Niralamba, Nirālamba, Nir-alamba, Ni-alamba: 24 definitions
Introduction:
Niralamba means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, Marathi, 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 Niralamb.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) refers to “one for whom there is no support”, and represents an epithet of Goddess Durgā, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.11. Accordingly as Brahmā said to Nārada:—“[...] O Brahmin, best of my sons, listen attentively to what I did when the lord Viṣṇu went away. I began a continuous laudatory prayer of the Goddess Durgā, [...] I salute the Goddess who is omnipresent, eternal, for whom there is no support (nirālamba), who is never distressed, who is the mother of the three deities, who is the grossest of the gross and yet has no form”.
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.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) refers to “that which is without support” (i.e., this reality is said to be ‘without support’), according to the Śrīmatottara-tantra, an expansion of the Kubjikāmatatantra: the earliest popular and most authoritative Tantra of the Kubjikā cult.—Accordingly, “What is the use of a rosary or keeping the eyes closed? If there is concentration or meditation, one does not attain consciousness. There is no pure light in Iḍā, or in Piṅgalā, or Suṣumṇā, although (all these places) are said to be means to attainment. (This reality) is said to be ‘without support’ [i.e., nirālamba] and it cannot be grasped even by the gods. Thus, it is beyond Form (rūpa) and Part (pada) and its sphere (of existence) is beyond the beyond. It is not an object of meditation. [...]”.
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.
Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) refers to “lacking support”, according to the Netratantroddyota commentary on 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 8.41-44, while describing the purification process of the initiand]—“[...] [He needs {note?} focus upon] that which is inside the body or outside of it. He does not have to see the sky or that which is below. He does not have to close the eyes, nor open them. He does not have to rest upon, lack support (nirālamba—avalambaṃ nirālambaṃ), or act as a support [for anything]. He need not concentrate on the five senses, what is real, sound, touch, essence, etc. Once he has abandoned all that he presides over, he becomes absorbed in kevala”.
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.
Yoga (school of philosophy)
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) refers to “being devoid of support”, according to the Parākhyatantra verse 2.60-61.—Accordingly: while discussing śiva’s transmental nature: “That power which leads the bound soul to the reality-level that is beyond the mind and devoid of support (nirālamba) is taught to be the power Manonmanī that belongs to the god Manonmana. That which suddenly brings souls in this world to a state of mindlessness is taught in this [Tantra] to be [the power] Unmanī, who is in the control of [a Rudra called] Unmana”.
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).
Vedanta (school of philosophy)
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) refers to “(one who is) self-reliant”, according to the Aṣṭāvakragītā (5th century BC), an ancient text on spirituality dealing with Advaita-Vedānta topics.—Accordingly, [as Aṣṭavakra says to Janaka]: “[...] He who is desireless, self-reliant (nirālamba), independent and free of bonds [nirvāsano nirālambaḥ svacchando muktabandhanaḥ] functions like a dead leaf blown about by the wind of causality. There is neither joy nor sorrow for one who has transcended samsara. He lives always with a peaceful mind and as if without a body. [...]”.
Vedanta (वेदान्त, vedānta) refers to a school of orthodox Hindu philosophy (astika), drawing its subject-matter from the Upanishads. There are a number of sub-schools of Vedanta, however all of them expound on the basic teaching of the ultimate reality (brahman) and liberation (moksha) of the individual soul (atman).
General definition (in Hinduism)
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) is a Sanskrit word referring to a “independent”. It is composed of the prefix nis (without) and ālamba (support).
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
nirālamba : (adj.) unsupported; groundless.
Nirālamba, (adj.) (nis+ālamba) unsupported Miln. 295 (ākāsa). (Page 370)
[Pali to Burmese]
nirālamba—
(Burmese text): (က) ကင်းသော-ကပ်ငြိ-စွဲလမ်း-ခြင်းရှိသော၊ ကပ်ငြိခြင်း စွဲလမ်းခြင်းအလျှင်း မရှိသော။ (ခ) ကင်းသော စွဲမှီရာရှိသော၊ စွဲမှီရာ-ကင်း-မရှိ-သော။
(Auto-Translation): (a) Free from bondage; without the residue of bondage. (b) Having a place of refuge, without a place of refuge.
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.
Marathi-English dictionary
nirālamba (निरालंब).—a (S) See niravalamba.
nirālamba (निरालंब).—a See niravalamba.
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
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब).—a.
1) having no prop or support (fig. also); ऊर्ध्वबाहुं निरालम्बं तं राजा प्रत्यभाषत (ūrdhvabāhuṃ nirālambaṃ taṃ rājā pratyabhāṣata) Rām.7.89.1; निरालम्बो लोकः कुलमयशसा नः परिवृतम् (nirālambo lokaḥ kulamayaśasā naḥ parivṛtam) Mv.4.53.
2) not depending on another, independent.
3) self-supported, friendless, alone; निरालम्बो लम्बोदरजननि कं यामि शरणम् (nirālambo lambodarajanani kaṃ yāmi śaraṇam) Jag.
-mbā spikenard.
-mbam Brahman.
Nirālamba is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms nir and ālamba (आलम्ब).
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब).—mfn.
