Glossary of Hinduism Terms - D

D

• Dāruka (दारुक): Sri Krishna's charioteer.
• Dadhichi: Dadhichi was a Vedic king, son of Atharvan, who turned a great Rishi. Dadhicha gave his bones to destroy Vritra, a brahmin, who became the head of the Asuras.
• Daityas (दैत्‍य): Daityas were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa. They were a race of giants who fought against the gods.
• Daksha (दक्ष): The skilled one, is an ancient creator god, one of the Prajapatis, the Rishis and the Adityas, and a son of Brahma.
• Dākshāyani (दाक्षायणी): Dākshāyani is the Goddess of marital felicity and longevity; she is worshipped particularly by ladies to seek the long life of their husbands. An aspect of Devi, Dākshāyani is the consort of Shiva. Other names for Dākshāyani include Gaurī, Umā, Satī, Aparnā, Lalithā, Sivakāmini.
• Damayantī (दमयंती): She is the wife of Nala whose story is told in the Mahabharata.
• Dandaka (दंडक): A kingdom and a forest, had the same name, was a colonial state of Lanka under the reign of Ravana. Ravana's governor Khara ruled this province. It was the stronghold of all the Rakshasa tribes living in the Dandaka Forest.
• Dasaratha (दशरथ): King of Ayodhya and Rama's father.
• Dashaarna (दशार्ण): A country whose king attacked Bhagadatta's elephant in an effort to save Bhima.
• Dasharna (दशार्ण): Dasharna was an ancient Indian kingdom in Malwa region near Mandsaur. The queen of Chedi kingdom and mother of Damayanti were daughters of king of Dasharna.
• Demons: A supernatural being that has generally been described as a malevolent spirit. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled, they were constantly at war with devas.
• Devadatta (देवदत्‍त): Name of Arjuna's conch, also Buddha's cousin.
• Deva (देव): The Sanskrit word for god or deity. It can be interpreted as a demi-god, deity or any supernatural being of high excellence.
• Devarata (देवर‍त): Father of Yajnavalkya, the gods had given him a great bow and neither gods, nor gandharvas, nor asuras, nor rākshsa, nor men had might to string that.
• Devakī (देवकी): Mother of Lord Krishna.
• Devala (देवल): A sage who condemned the game of dice as an evil form of gambling and declared it unfit as entertainment for good people, as it usually offered scope for deceit and dishonesty.
• Devavrata (देवव्रत): The eighth child of Santanu and Ganga who in time mastered the art yielding arms and learned the Vedas and Vedanta as also the sciences known to Sukra was crowned Yuvaraja (heir apparent), but later vowed to celibacy and was known as Bhishma.
• Devayanī (देवयानी): The beautiful daughter of Shukracharaya, preceptor of the demons, who fell in love with Kacha, son of Brihaspati, preceptor of the Devas.
• Devendra (देवेन्‍द्र): King of the Gods.
• Devī (देवी): The female version of a Deva, i.e. a female deity or goddess. Devi is considered to be the Supreme Goddess in Shaktism.
• Dhanvantari (धन्‍वंतरी): An avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu. Dhanvantari appears in the Vedas as the physician of the gods, and is the god of Ayurvedic medicine.
• Dharma (धर्म): Righteous course of conduct. Can mean law, rule or duty. Beings that live in harmony with Dharma proceed quicker towards moksha.
• Dharmagranthi (धर्मग्रंथी): Assumed named of Nakula at Virata's court.
• Dharmananda (धर्मनन्‍द):The delighted of Dharma, a name of Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma or Yama.
• Dharmavyadha (धर्मव्‍याध): He possessed the secret of good life and lived in the city of Mithila. He was a meat-seller.
• Dhananjaya (धनन्‍जय): One of the names of Arjuna.
• Dhanusaksha (धनुसक्ष): A great sage whom Medhavi, son of sage Baladhi, once insulted. He took the form of a bull and butted at that mountain and broke it to pieces. Then Medhavi fell down dead.
• Dhaumya (धौम्‍य): Preceptor of the Pandavas, who accompanied them during their exile to the Kurijangala forest, singing Sama hymns addressed to Yama, Lord of Death.
• Dhrishtadyumna (धृष्‍टद्‍युम्‍न): Supreme commander of the Pandava forces and twin brother of Draupadi.
• Dhrishtaketu (धृष्‍टकेतु): Dhrishtaketu may be 1. A son of Dhrishtadyumna. 2. A son of Sisupala, king of Chedi, and an ally of the Pandavas. 3. A king of the Kekayas, also an ally of the Pandavas. 4. Son of Satyadhriti. 5. Son of Nriga.
