Tantu: 18 definitions
Introduction
Introduction:
Tantu means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, 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.
In Hinduism
Kavya (poetry)
Source: archive.org: Naisadhacarita of Sriharsa1) Tantu (तन्तु) in saptatantu refers to 1) “seven metres” or 2) “seven soma sacrifices”.—Cf. Saptatantu which is mentioned in the Naiṣadha-carita 11.100.—The word [sapta-tantu] literally means “that which has seven tantus”, but the meaning of tantu is not clear. [...] Malli also explains tantu as saṃsthā in his commentary on Māgha 14.6 (saptatantumadhigantumicchataḥ).
2) Tantu (तन्तु) can also refer to the “officiating priest”.—Sāyaṇa in his commentary on Ṛgveda 10.124.1 gives two explanations of the word [sapta-tantu]. The [second] explanation is the more probable. Tantu means here “one who extends”, and “organiser”, i.e. the officiating priest. The word is used in this sense in Bhāgavata 4.24.37, [...]. The word is used in this sense also in Bhāgavata 3.19.28 (addressed to the Varāha incarnation of Viṣṇu). Here tantu clearly means vistāraka, though the commentator says “akhilayajñānāṃ tantave vistārāya kāraṇāyeti vā”.
3) Tantu (तन्तु) can also refer to “thread”.—In the Naiṣadhacarita vere in question the word saptatantu means at first sight “seven-threaded” (see footnote to translation), but the ordinary meaning of tantu “thread” does not seam to have anything to do with a sacrifice.
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’.
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Puranic EncyclopediaTantu (तन्तु).—A Brahmavādī son of Viśvāmitra. (Chapter 4, Anuśāsana Parva).
Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and placesTantu (तन्तु) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. XIII.4.54, XIII.4) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Tantu) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.
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.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Source: archive.org: Vagbhata’s Ashtanga Hridaya Samhita (first 5 chapters)Tantu (तन्तु) refers to a “web” (viz., of a spider), as mentioned in verse 5.6-8 of the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (Sūtrasthāna) by Vāgbhaṭa.—Accordingly, “[...] Not shall one drink (water that is) [...]: nor (celestial water) that (is) seasonable (but) the first (of the season), (because it is) polluted by its mixture with the webs [viz. tantu], feces, urine, and poison of spiders etc. [...] (such water) one shall not drink”.
Note: Tantu (“web”) has been rendered by daṅ-ba, which is not attested in this meaning and is either a corruption or a secondary form of dar (“silk”); cf. 3.13, where NP have daṅ but CD write dar.
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.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Source: archive.org: Vedic index of Names and SubjectsTantu (तन्तु) appears properly to mean ‘thread’, and in particular the ‘warp’ of a piece of weaving, as opposed to Otu, the ‘woof’. Both senses are found in the Atharvaveda. In the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa the ‘warp’ is called anuchāda, the ‘woof’ paryāsa, the tantavaḥ being the ‘threads.’ In the Taittirīya-saṃhitā, on the other hand, the ‘warp’ is prācīna-tāna, the ‘woof’ otu.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionarytantu : (m.) string; cord; thread.
Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English DictionaryTantu, (Vedic tantu, cp. tanta) a string, cord, wire (of a lute) J. V, 196. (Page 296)
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
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryṭāṇṭū (टांटू).—n (Imit.) Crepitus ventris. 2 Used as ad. See ṭhāṇṭhū.
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tantu (तंतु).—m (S) A thread or string; and, freely, a chord, a wire, a strip (as of leather, bark, gut), a fibre, filament, capillament, a tendril, a thread-like worm &c. 2 fig. Connection, tie, string of dependence. v lāga. 3 A term for the only surviving male of a race. 4 S Offspring, progeny, race.
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tantū (तंतू).—m (tantu S) A long thread-like creature, or having long antennæ and numerous arms. It is found in the yamunā, narmadā and other rivers, and in tanks, and is said to entangle swimmers and draw them under water.
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tāntū (तांतू).—m (tantu S) A thread, line, string; and, freely, a wire, a strip or slip (as of leather or gut), a fibre, filament, capillament. 2 A seventeen-joint slip of dūrvā or bent grass, with its root, offered to dēvī annually during the first five years after the marriage of a girl.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishtantu (तंतु).—m A thread; a fibre.
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tāntū (तांतू).—m A thread, line; a fibre, wire.
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 dictionaryTantu (तन्तु).—[tan-tun]
1) A thread, cord, wire, string, line; चिन्तासंततितन्तु (cintāsaṃtatitantu) Māl.5.1; Me.7.
2) A cob-web R.16.2.
3) filament; विसतन्तुगुणस्य कारितम् (visatantuguṇasya kāritam) Ku.4. 29.
4) An offspring, issue, race; स्वमाययाऽवृणोद्गर्भं वैराट्याः कुरुतन्तवे (svamāyayā'vṛṇodgarbhaṃ vairāṭyāḥ kurutantave) Bhāg.1.8.14; Mb.6.43.98.
5) A shark.
6) The Supreme Being; Bhāg.8.16.31.
