# आर्द्रा (ārdrā)

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

आर्द्रा (ārdrā) is a Sanskrit word meaning wet, moist, or damp, fresh, succulent, and living, fresh, new, soft, tender, warm, loose, flaccid, name of a grandson of Prithu. Its 14 recorded definitions are grouped into 7 contexts, among them The Nakshatra/Constellation Ārdrā, Wet, Moist, or Fresh (due to moisture), Specific Entities (Ginger, Person, Festival).

- **Root:** अर्द् (ard)
- **SLP1:** `ArdrA`  **IAST:** ārdrā  **Devanagari:** आर्द्रा
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardra_%28nakshatra%29
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/ardra/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** आर्द्र (ārdra)

## Meanings by context

### The Nakshatra/Constellation Ārdrā (5 definitions)
- the fourth or sixth lunar mansion  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1B) [Printed book page 152,1] आ (ā) र्द्रा (ārdrā) ( आ (ā) ), f. the fourth or sixth Nakṣatra or lunar mansion, Atharva-veda (Title); Mahābhārata (Title); Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā (Title) [ ID=26475 ]
- a constellation consisting of one star  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > [Printed book page 107-21 ] आर्द्रा (ārdrā) f. A constellation so called, consisting of one star. [ ID=5387 ]
- a lunar mansion  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > आर्द्रा (ārdrā) [Printed book page 067-1 ] Ārdrā, a nakṣatra. § 746 (Ānuśāsanik.): XIII, 64, 3259 ( Ārdrāyāṃ kṛṣaraṃ dattvā tilamiśram upoṣitaḥ|naras tarati durgāṇi kṣuradhārāṃś ca parvatān ).—§ 749 (do.): XIII, 89, 4257 (by performing a śrāddha under Ā. a man becomes a performer of fierce deeds— krūrakarmā ).—§ 759 (do.): XIII, 110, 5395 (description of the candravrata). [ ID=783 ]
- the name of a constellation  
  *The Purana Index*
  > आर्द्रा (ārdrā) [Printed book page 1-172 ] Ārdrā — the name of a constellation. Vā. 82. 3. [ ID=1385 ]
- the star Alpha Orionis  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > आर्द्रा (ārdrā) [Printed book page 1-416 ] 4. Ārdrā, ‘moist,’ is the name of the brilliant star, (greek) α Orionis. But the names by which it is styled, in the plural as Ārdrās in the Śāṅkhāyana Gṛhya Sūtra 71 and the Nakṣatrakalpa, 72 and in the dual as Bāhū, in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, 73 point to a constellation of two or more stars, and it may be noted 74 that the corresponding Chinese Sieou includes the seven brilliant stars composing the shoulders, the belt, and the knees of Orion. [ Footnote: 71) i. 26.] [ Footnote: 72) 10.] [ Footnote: 73) i. 5, 1.] [ Footnote: 74) Whitney, op. cit., 352, 401, n. 1.] [ ID=1478 ]

### Wet, Moist, or Fresh (due to moisture) (3 definitions)
- wet, moist, or damp  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 152,1] आ (ā) र्द्र (ārdra) mf( आ (ā) )n. (√ अर्द् (ard), Uṇādi-sūtra (Title) ii, 18 ) wet, moist, damp, Ṛg-veda (Title); Taittirīya-saṃhitā (Title); Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title); Mahābhārata (Title); Manu-smṛti (Title); Suśruta (Title); Meghadūta (Title) &c. [ ID=26469 ]
- Fresh, succulent, and living  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > fresh, not dry, succulent, green (as a plant), living, Atharva-veda (Title); Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title); Rāmāyaṇa (Title); Suśruta (Title); Mahābhārata (Title) &c. [ ID=26470 ]
- 1. Wet or moist. 2. Fresh or new. 3. Soft or tender. 4. Loose or flaccid.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आर्द्र (ārdra) ा (rdrā) (ārdrā) [Printed book page 107-19 ] आर्द्र (ārdra) a. (f. र्द्रा (rdrā) ) 1. Wet, moist, तन्त्रीमार्द्रा (rdrā) ं नयनसलिलैः (tantrīmārdrāṃ nayanasalilaiḥ) Megh. ii.23, i.43; 2. fresh, new, e.g. कामीवार्द्रा (rdrā) पराधः (kāmīvārdrāparādhaḥ) Am.S. 2; 3. soft, tender; 4. loose, flaccid. [ ID=5384.1 ]

### Specific Entities (Ginger, Person, Festival) (2 definitions)
- Name of a grandson of Prithu  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > आर्द्र (ārdra) ( अस् (as) ), m. N. of a grandson of Pṛthu, Harivaṃśa (Title); Viṣṇu-purāṇa (Title) [ ID=26474 ]
- fresh ginger  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > आर्द्र (ārdra) ( अम् (am) ), n. fresh ginger, Viṣṇu-smṛti, Viṣṇu-sūtra, Vaiṣṇava-dharma-śāstra (Title) [ ID=26476 ]

### Fresh or New (general sense) (1 definition)
- fresh, new  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > fresh, new, Kathāsaritsāgara (Title) [ ID=26471 ]

### Loose, Flaccid (1 definition)
- loose, flaccid  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > loose, flaccid, Kathāsaritsāgara (Title); Meghadūta (Title); Pañcatantra (Title) &c. [ ID=26473 ]

### Moisture, Dampness (as a noun) (1 definition)
- dampness or moisture  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > dampness, moisture, Harivaṃśa (Title) [ ID=26477 ]

### Soft, Tender, Emotionally Warm (1 definition)
- soft, tender, warm  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > soft, tender, full of feeling, warm [ ID=26472 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Index to the Names in the Mahabharata; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); The Purana Index; The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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