# मृत्यु (mṛtyu)

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

मृत्यु (mṛtyu) is a Sanskrit word meaning death, an epithet of the god of love, a particular Ekaha ritual, of the eighth astrological house, the seventeenth astrological Yoga, names of Samans. Its 30 recorded definitions are grouped into 8 contexts, among them The God of Death (Yama), Specific Mythological Figures/Genealogies, The Concept of Death and Dying.

- **Root:** 1. मृ (1. mṛ)
- **Etymology:** E. मृ to die, Unādi aff. त्युक् । — E. mṛ to die, Unādi aff. tyuk
- **SLP1:** `mftyu`  **IAST:** mṛtyu  **Devanagari:** मृत्यु
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrtyu
- **Declensions:** 72 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/mrityu/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### The God of Death (Yama) (8 definitions)
- 1. Death. 2. The personified god of death.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 234-2 ] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) mṛ-t-yú, m. death ( pl. kinds of death); personified as god of death: —°, death caused by, a. dying by. [ ID=14417 ]
- 1. Death. 2. Yama, the judge of the dead.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृ (mṛ) त्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 671 ] मृ (mṛ) त्यु (mṛtyu) mfn. subst. ( - त्युः (-tyuḥ)- त्युः (-tyuḥ)- त्यु (-tyuḥ-tyuḥ-tyu) ) Death, dying. m. ( - त्युः (-tyuḥ) ) YAMA the judge of the dead. E. मृ (mṛ) to die, Uṇādi aff. त्युक् (tyuk). [ ID=30839 ]
- 1. Death or dying. 2. Yama.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 601-b ] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) ( त्युः - त्युः - त्यु ) ((tyuḥ-tyuḥ-tyu)) 1. m. f. n. Death; dying. m. Yama or Pluto. [ ID=30388 ]
- 1. Death or dying. 2. Yama, the judge of the dead.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृ (mṛ) त्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 576-a ] मृ (mṛ) त्यु (mṛtyu) mfn. Subst. ( - त्युः (-tyuḥ)- त्युः (-tyuḥ)- त्यु (-tyuḥ-tyuḥ-tyu) ) Death, dying. m. ( - त्युः (-tyuḥ) ) YAMA, the judge of the dead. E. मृ (mṛ) to die, Unādi aff. त्युक् । (tyuk.) [ ID=32000 ]
- 1. Death. 2. Yama.  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 0722-a ] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) mṛtyu ( vb. mṛ ), 1. m. f. Death, Pañc. iii. d. 14. 2. m. Yama. — Comp. Apa-, m. sudden, or unnatural death, Pañc. 186, 24. Pratyāsanna- ( vb. sad ), adj. to whom death was im- minent, Pañc. 10, 9. Mahā., m. Śiva. Viṣa-, m. a kind of pheasant. [ ID=11505 ]
- 1. Death or the god of death. 2. The various kinds of death.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 419 ] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) m. death or the god of death; pl. the various kinds of death. [ ID=25255 ]
- Death  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 489-1 ] *Mṛtyu 1 (“Death”), masc., sometimes identified with Antaka and Yama (Dharma): I, 2619 ( Antakaḥ, son of Adharma), 5641 ( °pāśāt ), 6764 ( °ur ivogreṇa daṇḍena ), 8267 ( devaḥ, armed with an axe he partook in the encounter between the gods and Kṛṣṇa + Arjuna); II, 340 ( Kālaḥ? ); III, †12356 ( °m ivograrūpaṃ ), 14550 (followed Yama); IV, 1580; V, †1580 ( na vai M°r vyāghra ivātti jantūn ), †1841 ( °m ivāpa- tantaṃ ), 2044 ( nararūpeṇa, sc. Bhīmasena), 2463 ( °pāśava- śānugau ), 2662 ( °pāśāt ), 4671 ( °pāśavaśīkṛtā ), 5616 ( °pāśava- śaṅgatāḥ ), 7274 ( °saṅkāśaṃ bāṇaṃ ); VI, 1238 (Kṛṣṇa identified with M.), 1946 ( °or daṇḍasamaprabhāṃ, sc. śaktiṃ ), 