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Māgha
Magha (c. 7th century) ( sa, माघ, ) was a Sanskrit poet at King Varmalata's court at Shrimala, the then-capital of Gujarat (presently in Rajasthan state). Magha was born in a Shrimali Brahmin family. He was the son of Dattaka Sarvacharya and the grandson of Suprabhadeva. His epic poem (''mahākāvya'') Shishupala Vadha, in 20 ''sarga''s (cantos), is based on the Mahabharata episode in which Krishna uses his ''chakra'' (disc) to behead the defiant king Shishupala. He is thought to have been inspired by, and is often compared with, Bharavi. Life and work Māgha's fame rests entirely on the Shishupala Vadha. Vallabhadeva and Kshemendra quote some verses that are not found in the Shishupala Vadha as that of Māgha, so it is believed that Māgha wrote some other works that are now lost. Unlike most Indian poets who give no autobiographical details or allude to any contemporary events, Māgha gives some autobiographical details in the concluding five verses of the work (known ...
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Shishupala Vadha
The Shishupala Vadha ( sa, शिशुपालवध, IAST: ''Śiśupāla-vadha'', ''lit.'' "the slaying of Shishupala") is a work of classical Sanskrit poetry ('' kāvya'') composed by Māgha in the 7th or 8th century. It is an epic poem in 20 ''sarga''s (cantos) of about 1800 highly ornate stanzas, and is considered one of the five Sanskrit ''mahakavya''s, or "great epics". It is also known as the ''Māgha-kāvya'' after its author. Like other ''kavya''s, it is admired more for its exquisite descriptions and lyrical quality than for any dramatic development of plot. Its 19th canto is noted for verbal gymnastics and wordplay; see the section on linguistic ingenuity below. Contents As with most Sanskrit ''kāvya'', the plot is drawn from one of the epics, in this case the Mahabharata. In the original story, Shishupala, king of the Chedis in central India, after insulting Lord Krishna several times in an assembly, finally enrages him and has his head struck off. The 10th-centur ...
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Shishupala
Shishupala ( sa, शिशुपाल, lit. ''protector of children'', IAST: ''Śiśupāla''; sometimes spelt Sisupala) was the king of the Chedi kingdom, and an antagonist in the Mahabharata. He was the son of King Damaghosha and Srutashubha, the sister of Vasudeva and Kunti, as well as the cousin of Nanda. He was slain by Krishna, his cousin and an avatar of Vishnu, at the great coronation ceremony of Yudhishthira, as a punishment for his opprobrious abuse made against him. He is also referred to as Chaidya ("(Prince) of the Chedis"). Shishupala is considered to be the third and last birth of Vishnu's gatekeeper Jaya. Mahabharata The Mahabharata states that Shishupala was born with three eyes and four arms. His parents were inclined to cast him out but were warned by a voice from heaven (''ākāśavāṇī'') not to do so, as his time had not come. It also foretold that his superfluous body parts would disappear when a certain person took the child into his lap and that he w ...
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Kirātārjunīya
''Kirātārjunīya'' ( sa, किरातार्जुनीय, ''Of Arjuna and the Kirāta'') is an epic poem by Bhāravi, considered to be the most powerful poem in Sanskrit. Believed to have been composed in the 6th century or earlier, it consists of eighteen cantos describing the combat between Arjuna and Lord Shiva (in the guise of a '' kirāta'', or "mountain-dwelling hunter") at Indrakeeladri Hills in present-day Vijayawada. Along with the ''Naiṣadhacarita'' and the ''Shishupala Vadha'', it is one of the larger three of the six Sanskrit mahakavyas, or great epics. It is noted among Sanskrit critics both for its gravity or depth of meaning, and for its forceful and sometimes playful expression. This includes a canto set aside for demonstrating linguistic feats, similar to constrained writing. Later works of epic poetry followed the model of the ''Kirātārjunīya''. Synopsis Overview The ''Kirātārjunīya'' predominantly features the ''Vīra rasa'', or the mood ...
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Bhinmal
Bhinmal (previously Shrimal Nagar) is an ancient town in the Jalore District of Rajasthan, India. It is south of Jalore. Bhinmal was the capital of the Bhil king, then the capital of Gurjaradesa, comprising modern-day southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. The town was the birthplace of the Sanskrit poet Magha and famous mathematician-astronomer Brahmagupta. History The original name of Bhinmal was Bhillamala. Its older name was Srimal, from which Shrimali Brahmins took their name Xuanzang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India between 631 and 645 AD during Harsha's reign, mentioned this place as ''Pi-lo-mo-lo''. There are different views about the origin of its name. Some suggest it may be due to its Bhil population, whereas Shrimalamahatmaya, says it began to be called Bhinmal because of the poverty caused by Islamic invaders, which caused most of its people to migrate from this place. It was the early capital of the kingdom of Gurjaradesa. The kingdom is firs ...
