Samara, Sāmara, Shamara: 25 definitions
Introduction:
Samara means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Buddhism, Pali, Marathi, 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 Samar.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Samara (समर).—One of the hundred sons of Pṛthuṣeṇa, a King of the Bharata dynasty (Bhāgavata, Skandha 9).
Sāmara (सामर) means “along with the gods”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.55 (“Śiva returns to Kailāsa”).—Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada: “[...] Then the brahmins respectfully intimated to them the auspicious hour for the starting of the journey and consoled them. [...] Himavat, the sensible affectionate father with his sons accompanied her as far as the place where the lord was waiting joyously along with the gods (sāmara). Everyone was jubilant and jolly with love. They bowed to the lord with devotion. Praising Him they returned to Kailāsa. [...]”.
1a) Samara (समर).—A son of Kāvya; had three sons.*
- * Matsya-purāṇa 49. 54.
1b) One of the lineal descendants of Nīpa; capital Kampilya.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 99. 176.
1c) A son of Nīla and lord of Kāmpilya; father of three sons, Pāra and two others.*
- * Viṣṇu-purāṇa IV. 19. 40-1.
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.
Kavya (poetry)
Samara (समर) is the name of a Vidyādhara king from Vīrapura, as mentioned in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 52. Accordingly, as Cāmuṇḍā said to Jīvadatta: “... there is a city on the Himālayas named Vīrapura, and in it there dwells a sovereign of the Vidyādharas named Samara. He had a daughter, named Anaṅgaprabhā, born to him by his Queen Anaṅgavatī”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Samara, 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’.
Shilpashastra (iconography)
Sāmara (“fan”) refers to one of the several “attributes” (āyudha) or “accessories” of a detiy commonly seen depicted in Hindu iconography, defined according to texts dealing with śilpa (arts and crafs), known as śilpaśāstras.—The śilpa texts have classified the various accessories under the broad heading of āyudha or karuvi (implement), including even flowers, animals, and musical instruments. The other miscellaneous articles found as attributes in the hands of the deities are, for example, Sāmara.
Shilpashastra (शिल्पशास्त्र, śilpaśāstra) represents the ancient Indian science (shastra) of creative arts (shilpa) such as sculpture, iconography and painting. Closely related to Vastushastra (architecture), they often share the same literature.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Samara (समर) refers to “war”, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 8), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “The five years of the second yuga are known as—1. Aṅgirā, 2. Śrīmukha 3. Bhāva, 4. Yuvā and 5. Dhātā. Of these, during the first three years mankind will enjoy happiness and during the last two they will not enjoy much of it. In the first three of the above five years there will be abundance of rain and mankind will be freed from fears and anxieties; in the last two years the rainfall will be moderate but disease and wars [i.e., samara] will afflict mankind”.
Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Sāmara (सामर) refers to one of the 54 rays of the Anāhata-Cakra which (together with the 62 rays of the Maṇipūra) are associated with the solar plane called Viṣṇugranthi, according to Śaṅkarācārya’s Saudaryalaharī.—Accordingly, the Goddess is visualised (by Sādhaka) as dwelling above the six Ādhāracakras ruling over the 360 rays which emanate in them [e.g., Sāmara]. These 360 rays represent 360 syllables (i.e., a consummation of the śabdaprapañca or 50 alphabets) as well as the principles of nature. For the 360 syllables, together with haṃ and saḥ, Nyāsa should be performed for Śrīcakrapūjā.
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)
Samara (समर) is the name of a garden visited by Mahāvīra during his eleventh year of spiritual-exertion.—Moving from Vraja village to Ālambhiyā, Śvetāmbikā, Sāvatthī, Kauśāmbī, Rājagṛha, Vārāṇasī, Mithilā, etc, the Lord arrived at Vaiśālī. Outside the city at the Baladeva temple in the Samara garden, accepting four-months fast, he became meditative and completed the rainy season halt there. Completing the rainy season halt, the Lord reached ‘Suṃsumārapura’.
Samara (समर) refers to a “battle”, according to the 11th century Jñānārṇava, a treatise on Jain Yoga in roughly 2200 Sanskrit verses composed by Śubhacandra.—Accordingly, “That which is evidently cessation of action causing the cycle of rebirth is to be considered as the mental stopping of the influx of karma by those who know about that from the most excellent scripture. Like the hero who is well-clad in armour is not pierced by arrows in the difficulty of battle (samara-saṃkaṭa), the one who has subdued his senses, whose self is restrained, is not pierced by arrows which are made of non-restraint”.
