Parjanya, Parjanyā, Pārjanya: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Parjanya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Marathi, Hindi, biology. 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 Parjany.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: Wisdom Library: Varāha-purāṇaParjanya (पर्जन्य).—One of the eight principal ministers of Mahiṣāsura, an asura chieftain from the city Mahiṣa, according to the Varāhapurāṇa chapter 93. All of these ministers were learned, valiant and just.
The Varāhapurāṇa is categorised as a Mahāpurāṇa, and was originally composed of 24,000 metrical verses, possibly originating from before the 10th century. It is composed of two parts and Sūta is the main narrator.
Source: archive.org: Puranic EncyclopediaParjanya (पर्जन्य).—A deva. See under Devavatī III.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index1a) Parjanya (पर्जन्य).—A Mauneya Gandharva.*
- * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 7. 3.
1b) (Parjanyam)—a name of Indra: God of rain (or simply rain); created by Vāmadeva;1 to be worshipped in house building.2
- 1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa I. 10. 4; II. 6. 7; IV. 14. 26. VI. 14. 35; X. 20. 5; XII. 4. 7; Matsya-purāṇa 4. 29.
- 2) Ib. 253. 24.
1c) An Āditya and Lokapāla; the name of the sun in the month of Tapasya (Phālguna): father of Hiraṇyaroma.*
- * Bhāgavata-purāṇa XII. 11. 40; Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 21. 157; 23. 12; 30. 40; III. 3. 68; 8. 20; Vāyu-purāṇa 50. 206; 66. 66; Viṣṇu-purāṇa II. 10. 12.
1d) One of the important clouds raining dew for the growth of corns;1 overlords of seas, rivers, clouds, rains besides Āditya;2 they are under the control of wind, Parivaha; they also carry the heavenly Gangā.3
1e) A Parivaha and sage of the Raivata epoch;1 attained heaven by tapas.2
- 1) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 36. 62; Matsya-purāṇa 9. 19; Viṣṇu-purāṇa III. 1. 22.
- 2) Matsya-purāṇa 143. 39.
1f) Same as Hiranyaroma.*
- * Matsya-purāṇa 124. 95.
1g) A son of Agni and Samhūti;1 his wife Mānu and son Hiraṇyaroma.2
1h) A deity with the sun in the śarat season.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 52. 12.
1i) A Rājaṛṣi.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 57. 122.
1j) A Mauneya.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 69. 3.
Parjanya (पर्जन्य) is the name of one of the seven sages (saptarṣi) in the Raivatamanvantara: one of the fourteen Manvantaras, according to the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—Accordingly, “In raivatamanvantara the name of Indra was Vibhu. The gods were divided into four groups like Vaikuṇṭha etc. The Saptarṣis were said to be Hiraṇyaromā, Viśvaśrī, Aindrabāhu, Urdhavabāhu, Subāhu, Parjanya and Mahāmuni who were born in the race of Priyavrata.

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)
Source: Wisdom Library: ŚāktismParjanya (पर्जन्य) refers to one of the 53 gods to be worshipped in the eastern quarter and given pāyasa (rice boiled in milk) according to the Vāstuyāga rite in Śaktism (cf. Śāradātilaka-tantra III-V). The worship of these 53 gods happens after assigning them to one of the 64 compartment while constructing a Balimaṇḍapa. Vāstu is the name of a prodigious demon, who was killed by 53 gods (e.g., Parjanya).

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.
Vastushastra (architecture)
Source: Brill: Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions (architecture)Parjanya (पर्जन्य) refers to one of the deities to be installed in the ground plan for the construction of houses, according to the Bṛhatkālottara, chapter 112 (the vāstuyāga-paṭala).—The plan for the construction is always in the form of a square. That square is divided into a grid of cells (padas). [...] Once these padas have been laid out, deities [e.g., Parjanya] are installed in them. In the most common pattern 45 deities are installed.
Parjanya as a doorway deity is associated with the Nakṣatra called Pūrvaphālgunī and the consequence is strīcalatva. [...] The Mayasaṃgraha (verse 5.156-187) describes a design for a 9-by-9-part pura, a residential complex for a community and its lead figure. [...] This record lists a place for music at Parjanya.

