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n. Any of several Sanskrit religious and philosophical treatises, closely connected with the Brahmanas and Upanishads, and intended to be read by hermits in the quiet of the forest. [Sanskrit Āraṇyakam, from neuter sing. of āraṇyaka-, pertaining to the forest, from āraṇya-, from araṇyam, foreign land, wilderness, forest, from araṇa-, distant, foreign; see al-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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