Kalasutra, Kala-sutra, Kālasūtra: 18 definitions
Introduction:
Kalasutra 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.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Puranic EncyclopediaKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—A hell. (See under Kāla).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—One of the twenty-eight hells. Those who treacherously behave towards Pitṛs, Brāhmaṇas, etc., are sent to this;1 a hell under the earth: also mahāhī2 the third hell under the earth: also known as mahāhavividhi; haunted by a fierce serpent.3
- 1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa V. 26. 7 & 14; Vāyu-purāṇa 110. 42; Viṣṇu-purāṇa I. 6. 41; II. 6. 4.
- 2) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa IV. 2. 181, 184; 33. 60.
- 3) Vāyu-purāṇa 101. 178.
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.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Source: Wisdom Library: Śrīmad Devī BhāgavatamKālasūtra (कालसूत्र) refers to one of the thirty hells (naraka) mentioned in the Devī-bhāgavata-purāṇa 8.21 (on the narrative of hells). The hells are destinations where dead beings brought by messengers of Yama (the God of the Pitṛs), and get punished by him according to their karmas and faults.
The Devī-bhāgavata-purāṇa or Śrīmad-devī-bhāgavatam (mentioning Kālasūtra), is categorised as a Mahāpurāṇa, a type of Sanskrit literature containing cultural information on ancient India, religious/spiritual prescriptions and a range of topics concerning the various arts and sciences. The whole text is composed of 18,000 metrical verses, possibly originating from before the 6th century.
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
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita SastraKālasūtra (कालसूत्र) refers to one of the eight great hells according to the “world of transmigration” section in the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra (chapter XXVII).—Accordingly, “the Bodhisattva sees the damned in the great Kālasūtra hell. Wicked Rākṣasas, guardians of the hell (nirayapāla) and worker-demons ceaselessly measure the damned with a black cord (kālasūtra); with an iron axe (kuṭhāra) they put them to death and cut them to pieces; they shorten what is long (dīrgha), they lengthen what is short (hrasva); they round off what is square (varga), they square off what is round (vṛtta); they cut their arms and legs, tear out their ears and noses and cut off their hands and feet with a great iron saw (krakaca); they amputate them and cut them up. They cut their flesh into pieces and weigh the quarters of meat”.
Also, “in the course of their earlier lives, these unfortunate people used to slander honest people and cause innocent people to die by means of lies (mṛṣāvāda), harmful words (pāruṣyavāda), malicious gossip (paiśunyavāda) and idle comments (saṃbhinnapalāpa). Or else, as perverted officials, they were cruel, violent, dishonest and harmful. It is as a result of their wrong-doings and calumnies that they undergo these punishments”.
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: The Structure and Meanings of the Heruka MaṇḍalaKālasūtra (कालसूत्र) is the name of a Vīra (hero) who, together with the Ḍākinī named Kālasūtrī forms one of the 36 pairs situated in the Cittacakra, according to the 10th century Ḍākārṇava chapter 15. Accordingly, the cittacakra refers to one of the three divisions of the nirmāṇa-puṭa (‘emanation layer’), situated in the Herukamaṇḍala. The 36 pairs of Ḍākinīs and Vīras [viz., Kālasūtra] are black in color; they each have one face and four arms; they hold a skull bowl, a skull staff, a small drum, and a knife.
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.
General definition (in Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Dharma-samgrahaKālasūtra (कालसूत्र) refers to the “black-thread hell” and represents one of the “eight hot hells” (uṣṇa-naraka) as defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 121). The Dharma-samgraha (Dharmasangraha) is an extensive glossary of Buddhist technical terms in Sanskrit (e.g., kāla-sūtra). 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 Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionarykaḷasūtra (कळसूत्र).—& kaḷasūtrī See kaḷāsūtra & kaḷāsūtrī.
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kaḷāsūtra (कळासूत्र).—n The string or mechanism of a puppet. kaḷāsūtrācā khēḷa A puppet-show. kaḷāsūtrācī bāhulī A puppet.
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kālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—n (S) The thread, line, or course of Fate.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishkaḷasūtra (कळसूत्र).—n The string of a puppet.
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kaḷāsūtra (कळासूत्र).—n The string of a puppet.
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 dictionaryKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—
1) thread of time or death.
2) Name of a particular hell; Y.3.222; Manusmṛti 4.88.
Derivable forms: kālasūtram (कालसूत्रम्).
