धारणाdhāraṇā

धारणा (dhāraṇā) is a Sanskrit word meaning holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, or maintaining, retaining or keeping back, and having a good memory, concentration of the mind, to exercise concentration, understanding, intellect, firmness, steadfastness, righteousness. Its 21 recorded definitions are grouped into 7 contexts, among them Mental Concentration, Meditation, and Yoga, Act of Holding or Supporting, Memory and Mental Retention.

Root: धृ (dhṛ)
Definitions: 21

View Declension Tables , 24 forms

Meanings by context

Mental Concentration, Meditation, and Yoga

5 definitions

concentration of the mind

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

to exercise concentration

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Keeping the mind collected, holding the breath suspended, or steady abstraction of mind.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Conviction or abstraction

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

a form of yoga for controlling the mind, and thinking

— The Purana Index

Act of Holding or Supporting

4 definitions

holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, or maintaining

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

The act of holding, bearing, or supporting

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Wearing a dress. 2. Supporting or assistance. 3. Repression. 4. Memory or mental retention. 5. Mental concentration, suspension of the breath, or immovable abstraction. 6. Settled rule. 7. Understanding.

— Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Holding, supporting, or preserving. 2. Good memory or the power of retaining in the mind. 3. Steady mental concentration or abstraction. 4. Fortitude or firmness. 5. A settled rule, precept, or conclusion. 6. Understanding or intellect. 7. Propriety.

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Memory and Mental Retention

4 definitions

retaining or keeping back, and having a good memory

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

The faculty of retaining in the mind, or a retentive memory.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Memory

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

a retentive memory

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Firmness, Steadfastness, and Moral Conduct

3 definitions

firmness, steadfastness, righteousness

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Fortitude, firmness

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Continuance in rectitude, propriety, or decorum

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Fixed Rule or Precept

2 definitions

1. A fixed preceptor. 2. A settled rule or certainty.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A fixed precept, settled rule, or conclusion.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Understanding and Intellect

2 definitions

understanding, intellect

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Understanding or intellect

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Specific Calendrical Period

1 definition

the eighth to the eleventh day in the light half of the month of Jyaishtha

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Read धारणा in the app

All the contexts on this page, offline — and the word becomes yours to keep, annotate and come back to.

Favorite धारणा to save it
Add your own notes
Search by Context
Declension tables offline
Syncs through iCloud

Definitions on this page come from 5 works: Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), The Purana Index, Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon.