As a deity name
Name 162 of the Narasimha Sahasranāma — Brahmanda Purana / Narasimha Purana, as taught by Sages to Assembly of Devotees
Name 339 of the Shiva Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Sage Tandi to Sage Upamanyu
Name 462 of the Surya Sahasranāma — Bhavishya Purana, as taught by Lord Brahma / Sages
Name 918 of the Vishnu Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Bhishma to Yudhishthira on his deathbed
As a Hindi name
दक्षिण
वि्॰ · दहना । दाहना । बायाँ का उलटा । अप- सव्य · इस प्रकार प्रवृत्त जिससे किसी का कार्य सिद्ध हो । अनुकूल — Śabdasāgara
दक्षिण · noun · masculine
दक्खिन की दशा । उत्तर के सामने की दिशा · काव्य या साहित्य में वह नायक जिसका अनुराग अपनी सब नायिकाओं पर समान हो · प्रदक्षिण — Śabdasāgara
दक्षिण · dakshiṇa · adj.
(f. -ā), Right (opp. of left; see dahinā); southern, south — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 520
दक्षिण · masculine
right (side); south
दक्षिण
right; southern
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi दक्षिण — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Learned borrowing from Sanskrit दक्षिण (dakṣiṇa), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱs- (“right (side)”). Doublet of दक्खिन (dakkhin).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
dakṣiṇa mf(ā)n. (also ˚ṇa, ŚBr.) (declined as a pron. when denoting relative position [‘right’ or ‘southern’] KātyŚr.; ĀśvGṛ. &c.; cf. Pāṇ. i, 1, 34; vii, 1, 16; but not necessarily in abl. and loc. sg. m. n. [˚ṇe, KātyŚr.; Mn. ii, 63] and nom. pl. m.; except, Hariv. 12390) able, clever, dexterous, Pāṇ. i, 1, 34, Kāś.; Śatr. (ifc.)
right (not left), RV.; AV.; VS. &c. (˚ṇaṃ parī, ‘to walk round a person with the right side towards him’, BhP. iv, 12, 25; ˚ṇaṃ√ kṛ, ‘to place any one on the right side as a mark of respect’, i, viii)
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
(also ˚ṇa, ) (declined as a pron. when denoting relative position [‘right’ or ‘southern’]; &c.; cf.; but not necessarily in abl. and loc. sg. [˚ṇe, ] and nom. pl.; except, ) able…
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (3)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "dakṣiṇa" is the vocative of "dakṣiṇā" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
Gender counterpart
The kosha attests this stem in the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter — the same name serves without alteration.
Dictionary citations
dakṣiṇa mf(ā)n. (also ˚ṇa, ŚBr.) (declined as a pron. when denoting relative position [‘right’ or ‘southern’] KātyŚr.; ĀśvGṛ. &c.; cf. Pāṇ. i, 1, 34; vii, 1, 16; but not necessarily in abl. and loc. sg. m. n. [˚ṇe, KātyŚr.; Mn. ii, 63] and nom. pl. m.; except, Hariv. 12390) able, clever, dexterous, Pāṇ. i, 1, 34, Kāś.; Śatr. (ifc.)
right (not left), RV.; AV.; VS. &c. (˚ṇaṃ parī, ‘to walk round a person with the right side towards him’, BhP. iv, 12, 25; ˚ṇaṃ√ kṛ, ‘to place any one on the right side as a mark of respect’, i, viii)
south, southern (as being on the right side of a person looking eastward), situated to the south, turned or directed southward, AV.; VS. &c.
coming from south (wind), Suśr.; Ragh. iv, 8
(with āmnāya) the southern sacred text (of the Tāntrikas), Kulārṇ. iii
dakṣiṇā (ā), f. (scil. go), ‘able to calve and give milk’, a prolific cow, good milch-cow, RV.; AV.
a fee or present to the officiating priest (consisting originally of a cow, cf. KātyŚr. xv; Lāṭy. viii, 1, 2), RV. &c.
Alternative readings
More than one analysis survives full verification. That ambiguity is real, so we show every reading rather than pick one silently.
Caveats
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