# त्रित (trita)

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

त्रित (trita) is a Sanskrit word meaning the third, a triplet of young, name of a Vedic deity, a Rishi who composed several hymns of the Rigveda, a class of deities, the priest who prepares the Soma. Its 8 recorded definitions are grouped into 4 contexts, among them Trita as a Vedic Deity, Comprehensive Scholarly Descriptions, Meaning: A Triplet.

- **SLP1:** `trita`  **IAST:** trita  **Devanagari:** त्रित
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trita
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/trita/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** तृत (tṛta), त्रिता (tritā)

## Meanings by context

### Trita as a Vedic Deity (4 definitions)
- 1. A Vedic god associated with Agni, Indra, and the winds. 2. The name of various sages. 3. A class of gods.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > त्रित (trita) [Printed book page 113-2 ] त्रित (trita) tritá, m. N. of a Vedic god, Third form of Agni (probably lightning) connected with Indra and the winds, represented as engaged in combat with meteoric demons; his dwelling-place is remote and hidden, and he is called Āptya, son of the water (= clouds); N. of various Ṛṣis: pl. a class of gods. [ ID=8858 ]
- The name of a deity  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > त्रित (trita) [Printed book page 0378-b ] त्रित (trita) trita, m. The name of a deity, MBh. 1, 2112. [ ID=6149 ]
- 1. The name of a god. 2. A class of gods.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > त्रित (trita) [Printed book page 211 ] त्रित (trita) m. N. of a god, pl. a class of gods. [ ID=12841 ]
- 1. A Vedic god. 2. A seer or sage.  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > त्रित (trita) [Printed book page 1-329 ] Trita is clearly a god 1 in Vedic literature, but Yāska in one passage of the Nirukta 2 already explains the name as that of a Ṛṣi or seer. [ Footnote: 1) Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, pp. 67-69.] [ Footnote: 2) iv. 6.] [ ID=1213 ]

### Comprehensive Scholarly Descriptions (2 definitions)
- The third  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 461,3] त्रित (trita) m. ‘third’ ( τρίτος ), N. of a Vedic deity (associated with the Maruts, Vāyu, and Indra; fighting like the latter with Trita, Vṛtra, and other demons; called Āptya [ q.v. ], ‘water-deity’, and supposed to reside in the remotest regions of the world, whence [ Ṛg-veda (Title) viii, 47, 13 - 15; AV. ] the idea of wishing to remove calamity to T°, and the view of the Tritas being the keepers of nectar [ Ṛg-veda (Title) vi, 44, 23 ], similarly, L. [ Ṛg-veda (Title) ii, 34, 10; Taittirīya-saṃhitā (Title) i; Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa (Title) i ] the notion of Trita's bestowing long life; also conceived as an inferior deity conquering the demons by order and with the help of Indra [ Ṛg-veda (Title) ii; viii, 52, 1; x ]; fallen into a well he begged aid from the gods [ i, 105, 17; x, 8, 7 ]; as to this last myth, Sāy. on i, 105 relates that 3 Ṛṣis, Ekata, Dvita, and Trita, parched with thirst, looked about and found a well, and when T° began to draw water, the other two, desirous of his property, pushed him down and closed up the well with a wheel; shut up there, T° composed a hymn to the gods, and managed miraculously to prepare the sacrificial Soma, that he might drink it himself, or offer it to the deities and so be extricated: this is alluded to in Ṛg-veda (Title) ix, 34, 4 [ cf. 32, 2; 38, 2; 102, 2 ] and described in Mahābhārata (Title) ix, 2095; also, Nirukta, by Yāska (Title) iv, 6 makes him a Ṛṣi, and he is the supposed author of Ṛg-veda (Title) i, 105; viii, 36; ix, 33 f. and 102; x, 1 - 7; in epic legends [ Mahābhārata (Title) ix, xii f. ] Ekata, Dvita, and T° are described as 3 brothers, sons of Gautama or of Prajā-pati or Brahmā; elsewhere T° is one of the 12 sons of Manu Cākṣuṣa by Naḍvalā, Bhāgavata-purāṇa (Title) iv, 13, 16; cf. त्रैतन (traitana); Zend Thrita; Τρίτων, τριτο-γενής, &c.) [ ID=88580 ]
- 1. Name of a Vedic deity. 2. A Rishi who composed several hymns of the Rigveda. 3. A class of deities. 4. The priest who prepares the Soma.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > त्रित (trita) [Printed book page 0392-c ] Trita, as, m., Ved. (in the Atharva-veda also tṛta ), N. of a Vedic deity; (he is generally asso- ciated with the Maruts, Vāyu, and Indra; and fights like the latter with Tvāṣṭra, Vṛtra, and other demons: he is also called Āptya, q. v., either as produced in water by Agni, whence he is sometimes called ‘a son of the water,’ or as son of the Ṛṣi Āpta. In some passages of the Taittirīya-Saṃhitā he is regarded as bestowing long life; while elsewhere he is supposed to reside in the remotest regions of the world, whence the idea of wishing to remove calamity to Trita or to the remotest place possible; cf. Ṛg-veda VIII. 47, 14. In some passages of the Page0393-a+ 72 Veda, Indian commentators explain Trita by tri- sthāna, ‘reaching through the triple world,’ as an epithet of Indra or Vāyu. In later myths Trita is described as a Ṛṣi, by whom several hymns of the Ṛg-veda were-composed. Sāyaṇa in his introduction to Ṛg-veda I. 105, relates that there were three Ṛṣis, named Ekata, Dvita, and Trita, who lived in a desert country; being parched with thirst, they looked about for a well, and having found one, Trita entered it to draw water, when the other two, desirous of obtaining his property, threw him into the well and closed up the mouth with a wheel; shut up in the well, Trita composed a hymn to the gods, and managed, in a marvellous manner, to perform the Soma sacrifice, that he might drink the Soma himself before death, or offer it to the deities in the hope of being extricated by them: his preparation of the Soma is described in the Mahā-bh. Śalya-parva 2095, and he is elsewhere celebrated as an offerer of the Soma. In various other epic legends, Ekata, Dvita, and Trita are described as three brothers, sons of Gautama or of Prajā-pati, = Brahmā. According to the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, Trita is one of the twelve sons of Manu and Naḍvalā. Some identify the Vedic Trita with the Vedic Traitana, and with Thraetana the Zend form of Feridun. His connection with water points to a comparison with the Gr. Τρίτων, τριτο-γενής, Τριτωνίς, Τριτο-πάτορες, &c.) ( Trita seems also to mean) a class of deities, ‘the third ones,’ i. e. those who live in the sky (?); the priest who prepares the Soma. [ ID=21561 ]

### Meaning: A Triplet (1 definition)
- a triplet of young  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > त्रित (trita) n. triplet of young (three-twin), TS., Sch. [ ID=88581 ]

### Trita as Rishi and Epic Figure (1 definition)
- a sage and brother of Ekata and Dvita  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > त्रित (trita) [Printed book page 683-1 ] Trita, a ṛṣi, brother of Ekata and Dvita. § 61 (Sarpasattra): I, 55, †2112 ( Aurva-T°ābhyām asi tulyatejāḥ, sc. Janamejaya). —§ 615 b (Udapāna): IX, 36, 2064 ( Udapānaṃ…T°sya ), 2066, 2067 ( brāhmaṇasattamaḥ ), 2071, 2076, 2079, 2083, 2084, 2086, 2087, 2089, 2090, 2093, 2100, 2101, 2103, 2104 ( °yajñaḥ ), 2105 (only B.), 2108, 2112 ( T. fell into a hole [at Udapāna ] and was deserted by his brothers. Then he performed a mental sacrifice and was delivered, the Sarasvatī appearing in the hole. Then he cursed his brothers).— § 665 (Mokṣadh.): XII, 208 θ, 7597 (with Ekata and Dvita among the ṛṣis of the west).—§ 717 c (Uparicara): XII, 337, 12757 ( Prajāpatisutāḥ…Ekataś ca Dvitaś caiva T°ś caiva maharṣayaḥ, among the sadasyas at the sacrifice of Vasu Uparicara), 12771 ( Ekata-Dvita-T°āḥ…Citra- śikhaṇḍinaḥ ), 12812 ( Dvita-T°matena ).—§ 717 b (Nārāyaṇīya): XII, 340, 12876 ( Ekataś ca Dvitaś caiva T°ś caiva mahar- ṣayaḥ ), 12950 ( °opaghātāt, all. to § 615 b ); 342, 13174, 13175 ( Brahmaṇaḥ putraḥ, all. to § 615 b ).—§ 734 (Ānuśāsanik.): XIII, 26 α, 1763 (among the ṛṣis who came to see Bhīṣma). —§ 770 (do.): XIII, 151 θ, 7114 ( Ekataś ca Dvitaś caiva T°ś caira, among the seven Varuṇasyartvijaḥ ).—§ 775 (do.): XIII, 166, 7668 (do, among the ṛṣis of the west). [ ID=10983 ]

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

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