Krodha
Krodha, “anger”
Kāma has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kāma.
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root krudh (to be angry): anger.
Meaning: anger, the heat of the mind against one who acts against oneself. It is one of the inner foes a person must overcome, and in the teaching on kāvya it is the abiding feeling (sthāyibhāva) of the fierce rasa.
In the scriptures:
- In the account of creation, when Bhagavān Hiraṇyagarbha had split the golden egg into Dyuloka and Bhūloka and made the earth and the ten directions, he made Kāla (time), Manas (mind), Vāk (speech), Kāma (desire), Krodha (anger) and Rati (delight). Prajāpati created these first, for the creation to come (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 17).
- In the line of Adharma, Māyā bore Mṛtyu, who destroys beings, and the children of Mṛtyu are Vyādhi (disease), Jarā (old age), Śoka (grief), Tṛshṇā (craving) and Krodha (anger) (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 20).
- In the rāja-nīti which Śrī Rāma told Lakshmaṇa, the king becomes happy if he wholly gives up the arishaḍvarga, the group of inner foes: kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, harsha, mada, mātsarya and māna (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 238). The best king is free of the faults krodha, lobha, fear, treachery, obstinacy and fickleness (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 239). Among the kinds of vigraha (war) is the one caused by anger born of harsh words (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 240).
- In the teaching on vyavahāra (lawsuits), a man enters into a lawsuit through kāma, krodha and lobha, and so vyavahāra is called tri-yoni, “having three sources”. The king, free from anger, should examine cases together with a learned brāhmaṇa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 253).
- In the teaching on the rasas, krodha is one of the eight sthāyibhāvas, defined as sharpness towards one who acts against oneself. From tīkshṇatva (sharpness) comes the raudra (fierce) rasa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 339).
Related terms: Kāma · Lobha · Moha · Mada · Mātsarya · Arishaḍvarga · Sthāyibhāva · Raudra
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 17, 20, 238–240, 253, 339