दक्षिणाdakṣiṇā

दक्षिणा (dakṣiṇā) is a Sanskrit word meaning able, clever, dexterous, right, south or southern, coming from the south, the southern sacred text of the Tantrikas, straightforward, candid, or sincere. Its 55 recorded definitions are grouped into 16 contexts, among them Adverbial: towards/at the right or south, Gift, fee, reward (Dakṣiṇā), South, southern (direction, region, quality).

Roots: कृ (kṛ), दिश् (diś)
Definitions: 55

View Declension Tables , 24 forms

Meanings by context

Adverbial: towards/at the right or south

14 definitions

to the right

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

on the right side

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

from or on the right side

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

from the south

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

on the right, on the south, or southward from

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

to the right

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

On the right or south, or southward from

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

On the right or south of

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

In the southern direction

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

to the right or southwards

— Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

To the south

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

To the right hand or southward.

— Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

On the right or on the south

— Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

southerly or toward the south

— Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary

Gift, fee, reward (Dakṣiṇā)

8 definitions

a fee or present to the officiating priest

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

reward

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

offered to the Guru

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

to thank

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A gift or donation.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A present or gift to Brahmanas at the completion of a religious rite.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A gift, offering, donation, fee, or remuneration.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

The gift presented to priests at a sacrifice

दक्षिणा (dakṣiṇā) [Printed book page 1-336]
Dakṣiṇā appears repeatedly in the Rigveda¹ and later² as the

designation of the gift presented to priests at the sacrifice,

apparently because a cow — a prolific (dakṣiṇā) one — was the

usual ‘fee’³ on such an occasion.⁴ The later Dāna-stutis, or

‘Praises of Gifts,’ in the Rigveda immensely exaggerate these

donations, and the exaggeration grows in the Brāhmaṇas. It

is important to notice that these enumerations of gifts in the

main include nothing but articles of personal property, such as

kine, horses, buffaloes, or camels (uṣṭra), ornaments, and so

forth, but not land.⁵ Reference is, however, made in the

Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa⁶ to land as a Dakṣiṇā, but with dis-

approval, probably because the land came to be regarded as

inalienable without the consent of the clansmen.⁷
[Footnote: 1) A whole hymn, Rv. x. 107, is

devoted to its praise. Cf. i. 168, 7; vi.

27, 8; viii. 24, 29; 39, 5; x. 62, 1, etc.]

[Footnote: 2) Av. iv. 11, 4; v. 7, 11; xi. 7, 9;

8, 22; xiii. 1, 52; xviii. 4, 8, etc.;

Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 7, 3, 1; 8, 1, 1;

Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, iv. 19, 23; xix. 30;

Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 7, 3, 3 et seq.;

Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 9, 3, 1 et seq.

The verses (gāthā nārāśaṃsī, either as

a single expression or as two separate

terms) used to win these Dakṣiṇās were

notoriously false. See Kāṭhaka Saṃ-

hitā, xiv. 5; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 3,

2, 6. 7; Nirukta, i. 7; xi. 2.]

[Footnote: 3) The transition of meaning is similar

in the use of the English word ‘fee’;

‘cattle,’ ‘money,’ ‘payment for service’

(see Murray's English Dictionary,

s.v. ‘fee’). Cf. also Go-dāna, n. 4.]

[Footnote: 4) Cf. the rule that when nothing is

specified a cow is the Dakṣiṇā, Kāty-

āyana Śrauta Sūtra, xv. 2, 13; Lāṭy-

āyana Śrauta Sūtra, viii. 1, 2.]

[Footnote: 5) So, e.g., Rv. i. 126, 1-4; v. 30,

12-15; viii. 1, 32. 33; 3, 21 et seq.;

4, 19-21; 5, 37-39; 6, 46-48; 55; 56;

vii. 18, 21-24, and the full list in

Ludwig, Translation of the Rigveda,

3, 273-277. Cf. Weber, Indische Studien,

10, 49 et seq. Clothes (vāsas) and gold

are mentioned as a Dakṣiṇā in Av. ix. 5,

14. The four Dakṣiṇās, according to

the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, iv. 3, 4, 7,

are gold, a cow, clothes, and a horse.

This is practically exhaustive if the

trappings of the horse and ornaments

are included.]

[Footnote: 6) xiii. 7, 1, 13, with which compare

xiii. 6, 2, 18, where the Brahmin's land

is excluded; and see xiii. 7, 1, 15, where

the gift of land is disapproved.]

[Footnote: 7) Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, vii. 1, 1, 4.

Cf. above, pp. 100, n. 19, 246; below,

pp. 351, 352.

Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 169-

171; Jolly, Recht und Sitte, 104, 105;

Weber, Indische Streifen, 1, 96-98;

Bloomfield, Religion of the Veda, 69-74;

Atharvaveda, 76 et seq., 100, 121.]
[ID=1243]

— The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects

South, southern (direction, region, quality)

7 definitions

south or southern

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

coming from the south

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

the south

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

the south or Deccan

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

The south.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

The southern country, the Deccan.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

the Deccan

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Other meanings (Dakṣiṇā fem.)

5 definitions

a figure of Durga having the right side prominent

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

completion of any rite

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Fame.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A type of heroine who, even when attached to another, does not abandon her former lover out of respect, fear, and love.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Completion of any rite.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Personified Dakṣiṇā (mythological)

4 definitions

1. Donation to the priest. 2. The wife of Sacrifice.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Dakshina regarded as a daughter of Prajapati and the wife of personified Sacrifice.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

the sister and wife of Yajna and mother of the twelve Yama gods

— The Purana Index

daughter of Ruci and Akuti, consort of Suyajña, and mother of the twelve Tushita gods

— The Purana Index

Etymology/Reference

3 definitions

the right hand

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

feminine of dakshina

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

See dakshina

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

Adj: curved right, turned/inclining south

2 definitions

1. Curved to the right. 2. Turned towards the south.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

inclining to the south

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Prolific milch-cow (as Dakṣiṇā)

2 definitions

A prolific milch-cow

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A good or prolific milch-cow.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Religious/Tantric doctrine/text

2 definitions

the southern sacred text of the Tantrikas

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

the right-hand or higher doctrine of the Shaktas

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Right side (not left)

2 definitions

right

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

the right hand or arm

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Adj. (general): able, right, southern, etc.

1 definition

1. Able, competent, or clever. 2. Right, opposite to left. 3. Southern. 4. Straightforward, honest, or impartial. 5. Pleasing, amiable, or agreeable. 6. Liberal or courteous. 7. Submissive.

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Adjective: able, clever, dexterous

1 definition

able, clever, dexterous

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Adjective: honest, sincere, pleasing

1 definition

1. Straightforward, candid, or sincere. 2. Pleasing or compliant.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Noun fem. (general): cow, gift, deity, etc.

1 definition

1. A prolific cow. 2. A gift given to Brahmanas during religious rites. 3. The personified wife of a sacrifice. 4. A gift or offering in general. 5. The south. 6. The Deccan.

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Right-side horse

1 definition

the horse on the right side of the pole of a carriage

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

The god Śiva

1 definition

auspicious, fortunate

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

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Definitions on this page come from 10 works: Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 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), The Purana Index, The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon.