The Sanskrit term Puṣpacūla can be transliterated into English as Puspacula or Pushpacula, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

Alternative spellings of this word include Pushpachula.

In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: OpenEdition books: Vividhatīrthakalpaḥ (Kāvya)

1) Puṣpacūla (पुष्पचूल) (nicknamed Vaṅkacūla) is the son of king Vimalayaśas , as mentioned in the Vividhatīrthakalpa by Jinaprabhasūri (13th century A.D.): an ancient text devoted to various Jaina holy places (tīrthas).—Accordingly, “Here, in the land of Bharata, lived King Vimalayaśas. Knowing the meaning of happiness with Queen Sumangala, he soon had two children, a son, Puṣpacūla, and a daughter, Puṣpacūlā. As Puṣpacūla caused bad luck, people nicknamed him Vaṅkacūla. Informed by his dignitaries, the angry king expelled Vaṅkacūla from the city. [...]”.

Note: Only a few textual differences distinguish the legend of the Vividhatīrthakalpa from the version of Prabandhakośa 75-8. The other prabandhas (Prabandhacintāmaṇi, Purātanaprabandhasaṃgraha and Panchashati-prabandha-sambandha) ignore this story.

2) Puṣpacūlā (पुष्पचूला) in Sanskrit (or Pupphacūlā in Prakrit) is also mentioned in the Vividhatīrthakalpa.—Accordingly, “By order of her father, Pupphacūlā became the wife of her own brother. Her mother, who became a goddess when she died, shows her the underworld. The Jaina monk Anniāputta is the only one who describes them as she saw them. She therefore becomes a Jaina nun, and, having attained omniscience before him, predicts to him the manner in which he would be freed: by crossing the Gaṅgā, impaled at the bottom of the river. [...]”.

Cf. Āvaśyakacūrṇi II 177.5-179.2; Āvasyakaniryukti (Haribhadra commentary) b.5-a.2; Paris.VI. v. 104-169: Hertel 1908 p. 163-170.

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’.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: JAINpedia: Women in the Jain tradition: Soḷ satī

Puṣpacūlā (पुष्पचूला) refers to one of the 16 Satīs mentioned in the Brāhmī Candanbālikā.—In Jain contexts “Satī” revolves around fidelity to the Jain religion. Although Jains call many virtuous Jain women satīs, among Śvetāmbara Jains there is a group of satīs called the soḷ satī or 16 Satīs (i.e., Puṣpacūlā). These Jain Satīs are revered as role models for women and their stories are widely known. Even though the general group of Satī grows over time, the group of 16 Satīs is unchanging.

Source: University of Cambridge: Jainism

Puṣpacūlā (पुष्पचूला) is the name of a Jain text.—five texts that are usually found together (i.e., Nirayāvalikā, Kalpāvataṃsikā, Puṣpikā, Puṣpacūlā and Vṛṣṇidaśā) correspond to the last five Upāṅgas of the Śvetāmbara canon. According to the colophon, the manuscript was commissioned by Budhakheṭāka, son of Buharāḍhāla, in order to be read by Devavijayagaṇi, during the reign of the famous Hīravijayasūri, pontiff of the Tapāgaccha.

Source: academia.edu: Tessitori Collection I

Puṣpacūlā (पुष्पचूला) or Pupphacūlā-saṃbandha refers to one of the 157 stories embedded in the Kathāmahodadhi by Somacandra (narrating stories from Jain literature, based on the Karpūraprakara), which is included in the collection of manuscripts at the ‘Vincenzo Joppi’ library, collected by Luigi Pio Tessitori during his visit to Rajasthan between 1914 and 1919.—The Kathāmahodadhi represents a repository of 157 stories [e.g., Puṣpacūlā-saṃbandha/Pupphacūlā-saṃbandha] written in prose Sanskrit, although each of them is preceded by a verse. Together, they stage a large number of Jain characters (including early teachers). [...]

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.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

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

1) Puṣpacūla (पुष्पचूल):—[=puṣpa-cūla] [from puṣpa > puṣ] m. ‘f°-crested’, Name of a man, [Hemacandra’s Pariśiṣṭaparvan]

2) Puṣpacūlā (पुष्पचूला):—[=puṣpa-cūlā] [from puṣpa-cūla > puṣpa > puṣ] f. Name of a woman, [ib.]

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: Pushpa, Cula.

Starts with: Pushpaculasambandha.

Full-text: Vankacula, Sumangala, Vimalayashas, Anniaputta, Kalpavatamsika, Vrishnidasha, Pushpika, Nirayavalika, Nirayavalikasutra, Budh, Dharmadatta, Dharmarshi, Susthita, Pupphacula.

Relevant text

Search found 3 books and stories containing Pushpacula, Puṣpacūla, Pushpa-cula, Puṣpa-cūla, Puspacula, Puspa-cula, Puṣpacūlā, Puṣpa-cūlā; (plurals include: Pushpaculas, Puṣpacūlas, culas, cūlas, Puspaculas, Puṣpacūlās, cūlās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

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