Vakra: 24 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Purana
2. Jyotisha
3. Ayurveda
4. Shaktism
5. Natyashastra
India history
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
3. Hindi
4. Kannada
5. Nepali
See also

Introduction:

Vakra means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India, 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

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

Vakra (वक्र).—A King in Ancient India. He is known by the name Dantavaktra. (For further details see under Daṇṭavaktra).

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

Vakra (वक्र) refers to “crooked (face)”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.43 (“Description of Śiva’s wonderful sport”).—Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada: “Thus addressed by you the delighted Menā stared at the lord with joy; the lord Īśāna of wonderful features and of wonderful attendants. Immediately the army of Śiva came there consisting of wonderful arrays of Bhūtas, Pretas and Gaṇas. Some were in the form of violent gusts of wind, producing hissing sounds with waving flags. Some had crooked faces (vakra-tuṇḍa). Others were deformed. [...]”.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

1a) Vakra (वक्र).—A name of Angāraka.^*

* Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 24. 110.

1b) One of the twelve mountains which entered the sea for fear of Indra.^*

* Vāyu-purāṇa 47. 75.

1c) rāhu,¹ one-fourth less than Bṛhaspati.²

1) Vāyu-purāṇa 53. 71.
2) Matsya-purāṇa 128. 64.

1d) A group of Piśācas; able to take any form they desired.^*

* Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 7. 388; Vāyu-purāṇa 69. 269.

1e) One of the 16 classes of Piśācas, with crooked hands and feet.^*

* Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 7. 376 and 388.

Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and places

Vakra (वक्र) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. II.13.10, VI.10.43, IX.44.36) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Vakra) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

context information

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.

Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)

Source: Wisdom Library: Brihat Samhita by Varahamihira

1) Vakra (वक्र) refers to the “retrograde” (of heavenly bodies), according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 2), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “A true Astrologer is also one who has thoroughly mastered the Science of Saṃhitā. It treats of the motions of the sun and planets; of their size, color, rays, brilliancy and shape and changes in the same of their disappearance and re-appearance; of their courses and deviations therefrom; of their retrograde [i.e., vakra] and reretrograde motions; of their conjunction with the stars and of their places among the stars and the like”.

2) Vakra (वक्र, “retrograde”) refers to one of the four motions of Mercury (Budha), according to Devata and mentioned in the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 7).—Accordingly, “According to Devata, the effects of the Ṛjvya (direct), the Ativakra (over retrograde), the Vakra (retrograde) and the Vikala (of irregular rate) motions of Mercury will last respectively for 30, 24, 12 and 6 days. [...] When Mercury is in his Ṛjvya course, mankind will be happy; when in his Ativakra course he will destroy wealth; when he is in his Vakra course there will be wars in the land; and when he is in his Vikala course mankind will be afflicted with fear and disease”.

Source: Wikibooks (hi): Sanskrit Technical Terms

Vakra (वक्र).—Retrograde motion. Note: Vakra is a Sanskrit technical term used in ancient Indian sciences such as Astronomy, Mathematics and Geometry.

context information

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.

Ayurveda (science of life)

Source: gurumukhi.ru: Ayurveda glossary of terms

Vakra (वक्र):—Curved or Tortuous

context information

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.

Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram

1) Vakrā (वक्रा) or “crooked” is a name for the Goddess.—The goddess is both the Point [i.e., bindu], which in mythical terms is the Liṅga, and the triangle that emerges from it. Her bent form represents the latter. Thus the Kumārikākhaṇḍa says that this triangle is the face of the goddess who emerges from the Liṅga. In some places she is called Triangle—Trikoṇā. Accordingly, she is also commonly called Vakrā, which literally means ‘crooked’, or Vakrikā—‘little Vakrā’. These names implicitly refer to the Triangle, which is her sacred geometric form as the Yoni, the womb of emanation.

2) Vakrā (वक्रा) is the name of the Mother (Avvā) associated with Kāmarūpa, one the eight Sacred Seats (pīṭha), according to the Yogakhaṇḍa (chapter 14) of the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.

context information

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.

Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)

Source: Shodhganga: Elements of Art and Architecture in the Trtiyakhanda of the Visnudharmottarapurana (natya)

Vakra (वक्र) refers to one of the thirty Nṛttahastas or “dance hand gestures” (in Indian Dramas), according to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, an ancient Sanskrit text which (being encyclopedic in nature) deals with a variety of cultural topics such as arts, architecture, music, grammar and astronomy.—The hasta-mudrās (lit. “hand-gestures”) are very essential to denote some particular action or state in dancing and these mudrās are formed with the help of hands and fingers. In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, thirty kinds of nṛttahastas (“dance-hand gestures”) are mentioned. e.g., vakra. The practice of these nṛttahastas is strictly prohibited in sickness of body, in old age, in fear, drunk and anxiety.

context information

Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (shastra) of performing arts, (natya—theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing Dramatic plays (nataka), construction and performance of Theater, and Poetic works (kavya).