7) A snare, fetter (pāśa); ते तानावारयिष्यन्ति ऐणेयानिव तन्तुना (te tānāvārayiṣyanti aiṇeyāniva tantunā) Mb.5. 57.41.
Derivable forms: tantuḥ (तन्तुः).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryTantu (तन्तु).—m.
(-ntuḥ) 1. A thread. 2. A shark. 3. Offspring, race, descendants. E. tan to spread or stretch, Unadi affix tun.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryTantu (तन्तु).—[tan + tu], m. 1. A thread, Mahābhārata 1, 806; epithet of the supreme deity, Being the thread, [Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, (ed. Burnouf.)] 8, 16, 31. 2. A cobweb, [Vedāntasāra, (in my Chrestomathy.)] in
Tantu (तन्तु).—[masculine] thread, string, cord, wire, warp of a weft; uninterrupted line i.e. continuation of a sacrifice, propagation of a race, etc.; also concr. the propagator of a family (cf. seq.).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Tantu (तन्तु):—[from tan] m. a thread, cord, string, line, wire, warp (of a web), filament, fibre, [Ṛg-veda] etc.
2) [v.s. ...] a cobweb, [Horace H. Wilson]
3) [v.s. ...] a succession of sacrificial performances, [Bhāgavata-purāṇa]
4) [v.s. ...] any one propagating his family in regular succession, [Kātyāyana-śrauta-sūtra iii; Āpastamba-dharma-sūtra; Taittirīya-upaniṣad; Mahābhārata] (cf. kula-) etc.
5) [v.s. ...] a line of descendants, [Aitareya-brāhmaṇa vii, 17]
6) [v.s. ...] any continuity (as of thirst or hope), [Mahābhārata xii, 7877; Mālatīmādhava]
7) [v.s. ...] Name of a Sāman, [Ārṣeya-brāhmaṇa]
8) [v.s. ...] = -nāga, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
9) [v.s. ...] ([gana] gargādi) Name of a man, [Pravara texts iv, 1]
10) [v.s. ...] cf. kāṣṭha-, vara-, sapta-.
[Sanskrit to German] (Deutsch Wörterbuch)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Sanskrit-Wörterbuch in kürzerer FassungTantu (तन्तु):—m. —
1) Faden , Schnur , Strang , Draht , Saite. —
2) Aufzug eines Gewebes. —
3) Faden , Ausläufer , Faser. —
4) Faden in übertr. Bed. — a) von Opferhandlungen , die ununterbrochen wie ein Faden sich hinziehen. — b) von Personen , die das Geschlecht durch Fortpflanzung in ununterbrochener Reihe erhalten , Stammhalter [Āpastamba’s Dharmasūtra] paitāmaha so v.a. das Geschlecht des Grossvaters [Böhtlingk’s Sanskrit-Chresthomathie 25,9.] — c) von Affecten , die den Menschen fesseln und hemmen. —
5) Name eines Sāman [Ārṣeyabrāhmaṇa] —
6) *Haifisch. —
7) *Nomen proprium eines Mannes.
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 (+31): Tantubha, Tantubhuta, Tantucarana, Tantucharana, Tantujala, Tantujalagavakshita, Tantuka, Tantukaccha, Tantukachchha, Tantukarana, Tantukarttri, Tantukarya, Tantukashtha, Tantuki, Tantukita, Tantukrintana, Tantukriya, Tantula, Tantumadhya, Tantumant.
Ends with (+8): Ahevatantu, Ashatantu, Bisatantu, Dirghatantu, Jnanatantu, Kashthatantu, Kulatantu, Lutatantu, Mangalyatantu, Manutantu, Nalatantu, Navatantu, Nistantu, Padmatantu, Prajatantu, Saptatantu, Saubhagyatantu, Shanatantu, Shatatantu, Sutantu.
Full-text (+74): Tantuparvan, Tantuvigraha, Tantukita, Tantuvapa, Padmatantu, Tantukashtha, Sutratantu, Tantava, Tantuvaya, Kashthatantu, Tantushala, Tantunaga, Tantusara, Utpannatantu, Tantubha, Tantusamtati, Tantukarya, Tantuvana, Tantukarana, Tantuvadya.
Relevant text
Search found 13 books and stories containing Tantu, Ṭāṇṭū, Tantū, Tāntū; (plurals include: Tantus, Ṭāṇṭūs, Tantūs, Tāntūs). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
List of Mahabharata people and places (by Laxman Burdak)
Hiranyakesi-grihya-sutra (by Hermann Oldenberg)
Manusmriti with the Commentary of Medhatithi (by Ganganatha Jha)
Verse 2.42 < [Section XIII - Initiation (upanayana)]
Verse 9.203 < [Section XXVI - Disqualifications to Inheritance]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
1. Debate with the Realist < [Part 12 - Non-existence of the outer object]
4. Prajñā of the heretics < [Part 2 - Prajñā and the prajñās]
Emptiness 1-3: Inner, Outer and both Inner and Outer < [Chapter XLVIII - The Eighteen Emptinesses]
A study of the philosophy of Jainism (by Deepa Baruah)
Chapter III.f - Prabhācandra’s view regarding matter < [Chapter III - Categories]
Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)
Appendix 3.1: additional notes < [Appendices]