Vinavasavadatta
''Vina-Vasavadatta'' (IAST: Vīṇā-Vāsavadattā) is an Indian Sanskrit-language play attributed to Shudraka (c. 3rd century). The first eight acts of the play survive; its last portion is now lost. The title of the play refers to its heroine Vasavadatta and the musical instrument vina. In the play, Vasavadatta's father, king Pradyota of Avanti, searches for a suitable husband for his daughter. Based on interpretation of a dream, Pradyota and his ministers determine that king Udayana of Vatsa is a suitable match, but is too proud to willingly accept a proposal to marry to the princess. To break his pride, Pradyota arranges for Udayana to be captured and imprisoned in Ujjayini, the capital of Avanti. There, Udayana falls in love with Vasavadatta, and meets her on the pretext of giving her vina lessons. With the help of his aides, Udayana plans to escape with the princess. The rest of the plot, which is not available in the extant acts, probably described Udayana's escape and subs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shudraka
Shudraka (IAST: ) was an Indian playwright, to whom three Sanskrit plays are attributed: '' Mrichchhakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart''), ''Vinavasavadatta'', and a ''bhana'' (short one-act monologue), ''Padmaprabhritaka''.Bhattacharji, Sukumari ''History of Classical Sanskrit Literature'', Sangam Books, London, 1993, , p.93 According to the prologue of ''Mrichchhakatika'', he was a king; according to one theory, he may have been a third century Abhira king. According to another theory, Shudraka is a mythical figure, and the authorship of plays attributed to him is uncertain. Sources In the prologue of the play ''Mrichchhakatika'', the stage manager states that its poet was a wise king renowned as "Shudraka". He had performed Ashvamedha ritual to prove his superiority, and immolated himself at the age of 110 years, after crowning his son as the new king. The prologue describes him as a distinguished wise man, who had gained knowledge of the Rigveda, the Samaveda, mathematics, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Svapnavasavadattam
''Svapnavasavadattam'' ( sa, स्वप्नवासवदत्तम्, ) (English: ''The dream of Vasavadatta'') is a Sanskrit play in six acts written by the ancient Indian poet Bhāsa. The plot of the drama is drawn from the romantic narratives about the kaushambi king Udayana and Vasavadatta, the daughter of Pradyota, the ruler of Avanti, which were current in the poet's time and which seem to have captivated popular imagination. The main theme of the drama is the sorrow of Udayana for his queen Vasavadatta, believed by him to have perished in a fire, which was actually a rumour spread by Yaugandharayana, a minister of Udayana to compel his king to marry Padmavati, the daughter of the king of Magadha. It forms, in context, a continuation of his another drama, ''Pratijnayaugandharayana''. Background The complete text of the ''Svapnavasavadattam'' was long lost until it was discovered by Indian scholar T. Ganapati Sastri in Kerala in 1912. Characters The main charac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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3rd-century Books
The 3rd century was the period from 201 ( CCI) to 300 (CCC) Anno Domini (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar.. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian incursions, political upheavals, civil wars, and the split of the Roman Empire through the Gallic Empire in the west and the Palmyrene Empire in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by Emperor Aurelian and the stabilization period under Emperor Diocletian due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning of Late Antiquity. In Persia, the Parthian Empire was succeeded by the Sassanid Empire in 224 after Ardashir I defeated and killed Artabanus V during the Battle of Hormozdgan. The Sassanids the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Epic Poems In Sanskrit
Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Epic'' (1984 film) * ''Epic'' (2013 film) Gaming * ''Epic'' (game), a series of wargames * ''Epic'' (video game), a 1992 video game * ''Epic: Battle for Moonhaven'', a 2013 video game by Gameloft based on the film ''Epic'' (2013) * ''Epic Card Game'', a 2015 strategy card game by White Wizard Games Literature * ''Epic'' (Kostick novel), a 2004 novel by Conor Kostick * ''Epic Illustrated'', a 1980s anthology series published by Marvel Comics Music Albums * ''Epic'' (Blood on the Dance Floor album), 2011 * ''Epic'' (Borknagar album), 2004 * ''Epic'' (R. Kelly album), 2010 * ''Epic'' (Sharon Van Etten album), 2010 * ''Epic'' (Tang Dynasty album), 1998 Songs * "Epic" (Faith No More song), 1990 * "Epic" (Sandro Silva ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word ''oracle'' comes from the Latin verb ''ōrāre'', "to speak" and properly refers to the priest or priestess uttering the prediction. In extended use, ''oracle'' may also refer to the ''site of the oracle'', and to the oracular utterances themselves, called ''khrēsmē'' 'tresme' (χρησμοί) in Greek. Oracles were thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to people. In this sense, they were different from seers (''manteis'', μάντεις) who interpreted signs sent by the gods through bird signs, animal entrails, and other various methods.Flower, Michael Attyah. ''The Seer in Ancient Greece.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. The most important oracles of Greek antiquity were Pythia (priestess to Apoll ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brihatkatha
