In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Kapilaka (कपिलक) is the name of a warrior who fought on Śrutaśarman’s side, but was slain by Śatānīka, who fought on Sūryaprabha’s side, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 48. Accordingly: “... then a fight took place between those Vidyādhara princes on the one side and Prabhāsa and his comrades on the other, in which there was a great slaughter of soldiers. And in the single combats between the two hosts many warriors were slain on both sides, men, Asuras and Vidyādharas... and Kapilaka, [and nine others]—these ten were slain by the Prince Śatānīka”.

The story of Kapilaka was narrated by the Vidyādhara king Vajraprabha to prince Naravāhanadatta in order to relate how “Sūryaprabha, being a man, obtain of old time the sovereignty over the Vidyādharas”.

The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Kapilaka, is a famous Sanskrit epic story revolving around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the vidyādharas (celestial beings). The work is said to have been an adaptation of Guṇāḍhya’s Bṛhatkathā consisting of 100,000 verses, which in turn is part of a larger work containing 700,000 verses.

context information

Kavya (काव्य, kavya) refers to Sanskrit poetry, a popular ancient Indian tradition of literature. There have been many Sanskrit poets over the ages, hailing from ancient India and beyond. This topic includes mahakavya, or ‘epic poetry’ and natya, or ‘dramatic poetry’.

Ganitashastra (Mathematics and Algebra)

Source: archive.org: Hindu Mathematics

Kapilaka (कपिलक) or Kapila refers to the “tawny color” which were used as symbols for the unknowns, according to the principles of Bījagaṇita (“algebra” or ‘science of calculation’), according to Gaṇita-śāstra, ancient Indian mathematics and astronomy.—Āryabhaṭa I (499) very probably used coloured shots to represent unknowns. Brahmagupta (628) in the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta mentions varṇa as the symbols of unknowns. As he has not attempted in any way to explain this method of symbolism, it appears that the method was already very familiar. [...] In the case of more unknowns, it is usual to denote the first yāvattāvat and the remaining ones by alphabets or colours [e.g., kapilaka].—Cf. Pṛthūdakasvāmī (860) in his commentary on the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta by Brahmagupta (628) and Bhāskara II in the Bījagaṇita.

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Ganitashastra (शिल्पशास्त्र, gaṇitaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science of mathematics, algebra, number theory, arithmetic, etc. Closely allied with astronomy, both were commonly taught and studied in universities, even since the 1st millennium BCE. Ganita-shastra also includes ritualistic math-books such as the Shulba-sutras.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Kapilaka (कपिलक):—[from kapi] mf(ikā)n. reddish, [Suśruta]

[Sanskrit to German]

Kapilaka in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Starts with: Kapila-kalayupam, Kapilakarṇika.

Full-text: Kapiraka, Kapilika, Avyaktarashi, Kapila.

Relevant text

Search found 2 books and stories containing Kapilaka; (plurals include: Kapilakas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story) (by Somadeva)

Chapter XLVIII < [Book VIII - Sūryaprabha]

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Triveni Journal

Indian Materialism < [Jan-Feb 1940]

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