By Swami Harshananda
Ariṣṭa literally means ‘unhurt’.
Though the word ‘ariṣṭa’ is used in several senses (as for instance - proof against injury, crow, soap-berry tree, garlic and so on), in a more technical sense it indicates the ill-omens foreboding misfortune or even death, especially in the case of a patient.
- In the Āyurveda, the science of health, aristas are decoctions prepared out of grapes or certain roots used as tonics.
- Ariṣṭa is the name of a demon, a servant of Kariisa, who assumed the form of a bull to attack and kill the child Kṛṣṇa, but was ultimately killed by him.
- The Mahābhārata mentions about a sage Ariṣṭa who revived his son who had been killed by a prince.
- Ariṣṭā was one of the wives of the sage Kaśyapa and was the mother of the gandharvas like Hāhā and Huhu.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore