Janani, Jananī, Jaṉaṉi: 26 definitions
Introduction:
Janani means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Jainism, Prakrit, Hindi, Tamil. 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 Janni.
In Hinduism
Ayurveda (science of life)
Nighantu (Synonyms and Characteristics of Drugs and technical terms)
Jananī (जननी) is another name for Jantukā, a medicinal plant possibly identified with Ferula foetida (asafoetida) from the Apiaceae or “celery” family of flowering plants, according to verse 3.126-129 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu. The third chapter (guḍūcyādi-varga) of this book contains climbers and creepers (vīrudh). R. N. Soḍhal considers Jantukā as Hiṅgu (Ferula foetida Regel Umbelliferae/Apiaceae). Raghuvīr Prasāda Trivedī considers Jantukā a parasitic creeper (vṛkṣaruhā); the fruits are like Kapikacchu, thus he identifies it with Cuscuta chinensis Lank. (Convolvulaceae), a plant used in Vietnam as Tho ty tu. Chopra identifies Jantukā with Garcinia lucida Roxb. Vaidyaka Śabda Sindhu equates it with Lākṣā. Together with the names Jananī and Jantukā, there are a total of twenty-one 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.
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Jananī (जननी) refers to “mother”, used in the compound trideva-jananī, which represents an epithet of Goddess Durgā, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.11. Accordingly as Brahmā said to Nārada:—“[...] O Brahmin, best of my sons, listen attentively to what I did when the lord Viṣṇu went away. I began a continuous laudatory prayer of the Goddess Durgā, [...] I salute the Goddess who is omnipresent, eternal, for whom there is no support, who is never distressed, who is the mother of the three deities (trideva-jananī), who is the grossest of the gross and yet has no form”.
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.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Jananī (जननी) refers to the “mother”, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 2), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “[...] The evils of bad dreams, of sad thoughts, of ill omens and of evil deeds and the like will vanish immediately when one hears of the moon’s motion among the stars. Neither the father nor the mother [i.e., jananī] nor the relations nor friends of a prince will desire so much his well being and that of his subjects as a true Jyotiṣaka”.
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)
Jananī (जननी) refers to a “mother”, 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, “In the centre, in the sacred seat called Kāma, passion gives rise to passion and is the seat of Uḍa within power (kalā). The venerable (seat) Pūrṇa is in the wheel on the left and emanates the energy of the Moon in the seat of the Moon in front of that. The divine seat of Kulūta emanates (its energy) into the energized head of Kolla on the right. (The energy of the goddess) penetrates into the venerable Ujjayanī on the left in due order ** with the six sacred seats beginning with that. She who is in the Wheel of the Hexagram is Bhairavī, the mother of persistence and destruction [i.e., sthitilaya-jananī]; by the expansion of consciousness, (she is also) Avvā, Klinnā, Raktā, Bhagavatī, and Pulinī: I bow (to her who, in all these forms, is) the venerable Ekavīrā”.
Jananī (जननी) refers to one of the “thousand names of Kumārī”, as mentioned in the Kumārīsahasranāma, which is included in the 10th chapter of the first part (prathamabhāga) of the Rudrayāmala-Uttaratantra: an ancient Tantric work primarily dealing with the practice of Kuṇḍalinī-yoga, the worship of Kumārī and discussions regarding the Cakras. This edition is said to be derived of the Rudrayāmalatantra and consists of 6000 verses in 90 chapters (paṭalas) together with the Saralā-Hindīvyākhyopetam (i.e., the Rudrayamalam Uttaratantram with Sarala Hindi translation).—Jananī is mentioned in śloka 1.10.64.—The chapter notes that one is granted the rewards obtained by reciting the text even without the performance of pūjā (worship), japa, snāna (bathing) and puraścaryā
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.
In Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Jananī (जननी) refers to “mother” and is another name for Wisdom (prajñā), according to the Sampuṭodbhavatantra chapter 1.—Accordingly, “[...] Wisdom (prajñā) is called mother [i.e., jananī] Because she gives birth to the people of the world. Wisdom is also called sister Because she betokens a dowry. Wisdom is called washer-woman Because she delights all beings. Accordingly, she is called rajakī. Wisdom is called daughter (duhitṛ) Because she suckles (duhana) the milk of qualities. Wisdom is called artiste On account of being moved by great compassion. [...]”.
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
Pali-English dictionary
jananī : (f.) the mother.
jananī (ဇနနီ) [(thī) (ထီ)]—
[jana+ṇe+yu+ī．janayatīti jananī,yu,nadādi．,ṭī．244．]
[ဇန+ဏေ+ယု+ဤ။ ဇနယတီတိ ဇနနီ၊ယု၊နဒါဒိ။ဓာန်၊ဋီ။၂၄၄။]
[Pali to Burmese]
jananī—
(Burmese text): (၁) (က) ဖြစ်စေတတ်-မွေးဖွားတတ်-သော အမိ၊ အမိရင်း။ (ခ) မိန်းမ။ (၂) ဖြစ်စေတတ်သော တဏှာ။ (၃) ဖြစ်စေတတ်-ပွါးစေတတ်-သော နတ်သမီး။
(Auto-Translation): (1) (a) a mother, capable of giving birth. (b) a woman. (2) a capable entity. (3) a goddess, capable of creating and nurturing.
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
jananī (जननी).—f (S) A mother. Ex. malā mārāyālā tujhī kāya ja0 vyālī āhē.
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janānī (जनानी).—a ( P opp. to maradānī or P Manly.) Made for or suitable to women--an article of apparel &c. 2 Becoming or adapted to the female voice--a song or an air. 3 Effeminate or womanish--an act or a thought or the voice of a man. 4 Feminine:--opp. to masculine. 5 Used as s f An hermaphrodite approaching to the female sex.
jananī (जननी).—f A mother.
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janānī (जनानी).—a Made for or suitable to women -an article of apparel &c. Becom- ing or adapted to the female voice– a song or an air. Effeminate or womanish-an act or a thought or the voice of a man.
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
Janani (जननि).—f. [jan-ani]
1) A mother,
2) Birth.
Derivable forms: jananiḥ (जननिः).
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Jananī (जननी).—[jan-ṇic ani ṅīp]
1) A mother.
2) Mercy, tenderness, compassion; जननी तु दयामात्रोः (jananī tu dayāmātroḥ) Medinī; न संररञ्जे विषमं जनन्याम् (na saṃrarañje viṣamaṃ jananyām) Bu. Ch.2.34.
3) A bat.
4) Lac.
Jananī (जननी).—(otherwise only mother), woman (Johnston's note compares mātṛgrāma, q.v.): na saṃrarañje viṣamaṃ jananyām, Buddhacarita ii.34, loved no woman wrongly.
Janani (जननि).—f.
(-niḥ) 1. A fragrant plant: see the preceding. 2. Birth, production. E. jan to be born, affix ani.
Janani (जननि).—[feminine] = jananī, v. janana.
1) Jananī (जननी):—[from janana > jan] f. a mother, [Śāṅkhāyana-śrauta-sūtra xv; Manu-smṛti ix, 192; Yājñavalkya; Nalopākhyāna] etc.
2) [v.s. ...] a queen-mother, [Horace H. Wilson]
3) [v.s. ...] a bat, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] = jana-karī, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
5) [v.s. ...] Jasminum auriculatum, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
6) [v.s. ...] Rubia Munjista, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
7) [v.s. ...] the plant janī, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
8) [v.s. ...] the plant kaṭukā, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
9) [v.s. ...] compassion, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
10) Janani (जननि):—[from jan] metrically for nī, a mother, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā vi, 10]
11) [v.s. ...] f. birth, [Horace H. Wilson]
12) [v.s. ...] the plant janī, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
Janani (जननि):—(niḥ) 2. f. A fragrant plant.
Janani (जननि):—f.
1) (dem Metrum zu Liebe) = jananī Mutter [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 6, 10.] —
2) Geburt [Wilson’s Wörterbuch] —
3) Name einer Pflanze, = janī [Śabdaratnāvalī im Śabdakalpadruma]
Janani (जननि):—f. —
1) metrisch st. jananī Mutter. —
2) *Geburt. —
3) *eine best. wohlriechende Pflanze.
Janani (जननि) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Jaṇaṇi, Jaṇaṇī.
Jananī (in Sanskrit) can be associated with the following Chinese terms:
1) 出生 [chū shēng]: “taking birth”.
2) 惹那 [rě nà]: “cognition”.
3) 母 [mǔ]: “mother”.
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
Jananī (जननी) [Also spelled janni]:—(nf) mother, progenitrix.
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
Jaṇaṇi (जणणि) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Janani.
Prakrit is an ancient language closely associated with both Pali and Sanskrit. Jain literature is often composed in this language or sub-dialects, such as the Agamas and their commentaries which are written in Ardhamagadhi and Maharashtri Prakrit. The earliest extant texts can be dated to as early as the 4th century BCE although core portions might be older.
Kannada-English dictionary
Janani (ಜನನಿ):—[adjective] generating; producing; giving forth; causing.
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Janani (ಜನನಿ):—
1) [noun] a woman as she is related to her child or children; the female parent; a mother.
2) [noun] a kind of fragrant plant .
--- OR ---
Janāni (ಜನಾನಿ):—[noun] = ಜನಾನಾ [janana].
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Tamil dictionary
Jaṉaṉi (ஜனனி) noun < jananī. Mother. See சனனி. [sanani.]
Tamil is an ancient language of India from the Dravidian family spoken by roughly 250 million people mainly in southern India and Sri Lanka.
Nepali dictionary
1) Janani (जननि):—n. 1. mother; 2. birth; reproduction;
2) Jananī (जननी):—n. 1. mother; progenitor; 2. kindness; grace;
3) Janānī (जनानी):—adj. womanly; of/relating to female;
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 (+0): Ao, Yu, Yu, I, Ne, Jana.
Starts with (+0): Jananibhava, Jananibida, Jananika, Jananishasana, Jananiti, Jananitthana, Jananiy, Jananiya.
Full-text (+89): Aksharajanani, Rakshojanani, Mandajanani, Lokajanani, Strijanani, Herambajanani, Shatrughnajanani, Bhishmajanani, Ajanani, Vetalajanani, Kamajanani, Amodajanani, Skandajanani, Ramajanani, Bhutajanani, Kujanani, Jananiya, Putrajanani, Akashajanani, Astikajanani.
Relevant text
Search found 101 books and stories containing Janani, Jana-ne-yu-i, Jana-ṇe-yu-ī, Janaani, Jananī, Janānī, Jaṇaṇi, Jaṇaṇī, Janāni, Jaṉaṉi; (plurals include: Jananis, is, īs, Janaanis, Jananīs, Janānīs, Jaṇaṇis, Jaṇaṇīs, Janānis, Jaṉaṉis). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Hari-bhakti-kalpa-latikā (by Sarasvati Thkura)
Text 2 < [Second Stabaka]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 155 < [Hindi-Assamese-English Volume 2]
Page 309 < [Hindi-Assamese-English Volume 2]
Page 265 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Page 236 < [The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (pages)]
Eulogy of Gauri by Andhaka < [Purana, Volume 10, Part 1 (1968)]
Eulogy of the Goddess by the Gods < [Purana, Volume 8, Part 1 (1966)]
Eulogy of Gayatri by Rudra < [Purana, Volume 7, Part 1 (1965)]
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 5.14.22 < [Chapter 14 - The Meeting of King Nanda and Uddhava]
Verse 5.14.10 < [Chapter 14 - The Meeting of King Nanda and Uddhava]
Verse 5.15.10 < [Chapter 15 - Seeing Sri Radha]