# सुरा (surā)

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

सुरा (surā) is a Sanskrit word meaning a god, divinity, or deity, an idol or image of a god, a symbol for the number thirty-three, a sage or learned man, the sun, razor. Its 31 recorded definitions are grouped into 14 contexts, among them Spirituous Liquor, Wine ('surā' f.), Linguistic Notes and Cross-References, Goddess, Female Mythological Figure.

- **Roots:** 3. सु (3. su), 1. सु (1. su)
- **SLP1:** `surA`  **IAST:** surā  **Devanagari:** सुरा
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sura_%28alcoholic_drink%29
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/sura/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** सूर (sūra), सुर (sura)

## Meanings by context

### Spirituous Liquor, Wine ('surā' f.) (9 definitions)
- spirituous liquor or wine  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 1235,3] सु (su) र (sura) ा (surā) b f. ( ifc. also n( सु (su) र (sura) ).; prob. fr. √ 3. सु (su), ‘to distil’, and not connected with सु (su) र (sura), ‘a god’) spirituous liquor, wine (in ancient times ‘a kind of beer’) [ ID=249688 ]
- spirituous liquor  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > spirituous liquor (personified as a daughter of Varuṇa produced at the churning of the ocean), RV. &c. &c. [ ID=249689 ]
- spirituous liquor, wine  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 1132-b ] सुरा (surā) 1 A spirituous liquor, wine; सुरा (surā) वै मलमन्नानां (surā vai malamannānāṃ) Manusmṛti 11. 94; गौडी पैष्ठी (gauḍī paiṣṭhī) च माध्वी च विज्ञेया त्रिविधा सुरा (surā) (ca mādhvī ca vijñeyā trividhā surā) 95
- spirituous liquor  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 355-1 ] सुरा (surā) sú-rā, f. [distillation: √ 1. su] spirituous liquor. [ ID=19559 ]
- 1. Spirituous liquor or wine. 2. Water. 3. A drinking vessel. 4. A snake.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 787-10 ] सुरा (surā) f. 1. A spirituous liquor, wine (it is of three kinds- गौडी पैष्ठी च माध्वी च विज्ञेया त्रिविधा सुरा (surā) । यथैवैका तथा सर्वा न पातव्या द्विजोत्तमैः (gauḍī paiṣṭhī ca mādhvī ca vijñeyā trividhā surā. yathaivaikā tathā sarvā na pātavyā dvijottamaiḥ) M. xi.94); 2. water; 3. a drinking vessel; 4. a snake. [ ID=41176 ]
- spirituous liquor or wine  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 627 ] सुरा (surā) f. spirituous, liquor, wine. [ ID=37586 ]
- distilled liquor or brandy  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 274-b ] súrā, f. spirituous, and esp. distilled, liquor; brandy; liquor. [ √1su, ‘express’: cf. 1suta and soma. ] [ ID=4659 ]
- 1. Six different varieties of liquor drunk by the Shaktis. 2. Liquor mixed with Kaca's powdered body taken by Shukracharya.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Surā (II) — six different varieties of liquor drunk by the Śaktis on the third day of the war; gauḍī, paiṣtī, mādhvī, kādambarī, Haitālī, lāṅgaleyā and tālajāta; also that from kalpavṛkṣa; they were of different tastes, sweet, bitter, Page3-662+ 27 saltish, etc., and of various colours; 1 liquor with Kaca's powdered body mixed in it taken by Śukrācārya and thus deceived by the Asura; hence he ordained that no Brahman should thereafter take liquor, and if he did he would fall from his status and commit a sin equal to brahmicide and would be despised by the world at large. 2 [ Footnote: 1) Br. IV. 28. 71-6; Vā. 101. 162.] [ Footnote: 2) M. 25. 39, 60, 62-3; 76. 12.] [ ID=16467 ]
- An intoxicating spirituous liquor mentioned in Vedic literature, commonly prepared from fermented grains and plants.  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 2-458 ] Surā is the name of an intoxicating ‘spirituous liquor,’ often mentioned in Vedic literature. In some passages 1 it is referred to favourably, in others with decided disapproval. 2 It is classed with the use of meat and with dicing as an evil in the Atharvaveda, 3 and often with dicing. 4 It was, as opposed to Soma, essentially a drink of ordinary life. 5 It was the drink of men in the Sabhā, 6 and gave rise to broils. 7 Its exact nature is not certain. It may have been a strong spirit prepared from fermented grains and plants, as Eggeling 8 Page2-459+ 54 holds, or, as Whitney 9 thought, a kind of beer or ale. Geldner 10 renders it ‘brandy.’ It is sometimes mentioned in connexion with Madhu. 11 It was kept in skins. 12 [ Footnote: 1) Rv. i. 116, 7; x. 131, 4, 5. Cf. Av. iv. 34, 6; x. 6, 5; Taittirīya Saṃ- hitā, i. 3, 3, 2; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, xii. 7, 3, 8.] [ Footnote: 2) Rv. vii. 86, 6; viii. 2, 12; 21, 14; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, i. 11, 6; ii. 4, 2; iv. 2, 1, etc.] [ Footnote: 3) vi. 70, 1. Cf. Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, 493.] [ Footnote: 4) Rv. vii. 86, 6; Av. xiv. 1, 35. 36; xv. 9, 1. 2.] [ Footnote: 5) Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 3, 3, 2.] [ Footnote: 6) See n. 4.] [ Footnote: 7) Rv. viii. 2, 12; 21, 14. Cf. Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xiv. 6; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 6, 3, 4; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, ii. 4, 2, etc.] [ Footnote: 8) Sacred Books of the East, 44, 223, n. 2; Caland, Altindisches Zauberritual, 21, n. 1; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 280, 281. Cf. Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra, xix. 1, 20-27; Mahīdhara on Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xix. 1.] [ Footnote: 9) Translation of the Atharvaveda, 207. Cf. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiqui- ties, 326.] [ Footnote: 10) Rigveda, Glossar, 198.] [ Footnote: 11) Av. vi. 69, 1; ix. 1, 18, 19; Vāja- saneyi Saṃhitā, xix. 95. See Hille- brandt, Vedische Mythologie, 1, 251, who attempts to show that Surā and Soma were rival priestly drinks at one time, belonging to different sections of the people.] [ Footnote: 12) Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, xiv. 11, 26. Cf. Rv. i. 191, 10. Cf. Hopkins, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 13, 121.] [ ID=3623 ]

