Nicaya, Nicāya: 20 definitions
Introduction:
Nicaya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, Jainism, Prakrit, Hindi. 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 Nichaya.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Nicaya (निचय) refers to “endowed with every feature” (of beauty), according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.13 (“Śiva-Pārvatī dialogue”).—Accordingly, after Śiva permitted Pārvatī to stay by his side: “[...] In the course of his penance sometimes the lord of the goblins thought about her as free from attachment. But as she was in her physical form. He did not take her as His wife though she was near Him, though she was endowed with every feature of beauty [i.e., mahālāvaṇya-nicaya], though she was capable of deluding even the sages. [...]”.
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.
Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)
Nicaya (निचय) refers to a “heap” (of mountain snow), according to the Netratantra of Kṣemarāja: a Śaiva text from the 9th century in which Śiva (Bhairava) teaches Pārvatī topics such as metaphysics, cosmology, and soteriology.—Accordingly, [verse 9.19cd-26, while instructing to visualize Sadāśiva in order to worship the formless Amṛteśa]—“[He] resembles the swelling moon, a heap of mountain snow (himādri-nicaya-upama). Five-faced, large-eyed, ten-armed, [and] three-armed, [he] has a serpent as a sacred thread. He is covered in a garment made of tiger skin. [He] sits in the bound lotus pose atop a white lotus, [holding] a trident, blue lotus, arrow, rudrākṣa, [and] a mallet. [...]”.
Shaiva (शैव, śaiva) or Shaivism (śaivism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshiping Shiva as the supreme being. Closely related to Shaktism, Shaiva literature includes a range of scriptures, including Tantras, while the root of this tradition may be traced back to the ancient Vedas.
Sports, Arts and Entertainment (wordly enjoyments)
Nicaya (निचय) refers to “having heaped up (religious merit)”, according to the Śyainika-śāstra: a Sanskrit treatise dealing with the divisions and benefits of Hunting and Hawking, written by Rājā Rudradeva (or Candradeva) in possibly the 13th century.—Accordingly, [while discussing the yellow-eyed division of hawks]: “The Vājas are of five kinds. Their descriptions are given separately. [...] Mahārāvaṇa, the king of Vājas, is that in whose tail and feathers are to be found marks like the Aśvatha or pipal leaf. Only one who has heaped up (nicaya) much religious merit becomes the possessor of such a pleasure-giving bird. It is called Mahārāvaṇa because it makes other birds cry in fear on its approach”.
This section covers the skills and profiencies of the Kalas (“performing arts”) and Shastras (“sciences”) involving ancient Indian traditions of sports, games, arts, entertainment, love-making and other means of wordly enjoyments. Traditionally these topics were dealt with in Sanskrit treatises explaing the philosophy and the justification of enjoying the pleasures of the senses.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)
Nicaya (निचय) refers to a “great mass (of hair)”, 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”]: “14. He has hard wrinkles developed in the saṃdāna, etc.; subject to appropriate attacks of must; not inclined to sleep, with mind hostile to rival elephants; afraid of fumigation in fire; trumpeting, with a great mass (nicaya) of hair on his fore-limbs, fond of military action; this young elephant is a kalyāṇa (‘fine one’) and has reached the fourth stage”.
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.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
nicaya : (m.) accumulation; heaping up.
Nicaya, (Sk. nicaya, ni+caya, cp. nicita) heaping up, accumulation; wealth, provisions S. I, 93, 97; Vin. V, 172 (°sannidhi). See also necayika. (Page 355)
nicaya (နိစယ) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[ni+caya+kvi．caya gatiyaṃ．nīti,dhā．139．ni+ci+ṇa．ci caye．nīti,dhā．245-7．cayo gate．dhātvattha．(nicaya-saṃ,ṇicaya-prā)]
[နိ+စယ+ကွိ။ စယ ဂတိယံ။ နီတိ၊ ဓာ။ ၁၃၉။ နိ+စိ+ဏ။ စိ စယေ။ နီတိ၊ ဓာ။ ၂၄၅-၇။ စယော ဂတေ။ ဓာတွတ္ထ။ (နိစယ-သံ၊ ဏိစယ-ပြာ)]
[Pali to Burmese]
nicaya—
(Burmese text): မူရင်းကြည့်ပါ။
(Auto-Translation): Please look at the original.
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.
Sanskrit dictionary
Nicaya (निचय).—
1) A collection, heap, multitude; निचय इवाम्बुमुचां नगाधिराजः (nicaya ivāmbumucāṃ nagādhirājaḥ) (dadṛśe) Kirātārjunīya 4.37.
2) Store, stock, provisions; as षण्मासनिचयः (ṣaṇmāsanicayaḥ) Manusmṛti 6.18; सर्वे क्षयान्ता निचयाः (sarve kṣayāntā nicayāḥ) Rām.7.52.11.
3) An assemblage of parts consisting a whole; as in शरीरनिचयः (śarīranicayaḥ)
4) Certainty.
Derivable forms: nicayaḥ (निचयः).
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Nicāya (निचाय).—A heap.
Derivable forms: nicāyaḥ (निचायः).
Nicaya (निचय).—m.
(-yaḥ) 1. Heap, assemblage, collection. 2. Certainty. 3. An assemblage of parts constituting a whole. E. ni before, ci to collect, affix bhāve ac .
Nicaya (निचय).—i. e. ni-ci + a, m. 1. Heaping, [Rāmāyaṇa] 2, 77, 22. 2. Collection, Mahābhārata 15, 205. 3. Heap, multitude, 4, 30. 4. Provision. 11, 48. 5. The parts (of a whole), 15, 5416.
Nicaya (निचय).—[masculine] heaping or piling up, heap, multitude, accumulation, provisions.