2202 ( °daṇḍam ivāparaṃ ), 2797 ( °or āgārasannibhaṃ ), 2800 ( °m ivāyāntaṃ ), 2831 ( Kāla-M°samaprabhaṃ ), 2874 ( Kāla- M°samau ), 3406 ( preṣayām āsa M°ave ), 3516 ( śarair M°daṇḍaprakāśaiḥ ), 3675 ( preṣayām āsa M°ave ), 3793 ( °or āsyam anuprāptaṃ ), 3959 ( preṣayām āsa M°ave ), 4359 (do.), 4758 ( °kalpāṃ, sc. mahāśaktiṃ ), 4800 ( °or āsyagataṃ yathā ), 5312 ( preṣayām āsa M°ave ), 5380 ( °or ghorām iva svasām ); VII, 23 ( °nāhūtāḥ ), †68 ( °mukhād iva ), 272 ( °nā hataḥ ), 421 ( °pāśapuraskṛtaḥ ), 656 ( °ur ivāntakaḥ ), 1071 ( kruddho M°r ivāhave ), 2020, 2025, 2039, 3012 ( kruddhaṃ M°m ivāntakaṃ ), 3135 ( °ḥ Kālena coditaḥ ), 3257 ( kruddhaṃ M°m ivāntakaṃ ), 3838 ( preṣayiṣyāmi M°ave ), 4459 ( grastān M°nā saṅgatān ), 5808 ( ?praiṣīd m°m ivāntakaḥ ), 6167 ( °ur vigrahavān iva ), 6179 ( °or āghātalalitaṃ ), 7450 ( °or iva svasāraṃ, sc. śaktiṃ ), 7637 ( °or āsyam anuprāptaṃ ), †8168 ( °or svasāraṃ jvalamānām iva, sc. śaktiṃ ), 8288 ( °or āsyāntarān muktān ), 8935 ( preṣayām āsa M°ave ), 9596 (Śiva identified with M.); VIII, †666 ( api ), 909 ( śaraṃ…M°-Kālāntakopamaṃ ), †1722 ( °m ivo- grarūpiṇaṃ ), †1972 ( °mukhaṃ nayiṣe ), 2309 ( nāśakat tān atikrāntuṃ M°r brahmavido yathā ), 2414 ( Kiṅkarodyatadaṇḍena M°nāpi ), 2470 ( °daṇḍam ivāparaṃ, sc. parighaṃ ), 2480 ( preṣayām āsa M°ave ), 2629 ( āpanno M°or āsyam ivāturaḥ ), 2709 ( °or upāntikaṃ prāptau ), 2812 ( antakāle yathā kruddho M°ḥ Kiṅkaradaṇḍabhṛt ), 2922 ( śaraṃ…M°daṇḍam ivā- paraṃ ), 2936 ( preṣayiṣyāmi M°ave ), 2957 ( °or āsyagataṃ yathā ), 2986 ( °or mukhagataṃ yathā ), †3370 ( prahinon M°sadma ), †3808(?), †3809 ( °vaśaṃ nināya ), †3810 ( °vaśaṃ …ninye ), †4222 ( śaktiṃ…M°rūpāṃ ), †4669 ( aprāpya M°vaśaṃ ), †4795 ( api ); IX, 870 ( °m ivāntakaṃ ), 947 ( martyā M°m ivāgataṃ ), 2519 ( Kālo Yamaśca M°śca, came to the investiture of Skanda), 3108 ( °oḥ, sc. samau, sc. Bhīmasena and Duryodhana); XI, 114 ( °ṃ…gacchati ), 336 ( °or daṃṣṭrāntaraṃ gataḥ ), 506 ( °vaśaṃ gataḥ ), 541 ( °pāśa- ); XII, 168 ( °yānaṃ ), 347 ( °pāśena kaṇṭhe badhnāti Mṛtyurāṭ ), 380 ( °or āsye sa vartate ), 440 (among those who are slayers), 481 ( °mukhāni, read °mukhaṃ with B.), 526 ( °or viṣayaṃ gatāḥ ), 2214 ( °or duhitā…Sunīthā nāma ), 2576 (= Antaka), 2585 ( iva ), 2982 ( °padaṃ ), 4497 ( prāṇeś- varaṃ ), 4501 ( caturvibhāgasya, see PCR.), 6550 ( °senāṃ ), 7198 ( Kāla-M°-Yamānāṃ ), 7200, 7213, 7226, 7227, (7230), 7230, 7231, 7251, 7317, 7332, 7843 ( °mukhaṃ ), 9149 (fem.?), 11061, 12413 ( °-Vaivasvatau ); XIII, 16 ( saṃvādaṃ M°-Gautamyoḥ Kāla-lubdhakapannagaiḥ ), 23 ( °or lokaṃ ), 35, 49, (50), 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, (65), 66, (67), 69, Page489-b+ 63 70, 76, 78, 79, 80, 86, 87, 124, 131, 142 ( raudrabhāvena ), 150 ( kūṭamudgarahastaḥ ), 164 (= Dharma), 170, 174, 178, 1288 (learnt the 1000 names of Śiva from Śakra and taught them to the Rudras), 2230, 3129, 3177, 6905 ( °oḥ panthānaṃ ), 7098, †7397 (Kṛṣṇa identified with M.), 7497 (Rudra (Śiva) identified with M.), 7521 (do.); XIV, 296 ( °padaṃ ), 337 ( °or āsye ), 1489. [ ID=7373 ]
- 1. The Lord of Death born from the eyes of Brahma. 2. Father of Sunitha. 3. An assistant to Yama.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Mṛtyu (VII) — the Lord of Death; born out of the eyes of Brahmā; 1 had an ugly daughter Sunīthā married to Anga- Prajāpati; 2 an assistant to Yama. 3 [ Footnote: 1) M. 3. 11; 213. 4.] [ Footnote: 2) Ib. 10. 3.] [ Footnote: 3) Ib. 213. 18.] [ ID=10973 ]

### Specific Mythological Figures/Genealogies (6 definitions)
- 1. The sixth Vyasa in the sixth dvapara. 2. An avatar of the Lord Lokakshi. 3. Father of Sunitha, given to Anga. 4. Heard the Purana from the Sun god and narrated it to Indra.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Mṛtyu (II) — the sixth Vyāsa in the sixth dvāpara: avatār of the Lord Lokākṣi; father of Sunīthā, given to Anga; 1 Heard the Purāṇa from the Sun god and narrated it to Indra. 2 Page2-727+ 25 [ Footnote: 1) Br. II. 35. 118; 36. 127; Vā. 23. 133; Vi. III. 3. 12.] [ Footnote: 2) Br. IV. 4. 60; Vi. I. 13. 11; Vā. 103. 60.] [ ID=10968 ]
- a Kala of Rudra  
  *The Purana Index*
  > [Printed book page 2-727 ] Mṛtyu (III) — a Kalā of Rudra. Br. IV. 35. 96. [ ID=10969 ]
- one of the eleven Rudras born of Surabhi and Kashyapa  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Mṛtyu (IV) — one of the eleven Rudras born of Surabhī and Kaśyapa. Vā. 66. 70; Br. III. 3. 71. [ ID=10970 ]
- the originator of the Bhairava clan of Apsaras  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Mṛtyu (V) — the originator of Bhairava clan of Apsa- rasas. Va. 69. 57; Br. III. 7. 24. [ ID=10971 ]
- The mythological figure who is the son of Maya and Bhaya, and father of Vyadhi, Jara, Shoka, Krodha, and Asuya.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Mṛtyu (VI) — the son of Māyā and Bhaya: father of Vyādhi, Jarā, Śoka, Krodha, and Asūya; all giving pain and having the characteristics of adharma and having no wives or sons; belong to the Tāmasa sarga. Br. II. 9. 65-66; Vā. 10. 40-2. [ ID=10972 ]
- a mind-born mother  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Mṛtyu (VIII) — a mind-born mother. M. 179. 15. [ ID=10974 ]

### The Concept of Death and Dying (4 definitions)
- death  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 827,3] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) a m. (very rarely f. ) death, dying, Ṛg-veda (Title) &c., &c. [ ID=166700 ]
- death  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (deaths of different kinds are enumerated, 100 from disease or accident and one natural from old age; ifc. = ‘ d° caused by or through’) [ ID=166701 ]
- death  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 219-b ] mṛtyú, m. death. [ √1mṛ, ‘die,’ 1165a : see 95 16.] [ ID=3336 ]
- death  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 2-175 ] Mṛtyu, ‘death,’ is repeatedly mentioned in the Rigveda 1 and later 2 as a thing of terror. There are a hundred and one forms of death, the natural one by old age 3 ( jarā ), and a hundred others, all to be avoided. 4 To die before old age ( purā jarasaḥ ) 5 is to die before the allotted span ( purā āyuṣaḥ ), 6 the normal length of life being throughout Vedic literature spoken of as a hundred years. 7 On the other hand, the evils of old age in the loss of physical strength were clearly realized. 8 one of the feats of the Aśvins was to restore old Cyavāna to his former youth and powers, and another was the rejuvenation of Kali. 9 The Atharvaveda 10 is full of charms of all sorts to avert death and secure length of years ( āyuṣya ). The modes of disposing of the dead were burial and cremation (see Agnidagdha ). Both existed in the early Vedic period, 11 as in Greece; 12 but the former method was on the whole less favoured, and tended to be regarded with disapproval. The bones of the dead, whether burned or not, were marked by the erection of a tumulus ( Śmaśāna ): the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 13 preserves traces of strong differences of opinion as to the mode in which these tumuli should be constructed. There is little or no trace 14 of the custom common in northern lands of sending the dead man to sea in a burning ship: the reference Page2-176+ 60 to a ship 15 seems to point to mythical perils after death, not to the mode of burial. The life after death was to the Vedic Indian a repetition of the life in this world. He passed into the next world sarva- tanuḥ sāṅgaḥ, ‘with whole body and all his members,’ 16 enjoying there the same pleasures as he had enjoyed on earth. Even in the Rigveda 17 there are hints of evil awaiting evil-doers, but it is not until the Atharvaveda 18 and the Brāhmaṇas 19 that a hell of punishment is set out, and it is in the Brāhmaṇas 20 that good and evil deeds are said to produce happiness or hell hereafter. But there is no hint of extinction 21 in the Rigveda as the fate of the wicked, as Roth 22 inclined to think. The Vedic poet not being deeply moral, his verses do not convey, as would those of a man convinced of sin, warnings of future judgment. [ Footnote: 1) vii. 59, 12; x. 13, 4; 18, 1, 2; x. 48, 5; 60, 5. So mṛtyu-bandhu, ‘akin to death,’ Rv. viii. 18, 22; x. 95, 18.] [ Footnote: 2) Taittirīya Saṃhitā, i. 5, 9, 4, where the world is said to be ‘yoked with death’ ( mṛtyu-saṃyuta ); Taittirīya Brāh- maṇa, i. 5, 9, 6; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 8, 2; 14, 1. 2. 3; Śatapatha Brāh- maṇa, x. 6, 5, 1, etc. So often the ‘bonds of death’ ( mṛtyu-pāśa ), Av. viii. 2, 2; 8, 10. 16; xvii. 1, 30; Tait- tirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 10, 8, 2; Kāṭhaka Upaniṣad, i. 18, etc.] [ Footnote: 3) Av. ii. 13, 2; 28, 2.] [ Footnote: 4) Av. i. 30, 3; ii. 28, 1; iii. 11, 5; viii. 2, 27; xi. 6, 16, etc.] [ Footnote: 5) Rv. viii. 67, 20; Av. v. 30, 17; x. 2, 30; xiii. 3, 56.] [ Footnote: 6) Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, ii. 1, 4, 1.] [ Footnote: 7) Rv. i. 64, 14; 89, 9; ii. 33, 2, etc. Cf. Lanman, Sanskrit Reader, 384; Weber, Indische Studien, 17, 193; Fest- gruss an Reth, 137.] [ Footnote: 8) Rv. i. 71, 10; 179, 1.] [ Footnote: 9) x. 39, 8. Cf. Muir, Sanskrit Texts, 5, 243.] [ Footnote: 10) See Bloomfield, Atharvaveda, 62 et seq. ] [ Footnote: 11) See Hopkins, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 16, clii; Winternitz, Geschichte der indischen Literatur, 1, 84, 85.] [ Footnote: 12) See Lang, Homer and his Age, 82 et seq.; cf. Burrows, Discoveries in Crete, 209-213.] [ Footnote: 13) xiii. 8, 2, 1.] [ Footnote: 14) Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 410; Weinhold, Altnordisches Leben, 483 et seq. ] [ Footnote: 15) Rv. x. 63, 10; 135, 4; Av. vii. 6, 3, and cf. Weber, Proceedings of the Berlin Academy, 1895, 856.] [ Footnote: 16) Av. v. 6, 11; xviii. 4, 64; Śata- patha Brāhmaṇa, v. 6, 1, 1; xi. 1, 8, 6; xii. 8, 3, 31, and cf. Taittirīya Saṃhitā, v. 3, 5, 2; 6, 3; 6, 6, 3; Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 8, 20, 5; 10, 11, 1.] [ Footnote: 17) Rv. ii. 29, 6; iii. 26, 8; iv. 5, 5; 25, 6; vii. 104, 3. 11. 17; x. 152, 4.] [ Footnote: 18) ii. 14, 3; v. 19, 3; 30, 11; viii. 2, 24; xii. 4, 36; xviii. 3, 3. Cf. also v. 19; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxx. 5.] [ Footnote: 19) Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xi. 6, 1, 1 et seq.; Weber, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 9, 240 et seq.; Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 42-44 ( Journal of the American Oriental Society, 15, 236 et seq. ).] [ Footnote: 20) Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, vi. 2, 2, 27; x. 6, 3, 1; Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa, xii. 3, etc.] [ Footnote: 21) Cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 169.] [ Footnote: 22) Journal of the American Oriental Society, 3, 329-347; Weber, op. cit., 238 et seq. ] [ ID=2520 ]

### Epithet for Various Deities (3 definitions)
- an epithet of the god of love  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > [Printed book page 828,1] N. of the god of love, Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=166703 ]
- 1. Death. 2. Yama, the god of death. 3. An epithet of Brahma, Vishnu, and Kali. 4. The god of love.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 583-14 ] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) m. 1. Death, decease, R. vii.13; 2. Yama, the god of death; 3. an epithet of Brahman (m.); 4. of Vishṇu; 5. of Kali; 6. the god of love. [ ID=30741 ]
- 1. The sun. 2. Shiva.  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > [Printed book page 489-2 ] Mṛtyu 2 = Sūrya (the sun): III, 146.—Do. 3 = Śiva (1000 names 1 ). [ ID=7374 ]

### Technical/Specialized Meanings (3 definitions)
- a particular Ekaha ritual  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of a partic. Ekāha, Śāṅkhāyana-śrauta-sūtra (Title) [ ID=166704 ]
- of the eighth astrological house  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of the 8th astrol. house, Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā (Title) [ ID=166705 ]
- 1. The seventeenth astrological Yoga. 2. Names of Samans.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > of the 17th astrol. Yoga, Colebrooke (Author) ( मृत्योर् हरः (mṛtyor haraḥ) and म्रित्योर् विकर्ण - भासे (mrityor vikarṇa-bhāse) N. of Sāmans). [ ID=166706 ]

### Cross-References (2 definitions)
- See page 827  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 830,1] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) b &c. See p. 827, col. 3. [ ID=167217 ]
- See page 790, column 1.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > [Printed book page 0792-b ] मृत्यु (mṛtyu) mṛtyu. See p. 790, col. 1. [ ID=37854 ]

### Personified Mṛtyu: Multifaceted Roles & Identifications (2 definitions)
- Death personified, the god of death  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > Death personified, the god of d° (sometimes identified with Yama or with Viṣṇu; or said to be a son of Adharma by Nirṛti or of Brahmā or of Kali or of Māyā; he has also the patronymics Prādhvaṃsana and Sāmparāyaṇa, and is sometimes reckoned among the 11 Rudras, and sometimes regarded as Vyāsa in the 6th Dvāpara or as a teacher &c.), Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title); Mahābhārata (Title); Purāṇas (Literary category) &c. [ ID=166702 ]
- 1. Death, dying, or decease. 2. Death personified, the god of death, or Yama.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 0790-a ] Mṛtyu, us, m. (ep. also f.), death, dying, decease, demise, (a hundred kinds of death are enumerated from disease or accident, and one natural kind from old age); Death personified, the god of death, Yama the judge of the dead; an epithet of Viṣṇu; N. of a son of A-dharma by Nir-ṛti; an epithet of Brahmā; N. of Māyā; of Kali; of a teacher; of Vyāsa in the sixth Dvāpara; of one of the eleven Rudras; of an Ekāha; of the eighth astrological house; of the seventeenth astrological Yoga; the god of love [cf. māra ]; mṛtyor haraḥ and mṛtyor vikarṇa-bhāse, names of Sāmans; akāla-mṛtyu, ‘untimely death,’ N. of a being attendant on Padma-pāṇi. —Mṛtyu- kanyā, f. the goddess of death. —Mṛtyu-jit, t, m. ‘conqueror of death,’ N. of an author, (also called Mṛtyujid-bhaṭṭāraka); N. of a work by the same author. —Mṛtyuñ-jaya, as, ā, am, overcoming death; ( as ), m. ‘death-conqueror,’ an epithet of Śiva; N. of an author. —Mṛtyuñjaya-tīrtha and mṛtyu-tīrtha, am, n., N. of two Tīrthas. —Mṛtyu- tūrya, am, n. a kind of drum beaten at funeral ceremonies. —Mṛtyu-da, as, ā, am, death-giving, fatal. —Mṛtyu-dūta, as, m., Ved. ‘death-messen- ger,’ one who brings the news of a death. —Mṛtyu- dvāra, am, n. death's door, the door that leads to death. —Mṛtyu-nāśaka, as, m. ‘death-averter,’ quicksilver. —Mṛtyu-nāśana, am, n. ‘death-de- stroying,’ the drink of immortality. —Mṛtyu-patha, as, m. a way or path leading to death. —Mṛtyu-pā, ās, m. ‘death-quaffing,’ an epithet of Śiva. —Mṛtyu- pāśa, as, m. death's noose (these are variously rec- koned at 101 or even more than 1000 in number). —Mṛtyu-puṣpa, as, m. ‘death-flowered,’ the sugar cane (so called because it dies after the loss of its flowers). —Mṛtyu-pratibaddha, as, ā, am, subject or liable to death. —Mṛtyu-phala, as, m. a species of cucumber, = mahā-kāla = mahākāla- phala; ( ā or ī ), f. the plantain, Musa Sapientum; ( am ), n. a sort of fruit considered as poisonous. —Mṛtyu-bandhu, us, m., Ved. ‘companion of death,’ a man. —Mṛtyu-bīja, see mṛtyu-vīja. —Mṛtyu-bhaṅguraka, as, m. a drum beaten at funeral ceremonies. —Mṛtyu-bhaya, am, n. danger or peril of death; fear of death. —Mṛtyu-bhīta, as, ā, am, afraid of death. —Mṛtyu-bhṛtya, as, m. a servant of death; (figuratively) sickness, ma- lady, disease. —Mṛtyu-mat, ān, atī, at, having death, subject to death. —Mṛtyu-māra, as, m. (with Buddhists), N. of one of the four Māras or devils. —Mṛtyu-mṛtyu, us, m. the death of death, i. e. a remover or preventer of death. —Mṛtyu- rāj, ṭ, m. ‘death-king,’ the god of death, Yama. —Mṛtyu-rūpin, ī, iṇī, i, death-formed, having the form of death; ( iṇī ), f. mystical epithet of the letter ś. —Mṛtyu-laṅghanopaniṣad (°na-up°), t, f., N. of an Upaniṣad. —Mṛtyu-loka, as, m. ‘death- world,’ the world of death (the fifth of the seven worlds), the world of the dead, abode of Yama. —Mṛtyu-vañcana, as, m. ‘death-cheater,’ an epi- thet of Śiva; a raven, carrion-crow; Ægle Mar- melos. —Mṛtyu-vīja, as, m. ‘dying after the production of seed,’ a bamboo, bamboo-cane. —Mṛtyu-sañjīvana, as, ī, am, restoring from death to life, making alive again [cf. mṛta-sañjī- vana ]; ( ī ), f., N. of a section of the Tantra-sāra. —Mṛtyu-sāt, ind. to death, to the power of death; mṛtyu-sāt kṛ, to deliver any one over to death. —Mṛtyu-suta, ās, m. pl., Ved. ‘death's sons,’ epi- thet of a class of Ketus. —Mṛtyu-sūti, is, f. ‘dying in bringing forth,’ a female crab. —Mṛtyu-senā, f. the army of the god of death. —Mṛtyu-hetu, us, Page0790-b+ 77 m. cause of death; mṛtyu-hetave, dat. c. for the sake of death, in order to kill. [ ID=37790 ]