Vastushastra (वास्तुशास्त्र, vāstuśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science (shastra) of architecture (vastu), dealing with topics such architecture, sculpture, town-building, fort building and various other constructions. Vastu also deals with the philosophy of the architectural relation with the cosmic universe.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Source: Wisdom Library: HinduismParjanya (पर्जन्य) is a Sanskrit word referring to the “rains”. According to the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa, the tattva named parjanya is identified with Bhava, one of names of Rudra.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Source: The University of Sydney: A study of the Twelve ReflectionsParjanya (पर्जन्य) refers to the “rain-clouds”, according to the 11th century Jñānārṇava, a treatise on Jain Yoga in roughly 2200 Sanskrit verses composed by Śubhacandra.—Accordingly, “[com.—Next he speaks about the provision of the benefit (upakārakāritvam) of those (teṣām) being the rain-clouds, etc. (parjanyādyāḥ) that are protected by the doctrine (dharmarakṣitāḥ)]—The rain clouds (parjanya), wind, sun, moon, earth, ocean and Indra—those, which are protected by the doctrine, are of service to the whole world. I think, that doctrine, whose progress is unimpeded, has arisen for the benefit of the world of living souls in the guise of world-protectors”.
Synonyms: Megha, Ghana, Jalada.

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.
Biology (plants and animals)
Source: Google Books: CRC World Dictionary (Regional names)Parjanya in India is the name of a plant defined with Berberis aristata in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Berberis aristata Sims.
Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):
· Systema Naturae (1821)
· Phytotherapy Research (1995)
· Prodromus Florae Nepalensis. (1825)
· Botanical Magazine, or ‘Flower-Garden Displayed’ (2549)
· Bot. Reg. (1823)
· Journal of Cytology and Genetics (1988)
If you are looking for specific details regarding Parjanya, for example side effects, chemical composition, diet and recipes, health benefits, extract dosage, pregnancy safety, have a look at these references.

