Prativasudeva, Prativāsudeva: 10 definitions

Introduction:

Prativasudeva means something in Jainism, Prakrit, Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India. 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.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

[«previous next»] — Prativasudeva in Jainism glossary
Source: Google Books: Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation

Prativāsudeva (प्रतिवासुदेव).—Baladevas, Vāsudevas and the Prativāsudevas are three heroes who appear always simultaneously, and that too on the whole nine times in a world-period. Baladeva and Vāsudeva are half-brothers, sons of a king from different wives; the Prativāsudeva is their antagonist.

Prativāsudeva is a powerful evil ruler; his birth is announced through a dream. Baladeva and Vāsudeva are closely linked through a series of existences and hostile to the Prativāsudeva. The battle is caused by Prativāsudeva subjugating a large part of the Bharata-land and demanding as a ruler of the half of the world obedience from Vāsudeva. Irritated by this or by other challenges of Prativāsudeva, Vāsudeva attacks him and kills him finally so that he comes to hell to atone for his evil deeds.

Source: Google Books: Jaina Iconography

Prativāsudeva (प्रतिवासुदेव).—The Prati-Vāsudevas or the enemies of Vāsudevas are also nine in Jaina Purāṇas, each Vāsudevas having one such opponent.

Both the Śvetāmbara and Digambara give the same list. They are

  1. Aśvagrīva,
  2. Tāraka,
  3. Meraka,
  4. Madhukaiṭabha,
  5. Niśumbha,
  6. Bali,
  7. Prahlāda,
  8. Rāvaṇa or Laṅkeśa,
  9. Jarāsandha or Magadheśvara.

The first eight are supposed to have been Vidyādharas while the last was a man of the earth. The Prati-Vāsudevas, fighting with the cakra-weapon, perished from their own cakras, which went into the service of the Vāsudevas at the last moment.

Source: WikiPedia: Jainism

Prativāsudeva (प्रतिवासुदेव) (or Prativiṣṇu, Pratinārāyaṇa) refers to the nine antagonistic counterparts of the nine Vāsudevas, mentioned in both Śvetāmbara and Digambara literature.—In every half time cycle, there are 9 sets of Balabhadras (gentle heroes), Vasudevas (violent heroes) and Prativāsudevas (anti-heroes). Unlike in the Hindu Puranas, the names Balabhadra and Narayana are not restricted to Balarama and Krishna in Jain Puranas. Instead they serve as names of two distinct classes of mighty half brothers, who appear nine times in each half of the time cycles of the Jain cosmology and jointly rule half the earth as half-chakravarti. Ultimately Pratinaryana is killed by Narayana for his unrighteousness and immorality.

Source: The University of Sydney: A study of the Twelve Reflections

Prativāsudeva (प्रतिवासुदेव) refers to the “enemies of Vāsudeva”, according to the 11th century Jñānārṇava, a treatise on Jain Yoga in roughly 2200 Sanskrit verses composed by Śubhacandra.—Accordingly, “Rudra, elephants of the quarters, gods, demons, aerial spirits, aquatic predators, the planets, the Vyantaras , the guardians of the quarters of the sky, the enemies [of Vāsudeva] [com.prativāsudeva—‘the enemies of Vāsudeva’], Hari, Bala, the chief of the snakes, the lord of the discus (i.e. Viṣṇu) and others who are powerful, the wind, the sun, etc. all themselves having come together are not able to protect an embodied soul even for an instant [when death is] initiated by the servants of Yama”.

Synonyms: Pratiśatru.

General definition book cover
context information

Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

Discover the meaning of prativasudeva in the context of General definition from relevant books on Exotic India

India history and geography

[«previous next»] — Prativasudeva in India history glossary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Indian Epigraphical Glossary

Prati-vāsudeva.—(HA), an enemy of Vāsudeva in Jain my- thology. Note: prati-vāsudeva is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions commonly written in Sanskrit, Prakrit or Dravidian languages.

India history book cover
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.

Discover the meaning of prativasudeva in the context of India history from relevant books on Exotic India

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

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

Prativāsudeva (प्रतिवासुदेव):—[=prati-vāsudeva] m. ‘opponent of a Vāsudeva’, (with Jainas) Name of nine beings at enmity with V° (= viṣṇu-dviṣ), [Colebrooke]

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Prativāsudeva (प्रतिवासुदेव) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Paḍivāsudeva.

[Sanskrit to German]

Prativasudeva 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.

Discover the meaning of prativasudeva in the context of Sanskrit from relevant books on Exotic India

Kannada-English dictionary

[«previous next»] — Prativasudeva in Kannada glossary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Prativāsudēva (ಪ್ರತಿವಾಸುದೇವ):—[noun] (jain.) a man who vies with Vāsudēva, the hero of any of jaina epics.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

Discover the meaning of prativasudeva in the context of Kannada from relevant books on Exotic India

See also (Relevant definitions)

Relevant text

Let's grow together!

I humbly request your help to keep doing what I do best: provide the world with unbiased sources, definitions and images. Your donation direclty influences the quality and quantity of knowledge, wisdom and spiritual insight the world is exposed to.

Let's make the world a better place together!

Like what you read? Consider supporting this website: