# मुहूर्त (muhūrta)

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

मुहूर्त (muhūrta) is a Sanskrit word meaning a moment or any short space of time, a period of forty-eight minutes, the name of a daughter of Daksha, after an instant, presently, a moment or brief space of time, an astrologer. Its 16 recorded definitions are grouped into 5 contexts, among them A measure or segment of time, Referential Entries, A Mythological Progenitor Figure (Muhūrtā).

- **SLP1:** `muhUrta`  **IAST:** muhūrta  **Devanagari:** मुहूर्त
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhurta
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/muhurta/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** मुहूर्ता (muhūrtā)

## Meanings by context

### A measure or segment of time (11 definitions)
- a moment or any short space of time  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 825,2] मुहूर्त (muhūrta) a m. n. a moment, instant, any short space of time, RV. &c. &c. ( ibc., in a moment; ° तेन (°tena) ind. after an instant, presently) [ ID=166067 ]
- a period of forty-eight minutes  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a partic. division of time, the 30th part of a day, a period of 48 minutes (in pl. personified as the children of Muhūrta), ŚBr. &c. &c. [ ID=166068 ]
- after an instant, presently  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2C) [Printed book page 825,2] मुहूर्तेन (muhūrtena) ind., after an instant, presently [ ID=166069.1 ]
- A moment or instant, or an hour of forty-eight minutes.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 232-1 ] मुहूर्त (muhūrta) muhūr-tá, m. n. [ den. pp. fr. muhur, past in a trice], moment, instant; hour of forty-eight minutes ( one-thirtieth of a day ): °—, in a moment; for a moment; in. in a moment, presently; ab. after a moment, instantly: -ka, m. or n. (?) moment; hour; -kovida, m. (skilled in auspicious moments), astrologer; -rāga, a. red or attached for a moment. [ ID=14334 ]
- 1. A moment or brief space of time. 2. A period of 48 minutes.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 579-26 ] मुहूर्त (muhūrta) (I) m.n. 1. Any short space of time, a moment, स्थित्वा तस्मिन् वनचरवधूभुक्तकुंजे मुहूर्त (muhūrta) म् (sthitvā tasmin vanacaravadhūbhuktakuṃje muhūrtam) Megh. i.19, R. iii.53, K.S. vii.50; 2. a period of 48 minutes. [ ID=30519 ]
- 1. A moment or some time. 2. A period of forty-eight minutes, being the thirtieth part of a day and night. 3. An astrologer.  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 0717-b ] मुहूर्त (muhūrta) muhūrta, i. e. muhur + ta, I. m. and n. 1. A moment, Rām. 3, 50, 6; some time, Vikr. 40, 4 ( paraṃ muhūr- tāt, After some time, not yet). 2. The thirtieth part of a day and night, or forty-eight minutes. II. m. An astro- loger. — Comp. Durmuhūrta, i. e. dus-, n. an inauspicious hour, MBh. 12, 6735. [ ID=11434 ]
- 1. A moment or instant. 2. An hour, equal to one-thirtieth of a day.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 416 ] मुहूर्त (muhūrta) m. n. moment, instant; hour ( = 1/30 day); instr. & abl. in a moment, after a little while, immediately, directly. [ ID=25090 ]
- 1. A moment. 2. A period of forty-eight minutes.  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 218-b ] muhūrtá, m. n. —1. moment; —2. thirtieth of a day, an hour (of 48 minutes), 59 10. [ muhus. ] [ ID=3311 ]
- 1. A moment or brief space of time. 2. A specific division of time lasting forty-eight minutes, being the thirtieth part of a day. 3. An astrologer.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 0787-b ] Muhūrta, as, am, m. n. a moment, an instant, any short space of time, ( muhūrtāt, after an instant, immediately, directly, at once; muhūrtena, after an instant, after a little while; ku-muhūrta, an inau- spicious moment, cf. dur-m°, prati-m° ); a particu- lar division of time (see Manu 1. 