Advertisement
Vishnu name of a principal Hindu deity, 1630s, from Sanskrit Vishnu, probably from root vish- and meaning "all-pervader" or "worker."
Related entries & more Advertisement
Hare Krishna (adj.)1970, from the title of a Hindu chant or mantra, from Hindi hare "O God!" + Krishna, name of an incarnation of the god Vishnu.
Related entries & more Rama incarnation of Vishnu, from Sanskrit Ramah, literally "lovely," from stem of ramate "stands still, rests, is pleased."
Related entries & more Brahma 1785, from Sanskrit Brahma, nominative of Brahman, chief god of the trinity Brahma-Vishnu-Siva in post-Vedic Hindu religion (see brahmin).
Related entries & more Krishna
Related entries & more eighth avatar of Vishnu, 1793, from Sanskrit krshnah, literally "the Black One," from PIE *kers-no-, suffixed form of root *kers- "dark, dirty" (source also of Old Church Slavonic crunu, Russian coron, Serbo-Croatian crn, Czech cerny, Old Prussian kirsnan "black," Lithuanian keršas "black and white, variegated").
Advertisement
juggernaut (n.)"an idea, custom, fashion, etc., that demands either blind devotion or merciless sacrifice," 1854, a figurative use of Juggernaut, 1630s (Iaggernat), "huge wagon bearing an image of the god Krishna," especially that at the town of Puri, drawn annually in procession during which (apocryphally) devotees allowed themselves to be crushed under its wheels in sacrifice. Altered from Jaggernaut, a title of Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu), from Hindi Jagannath, literally "lord of the world."
This is from Sanskrit jagat "the world, men and beasts" (literally "the moving, all that moves," present participle of *jagati "he goes" (from PIE root *gwa- "to go, come") + natha-s "lord, master," from nathate "he helps, protects," from PIE root *nā- "to help." The first European description of the festival is by Friar Odoric (c. 1321).
Related entries & more This is from Sanskrit jagat "the world, men and beasts" (literally "the moving, all that moves," present participle of *jagati "he goes" (from PIE root *gwa- "to go, come") + natha-s "lord, master," from nathate "he helps, protects," from PIE root *nā- "to help." The first European description of the festival is by Friar Odoric (c. 1321).
Advertisement
