Vishkambha, Viṣkambhā, Viṣkambha: 14 definitions

Introduction:

Vishkambha means something in 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.

The Sanskrit terms Viṣkambhā and Viṣkambha can be transliterated into English as Viskambha or Vishkambha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

[«previous next»] — Vishkambha in Purana glossary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—A son of Viśveśā.*

  • * Matsya-purāṇa 171. 50.
Purana book cover
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.

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Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstra

1) Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—One of the 108 karaṇas (minor dance movement) mentioned in the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 4. The instructions for this viṣkambha-karaṇa is as follows, “a hand to be Apaviddha, Sūcī Cārī, foot to be made Nikuṭṭita and the left hand on the chest.”.

2) Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—One of the 32 aṅgahāras (major dance movement) mentioned in the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 4. The instructions for this viṣkambha-aṅgahāra is as follows, “hands by turns made Udveṣṭita, feet are successively made Nikuṭṭita and bent, then assuming Ūrūdvṛtta-karaṇa hands to be made Caturasra and feet Nikuṭṭaka, assuming then Bhujaṅgatrāsita-karaṇa hands to be made Udveṣṭita, assuming Chinna and Bhramaraka Karaṇas while Trika is to be moved, then Karihasta and Kaṭicchinna Karaṇas to be assumed.”.

A karaṇa represents a minor dance movements and combines sthāna (standing position), cārī (foot and leg movement) and nṛttahasta (hands in dancing position). A sequence of multiple karaṇas combine into an aṅgahara (major dance movement).

3) Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ) or Viṣkambhā (विष्कम्भा) refers to one of the eighteen jātis: rules used in the playing of drums (puṣkara) [with reference to Mṛdaṅga, Paṇava and Dardura] according to the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 33. Accordingly, “two heavy syllables, two light syllables, one light syllable, three heavy syllables, and a light syllable such as siṅ māṅ ghaṭa ghendra gu du gheṅ gheṅ ghama tthi metchap constitute viṣkambhā-jāti. It is to be applied in the Erotic Sentiment of superior women”.

Natyashastra book cover
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).

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Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)

[«previous next»] — Vishkambha in Jyotisha glossary
Source: Google Books: Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences (Astronomy)

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ) refers to a “diameter”, according to Hemavijaya Gaṇin’s Kathāratnākara (A.D. 1600).—Accordingly, “The Brāhmaṇa, who is especially well-versed in the whole range of astral science, wore a forehead mark made of saffron and rice-grains—{The round vessel is made of ten palas of copper. In the ghaṭikā [bowl] the height should be made of six aṅgulas. The diameter [i.e., viṣkambha] there should be made to the measure of twelve aṅgulas. The good cherish a water clock that holds sixty palas of water}—dropped the bowl, made fully according to the aforementioned prescriptions, in a basin filled with clean water at the time of the setting of the divine sun”.

Source: Wikibooks (hi): Sanskrit Technical Terms

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—Diameter. Note: Viṣkambha is a Sanskrit technical term used in ancient Indian sciences such as Astronomy, Mathematics and Geometry.

Jyotisha book cover
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.

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Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

[«previous next»] — Vishkambha in Marathi glossary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

viṣkambha (विष्कंभ).—m S The first of the twenty-seven astronomical yōga.

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.

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Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Vishkambha in Sanskrit glossary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—1 Obstacle, hindrance, impediment.

2) The bolt or bar of a door.

3) The supporting beam of a house

4) A post, pillar.

5) A tree.

6) (In dramas) An interlude between the acts of a drama and performed by one or more characters, middling or inferior, who connect the story of the drama and the subdivisions of the plot by briefly explaining to the audience what has occurred in the intervals of the acts or what is likely to happen later on :-S. D. thus defines it :-वृत्तवर्तिष्यमाणानां कथांशानां निदर्शकः । संक्षिप्तार्थस्तु विष्कम्भ आतावङ्कस्य दर्शितः ॥ मध्येन मध्यमाभ्यां वा पात्राभ्यां संप्र- योजितः । शुद्धः स्यात् स तु संकीर्णो नीचमध्यमकल्पितः (vṛttavartiṣyamāṇānāṃ kathāṃśānāṃ nidarśakaḥ | saṃkṣiptārthastu viṣkambha ātāvaṅkasya darśitaḥ || madhyena madhyamābhyāṃ vā pātrābhyāṃ saṃpra- yojitaḥ | śuddhaḥ syāt sa tu saṃkīrṇo nīcamadhyamakalpitaḥ) || 38.

