# ध्यान (dhyāna)

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

ध्यान (dhyāna) is a Sanskrit word meaning meditation, thought, reflection, mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity, insensibility, dulness, name of a particular personification, the eleventh day of the light half in Brahma's month, divine intuition or discernment. Its 18 recorded definitions are grouped into 5 contexts, among them General Meditation, Thought, and Reflection, Mental Representation of Deity, Specific Names and Entities.

- **Roots:** गम् (gam), स्था (sthā), ध्या (dhyā)
- **Etymology:** E. ध्यै to meditate, affix ल्युट् — E. dhyai to meditate, affix lyuṭ
- **SLP1:** `DyAna`  **IAST:** dhyāna  **Devanagari:** ध्यान
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/dhyana/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### General Meditation, Thought, and Reflection (12 definitions)
- meditation, thought, reflection  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 521,1] ध्यान (dhyāna) n. meditation, thought, reflection, ( esp. ) profound and abstract religious meditation, ( ° नम् आपद् (°nam āpad), आ - (ā-) √ स्था (√sthā) or ° नं -√ गम् (°naṃ-√gam), to indulge in r° m° ), Chāndogya-upaniṣad (Title); Manu-smṛti (Title); Mahābhārata (Title); Kāvya literature (Literary category) &c. (with Buddhists divided into 4 stages, Monier-Williams’ Buddhism in its connexion with Brāhmaṇism and Hindūism: and in its contrast with Christianity (Title) 209; Dharmasaṃgraha (Title) lxxii; but also into 3 in the same place [Cologne Addition] (Title) cix ) [ ID=102194 ]
- Meditation, reflection, or contemplation  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 0602-a ] ध्यान (dhyāna) [ ध्यै - भावे - ल्युट् (dhyai-bhāve-lyuṭ) ] 1 Meditation, reflection, thought, contemplation; ज्ञानाद् ध्यान (dhyāna) ं विशिष्यते (jñānād dhyānaṃ viśiṣyate) Bhagavadgītā (Bombay) 12. 12; ( pb ) Manusmṛti 1. 12, 6. 72
- Abstract contemplation or religious meditation  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 0602-a ] ध्यान (dhyāna) [ ध्यै - भावे - ल्युट् (dhyai-bhāve-lyuṭ) ] 2 Especially, abstract contemplation, religious meditation; तदैव ध्यान (dhyāna) ादवगतोऽस्मि (tadaiva dhyānādavagato'smi) Śakuntalā (Bombay) 7; Raghuvaṃśa (Bombay) 1. 73
- Meditation or religious contemplation.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 134-3 ] ध्यान (dhyāna) dhyā‿ana, n. meditation; religious contemplation: -tatpara, a. lost in thought; -dhīra, a. absorbed in thought; -para, a. id.; -yoga, m. deep meditation, religious absorption; -vat, a. devoted to religious meditation; -sthita, pp. absorbed in thought. [ ID=10157 ]
- 1. Profound meditation and reflection bringing an object fully before the mind. 2. Mental representation of the attributes of a deity being worshipped.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 448 ] ध्यान (dhyāna) n. ( - नं (-naṃ) ) 1 Meditation, reflection, but especially that profound and abstract consideration which brings its object fully and undisturbedly before the mind. 2 Mental representation of the personal attributes of the divinity to whom worship is addressed. E. ध्यै (dhyai) to meditate, affix ल्युट् (lyuṭ). [ ID=20822 ]
- Meditation or reflection  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 400-a ] ध्यान (dhyāna) ( नं ) ((naṃ)) 1. n. Meditation; reflection. [ ID=20317 ]
- 1. Meditation or reflection. 2. Religious meditation. 3. Divine intuition. 4. Mental representation of a deity's attributes.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 364-04 ] ध्यान (dhyāna) n. 1. Meditation, reflection, contemplation, ध्यान (dhyāna) लयेन पुरः परिकल्प्य भवंतमतीव दुरापम् (dhyānalayena puraḥ parikalpya bhavaṃtamatīva durāpam) Git.G. iv., M. i.12; 2. religious meditation, R. i.73; 3. divine intuition or discernment; 4. mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity. [ ID=18604 ]
- 1. Deep meditation and reflection. 2. Mental representation of the attributes of a deity.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 373-b ] ध्यान (dhyāna) n. ( - नं (-naṃ) ) 1. Meditation, reflection, but especially that profound and abstract consideration which brings its object fully and undisturbedly before the mind. 2. Mental representation of the personal attributes of the divinity to whom worship is addressed. E. ध्यै (dhyai) to meditate, affix भावे ल्युट् । (bhāve lyuṭ.) [ ID=20808 ]
- 1. Religious meditation. 2. Intuition.  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 0449-a ] ध्यान (dhyāna) dhyāna, i. e. dhyai + ana, n. 1. Religious, pious meditation, Bhāg. P. 3, 12, 13; Bhag. 12, 12; Vedāntas. in Chr. 217, 15. 2. Intuition, Rām. 1, 9, 64. [ ID=7100 ]
- thought, reflection, religious meditation  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 257 ] ध्यान (dhyāna) n. thought, reflection, (religious) meditation; p. ° वन्त् (°vant) & ध्यान (dhyāna) िन् (dhyānin). [ ID=15585 ]
- meditation  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 178-a ] dhyāna, n. meditation. [ √dhyā, 1150. ] [ ID=2190 ]
- 1. Meditation, thought, or reflection, especially profound and abstract religious contemplation. 2. Divine intuition or discernment. 3. Mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 0461-a ] Dhyāna, am, n. meditation, thought, reflection, especially profound and abstract religious contem- plation; divine intuition or discernment; mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity; ( as ), m., N. of the eleventh day in the light half in Brahmā's month. —Dhyāna-gamya, as, ā, am, attainable by meditation or reflection. —Dhyāna- gocara, as, m., N. of a class of Buddhist deities; [cf. dhyānāvacara. ] —Dhyāna-japya, ās, m. pl., N. of a race. —Dhyāna-tatpara, as, ā, am, lost in thought, absorbed in meditation, reflecting, medi- tative. —Dhyāna-dīpa, as, m. ‘the lamp of medi- tation,’ N. of a work. —Dhyāna-dyuti, is, m., N. of a man. —Dhyāna-niṣṭha, as, ā, am, engaged in meditation, contemplative, lost in thought. —Dhyā- na-para, as, ā, am, = dhyāna-tatpara. —Dhyāna- pāramitā, f., see pāramitā. —Dhyāna-phala, am, n. ‘the fruit of meditation,’ N. of a chapter of the Purāṇa-sarva-sva by Halāyudha. —Dhyāna-bhaṅga, as, m. interruption of thought or meditation. —Dhyāna-maya, as, ī, am, consisting of reflection or meditation. —Dhyāna-mātra, am, n. mere re- flection, thought alone. —Dhyāna-mudrā, f. the prescribed attitude in which to meditate on the deity. —Dhyāna-yoga, as, m. profound meditation, the performance of religious abstraction, (also explained as a Dvandva, meditation and abstraction); N. of a kind of magic mentioned in the Yoga-ratna-mālā, ‘destroying one's enemies by images formed in the mind.’ —Dhyāna-lakṣaṇa, am, n. ‘the mark of meditation,’ N. of a chapter of the Purāṇa-sarva-sva. —Dhyāna-vat, ān, atī, at, occupied in or intent on religious meditation. —Dhyāna-vindūpaniṣad (°du-up°), t, f., N. of an Upaniṣad belonging to the Atharva-veda. —Dhyāna-stha, as, ā, am, ab- sorbed in meditation; lost in thought. —Dhyānā- vacara (°na-av°), ās, m. pl., N. of a class of Buddhist deities; [cf. dhyāna-gocara. ] [ ID=23623 ]

