Vanka, Vaṅka: 14 definitions
Introduction
Introduction:
Vanka means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi. 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 Buddhism
Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Pali Kanon: Pali Proper NamesA king of Savatthi. For his story see the Ghata Jataka (No. 355). He is identified with Ananda. J.iii.170.
Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita SastraVaṅka (वङ्क) is the name of a forest to which prince Viśvantara and his family were exiled to according to a note from the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra (chapter XX).—“At the cost of a thousand sufferings, the exiled family finally arrived at the forest of Vaṅka chosen for his exile. They lived there in a hut, eating roots and wild fruits. The trees, moved by compassion, bent down their branches to offer their fruit to the two children of Viśvantara and Madrī. But a new brahmin named Jūjaka arose and demanded that the father give him the two children to be his servants. Despite their terror, despite the desolation, he gave them. The god Indra, disguised as an ascetic, came and demanded his wife as slave: he gave her also. Finally Indra made himself known and gave back to the hero his family and his goods”.

Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionaryvaṅka : (adj.) bent; crooked; dishonest. (nt.) a hook; a fish-hook.
Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English DictionaryVaṅka, (adj. -n.) (cp. Vedic vaṅka & vakra bending; also Ved. vaṅku moving, fluttering, walking slant; vañcati to waver, walk crooked. Cp. Lat. con-vexus “convex, ” Ags. wōh “wrong, ” Goth. wāhs; Ohg. wanga cheek, and others.—The Dhtp 5 gives “koṭilya” as meaning of vaṅk. Another Pāli form is vakka (q. v.). The Prk. forms are both vakka & vaṅka: Pischel, Prk. Gr. § 74), I. (adj.).—1. crooked, bent, curved M. I, 31 (+jimha); S. IV, 118 (read v-daṇḍā); Vin. II, 116 (suttā vaṅkā honti); J. I, 9 (of kāja); IV, 362 (°daṇḍa), PvA. 51. With ref. to a kind of vīṇā at VvA. 281.—2. (fig.) crooked, deceitful, dishonest J. III, 313 (of crows: kākānaṃ nāmaṃ C.); VI, 524; Pv IV. 134 (a°); Sn. 270 (probably to be read dhaṅka as SnA 303, =kāka).—3. doubtful, deceitful, deceptive, i.e. haunted Vv 843, cp. VvA. 334.—II. (m.) — 1. a bend, nook, curve (of ponds) J. II, 189; VI, 333 (sahassa°).—2. a hook J. V, 269.—3. a fishhook D. II, 266; Th. 1, 749; J. VI, 437.—On vaṅka in similes see J. P. T. S. 1907, 131.
—aṅgula a crooked finger A. III, 6.—âtivaṅkin having curves upon curves (in its horns), with very crooked antlers J. I, 160 (said of a deer).—gata running in bends or crooked (of a river) J. I, 289.—ghasta (a fish) having swallowed the hook D. II, 266; J. VI, 113.—chidda a crooked hole DA. I, 112.—dāṭha having a bent fang (of a boar) J. II, 405. (Page 591)

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 Dictionaryvaṅkā (वंका).—See under ओ.
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vāṅka (वांक) [or वाक, vāka].—f (vaṅka S) An ornament for the arm (of females). 2 n A felloe or felly (of a wheel). A rib of a ship or boat. 4 m n Curvature or crookedness, lit. fig., perversion, obliquity, bias: also tortuousness or disingenuousness. 5 Ill-terms, misunderstanding, grudge.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishvāṅka (वांक).—f An ornament for the arm. n A felly; a rib of a ship. m n Cur- vature. Grudge.
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 dictionaryVaṅka (वङ्क).—
1) The bend of a river.
2) Crookedness, bend, curve.
3) = वङ्का (vaṅkā); 'वङ्कः पल्याणभागे स्यात् (vaṅkaḥ palyāṇabhāge syāt)' इति विश्वः (iti viśvaḥ).
4) A vagabond.
-ṅkā The pummel of a saddle; वङ्कावलग्नैक- सवल्गपाणयः (vaṅkāvalagnaika- savalgapāṇayaḥ) Śi.12.6.
Derivable forms: vaṅkaḥ (वङ्कः).
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Vāṅka (वाङ्क).—The ocean.
