# दया (dayā)

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

दया (dayā) is a Sanskrit word meaning sympathy, compassion, pity, pity, tenderness, compassion, mercy, and sympathy, sympathy or compassion, sympathy, pity, kind, sympathetic, an epithet of Shiva. Its 13 recorded definitions are grouped into 5 contexts, among them Core Emotion: Compassion, Pity, Sympathy, Personification of Dayā, Adjectival/Qualitative Derivatives of Dayā.

- **Roots:** कृ (kṛ), दय् (day)
- **SLP1:** `dayA`  **IAST:** dayā  **Devanagari:** दया
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daya_%28virtue%29
- **Declensions:** 24 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/daya/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** दाय (dāya), दय (daya)

## Meanings by context

### Core Emotion: Compassion, Pity, Sympathy (8 definitions)
- sympathy, compassion, pity  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 469,3] दया (dayā) f. sympathy, compassion, pity for ( loc. Mahābhārata (Title); Pañcatantra (Title); Bhartṛhari (Author) &c.; gen. Rāmāyaṇa (Title); Harivaṃśa (Title) 8486; in comp. Mahābhārata (Title) xiv; Hitopadeśa (Title) i, 6, 41 ), Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title) xiv &c. ( ° यां √ कृ (°yāṃ √kṛ), ‘to take pity on’ [ loc. Mahābhārata (Title); Hitopadeśa (Title) i, 2, 7; gen. Vopadeva (Author) ]) [ ID=90343 ]
- Pity, tenderness, compassion, mercy, and sympathy.  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 0558-a ] दया (dayā) [ दय् भिदा - भावे अङ् (day bhidā-bhāve aṅ) ] Pity, tenderness, compassion, mercy, sympathy; निर्गुणेष्वपि सत्त्वेषु दया (dayā) ं कुर्वंति (nirguṇeṣvapi sattveṣu dayāṃ kurvaṃti) साधवः (sādhavaḥ) Hitopadeśa (Nirṇaya Sāgara Edition) 1. 60; Raghuvaṃśa (Bombay) 2. 11; यत्नादपि (yatnādapi) परक्लेशं हर्तुं या हृदि जायते । इच्छा भूमिसुरश्रेष्ठ (parakleśaṃ hartuṃ yā hṛdi jāyate. icchā bhūmisuraśreṣṭha) सा दया (dayā) परिकीर्तिता ॥ (sā dayā parikīrtitā..)
- Sympathy or compassion  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 116-3 ] दया (dayā) day-ā́, f. sympathy, compassion, with ( g., lc., —° ): -ṃ kṛ, have compassion on ( g. or lc. ); -ārdra-bhāva, m. compassionate tenderness. [ ID=9082 ]
- Sympathy, compassion, pity, mercy, and tenderness  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 325-24 ] दया (dayā) f. Sympathy, compassion, pity, mercy, tenderness, R. ii.11, Bg. xvi.2. [ ID=16510 ]
- Compassion  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 0387-b ] दया (dayā) day + ā, f. Compassion, Bhag. 16, 2. — Comp. A-daya + m, adv. pas- sionately, Vikr. d. 147. Nirdaya, i. e. nis-, adj., f. yā. 1. unmerciful, cruel, Pañc. 176, 10. 2. passionate, Rājat. 5, 281. 3. not treated with affection, Man. 9, 239. °yam, adv. passionately, Hit. i. d. 102. Bhūta-, f. compassion for living creatures, MBh. 14, 2841. Sa-, adj. 1. compassionate. 2. benevo- lent. °yam-, adv. softly, Śāk. d. 72. [ ID=6307 ]
- sympathy, pity  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 219 ] दया (dayā) f. sympathy, pity for ( loc., gen., or —°); poss. ° वन्त् (°vant).† [ ID=13338 ]
- sympathy, compassion  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 168-a ] dayā́, f. sympathy; compassion. [ √day. ]. [ ID=1893 ]
- 1. Sympathy, compassion, pity, mercy, tenderness, love, or clemency. 2. Pity personified as a daughter of Daksha, wife of Dharma, and mother of Abhaya.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 0402-c ] Dayā, f. taking interest in, sympathy, compas- sion, pity, mercy, tenderness, love, clemency, pity for (with loc. or gen., e. g. mayi or mama da- yāṃ kuru, take pity on me); Pity personified as a daughter of Dakṣa, wife of Dharma, and mother of Abhaya. (According to some, the form daya, as, m. occurs; and according to others, daya may be used as an adj. meaning ‘compassionate;’ cf. a-daya, nir-d°, sa-d°. ) —Dayā-kara, as, ā or ī, am, showing pity or compassion, sympathis- ing, kind; ( as ), m. an epithet of Śiva. —Dayā- kūrca, as, m. a Buddha or a form of Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion. —Dayā- kṛt, t, t, t, pitiful, compassionate. —Dayā-nidhi, is, m. a treasure of mercy, a very compassion- ate person. —Dayānvita (°yā-an°) or dayā- yukta, as, ā, am, full of pity, pitiful, compassionate, benevolent. —Dayā-rāma, as, m., N. of several men. —Dayā-vat, ān, atī, at, pitiful, merciful, tender, compassionate, taking pity on (with loc. or gen.). —Dayā-vīra, as, m. a hero in compassion, a very merciful man. —Dayā-śaṅkara, as, m., N. of a man. —Dayā-śīla, as, ā, am, tender-hearted, compassionate. —Dayormi (°yā-ūr°), is, is, i, having compassion for (its) waves. [ ID=21930 ]

### Personification of Dayā (2 definitions)
- Pity  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > [Printed book page 470,1] Pity (daughter of Dakṣa and mother of A-bhaya, Bhāgavata-purāṇa (Title) iv, 1, 49 f. ), Harivaṃśa (Title) 14035; cf. अ - दय (a-daya); निर् - (nir-), and सदय (sadaya). [ ID=90344 ]
- 1. A daughter of Daksha, wife of Dharma, and mother of Abhaya. 2. A shakti.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > दया (dayā) [Printed book page 2-074 ] Dayā — a daughter of Dakṣa, and a wife of Dharma; mother of Abhaya; 1 a śakti. 2 [ Footnote: 1) Bhā. IV. 1. 49-50.] [ Footnote: 2) Br. IV. 44. 89.] [ ID=5854 ]

### Adjectival/Qualitative Derivatives of Dayā (1 definition)
- kind, sympathetic  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — कर (kara) a. kind, sympathetic. (

### Dayā-vīra: Heroic Compassion in Rhetoric (1 definition)
- Blood still flows from the mouths of my veins, and my body still has flesh; yet I do not see you satisfied, O Garuda, why have you ceased from eating?  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — शिरामुखैः (śirāmukhaiḥ) स्यंदत एव रक्तमद्यापि देहे मम मांसमस्ति । तृप्तिं (syaṃdata eva raktamadyāpi dehe mama māṃsamasti. tṛptiṃ) ( pb ) न पश्यामि तवापि तावत् किं भक्षणात्त्वं विरतो (na paśyāmi tavāpi tāvat kiṃ bhakṣaṇāttvaṃ virato) गरुत्मन् ॥ (garutman..) cf. also R. G. under दयावीर (dayāvīra). [ ID=15215 ]

### Epithets involving Dayā for Deities/Figures (1 definition)
- an epithet of Shiva  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — रः (raḥ) ) an epithet of Śiva

## Sources

Definitions from 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; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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