मेना

{ mēnā, menā }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

MENĀ I   Wife of Himavān. Beautiful Menā was the daughter of Mahāmeru. Himavān lord of the mountains and the seat of many minerals and fossils had two daughters of unparallelled beauty and their mother was the lovely Menā, daughter of Mahāmeru and wife of Himavān. [Sarga 35, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa] . Rāmāyaṇa states that Menā had two daughters of extraordinary beauty named Gaṅgā and Umā. They were both married by Śiva. But Vāmana Purāṇa in chapter 51 states that Menā had three beautiful daughters and a son named Sunābha. Menā's first daughter was Rāgiṇī with red body and eyes and wearing a red dress. Her second daughter named Kuṭilā was white in colour, had lotus eyes, and wore white dress. The third was a girl of enchanting beauty named Kālī. She was blue-black in colour with eyes like the blue lotus leaf. It can be surmised that the Umā of Rāmāyaṇa and Kālī were one and the same person by the following verse in the Amarakośa. Umā Kātyāyanī Gaurī Kālī Haimavatīśvarī // When the statements of the two Purāṇas are taken together Menā should have had four daughters, Gaṅgā, Rāgiṇī, Kuṭilā and Kālī and a son named Sunābha.
MENĀ II   Daughter of the Pitṛs (Manes). Pitṛs are of two kinds: Anagnis and Sāgnis. Anagnis are those who do not perform yāgas and those who perform yāgas are called Sāgnis. Anagnis are called Agniṣvāttas and Sāgnis are called Barhiṣadas. Svadhā was the common wife of all the Pitṛs. Svadhā got two daughters, Menā and Dhāriṇī. They were both very well- learned, virtuous girls and were Brahmavādinīs (expounders of Vedānta philosophy). [Chapter 10, Aṁśa 1, Viṣṇu Purāṇa] .

A dictionary, Marathi and English

A palanquin.

Aryabhushan School Dictionary

 m  A palanquin.

महाराष्ट्र शब्दकोश

 पु. मेणा पहा . [ फा . म्यान ]

A Sanskrit English Dictionary

मेना  f.  a f. See below.
मेना  f.  b f. a woman (also the female of any animal), [RV.]
वाच्   speech (= ), [Naigh. i, 11]
N. of the daughter of वृषण्-अश्व, [RV. i, 51, 13] ( [Sāy.])
मेनका   of an अप्सरस् (= , wife of हिम-वत् and mother of पर्वती), [Hariv.]; [R.]; [Pur.]
of a river, [MBh.]

The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

मेना [mēnā]   1 N. of the wife of Himālaya; मेनां मुनीनामपि माननीयाम् (उपयेमे) [Ku.1.18;5.5.]
 N. N. of a river.
speech (वाच्).

Shabda-Sagara

मेना  f.  ( -ना) The wife of Himālaya: see मेनका .