mahát mfn. (orig. pr. p. of √ 1. mah; strong form, mahānt f. mahatī́; in ep. often for mahāntam; ibc. mostly mahā, q.v.) great (in space, time, quantity or degree) i.e. large, big, huge, ample, extensive, long, abundant, numerous, considerable, important, high, eminent, [RV.] &c. &c. (also ind. in mahad-√ bhū, to become great or full [said of the moon] [Śiś.])
abounding on rich in (instr.), [ChUp.]
(ifc.) distinguished by, [Śak.]
early (morning), [ib.]
advanced (afternoon), [MBh.]
violent (pain or emotion), [ib.]
thick (as darkness), gross, [ib.]
loud (as noise), [Lāṭy.]
many (people, with jana sg.), [MBh.] (with uktha n. a partic. Uktha of 720 verses; with aukthya n. N. of a Sāman, [MBh.]; mahānti bhūtāni, the gross elements, [Mn.]; [MBh.]; cf. mahābhūta)
mahát m. a great or noble man (opp. to nīca, alpa or dīna), [Kāv.]; [Kām.]; [Pañcat.]
the leader of a sect or superior of a monastery, [RTL. 87 n. 1]
a camel, [L.]
N. of Rudra or of a partic. R°, [BhP.]
of a Dānava, [Hariv.]
(scil. gaṇa), a partic. class of deceased progenitors, [MārkP.]
of two princes, [VP.]
mahát m. (rarely n. scil. tattva), ‘the great principle’, N. of Buddhi, ‘Intellect’, or the intellectual principle (according to the Sāṃkhya philosophy the second of the 23 principles produced from Prakṛti and so called as the great source of Ahaṃkāra, ‘self-consciousness’, and Manas, ‘the mind’; cf. [IW. 83, 91] &c.), [MaitrUp.]; [Mn.]; [Sāṃkhyak.]; [MBh.] &c.
mahát n. anything great or important, [ChUp.]
greatness, power, might, [ŚBr.]; [ĀśvGṛ.]
dominion, [L.]
a great thing, important matter, the greater part, [ĀśvGṛ.]
advanced state or time (mahatí rātriyai or rātryai, in the middle of the night, [TS.]; [Br.])
sacred knowledge, [MBh.]
mahát , mahán &c. See p. 794, cols. 2, 3.