India history and geography

Source: Wisdom Library: Teachers, Saints and Sages

Vakra (वक्र) or Vakranātha refers to one of the eighty-four Siddhas (Siddhācāryas) mentioned in various sources as being representative teachers of Sahajiya Tantrism, Alchemy, Nath Sampradaya and other traditions having influence in the Indian subcontinent and the Himalayas.—Many of these Mahāsiddhas [e.g., Vakra-nātha] were historical figures whose lives and mystical powers were the subject of legends. They are often associated with teachings belonging to Hinduism, Buddhism, Ajivikism and Jainism and are evident of a caste-less interreligious spiritual society.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

vakra (वक्र).—a (S) Crooked, curved, bowed, bent. 2 Of sinuous or devious course. 3 Of backward course, retrogressive, i.e. proceeding from Aries towards Pisces;--used of a planet. 4 fig. Fraudulent, tortuous, of dishonest principles or practice.

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

vakra (वक्र).—a Crooked. Of devious course; fraudulent.

context information

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 dictionary

Vakra (वक्र).—a.

1) Crooked (fig. also), bent, curved, winding, tortuous; वक्रः पन्था यदपि भवतः प्रस्थितस्योत्तराशाम् (vakraḥ panthā yadapi bhavataḥ prasthitasyottarāśām) Me. 27; Kumārasambhava 3.29.

2) Roundabout, indirect, evasive, circuitous, equivocal, ambiguous (as a speech); किमेतैर्वक्रभणितैः (kimetairvakrabhaṇitaiḥ) Ratnāvalī 2; वक्रवाक्यरचनारमणीयः (vakravākyaracanāramaṇīyaḥ) ...... सुभ्रुवां प्रववृते परिहासः (subhruvāṃ pravavṛte parihāsaḥ) Śiśupālavadha 1.12; see वक्रोक्ति (vakrokti) also.

3) Curled, curling, crisped (as hair).

4) Retrograde (as motion).

5) Dishonest, fraudulent, crooked in disposition.

6) Cruel, malignant (as a planet); वक्राः स्युः पञ्चषष्ठेऽर्के अतिवक्रा नगाष्टगे । नवमे दशमे चैव जायते सहजा गतिः (vakrāḥ syuḥ pañcaṣaṣṭhe'rke ativakrā nagāṣṭage | navame daśame caiva jāyate sahajā gatiḥ) || Jyotistattvam.

7) Prosodially long.

-kraḥ 1 The planet Mars.

2) The planet Saturn.

3) Name of Śiva.

4) Name of the demon Tripura.

5) A nose.

-kram 1 The bend or arm of a river.

2) Retrograde motion (of a planet).

3) A form of fracture.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vakra (वक्र).—mfn.

(-kraḥ-krā-kraṃ) 1. Crooked, curved, bowed or bent. 2. Cruel, malignant. 3. Dishonest, fraudulent. 4. Indirect, evasive. 5. Long, (in prosody.) n.

(-kraṃ) 1. The winding course of a river or waterfall, the arm or bend of a stream. 2. The retrogade motion of a planet. 3. A species of the Anushtub'h metre. m.

(-kraḥ) 1. A name of Saturn. 2. The planet Mars. 3. Rudra or Siva. 4. The demon Tripura. E. vaki to go crookedly, rak Unadi aff.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vakra (वक्र).—i. e. vaṅk + ra, I. adj. 1. Crooked, [Pañcatantra] iii. [distich] 75; bent, [Śākuntala, (ed. Böhtlingk.)] [distich] 9; with pathin, a round-about way, [Meghadūta, (ed. Gildemeister.)] 28. 2. Indirect, evasive. 3. Ambiguous, double-meaning, [Kathāsaritsāgara, (ed. Brockhaus.)] 17, 141. 4. Fraudulent, [Pañcatantra] 44, 20; dishonest. 5. Cruel. Ii. m. A name of the planets Saturn and Mars, and of Rudra. Iii. n. The bend of a river.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vakra (वक्र).—[adjective] crooked, tortuous, false, dishonest, ambiguous, malignant, inimical.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Vakra (वक्र):—[from vaṅk] a mf(ā)n. crooked, curved, bent, tortuous, twisted, wry, oblique, [Atharva-veda] etc. etc.

2) [v.s. ...] curled, curly (as hair), [Atharva-veda] etc. etc.

