Candralekha, Candra-lekha, Candralekhā: 15 definitions
Introduction:
Candralekha means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
Alternative spellings of this word include Chandralekha.
In Hinduism
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstraCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) refers to a type of syllabic metre (vṛtta), according to the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 16. In this metre, the first five, the seventh and the tenth syllables of a foot (pāda) are light (laghu), while the rest of the syllables are heavy (guru).
⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦¦⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦¦
⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦¦⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦⏑⎼⎼¦¦
Candralekhā falls in the Jagatī class of chandas (rhythm-type), which implies that verses constructed with this metre have four pādas (‘foot’ or ‘quarter-verse’) containing twelve syllables each.
Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (shastra) of performing arts, (natya—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), construction and performance of Theater, and Poetic works (kavya).
Kavya (poetry)
Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara1) Candralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) is the name of powerful Yakṣīnī, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 49. Accordingly, as a certain Yakṣiṇī said to Ādityaśarman: “... yes, handsome man, there is. Vidyunmālā, Candralekhā and Sulocanā the third are the best among the Yakṣiṇīs, and among these Sulocanā”.
2) Candralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) is wife of Candrāvaloka: an ancient Śivi (Śibi) king, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 113. Accordingly, as Kaśyapa said to Naravāhanadatta: “... there lived among the Śivis a king of the name of Candrāvaloka. That sovereign had a head wife named Candralekhā. Her race was as spotless as the sea of milk, she was pure herself, and in character like the Ganges”.
3) Candralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) is the daughter of Jayā, the female warder of Pārvatī, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 114. Accordingly, “... [Pārvatī] was sitting surrounded by the Gaṇas at the foot of a tree, thinking about her beloved, when a noble Gaṇa, named Maṇipuṣpeśvara, looked lovingly at a young maiden, the daughter of Jayā, called Candralekhā, who was waving a chowrie over the goddess. He was a match for her in youth and beauty, and she met his glance with a responsive look of love, as he stood by her side”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Candralekhā, 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.
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’.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Nighantu (Synonyms and Characteristics of Drugs and technical terms)
Source: WorldCat: Rāj nighaṇṭuCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) is another name for Vākucī, a medicinal plant identified with Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (“Babchi”) from the Fabaceae or “legume” family of flowering plants, according to verse 4.62-65 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu. The fourth chapter (śatāhvādi-varga) of this book enumerates eighty varieties of small plants (pṛthu-kṣupa). Together with the names Candralekhā and Vākucī, there are a total of twenty-one Sanskrit synonyms identified for this plant.
Agriculture (Krishi) and Vrikshayurveda (study of Plant life)
Source: Shodhganga: Drumavichitrikarnam—Plant mutagenesis in ancient IndiaCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) refers to “(preparing ingredients in) the moonlight”, as described in a recipe for producing flowers and fruits out-of-season (akāla), according to the Vṛkṣāyurveda by Sūrapāla (1000 CE): an encyclopedic work dealing with the study of trees and the principles of ancient Indian agriculture.—Accordingly: “Trees produce flowers and fruits out of season undoubtedly if the following procedure is followed: Dioscorea bulbifera, Cuminum cyminum seed and sugarcane juice should be kept for a month in a pot containing clarified butter prepared in the moonlight (candralekhā) and when the mixture is well formed, roots of the trees should be smeared with it and the basin should be filled with mud. Then sugarcane juice should be profusely sprinkled and the trees should be smoked with honey and kuṇapa”.
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.
Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)
Source: Journal of the University of Bombay Volume V: Apabhramsa metres (2)1) Candralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) is the name of an Apabhraṃśa metre classified as Dvipadi (metres with two lines in a stanza) discussed in books such as the Chandonuśāsana, Kavidarpaṇa, Vṛttajātisamuccaya and Svayambhūchandas.—Candralekhā has 8 mātrās in a line, divided into two caturmātras of any type but the last caturmātra is always of the payodhara or of the vipra type, i.e. either ISI or IIII.
2) Candralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) also refers to a catuṣpadi metre (as popularly employed by the Apabhraṃśa bards).—Candralekhā has 24 mātrās in each of its four lines, divided into the groups of 6, 4, 4, 4, 4 and 2 mātrās.
Chandas (छन्दस्) refers to Sanskrit prosody and represents one of the six Vedangas (auxiliary disciplines belonging to the study of the Vedas). The science of prosody (chandas-shastra) focusses on the study of the poetic meters such as the commonly known twenty-six metres mentioned by Pingalas.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Source: archive.org: TrisastisalakapurusacaritraCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) is the wife of king Harimati from Gajapura, according to the Jain Ramayana and chapter 7.8 [The abandonment of Sītā] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra: an ancient Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three illustrious persons in Jainism.—Accordingly, as Muni Deśabhūṣaṇa narrated to Rāma: “[...] Candrodaya and Sūrodaya, sons of kings Prahlādana and Suprabha, wandered through existence for a long time. Candrodaya became the son, named Kulaṅkara, of King Harimati in Gajapura by his wife Candralekhā. [...] Kulaṅkara became king and, as he was going to the ascetics’ hermitage, was addressed by the monk Abhinandana who was clairvoyant. [...]”.
