Mahartha, Mahārtha, Maha-artha: 13 definitions
Introduction:
Mahartha 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.
In Hinduism
Kavya (poetry)
Mahārtha (महार्थ) was a leader of hosts of transcendent warriors (atiratha) in Sunītha and Sūryaprabha’s army, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 47. Accordingly, as the Asura Maya explained the arrangement of warriors in Sunītha’s army: “... And his ministers Prahasta and Mahārtha are leaders of hosts of transcendent warriors”.
The story of Mahārtha was narrated by the Vidyādhara king Vajraprabha to prince Naravāhanadatta in order to relate how “Sūryaprabha, being a man, obtain of old time the sovereignty over the Vidyādharas”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Mahārtha, is a famous Sanskrit epic story revolving around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the vidyādharas (celestial beings). The work is said to have been an adaptation of Guṇāḍhya’s Bṛhatkathā consisting of 100,000 verses, which in turn is part of a larger work containing 700,000 verses.
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’.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Mahārtha (महार्थ) refers to the “great reality”, according to the Khacakrapañcakastotra (“hymn to the five wheels of emptiness”) by Jñānanetra, the founder of the Kashmiri Kālīkrama.—Accordingly, “I bow to the Great Reality (mahārtha), the venerable (goddess) Maṅgalā, she who is the mother of all things, the energy of Śiva, the awesome power of consciousness. (I praise her) the great wave of the Great Reality filled with all things, (she who is) the light of the Inexplicable, the Sun, Moon and the Fire of (universal) destruction”.
Mahārtha (महार्थ) refers to “(those procedures) great in meaning”, according to the Brahmayāmala (or Picumata): a 7th century goddess-oriented (Śākta) Tantra writtin in 12,000 metrical verses.—Accordingly, “[I] heard the Great Mother Tantra, an extremely long method. [...] Now I would like to listen to the method [that is the] essence of all [attainments], short in length, great in meaning (mahārtha), adorned with various [ritual] injunctions, called an ‘installation-scripture’, a new settled account drawn from the Yāmala [scripture]”.
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 Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Mahārtha (महार्थ) participated in the war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, on the side of the latter, as mentioned in Svayambhūdeva’s Paumacariu (Padmacarita, Paumacariya or Rāmāyaṇapurāṇa) chapter 57ff. Svayambhū or Svayambhūdeva (8th or 9th century) was a Jain householder who probably lived in Karnataka. His work recounts the popular Rāma story as known from the older work Rāmāyaṇa (written by Vālmīki). Various chapters [mentioning Mahārtha] are dedicated to the humongous battle whose armies (known as akṣauhiṇīs) consisted of millions of soldiers, horses and elephants, etc.
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
mahartha (महर्थ).—a Dear. mahardhatā f Dearness; dearth.
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
Mahārtha (महार्थ).—a.
1) rich.
2) great, noble, dignified.
3) important, weighty.
4) significant.
Mahārtha is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and artha (अर्थ).
Mahārtha (महार्थ).—mfn.
(-rthaḥ-rthā-rthaṃ) 1. Significant, meaning. 2. Great, dignified. m.
(-rthaḥ) A principal object. E. mahā and artha sense or object.
Mahārtha (महार्थ).—I. m. a principal object. Ii. adj. 1. significant. 2. dignified.
Mahārtha is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and artha (अर्थ).
Mahārtha (महार्थ).—[masculine] great thing, important matter; adj. great, important, wealthy.
1) Mahārtha (महार्थ):—[from mahā > mah] m. (hār) a gr° thing, a gr matter, [DevīP.]
2) [=mahā-rtha] [from mahārtha > mahā > mah] weighty or important meaning, [Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary]
3) [v.s. ...] mf(ā)n. having large substance, rich, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]
4) [v.s. ...] great, dignified, [Horace H. Wilson]
5) [v.s. ...] having gr° meaning, significant, important, weighty, [Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa]
6) [v.s. ...] m. Name of a Dānava, [Kathāsaritsāgara]
7) [v.s. ...] n. = mahā-bhāṣya (q.v.), [Catalogue(s)]
Mahārtha (महार्थ):—[mahā+rtha] (rthaḥ-rthā-rthaṃ) a. Significant; great. m. Principal object.
Mahārtha (महार्थ):—1. (mahā + artha) m. eine grosse Sache, Grosses: sādhanī devī [Devīpurāṇa] [?45; s. u. 4.] mahābhoga .
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Mahārtha (महार्थ):—2. (wie eben)
1) adj. f. ā a) reich [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 68, 64.] — b) bedeutsam, gewichtig: gāvo mahārthāḥ puṇyāśca tārayanti ca mānavān [Mahābhārata 13, 3803.] vacana [Rāmāyaṇa 5, 55, 25.] grantha [MUIR, Stenzler 4, 417]; nach dem Schol. n. = mahābhāṣya (anders [MUIR]). Davon nom. abstr. tā f. Inhaltsschwere: vācaḥ [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 66.] —
2) m. Nomen proprium eines Dānava [Kathāsaritsāgara 47, 26.]
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Mahārtha (महार्थ):—2.
1) b) [Z. 3] vgl. [Rāmāyaṇa 7, 36, 45.]
Mahārtha (महार्थ):—1. m. eine grosse Sache , Grosses.
--- OR ---
Mahārtha (महार्थ):—2. —
1) Adj. (f. ā) — a) reich. — b) bedeutsam , gewichtig. —
2) m. Nomen proprium eines Dānava. —
3) n. Bez. des Mahābhāṣya.
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.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Mahartha-mahamahattaka, Maharthaka, Maharthamanjari, Maharthaprakasha, Maharthashasanika, Maharthata, Maharthatva, Maharthavant, Maharthavat.
Full-text: Maharthaprakasha, Maharthaka, Maharthamanjari, Maharthata, Maharthavat, Mahartha-mahamahattaka, Maharthashasanika, Arthapada, Pancavaha, Jayadrathayamala, Hathapaka, Alamgrasa, Prahasta, Samgraha.
Relevant text
Search found 11 books and stories containing Mahartha, Maha-artha, Mahā-artha, Maha-rtha, Mahā-rtha, Mahārtha; (plurals include: Maharthas, arthas, rthas, Mahārthas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Ornament of Reality: Language Ideology in a Tantric Śākta Text < [Volume 14, Issue 4 (2023)]
The Young Goddess Who Dances through the Ordinariness of Life―A Study... < [Volume 13, Issue 7 (2022)]
Advayavajra-samgraha (Sanskrit text and English introduction) (by Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri)
Chapter 21 - Amanasikaradhara < [Sanskrit texts of the Advayavajra-samgraha]
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Madras (by M. Seshagiri Sastri)
Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Page 31 < [Volume 12 (1898)]
Shringara-manjari Katha (translation and notes) (by Kumari Kalpalata K. Munshi)
Section 7.13 - trayodashi muladeva-kathanika < [Sanskrit text]
Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala (study) (by Shri N. M. Kansara)
6.2. Alankaras (3): Shlesha (paronomasia) < [Chapter 15 - The Tilakamanjari as a Prose Poetic work]