Khecara: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Khecara means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, 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.
Alternative spellings of this word include Khechara.
In Hinduism
Rasashastra (chemistry and alchemy)
Source: Wisdom Library: Rasa-śāstraKhecara (खेचर):—Another name for Kāsīsa (‘green vitriol’), which is one of the eight uparasa group of minerals, according to the Rasaprakāśasudhākara
Rasashastra (रसशास्त्र, rasaśāstra) is an important branch of Ayurveda, specialising in chemical interactions with herbs, metals and minerals. Some texts combine yogic and tantric practices with various alchemical operations. The ultimate goal of Rasashastra is not only to preserve and prolong life, but also to bestow wealth upon humankind.
Yoga (school of philosophy)
Source: Wisdom Library: YogaKhecara is one of the eighty-four Siddhas associated with eighty-four Yogic postures (āsanas), according to popular tradition in Jodhpur, Rājasthān. These posture-performing Siddhas are drawn from illustrative sources known as the Nava-nātha-caurāsī-siddha from Vȧrāṇasī and the Nava-nātha-caruāsī-siddha-bālāsundarī-yogamāyā from Puṇe. They bear some similarity between the eighty-four Siddhas painted on the walls of the sanctum of the temple in Mahāmandir.
The names of these Siddhas (e.g., Khecara) to 19th-century inscription on a painting from Jodhpur, which is labelled as “Maharaja Mansing and eighty-four Yogis”. The association of Siddhas with yogis reveals the tradition of seeing Matsyendra and his disciple Gorakṣa as the founders of haṭhayoga.
Source: Google Books: The Khecarividya of AdinathaKhecara (खेचर):—In the Khecaratva, “being a Khecara”, is often said to be a reward of the practice but it is never specifically said to entail the ability to fly. In his translation of Vātulanāthasūtra I, Śāstrī adds “Khecara denotes the man who has made a remarkable progress in the spiritual realm and has, as a result thereof, occupied that state in which one always lives and moves in the ether of consciousness”
Yoga is originally considered a branch of Hindu philosophy (astika), but both ancient and modern Yoga combine the physical, mental and spiritual. Yoga teaches various physical techniques also known as āsanas (postures), used for various purposes (eg., meditation, contemplation, relaxation).
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexKhecara (खेचर).—Presented dance, song and music to Pṛthu.*
- * Bhāgavata-purāṇa IV. 15. 19.
Khecara (खेचर) (“birds”) refers to the offspring of Surasā: one of thirteen of Dakṣa’s sixty daughters given to Kaśyapa in marriage, according to one account of Vaṃśa (‘genealogical description’) of the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—Accordingly, Dakṣa gets married to Asikni, the daughter of Prajāpati Viraṇa and begot sixty daughters [viz., Kaśyapa]. Kaśyapa’s thirteen wives are [viz., Surasā]. Surasā gave birth to the birds (khecara).
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.
Shilpashastra (iconography)
Source: Wisdom Library: Śilpa-śāstraKhecara (खेचर) is a Sanskrit name referring to one of the eight manifestations of Asitāṅga, who is a form of Bhairava. According to the Rudrayāmala, there are eight main forms of Bhairava who control the eight directions of this universe. Each form (e.g., Asitāṅga) has a further eight sub-manifestations (e.g., Khecara), thus resulting in a total of 64 Bhairavas.
When depicting Khecara according to traditional iconographic rules (śilpaśāstra), one should depcit him (and other forms of Asitāṅga) with golden complexion and having good looking limbs; he should carry the triśūla, the ḍamaru, the pāśa and the khaḍga. The word Śilpaśāstra refers to an ancient Hindu science of arts and crafts, dealing with subjects such as painting, sculpture and iconography.
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: Shodhganga: Dietetics and culinary art in ancient and medieval IndiaKhecara (खेचर) refers to the “celestial” classification of meat (māṃsa) according to the 17th century Bhojanakutūhala (dravyaguṇāguṇa-kathana), and is commonly found in literature dealing with the topics of dietetics and culinary art, also known as Pākaśāstra or Pākakalā.—The text [māṃsa-prakaraṇa] says the three fold division of meat [such as celestial (khecara)...]. The celestial animals are āraṇyakukkuṭa (wild cock), kapota (pigeon), āraṇyacaṭaka (wild sparrow), tittira (partridge), caṭaka (a sparrow) and cakora (greek partridge).
Source: gurumukhi.ru: Ayurveda glossary of termsKhecara (खेचर):—Literal meaning is hovering in sky , the other meaning is making the materials microfine so as to pass through any minute channels / pores which produces lightness in the body.
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.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Source: Google Books: ManthanabhairavatantramKhecara (खेचर) refers to one of the eight Bhairavas (bhairavāṣṭaka) associated with Oṃkārapīṭha (also called Oḍḍiyāna, Ādipīṭha or Uḍapīṭha), according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—[...] The eight Bhairavas (bhairavāṣṭaka): Niṣkala, Asitāṅga, Saṃvarta, Ānandabhairava, Niṣtaraṅga, Karāla, Amogha, Khecara.
