Hrasva, Hrasvā: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Hrasva means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi, biology. 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.
Alternative spellings of this word include Hrasv.
In Hinduism
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Source: Shodhganga: Mankhaka a sanskrit literary genius (natya)Hrasva (ह्रस्व, “short”).—A verse in Sanskrit is of four feet or quarters or pādas. Each pāda is regulated either by a number of syllables (akṣaras) or by a number of syllabic instant or measures (mātrās). A syllable is short or long i.e. hrasva or dīrgha according to its vowel is short or long. But short vowel becomes long in prosody, when it is followed by anusvāra, visarga or by a conjunct consonant. The last syllable of a pāda is optionally long or short according to the exigence of the metre, whatever be its natural length.
Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (śāstra) of performing arts, (nāṭya, e.g., 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) and poetic works (kavya).
Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)
Source: Shodhganga: a concise history of Sanskrit Chanda literatureHrasva (ह्रस्व, “short”) or Laghu or La refers to short letter in a verse.—The whole chanda literature has several technical terms, by which it is controlled. Single letters are used to denote a specific instance. The letter ga stands for guru letter while the letter la stands for laghu letter. In a verse the letter which is guru is also known as dīrgha (long) and which is laghu is also known as hrasva (short). The dīrgha letter consists of two mātrās while the hrasva letter consists of one mātrā.
Laghu can be identified as menu, kāhāla (daṇḍa) or śara, and the guru symbols can be identified as the shape of tāṭaṅka, hāra or keyūra.
Chandas (छन्दस्) refers to Sanskrit prosody and represents one of the six Vedangas (auxiliary disciplines belonging to the study of the Vedas). The science of prosody (chandas-shastra) focusses on the study of the poetic meters such as the commonly known twenty-six metres mentioned by Pingalas.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Source: WorldCat: Rāj nighaṇṭu1) Hrasvā (ह्रस्वा) is another name for Mudgaparṇī, a medicinal plant identified with Vigna radiata (mung bean or green gram) from the Fabaceae, or “pea family” of flowering plants, according to verse 3.34-36 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu. The third chapter (guḍūcyādi-varga) of this book contains climbers and creepers (vīrudh). Together with the names Hrasvā and Mudgaparṇī, there are a total of fifteen Sanskrit synonyms identified for this plant.
2) Hrasvā (ह्रस्वा) is also mentioned as a synonym for Bhadrodanī, an unidentified medicinal plant, according to verse 4.103-105. The fourth chapter (śatāhvādi-varga) of this book enumerates eighty varieties of small plants (pṛthu-kṣupa). Note: Narhari’s Bhadrodanī may be Rājabalā of Dh. [Dhanvantari?]. Together with the names Hrasvā and Bhadrodanī, there are a total of sixteen Sanskrit synonyms identified for this plant.
Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.
Pancaratra (worship of Nārāyaṇa)
Source: eScholarship: Chapters 1-14 of the Hayasirsa PancaratraHrasva (ह्रस्व) refers to “one who is a short”, representing an undesirable characteristic of an Ācārya, according to the 9th-century Hayaśīrṣa-pañcarātra Ādikāṇḍa chapter 3.—The Lord said:—“I will tell you about the Sthāpakas endowed with perverse qualities. He should not construct a temple with those who are avoided in this Tantra. [...] He should not be very dark, without compassion, a sinner, nor emaciated, short (hrasva) or lazy, he should not be injured, uncultured, agitated and not depressed. [...] A god enshrined by any of these named above (viz., hrasva), is in no manner a giver of fruit. If a building for Viṣṇu is made anywhere by these excluded types (viz., hrasva) then that temple will not give rise to enjoyment and liberation and will yield no reward, of this there is no doubt”.
Pancaratra (पाञ्चरात्र, pāñcarātra) represents a tradition of Hinduism where Narayana is revered and worshipped. Closeley related to Vaishnavism, the Pancaratra literature includes various Agamas and tantras incorporating many Vaishnava philosophies.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Source: Wisdom Library: Brihat Samhita by VarahamihiraHrasva (ह्रस्व) refers to the “small” appearance of Ketus, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 11), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “Generally, if the luminous body or comet be small [i.e., hrasva], clear, glossy, straight, transient, white and visible either immediately after their appearance or some time afterwards, there will be health and happiness in the land. If it be the opposite of these, or of the shape of the rainbow or with two or three tails, mankind will not be happy”.
Source: Google Books: Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences (Astronomy)Hrasva (ह्रस्व) refers to a “short stature”, according to the Ghaṭikāyantraghaṭanāvidhi, an unpublished manuscript describing the ritual connected with the setting up of the water clock and its invocation.—Accordingly, “[Now the pala-verses]: [...] For the welfare of the world, there [manifested the incarnations of] the Fish, the Tortoise, the Boar, the Man-Lion, One who had a Short Stature [Hrasva-ākāra], Paraśurāma, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha and Kalkin. I bow to Govinda, the god of gods, who in this manner assumed diverse forms, diverse shapes and diverse names, and who is meditated upon by sage”.
Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram1) Hrasva (ह्रस्व) refers to “one who is short”, according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—Accordingly, while describing the signs of one who is not a Siddha: “He is excessively tall, bald, deformed, short [i.e., hrasva], dwarfish, his nose is ugly or he has black teeth and is wrathful. Some of his limbs are missing and is deceitful, cripple and deformed, foolish, inauspicious, envious, deluded, badly behaved, and violent; without any teacher, he is devoid of the rites, he maligns the Krama without cause, he is not devoted to the Siddhas, he (always) suffers and is without wisdom. He is (always) ill and one should know that he is (always) attached (to worldly objects) and has no scripture. He has no energy and is dull and lazy. Ugly, he lives by cheating and, cruel, he is deluded, and devoid of (any) sense of reality. Such is the characteristic of one who is not accomplished (asiddha) in a past life”.
2) Hrasva (ह्रस्व) refers to “small” (e.g., a small penis), according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—Accordingly, while describing the signs of one who is a Siddha: “His heart is uplifted and his nose and the rest (of his face) is well balanced. The sign of one who is well accomplished is that he is well behaved and he produces abundance. [...] His penis is small [i.e., hrasva] and auspicious. His body is straight and well proportioned. Such a one is accomplished from a previous life in the western (tradition). [...] One who is such and is equal in pleasure and pain is part of the Siddha lineage”.
Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.
Ganitashastra (Mathematics and Algebra)
Source: archive.org: Hindu MathematicsHrasva (ह्रस्व) or Hrasvamūla refers to the “lesser (root)”, according to the principles of Bījagaṇita (“algebra” or ‘science of calculation’), according to Gaṇita-śāstra, ancient Indian mathematics and astronomy.—According to Pṛthūdakasvāmī (860) in his commentary on the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta by Brahmagupta (628): “An optionally chosen number is taken as the lesser root (hrasvamūla). That number, positive or negative, which being added to or subtracted from its square multiplied by the prakṛti (multiplier) gives a result yielding a square-root, is called the interpolator (kṣepaka). And this (resulting) root is called the greater root (jyeṣṭhamūla)”.
Synonyms: Kaniṣṭha.
Ganitashastra (शिल्पशास्त्र, gaṇitaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science of mathematics, algebra, number theory, arithmetic, etc. Closely allied with astronomy, both were commonly taught and studied in universities, even since the 1st millennium BCE. Ganita-shastra also includes ritualistic math-books such as the Shulba-sutras.
In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita SastraHrasva (ह्रस्व) refers to “small” (Cf. Hrasvatva, “smallness”), according to Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra (chapter 2).—Accordingly, “[Question: The past and the future do not function with the nature of the present; the past functions with the nature of the past and the future with the nature of the future. That is why there is a [different] time for each nature separately (ekaika dharmalakṣaṇa)]—[Answer:]—[...] [The Buddhist texts] do not speak about kāla but about samaya in order to dispel wrong views of this kind. We speak metaphorically about time with regard to birth, the elements and bases of consciousness, but there is no distinct time [existing as a separate substance]. Expressions such as ‘region’ (deśa), ‘time’ (kāla), ‘separation’ (viyoga), ‘union’ (saṃyoga), ‘singleness’ (ekatva), ‘multiplicity’ (nānātva), ‘length’ (dīrghatva), ‘smallness’ (hrasvatva), etc., come from convention. Fools (bāla) cling to them and say that these are real Dharmas (sadbhūta). That is why mundane conventional Dharmas of purely nominal existence must be excluded.”.
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.
General definition (in Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Dharma-samgrahaHrasva (ह्रस्व, “short”) refers to one of the “twenty form objects” (rūpa) as defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 34). The Dharma-samgraha (Dharmasangraha) is an extensive glossary of Buddhist technical terms in Sanskrit (e.g., hrasva). The work is attributed to Nagarjuna who lived around the 2nd century A.D.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishhrasva (ह्रस्व).—a Short; low in stature. m A dwarf.
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 dictionaryHrasva (ह्रस्व).—a. [hras-van] (compar. hrasīyas; superl. hrasiṣṭha)
1) Short, small, little.
2) Dwarfish, low or short in stature.
3) Short (opp. to dīrgha in prosody).
4) Minor, very young in age; जाता ह्रस्वा प्रजा प्रमीयते (jātā hrasvā prajā pramīyate) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 3.197.13.
5) Unimportant, insignificant.
-svaḥ 1 A dwarf.
2) A short vowel.
-svam Green or black sulphate of iron.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryHrasva (ह्रस्व).—mfn.
(-svaḥ-svā-svaṃ) 1. Short, low in stature. 2. Short, as a vowel. 3. Small, little. m.
(-svaḥ) A dwarf. E. hras to be small, and van aff.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryHrasva (ह्रस्व).—[hras + va], I. adj., comparat- hrasīyaṃs, superl. hrasiṣṭha, 1. Short, [Johnson's Selections from the Mahābhārata.] 15, 53; Bhāṣāp. 109. 2. Small, [Johnson's Selections from the Mahābhārata.] 51, 107. 3. Low [Nala] 23, 9. Ii. m. A dwarf.
— Cf. perhaps [Latin] brevis.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryHrasva (ह्रस्व).—[adjective] less, little, small, short.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Hrasva (ह्रस्व):—[from hras] mf(ā)n. short, small, dwarfish, little, low (as an entrance), weak (as a voice), [Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā] etc. etc.
2) [v.s. ...] unimportant, insignificant, [Bhāgavata-purāṇa]
3) [v.s. ...] less by ([ablative]), [Caraka]
4) [v.s. ...] prosodically or metrically short (as opp. to dīrgha; cf. laghu), [???; Ṛgveda-prātiśākhya; Pāṇini] etc.
5) [v.s. ...] m. a dwarf, [Horace H. Wilson]
6) [v.s. ...] a short vowel, [Prātiśākhya]
7) [v.s. ...] Name of Yama, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
8) Hrasvā (ह्रस्वा):—[from hrasva > hras] f. a female dwarf, [Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary]
9) [v.s. ...] Name of various plants (Phaseolus Trilobus; = nāga-balā and bhūmi-jambū), [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
10) [v.s. ...] of a Sāman, [Ārṣeya-brāhmaṇa]
11) Hrasva (ह्रस्व):—[from hras] n. a kind of vegetable, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
12) [v.s. ...] green or black sulphate of iron, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
13) [v.s. ...] a [particular] short measure, [Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary]
14) Hrāsva (ह्रास्व):—[from hras] n. ([from] hrasva) [gana] pṛthv-ādi.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryHrasva (ह्रस्व):—[(svaḥ-svā-svaṃ) a.] Short. m. A dwarf.
[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.
Hindi dictionary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionaryHrasva (ह्रस्व) [Also spelled hrasv]:—(a) short, small; —[svara] a short vowel.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusHrasva (ಹ್ರಸ್ವ):—
1) [adjective] not extending far from end to end; not long or not long enough; short.
2) [adjective] little in size; small.
3) [adjective] very brief, requiring one unit of time (as a syllable) to be pronounced.
--- OR ---
Hrasva (ಹ್ರಸ್ವ):—
1) [noun] that which is short.
2) [noun] anything that is small.
3) [noun] a man of shorter in height, than normal men.
4) [noun] (pros.) a short syllable.
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 (+26): Hrasvabahu, Hrasvabahuka, Hrasvabrihadopasha, Hrasvada, Hrasvadarbha, Hrasvagarbha, Hrasvagavedhuka, Hrasvagni, Hrasvairanda, Hrasvajambu, Hrasvajambuh, Hrasvajatya, Hrasvaka, Hrasvakaku, Hrasvakara, Hrasvakarna, Hrasvakarshana, Hrasvakshara, Hrasvakusha, Hrasvamati.
Ends with: Ahrasva, Ardhahrasva, Atihrasva, Caturhrasva, Mahahrasva, Parihrasva, Ubhayatohrasva, Vadhrashva.
Full-text (+75): Hrasvanga, Hrasvagni, Hrasvagavedhuka, Hrasishtha, Hrasvadarbha, Hrasiman, Hrasvaka, Atihrasva, Mahahrasva, Brihadopasha, Hrasvata, Ridhuka, Hrasvaphala, Hrasvabahuka, Hrasvajatya, Hrasvada, Hrasvamurti, Hrasvashakhashipha, Hrasvaparna, Dirgha.
Relevant text
Search found 22 books and stories containing Hrasva, Hrasvā, Hrāsva; (plurals include: Hrasvas, Hrasvās, Hrāsvas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 5.13.30 < [Chapter 13 - The Arrival of Sri Uddhava]
Verse 5.14.36 < [Chapter 14 - The Meeting of King Nanda and Uddhava]
A History of Indian Philosophy Volume 1 (by Surendranath Dasgupta)
Part 9 - The six Padārthas: Dravya, Guṇa, Karma, Sāmānya, Viśeṣa, Samavāya < [Chapter VIII - The Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika Philosophy]
Cidgaganacandrika (study) (by S. Mahalakshmi)
Verse 40-41 [Soma, Sūrya and Agni Maṇḍalas] < [Chapter 2 - Second Vimarśa]
The backdrop of the Srikanthacarita and the Mankhakosa (by Dhrubajit Sarma)
Part 4 - Style of the Maṅkhakośa text < [Chapter V - The Maṅkhakośa]
Part 4 - Chandas or the metre < [Chapter III - Literary Assessment Of The Śrīkaṇṭhacarita]
Sushruta Samhita, Volume 6: Uttara-tantra (by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna)
Chapter VII - Pathology of the diseases of the Pupil < [Canto I - Shalakya-tantra (ears, eyes, nose, mouth and throat)]
Chapter I - Diseases of the eye and its appendages < [Canto I - Shalakya-tantra (ears, eyes, nose, mouth and throat)]
The Markandeya Purana (Study) (by Chandamita Bhattacharya)
7. The Sacred Syllable ‘OM’ < [Chapter 4]