The Sanskrit term Ayaśolekhā can be transliterated into English as Ayasolekha or Ayasholekha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Ayaśolekhā (अयशोलेखा) is the name of one of the wives of Vīrabhuja: king of Vardhamāna, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 39. Accordingly, “... then an evil-minded queen among them, named Ayaśolekhā, deliberated with all the others and entered into a conspiracy; and when the king [Vīrabhuja] came home one day she exhibited an assumed sadness in her face”.

The story of Ayaśolekhā and Vīrabhuja was narrated by Hariśikha in order to demonstrate that “good women value nothing more than their husbands”, in other words, “virtuous women serve their husbands in every way, devoted to them alone”.

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

See also (Relevant definitions)

Full-text: Nirvasabhuja.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Ayasholekha, Ayaśolekhā, Ayasolekha; (plurals include: Ayasholekhas, Ayaśolekhās, Ayasolekhas). 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 XXXIX < [Book VII - Ratnaprabhā]

show preview