### The Goddess of Death (2 definitions)
- Death personified as a female created by Brahma to slay living creatures  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > Mṛtyu 4 (“Death”), fem. § 594 (Akampana): Nārada said to Akampana: In the beginning the Grandsire Brahmán created all creatures. As the creation bore no sign of decay, he began to think about the destruction of the universe. Failing to find any means of destruction, he became angry, and in consequence of his anger a fire sprang from the apertures of his body ( khebhyaḥ ) and destroyed all creatures. Then Śiva (the lord of all the wanderers at night) appealed to Brahmán (the greatest of ascetics), who said, “Thou hast been born out of our wish” ( kāmāt ) (VII, 52 ), and that the Earth, afflicted with the heavy weight of creatures, had asked him to destroy them. Śiva, saying that he had been appointed by Brahmán the protector of creatures, prevailed upon Brahmán to keep his wrath within his own inner self and extinguish the fire. Then Brahmán expounded the doctrine of pravṛtti and nivṛtti. From his organs of sense ( gobhyaḥ, cf. khebhyaḥ in a parallel passage, XII, 9179) then issued a female who was dark, etc., and set out for the southern quarter; Brahmán called her Death ( Mṛtyu ) and told her to slay the creatures. She wept, but Brahmán caught her tears with his two hands and implored her (VII, 53 )—who wished to go to the hermitage of Dhenuka to perform austerities—to slay the creatures. Soon Brahmán smiled, the creatures continued to live as before, and Mṛtyu proceeded to Dhenuka, where she practised austere vows during twenty-one times ten billions of years, and then she wandered 10,000 billions of years with the creatures. Next she repaired to Nandā and there passed 8,000 years, and became purified from all her sins. Then she went to Kauśikī, where she lived upon air and water only. Then she repaired to Pañcagaṅgā and next to Vetasaka (C. Ce° ), then to the Gaṅgā and thence to Meru, motionless and suspending her life-breaths. Thence to the top of Himavat (where the gods had performed sacrifices) for a billion of years standing on the toe only of her feet. Then to Puṣkara, and Gokarṇa, and Naimiṣa, and Malaya, with steady devotion to the Grandsire without acknowledging any other god. Brahmán was gratified with her and said that in slaying the creatures she should be without sin; Yama and the diseases should become her helpmates. She prevailed upon him that the passions, covetousness, etc., should tear the bodies of the creatures before she slew them. Her tears which were in his hands should become diseases springing from the creatures themselves and kill men; she should be the virtue of living creatures and the goddess of this virtue. Sin would slay those who were of wicked behaviour; “it will be thy work to sink them in their sins that are wicked.” Nārada further expounded the nature of death and told Akampana not to grieve for his dead son: VII, 53, 2068, 2070 ( kamalalocanā ); 54, (2074), 2082, 2088, 2101, 2105, 2112, †2117, †2118, †2122 ( devasṛṣṭā ), †2123 ( daṇḍapāniḥ ).—§ 595 (Abhimanyuvadhap.): VII, 55, 2134 ( °samutpattiṃ, all. to § 594); 71, 2471 ( sambhavo M°oḥ, do.). —§ 678 b (Mṛtyu-Prajāpatisaṃv.): XII, 258, 9182, 9185; Page490-a+ 63 259, 9195, 9197, 9201, 9204, 9212, 9214, 9219, †9220, †9223, †9224, †9228 (repetition from § 594). [ ID=7375 ]
- Death, personified as a daughter of Kali and a portion of Adharma.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > मृत्यु (mṛtyu) [Printed book page 2-726 ] Mṛtyu (I) — Her origin: a daughter of Kali: amśa of adharma: her attributes. Bhā. I. 16. 8; II. 10. 28; IV. 8. 4; 13. 39; VII. 12. 27. [ ID=10967 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Index to the Names in the Mahabharata; 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; The Purana Index; The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects; 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