(-mbaḥ-mbā-mbaṃ) 1. Self-supported, not relying on another. 2. The supreme being. E. nir, ālamba stay.
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब).—adj. having no support, [Rāmāyaṇa] 1, 44, 2.
Nirālamba is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms nis and ālamba (आलम्ब).
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब).—[adjective] = niravalamba.
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—vedānta. B. 4, 62.
1) Nirālamba (निरालम्ब):—[=nir-ālamba] [from nir > niḥ] mfn. =-aval
2) [v.s. ...] self-supported, independent
3) [v.s. ...] friendless, alone, [Manu-smṛti; Mahābhārata] etc. (am ind., [Rāmāyaṇa]; -tva n., [Harṣacarita])
4) [v.s. ...] m. Name of a philosopher (worshipping the empty air as deity), [Catalogue(s)]
5) Nirālambā (निरालम्बा):—[=nir-ālambā] [from nir-ālamba > nir > niḥ] f. spikenard, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब):—(nis + ā)
1) adj. f. ā keine Stütze habend, sich an Nichts lehnend, sich selbst haltend, alleinstehend (eig. u. bildlich) [Mahābhārata 3, 1541. 11, 172.] [Harivaṃśa 3941.] [Rāmāyaṇa 1, 44, 2. 63, 23. 5, 7, 58.] vihāyas [?6, 10, 4. Rājataraṅgiṇī 4, 185. Vetālapañcaviṃśati in Lassen’s Anthologie 28, 12] (eig. und übertr.) — [Mahābhārata 5, 4052.] [Harivaṃśa 2994. 4556.] [Rāmāyaṇa] [Gorresio 1, 49, 30. 3, 40, 28.] nirālambam adv. [4, 63, 23.] —
2) f. ā Narde (ākāśamāṃsī) [Rājanirghaṇṭa im Śabdakalpadruma]
--- OR ---
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब):—
1) [Rāmāyaṇa 7, 89, 10.] [Harivaṃśa 11588.] śokasāgara keine Stütze bietend [Kathāsaritsāgara 67, 56.] —
3) m. fingirtes Nomen proprium eines Philosophen, der den leeren Luftraum als Gottheit verehrt, [Oxforder Handschriften 250,b,44.]
--- OR ---
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब):—
1) so v. a. in der Luft schwebend: der Pfad der Sonne [Spr. (II) 5712.]
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब):——
1) Adj. (f. ā) — a) keine Stütze habend , in der Luft schwebend , sich an Nichts lehnend , sich selbst haltend , alleinstehend (eigentlich und bildlich). m Adv. , tva n. Nom.abstr. [Harṣacarita 210,5.] — b) keine Stütze bietend. —
2) m. fingirtesNomen proprium eines Philosophen , der den leeren Luftraum als Gottheit verehrt. —
3) *f. ā Narde.
Nirālamba (निरालम्ब) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Ṇirālaṃba.
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
Nirālaṃba (निरालंब) [Also spelled niralamb]:—(a) destitute, having no shelter/support; helpless.
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
Ṇirālaṃba (णिरालंब) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Nirālamba.
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
Nirālaṃba (ನಿರಾಲಂಬ):—
1) [noun] the state of being without shelter or support.
2) [noun] that which or he who is not depending on others; a self-dependent thing or man.
--- OR ---
Nirāḷaṃba (ನಿರಾಳಂಬ):—[noun] = ನಿರಾಲಂಬ [niralamba].
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: Nir, Mi, Alamba, Ni, Nish, Nikaya.
Starts with: Niralambam, Niralambana, Niralambanasana, Niralambanavada, Niralambasarvangasana, Niralambatva, Niralambopanishad, Niralampan, Niralampayokam.
Full-text: Niralambam, Niralambopanishad, Niralambatva, Alamba, Niralambana, Niralambasarvangasana, Niralampayokam, Niralamb, Muktabandhana, Nirvija, Salamba, Nirakranda, Ashtottaracatopanitatam.
Relevant text
Search found 36 books and stories containing Niralamba, Ni-alamba, Ni-ālamba, Nir-alamba, Nir-ālamba, Nir-ālambā, Nirālamba, Nirālambā, Nirālaṃba, Ṇirālaṃba, Ṇirālamba, Nirāḷaṃba, Nirāḷamba, Nis-alamba, Nis-ālamba; (plurals include: Niralambas, alambas, ālambas, ālambās, Nirālambas, Nirālambās, Nirālaṃbas, Ṇirālaṃbas, Ṇirālambas, Nirāḷaṃbas, Nirāḷambas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 223 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 3]
Page 179 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 93 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 2]
Brahma Archana Paddhati (text and translation) (by Prabhunath Dwivedi)
Thirty minor Upanishads (by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar)
Niralamba Upanishad of Shukla-Yajurveda
Muktika Upanishad of Shukla-Yajurveda, Chapter I
Preksha meditation: History and Methods (by Samani Pratibha Pragya)
7. Sālambana-Dhyāna < [Chapter 5 - Other Modern Forms of Jaina Meditation]
Shat-cakra-nirupana (the six bodily centres) (by Arthur Avalon)
Verse 36 < [Section 6]