# हस्ता (hastā)

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

हस्ता (hastā) is a Sanskrit word meaning the hand, an elephant's trunk, hand-writing, the eleventh or thirteenth lunar asterism, a species of tree, an anapest. Its 18 recorded definitions are grouped into 5 contexts, among them Lunar Mansion/Asterism Hasta, Other specific meanings, The hand.

- **Roots:** कृ (kṛ), गम् (gam)
- **SLP1:** `hastA`  **IAST:** hastā  **Devanagari:** हस्ता
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasta_%28nakshatra%29
- **Declensions:** 24 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/hasta/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** हास्त (hāsta), हस्त (hasta)

## Meanings by context

### Lunar Mansion/Asterism Hasta (5 definitions)
- the eleventh or thirteenth lunar asterism  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the 11th (13th) lunar asterism (represented by a hand and containing five stars, identified by some with part of the constellation Corvus), Atharva-veda (Title) &c. &c. [ ID=262141 ]
- the Hasta constellation  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the Nakṣatra Hasta, Purāṇas (Literary category) [ ID=262149 ]
- born under the Nakshatra Hasta  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > हस्त (hasta) mfn. born under the Nakṣatra Hasta, Pāṇini (Author) iv, 3, 34 [ cf., accord. to some Gk. ἀγοστός ] [ ID=262151 ]
- The thirteenth lunar mansion  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > हस्ता (hastā) [Printed book page 1169-a ] हस्ता (hastā) The thirteenth lunar mansion. [ ID=31341 ]
- The thirteenth lunar asterism.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > हस्ता (hastā) [Printed book page 830-01 ] हस्ता (hastā) f. The thirteenth lunar asterism. [ ID=43132 ]

### Other specific meanings (4 definitions)
- a species of tree  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a species of tree, Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=262142 ]
- an anapest  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (in prosody) an anapest, Colebrooke (Author) [ ID=262143 ]
- quantity, abundance, mass  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > quantity, abundance, mass ( ifc. after words signifying ‘hair’; cf. केश - ह् (keśa-h) ° (°) ) [ ID=262144 ]
- a pair of leather bellows  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1B) [Printed book page 1294,3] हस्त (hasta) ( अम् (am) ), n. a pair of leather bellows, Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=262150 ]

### The hand (4 definitions)
- the hand  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 1294,3] हस्त (hasta) m. ( ifc. f( आ (ā) )., of unknown derivation) the hand ( ifc. = ‘holding in or by the hand’; हस्त (hasta) े (haste ) √ कृ (√kṛ) [as two words], ‘to take into the hand’, ‘get possession of’; हस्त (hasta) े - (haste-) √ कृ (√kṛ) [as a comp. ], ‘to take by the hand, marry’; शत्रु - हस्त (hasta) ं (śatru-hastaṃ ) √ गम् (√gam), ‘to fall into the hand of the enemy’), Ṛg-veda (Title) &c. &c. [ ID=262136 ]
- the position of the hand  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the position of the hand (= हस्त - विन्यास (hasta-vinyāsa) ), Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā-prātiśākhya (Title) [ ID=262139 ]
- hand-writing  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > hand-writing, Yājñavalkya (Author); Vikramorvaśī (Title) [ ID=262140 ]
- the hand  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1B) [Printed book page 1294,3] हस्ता (hastā) f. the hand, Atharva-veda (Title) xi, 124 [ ID=262148 ]

### Proper Noun (Name) (3 definitions)
- an epithet of a guardian of the Soma  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > N. of a guardian of the Soma, Sāyaṇa (Author) [ ID=262145 ]
- belonging to a son of Vasudeva  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of a son of Vasudeva, Bhāgavata-purāṇa (Title) [ ID=262146 ]
- belonging to another man  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of another man, Rājataraṃgiṇī (Title) [ ID=262147 ]

### Hand-like objects or measures (2 definitions)
- an elephant's trunk  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > an elephant's trunk ( ifc. = ‘holding with the trunk’), Aitareya-brāhmaṇa (Title); Mahābhārata (Title) &c. [ ID=262137 ]
- the forearm as a measure of length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about 18 inches  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the fore-arm (a measure of length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, = 24 Aṅgulas or about 18 inches), Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā (Title); Rājataraṃgiṇī (Title) &c. [ ID=262138 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Vaidya 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
