# कच (kaca)

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

कच (kaca) is a Sanskrit word meaning the hair of the head, a scar or dry sore, a band or the hem of a garment, a cloud, the name of a son of Brihaspati, name of a place. Its 20 recorded definitions are grouped into 9 contexts, among them Hair, Kaca, son of Bṛhaspati (Proper Name), Verb root 'kac' (to bind, shine, sound).

- **SLP1:** `kaca`  **IAST:** kaca  **Devanagari:** कच
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kacha_%28sage%29
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/kacha/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** काच (kāca), कचा (kacā)

## Meanings by context

### Hair (9 definitions)
- the hair of the head  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 242,3] कच (kaca) m. the hair ( esp. of the head), Ragh.; Bhartṛ. &c. ( cf. Religious Thought and Life in India, also called ’Brāhmanism and Hindūism,’ by Sir M. Monier-Williams (Title) 194, n. 1) [ ID=41711 rev (1323,3) ]
- 1. Hair. 2. Name of a son of Brihaspati.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 061-1 ] कच (kaca) kaca, m. hair; N. of a son of Bṛhaspati; -graha, m., -ṇa, n. seizing by the hair. [ ID=5337 ]
- 1. The hair. 2. A proper name, the son of Vrihaspati. 3. Binding. 4. A healed sore. 5. A cloud. 6. A female elephant. 7. Beauty or brilliance.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) m. ( - चः (-caḥ) ) 1 The hair. 2 A proper name, the son of VṚHASPATI. 3 Binding or a binding. 3 A cicatrix, a dry or healed sore. 5 A cloud. f. ( - चा (-cā) ) 1 A female elephant. 2 Beauty, brilliance. E. कच (kaca) to bind, &c. अच् (ac) affix, fem. टाप् (ṭāp). [ ID=8529 ]
- 1. Hair, a scar, or a cloud. 2. A female elephant or beauty.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 148-b ] कच (kaca) ( चः ) ((caḥ)) 1. m. The hair; binding; a cicatrix; a cloud. f. ( चा (cā) ) A female elephant; beauty. [ ID=7955 ]
- 1. Hair. 2. A scar. 3. The hem of a garment. 4. Name of a son of Brihaspati. 5. A cloud.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 159-26 ] कच (kaca) m. 1. Hair, अलिनीजिष्णुः कच (kaca) ानां चयः (alinījiṣṇuḥ kacānāṃ cayaḥ) Bhartr. i.5; 2. a scar; 3. the hem of a garment; 4. name of a son of Bṛihaspati (See App. II.); 5. a cloud. [ ID=7807 ]
- 1. The hair. 2. A proper name, the son of Vrihaspati. 3. Binding. 4. A healed sore. 5. A cloud. 6. A female elephant. 7. Beauty or brilliance.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) m. ( - चः (-caḥ) ) 1. The hair. 2. A proper name, the son of VRIHASPATI. 3. Binding or a binding. 4. A cicatrix, a dry or healed sore. 5. A cloud. f. ( - चा (-cā) ) 1. A female elephant. 2. Beauty, brilliance. E. कच (kaca) ् (kac) to bind, &c. अच् (ac) affix, fem. टाप् (ṭāp). [ ID=8524 ]
- 1. Hair. 2. A proper name.  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 0150-a ] कच (kaca) kac + a, m. 1. The hair, MBh. 1, 4982. 2. A proper name, MBh. 1, 3193. — Comp. Utkaca, i. e. ud-, adj. 1. blown, Bhāg. P. 3, 23, 38. 2. opened, MBh. 1, 6079 (?) Vi-, adj., f. cā. 1. bald, MBh. 1, 6078. 2. blown, Kir. 5, 13; Indr. 5, 8. [ ID=2786 ]
- 1. The hair of the head. 2. The name of a son of Brihaspati.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 106 ] कच (kaca) m. the hair of the head; N. of a son of Bṛhaspati. [ ID=6844 ]
- 1. The hair of the head. 2. A scar or healed sore. 3. A band or binding. 4. The hem of a garment. 5. A cloud. 6. The son of Brihaspati. 7. A place name.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 0194-c ] Kaca, as, m. the hair (especially of the head); a cicatrix, a dry or healed sore, a scar; a binding, band; the hem of a garment; a cloud; N. of a son of Bṛhaspati; N. of a place; ( ā ), f. a female elephant; beauty, brilliancy; [cf. a-kaca, ut-kaca, &c.] —Kaca- pa, as, m. ‘cloud-drinker,’ grass; a leaf; ( am ), n. a vessel for vegetables; a leaf of a vegetable (?). —Kaca-pakṣa or kaca-pāśa, as, m. thick or ornamented hair. —Kaca-māla, as, m. smoke; (per- haps a wrong reading for khatamāla? ). —Kaca- ripu-phalā, f., N. of a tree; see śamī. —Kaca- hasta, as, m. thick or ornamented hair, a beautiful head of hair. —Kacā-kaci, ind. hair against hair, pulling each other's hair. —Kacācita (°ca-ac°), as, ā, am, having long or dishevelled hair. —Kacāmoda (°ca-ām°), am, n. a fragrant ointment for the hair. [ ID=13313 ]