''Bṛhatkathā'' (Sanskrit, "the Great Narrative") is an ancient Indian epic, said to have been written by Gunadhya, Guṇāḍhya in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśācī. The work no longer exists but several later adaptations — the ''Kathasaritsagara, Kathāsaritsāgara'' (''कथासरित्सागर''), ''Bṛhatkathāmañjarī'' (''बृहत्कथामंजरी'') and ''Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha'' (''बृहत्कथाश्लोकसंग्रह'') in Sanskrit, as well as the ''Peruṅkatai'' and ''Vasudevahiṃḍi'' in vernaculars — make commentary on the piece. The date of its composition is uncertain. According to testimonials by later Sanskrit poets such as Daṇḍin, Subandhu, and Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Bāṇa, the ''Bṛhatkathā'' existed in the 6th century CE. According to other estimates it predates that period by several more centuries. For example, if the story of Udayana (king), Udayana by poet Bhāsa (and als ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tamil Language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Puducherry. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by the Tamil diaspora found in many countries, including Malaysia, Myanmar, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Mauritius. Tamil is also natively spoken by Sri Lankan Moors. One of 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India, Tamil was the first to be classified as a classical language of India. Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages of India.. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). A. K. Ramanujan described it as "the on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcend ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vamana
Vamana (), also known as Trivikrama (), Urukrama (), Upendra (), Dadhivamana (), and Balibandhana () is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu, and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha. Originating in the Vedas, Vamana is most commonly associated in the Hindu epics and Puranas with the legend of taking back the three worlds (collectively referred to as the ''Trailokya'') from the daitya-king Bali by taking three steps to restore the cosmic order. He is the youngest among the adityas, the sons of Aditi and the sage Kashyapa. Nomenclature and etymology 'Vāmana' (Sanskrit वामन) means 'dwarf', 'small' or 'small or short in stature'. It also means 'dwarfish bull', which is notable as Vishnu is directly associated with dwarfish animals (including bulls) in the Vedas (see below). Stated in Puranic literature to be born of the great sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi, other names or epithets referring to Vamana include: ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Musth
Musth or must (from Persian, )''The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus: American edition'', published 1996 by Oxford University Press; p. 984 is a periodic condition in bull (male) elephants characterized by aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones. Testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be on average 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times (in specific individuals these testosterone levels can even reach as much as 140 times the normal). However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth or merely a contributing factor is unknown. Scientific investigation of musth is problematic because even the most placid elephants become violent toward humans and other elephants during musth. Musth differs from rut in that the female elephant's estrus cycle is not seasonally linked, whereas musth most often takes place in winter. Furthermore, bulls in musth have often been known to attack female elephants, regardless ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kosambi
Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was an important city in ancient India. It was the capital of the Vatsa kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was located on the Yamuna River about southwest of its confluence with the Ganges at Prayaga (modern Prayagraj). History During 2nd millennium BCE Ochre Coloured Pottery culture spread in the region. Kosambi was one of the greatest cities in India from the late Vedic period until the end of Maurya Empire with occupation continuing until the Gupta Empire. As a small town, it was established in the late Vedic period, by the rulers of Kuru Kingdom as their new capital. The initial Kuru capital Hastinapur was destroyed by floods, and the Kuru King transferred his entire capital with the subjects to a new capital that he built near the Ganga-Jamuma confluence, which was 56 km away from the southernmost part of the Kuru Kingdom now as Prayagraj previously called Allahabad.During the period prior the Maurya Empire, Kosambi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. During the Middle Ages, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences. Etymology The modern use of the English w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |