Hridaya, Hṛdaya: 17 definitions

Introduction

Introduction
Image gallery
In Hinduism
In Buddhism
1. Mahayana
2. Tibetan Buddhism
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
See also

Hridaya means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, 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.

The Sanskrit term Hṛdaya can be transliterated into English as Hrdaya or Hridaya, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

Images (photo gallery)

In Hinduism

Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)

Source: archive.org: The mirror of gesture (abhinaya-darpana)

A type of glance (or facial expression): Hṛdaya: unsteady, flurried, the pupils moving somewhat (anaglulita), the lids recurved; it is used for mediocre things.

context information

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).

Shilpashastra (iconography)

Source: Google Books: The Theory of Citrasutras in Indian Painting

According to the Matsya Purāṇa, Hṛdaya (heart) from neck to heart is 12 aṅgulas.

context information

Shilpashastra (शिल्पशास्त्र, śilpaśāstra) represents the ancient Indian science (shastra) of creative arts (shilpa) such as sculpture, iconography and painting. Closely related to Vastushastra (architecture), they often share the same literature.

Ayurveda (science of life)

Source: Google Books: Essentials of Ayurveda

The name Hṛdaya (हृदय, “for heart”) is quite meaningful as it indicates the three phasas—receiving, supplying and movement of the cardiac cycle. Heart is the source of life as none can live if it stops. That is why it has been said by earlier sages as the seat of consciousness. Heart is the receptacle of rasa and rakta (blood) which it distributes to the whole body for nourishment and also draws out impurities from the same. This goes on incessantly like a cycle. The lotus-like heart is situated in chest, flanked by lungs on both sides. Below on the right side is liver and on the left is spleen.

Source: Cogprints: Concepts of Human Physiology in Ayurveda

Structure and Functioning of Heart: Appearance of heart is similar to that of an inverted bud of lotus. When the individual is ‘awake’, this lotus blossoms forth and when he is ‘asleep’, it closes up (Suśrutasaṃhitā Śārirasthāna 4/32). The narrow apex of the heart is directed downwards and broader base is directed upwards when the individual is standing. This observation is reflected in this explanation saying that the heart looks like an inverted bud of lotus. To indicate ‘life’ and ‘death’, the terms ‘awake’ and ‘asleep’ are often used in Sanskrit literature. So, meaning of this statement is that functioning of heart continues till the death of an individual.

context information

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.

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

1) Hṛdaya (हृदय) refers to the “heart” of Śiva from which Rudra was born, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.2. Accordingly, as Brahmā said:—“Originally when Śiva was separated from Śakti and was pure consciousness alone, He was attributeless, free from alternatives, devoid of forms and beyond the existent and non-existent. [...] Viṣṇu was born of His left (vāmāṅga) and I, Brahmā, of his right side (dakṣiṇāṅga), O great sage, Rudra was born of his heart (hṛdaya). I became the creator (Brahmā); Viṣṇu the cause of sustenance; Rudra the author of dissolution. Thus Sadāśiva, manifested himself in three forms”.

According to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.16:—“[...] The same Supreme Ātman [viz., Paramātma], :ord Śiva manifests in three different ways due to Māyā. The lord is independent in his divine sports. Viṣṇu is born of his left limb. I am born of the right limb. You are born of the heart (hṛdaya) of Śiva and are his full-fledged incarnation. Thus, O lord, we have become three, with different forms. We are the sons of Śivā and Śiva which, O eternal one, you must note”.

2) Hṛdaya (हृदय) refers to the “cardiac region”, where Satī stabilized the udāna-wind while in a yogic trance, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.30. Accordingly as Brahmā narrated to Nārada:—“[...] having sipped water duly, covering up her body entirely with her cloth she closed her eyes and remembered her lord. She then entered the yogic trance. Keeping her face steady she balanced the winds Prāṇa and Apāna [i.e., prāṇāpāna]. She then lifted up the wind Udāna from the umbilical region, stabilised it in the cardiac region (hṛdaya) took it through the throat and finally fixed it in the middle of the eyebrows. She desired to cast-off her body due to her anger with Dakṣa. She desired to burn off the body and retain the pure wind by yogic means. In this posture she remembered the feet of her lord and nothing else”.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

Hṛdaya (हृदय).—The horse of Bhoja which would go at a stretch 100 yojanas.^*

* Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 71. 71-2.

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.

Vastushastra (architecture)

Source: McGill: The architectural theory of the Mānasāra

Hṛdaya (हृदय, “heart”).—Mānasāra LXX, 111 exhorts the sthapati and the sthāpaka to install the image in the sanctuary of their hearts (hṛdaya) as well. In fact, the “radiance” of the duo stem from having installed the radiant deity in their he arts. The heart is the “center of being”, so to speak, where the cognitive and affective faculties meet. Thus. the act of installing the deity therein perspicuously connects divine seeing and knowing.

context information

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.

Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)

Source: Wikibooks (hi): Sanskrit Technical Terms

Hṛdaya (हृदय).—Circum-radius. Note: Hṛdaya is a Sanskrit technical term used in ancient Indian sciences such as Astronomy, Mathematics and Geometry.

context information

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.

In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

Hṛdaya (हृदय, “heart”) (Pali, Hadaya) refers to one of the thirty-substances of the human body according to the Visuddhimagga, as mentioned in an appendix of the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 32-34. The Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra mentions thirty-six substances [viz., hṛdaya]; the Sanskrit sources of both the Lesser and the Greater Vehicles, physical substances are 26 in number while the Pāli suttas list thirty-once substances.

context information

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.