### Linguistic Notes and Cross-References (4 definitions)
- razor  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (said to be) = क्षुर (kṣura), MBh. [ ID=249260 ]
- wrong reading for svara  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > w.r. for स्वर (svara), ib. [ ID=249261 ]
- spirituous liquor, wine  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2B) [Printed book page 1234,2] सुरा (surā) a ( आ (ā) ), f., see s.v. [ ID=249262 ]
- see sura  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > सुर (sura) ( अम् (am) ), n., see सुर (sura) ा (surā). [ ID=249264 ]

### Goddess, Female Mythological Figure (3 definitions)
- a goddess  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > सुरी (surī) ( ई (ī) ), f. a goddess, Naiṣ.; HPariś. [ ID=249263 ]
- a goddess personifying spirituous liquor  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 660-2 ] Surā (“spirituous liquor”, personif.), a goddess. § 28 (Amṛtamanthana): I, 18, 1146 ( °devī, arose at the churning of the ocean), 1148.—§ 124 (Aṃśāvat.): I, 66, 2616 ( suranandinīṃ, daughter of Varuṇa and Devī, the daughter of Śukra).—§ 270 (Brahmasabhāv.): II, 11, 459 ( devī, in the palace of Brahmán). [ ID=10364 ]
- 1. Stuta. 2. The mother of Kali. 3. The goddess Varuni.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 3-661 ] Surā (I) — is Stutā; mother of Kali; as Vāruṇi devī. Br. III. 59. 9; IV. 9. 65. [ ID=16466 ]

### Drinking Vessel / Liquor Container (2 definitions)
- a drinking vessel  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a drinking vessel, L. [ ID=249691 ]
- A drinking vessel  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 1132-b ] सुरा (surā) 3 A drinking vessel

### Proper Name (Person) (2 definitions)
- 1. The wife of Kali. 2. The son of Mada.  
  *The Purana Index*
  > Surā (IV) — the wife of Kali; son of Mada. Vā. 84. 9. [ ID=16469 ]
- a disciple of Shringiputra  
  *The Purana Index*
  > [Printed book page 3-663 ] Surā (II) — a disciple of Śringiputra. Vā. 61. 40. [ ID=16482 ]

### Snake ('surā' f.) (2 definitions)
- a snake  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a snake, L. [ ID=249692 ]
- A snake  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 1132-b ] सुरा (surā) 4 A snake

### Water ('surā' f.) (2 definitions)
- water  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > water, Naighaṇṭuka, commented on by Yāska (subtitle) i, 12 [ ID=249690 ]
- Water  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सुरा (surā) [Printed book page 1132-b ] सुरा (surā) 2 Water

### Derived Adjectival/Agent Noun Meanings (1 definition)
- 1. A drunkard. 2. A heretic.  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — सुः (suḥ) 1 a drunkard. 2 a heretic. [ ID=30399 ]

### God, Deity ('sura' m.) (1 definition)
- a god, divinity, or deity  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 1234,2] सुर (sura) m. ( prob. fr. असुर (sura) (asura) as if fr. अ - सुर (sura) (a-sura) and as सित (sita) fr. अ - सित (sita) (a-sita); thought by some to be connected with 2. स्वर् (svar) ) a god, divinity, deity ( सुर (sura) ाणां हन्तृ (surāṇāṃ hantṛ) m. ‘slayer of the gods’, N. of a partic. form of fire, son of Tapas), MaitrUp.; MBh. &c. [ ID=249255 ]

### Idol, Image of a God ('sura') (1 definition)
- an idol or image of a god  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the image of a god, an idol, Viṣṇ. [ ID=249256 ]

### Liquor-Associated Items, Places, and Concepts (1 definition)
- the sea of liquor  
  *The Purana Index*
  > [Printed book page 3-662 ] Surā (III) — the sea of liquor. M. 2. 34. [ ID=16468 ]

### Sage, Learned Man ('sura' m.) (1 definition)
- A sage or learned man  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a sage, learned man, L. [ ID=249258 ]

### Symbolic Number (Thirty-Three for Gods) (1 definition)
- a symbol for the number thirty-three  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a symbolical N. for the number ‘thirty-three’ (from the 33 gods; see देव (deva) ), Gaṇit. [ ID=249257 ]

### The Sun ('sura' m.) (1 definition)
- the sun  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the sun, L. [ ID=249259 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Apte Practical 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 (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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