In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु) is the king of the vidyādharas, dwelling on the great mountain Himavat, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 22. Accordingly, a son, named Jīmūtavāhana, was born to him who, “was of great goodness, grew up step by step with the growth of his innate compassion for all creatures”

Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु) is the name of an ancient king from Kāñcanapura (“golden city”) situated on the Himavat mountain, according to sixteenth story of the Vetālapañcaviṃśati in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 90: “... of old there lived in that splendid city [Kāñcanapura] a fortunate lord of the Vidyādharas, named Jīmūtaketu, who dwelt there like Indra on Meru. In his palace garden there was a wishing-tree, which was an heirloom in his family, which was well known as the Granter of Desires (kalpavṛkṣa), and not named so without reason”.

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

1) Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु).—A synonym of Śiva. There is a story in the Purāṇas about how Śiva got the name Jīmūtaketu.

When summer season began Pārvatī told her husband Śiva: "My Lord, Summer has set in. What are we to do without a house to protect us from the hot sun and the strong wind?" Śiva replied. "Dear! It is because I have no house that I walk about in the forest always."

Because Śiva said so, the loyal wife Satīdevī spent the summer with her husband in the shade of trees. When the summer was over rainy season began. People stopped walking about. The sky became black with clouds. The roaring sound of thunder was heard everywhere. Seeing that the rainy season had begun Pārvatī again request her husband to erect a house. Hearing her request Śiva replied. "I have no wealth at all to build a house. You see that I am wearing the hide of a leopard. The serpent Śeṣa is my Brāhma-string. Padma and Piṅgala are my ear-rings. One of my bracelets for the upper arm is Kambala and the other one is the nāga (serpent) Dhanañjaya. My bracelet on the right hand is Aśvatara and on the left hand is Takṣaka. The string that I wear round my waist is Nīla, as black as antimony. So let us go above the clouds and spend the rainy season there. Then rain will not fall on your body."

Saying thus, Śiva got into a lofty cloud with Pārvatī and sat there. That cloud looked like the flag of Śiva. Thenceforward Śiva came to be known by the name Jīmūtaketu. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter).

2) Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु).—See under Jīmūtavāhana.

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.

India history and geography

Source: What is India: Inscriptions of the Śilāhāras

1) Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु) of the Śilāra (i.e., Śilāhāra) line of kings is mentioned in the Paṭṭaṇakuḍi plates of Avasara II.—“There was the meritorious son of Jīmūtaketu, Jīmūtavāhana by name, who was the illustrious lord of the vidyādharas, and was always devoted to the service of other people... Who, thinking his life as no better than a blade of grass, courageously offered himself to Garuḍa, for the protection of the Nāgas (serpents). From him was born the (royal) family known as Śilāra (i.e. Śilāhāra)”.

These copper plates (mentioning Jīmūtaketu) were obtained from Tonappa Parisa Upadhye, the priest of the Jain basti of Paṭṭaṇakudi, who claims that they have been preserved as heirloom in his family. The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Śilāra (i.e. Śilāhāra) king Avasara II, ruling from Balinagara. The inscription is dated in the expired Śaka year 910 (expressed in words), the cyclic year being Sarvadhārin, on Monday, the fifth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kārttika.

2) Jīmūtakētu (जीमूतकेतु) of the Śilāra line of kings is mentioned in the Paṭṭaṇakuḍi plates of Avasara II.—“While the illustrious Satyāśraya of the flourishing family of the Cālukyas is thus governing the Raṭṭapāṭī (i.e. the kingdom of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas)—... There was the lord of the Vidyādharas, Jīmūtavāhana by name, a good son of Jīmūtakētu, who sacrificed his life to Garuḍa... From him was descended the Śilāra family, the best among the royal families of Siṃhala—which became extremely powerful as it had the good fortune of the blessings of abundant beings”.

These copper plates (mentioning Jīmūtakētu) were found by a Brāhmaṇa of Khārepāṭan, a town in the Devagaḍ tālukā of the Ratnāgiri District. The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Śilāra king, Māṇḍalika Raṭṭarāja. As his predecessors were loyal feudatories of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, it gives first the genealogy of that family from Dantidurga to Kakkala. The inscription is dated, in lines 41-42, on the full-moon tithi of Jyeṣṭha in the śaka year 930, the cyclic year being Kīlaka.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु).—an epithet of Śiva.

Derivable forms: jīmūtaketuḥ (जीमूतकेतुः).

Jīmūtaketu is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms jīmūta and ketu (केतु).

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

1) Jīmūtaketu (जीमूतकेतु):—[=jīmūta-ketu] [from jīmūta] m. Śiva, [Vāmana-purāṇa i]

2) [v.s. ...] Name of a Vidyā-dhara prince, [Kathāsaritsāgara xxii, 17]

3) [v.s. ...] of the ancestor of a dynasty, [Inscriptions (Apte’s The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary.D.1095). ]

[Sanskrit to German]

Jimutaketu 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)

Partial matches: Jimuta, Ketu.

Full-text: Jimutavahana, Balinagara, Balipattana, Kanakavati, Apararka, Sanaphulla, Keshideva, Dhammiyara.

Relevant text

Search found 2 books and stories containing Jimutaketu, Jīmūtaketu, Jimuta-ketu, Jīmūta-ketu; (plurals include: Jimutaketus, Jīmūtaketus, ketus). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Puranic encyclopaedia (by Vettam Mani)

Story of Jīmūtavāhana

Story of Śiva

show preview

Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story) (by Somadeva)

Vetāla 7: The King who married his Dependent to a Nereid < [Appendix 6.1 - The Twenty-five Tales of a Vetāla]

Chapter XXII < [Book IV - Naravāhanadattajanana]

Chapter XC < [Book XII - Śaśāṅkavatī]

show preview