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Ratnavali
''Ratnavali'' ''(Devanagari: रत्नावली ) (transl.- Jewel Necklace or Precious Garland)'' is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha (606–648). It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of Colours have been found in this text.Origins of Holi ''''. ''Ratnāvalī'' subtitled (''rajaparikatha'') is also the title of a 3rd-century CE Buddhist philosophical work by , a discourse addressed to an Indian king ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. His ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (''Root Verses on Madhyamaka'', MMK) is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Śūnyatā, emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today. History Background India in the first and second centuries CE was politically divided into various states, including the Kushan Empire and the Satavahana dynasty, Satavahana Kingdom. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Holi
Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Volume 1, , p. 212 It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna.R Deepta, A.K. Ramanujan's ‘Mythologies’ Poems: An Analysis, Points of View, Volume XIV, Number 1, Summer 2007, pp. 74–81 Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil, as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu.; Holi originated and is predominantly celebrated in the Indian subcontinent, but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world through the Indian diaspora.Ebeling, Karin (10), Holi, an Indian Festival, and its Reflection in English Media; Die Ordnung des Standard und die Differenzierung der Diskurse: Akten des 41. Linguistischen Kolloquiums in Mannhe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Udayana (king)
Udayana was a king of Vatsa in India, a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. He is a popular figure in Indian literature, for both his romantic and military stories, but though he probably existed, little is known for certain about his life or reign. According to Buddhist sources, the Buddha visited Kauśāmbī several times during the reign of Udayana on his effort to spread the dharma, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. Udayana was an upasaka (lay follower) of Buddha. The Chinese translation of the Buddhist canonical text states that the first image of Buddha, carved out of sandalwood, was made under the instruction of Udayana. Life Udayana, the son of Śatānīka II by the Videha princess succeeded him. Niti Adaval mentions about Udayana and his love for music, art and fondness of women. Due to a ''dohada'' ("pregnancy craving"), Mṛgāvatī, pregnant with Udayana, is either covered or immersed in red. A monstrous bird mistakes her for raw meat and carries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ancient Indian Literature
Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akademi, India's highest literary body, also has 24 recognised literary languages. The earliest works of Indian literature were orally transmitted. Sanskrit literature begins with the oral literature of the Rig Veda, a collection of literature dating to the period 1500–1200 BCE. The Sanskrit epics ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'' were subsequently codified and appeared towards the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. Classical Sanskrit literature developed rapidly during the first few centuries of the first millennium BCE, as did the Pāli Canon and Tamil Sangam literature. Ancient Meitei appeared in the 1st century CE with sacred musical compositions like the Ougri,———— and heroic narratives like the Numit Kappa.———— In the medi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in Ancient Greek theatre, theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing ''agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nagananda
''Nagananda'' (Devanagari: नागानन्द) () is a Sanskrit play attributed to emperor Harsha (ruled 606 C.E. - 648 C.E.). ''Nagananda'' is among the most acclaimed Sanskrit dramas. Through five acts, it tells the popular story of a prince of divine magicians ( vidyādharas) called Jimútaváhana, and his self-sacrifice to save the Nagas. The unique characteristic of this drama is the invocation to Buddha in the Nandi verse, which is considered one of the best examples of the dramatic compositions. ''Nagananda'' is the story of how prince Jimutavahana gives up his own body to stop a sacrifice of a Naga prince to the divine Garuda. Harsha's play ''Nāgānanda'' tells the story of the Bodhisattva Jīmūtavāhavana, and the invocatory verse at the beginning is dedicated to the Buddha, described in the act of vanquishing Māra (so much so that the two verses, together with a third, are also preserved separately in Tibetan translation as the *Mārajit-stotra). Shiva's co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Harsha
Harshavardhana (Sanskrit: हर्षवर्धन; 4 June 590 – 647) was an emperor of Kannauj from April 606 until his death in 647. He was the king of Thanesar who had defeated the Alchon Huns, and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, son of Prabhakaravardhana and last king of Thanesar. He was one of the greatest kings of the Kingdom of Kannauj, which under him expanded into a vast realm in Hindustan, northern India. At the height of Harsha's power, his realm covered much of northern and northwestern India, with the Narmada River as its southern boundary. He eventually made Kannauj, Kanyakubja (present-day Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh state) his imperial capital, and reigned till 647 CE.International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania by Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda p.507 Harsha was defeated by the Emperor Pulakeshin II of the Chalukya dynasty in the Battle of Narmada, when he tried to expand his empire into the South India, southern penin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
7th-century Indian Books
The 7th century is the period from 601 through 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. The spread of Islam and the Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by the Islamic prophet Muhammad starting in 622. After Muhammad's death in 632, Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) and the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750). The Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century led to the downfall of the Sasanian Empire. Also conquered during the 7th century were Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Egypt, and North Africa. The Byzantine Empire suffered setbacks during the rapid expansion of the Caliphate and a mass incursion of Slavs in the Balkans which reduced its territorial limits. The decisive victory at the Siege of Constantinople in the 670s led the empire to retain Asia Minor, which ensured the existence of the empire. In the Iberian Peninsula, the 7th century was known as the ''Siglo de Concilios'' (century o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
7th-century Plays
The 7th century is the period from 601 through 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. The spread of Islam and the Early Muslim conquests, Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by the Islamic prophet Muhammad starting in 622. After Muhammad's death in 632, Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) and the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750). The Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century led to the downfall of the Sasanian Empire. Also conquered during the 7th century were Muslim conquest of Syria, Syria, Palestine (region), Palestine, Muslim conquest of Armenia, Armenia, Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt, and Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, North Africa. The Byzantine Empire suffered setbacks during the rapid expansion of the Caliphate and a mass incursion of Slavs in the Balkans which reduced its territorial limits. The decisive victory at the Siege of Constantinople (674–678), Siege of Constantin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Sanskrit Plays
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest 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 effect 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 Rigveda, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
