Introduction

The Sanskrit term Agniśikha can be transliterated into English as Agnisikha or Agnishikha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstra

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) is the Sanskrit name of one of Bharata’s sons, mentioned in the Nāṭyaśāstra 1.26-33. After Brahmā created the Nāṭyaveda (nāṭyaśāstra), he ordered Bharata to teach the science to his (one hundred) sons. Bharata thus learned the Nāṭyaveda from Brahmā, and then made his sons study and learn its proper application. After their study, Bharata assigned his sons (eg., Agniśikha) various roles suitable to them.

context information

Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (śāstra) of performing arts, (nāṭya, e.g., theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing dramatic plays (nataka) and poetic works (kavya).

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

1) Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) is another name of Somadatta, who was a Brāhman from the city of Kauśāmbī, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara chapter 2. His wife was called Vasudattā, and together they had a son named Vararuci. Vararuci was an incarnation of Puṣpadanta (a subordinate of Śiva), who was cursed by Pārvatī for overhearing Śiva narrating the adventures of the seven vidhyādharas.

2) Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) is the name of a Rākṣasa disguised as an enormous crane, who once visited the city of Vardhamāna, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 39. Accordingly, as a Buddhist mendicant said to the crowd of princes, “princes, this is not a crane; it is a Rākṣasa named Agniśikha, who wanders about in an assumed shape destroying towns. So pierce him with an arrow, that being smitten he may depart hence”.

3) Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) is the name of a Vetāla, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 121. Accordingly, as Mahendrāditya asked his messenger Anaṅgadeva: “...  when he [king Vikramāditya] had said this, he summoned a Vetāla, named Agniśikha. And he, when summoned, came—tall, with flaming eyes, with upstanding hair—and said to the king: ‘Tell me what I am to do’”.

The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Agniśikha, 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’.

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख).—Father of Vararuci. He is also known by the name Somadatta. (Kathāsaritsāgara-Kathāpīṭha-lambaka-Taraṅga 1. See also the word GUṆAVARA).

context information

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

Ayurveda (science of life)

Source: WorldCat: Rāj nighaṇṭu

Agnisikhā in the Telugu language is another name for Kalikārī, a medicinal plant identified with Gloriosa superba Linn. (‘flame lily’) from the Colchicaceae family of flowering plants, according to verse 4.128-130 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu . The fourth chapter (śatāhvādi-varga) of this book enumerates eighty varieties of small plants (pṛthu-kṣupa). Other than the Telugu word Agnisikhā, there are more synonyms identified for this plant among which sixteen are in Sanskrit.

context information

Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Jainism

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) is the father of Datta: the seventh Vāsudeva (“violent heroes”) according to both Śvetāmbara and Digambara sources. Since they enjoy half the power of a Cakravartin (universal monarch) they are also known as Ardhacakrins. Jain legends describe nine such Vāsudevas usually appearing together with their “gentler” twins known as the Baladevas. The legends of these twin-heroes usually involve their antagonistic counterpart known as the Prativāsudevas (anti-heroes).

The stories of king Agniśikha, queen Śeṣavatī and their son, Datta are related in texts such as the Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita (“the lives of the sixty-three illustrious persons”), a twelfth-century Śvetāmbara work by Hemacandra.

Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) and Agnimāṇava are the two Indras of the Agnikumāras who came to the peak of Meru for partaking in the birth-ceremonies of Ṛṣabha, according to chapter 1.2 [ādīśvara-caritra] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra (“lives of the 63 illustrious persons”): a Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three important persons in Jainism.

Source: Encyclopedia of Jainism: Tattvartha Sutra 4: The celestial beings (deva)

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख) refers to one of the two Indras (lords) of the Agnikumāra (fiery youths) class of “residential celestial beings” (bhavanavāsin), itself a main division of devas (celestial beings) according to the 2nd-century Tattvārthasūtra 4.3. The Agnikumāras leave the infernal world to perform miraculous activities in the middle and upper world. Agniśikha and Agnivāhana are the two lords in the Fiendish-youths residential celestial beings.

context information

Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

agniśikhā (अग्निशिखा).—f (S) A spire or tongue of flame.

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

agniśikhā (अग्निशिखा).—f A spire of flame.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख).—a. [agneriva agniriva vā śikhā yasya] fiery, fire-crested; दहतु °खैः सायकैः (dahatu °khaiḥ sāyakaiḥ) Rām. (-khaḥ) 1 a lamp.

2) a rocket, fiery arrow.

3) an arrow in general.

4) safflower plant.

5) saffron.

6) जाङ्गलीवृक्ष (jāṅgalīvṛkṣa). (-kham) 1 saffron.

2) gold. (-khā) 1 a flame; शरैरग्निशिखोपमैः (śarairagniśikhopamaiḥ) Mb.

2) Name of two plants लाङ्गली (lāṅgalī) (Mar. vāgacabakā or kaḷalāvī) Gloriosa Superba; of other plants (also Mar. kaḷalāvī) Menispermum Cordifolium.

Agniśikha is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms agni and śikha (शिख).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख).—m.

(-khaḥ) 1. A lamp. 2. An arrow. 3. A fiery arrow, a rocket. E. The Safflower plant, (Carthamus tinctorius.) mn.

(-khaḥ-khaṃ) Safforn, the plant and die. f.

(-khā) 1. Flame. 2. A plant. (Gloriosa superba.) 3. A medicinal plant, (Menispermum cordifolium.) E. agni and. śikhā a crest or flame or splendor.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Agniśikha (अग्निशिख).—[adjective] having a fiery or burning point (arrow); [feminine] ā fire-flame.

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

1) Agniśikha (अग्निशिख):—[=agni-śikha] [from agni] mfn. having a point like fire (an arrow), [Rāmāyaṇa]

2) [v.s. ...] m. an arrow

3) [v.s. ...] a lamp

4) [v.s. ...] a safflower plant, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

5) [v.s. ...] saffron, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

6) [v.s. ...] Name of Vararuci’s father, [Kathāsaritsāgara]

7) [v.s. ...] of a Vetāla, [Kathāsaritsāgara]

8) [v.s. ...] n. saffron, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.], gold, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

9) Agniśikhā (अग्निशिखा):—[=agni-śikhā] [from agni] f. a flame, [Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa etc.], the plants Gloriosa Superba and Menispermum Cordifolium.

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.

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