3) [v.s. ...] having an apparently backward motion, retrograde (said of planets), [Sūryasiddhānta; Varāha-mihira] etc.

4) [v.s. ...] (in prosody) long (the form of the long mark being curved)

5) [v.s. ...] crooked in disposition, cunning, fraudulent, dishonest, evasive, ambiguous, [Kaṭha-upaniṣad; Mahābhārata] etc.

6) [v.s. ...] hostile, cruel, malignant, inauspicious, [Kāvya literature; Kathāsaritsāgara; Sāhitya-darpaṇa]

7) [v.s. ...] m. a nose, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

8) [v.s. ...] the planet Mars, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

9) [v.s. ...] the planet Saturn, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

10) [v.s. ...] a [particular] drug (= parpaṭa), [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

11) [v.s. ...] Name of Rudra, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

12) [v.s. ...] of the Asura Bāṇa, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

13) [v.s. ...] of a prince of the Karūṣas, [Mahābhārata] ([varia lectio] vaktra)

14) [v.s. ...] of a Rākṣasa, [Rāmāyaṇa]

15) [v.s. ...] [plural] Name of a people, [Viṣṇu-purāṇa] ([varia lectio] cakra)

16) Vakrā (वक्रा):—[from vakra > vaṅk] f. a [particular] musical instrument, [Lāṭyāyana]

17) [v.s. ...] ([scilicet] gati) a [particular] variation in the course of Mercury, [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

18) Vakra (वक्र):—[from vaṅk] n. the winding course of a river, the arm or bend of a stream, [Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad]

19) [v.s. ...] the apparent retrograde motion of a planet, [Mahābhārata; Harivaṃśa; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

20) [v.s. ...] a form of fracture (when a bone is bent or only partially broken), [Suśruta]

21) [v.s. ...] [wrong reading] for vaktra.

22) b etc. See p. 910, col. 3.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vakra (वक्र):—[(kraḥ-krā-kraṃ) a.] Crooked; cruel; dishonest. n. The winding course of a river or waterfall. m. Saturn; Mars; Shiva.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Vakra (वक्र) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Vaṃka.

[Sanskrit to German]

Vakra in German

context information

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 dictionary

Vakra (वक्र):—(a) curved; oblique; cunning; —[gati] zigzag motion; crooked, unpredictable; cunning move; ~[buddhi] dishonest; crooked; —[dṛṣṭi] oblique glance, an angry look, frown; scowl.

context information

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Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Vakra (ವಕ್ರ):—

1) [adjective] crooked; curved; bent.

2) [adjective] not straight or straightforward; indirect; circuitous; round-about.

3) [adjective] not straightforward; dishonest; swindling.

4) [adjective] deliberately seeking to inflict pain and suffering; without mercy or pity; cruel; ruthless; inhuman.

--- OR ---

Vakra (ವಕ್ರ):—

1) [noun] the quality or fact of being bent; crookedness; curvedness.

2) [noun] the quality of being dishonest; dishonesty.

3) [noun] the place where a river or stream changes its course; a bend of a river or stream.

4) [noun] an impediment, obstruction or obstacle.

5) [noun] (astrol.) the planet Mars.

6) [noun] (astrol.) the planet Saturn.

7) [noun] (astrol.) the unfavourable position of an astrological planet.

8) [noun] (pros.) the prosodic length that is twice the single or basic unit as of a long syllable (represented by -).

9) [noun] (mus.) the fact of the regular ascending order or descending order, sometimes both, being broken.

10) [noun] (dance.) a twisting of the chin (to act as if possessed by an evil spirit).

11) [noun] a bending of fingers.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

Nepali dictionary

Source: unoes: Nepali-English Dictionary

Vakra (वक्र):—adj. 1. bent; curved; crooked; 2. dishonest; fraudulent; 3. retrograde;

context information

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.

Relevant text

Search found 84 books and stories containing Vakra, Vakrā, Vākra; (plurals include: Vakras, Vakrās, Vākras). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Verse 5.6.16 < [Chapter 6 - Seeing Śrī Mathurā]

Verse 3.7.17 < [Chapter 7 - The Holy Places of Śrī Girirāja]

Verse 3.10.6 < [Chapter 10 - The Glory of Śrī Girirāja]

+ 4 more chapters / show preview

Verse 2.2 < [Chapter 2 - Planets]

Verse 2.4 < [Chapter 2 - Planets]

Verse 4.11 < [Chapter 4 - Impregnation]

+ 18 more chapters / show preview

Text 4.64 < [Chapter 4 - First-rate Poetry]

Text 8.23 < [Chapter 8 - Literary Qualities]

Text 8.24 < [Chapter 8 - Literary Qualities]

+ 4 more chapters / show preview