Source: academia.edu: Tessitori Collection ICandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा) refers to one of the “sixteen virtuous Jain women”, according to the “Sola satyā” (dealing with the lives of Jain female heroes), which is included in the collection of manuscripts at the ‘Vincenzo Joppi’ library, collected by Luigi Pio Tessitori during his visit to Rajasthan between 1914 and 1919.—There is a list of sixteen virtuous Jain women. [...] These women [e.g., Candralekhā] are virtuous because they uphold Jain values and could stand to them even in adverse circumstances. Reciting their names is often part of the morning ritual. Behind names are eventful stories that have been told by several writers and read or listened to by Jain followers.
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
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा).—the digit or streak of the moon; अथवा रत्नाकराद् ऋते कुतश्चन्द्रलेखायाः प्रसूतिः (athavā ratnākarād ṛte kutaścandralekhāyāḥ prasūtiḥ) Nāg.2.
Candralekhā is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms candra and lekhā (लेखा). See also (synonyms): candrarekhā.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा).—f.
(-khā) 1. A plant, (Serrantula anthelmintica:) see somarājī. 2. A digit of the moon. E. candra and lekhā a line or mark.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryCandralekha (चन्द्रलेख).—I. m. the name of a Rākṣasa, [Rāmāyaṇa] 6, 84, 12. Ii. f. khā. 1. the crescent, ib. 5, 19, 21. 2. a proper name, [Rājataraṅgiṇī] 1, 218.
Candralekha is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms candra and lekha (लेख).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा).—[feminine] the same, a woman’s name.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Candralekha (चन्द्रलेख):—[=candra-lekha] [from candra > cand] m. Name of a Rakṣas, [Rāmāyaṇa vi, 84, 12]
2) Candralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा):—[=candra-lekhā] [from candra-lekha > candra > cand] f. = -rekhā, a digit of the moon, [Nalopākhyāna; Rāmāyaṇa; Bhāgavata-purāṇa]
3) [v.s. ...] Serratula anthelminthica, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] a metre of 4 x 13 syllables
5) [v.s. ...] another of 4 x 15 syllables
6) [v.s. ...] Name of a daughter of the Nāga Su-śravas, [Rājataraṅgiṇī i, 218]
7) [v.s. ...] of Kṣema-gupta’s wife, [vi, 179]
8) [v.s. ...] of a princess (whose teacher was Bilhaṇa; also called Śaśi-kalā), [Vikramāṅkadeva-carita, by Bilhaṇa viii, 4; Caurapañcāśikā [Scholiast or Commentator]]
9) [v.s. ...] of two other women, [Kathāsaritsāgara cxiii f.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryCandralekhā (चन्द्रलेखा):—[candra-lekhā] (khā) 1. f. Digit of the moon.
[Sanskrit to German]
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)
Partial matches: Lekha, Candra.
Starts with: Candralekhacaupai, Candralekhadvaya.
Full-text: Candaladevi, Candrarekha, Shashilekha, Pingeshvara, Guheshvara, Lekha, Harimati, Candrasara, Kancanapura, Atijagati, Candrodaya, Kulankara, Atishakvari, Vakuci, Manipushpeshvara, Taravaloka, Candravaloka, Sulocana.
Relevant text
Search found 9 books and stories containing Candralekha, Candra-lekha, Candralekhā, Candra-lekhā; (plurals include: Candralekhas, lekhas, Candralekhās, lekhās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 4.19.62 < [Chapter 19 - A Thousand Names of Srī Yamunā]
Puranic encyclopaedia (by Vettam Mani)
Sanskrit sources of Kerala history (by Suma Parappattoli)
11. Other Dramas describing Kerala history < [Chapter 5 - Sanskrit Dramas and Campus bearing on Kerala History]
Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)
Part 5: Bharata’s previous births < [Chapter VIII - The abandonment of Sītā]
Part 2: Story of Bandhudatta < [Chapter IV - The wandering and emancipation of Pārśvanātha]
Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story) (by Somadeva)
Chapter CXIV < [Book XVII - Padmāvatī]
Chapter CXIII < [Book XVI - Suratamañjarī]
Chapter XLIX < [Book VIII - Sūryaprabha]
Varahi Tantra (English Study) (by Roberta Pamio)