1) Nicaya (निचय):—[=ni-caya] a etc. See under 1. ni-ci below.
2) [=ni-caya] [from ni-ci] b m. piling up, heaping up, heap, mass, quantity, store, provisions (cf. alpa-n, ṣaṇ-māsa-n)
3) [v.s. ...] collection, multitude, assemblage (rarely of living beings cf. vadhū-n), [Manu-smṛti; Mahābhārata; Kāvya literature] etc.
4) Nicāya (निचाय):—[=ni-cāya] [from ni-ci] m. a heap (as a measure), [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc. 1.]
Nicaya (निचय):—[ni-caya] (yaḥ) 1. m. Heap, collection.
Nicaya (निचय):—1. (von 1. ni mit ni) m. mit kṛtādi zusammengesetzt gaṇa śreṇyādi zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 2, 1, 59.] Aufschichtung, Aufhäufung, Ansammlung, Haufe, Menge, Vorrath [Śabdaratnāvalī im Śabdakalpadruma] śāvaśeṣāsthinicaye kimiha tvaṃ vilambase [Rāmāyaṇa 2, 77, 22.] koṣasya nicaye yatnaṃ kurvīthāḥ [Mahābhārata 15, 205.] nicayaśca niceyānām [12, 2099.] dārūṇāṃ nicayānmahataḥ [Mahābhārata 4, 30.] [Pañcatantra 194, 17.] vittanicayo mahān [Mahābhārata 13, 3082.] [Harivaṃśa 6342.] dhātunicaye puṇye parvatarodhasi [12044. 3927.] [Mahābhārata 3,3048.] [Rāmāyaṇa 1,52,24.] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 24,16. 27,c,5. 104,37.] [Sūryasiddhānta 12,34.] [Śihlana’s Śāntiśataka 2,6.] [Śṛṅgāratilaka 9.] ambu [Harivaṃśa 2926.] [Bhartṛhari 1, 45.] dyuti [66.] dharmyairdhanāgamaistasya vavṛdhe nicayo mahān [Mahābhārata 2, 1210.] sarve kṣayāntā nicayāḥ alle Vorräthe nehmen ein Ende [11, 48.] alpa der einen kleinen Vorrath hat [Rāmāyaṇa Gorresio 1, 6, 7.] ṣaṇmāsa der auf sechs Monate Vorrath hat [Manu’s Gesetzbuch 6, 18.] dhairya [Harivaṃśa 15204.] śarīra die Theile, aus denen der Körper zusammengesetzt ist, [Mahābhārata 13, 5416.] Ausnahmsweise in Verbindung mit lebenden Wesen: badhū eine Weiberschaar [Gītagovinda 3, 3.] sūkara [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 3, 3, 42,] [Scholiast]
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Nicaya (निचय):—2. m. = niścaya und auch wohl daraus entstanden [Śabdaratnāvalī im Śabdakalpadruma]
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Nicāya (निचाय):—(von 1. ci mit ni) m. Haufe (als Maass): ekastaṇḍulanicāyaḥ [Scholiast] zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 3, 3, 20. 7, 2, 115.]
Nicaya (निचय):—1. m. Aufschichtung , Aufhäufung , Ansammlung , Haufe , Menge , Vorrath [Gautama's Dharmaśāstra 10,63.] ṣaṇmāsa Adj. auf sechs Monate Vorrath habend. Ausnahmsweise in Verbindung mit lebenden Wesen.
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Nicaya (निचय):—2. m. = niścaya.
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Nicāya (निचाय):—m. Haufe (als Maass).
Nicaya (निचय) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Ṇicaya.
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.
Hindi dictionary
Nicaya (निचय) [Also spelled nichay]:—(nm) accumulation, collection; a digest.
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
1) Ṇicaya (णिचय) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Nicaya.
2) Ṇicaya (णिचय) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Nicaya.
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
Nicaya (ನಿಚಯ):—[noun] a large number of persons, things, animals etc. gathered together at a place; a crowd; an assemblage.
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)
Partial matches: Kvi, Mi, Caya, Ni.
Starts with: Necayika, Nicayagulma, Nicayaka, Nicayakara, Nicayakiya, Nicayana, Nicayanta, Nicayapurishapravartana, Nicayasannidhi.
Full-text (+16): Bhutanicaya, Samanicaya, Necayika, Nicayagulma, Sannicaya, Shilanicaya, Shanmasanicaya, Mahadhanadhannanicaya, Thapitadhananicaya, Dhanadhannanicaya, Vittanicaya, Dhananicaya, Nicayanta, Anicaya, Niccappabandhanicaya, Nicayakara, Kiruminicayam, Nicayapurishapravartana, Shikharanicaya, Shariranicaya.
Relevant text
Search found 28 books and stories containing Nicaya, Ni-caya, Ni-cāya, Ni-caya-kvi, Nicāya, Ṇicaya; (plurals include: Nicayas, cayas, cāyas, kvis, Nicāyas, Ṇicayas). 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 3.1.18 < [Chapter 1 - The Worship of Śrī Girirāja]
Verse 6.21.18 < [Chapter 21 - In the Description of the Third Fort, the Glories of Piṇḍāraka-tīrtha]
Verse 3.6.22 < [Chapter 6 - The Test of Śrī Kṛṣṇa]
Brahma Samhita (Jiva Goswami commentary) (by Srila Narayana Maharaja)
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 70 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 2]
Page 206 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 3]
Page 70 < [Hindi-Kashmiri-English Volume 2]
Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana (by Gaurapada Dāsa)
Text 7.106 < [Chapter 7 - Literary Faults]
Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Page 381 < [Volume 10 (1890)]
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Madras (by M. Seshagiri Sastri)