Kālasūtra is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms kāla and sūtra (सूत्र). See also (synonyms): kālasūtraka.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit DictionaryKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—m.; Pali kāḷasutta, m.; occurs in Sanskrit but there regularly nt.; name of a hell: Dharmasaṃgraha 121 (a hot hell); Mahāvyutpatti 4921; etc.; Mahāvastu i.5.7 °treṇa sūtritāṅgā (? em.), here taken by Senart as an ‘instrument’ of torture, better ‘an accessory’, blackened cord (for marking bodies to be cut), see P. Mus, La Lumière des six voies 79, referring to F.W.K. Müller, Ethnologisches, Notizblatt I.3 (1896), p. 23 ff.; in Kāraṇḍavvūha 35.10 text kāra°, compare kārānusāri(n); common in [Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]. Cf. sūtrayati.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—n.
(-traṃ) One of the twenty-one hells. E. kāla from kal to count, a reckoning, and sūtra a thread, a rule; also with kan added kālasūtraka.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—n. the name of a hell, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 3, 249.
Kālasūtra is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms kāla and sūtra (सूत्र).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryKālasūtra (कालसूत्र).—[neuter] the cord of the god of death; [masculine] [neuter] [Name] of a certain hell.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Kālasūtra (कालसूत्र):—[=kāla-sūtra] [from kāla] n. the thread of time or death, [Mahābhārata iii, 11495]
2) [v.s. ...] mn. one of the twenty-one hells, [Manu-smṛti iii, 249; iv, 88; Viṣṇu-purāṇa etc.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryKālasūtra (कालसूत्र):—[kāla-sūtra] (traṃ) 1. n. One of the twenty-one hells of the Hindus.
[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.
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusKālasūtra (ಕಾಲಸೂತ್ರ):—
1) [noun] the influence natural or normal to a particular time, period or age.
2) [noun] name of a hell.
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: Kalasutraka.
Ends with: Kamakalasutra.
Full-text: Kalasahvaya, Kalasutraka, Naraka, Karasutra, Mahahavividhi, Krishnsutra, Sutrayati, Ushnanaraka, Kalasutri, Eight Hot Hells, Alakshmi, Bhrashtajnana, Varshalaksha, Alakshmika, Nashtakirti, Bhutika, Avici, Cittacakra.
Relevant text
Search found 24 books and stories containing Kalasutra, Kala-sutra, Kālasūtra, Kaḷā-sūtra, Kala-sūtra, Kāla-sūtra, Kaḷasūtra, Kalasūtra, Kalāsūtra, Kaḷa-sūtra, Kaḷāsūtra, Kalā-sūtra; (plurals include: Kalasutras, sutras, Kālasūtras, sūtras, Kaḷasūtras, Kalasūtras, Kalāsūtras, Kaḷāsūtras). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Manusmriti with the Commentary of Medhatithi (by Ganganatha Jha)
Verse 4.88-90 < [Section X - Gifts not to be Accepted]
Verse 3.249 < [Section XV - Procedure after Feeding]
Verse 4.87 < [Section X - Gifts not to be Accepted]
The Mahavastu (great story) (by J. J. Jones)
Chapter II-a - Sermon on the Hells (naraka) < [Volume I]
Chapter II-b - The hell named Saṃjīva < [Volume I]
Chapter II-c - The hell named Kālasūtra < [Volume I]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Courses through the five destinies (pañcagati) < [The world of transmigration]
The eight great hells < [The world of transmigration]
Appendix 7 - The expression of driving out a peg by means of a counter-peg < [Chapter XXXIX - The Ten Powers of the Buddha according to the Abhidharma]
The Garuda Purana (by Manmatha Nath Dutt)
Chapter LXXXV - Merit of offering funeral cakes at Pretasila in Gaya < [Agastya Samhita]
The Devi Bhagavata Purana (by Swami Vijñanananda)
Chapter 32 - On the enumeration of various hells for sinners < [Book 9]
Chapter 21 - On the narrative of hells < [Book 8]
Chapter 22 - On the narrative of the sins leading to hells < [Book 8]
The Skanda Purana (by G. V. Tagare)
Chapter 12 - The Greatness of Svāmipuṣkariṇī: Redemption from Hells < [Section 1 - Veṅkaṭācala-māhātmya]
Chapter 92 - The Greatness of Yamahāsya Tīrtha < [Section 3 - Revā-khaṇḍa]
Chapter 5 - Rewards and Punishments Resulting from Previous Karmas < [Section 3b - Arunācala-khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha)]