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: academia.edu: A Critical Study of the Vajraḍākamahātantrarāja (II)

Hṛdaya (हृदय) is the name of a Vākchomā (‘verbal secrect sign’) which has its meaning defined as ‘vīra’ according to chapter 8 of the 9th-century Vajraḍākamahātantrarāja, a scripture belonging to the Buddhist Cakrasaṃvara (or Saṃvara) scriptural cycle. These Vākchomās (viz., hṛdaya) are meant for verbal communication and can be regarded as popular signs, since they can be found in the three biggest works of the Cakrasaṃvara literature.

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.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

hṛdaya (हृदय).—n (S) The heart or the mind; the faculty or the seat of feeling and thought. 2 The bosom or the breast, lit. fig. 3 fig. Mind, meaning, intent, design or drift of the mind: also the scope, purport, or significance (of a speech, a sentence, an action).

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

hṛdaya (हृदय).—n The heart or the mind. The bosom. Intent. The scope, purport.

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.

Sanskrit-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Hṛdaya (हृदय).—

1) The heart, soul, mind; हृदये दिग्धशरैरिवाहतः (hṛdaye digdhaśarairivāhataḥ) Ku.4.25; so अयोहृदयः (ayohṛdayaḥ) R.9.9; पाषाणहृदय (pāṣāṇahṛdaya) &c.

2) The bosom, chest, breast; बाणभिन्नहृदया निपेतुषी (bāṇabhinnahṛdayā nipetuṣī) R.11.19.

3) Love, affection.

4) The interior or essence of anything.

5) The secret science; अश्व°, अक्ष° (aśva°, akṣa°) &c.; ऋतुपर्णो नलसखो योऽश्वविद्यामयान्नलात् । दत्वाऽक्षहृदयं चास्मै सर्वकामस्तु तत्सुतः (ṛtuparṇo nalasakho yo'śvavidyāmayānnalāt | datvā'kṣahṛdayaṃ cāsmai sarvakāmastu tatsutaḥ) || Bhag.9.9.17.

6) True or divine knowledge.

7) The Veda.

8) Wish, intention; एवं विरिञ्चादिभिरीडितस्तद्विज्ञाय तेषां हृदयं तथैव (evaṃ viriñcādibhirīḍitastadvijñāya teṣāṃ hṛdayaṃ tathaiva) Bhāg.8.6.16.

9) = अहंकारम् (ahaṃkāram) q. v.; मनो विसृजते भावं बुद्धिरध्यवसायिनी । हृदयं प्रियाप्रिये वेद त्रिविधा कर्मचोदना (mano visṛjate bhāvaṃ buddhiradhyavasāyinī | hṛdayaṃ priyāpriye veda trividhā karmacodanā) Mb.12.248.1.

Derivable forms: hṛdayam (हृदयम्).

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

Hṛdaya (हृदय).—n.

(-yaṃ) 1. The mind, the seat or faculty of thought and feeling. 2. Knowledge. 3. Science. 4. The essence of anything. E. hṛ to take, kayan Unadi aff., duk augment.

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

1) Hṛdaya (हृदय):—[from hṛd] n. (ifc. f(ā). ) the heart (or region of the heart as the seat of feelings and sensations; hṛdaye-√kṛ, ‘to take to heart’), soul, mind (as the seat of mental operations; capala-hṛdaya, ‘fickle-minded’), [Ṛg-veda] etc. etc.

2) [v.s. ...] the heart or interior of the body, [Ṛg-veda; Atharva-veda; Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa; Mahābhārata]

3) [v.s. ...] the heart or centre or core or essence or best or dearest or most secret part of anything, [Atharva-veda] etc. etc.

4) [v.s. ...] true or divine knowledge, [Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary]

5) [v.s. ...] the Veda, [ib.]

6) [v.s. ...] science, [ib.]

7) [v.s. ...] (with prajāpateḥ) Name of a Sāman, [Indische Studien by A. Weber]

8) [v.s. ...] m. a [particular] Sunday, [Bhaviṣya-purāṇa, khaṇḍa 1 & 2: bhaviṣya-purāṇa & bhaviṣyottara-purāṇa]

9) Hṛdayā (हृदया):—[from hṛdaya > hṛd] f. Name of a mare, [Harivaṃśa]

10) Hṛdaya (हृदय):—[from hṛd] mfn. going to the heart, [Bhāgavata-purāṇa] ([from] hṛd + aya [Scholiast or Commentator])

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family. 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.

Relevant text

Search found 39 books and stories containing Hridaya, Hṛdaya, Hrdaya, Hṛdayā; (plurals include: Hridayas, Hṛdayas, Hrdayas, Hṛdayās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Chapter 4 - On Gāyatrī Hridaya < [Book 12]

Chapter 5 - On the Gāyatrī Stotra < [Book 12]

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Part 21 - Chemists of the Metallic School: Govinda or Bhikshu Govinda < [A Brief History of Indian Chemistry and Medicine]

Part 22 - Chemists of the Metallic School: Vagbhata, the junior < [A Brief History of Indian Chemistry and Medicine]

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Verse 2.4.172 < [Part 4 - Transient Ecstatic Disturbances (vyābhicāri-bhāva)]

Verse 3.2.28 < [Part 2 - Affection and Service (dāsya-rasa)]

Verse 2.1.80 < [Part 1 - Ecstatic Excitants (vibhāva)]

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Text 3 < [First Stabaka]

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