# बीज (bīja)

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

बीज (bīja) is a Sanskrit word meaning seed of plants, semen, seed-corn or grain, a runner of the Indian fig-tree, any germ, element, primary cause, source, or origin, calculation of original or primary germs, analysis, algebra. Its 22 recorded definitions are grouped into 12 contexts, among them Comprehensive Meanings of Bīja (Neuter), Biological Seed / Semen / Grain, Origin / Source / Primary Cause.

- **SLP1:** `bIja`  **IAST:** bīja  **Devanagari:** बीज
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C4%ABja
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/bija/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** बीजा (bījā)

## Meanings by context

### Comprehensive Meanings of Bīja (Neuter) (4 definitions)
- 1. Seed of plants and animals, seed-corn, or grain. 2. Runner of the Indian figtree. 3. Germ, element, source, origin, or beginning. 4. Germ of a poem or play from which the plot is developed. 5. Algebra. 6. Quicksilver.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 196-3 ] बीज (bīja) bī́ja, n. seed ( of plants and animals ); seed-corn, grain; runner of the Indian figtree; germ, element; source, origin, beginning; germ of a poem or play ( from which the plot is developed ); algebra; quicksilver: —° a. caused or occasioned by: -ka, m. citron; n. seed; list; -kāṇḍa-prarohin, a. springing from seed or from slips; -kāṇḍa-ruha, a. id.; -kośī, f. seed-vessel ( esp. of the lotus ); -kriyā, f. algebraic solution; -gaṇita, n. algebra; -dravya, n. elementary substance; -pūra : -ka, m. citron tree; -pūrṇa, m. id.; n. citron; -mātr, n. only what is necessary for the preservation of seed or the race; -ruha, a. springing from seed; -vat, a. provided with seed or corn; -vāpa, m. sowing of seed; -śeṣa-mātra, n. even their seed as a remainder; -saṃhṛti-mat, a. containing the germ and the catastrophe ( of a play ). [ ID=12881 ]
- 1. Seed, corn, or grain 2. Semen virile 3. Marrow 4. Origin, cause, or source 5. Algebra 6. The germ of the plot of a play 7. The mystical letter forming the essential part of a mantra  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 509-21 ] बीज (bīja) (I) n. 1. Seed, corn, grain, अंतर्गूढं क्षितिरिव नभो बीज (bīja) मुष्टिं दधाना (aṃtargūḍhaṃ kṣitiriva nabho bījamuṣṭiṃ dadhānā) R. xix.57, M. ii.112, iii.142, ix.33; 2. semen virile; 3. marrow; 4. origin, cause, source; 5. algebra; 6. the germ of the plot of a play; 7. the mystical letter, which forms the essential part of a Mantra (in Tantras ). [ ID=26603 ]
- 1. Seed of plants and animals, seed-corn, or grain. 2. Germ, element, origin, or beginning.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 364 ] बीज (bīja) n. seed (of plants and animals), seed-corn, grain, germ, element, origin, beginning, adj. caused by (—°). [ ID=22135 ]
- seed  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 2-069 ] Bīja denotes ‘seed,’ the operation of sowing seed ( vap ) being several times referred to in the Rigveda 1 and later. 2 In a metaphorical sense the term is used in the Upaniṣads of the classes of beings according to origin, of which the Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3 enumerates three, the Aitareya 4 four. The former list includes aṇḍa-ja, ‘egg-born,’ jīva-ja, ‘born alive,’ and udbhij-ja, ‘produced from sprouts,’ ‘germinating,’ while the latter adds sveda-ja, ‘sweat-born’ — that is, ‘generated by hot moisture,’ an expression which is glossed to comprise flies, worms, etc. Cf. Kṛṣi. [ Footnote: 1) x. 94, 13; 101, 3. Cf. metaphoric- ally, x. 85, 37. In v. 53, 13, dhānya bīja means the ‘seed which produces corn.’] [ Footnote: 2) Av. x. 6, 33; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, vii. 2, 2, 4, etc.] [ Footnote: 3) vi. 3, 1.] [ Footnote: 4) iii. 3. See Keith. Aitareya Āraṇyaka, 235.] [ ID=2178 ]

### Biological Seed / Semen / Grain (3 definitions)
- 1. Seed of plants. 2. Semen. 3. Seed-corn or grain.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 732,2] बीज (bīja) n. (also written वीज (vīja), of doubtful origin; ifc. f( आ (ā) ). ) seed (of plants), semen (of men and animals), seed-corn, grain, Ṛg-veda (Title) &c. &c. [ ID=145385 ]
- seed of plants and animals  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 201-a ] bī́ja, n. seed, of plants and animals. [ ID=2902 ]
- The seed or germ of plants and animals, or seed-corn.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 0684-c ] बीज (bīja) bīja, am, n. (in classical Sanskrit more usually written vīja, q. v., perhaps fr. rt. jan with vi ), the seed or germ of plants and animals; seed-corn, corn, (see vīja. ) —Bīja-vat, ān, atī, at, Ved. possessing seed. [ ID=34760 ]

### Origin / Source / Primary Cause (3 definitions)
- any germ, element, primary cause, source, or origin  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > any germ, element, primary cause or principle, source, origin ( ifc. = caused or produced by, sprung from), Chāndogya-upaniṣad (Title); Mahābhārata (Title); Kāvya literature (Literary category) &c. [ ID=145387 ]
- truth as the seed or cause of being  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > truth (as the seed or cause of being), Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=145390 ]
- 1. From Ishvara and Yoni. 2. From Prakriti. 3. From Narayana.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 2-485 ] Bīja — from Īśvara and Yoni; from Prakṛti; from Nārā- yaṇa. Vā. 101. 228. [ ID=9068 ]

### Citron Tree / Fruit (2 definitions)
- the citron tree  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > बीज (bīja) m. = बिजक (bijaka), the citron tree, Āryabhaṭa (Author) [ ID=145396 ]
- The citron tree.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > बीज (bīja) (II) m. The citron tree. ( बीज (bīja) ाकृ (bījākṛ) 1. to sow with seed; 2. to harrow after sowing.) [ ID=26604 ]

### Orthographic / Cross-Reference (2 definitions)
- See vija  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 519-a ] बीज (bīja) n. ( - जं (-jaṃ) ) See वीज । (vīja.) [ ID=28775 ]
- see vija  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > बीज (bīja) [Printed book page 0633-a ] बीज (bīja) bīja, see vīja. [ ID=10317 ]

### Specific Botanical / Anatomical Terms (2 definitions)
- a runner of the Indian fig-tree  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a runner (of the Indian fig-tree), Vikramāṅkadeva-carita, by Bilhaṇa (Title) [ ID=145386 ]
- the position of the arms of a child at birth  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the position of the arms of a child at birth, Bhāgavata-purāṇa (Title) [ ID=145393 ]

### Algebra / Mathematical Analysis (1 definition)
- calculation of original or primary germs, analysis, algebra  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > calculation of original or primary germs, analysis, algebra, Colebrooke (Author) [ ID=145389 ]

### Germ of Composition / Plot Element (1 definition)
- the origin or germ of a literary composition, plot, or formula  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the germ or origin of any composition (as of a poem, of the plot of a drama, of a magical formula &c.), Rāmāyaṇa (Title); Bhāgavata-purāṇa (Title); Daśarūpa (Title); Pratāparudrīya (Title) [ ID=145388 ]

### Marrow (1 definition)
- marrow  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > marrow, Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=145395 ]

### Mystical Syllable (Bīja Mantra) (1 definition)
- the mystical letter or syllable forming the essential part of any deity's mantra  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the mystical letter or syllable which forms the essential part of the Mantra of any deity, Religious Thought and Life in India, also called ’Brāhmanism and Hindūism,’ by Sir M. Monier-Williams (Title) 197 &c. [ ID=145392 ]

### Quicksilver / Mercury (1 definition)
- quicksilver  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > quicksilver (?), Sūryasiddhānta (Title) [ ID=145394 ]

### Receptacle / Support (1 definition)
- anything serving as a receptacle or support  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > anything serving as a receptacle or support (= आलम्बन (ālambana) ), Yogaśāstra [Cologne Addition] (Title) [ ID=145391 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; 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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