Synonyms: Saṃgrāma.
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
Pali-English dictionary
samara : (nt.) battle.
Samara, (sa+mara) battle Dāvs. IV, 1 (Page 684)
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
samara (समर).—m S Battle, fight, conflict.
--- OR ---
sāmara (सामर).—& sāmarī Better sāmbara & sāmbarī.
samara (समर).—m Battle, fight. samarabhūmi f samarāṅgaṇa n A field of battle.
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
Samara (समर).—War, battle, fight: रजांसि समरोत्थानि तच्छोणितनदीष्विव (rajāṃsi samarotthāni tacchoṇitanadīṣviva) R.12.82: कर्णादयोऽपि समरात् पराङ्मुखीभवन्ति (karṇādayo'pi samarāt parāṅmukhībhavanti) Ve.3.
Derivable forms: samaraḥ (समरः), samaram (समरम्).
Samara (समर).—mn.
(-raḥ-raṃ) War, battle, conflict. E. sam with, together, ṛ to go, aff. ap .
Samara (समर).—i. e. sam-ṛ + a, I. m. and n. War, battle, [Hitopadeśa] 106, 10. Ii. m. A proper name, [Rājataraṅgiṇī] 5, 25.
--- OR ---
Sāmara (सामर).—adj. with the gods, [Rāmāyaṇa] 3, 53, 28.
Sāmara is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms sa and amara (अमर).
Samara (समर).—[masculine] samaraṇa [neuter] encounter, fight.
1) Śamara (शमर):—(in roma-ś), [probably] = vivara, [Gopatha-brāhmaṇa]
2) Samara (समर):—[=sam-ara] a etc. See sam-√ṛ, p.1170.
3) [=sam-ara] [from sam-ṛ] b m. (or n. [gana] ardharcādī) coming together, meeting, concourse, confluence, [Ṛg-veda; Atharva-veda; Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa]
4) [v.s. ...] (ifc. f(ā). ) hostile encounter, conflict, struggle, war, battle with (saha), [Śāṅkhāyana-brāhmaṇa; Mahābhārata] etc.
5) [v.s. ...] Name of a king of the Vidyā-dharas, [Kathāsaritsāgara]
6) [v.s. ...] of a king of Kāmpilya, [Harivaṃśa]
7) [v.s. ...] of a brother of king Avantivarman, [Rājataraṅgiṇī]
8) Sāmara (सामर):—mfn. with the immortals, accompanied by the gods, [Rāmāyaṇa; Bhāgavata-purāṇa]
Samara (समर):—[(raḥ-raṃ)] 1. m. n. War, battle.
[Sanskrit to German]
Samara (समर) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Samara.
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
Samara (समर) [Also spelled samar]:—(nm) a war; battle; -[taṃtra] strategy, tactics, war-tactics; ~[taṃtrī] tactician, strategist; ~[taṃtrīya] tactical, strategic; -[nīti] strategy; ~[baṃdha] a cartel; -[bhūmi] battlefield; ~[pota] a warship; -[vijayī] a conqueror; -[śūra] a brave fighter.
...
Prakrit-English dictionary
1) Samara (समर) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Smṛ.
2) Samara (समर) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Samara.
3) Samara (समर) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Smāra.
4) Samāra (समार) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Samāraca.
5) Samāra (समार) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Samārabh.
6) Samāra (समार) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Samāracita.
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
Samara (ಸಮರ):—[noun] a prolonged armed conflict betwen two opposing military forces; a war; a battle.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Samara (समर):—n. clash; war; battle;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Sam, Amara, Ara, Ca, Sha.
Starts with (+16): Camarakecari, Camarakolakalan, Camarapunkavan, Camarapuri, Camaraputpam, Camararekai, Samara-janga, Samara-kodaki, Samara-shatya, Samarabala, Samarabhata, Samarabhu, Samarabhumi, Samaragama, Samarajambuka, Samarajit, Samarakarman, Samarakatara, Samarakshiti, Samaramamdala.
Full-text (+134): Samarasimha, Samarabhumi, Samarakshiti, Samarasiman, Samaramurdhan, Samaroddesha, Samarakarman, Samarabhata, Samaratunga, Samarashura, Samarasara, Samarashiras, Samarasvamin, Samaravarman, Samaravasudha, Samaramanohari, Samarabhu, Samarabala, Camaram, Samaravira.
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