nír-°ṛti f. (nír-) dissolution, destruction, calamity, evil, adversity, [RV.] &c. &c. (personified as the goddess of death and corruption and often associated with Mṛtyu, A-rāti &c., [RV.]; [AV.]; [VS.]; variously regarded as the wife of A-dharma, mother of Bhaya, Mahā-bhaya and Mṛtyu [[MBh.]] or as a daughter of A-dharma and Hiṃsā and mother of Naraka and Bhaya [[MārkP.]]; binds mortals with her cords, [AV.]; [Br.] &c.; is regent of the south [[AV.]] and of the asterism Mūla [[Var.]])
the bottom or lower depths of the earth (as the seat of putrefaction), [AV.]; [VS.]; [ŚBr.]