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.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Source: Wisdom Library: HinduismKhecara (खेचर, “moving in the ether”) is the free-floating state of the meditative mind, intellect, or consciousness in the ether.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Source: archive.org: TrisastisalakapurusacaritraKhecara (खेचर) refers to a group of deities, as mentioned in chapter 1.2 [ādīśvara-caritra] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra: an ancient Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three illustrious persons in Jainism.
Accordingly,
“[...] they entered the altar-house by the east door with the brides and groom who were the head-jewels of the three worlds. There a Trāyastriṃśa-god quickly made appear a fire in the altar-fire-hole, as if it had sprung up from the middle of the earth. From the lighting of the fuel, lines of smoke disappeared in the sky, after a long time forming ear-rings for the Khecara-women. [...]”.
Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionarykhēcara (खेचर).—n S (Moving in the heavens.) A bird. 2 One of the nine graha or classes of imps.
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 dictionaryKhecara (खेचर).—See खचर (khacara).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryKhecara (खेचर).—mfn.
(-raḥ-rī-raṃ) Aerial, moving in the air. m.
(-raḥ) 1. A name of Siva. 2. A Vidyad'hara or kind of demigod. 3. Quicksilver. E. khe in heaven, and cara who goes.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryKhecara (खेचर).—i. e. kha + i-cara, I. adj., f. rī, Moving in the sky, [Rāmāyaṇa] 6, 107, 25. Ii. m. 1. A bird, [Nala] 20, 1. 2. A Gandharva, Mahābhārata 3, 14887. Iii. f. rī A name of Durgā, Mahābhārata 4, 186.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryKhecara (खेचर).—[feminine] ī = khacara.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Khecara (खेचर):—[=khe-cara] [from khe > kha] mf(ī)n. moving in the air, flying, [Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa] etc.
2) [v.s. ...] m. a bird, [Mahābhārata; Nalopākhyāna]
3) [v.s. ...] any aerial being (as a messenger of the gods), [Mahābhārata i]
4) [v.s. ...] a Gandharva, [iii]
5) [v.s. ...] a Vidyā-dhara, [Bhāgavata-purāṇa x, 82, 8; Kathāsaritsāgara lii, lxv]
6) [v.s. ...] a Rakṣas, [Rāmāyaṇa iii, 30, 37]
7) [v.s. ...] a planet
8) [v.s. ...] (hence) the number, ‘nine’
9) [v.s. ...] quicksilver, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
10) [v.s. ...] Name of Śiva, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
11) Khecarā (खेचरा):—[=khe-carā] [from khe-cara > khe > kha] f. (in music) a particular Mūrchanā
12) Khecara (खेचर):—[=khe-cara] [from khe > kha] n. green vitriol
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryKhecara (खेचर):—[khe-cara] (raḥ) 1. m. Shiva; a demigod; quicksilver. a. Moving in air.
[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 corpusKhēcara (ಖೇಚರ):—
1) [noun] that which moves, seem to move or believed to move in the sky as a bird, an arrow, a deity, the sun; etc.
2) [noun] a particular clas of deities.
3) [noun] one of the yogic postures.
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: Khecarabhushana, Khecaracakri, Khecaracandrika, Khecarahi, Khecaraka, Khecarakaumudi, Khecarakrama, Khecaramamdala, Khecaranjana, Khecaranna, Khecarapada, Khecarapaddhati, Khecararaja, Khecarasiddhi, Khecarata, Khecaratva, Khecaravaravadhu, Khecaravva, Khecarottama.
Ends with: Harakhecara, Paridhipatikhecara, Patikhecara.
Full-text (+43): Khecaratva, Dyuga, Khecari, Khecarata, Khacara, Khecaranjana, Khecaranna, Uparasa, Khagayuvati, Asitanga, Khagapati, Patikhecara, Paridhipatikhecara, Kusumamala, Khecarottama, Aranyakukkuta, Tittira, Cataka, Aranyacataka, Cakora.
Relevant text
Search found 12 books and stories containing Khecara, Khe-cara, Khe-carā, Khēcara, Khecarā; (plurals include: Khecaras, caras, carās, Khēcaras, Khecarās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)
Part 14: Seventh incarnation as Śaṅkha < [Chapter I - Previous incarnations of Ariṣṭanemi (Nemi)]
Part 5: Killing of Bāṇa < [Chapter VIII - The episode of Sāgaracandra]
Part 4: Kidnapping of Uṣā < [Chapter VIII - The episode of Sāgaracandra]
The Agni Purana (by N. Gangadharan)
Chapter 147 - Mode of worshipping the goddess Tvaritā and others
Chapter 219 - Sacred syllables for coronation (abhiṣeka-manta)
The Practice Manual of Noble Tārā Kurukullā (by Dharmachakra Translation Committee)
Chapter 7 < [Appendix - Sanskrit Text]
The backdrop of the Srikanthacarita and the Mankhakosa (by Dhrubajit Sarma)
Part 9 - Religious data (found in the Śrīkaṇṭhacarita) < [Chapter IV - Socio-cultural study of the Śrīkaṇṭhacarita]
The Brahma Purana (by G. P. Bhatt)
Blue Annals (deb-ther sngon-po) (by George N. Roerich)
Chapter 1 - The first lineage (brgyud pa dang po’i skabs) < [Book 12 - Peace-Making Lineages]