# आचार्य (ācārya)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/acharya

आचार्य (ācārya) is a Sanskrit word meaning name of Drona, the teacher of the Pandavas, a spiritual preceptress, no separate definition, a spiritual guide or teacher, a female spiritual preceptress, a teacher, especially a Brahman, or Drona. Its 15 recorded definitions are grouped into 6 contexts, among them Teacher or Spiritual Guide, Epithet for Specific Figures, Female Spiritual Preceptress (Ācāryā).

- **SLP1:** `AcArya`  **IAST:** ācārya  **Devanagari:** आचार्य
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acharya
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/acharya/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** आचार्या (ācāryā), आचर्य (ācarya)

## Meanings by context

### Teacher or Spiritual Guide (7 definitions)
- A spiritual guide or teacher, especially one who invests a student with the sacrificial thread and instructs him in the Vedas  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 131,3] आचार (ācāra) ्य (ācārya) a m. ‘knowing or teaching the आचार (ācāra) or rules’, a spiritual guide or teacher (especially one who invests the student with the sacrificial thread, and instructs him in the Vedas, in the law of sacrifice and religious mysteries [ Manu-smṛti (Title) ii, 140; 171 ]), Atharva-veda (Title); Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title) &c. [ ID=22935 ]
- A teacher, especially a Brahman, or Drona  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 037-3 ] आचार्य (ācārya) ā-cāryâ [ fp. to be gone to], m. teacher, esp. a Brāhman; N. of Droṇa, ( teacher of the Pāṇḍavas ); son of an outcast Vaiśya; -ka, n. teachership; -tā, f., -tva, n. calling of a teacher; -vat, a. having a teacher; ā-ṇī, f. wife of a teacher; -adhina, a. dependent one oneʼs teacher: -tva, n. abst. ɴ.. [ ID=3456 ]
- 1. A teacher or spiritual preceptor. 2. A propounder of a religious doctrine.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 095-43 ] आचार्य (ācārya) m. 1. A preceptor, a teacher; 2. a spiritual preceptor; (he is thus defined- उपनीय तु यः शिष्यः वेदमध्यापयोद्विजः । सकल्पं सरहस्यं च तमाचार्यं प्रचक्षते (upanīya tu yaḥ śiṣyaḥ vedamadhyāpayodvijaḥ. sakalpaṃ sarahasyaṃ ca tamācāryaṃ pracakṣate) M. ii.140) See under आध्यापक (ādhyāpaka); 3. one who propounds any religious doctrine, (e.g. Śankara, Mādhava, Rāmānuja.) [ ID=4822 ]
- A spiritual guide or teacher  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 0072-b ] आचार्य (ācārya) ācārya, i. e. ācāra + ya, m. A spiritual guide or teacher; he who invests the student with the sacri- ficial thread and instructs him in the Vedas, etc., Man. 2, 40. — Comp. Kula-, m. a family priest, Bhāg. P. 9, 1, 9. Nāṭya-, m. a dancing master, Mṛcch. 49, 2. [ ID=1423 ]
- 1. A teacher or spiritual guide. 2. A specific caste.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 059 ] आचार्य (ācārya) m. teacher, spiritual guide ( poss. ° वन्त् (°vant); abstr. ° ता (°tā) † f., ° त्व (°tva) † n. ); a cert. caste. [ ID=4071 ]
- teacher, especially of the Veda  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 124-b ] ācāryà, m. teacher, esp. of the Veda. [perhaps, ‘the man of observances,’ fr. ācāra, 1212d 4.] [ ID=584 ]
- 1. A spiritual guide or teacher. 2. A female spiritual preceptress.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 0115-a ] Ā-cārya, as, m. lit. ‘one to whom one must have recourse’ or ‘one who is to be attended to or waited on’ or ‘one whose precepts are to be followed’ or ‘one who knows the ācāra or rules;’ a spiritual guide or teacher, especially one who invests the student with the sacrificial thread, and instructs him in the Vedas, in the law of sacrifice and religious mysteries (Manu 2. 140, 171); an epithet of Droṇa the teacher of the Pāṇḍus; ( ā ), f. a spiritual preceptress. The title ācārya affixed to names of learned men is rather like our Dr.; e. g. Rāghavācārya, &c. —Ācārya-karaṇa, am, n. acting as teacher. —Ā- cārya-tā, f. or ācārya-tva, am, n. the office or pro- ficiency of a holy teacher. —Ācārya-deva, as, m. one whose preceptor is his god. —Ācārya-bho- gīna, as, ā, am, delighting the holy teacher. —Ācārya-miśra, as, ā, am, venerable, honourable. —Ācārya-vat, ān, atī, at, one who has a teacher. —Ācāryopāsana (°ya-up°), am, n. waiting upon or serving the spiritual preceptor. [ ID=8159 ]

