In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Murajaka (मुरजक) is the supposed alias of Sundaraka (a pupil of Viṣṇusvāmin), who came into possession of a magic spell for ascending the skies and later, for descending down to earth, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 20.

Accordingly, “And travelling on it with his friends, Sundaraka gradually reached Prayāga, and being now weary, he saw a certain king bathing there, and after stopping the palace there, he plunged from the heaven into the Ganges, and, beheld with wonder by all, he approached that king. The king, inclining before him, said to him: ‘Who art thou, and why hast thou descended from heaven?’ Sundaraka answered: ‘I am an attendant of the god Śiva, named Murajaka, and by his command I have come to thee desiring human pleasures.’ When the king heard this, he supposed it was true, and gave him a city, rich in corn, filled with jewels, with women and all the insignia of rank”.

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

Murajaka (मुरजक):—[from muraja] m. Name of one of Śiva’s attendants, [Kathāsaritsāgara]

[Sanskrit to German]

Murajaka 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)

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Search found 1 books and stories containing Murajaka; (plurals include: Murajakas). 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 XX < [Book III - Lāvānaka]

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