This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryparjanya (पर्जन्य).—m (S) Rain.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishparjanya (पर्जन्य).—m Rain.
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 dictionaryParjanyā (पर्जन्या).—A kind of plant (dāru haridrā -Mar. dāru haḷada), Curcuma Aromatica.
See also (synonyms): parjanī.
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Parjanya (पर्जन्य).—
1) A rain cloud, thundering cloud, a cloud in general; प्रवृद्ध इव पर्जन्यः सारङ्गैरभिनन्दितः (pravṛddha iva parjanyaḥ sāraṅgairabhinanditaḥ) R.17.15; Mṛcchakaṭika 1.6.
2) Rain; अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसंभवः (annādbhavanti bhūtāni parjanyādannasaṃbhavaḥ) Bhagavadgītā (Bombay) 3.14.
3) The god of rain; Bri. Up.1.4.11.
4) The muttering or roaring of clouds.
5) Name of Indra, Sūrya, Viṣṇu and some other deities; Bhāg. 1.2.5. (here parjanya means the sun).
Derivable forms: parjanyaḥ (पर्जन्यः).
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Pārjanya (पार्जन्य).—a. Belonging to rain.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryPārjanya (पार्जन्य).—f.
(-nyā) Belonging to rain.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryParjanya (पर्जन्य).— (and incorrectly paryanya paryanya), probably sphurj, for old sparj, + ana + ya, m. 1. A rainthreatening cloud, [Raghuvaṃśa, (ed. Stenzler.)] 17, 15. 2. Rain, [Bhagavadgītā, (ed. Schlegel.)] 3, 14. 3. The deity of rain.
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Pārjanya (पार्जन्य).—i. e. parjanya + a, adj. Belonging to Parjanya, Mahābhārata 1, 5365.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryParjanya (पर्जन्य).—[masculine] rain-cloud or rain, personif. as the rain-god.
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Pārjanya (पार्जन्य).—[adjective] belonging to Parjanya.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Parjanya (पर्जन्य):—m. (√pṛc, or pṛj ?) a rain-cloud, cloud, [Ṛg-veda] etc. etc.
2) rain, [Bhagavad-gītā iii, 14]
3) rain personified or the god of rain (often identified with Indra), [Ṛg-veda] etc. etc.
4) Name of one of the 12 Ādityas, [Harivaṃśa]
5) of a Deva-gandharva or Gandharva, [Mahābhārata; Harivaṃśa]
6) of a Ṛṣi in several Manv-antaras, [Harivaṃśa; Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa]
7) of a Prajā-pati (father of Hiraṇya-roman), [Viṣṇu-purāṇa]
8) Parjanyā (पर्जन्या):—[from parjanya] f. Curcuma Aromatica or Xanthorrhiza, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
9) Parjanya (पर्जन्य):—cf. [Gothic] fairguni; [Icelandic] fiürgyn; [Lithuanian] perkúnas.
10) Pārjanya (पार्जन्य):—mf(ā)n. relating or belonging to Parjanya, [Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā; Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa; Mahābhārata etc.]
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Parjanya (पर्जन्य) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Pajjaṇṇa, Pajjanna.
[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.
Hindi dictionary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionaryParjanya (पर्जन्य) [Also spelled parjany]:—(nm) a cloud.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusParjanya (ಪರ್ಜನ್ಯ):—
1) [noun] a cloud.
2) [noun] the rumbling sound following a flash of lightning, from clouds; thunder.
3) [noun] rain.
4) [noun] (myth.) Indra, the Rain-God.
5) [noun] Viṣṇu.
6) [noun] (myth.) one of the twelve Ādityās, a class of gods.
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: Parjanyagarjana, Parjanyajapa, Parjanyajinvita, Parjanyakrandya, Parjanyanatha, Parjanyaninada, Parjanyapatni, Parjanyaprayoga, Parjanyaretas, Parjanyashanti, Parjanyastra, Parjanyasukta, Parjanyatman, Parjanyavallakshanapravritti, Parjanyavata, Parjanyavriddha.
Ends with: Agniparjanya, Vataparjanya.
Full-text (+88): Paryanya, Pajjanna, Ashimividvish, Mahodhas, Agniparjanya, Parjani, Prarjayitar, Parjanyavata, Pushatmaja, Purobalaka, Hiranyaroman, Parjanyakrandya, Parjanyashanti, Parjanyaprayoga, Parjanyajinvita, Parjanyapatni, Parjanyaninada, Parjanyasukta, Parjanyanatha, Parjanyavriddha.
Relevant text
Search found 63 books and stories containing Parjanya, Parjanyā, Pārjanya; (plurals include: Parjanyas, Parjanyās, Pārjanyas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Rig Veda (translation and commentary) (by H. H. Wilson)
Women in the Atharva-veda Samhita (by Pranab Jyoti Kalita)
18. Goddess Pṛthivī < [Chapter 4 - Female Deities and the Glorification of Women in the Atharvaveda]
32. Glorification of Women through the Eulogy of the Female Deities < [Chapter 4 - Female Deities and the Glorification of Women in the Atharvaveda]
2. Goddess Apsarases < [Chapter 4 - Female Deities and the Glorification of Women in the Atharvaveda]
Chandogya Upanishad (Shankara Bhashya) (by Ganganatha Jha)
Section 5.5 (fifth khaṇḍa) (two texts) < [Chapter 5 - Fifth Adhyāya]
Sections 5.20-23 (twentieth-twenty-third khaṇḍa) (seven texts) < [Chapter 5 - Fifth Adhyāya]
Section 3.13 (thirteenth khaṇḍa) (seven texts) < [Chapter 3 - Third Adhyāya]
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 4.8.2 < [Chapter 8 - In the Story of the Yajña-sītās, the Glories of Ekādaśī]
Verses 6.20.14-15 < [Chapter 20 - In the Description of the Second Fort, the Glories of Indra-tīrtha, etc.]
Jivanandana of Anandaraya Makhin (Study) (by G. D. Jayalakshmi)
Analysis of Bharatavākya < [Chapter 6 - Dramatic aspects of the Jīvanandana Nāṭaka]
Chandogya Upanishad (Madhva commentary) (by Srisa Chandra Vasu)