### Kaca, son of Bṛhaspati (Proper Name) (3 definitions)
- the name of a son of Brihaspati  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > N. of a son of Bṛhaspati, MBh.; BhP.; Rājat. [ ID=41715 ]
- A brahman, the son of Brihaspati, who learned the reviving science of Sanjivini from Shukra.  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 365-1 ] Kaca, a brahman, the son of Bṛhaspati. § 145 (Sambhavap.): Janamejaya said: How did Yayāti get Devayānī? Vaiśampā- yana related: In the many battles between the gods and the Asuras, the gods had for their purohita Bṛhaspati Āṅgirasa, and the Asuras Uśanas Kāvya (i.e. Śukra ). As Uśanas, by his science Sañjīvinī, restored the fallen Dānavas to life, and Bṛhaspati was unable to revive the fallen gods, the gods prevailed upon Bṛhaspati's son Kaca to repair to Uśanas and conciliate him and his daughter Devayānī and learn the Sañjīvinī. K. then repaired to the capital of Vṛṣaparvan, the king of the Dānavas, and promising to practise brahma- carya for 1,000 years he was accepted by Uśanas as his Page365-b+ 63 pupil. Young as he was he, by singing and dancing and playing on instruments, etc., soon gratified Devayānī. After 500 years the Dānavas, having discovered who he was, slew him, and one time hacked his body to pieces and gave it to wolves and jackals, another time they pounded it into paste and mixed it with the waters of the ocean, but both times Devayānī prevailed upon Uśanas to restore K. to life by the Sañjīvinī, summoning him and saying, “Come.” Then slaying him for the third time they burned the body and mixed the ashes with the wine ( surā ) which Uśanas drank. As Devayānī again asked her father to revive K., Uśanas said: “It is of no use, as he is always killed again; thou art always worshipped by the Bráhman (i.e. the Veda, Nīl.), the brahmans, the gods including Indra, the Vasus, the Aśvins, the enemies of the gods and the whole world, therefore do not grieve for a mortal.” As Devayānī said she would starve, Śukra imparted the Sañjīvinī to K., who, though reduced to powder, remembered everything. K. then came out, ripping open the stomach of Śukra and then revived Śukra by the Sañjīvinī. Uśanas declared that henceforth that brahman who would drink wine should be reckoned to have committed the sin of slaying a brahman. K. stayed with Śukra for 1,000 years (I, 76 ). When K. was about to return to the gods Devayānī asked him to become her husband, and as he refused (saying that she was a sister to him) she cursed him, saying that his science should bear no fruit. K. again cursed Devayānī, saying that no ṛṣi's son should take her hand, and that his science should bear fruit, if not to himself, at least to him to whom he might impart it. Then he went to the abode of Indra, and the gods declared that he should become a sharer with them in sacrificial offerings (I, 77 ): I, 76, 3199 ( jyeṣṭhaṃ putraṃ Bṛhaspateḥ ), 3199 ( Bṛhaspatisutaḥ ), 3201 ( ṛṣer Aṅgirasaḥ pautraṃ putraṃ sākṣād Bṛhaspateḥ ), 3203, 3204, 3209, 3212, 3213, 3214, 3215, 3216, 3219 ( Bṛhaspatisutaḥ ), 3223, 3226, 3227, 3228 ( Bṛhaspateḥ sutaḥ ), †3232, (†3237), †3239, †3240, †3241, †3244, †3245, †3248, †3253, 3255; 77, (3261), 3265, (3267), 3271, (3272), 3276, 3277.—§ 146 (Devayānī): I, 78, 3279; 80, 3335 ( Āṅgirasaṃ, all. to § 145).—§ 637 ( Rājadh. ): XII, 47 η, 1596 (among the ṛṣis who surrounded Bhīṣma.)—§ 734 (Ānuśāsanik.): XIII, 26 α, 1765 (do.). Cf. Aṅgirasaḥ pautra(ḥ), Āṅgirasa, Bṛhaspatisuta. [ ID=4972 ]
- The son of Brihaspati who was sent to learn the reviving knowledge from Shukracharya.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 1-298 ] Kaca — the son of Bṛhaspati; deputed by gods to learn Samjīvinī vidyā from Śukrācārya; offered himself as a disciple and admitted as a pupil by Śukra; conducted himself to the satisfaction of his teacher and his daughter Devayānī for a period of 500 years. Once while out in the woods tending Śukra's cows, the Asuras killed him and left his body to be devoured by dogs and jackals. The cows returned home but not Kaca. Devayānī suspected of foul play and reported his death. Śukra brought him back to life. 1 On another occasion he went to the woods to gather flowers for Devayānī and this time the Asuras ground him to pieces and mixing them with surā offered it to Śukra who drank it. Again Devayānī persisted wanting him back to life. This meant Śukra's death for he had to come out by tearing open his belly. So he taught Kaca the Samjīvinī vidyā so that he might restore him after his revival. Thus he did and so he learnt the vidyā. After a sojourn of ten hundred years he returned with due leave from his teacher. Now Devayānī offered to marry him but he pointed out that it was not proper to marry his preceptor's daughter. So Page1-299+ 25 she cursed that he would not get the fruits of his vidyā and he retorted that she would not find a Brāhmaṇa husband but only a Kṣatriya. Returned to the gods who gave him a share in their oblations; put to death by Vṛṣaparvan's men. 2 [ Footnote: 1) M. 25. 14-37.] [ Footnote: 2) M. 25. 38-69; chap. 26 whole; Bhā. IX. 18. 22.] [ ID=2361 ]

### Verb root 'kac' (to bind, shine, sound) (2 definitions)
- 1. To bind. 2. To shine. 3. To sound.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 179 ] कच (kaca) r. 1st cl. ( कच (kaca) ते (kacate) ) 1 To bind. 2 To shine. 3 To sound. ( इ (i) ) कच (kaca) ि (kaci) r. 1st cl. ( कञ्चते (kañcate) ) 1 To shine. 2 To bind; also काचि (kāci). [ ID=8528 ]
- 1. To bind. 2. To shine. 3. To sound.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कच (kaca) [Printed book page 147-a ] कच (kaca) r. 1st cl. ( कच (kaca) ते (kacate) ) 1. To bind. 2. To shine. 3. To sound. ( इ ) कच (kaca) ि ((i) kaci) r. 1st cl. ( कञ्चते (kañcate) ) 1. To shine. 2. To bind; also काचि (kāci). [ ID=8523 ]

### A band or hem of a garment (1 definition)
- a band or the hem of a garment  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a band, the hem of a garment, L. [ ID=41713 ]

### A cicatrix or scar (1 definition)
- A scar or dry sore  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a cicatrix, a dry sore, scar, L. [ ID=41712 ]

### A cloud (1 definition)
- a cloud  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a cloud, L. [ ID=41714 ]

### A female elephant (कचा) (1 definition)
- a female elephant  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2B) [Printed book page 242,3] कचा (kacā) f. a female elephant, L. [ ID=41717 ]

### A place name (Kaca) (1 definition)
- Name of a place  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > N. of a place [ ID=41716 ]

### Beauty or brilliancy (कचा) (1 definition)
- beauty, brilliancy  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > beauty, brilliancy, L. ( cf. अ - कच (a-kaca), उत् - कच (ut-kaca), &c.) [ ID=41718 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Index to the Names in the Mahabharata; Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; The Purana Index; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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