• Dhritarāshtra (धृतराष्‍ट्र): Elder son of Vichitravirya and Ambika, born blind, father of Duryodhana.
• Dharmaputra (धर्मपुत्र): The son of Yama, epithet of Yudhishthira.
• Dhartarashtras (धार्तराष्‍ट्र): Sons of Dhritarashtra
• Dhruva (ध्रुव): Dhruva was the prince blessed to eternal existence and glory as the Pole Star (Dhruva Nakshatra in Sanskrit) by Lord Vishnu. The story of Dhruva's life is often told to Hindu children as an example for perseverance, devotion, steadfastness and fearlessness.
• Dhumrāksha (धुमराक्ष): The Grey-eye rākshasha appointed by Rāvana who was slain by Hanumāna.
• Dilipa (दिलीप): Son of Anshumat and father of Bhāgīratha.
• Dīpāvali (दीपावली, दिवाली):Lit. a row of lamps. A significant 5-day festival in Hinduism occurring between mid October and mid November. It is also popularly known as the Festival of Lights.
• Draupadī (द्रौपदी): Daughter of King Drupada, King of Panchala, who married all the five Pandavas though Arjuna had won her in the Swayamvara, because of the vow that they would share everything in common.
• Droṇa (द्रोण): A Brāhman discovered by Bhīshma, Son of a Brahmana named Bharadwāja; married a sister of Kripa and a son Aswathama was born to them; learnt military art from Parasurama, the maser. Later he became the instructor to the Kaurava and Pandava princes in the use of arms. He was slain by Dhrishtadyumna in Mahabharata war.
• Drupada (द्रुपद): King of Panchala, Drona's friend, father of Draupadi who became the wife of the Pandavas
• Duhsāsana (दुःशासन): brother of Duryodhana who dragged Draupadi into the assembly hall and attempted to strip her naked after she had been lost as a wager by Yudhishtira. He eventually gave up when Krishna came to Draupadi's aid. The pandava Bhima killed him at Kurukshetra and drank his blood in accordance with the vow he had taken.
• Durdhara (दुर्धर): A son of Dhritarashtra killed by Bhima in the war.
• Durgā (दुर्गा): A form of Devi, the supreme goddess. She is depicted as a woman riding a lion with multiple hands carrying weapons and assuming mudras.
• Durjaya (दुर्जय): A brother of Duryodhana who was sent to attack Bhima, to save Karna's life but lost his own.
• Durmarsha (दुर्मर्श): A son of Dhritarashtra killed by Bhima.
• Durmata (दुर्मत): A son of Dhritarashtra who got killed by Bhima.
• Durmukha (दुर्मुख): A chariot-borne warrior on the Kaurava side.
• Durvāsa (दुर्वास): An ancient sage known for his anger who visited the Kauravas. Duryodhana asked him to visit his cousins, the Pandavas, hoping that they would incur his wrath.
• Durvishaha (दुर्विषह): A warrior fighting on the Kaurava side.
• Duryodhana (दुर्योधन): The eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, and the chief antagonist of the Pandavas.
• Dushkarma (दुष्‍कर्म): A warrior belonging to the Kaurava side.
• Dushyanta (दुष्‍यंत): A valiant king of the Lunar, race, and descended from Puru. He was husband of Sakuntala, by whom he had a son, Bharata. The loves of Dushyanta and Sakuntala, her separation from him, and her restoration through the discovery of his token-ring in the belly of a fish, form the plot of Kalidasa's celebrated play Sakuntala.
• Dussaha (दुस्‍सह): A son of Dhritarashtra killed by Bhima.
• Dvaita (द्वैत): A branch of Hindu philosophy, founded by Shri Madhvacharyathat advocates dualism and stresses a strict distinction between God and souls.
• Dvaitavana (द्वैतवन): Dvaita Forest or Dvaitavana was situated to the south of the Kamyaka Forest. It contained within it a lake called the Dwaita lake. It was on the south-western outskirts of Kurujangala, near the borders of the desert (northern extension of the Thar desert into Haryana) (3,176). It also lay on the banks of the Saraswati River (known there as the Bhogavati) (3-24,176).
• Dwaitayana (द्वैतायन): A forest where the Kaurava, cows were being bred and housed.
• Dwārakā (द्वारका): Krishna renounced war in Mathura for the greater good and founded and settled in Dwārakā. Leaving the Vrishnis people in Dwaraka, Krishna returned to Mathura and killed Kamsa (his maternal uncle) and Kālayavans demon and made Ugrasen (his maternal grandfather) the king of Mathura.
• Dyumatsena (द्‍युमतसेन): King of Shālwas and father of Satyavān.