (viell. n.) [Rājataraṅgiṇī 5, 423.] —
2) f. ī N. versch. Pflanzen: Cucumis maderaspatanus [Amarakoṣa 2, 4, 5, 22.] Coloquinthe (folgt im [Amarakoṣa] unmittelbar darauf) [Hemacandra’s Anekārthasaṃgraha] [Medinīkoṣa] [Ratnamālā 15.] [Rājanirghaṇṭa] [Suśruta 1, 132, 14. 144, 16. 2, 174, 13. 285, 2. 469, 3.] Trophis aspera (śākhoṭa) [Rājanirghaṇṭa im Śabdakalpadruma] Clitoria Ternatea Lin. [Ratnamālā 19.]
--- OR ---
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—
1) a) am Ende, zu gavākṣajāla vgl. jālagavākṣa .
--- OR ---
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—
1) b) ein Bruder Śakuni’s [Mahābhārata 7, 6944] nach der Lesart der ed. Bomb.; vgl. u. vibhu
2) d.)
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):——
1) m. — a) oeil-de-boeuf , rundes Fenster , Luftloch. Am Ende eines adj. Comp. f. ā. — b) Masche eines Panzerhemdes. — c) Nomen proprium — α) eines Bruders des Śkuni. — β) eines Affen. — γ) eines Sees (vielleich n. ) —
2) f. ī eine best. Pflanze [Carakasaṃhitā 6,4.] Nach den Lexicographen Cucumis maderaspatanus , Koloquinthengurke und Clitoria Ternatea.
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Gavakkha.
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
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष) [Also spelled gavaksh]:—(nm) an oriel, spyhole, bull’s eye.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Gavākṣa (ಗವಾಕ್ಷ):—
1) [noun] the eye of a cow.
2) [noun] an opening in the wall of a house for ventilation; a ventilator.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Gavākṣa (गवाक्ष):—n. a latticed window;
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)
Starts with: Gavakshajala, Gavakshajalamadhyaga, Gavakshajalamadhyaga, Gavakshaka, Gavakshatantra, Gavakshavivara.
Full-text (+22): Gavakshajala, Nirgavaksha, Gavakshatantra, Jalagavaksha, Gavakshavivara, Vatagavaksha, Gavakshaka, Gavaksh, Grihaksha, Viragavaksha, Window, Ullokanaka, Gavakkha, Simhapanjara, Gavakshi, Gavakshita, Ghrishtinetra, Kavatci, Vibuddha, Gata.
Relevant text
Search found 41 books and stories containing Gavaksha, Gava-akṣa, Gava-aksa, Gava-aksha, Gavākṣa, Gavaksa, Gavakshas; (plurals include: Gavakshas, akṣas, aksas, akshas, Gavākṣas, Gavaksas, Gavakshases). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Architectural data in the Puranas (by Sharda Devi)
The Structural Temples of Gujarat (by Kantilal F. Sompura)
4.4. Temples at Pawagadh (Baroda) < [Chapter 4 - Structural temples of the Caulukyan period (942-1299 A.D.)]
2.10. Caulukyan temples at Khandosan < [Appendix A - Description of some undescribed Temples in Gujarat]
Chapter 15 - The architectural treatment of the Shukanasa < [Part 2, Section 3: The Architectural Canons]
Vastu-shastra (Introduction to Indian architecture) (by D. N. Shukla)
Stūpas (Shrines for Devotion) < [Chapter 12 - History of Hindu Temples (Prāsādas and Vimānas)]
Śikharottama Prāsādas (Nāgara Temples)—The evolution of Śikhara < [Chapter 12 - History of Hindu Temples (Prāsādas and Vimānas)]
(i) Viśvakarmā’s Vastuśāstra (Summary) < [Chapter 5 - Study of Hindu Science of Architecture]
Paumacariya (critical study) (by K. R. Chandra)
4.1. Town Planning in ancient India < [Chapter 8 - Education, Literature, Sciences, Arts and Architecture]
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 2.15.16 < [Chapter 15 - Description of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s Falling in Love]
Verse 5.7.51 < [Chapter 7 - The Killing of Kuvalayāpīḍa]