कारण [ kāraṇa ] [ kāraṇa ]1 n. cause , reason , the cause of anything (gen. , also often loc.) Lit. KātyŚr. Lit. MBh. Lit. Mn.

  instrument , means

  motive origin , principle

  a cause ( in phil. i.e. that which is invariably antecedent to some product cf. [ samavāyi-k ] , [ asamavāyi-k ] , [ nimitta-k ] )

  an element , elementary matter Lit. Yājñ. iii , 148 Lit. Bhag. xviii , 13

  the origin or plot of a play or poem Lit. Sāh.

  that on which an opinion or judgement is founded (a sign , mark ; a proof ; a legal instrument , document) Lit. Mn. Lit. MBh.

  an organ of sense Lit. Ragh. xvi , 22

  an action Lit. MBh. xii , 12070

  agency , instrumentality , condition Lit. Kathās. cxii , 178

  " the cause of being " , a father Lit. W.

  " cause of creation " , a deity Lit. W.

  the body Lit. L.

  a kind of musical instrument Lit. L.

  a sort of song Lit. L.

  a number of scribes or Kāyasthas Lit. W.

  [ kāraṇā ] f. pain , agony Lit. Daś.

  an astronomical period Lit. W. ( ( [ kāraṇāt ] , from some cause or reason , Lit. Rprāt. iii , 13 Lit. Mn. viii , 355 ; [ kasmāt kāraṇāt ] , from what cause? [ mama-kāraṇāt ] , for my sake Lit. R. ; [ a-kāraṇena ] , without a reason Lit. Yājñ. ii , 234 ; [ yena kāraṇena ] , because ; [ yasmin kāraṇe ] , from which motive , wherefore. ) )