Vīrya (Hinduism)
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''Vīrya'' (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
वीर्य) literally means "state of a strong man"See, e.g., Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), entry for "Viriya," which defines ''viriya'' as: "lit. 'state of a strong man,' i. e. vigour, energy, effort, exertion." Retrieved 3 Feb. 2011 from "U.Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:1885.pali . or "manliness."See, e.g., which Monier Williams (1899), entry for "Vīyà," defines ''vīyà'' in part as: "manliness, valour, strength, power, energy, RV Rig Veda ">Rig_Veda.html" ;"title="Rig Veda">Rig Veda &c. &c.; heroism, heroic deed, ibid.; manly vigour, virility, semen virile, MBh. [ Mahabharata ]; Kāv.&c; ...." Retrieved 3 Feb. 2011 from "U.Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw1006-virabhaTa.jpg . In Hindu
Vedic literature FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
, the term is often associated with heroism and virility. In
Brahmacharya ''Brahmacharya'' (; Sanskrit: Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य) is the concept within Indian religions that literally means "conduct consistent with Brahman" or "on the path of Brahman". Brahmacharya, a discipline of controlling ...
in Hinduism, Virya also refers to semen in a male and it is considered to be the 'vital fluid'. Loss of Virya from the body is avoided in Brahmacharya.


Vedic literature

''Vīryà'' as "manly" and "hero" can be found, for instance, in the following excerpts from the
Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...
(RV).


RV, Mandala 1, Hymn 32, v. 1

:1. I will declare the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he achieved, the Thunder-wielder. He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of the mountain torrents.


RV, Mandala 1, Hymn 103, vv. 5-7

:5. See this abundant wealth that he possesses, and put your trust in Indra's hero vigour. He found the cattle, and he found the horses, he found the plants, the forests and the waters. :6. To him the truly strong, whose deeds are many, to him the strong Bull let us pour the Soma. The Hero, watching like a thief in ambush, goes parting the possessions of the godless. :7. Well didst thou do that hero deed, O Indra, in waking with thy bolt the slumbering Ahi. In thee, delighted, Dames divine rejoiced them, the flying Maruts and all Gods were joyful.


See also

*
Vīrya (Sanskrit; ) is a Buddhist term commonly translated as "energy", "diligence", "enthusiasm", "effort" or "heroism" "help". It can be defined as an attitude of gladly engaging in wholesome activities, and it functions to cause one to accompli ...
- for the Buddhist definition of this term


Notes

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Sources

* Griffith, Ralph T.H. (1896). ''Rig Veda''. Available from "Wikisource" at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda . * Monier-Williams, Monier (1899; rev. 2008). ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. A general on-line search engine for this dictionary is available from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/index.html. * Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). ''The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary''. Chipstead:
Pali Text Society The Pāli Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts." Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...
. A general on-line search engine for this dictionary is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. Masculinity Vedas