Keshi, Kesi, Keśi, Kesī, Keśī: 17 definitions
Introduction:
Keshi means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India, Jainism, Prakrit, 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.
The Sanskrit terms Keśi and Keśī can be transliterated into English as Kesi or Keshi, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia1) Keśī (केशी).—
. General information. An Asura. It is mentioned in Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 65 that forty Asuras or Dānavas were born to Kaśyapa, the son of Marīci, and the grandson of Brahmā, by his wife Danu, and that Keśī was one of them.
. Keśī and Indra. Once a war broke out between the Devas and the Asuras. Disasters befell the Devas. Daityasenā and Devasenā, the daughters of Prajāpati were about to be carried away by Keśī. Daityasenā agreed to accompany him of her own accord, but Devasenā cried aloud. Hearing her cry Devendra reached the spot. A terrible fight ensued and finally the defeated Keśī ran away. (Mahābhārata Vana Parva, Chapter 223).
. Keśī and Viṣṇu. Once there was a fight which lasted for thirteen days, between Keśī and Viṣṇu. (Mahābhārata Vana Parva, Chapter 134, Stanza 20). (See full article at Story of Keśī from the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani)
2) Keśī (केशी).—A follower of Kaṃsa. This Asura, on the instruction of Kaṃsa, went to Ambāḍi (Gokula) taking the form of a horse. to kill Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa killed Keśī. It is seen in the Bhāgavata (Malayālam) that Śrī Kṛṣṇa got the name Keśava because he had killed Keśī. (Skandha 10, Keśivadha).
3) Keśī (केशी).—In Bhāgavata there is another Keśī who was the son of Vasudeva.
"pauravī rohiṇī bhadrā madirā rocanā ilā / devakīpramukhā āsan patnya ānakadundubheḥ."
Pauravī, Rohiṇī, Bhadrā, Madirā, Rocanā, Ilā and Devakī were the wives of Vasudeva.
From this statement made in Bhāgavata, Skandha 9, Chapter 24, it is clear that Vasudeva had a number of wives. Kausalyā, who was one of them, was the mother of Keśī. (Bhāgavata, Skandha 9, Chapter 24, Stanza 48).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexKeśi (केशि).—An Asura.*
- * Viṣṇu-purāṇa V. 29. 4.
Keśī (केशी) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. I.59.22, I.65) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Keśī) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

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.
Kavya (poetry)
Source: OpenEdition books: Vividhatīrthakalpaḥ (Kāvya)Kesi (केसि) was a disciple of Pāsa and follower of the four vows, as mentioned in the Vividhatīrthakalpa by Jinaprabhasūri (13th century A.D.): an ancient text devoted to various Jaina holy places (tīrthas).—Accordingly, “While Kesi, a disciple of Pāsa, is a follower of the four vows (the vow of chastity is implicitly included in the vow of no lust), Goama, faithful to the doctrine of Mahāvīra, recognizes five vows. Faced with the doubts of their disciples, Kesi and Goama meet for a verbal confrontation. Goama succeeds in convincing Kesi of the necessity of the vow of chastity.”.
Cf. Uttarādhyayanasūtra XXIII v. 1-29: Jacobi SBE XLV p. 119-123.

Kavya (काव्य, kavya) refers to Sanskrit poetry, a popular ancient Indian tradition of literature. There have been many Sanskrit poets over the ages, hailing from ancient India and beyond. This topic includes mahakavya, or ‘epic poetry’ and natya, or ‘dramatic poetry’.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)
Source: archive.org: The Elephant Lore of the HindusKeśī (केशी) refers to the “hair” (in the ears and on the head of an elephant), according to the 15th century Mātaṅgalīlā composed by Nīlakaṇṭha in 263 Sanskrit verses, dealing with elephantology in ancient India, focusing on the science of management and treatment of elephants.—[Cf. chapter 5, “on marks of the stages of life”]: “4. With clearly developed nails, vidu, joints, ears, and sheaths and covering of the tusks; spotted on the breast, and on the lobes of the ears; hairy (keśī) in the ears and on the head [śravasi śirasi keśi], with uplifted head, eating grass, with rather stout (firm) rows of teeth, in the third year he is an upasarpa”.

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.
In Buddhism
Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Pali Kanon: Pali Proper NamesSee Kesini below.
Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).
India history and geography
Source: Heidelberg: Glory of the Tiruvanantapuram Padmanabhasvami TempleKeśi (केशि) is the name of a demon who fought with Viṣṇu, according to the Anantaśayanakṣetramāhātmya, a text talking about the Thiruvananthapuram temple in eleven chapters, written before the 14th century and claiming to be part of the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa.—The ninth chapter of the māhātmya is devoted to describing the glory of Narasiṃha, who has a secondary shrine close to the main sanctum of Lord Padmanābha. The tenth chapter tells the story of the demon Keśi and his fight with Viṣṇu, while the eleventh describes seventy-two Tīrthas around the Padmanābhasvāmi Temple and concludes with a stuti on Padmanābha.

