As a deity name
Name 482 of the Gopal Sahasranāma — Sammohana Tantra, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
Name 799 of the Hanuman Sahasranāma — Rasvin Samhita / Brahmanda Purana, as taught by Lord Ram / Sages
Name 22 of the Narasimha Sahasranāma — Brahmanda Purana / Narasimha Purana, as taught by Sages to Assembly of Devotees
Name 292 of the Vishnu Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Bhishma to Yudhishthira on his deathbed
As a Hindi name
पावन · masculine
fire; water
पावन
purifying; pure, holy
Śabdasāgara also records: पवित्र करनेवाला । शुदध करनेवाला · पवित्र । शुदध । पाक
Platts (p. 222) also records: Purifying, purificatory, purgatory, freeing from sin, sanctifying; purified, pure, holy
Cited formation "पावन" is पाव + -न: पाव means "Fourth part, quarter", and the suffix -न forms abstract nouns (masc. or fem.). CHD Basic Grammar App. I §8(18) — cited from the extracted rule table — base gloss: Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago
Cited formation "पावन" is पावना + -न: पावना means "= pānā, q.v", and the suffix -न forms abstract nouns (masc. or fem.). CHD Basic Grammar App. I §8(18) — cited from the extracted rule table — base gloss: Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago
a Hindi word; it is not Sanskrit
“Etymology tree Sanskrit पावयति (pāvayati) Proto-Indo-European *-nós Sanskrit -अन (-ana) Sanskrit पावन (pāvana)bor. Hindi पावन Borrowed from Sanskrit पावन (pāvana).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
the act or a means of cleansing or purifying, purification, sanctification, &c.
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (9)Why this matches what you typed
M3 · meaning shifts "pāvana" is derived from "pāvan" with the aṇ suffix — a related word whose meaning shifts, so both meanings are shown.
1. pāvan mfn. drinking (only ifc.; cf. asṛk-, gharma-, ghṛta- &c.)
2. pāvan mfn. protecting (only ifc.; cf. abhiśasti-, tanū-).
pāvana mf(ī)n. purifying, purificatory
pure, holy, Mn.; MBh. &c.
Dictionary citations
pāvana mf(ī)n. purifying, purificatory
pure, holy, Mn.; MBh. &c.
living on wind, Nīlak.
pāvana m. a partic. fire, Kull. on Mn. iii, 185
fire, L.
1. pāvan mfn. drinking (only ifc.; cf. asṛk-, gharma-, ghṛta- &c.)
2. pāvan mfn. protecting (only ifc.; cf. abhiśasti-, tanū-).
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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