Mahanagna, Mahānagna, Maha-nagna: 7 definitions

Introduction:

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

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

[«previous next»] — Mahanagna in Mahayana glossary
Source: academia.edu: A Study and Translation of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā

Mahānagna (महानग्न) refers to a “champion”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly, as the Lord said to the Bodhisattva Ratnaśrī: “[...] Then at that time, son of good family, there was a universal king called Puṇyālaṃkāra who possessed seven precious jewels. His palace was built in the center of Jambūdvīpa, would be four yojanas to the four cardinal directions, was variegated and beautiful to behold, was made of seven precious jewels, and was well adorned with five hundred gardens; he had eighty-four thousand wives, and all of them were famously beautiful; he had eighty four thousand sons, and all of them were possessed of the power of a champion (mahānagna-bala) and courage. [...]”.

Mahayana book cover
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.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Mahanagna in Sanskrit glossary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Mahānagna (महानग्न).—an athlete; Buddh.

Derivable forms: mahānagnaḥ (महानग्नः).

Mahānagna is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and nagna (नग्न).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Mahānagna (महानग्न).—m. ([compound] of mahā and nagna, q.v.; seems to correspond to Pali mahānāga, Dīghanikāya (Pali) i.51.10 °gā, n. pl., in a list of kinds of fighting men which includes uggā rājaputtā…sūrā cammayodhino etc.; commentary i.157.6 mahānāgā viya mahānāgā; hatthiādisu pi abhimukham āgacchantesu anivattitayodhānaṃ etaṃ adhivacanaṃ, all of which only proves that the commentary did not understand the term; it is omitted in [Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary], altho Childers properly refers to Burnouf, Lotus, 452, n. 4, who in translating the Pali suggests equivalence to [Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit] mahānagna, which he takes to be the older form; Sanskrit nagna would give MIndic nagga, for which nāga might be substituted; Burnouf also compares the Sanskrit n. pr. (proper name) Nagnajit, perhaps conquering cham- pions; [Boehtlingk] and Speyer, Avadāna-śataka Index, render athlete, but this is only an attempt to explain the word etymologically; it is implausible in several passages, and opposed by Tibetan), great man, champion (orig. in warfare); man of distinction, dignitary, grandee, nobleman; regularly (in Mahāvyutpatti and Lalitavistara) rendered by Tibetan tshan po (Jäschke (Tibetan-English Dictionary) dignitary, grandee) che (great): (tasya dvau) °gnau saṃśritau Divyāvadāna 372.12; tasyāpi °gno Bhadrāyudho nāmnānekasahasraparivāraḥ (can hardly mean athlete!), sa bhagavacchāsane pravrajito 'rhan saṃvṛttaḥ 373.20; krodhāviṣṭasya °gnasya Gaṇḍavyūha 504.5; (vajraṃ mahāpraharaṇaṃ) na śakyaṃ mahānagne- nāpi saṃdhārayituṃ 509.4; °gnā(ḥ) Kāraṇḍavvūha 41.21 (printed mahāmagnā); Avadāna-śataka ii.102.15; often in composition with bala (the might of a mahānagna being evidently proverbial): °gna- balam Mahāvyutpatti 8210; °gna-balopetāni Lalitavistara 200.21 (prose); sarve °gna-balair upetā Lalitavistara 28.5 (verse); others, [compound] with bala, Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya i.100.10; Avadāna-śataka ii.108.12; 110.3; with -balin, Avadāna-śataka i.376.1, 4, 18; without -bala, duṣṭamalla-mahanagna-samā Lalitavistara 153.8 (verse; maha = mahā, m.c.). Cf. next.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahānagna (महानग्न).—[masculine] lover or athlete; [feminine] ā & ī whore (lit. quite naked).

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

1) Mahānagna (महानग्न):—[=mahā-nagna] [from mahā > mah] m. ‘quite naked’, a paramour, [Atharva-veda; Śāṅkhāyana-śrauta-sūtra]

2) [v.s. ...] an athlete, [Buddhist literature; Lalita-vistara]

3) Mahānagnā (महानग्ना):—[=mahā-nagnā] [from mahā-nagna > mahā > mah] (f(ā). , [Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra]; or ī, [Atharva-veda] etc.), a kind of harlot (= mahatī ca nagnī ca, [Sāyaṇa on Aitareya-brāhmaṇa]; [wrong reading] mahā-ṇagnī and -naghnī).

[Sanskrit to German]

Mahanagna in German

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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.

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