### Epithet for Specific Figures (4 definitions)
- Name of Drona, the teacher of the Pandavas  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a N. of Droṇa (the teacher of the Pāṇḍavas), Bhagavad-gītā (Title) i, 2 [ ID=22936 ]
- Drona  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 004-1 ] Ācārya 1 (“the Teacher”) = Droṇa: I, 199, 529, 5331, 5413. —III, 1111, 1923.—IV, 913, 986, 1491, 1493, 1496, 1588, 1598, 1628, 1744, 1837 ( °śiṣyau, i.e. Droṇa and Arjuna), 2117 (°Śāradvatayoḥ), 2234.—V, 2089, 4236, 4898—9, 5784, 5873, 7562.—VI, 831—2, 1578—9, 1591, 1601, 1992, 2092, 2500, 3073, 3411, 3927, 4113, 4128, 4193, 4644.—VII, 154, 257, 288, 438, 448, 472—3, 716, 858, 878, 1494, 1541, 1661, 1911, 1916, 2566, 2636, 2672, 3223, 3231, 3435, 3482, 3618, 3656, 4262, 4273, 4732, 5022, 5085, 5186—7, 5335, 5860, 5877, 6505, 6583, 6588, 6641, 7128, 7340, 7581, 7621, 8309, 8616, 8618, 8762, 8799, 8836, 8838, 8861, 8869, 8874, 8935, 8958, 8966, 8978, 8991, 9038, 9065, 9071, 9124, 9199, 9224, 9320.—VIII, 1044?, 3693.—IX, 3419.— X, 522, 610, 612.—XII, 812. [ ID=37 ]
- Kripa  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > Ācārya 2 = Kṛpa: VII, 6320.—IX, 571 ( Gautama ), 3664. [ ID=38 ]
- Parashurama  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > Ācārya 3 = Paraśurāma: XI, 613. [ ID=39 ]

### Female Spiritual Preceptress (Ācāryā) (1 definition)
- A spiritual preceptress  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2B) [Printed book page 131,3] आ (ā) चार्य (cārya) (ācārya) ा (ācāryā) ( आ (ā) ), f. a spiritual preceptress, Pāṇini (Author) iv, 1, 49; Siddhānta-kaumudī (Title) [The title आ (ā) चार्य (cārya) (ācārya) affixed to names of learned men is rather like our ‘Dr.’; e.g. राघवा (rāghavā) चार्य (cārya), &c.] [ ID=22937 ]

### Qualifications of an Ācārya (1 definition)
- old, selfless, highly learned, humble, well disciplined, and truthful teacher who follows the rules of good conduct  
  *The Purana Index*
  > आचार्य (ācārya) [Printed book page 1-148 ] Ācāryas — qualifications of; old, selfless, highly learned, humble, well disciplined, truthful, etc.; he who by himself follows the rules of good conduct and thus establishes the ācāra and thinks of the truth of the Śāstra by yamas and niyamas. Br. II. 32. 30-32; IV. 8. 5; M. 145. 28-29; Vā. 59. 28-30. [ ID=1174 ]

### Referential Entry (1 definition)
- No separate definition; see the related entry  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 132,1] आचार्य (ācārya) b, आचार्य (ācārya) क (ācāryaka), &c. See in the same place [Cologne Addition] (Title) [ ID=22960 ]

### Social Category or Lineage (1 definition)
- the son of an outcast Vaishya and a Vaishya woman who was formerly a Brahmin's wife  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > [Printed book page 1319,1] (also) the son of an outcast Vaiśya and a Vaiśyā who was before a Brāhman's wife, Manu-smṛti (Title) x, 23 ( accord. to some, read चार्य (cārya) ) [ ID=22936.1 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Index to the Names in the Mahabharata; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); The Purana Index; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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