Harshavati, Harṣavatī: 2 definitions

Introduction:

Harshavati means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit. 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.

The Sanskrit term Harṣavatī can be transliterated into English as Harsavati or Harshavati, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

[«previous next»] — Harshavati in Kavya glossary
Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Harṣavatī (हर्षवती) is the wife of king Jyotiṣprabha from Ratnākara, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 58. Accordingly, as Pulastya said in his hermitage: “... there lived in the city of Ratnākara a king named Jyotiṣprabha, who ruled the earth with supreme authority, as far as the sea, the mine of jewels. There was born to him, by his queen named Harṣavatī, a son, whose birth was due to the favour of Śiva propitiated by severe asceticism”.

The story of Harṣavatī was narrated by Gomukha to Naravāhanadatta in order to demonstrate that “the appointed union of human beings certainly takes place in this world, though vast spaces intervene”.

The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Harṣavatī, 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 book cover
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’.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Harshavati in Sanskrit glossary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Harṣavatī (हर्षवती):—[=harṣa-vatī] [from harṣa-vat > harṣa] f. Name of a princess, [Kathāsaritsāgara]

2) [v.s. ...] of a town, [ib.]

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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