In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Kanakapurī (कनकपुरी) refers to the “golden city” where lived the four Vidhādharī daughters of king Śaśikhaṇḍa, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 26. Accordingly, as one of the daughters in her human incarnation Vindumatī spoke to Śaktideva:  “my lord, we are three sisters, the daughters of a king of the Vidyādharas, who have been banished from Kanakapurī in consequence of a curse... And you shall rule in that city, after obtaining all four of us as wives, bestowed upon you by our father, who has retired to the forest, and others in addition to us”.

After Śaktideva became the Vidyādhara named Śaktivega, he proceed to live with his wives in Kanakapurī accordingly, “... having become a king, [Śaktideva/Śaktivega] entered the City of Gold [Kanakapurī], that glory of the Vidyādhara world, proceeding thither with his wives. Living in that city, the palaces of which gleamed with fabric of gold, which seemed on account of its great height to be the condensed rays of the sun falling in brightness, he enjoyed exceeding happiness with those fair-eyed wives, in charming gardens, the lakes of which had steps made out of jewels”.

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

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

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

Kanakapurī (कनकपुरी):—[=kanaka-purī] [from kanaka > kan] f. idem

[Sanskrit to German]

Kanakapuri 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: Puri, Kanaka.

Full-text: Kanakavarsha, Kanakarekha, Shaktivega, Kanakapura, Darshin, Gamya, Jatu.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Kanakapuri, Kanakapurī, Kanaka-puri, Kanaka-purī; (plurals include: Kanakapuris, Kanakapurīs, puris, purīs). 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 XXVI < [Book V - Caturdārikā]

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