# कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī)

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

कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) is a Sanskrit word meaning name of one of the wives of Yajnavalkya, pertaining to a female ascetic, an epithet of Durga, a middle-aged widow dressed in red clothes, composed by Katyayana, feminine of Katyayana. Its 15 recorded definitions are grouped into 7 contexts, among them Goddess Kātyāyanī (Durgā/Pārvatī), Kātyāyanī as widow or female ascetic, Kātyāyanī, wife of Yājñavalkya.

- **SLP1:** `kAtyAyanI`  **IAST:** kātyāyanī  **Devanagari:** कात्यायनी
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyayani
- **Declensions:** 72 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/katyayani/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** कात्यायनि (kātyāyani)

## Meanings by context

### Goddess Kātyāyanī (Durgā/Pārvatī) (4 definitions)
- an epithet of Durga  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of Durgā, Hariv.; Lalit.; Prab. [ ID=47632 ]
- an epithet of Parvati  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 0393-a ] कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) 3 N. of Pārvatī
- Durga or Uma  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 398-2 ] Kātyāyanī = Durgā (Umā): VI, 798. [ ID=5503 ]
- An image of a ten-handed, three-eyed youth killing Mahishasura and riding a lion  
  *The Purana Index*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 1-346 ] Kātyāyanī — Image of; ten hands, three eyes, youthful, killing Mahiṣāsura, and riding the lion. M. 260. 55-66. [ ID=2776 ]

### Kātyāyanī as widow or female ascetic (4 definitions)
- pertaining to a female ascetic  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of a Pravrājikā, Kathās. [ ID=47631 ]
- a middle-aged widow dressed in red clothes  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a middle-aged widow dressed in red clothes, L. [ ID=47633 ]
- An elderly or middle-aged widow dressed in red clothes  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 0393-a ] कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) 1 An elderly or middleaged widow (dressed in red clothes)
- 1. An elderly widow. 2. An epithet of Parvati.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 179-22 ] कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) f. 1. An elderly widow; 2. an epithet of Pārvatī. [ ID=8853 ]

### Kātyāyanī, wife of Yājñavalkya (3 definitions)
- name of one of the wives of Yajnavalkya  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2B) [Printed book page 270,1] कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) a ( ई (ī) ), f. N. of one of the two wives of Yājñavalkya, ŚBr. [ ID=47630 ]
- Name of a wife of Yajnavalkya  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 0393-a ] कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) 2 N. of a wife of Yājnavalkya
- the wife of Yajnavalkya  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) [Printed book page 1-147 ] Kātyāyanī is the name of one of the two wives of Yājña- valkya in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. 1 [ Footnote: 1) ii. 4, 1; iv. 5, 1. 2. A Kātya appears in the Baudhāyana Śrauta Sūtra, ii. 15 et seq. See Weber, Indian Literature, 138.] [ ID=569 ]

### Adjective: Composed by Kātyāyana (1 definition)
- composed by Katyayana  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2B) [Printed book page 270,1] कात्यायन (kātyāyana) mf( ई (ī) )n. composed by Kātyāyana. [ ID=47634 ]

### Kātyāyanī Vratam (religious observance) (1 definition)
- A religious vow observed by the girls of Vraja to win Krishna as their husband.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > [Printed book page 1-347 ] Kātyāyanī Vratam — was observed by the girls of the Vraja early in the season of Hemanta. After bathing in the Yamunā, they made a figure of the Devī with sand, and worshipped it as the representation of the Devī for a month. Their object was to win Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Prayers were also sent to Bhadrakālī by rising early and bathing in the Yamunā. To test their sincerity Kṛṣṇa saw them one day playing in the river naked leaving their clothes on the banks. He removed these to the top of a Nīpa tree near by. The girls asked for the return of their clothes, and threatened to report to the king. Kṛṣṇa asked them to receive their clothes from him. He said that their vow was fruitless as they bathed naked, and he returned their clothes on their saluting him with both their arms. He then blessed them and asked them to go back to the Vraja which they did. Bhā. X. 22. 1-27. [ ID=2777 ]

### Kātyāyanī: feminine form/patronymic (1 definition)
- feminine of Katyayana  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 270,1] कात्यायनी (kātyāyanī) b f. of ° यन (°yana), q.v. [ ID=47642 ]

### The sage Kātyāyana (1 definition)
- the name of the author of several treatises on ritual, grammar, and other subjects  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 270,1] कात्यायन (kātyāyana) m. ‘descendant of Kati’ (see 2. कति (kati) ), N. of the author of several treatises on ritual, grammar, &c., Harivaṃśa (Title) 1461 and 1768; Rāmāyaṇa (Title) ii, 67, 2; VPrāt.; Yājñavalkya (Author) i, 4 (he is also author of the Vārttikas or critical annotations on the aphorisms of Pāṇini, of the Yajur-veda Prātiśākhya, and of the Śrauta-sūtras, and is identified with Vara-ruci, the author of the Prākṛta-prakāśa) [ ID=47629 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Index to the Names in the Mahabharata; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); The Purana Index; The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects; 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