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I-Tsing
Yijing (635–713CE), formerly romanized as or , born Zhang Wenming, was a Tang-era Chinese Buddhist monk famed as a traveller and translator. His account of his travels is an important source for the history of the medieval kingdoms along the sea route between China and India, especially Srivijaya in Indonesia. A student of the Buddhist university at Nālandā (now in Bihar, India), he was also responsible for the translation of many Buddhist texts from Sanskrit and Pali into Chinese. Journey To Srivijaya and Nālandā Yijing was born . He became a monk at age 14 and was an admirer of Faxian, a famed monk who traveled to India in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. Provided funding by an otherwise unknown benefactor named Fong, he decided to visit the renowned Buddhist university of Nālandā, in Bihar, India, to further study Buddhism. Traveling by a boat out of Guangzhou, he arrived in Srivijaya (today's Palembang of Sumatra) after 22 days, where he spent the next six months ...
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Rajasthani People
Rajasthani people or Rajasthanis are a group of Indo-Aryan peoples native to Rajasthan ("the land of kingdoms"), a state in Northern India. Their language, Rajasthani, is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages. History The first mention of the word ''Rajasthan'' comes from the works of George Thomas (''Military Memories'') and James Tod (''Annals''). Rajasthan literally means the ''Land of Kingdoms''. However, western Rajasthan and eastern Gujarat were part of "Gurjaratra". The local dialects of the time use the expression ''Rājwār'', the place or land of kings, later ''Rajputana''. Although the history of Rajasthan goes back as far as the Indus Valley civilization, the foundation of the Rajasthani community took shape with the rise of ''Western Middle Kingdoms'' such as Western Kshatrapas. ''Western Kshatrapas'' (35-405 BC) were rulers of the western part of India (Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Southern Sindh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan). They were the ...
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People From Rajasthan
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes. The plural form "people" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), and this was the original meaning of the word; it subsequently acquired its use as a plural form of ...
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Sanskrit Poets
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ...
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Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passage across the sea of interminable births and deaths, the '' saṃsāra''. According to Jains, a ''Tirthankara'' is an individual who has conquered the ''saṃsāra'', the cycle of death and rebirth, on their own, and made a path for others to follow. After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the ''Tīrthaṅkara'' attains '' Kevala Jnana'' (omniscience). Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow the new teacher from ''saṃsāra'' to ''moksha'' (liberation). In Jain cosmology, the wheel of time is divided in two halves, Utsarpiṇī' or ascending time cycle and ''avasarpiṇī'', the descending time cycle (said to be current now). In each half of the cosmic time cycle, exactly twenty-four ''tirthankaras'' grace thi ...
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Maagha
Maagha (Hindi: माघ ''maagh'') is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, it's the eleventh month of the year, corresponding to January/February in the Gregorian calendar.Henderson, Helene. (Ed.) (2005) ''Holidays, festivals, and celebrations of the world dictionary'' Third edition. Electronic edition. Detroit: Omnigraphics, p. xxix. In lunar calendars, Maagh may begin on either the new moon or the full moon around the same time of year, and is usually the tenth month of the year. It is named thus because, in this month, the full moon is usually found nearby or within the star cluster called "Magha". In solar calendars, Maagh begins with the Sun's entry into Capricorn, and is usually the eleventh month of the year. Festivals * Shukla Panchami: Vasant Panchami * Shukla Saptami: Ratha Saptami * Maagh Mela is an important festival celebrated most of North India. * The world-famous "Maha Maham" festival which is held every 12 years during full ...
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Kalidasa
Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas. His surviving works consist of three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems. Much about his life is unknown except what can be inferred from his poetry and plays. His works cannot be dated with precision, but they were most likely authored before the 5th century CE. Early life Scholars have speculated that Kālidāsa may have lived near the Himalayas, in the vicinity of Ujjain, and in Kalinga. This hypothesis is based on Kālidāsa's detailed description of the Himalayas in his ''Kumārasambhava'', the display of his love for Ujjain in ''Meghadūta'', and his highly eulogistic descriptions of Kalingan emperor Hemāngada in '' Raghuvaṃśa'' (sixth ''sarga''). Lakshmi Dhar Kalla (1891–1953), a Sanskrit scholar a ...
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