64); the thirtieth part of a day, a period of forty-eight minutes; ( as ), m. an astrologer; ( ās ), m. pl. the Muhūrtas or Hours personified as the children of Muhūrtā; ( ā ), f., N. of a daughter of Dakṣa (wife of Dharma or Manu and mother of the Muhūrtas). —Muhūrta- kalpa-druma, as, m. and muhūrta-gaṇa-pati, is, m., N. of works. —Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi, is, m., N. of an astrological work by Rāma the son of Ananta. —Muhūrta-ja, ās, m. pl. children of Mu- hūrtā; [cf. mauhūrtika. ] —Muhūrta-tattva, am, n., N. of a work. —Muhūrta-dīpaka, as, m., N. of an astrological work by Mahā-deva. —Muhūrta- dīpikā, f., N. of a work. —Muhūrta-mārtaṇḍa, as, m., N. of an astrological work by Nārāyaṇa. —Muhūrta-vallabhā, f., N. of a commentary on the Muhūrta-mārtaṇḍa. —Muhūrta-stoma, ās, m. pl., N. of an Ekāha. [ ID=37719 ]
- A measurement of time equal to one-thirtieth of a day and night.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 2-718 ] Muhūrtas — a measurement of time; thirty kalas mak- ing a day and a night, a muhūrta; 15 for day and 15 for night on an equinoctial day; 45 kalas one muhūrta; 15 muhūrtas Page2-719+ 31 make a day exactly in Viṣuvat; division of day into units of three muhūrtas; 1 those of the afternoon are Raudra, Sārpa, Maitra, Pitṛya, Vāsava, Āpya, Vaiśvadeva and Brāhma; those of the day are Prājāpatya, Indra, Indrāgni, Nirṛti, Vā- ruṇa, Aryamana, and Bhaga; these are to be calculated ac- cording to the shadow cast by a gnomon; the muhūrtas of the night are the Ajaikapad, Ahirbudhnya, Pūṣāśvi, Yama, Āgneya, Prājāpatya, Saumya, Āditya, Bārhaspatya, Vaiṣṇava, Sāvitra, Tvāṣṭra, Vāyavya and Samgraha; time reckoned by the movement of the moon. 2 Kṛṣṇa born in the Vijayamu- hūrta; 3 the eighth muhūrta said to be kutapa, auspicious for beginning any activity; the sun becomes manda or inactive then. 4 [ Footnote: 1) Bhā. III. 11. 8; Br. II. 13. 16; 21. 95, 116-22; 24. 56; 29. 6; IV. 1. 76, 213, 216; 32. 14; M. 124. 86-91; 142. 4; 203. 10; Vā. 30. 13; 100. 215, 218; Vi. I. 3. 9; II. 8. 59-61; VI. 3. 9.] [ Footnote: 2) Br. III. 3. 32, 39-45; Vā. 66. 33.] [ Footnote: 3) Br. III. 71. 206; 72. 30.] [ Footnote: 4) M. 22. 84-5.] [ ID=10900 ]
- 1. A division of time equal to one-thirtieth of a day, or forty-eight minutes. 2. A moment.  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 2-169 ] Muhūrta denotes a division of time, one-thirtieth of a day, or an hour of forty-eight minutes, in the Brāhmaṇas. 1 In the Rigveda 2 the sense of ‘moment’ only is found. Cf. Ahan. [ Footnote: 1) Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 10, 1, 1 (for the names); 9, 7; 12, 9, 6; Śata- patha Brāhmaṇa, x. 4, 2, 18. 25. 27; 3, 20; xii. 3, 2, 5; x. 4, 4, 4, etc.] [ Footnote: 2) iii. 33, 5; 53, 8. The sense of ‘moment’ is also common in the Brāhmaṇas. Cf. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgen- ländischen Gesellschaft, 9, 139 et seq.; Indische Streifen, 1, 92 et seq. ] [ ID=2503 ]

### Referential Entries (2 definitions)
- See above  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 825,2] मुहूर्त (muhūrta) b See above. [ ID=166163 ]
- See above.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) muhūrta. See above. [ ID=37724 ]

### A Mythological Progenitor Figure (Muhūrtā) (1 definition)
- the name of a daughter of Daksha  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2B) [Printed book page 825,2] मुहूर्ता (muhūrtā) ( आ (ā) ), f. N. of a daughter of Dakṣa (wife of Dharma or Manu and mother of the Muhūrtas), Hariv.; Pur. [ ID=166069 ]

### An Astrologer (1 definition)
- An astrologer  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) (II) m. An astrologer. [ ID=30520 ]

### An Epithet for Deities (1 definition)
- 1. The sun. 2. An epithet of Shiva.  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > मुहूर्त (muhūrta) [Printed book page 491-1 ] Muhūrta 1, pl. ( °āḥ ) = Sūrya (the sun): III, 150.—Do. 2 = Śiva (1000 names 2 ) ( °āhāḥ ). [ ID=7390 ]

## 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); The Purana Index; The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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