Tvashtri, Tvaṣṭṛ, Tvastri, Tvāṣṭrī: 11 definitions
Introduction:
Tvashtri means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
The Sanskrit terms Tvaṣṭṛ and Tvāṣṭrī can be transliterated into English as Tvastr or Tvashtri or Tvastri, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English TranslationTvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ) is identified with Viśvakarman (the divine architect), as mentioned in the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.27. Accordingly as Brahmā narrated to Nārada:—“[...] once a great sacrifice was started by Dakṣa, O sage. To partake in that sacrifice, the celestial and terrestrial sages and Devas were invited by Śiva and they reached the place being deluded by Śiva’s Māyā. [...] Large divine mansions of great value and brilliant lustre were erected by Tvaṣṭṛ and assigned to them by Dakṣa. In all those places they stationed themselves in a befitting manner after being duly honoured. They shone along with Viṣṇu and me”.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexTvāṣṭrī (त्वाष्ट्री).—A wife of Kali.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 84. 9.

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Source: archive.org: Vedic index of Names and SubjectsTvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ) is employed once in the Atharvaveda to denote a ‘carpenter’, with a deliberate play on the name of the god Tvaṣṭṛ. He is there mentioned as using an axe (svadhiti) to fashion (from wood) ‘a well-made form’ (rūpaṃ sukṛtam). See Taṣṭṛ.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryTvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ).—m. [tvakṣ-tṛc]
1) A carpenter, builder, workman, त्वष्ट्रेव विहितं यन्त्रम् (tvaṣṭreva vihitaṃ yantram) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 12.33.22.
2) Viśvakarman, the architect of the gods. [Tvaṣtṛ is the Vulcan of the Hindu mythology. He had a son named Triśiras and a daughter called संज्ञा (saṃjñā), who was given in marriage to the sun. But she was unable to bear the severe light of her husband, and therefore Tvaṣtṛ mounted the sun upon his lathe, and carefully trimmed off a part of his bright disc; cf. आरोप्य चक्रभ्रमिमुष्णतेजास्त्वष्ट्रेव यत्नो- ल्लिखितो विभाति (āropya cakrabhramimuṣṇatejāstvaṣṭreva yatno- llikhito vibhāti) R.6.32. The part trimmed off is said to have been used by him in forming the discus of Viṣṇu, the Triśūla of Śiva, and some other weapons of the gods.] पर्वतं चापि जग्राह क्रुद्धस्त्वष्टा महाबलः (parvataṃ cāpi jagrāha kruddhastvaṣṭā mahābalaḥ) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 1.227. 34.
3) Prajāpati (the creator); यां चकार स्वयं त्वष्टा रामस्य महिषीं प्रियाम् (yāṃ cakāra svayaṃ tvaṣṭā rāmasya mahiṣīṃ priyām) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 3.274.9.
4) Āditya, a form of the sun; निर्भिन्ने अक्षिणी त्वष्टा लोकपालोऽविशद्विभोः (nirbhinne akṣiṇī tvaṣṭā lokapālo'viśadvibhoḥ) Bhāgavata 3.6.15.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryTvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ).—m.
(-ṣṭā) 1. A carpenter. 2. A name of Viswakarma, the artist of the gods. E. tvakṣ to pare, affix tṛc. The sun. E. tiṣ to shine, Unadi affix tṛc and a substituted for the radical i.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryTvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ).—i. e. tvakṣ + tṛ, m. 1. A carpenter (ved.). 2. The name of a deity, the artist of the gods,
Tvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ).—[masculine] carpenter, workmann, creator; [Name] of a god.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Tvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ):—[from tvaṣṭa] m. a carpenter, maker of carriages (= taṣṭṛ), [Atharva-veda xii, 3, 33]
2) [v.s. ...] ‘creator of living beings’, the heavenly builder, Name of a god (called su-kṛt, -pāṇi, -gabhasti, -janiman, sv-apas, apasām apastama, viśva-rūpa etc., [Ṛg-veda]; maker of divine implements, [especially] of Indra’s thunderbolt and teacher of the Ṛbhus, [i, iv-vi, x; Harivaṃśa 12146 f.; Rāmāyaṇa ii, 91, 12]; former of the bodies of men and animals, hence called ‘firstborn’ and invoked for the sake of offspring, [especially] in the Āprī hymns, [Ṛg-veda; Atharva-veda] etc., [Mahābhārata iv, 1178; Harivaṃśa 587 ff.; Raghuvaṃśa vi, 32]; associated with the similar deities Dhātṛ, Savitṛ, Prajā-pati, Pūṣan, and surrounded by divine females [gnās, janayas, devānām patnīs; cf. tvaṣṭā-varūtrī] recipients of his generative energy, [Ṛg-veda; Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa i; Kātyāyana-śrauta-sūtra iii]; supposed author of [Ṛg-veda x, 184] with the epithet Garbha-pati, [Ṛgveda-anukramaṇikā]; father of Saraṇyū [Su-reṇu, [Harivaṃśa]; Sva-reṇu, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]] whose double twin-children by Vivasvat [or Vāyu ? [Ṛg-veda viii, 26, 21 f.]] are YamaYamī and the Aśvins, [x, 17, 1 f.; Nirukta, by Yāska xii, 10; Bṛhad-devatā; Harivaṃśa 545 ff.; Viṣṇu-purāṇa]; also father of Tri-śiras or Viśvarūpa, [ib.]; overpowered by Indra who recovers the Soma [Ṛg-veda iii f.] concealed by him because Indra had killed his son Viśva-rūpa, [Taittirīya-saṃhitā ii; Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa i, v, xii]; regent of the Nakṣatra Citrā, [Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa; Śāṅkhāyana-gṛhya-sūtra; Śāntikalpa; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā iic, 4]; of the 5th cycle of Jupiter, [viii, 23]; of an eclipse, [iii, 6]; tvaṣṭur ātithya Name of a Sāman, [Ārṣeya-brāhmaṇa])
3) [v.s. ...] a form of the sun, [Mahābhārata iii, 146; Harivaṃśa 13143; Bhāgavata-purāṇa iii, 6, 15]
4) [v.s. ...] (styled mahā-graha), [Parāśara-smṛti]
5) [v.s. ...] Name of the 12th Muhūrta, [Sūryaprajñapti]
6) [v.s. ...] of an Āditya, [Mahābhārata i; Harivaṃśa; Bhāgavata-purāṇa vi, 6, 37; Viṣṇu-purāṇa i, 15, 130; ii, 10, 16]
7) [v.s. ...] of a Rudra, [i, 15, 122]
8) [v.s. ...] of a son of Manasyu or Bhauvana[, ii, 1, 40; Bhāgavata-purāṇa v, 15, 13.]
9) Tvāṣṭrī (त्वाष्ट्री):—[from tvāṣṭra > tvaṣṭa] f. ‘daughter of T°’, Saraṇyū (Vivasvat’s wife), [Nirukta, by Yāska xii, 10; Mahābhārata i, 2599; Harivaṃśa 545 f.]
10) [v.s. ...] the asterism Citrā, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
11) [v.s. ...] a small car, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
12) [v.s. ...] [plural] ‘daughters of T°’, certain divine female beings, [Tāṇḍya-brāhmaṇa xii, 5.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryTvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ):—(ṣṭā) 4. m. A carpenter, Vishwakarma; the sun.
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Tvaṣṭṛ (त्वष्टृ) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Taṭṭhi, Taṭṭhu.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusTvaṣṭṛ (ತ್ವಷ್ಟೃ):—
1) [noun] a man who builds or repairs wooden structures, as houses, scaffolds, furniture or shelving; a carpenter.
2) [noun] Viśvakarma, the architect of the gods.
3) [noun] Brahma, the creator of the universe.
4) [noun] one of the twelve gods of the class of the sun.
5) [noun] Viṣṇu.
6) [noun] a star in the constellation Virgo, with the brightness magnitude of 1.03; the Spica.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Tvashtridevatya, Tvashtrimant, Tvashtrimat, Tvashtrimati, Tvashtrisaman, Tvashtrishanti.
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Full-text (+70): Antatvashtri, Tvashtrisaman, Tvashtridevatya, Tvashtra, Tvashtrimat, Vishvakarma, Saranyu, Mahaugha, Tryanta, Tatthu, Vishvarupa, Tvashta, Tuvattar, Sugabhasti, Ribhva, Ribhvas, Brisaya, Rupapati, Tuvattan, Garbhakartri.
Relevant text
Search found 67 books and stories containing Tvashtri, Tvaṣṭṛ, Tvastr, Tvastri, Tvāṣṭrī; (plurals include: Tvashtris, Tvaṣṭṛs, Tvastrs, Tvastris, Tvāṣṭrīs). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Studies in the Upapuranas (by R. C. Hazra)
Brahma Purana (critical study) (by Surabhi H. Trivedi)
19. Description of Tvastr < [Mythology]
Atharvaveda ancillary literature (Study) (by B. R. Modak)
Part 1.12 - The Citra (Virginis Spica) < [Chapter 2b - A Topical Analysis of the Atharvaveda-Parisistas]
Part 5 - The Laksana-granthas—Introduction < [Chapter 1 - Ancillary Literature of the Atharvaveda (other than the Parisistas)]
Part 3.3 - The Atharva-Prayascittas (introduction and summary) < [Chapter 1 - Ancillary Literature of the Atharvaveda (other than the Parisistas)]
Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures (by Nalini Kanta Bhattasali)
Iconography of Surya (the Sun-God)—Introduction < [Part 2 - Brahmanical Sculptures]
The wives and children of the Sun-God < [Part 2 - Brahmanical Sculptures]
Introduction to Brahmanical Iconography < [Part 2 - Brahmanical Sculptures]
Goddesses from the Samhitas to the Sutras (by Rajeshri Goswami)
Description of Goddesses Danu, Saranyu and Sarama < [Chapter 3]
Wives of the Gods < [Chapter 3]
Description of Goddess Sinivali < [Chapter 1]
Soma in Vedic Mythology and Ritual (study) (by Anjana Chakraborty)
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