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.
Biology (plants and animals)
Source: Wisdom Library: Local Names of Plants and DrugsKesi in the Angami language is the name of a plant identified with Coix lacryma-jobi from the Poaceae (Grass) family having the following synonyms: Coix arundinacea, Coix lachryma. For the possible medicinal usage of kesi, you can check this page for potential sources and references, although be aware that any some or none of the side-effects may not be mentioned here, wether they be harmful or beneficial to health.
Source: Google Books: CRC World Dictionary (Regional names)1) Keshi in India is the name of a plant defined with Hibiscus cannabinus in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Ketmia glandulosa Moench (among others).
2) Keshi in Japan is also identified with Papaver somniferum It has the synonym Papaver somniferum var. coccineum Maire (etc.).
Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):
· Supplementum ad Methodum Plantas (1802)
· Annuaire du Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de Genève (1900)
· Annuaire du Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de Genève (1916)
· Botanical Register (1825)
· Annuaire du Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de Genève (1901)
· Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2004)
If you are looking for specific details regarding Keshi, for example side effects, health benefits, chemical composition, diet and recipes, extract dosage, pregnancy safety, have a look at these references.

This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Keśī (केशी):—[from keśa] f. a lock of hair on the crown of the head, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
2) [v.s. ...] the Indigo plant, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
3) [v.s. ...] Carpopogon pruriens, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] another plant (bhūta-keśī), [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
5) [v.s. ...] Name of Durgā, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
6) Keśi (केशि):—[from keśa] 1. keśi m. (= śin), Name of an Asura, [Harivaṃśa]
7) [v.s. ...] 2. keśi (in [compound] for keśin).
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Keśi (केशि) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Kesi, Kesī.
[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.
Prakrit-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary1) Kesi (केसि) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Kleśin.
2) Kesi (केसि) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Keśi.
3) Kesi (केसि) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Keśin.
4) Kesī (केसी) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Keśī.
5) Kesī (केसी) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Keśī.
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
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusKēśi (ಕೇಶಿ):—[adjective] having long, much or handsome hair.
--- OR ---
Kēśi (ಕೇಶಿ):—[noun] a solitary, wandering, accomplished sage, withdrawn from society, in Vedic period.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Pali-English dictionary
[Pali to Burmese]
Source: Sutta: Tipiṭaka Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary (တိပိဋက-ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန်)1) kesi—
(Burmese text): [¿]
ကေသိမည်သူ။ ကေသိဝိနယသုတ္တ-လည်းကြည့်။
(Auto-Translation): [¿] Who is it? Look at the content of the knowledge and behavior.
2) kesī—
(Burmese text): (၁) ကေသဝရသေ့။ (၂) ကေသီပစ္စေကဗုဒ္ဓါ။ (တိ) (၃) ဆံပင်ကောင်းသော၊ သူ။ ကေသိက-(၂)-ကြည့်။
(Auto-Translation): (1) Kethawara. (2) Kethepicekavuddha. (3) A person with good hair. Kethi - (2) - look.

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.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Keshideva, Keshidhvaja, Keshigrihapati, Keshihan, Keshihantri, Keshiki, Keshikumara, Keshimathana, Keshin, Keshinee, Keshing, Keshinishudana, Keshinya, Keshirajubrahmana, Keshisudana, Keshita, Keshitirtha, Kesika, Kesini.
Full-text (+73): Keshakeshi, Bhutakeshi, Sukeshi, Mishrakeshi, Anjanakeshi, Alpakeshi, Keshitirtha, Hiranyakeshin, Nilakeshi, Keshihan, Keshisudana, Keshidhvaja, Gunakeshi, Keshinishudana, Urdhvakeshi, Muktakeshi, Prakirnakeshi, Keshimathana, Carukeshi, Keshihantri.
Relevant text
Search found 76 books and stories containing Keshi, Kesa-i, Kesa-ī, Kesi, Keśi, Kesī, Keśī, Kēsi, Kēsī, Kēśi; (plurals include: Keshis, is, īs, Kesis, Keśis, Kesīs, Keśīs, Kēsis, Kēsīs, Kēśis). 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 4.14.21 < [Chapter 14 - The Story of the Jālandharīs]
Verse 8.13.37 < [Chapter 13 - A Thousand Names of Lord Balarāma]
Verse 4.14.29 < [Chapter 14 - The Story of the Jālandharīs]
Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary) (by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja)
Verse 2.1.88 < [Chapter 1 - Vairāgya (renunciation)]
Verse 1.1.6 < [Chapter 1 - Bhauma (the earthly plane)]
Verse 2.1.120 < [Chapter 1 - Vairāgya (renunciation)]
Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana (by Gaurapada Dāsa)
Text 4.3 < [Chapter 4 - First-rate Poetry]
Text 10.242 < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]
Bhagavad-gita (with Vaishnava commentaries) (by Narayana Gosvami)
Verse 18.1 < [Chapter 18 - Mokṣa-yoga (the Yoga of Liberation)]
Verse 1.30 < [Chapter 1 - Sainya-Darśana (Observing the Armies)]
Verse 3.1 < [Chapter 3 - Karma-yoga (Yoga through the Path of Action)]
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī)
Verse 1.2.239 < [Part 2 - Devotional Service in Practice (sādhana-bhakti)]
Verse 4.8.79 < [Part 8 - Compatible & Incompatible Mellows (maitrī-vaira-sthiti)]
Verse 4.3.15 < [Part 3 - Chivalry (vīrya-rasa)]
Uttaradhyayana Sutra (by Hermann Jacobi)
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