Derivable forms: vāṅkaḥ (वाङ्कः).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit DictionaryVaṅka (वङ्क).—adj. (= Pali id., Sanskrit vakra, which exists side by side in [Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit], sometimes juxtaposed with vaṅka; § 3.4; compare a-vaṅka), crooked, (1) literally and physically: Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 113.11 vaṅkāś ca ye kāṇaka kuṇṭhakāś ca; 350.9 vaṅkoṣṭho, and 10 vaṅkamukho (in same context vakra- danto 8, vakranāso 9); Mahāvastu iii.283.11 kubjagopānasī-vaṅkā; both lit. and fig., Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā 58.7 (kāya-)vāk-citta-vaṅkāḥ, crooked in body, speech, and mind; (2) fig. crooked, dis- honest, deceitful: Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 48.7 vaṅkāḥ śaṭhā; 268.5 śaṭhā vaṅka- jātīyāḥ (with only 1 ms., others vañcaka-j°; but LaVallée Poussin JRAS 1911.1075 vaṅka-jātikāḥ); 272.1 durbud- dhinaś ca vaṅkāś ca śaṭhā…; Mahāvastu i.96.5 akṣa-vaṅka- dyūta-krīḍā-; 164.14 vaṅkāvakāśā (so Senart for mss. °kāśaṃ ca, unmetrical(ly)) vigato, free from possibility of deceit(?); Mahāvyutpatti 7322 (the next word is vakraḥ); Śikṣāsamuccaya 230.3 doṣa- vaṅka-śāṭhya-kuhanāṃ; (3) name of a mountain (= Pali id.) to which Viśvantara was banished: Jātakamālā 55.12 ff.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryVaṅka (वङ्क).—m.
(-ṅkaḥ) 1. The bend or elbow of a river, the winding course of a stream. 2. Crookedness. f.
(-ṅkā) The pummel of a saddle. E. vaki to curve or bend, aff. ghañ .
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Vāṅka (वाङ्क).—m.
(-ṅkaḥ) The ocean, the sea. E. vaṅka a bend or creek, aff. aṇ .
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryVaṅka (वङ्क).—[vaṅk + a], I. m. 1. The bend of a river. 2. Crookedness. Ii. f. kā, The pommel of a saddle.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryVaṅka (वङ्क).—[masculine] tramper; [feminine] ā pommel (of a saddle).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Vaṅka (वङ्क):—[from vaṅk] a m. ‘roaming about’, a vagabond, [Bhadrabāhu-caritra]
2) [v.s. ...] crookedness, [Horace H. Wilson]
3) [v.s. ...] the bend or elbow of a river, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] = nadī-pātra, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
5) [v.s. ...] = f., [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
6) Vaṅkā (वङ्का):—[from vaṅka > vaṅk] f. the pummel of a saddle, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
7) Vaṅka (वङ्क):—[from vaṅk] b etc. See under √2. vak, [column]2.
8) [v.s. ...] mfn. (for vākra) crooked, deceitful, [Buddha-carita xi, 46].
9) Vāṅka (वाङ्क):—m. (cf. √2. vak, and vaṅka) the ocean, sea, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
[Sanskrit to German] (Deutsch Wörterbuch)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Böhtlingk and Roth Grosses Petersburger WörterbuchVāṅka (वाङ्क):—m. das Meer [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 1, 2, 9.]
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 (+14): Vankacula, Vankada, Vankada Gunakara, Vankadanem, Vankadem Paula, Vankadem-paula, Vankadi, Vankadi Drishti, Vankadi Mhaisa, Vankadi Pagadi, Vankadi Samajuta, Vankadi-najara, Vankaghasta, Vankagiri, Vankahara, Vankaka, Vankala, Vankalakacarya, Vankana, Vankanasika Tissa.
Ends with (+7): Akavanka, Ankavanka, Atthavanka, Avanka, Bahvanka, Cataici Vanka, Gopanasivanka, Kapotavanka, Kayavanka, Lavanka, Modavanka, Moravanka, Nadivanka, Pallavavanka, Rathavanka, Ravicakrakshepakadhruvanka, Saccavanka, Sampavanka, Sarvanka, Satavanka.
Full-text (+26): Nadivanka, Vanki, Vankara, Kapotavanka, Vankanem, Vankana, Gopanasi, Vangasena, Vankasena, Avanka, Savanka, Saccavanka, Vankas, Modavanka, Jimha, Cataici Vanka, Umika, Ghasta, Nibbanka, Vankila.
Relevant text
Search found 7 books and stories containing Vanka, Vaṅka, Vaṅkā, Vāṅka; (plurals include: Vankas, Vaṅkas, Vaṅkās, Vāṅkas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
The Jataka tales [English], Volume 1-6 (by Robert Chalmers)
Jataka 355: Ghata-jātaka < [Volume 3]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Part 6 - Viśvantara-Jātaka (or Vessantara-jātaka) < [Chapter XX - The Virtue of Generosity and Generosity of the Dharma]
Vinaya (3): The Cullavagga (by T. W. Rhys Davids)
Cullavagga, Khandaka 6, Chapter 2 < [Khandaka 6 - On Dwellings and Furniture]
Settlement in Early Historic Ganga Plain (by Chirantani Das)
Part 16 - Vārāṇasī from proto historic to historic context < [Chapter VI - Vārāṇasī: Emergence of the Urban Centre and Seat of Administration]
The Great Chronicle of Buddhas (by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw)
Buddha Chronicle 3: Maṅgala Buddhavaṃsa < [Chapter 9 - The chronicle of twenty-four Buddhas]
The Religion and Philosophy of Tevaram (Thevaram) (by M. A. Dorai Rangaswamy)
Chapter 4 - Tamil and Religion < [Volume 4.1.2 - The conception of Paramanaiye Paduvar]