In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Medhāvara (मेधावर) is the name of a Vidyādhara king and warrior chief (rathayūthapa) who fought on Śrutaśarman’s side but was slain by Prabhāsa, who participated in the war against Sūryaprabha, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 48. Accordingly: “... when they heard that [speech of Śrutaśarman], eight warriors in anger surrounded Prabhāsa.... And the seventh one, whose chariot was drawn by asses, was named Varāhasvāmin, king of the mount Kumuda, and he was chief of a host of great warriors. And the eighth warrior was like him, Medhāvara, King of Dundhubhi”.

The story of Medhāvara was narrated by the Vidyādhara king Vajraprabha to prince Naravāhanadatta in order to relate how “Sūryaprabha, being a man, obtain of old time the sovereignty over the Vidyādharas”.

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

Medhāvara (मेधावर):—[=medhā-vara] [from medhā > medh] m. Name of a man, [ib.]

[Sanskrit to German]

Medhavara 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: Vara, Medha.

Full-text: Kumuda, Dundhubhi, Dundhubhikshma, Varahasvamin, Kumudaparvata, Vara.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Medhavara, Medhāvara, Medha-vara, Medhā-vara; (plurals include: Medhavaras, Medhāvaras, varas). 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 XLVIII < [Book VIII - Sūryaprabha]

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