क्रौञ्च

{ krauñcḥ, krauñca }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

   A mountain. There is a story about this mountain. Long ago there lived an Asura named Krauñca. He was leading a wicked life and was haughty and arrogant. Once Agastya went to Kailāsa and worshipped Śiva. Kāverīdevī also was standing close by, worshipping Śiva. God Śiva appeared before Agastya and told him that he might ask for any boon. He requested for the power to push down Vindhya by kicking and to establish a holy Tīrtha (bath) on the earth. Śiva granted the boons. For making the tīrtha Śiva turned Kāverī into a river and placed her in the water-pot of Agastya. As Agastya was returning from Kailāsa with Kāverī in his water-pot, Krauñca the Asura took the shape of a mountain and hindered his way. The Asura caused a heavy rain too. Agastya wandered through the forest without finding the path for days. At last he realized the cause. He took a few drops of water from his waterpot and with chanting of Mantras and meditation threw the drops at the Asura with the curse that he would stand there for ever as a mountain. He said that he would be liberated from the curse when pierced by the arrow of Subrahmaṇya, the son of Śiva. From that day onwards Krauñca the Asura had been standing there as a mountain. That mountain was called ‘The mountain of Krauñca.’ [Skanda Purāṇa, Asura Kāṇḍa] . There is another statement in Harivaṁśa, Chapter 18, that the mountain Krauñca was the son of the mountain Maināka, the son of Menā. Subrahmaṇya fought a terrible battle with the Asuras. Many died. Bāṇāsura, the son of Mahābali, fled from the battlefield and hid himself inside the mountain Krauñca. Subrahmaṇya cleft the mountain into two with the arrow given by Agni (Fire-god). Thus Krauñcāsura was liberated from the curse. [M.B. Śalya Parva, Chapter 46] . In ‘Meghadūta’ Kālidāsa mentions about the cleavage in the mountain Krauñca. in [Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 225, Stanza 33] , mention is made that through this cleavage swans and vultures fly to Mahāmeru. (For the story of how Paraśurāma cleft the Krauñca mountain see under Paraśurāma).
KRAUÑCA I   An Asura. In Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 57 it is mentioned that this Asura was killed by Subrahmaṇya.
KRAUÑCA III   (A kind of snipe). A bird.

A Sanskrit English Dictionary

क्रौञ्च  mfn.  mfn. ( fr. क्रु॑ञ्च g. प्रज्ञा-दि), ‘curlew-like’, with व्यूह = °चा-रुण, [MBh. vi, 51, 1]
क्रौञ्च  m.  m. a kind of curlew, [TS. v]; [Āp. i, 17, 36]; [Mn.] &c.
   the emblem of the fifth अर्हत् of the present अवसर्पिणी, [L.]
   an osprey, [L.]
क्रुञ्चा    patr. (or metron. fr., [Pāṇ. 4-1, 120]; [Kār.]), N. of a pupil of शाकपूर्णि, [VP.]
    N. of a mountain (part of the हिमालय range, situated in the eastern part of the chain on the north of Assam; said to have been split by कार्त्तिकेय, [VP.]), [TĀr. i, 31, 2]; [MBh. iii, 14331; vi, 462; ix, 2700 ff.]; [R.] &c.
    N. of one of the द्वीपs of the world (surrounded by the sea of curds), [VarBṛS.]; [BhP.]; [MatsyaP.]; [BhavP.]; [VārP.]
    N. of an असुर or रक्षस्, [W.]
क्रौञ्च  n.  n. a kind of poison, [Car. vi, 23]
अस्त्र   ( scil.) N. of a mythical weapon, [R. i, 29, 12 and 56, 9]
    N. of several सामन्s, [TāṇḍyaBr. xi]
    xiii; [Lāṭy.]; [ĀrṣBr.]
गान   of a particular kind of recitation, [TS. ii, 5, 11, 1]; [ChUp. ii, 22, 1] ( scil.)
   a particular method of sitting, [NārP.]

The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

क्रौञ्चः [krauñcḥ]   [क्रुञ्च् प्रज्ञा˚ अण्]
   A curlew, heron; मनोहरक्रौञ्च- निनादितानि सीमान्तराण्युत्सुकयन्ति चेतः [Ṛs.4.8;] [Ms.12.64.] क्रौञ्चो विषाभ्याशे माद्यति [Kau.A.1.2.17.]
  N. N. of a mountain (said to be the grandson of Himālaya and said to have been pierced by Kārtikeya and Paraśurāma); हंसद्वारं भृगुपतियशोवर्त्म यत् क्रौञ्चरन्ध्रम् [Me.59.] भिन्नो मद्बाणवेगेन क्रौञ्चत्वं वा गमिष्यति [Pratimā.5.12;] क्रौञ्चं यथा गिरिवरं युधि कार्तिकेयम् Abhiṣeka 6.7. -Comp.
-अदनम्   the fibres of the stalk of a lotus. (-नी) the seed of lotus.
   अरातिः, अरिः, रिपुः an epithet of Kārtikeya.
   of Paraśurāma.
-दारणः, -सूदनः   an epithet (1) of Kārtikeya, (2)
-वर्णः   a kind of horse. [Mb.7.23.26;] cf. com. as- 'सितलोमकेसराढ्याः कृष्णत्वग्गुह्यलो- चनोष्ठखुराः । ये स्युर्मुनिभिर्वाहा निर्दिष्टाः क्रौञ्चवर्णास्ते ॥'

Shabda-Sagara

क्रौञ्च  m.  ( -ञ्चः)
   1. A kind of heron. (Ardea jaculator, BUCH.)
   2. One of the Dwipas or principal divisions of the world, surrounded by the sea of curds.
   3. A mountain, part of the Himalaya range, situated in the eastern part of the chain on the north of Asam.
   4. A Jaina emblem, the figure of the curlew, used as a symbol.
   5. The name of a demon,
  f.  ( -ञ्चा) The female of the curlew.
    E. क्रुञ्च to go crook- edly, affix अण्.

ROOTS:

क्रुञ्च अण्