### Mental Representation of Deity (2 definitions)
- mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity, Horace H. Wilson, author of first Sanskrit-English dictionary in 1819 (Author) [ ID=102195 ]
- Mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 0602-a ] ध्यान (dhyāna) [ ध्यै - भावे - ल्युट् (dhyai-bhāve-lyuṭ) ] 4 Mental representation of the personal attributes of a deity; इति ध्यान (dhyāna) ं (iti dhyānaṃ)

### Specific Names and Entities (2 definitions)
- Name of a particular personification  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) m. N. of a partic. personification, Maitrāyaṇī-saṃhitā (Title) [ ID=102197 ]
- the eleventh day of the light half in Brahma's month  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of the 11th day of the light half in Brahma's month, Purāṇas (Literary category) [ ID=102198 ]

### Divine Intuition/Discernment (1 definition)
- Divine intuition or discernment  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > ध्यान (dhyāna) [Printed book page 0602-a ] ध्यान (dhyāna) [ ध्यै - भावे - ल्युट् (dhyai-bhāve-lyuṭ) ] 3 Divine intuition or discernment

### Insensibility/Dulness (1 definition)
- insensibility, dulness  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > insensibility, dulness, Bhāvaprakāśa (Title) [ ID=102196 ]

## 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); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

The Sanskrit Lexicon app for iPhone, iPad and Mac: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sanskrit-lexicon-dictionary/id6746787546