Viphala: 22 definitions

Introduction:

Viphala means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Buddhism, Pali, Marathi, Hindi, biology. 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 Vifal.

In Hinduism

Ayurveda (science of life)

Nighantu (Synonyms and Characteristics of Drugs and technical terms)

Viphala (विफल) refers to “fruitless trees”, as mentioned in a list of four synonyms in the second chapter (dharaṇyādi-varga) of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu (an Ayurvedic encyclopedia). The Dharaṇyādi-varga covers the lands, soil, mountains, jungles and vegetation’s relations between trees [viz., Viphala] and plants and substances, with their various kinds.

Source: Wisdom Library: Raj Nighantu
Ayurveda book cover
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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.

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Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Viphala (विफल) refers to “that which is futile”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.17 (“The dialogue between Indra and Kāmadeva”).—Accordingly, as Brahmā said to Kāma: “[...] Securing a wonderful boon from Brahmā, the great demon Tāraka has become invincible and a pest for everyone. The entire world is harassed by him. Many virtuous rites are destroyed. The gods have become miserable and so also the sages. He had been fought by the gods to the utmost of their ability formerly. But the weapons of all the gods became quite futile [i.e., viphala]. [...]”.

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation
Purana book cover
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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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In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Viphala (विफल) refers to “futile” [?], according to Pūjyapāda’s Sarvārthasiddhi.—Accordingly, “[...] Even if human birth is attained, a good country, a good family, keen senses, health, etc. are more and more difficult of attainment. When all these are attained, if true faith is not acquired, human birth becomes useless like the face without vision. And even after attaining this rare true faith, if anyone is immersed in worldly pleasures, it is (? viphalacandanadahanam iva viphalam) like burning sandal-wood paste for the sake of ash. [...]”.

Source: The University of Sydney: A study of the Twelve Reflections
General definition book cover
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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.

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Biology (plants and animals)

Viphala in India is the name of a plant defined with Pandanus tectorius in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Pandanus odoratissimus L.f. (among others).

Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):

· Der Naturforscher (1774)
· Ceiba (1975)
· Proceedings of the Indian Science Congress Association (1984)
· Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden (1911)
· Supplementum Plantarum (1781)
· Journal of a voyage to the South Seas (1773)

If you are looking for specific details regarding Viphala, for example pregnancy safety, side effects, chemical composition, health benefits, extract dosage, diet and recipes, have a look at these references.

Source: Google Books: CRC World Dictionary (Regional names)
Biology book cover
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This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.

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Languages of India and abroad

Pali-English dictionary

[«previous next»] — Viphala in Pali glossary

viphala : (adj.) fruitless; profitless.

Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionary

Viphala, (adj.) (vi+phala) fruitless, useless Sdhp. 527. (Page 629)

Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

viphala (ဝိဖလ) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[vi+phala.viphala-saṃ.]
[ဝိ+ဖလ။ဝိဖလ-သံ။]

Source: Sutta: Pali Word Grammar from Pali Myanmar Dictionary

[Pali to Burmese]

viphala—

(Burmese text): အကျိုးမရှိသော။

(Auto-Translation): It is useless.

Source: Sutta: Tipiṭaka Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary (တိပိဋက-ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန်)
Pali book cover
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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.

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Marathi-English dictionary

viphala (विफल).—a S pop. viphaḷa a Fruitless, unprofitable, vain, idle.

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

viphala (विफल) [-ḷa, -ळ].—a Fruitless, vain.

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

Viphala (विफल).—a.

1) Fruitless, useless, vain, ineffectual, unprofitable; मम विफलमेतदनुरूपमपि यौवनम् (mama viphalametadanurūpamapi yauvanam) Gītagovinda 7; जगता वा विफलेन किं फलम् (jagatā vā viphalena kiṃ phalam) R. G.; Śiśupālavadha 9.6; Kumārasambhava 7.66; Meghadūta 7.

2) Idle, unmeaning.

3) Having no testicles.

-lā Name of a plant (ketakī).

-lam Fruitlessness, unprofitableness; नावमः कर्मकल्पोऽपि विफलायेश्वरार्पितः (nāvamaḥ karmakalpo'pi viphalāyeśvarārpitaḥ) Bhāgavata 8.5.48.

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Viphala (विफल).—mfn.

(-laḥ-lā-laṃ) Vain, idle, unmeaning, fruitless, useless. E. vi privative, and phala fruit.

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

Viphala (विफल).—adj. vain, fruitless useless Böhtl. Ind. Spr. 1395.

Viphala is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms vi and phala (फल).

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

Viphala (विफल).—[adjective] fruitless, useless, unsuccessful, idle, vain; having no testicles.

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

1) Viphala (विफल):—[=vi-phala] [from vi] a See sub voce

2) [=vi-phala] b mf(ā)n. bearing no fruit (as a tree), [Kāvya literature; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

3) [v.s. ...] fruitless, useless, ineffectual, futile, vain, idle, [Yājñavalkya; Harivaṃśa] etc.

4) [v.s. ...] having no testicles, [Rāmāyaṇa]

5) [v.s. ...] m. Pandanus Odoratissimus, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

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

Viphala (विफल):—[vi-phala] (laḥ-lā-laṃ) a. Vain, useless.

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

[Sanskrit to German]

Viphala in German

Viphala (विफल) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Vihala.

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

[«previous next»] — Viphala in Hindi glossary

Viphala (विफल) [Also spelled vifal]:—(a) failed, unsuccessful; vain, inefficacious; fruitless, futile; ~[] failure; inefficacy, fruitlessness, futility.

Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary
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Prakrit-English dictionary

Viphāla (विफाल) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Vipāṭa.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary
context information

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.

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Kannada-English dictionary

Viphala (ವಿಫಲ):—[adjective] without results; unprofitable; unsuccessful; fruitless.

--- OR ---

Viphala (ವಿಫಲ):—[noun] that which yields no results or is unsuccessful, fruitless.

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus
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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Nepali dictionary

Viphala (विफल):—adj. fruitless; useless; unsuccessful;

Source: unoes: Nepali-English Dictionary
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.

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