7) The diameter of a circle.

8) A particular posture practised by Yogins.

9) Extension, length; तद्द्विगुणविष्कम्भं खाताद् वप्रं कारयेत् (taddviguṇaviṣkambhaṃ khātād vapraṃ kārayet) Kau. A.1.3; एषामन्तरविष्कम्भो योजनानि सहस्रशः (eṣāmantaraviṣkambho yojanāni sahasraśaḥ) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 6.6.6.

1) The first of the twenty-seven astronomical periods (yoga).

Derivable forms: viṣkambhaḥ (विष्कम्भः).

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

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—m.

(-mbhaḥ) 1. The first of the twenty-seven astronomical periods, called Yogas or Yoga star of the first lunar mansion. 2. Obstacle, hindrance, impediment, resistance. 3. Spreading, extension. 4. Act, doing any thing. 5. A posture of the devotees called Yogis. 6. One of the performers at a dramatic entertainment, either an actor who in the intervals of the scenes explains to the audience the progress of the story, or one or two of the personages of the drama, who do the same in a soliloquy or dialogue. 7. A tree. 8. The bolt or bar of a door. 9. A post, the roof-tree of a house. 10. The diameter of a circle. E. vi before ṣkabhi to stop or hinder, aff. ghañ; or vi + skanbh-ac; also with kan added, viṣkambhaka .

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

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—i. e. vi-skambh + a, m. 1. Obstacle, hindrance, resistance. 2. The bolt of a door. 3. A post, the roof-tree of a house. 4. Spreading. 5. A posture of the devotees, called yogin. 6. Act, doing anything. 7. The first of the twenty-seven astronomical periods called Yogas. 8. A prelude.

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

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ).—[masculine] support; width, diameter; also = seq. [masculine]

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

1) Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ):—[=vi-ṣkambha] [from vi-ṣkambh] m. a prop, support, [Lāṭyāyana; Suśruta]

2) [v.s. ...] the bolt or bar of a door, [Raghuvaṃśa [Scholiast or Commentator]]

3) [v.s. ...] the supporting beam or pillar of a house, [Horace H. Wilson]

4) [v.s. ...] a post (round which the string of a churning-stick is wound), [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

5) [v.s. ...] width, extension, [Mahābhārata; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā; Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa]

6) [v.s. ...] the diameter of a circle, [Āryabhaṭa]

7) [v.s. ...] a mountain-range (= -parvata), [Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa]

8) [v.s. ...] an obstacle, impediment, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

9) [v.s. ...] the first of the twenty-seven astronomical periods called Yogas or the leading star of the first lunar mansion, [Colebrooke]

10) [v.s. ...] (in [dramatic language]) an interlude or introductory scene (coming between the acts [aṅkayor madhya-vartī] and performed by an inferior actor or actors [nīca-pātra-prayojitaḥ], who explains to the audience the progress of the plot, and inform them of what is supposed to have happened in the intervals of the acts cf. praveśaka), [Bharata-nāṭya-śāstra; Daśarūpa] etc.

11) [v.s. ...] a [particular] Yoga-posture, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

12) [v.s. ...] a tree, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

13) [v.s. ...] action, doing anything, [Horace H. Wilson]

14) [v.s. ...] = pratibimba, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

15) [v.s. ...] Name of a divine being reckoned among the Viśve Devāḥ, [Harivaṃśa] ([varia lectio] viskumbhu, nikumba, and viṣṭara)

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

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ):—[vi-ṣkambha] (mbhaḥ) 1. m. First Yoga; obstacle; extension; posture of Yogis; act; actor; a tree; a bolt; a post; a diameter.

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

Viṣkambha (विष्कम्भ) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Vikkhaṃbha.

[Sanskrit to German]

Vishkambha 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.

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Kannada-English dictionary

[«previous next»] — Vishkambha in Kannada glossary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Viṣkaṃbha (ವಿಷ್ಕಂಭ):—

1) [noun] a prop or support (that supports from below or a side).

2) [noun] an obstacle; an impediment.

3) [noun] the extent to which something is extended.

4) [noun] a wooden or iron bar for preventing a closed door from being opened.

5) [noun] a kind of disease, characterised by swelling of the belly, caused by indigestion.

6) [noun] (rhet.) an interlude or introductory scene in which something which is supposed to have happened.

7) [noun] (astrol.) the first of the twenty-seven astronomical periods called Yōgas.

context information

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

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