गुण [ guṇa ] [ guṇá ] m. (√ [ grah ] Lit. Uṇ.) a single thread or strand of a cord or twine (e.g. [ tri-g ] q.v.) , string or thread , rope Lit. TS. vii Lit. Mṛicch. Lit. Kum. Lit. Ragh.

a garland Lit. W.

a bow-string Lit. R. iii , 33 , 16 ( [ cāpa- ] ) Lit. Ragh. ix , 54 Lit. Ṛitus. Lit. Hit.

(in geom.) a sinew

the string of a musical instrument , chord Lit. Śiś. iv , 57 : ifc. (f ( [ ā ] ) . ) with numerals " fold , times " (see [ cátur- ] , [ tri- ] , [ daśa- ] , [ dví - ] , [ pañca- ] ; rarely the numeral stands by itself along with [ guṇá ] ( e.g. [ viśiṣṭo daśabhir guṇaiḥ ] , " of ten times higher value " Lit. Mn. ii , 85 ) Lit. AV. x , 8 , 43 Lit. MBh. iii , 15649 Lit. Hariv. 509 ; ( [ guṇa ] = [ bhāga ] ) Lit. Pāṇ. 5-2 , 47 Lit. Kāś.)

a multiplier , co-efficient (in alg.)

subdivision , species , kind (e.g. [ gandhasya guṇāḥ ] , the different kinds of smell Lit. MBh. xii , 6847)

the 6 subdivisions of action for a king in foreign politics (viz. peace , war , march , halt , stratagem , and recourse to the protection of a mightier king) Lit. Mn. vii , 160 Lit. Yājñ. i , 346 Lit. MBh. ii , 155

= [ upāya ] ( q.v. , denoting the 4 ways of conquering an enemy) Lit. R. v , 81 , 41

" requisite " see [ °ṇopeta ]

a secondary element , subordinate or unessential part of any action (e.g. [ sarva-guṇa ] mfn. " reaching to all subordinate parts " , hence " valid throughout " Lit. KātyŚr.) Lit. ŚāṅkhŚr. Lit. ĀśvŚr. Lit. KātyŚr. Lit. R. v , 1 , 71

an auxiliary act Lit. ŚāṅkhBr. xxvi , 4

a secondary dish (opposed to [ anna ] i.e. rice or the chief dish) , side-dish Lit. Mn. iii , 224 ff.

(= [ -karman ] , in Gr.) the secondary or less immediate object of an action Lit. Pāṇ. 1-4 , 51 Sch.

a quality , peculiarity , attribute or property Lit. Lāṭy. Lit. ŚāṅkhGṛ. Lit. Mn. iii , ix ,

an attribute of the 5 elements (each of which has its own peculiar quality or qualities as well as organ of sense ; thus 1. ether has [ śabda ] , or sound for its Guṇa and the ear for its organ ; 2. the air has tangibility and sound for its Guṇas and the skin for its organ ; 3. fire or light has shape or colour , tangibility , and sound for its Guṇas , and the eye for its organs ; 4. water has flavour , shape , tangibility , and sound for its Guṇas , and the tongue for its organ ; 5. earth has the preceding Guṇas , with the addition of its own peculiar Guṇa of smell , and the nose for its organ) Lit. Mn. i , 20 and 76-78 Lit. MBh. xii , 6846 ff. Lit. Śak. i , 1 Lit. BhP. iii , 5 , 35

(in Sāṃkhya phil.) an ingredient or constituent of Prakṛiti , chief quality of all existing beings (viz. [ sattva ] , [ rajas ] , and [ tamas ] i.e. goodness , passion , and darkness , or virtue , foulness , and ignorance ; cf. Lit. RTL. pp. 31 ; 36 ; 163) Lit. Mn. i ; iii , 40 ; xii , 24 ff. Lit. Sāṃkhyak. Lit. Bhag. xiii f.

(hence) the number " three " Lit. VarBṛS. iic , 1

a property or characteristic of all created things (in Nyāya phil. twenty-four Guṇas are enumerated , viz. 1. [ rūpa ] , shape , colour ; 2. [ rasa ] , savour ; 3. [gandha ] , odour ; 4. [ sparśa ] , tangibility ; 5. [ saṃkhyā ] , number ; 6. [parimāṇa ] , dimension ; 7. [ pṛthaktva ] , severalty ; 8. [ saṃyoga ] , conjunction ; 9. [ vibhāga ] , disjunction ; 10. [ paratva ] , remoteness ; 11. [aparatva ] , proximity ; 12. [ gurutva ] , weight ; 13. [ dravatva ] , fluidity ; 14. [sneha ] , viscidity ; 15. [ śabda ] , sound ; 16. [ buddhi ] or [ jñāna ] , understanding or knowledge ; 17. [ sukha ] , pleasure ; 18. [ duḥkha ] , pain ; 19. [ icchā ] , desire ; 20. [ dveṣa ] , aversion ; 21. [ prayatna ] , effort ; 22. [dharma ] , merit or virtue ; 23. [ adharma ] , demerit ; 24. [ saṃskāra ] , the self-reproductive quality)

an epithet Lit. KātyŚr.

good quality , virtue , merit , excellence Lit. Mn. Lit. MBh.

also "power, might" ; [ āt ] , "by virtue of" , "in consequence of" , "by means of"

the merit of composition (consistency , elegance of expression , ) Lit. Kāvyâd. i , 41 f. Lit. Kpr. viii Lit. Sāh. viii

the peculiar properties of the letters (11 in number , viz. the 8 [ bāhya-prayatnās ] ( q.v. ) and the 3 accents) Lit. Kāś. on Lit. Pāṇ. 1-1 , 9 and 50 ( cf. [ -mātra ] )

the first gradation of a vowel , the vowels [ a ] ( with [ ar ] , [ al ] Lit. Pāṇ. 1-1 , 51) , [ e ] , [ o ] Lit. Nir. x , 17 Lit. RPrāt. xi , 6 Lit. Pāṇ.

an organ of sense Lit. L.

a cook ( cf. [ -kāra ] ) Lit. L.

Bhīma-sena ( cf. [ -kāra ] ) Lit. L.

[ guṇā ] f. Sanseviera Roxburghiana Lit. L.

the plant [ māṃsarohiṇī ] Lit. L.

N. of a princess Lit. Rājat. iv , 695 ( cf. [ nir- ] , [ vi- ] , [ sa- ] ; [ gauṇa ] .)