Rajashekhara, Rājaśekhara, Rajan-shekhara: 13 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Kavya
2. Chandas
3. Purana
4. Ayurveda
5. General definition
Languages
1. Sanskrit
2. Kannada
See also
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Introduction:

Rajashekhara means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit. 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.

The Sanskrit term Rājaśekhara can be transliterated into English as Rajasekhara or Rajashekhara, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Shodhganga: A critical appreciation of soddhalas udayasundarikatha

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर).—Soḍḍhala refers to Rājaśekhara simply as Yāyāvara and praises him for his dramatic skill. Rājaśekhara says that a king should hold assemblies for the examination of poets. He should patronize poets, become the Sabhāpati (President) like the ancient kings Vāsudeva, Śāṭavāhana, Śūdraka and Sāhasāṅka, and honour and give gifts to poets whose works stand the test.

Source: Shodhganga: The Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर) is the name of an important person (viz., an Ācārya or Kavi) mentioned in Rājaśekhara’s 10th-century Kāvyamīmāṃsā.—A well-known poet, critic and also a dramatist, who belonging to the Yāyāvara family. He wrote his magnum-opus Kāvyamīmāṃsā, which is the practical treatise of poets, divided into eighteen adhikaraṇas. His father’s name was Durduka and mother Śīlāvatī. To see his scholarship various follower poets to gives him reverence on their works. In the drama Bālabhārata, he declared himself as the incarnation of the poets Vālmīki, Meṇtha and Bhavabhūtī.

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’.

Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)

Source: Shodhganga: a concise history of Sanskrit Chanda literature

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर) alias Jayaśekhara has composed Chandaśśekhara. This is the only work of Rājaśekhara recorded so far. He is different from the famous Rājaśekhara of Yāyāvarīya family and author of Kāvyamīmāṃsā. Rājaśekhara describes himself as an Ārhata and a kavi in the last stanza of fifth chapter of Chandaśśekhara. He was the son of Duddaka and Nāgadevī, grandson of Lāhata and great grandson of Yasa. He belonged to the Ṭhakkura family.

context information

Chandas (छन्दस्) refers to Sanskrit prosody and represents one of the six Vedangas (auxiliary disciplines belonging to the study of the Vedas). The science of prosody (chandas-shastra) focusses on the study of the poetic meters such as the commonly known twenty-six metres mentioned by Pingalas.

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर).—A Sanskrit dramatist who lived in India in 7th century A.D. Bālabhārata or Prakāṇḍapāṇḍava, Bālarāmāyaṇa, Viddhaśālabhañjikā and Karpūramañjarī are his more famous dramatic works. Karpūramañjarī refers to him as the preceptor of a king of Kanauj. Rājaśekhara was known by the name Kavirāja also.

Bālarāmāyaṇa, called also Mahānāṭaka, is a drama in ten Acts. Bālabhārata contains only two Acts. Its theme is the wedding of Draupadī and the ruin caused by the game of dice. Viddhaśālabhañjikā is a drama in four Acts. He has a further work to his credit, Kāvyamīmāṃsā in eighteen chapters.

Some scholars hold the view that Rājaśekhara lived in the 10th century A.D.

context information

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

Ayurveda (science of life)

Rasashastra (Alchemy and Herbo-Mineral preparations)

Source: Wisdom Library: Rasa-śāstra

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर) or Rājaśekhararasa is the name of an Ayurvedic recipe defined in the fourth volume of the Rasajalanidhi (chapter 4, ajīrṇa: indigestion). These remedies are classified as Iatrochemistry and form part of the ancient Indian science known as Rasaśāstra (medical alchemy). However, since it is an ayurveda treatment it should be taken with caution and in accordance with rules laid down in the texts.

Accordingly, when using such recipes (e.g., rājaśekhara-rasa): “the minerals (uparasa), poisons (viṣa), and other drugs (except herbs), referred to as ingredients of medicines, are to be duly purified and incinerated, as the case may be, in accordance with the processes laid out in the texts.” (see introduction to Iatro chemical medicines)

context information

Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.

General definition (in Hinduism)

Source: WikiPedia: Hinduism

Rajashekhara (राजशेखर, Rājaśekhara) was an eminent Sanskrit poet, dramatist and critic. He was court poet of the Gurjara Pratiharas. He wrote Kavyamimamsa between 880 and 920 CE. The work is essentially a practical guide for poets that explains the elements and composition of a good poem.

The fame of Rajashekhara rests firmly on his play Karpūramañjarī, written in Sauraseni Prakrit. Rajashekhara wrote the play to please his wife, Avantisundari, a woman of taste and accomplishment. He is perhaps the only ancient Indian poet to acknowledge a woman for her contributions to his literary career.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर).—Name of a poet.

Derivable forms: rājaśekharaḥ (राजशेखरः).

Rājaśekhara is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms rājan and śekhara (शेखर).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर).—[masculine] [Name] of a poet.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Aufrecht Catalogus Catalogorum

1) Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—a writer on alaṃkāra. Quoted twice in Alaṃkāraśekhara.

2) Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर):—son of Durduka and Śīlavatī, tutor to Mahendrapāla, king of Kanyakubjā (inscriptions of 903 and 907) wrote 4 plays: Karpūramañjarī. Pracaṇḍapāṇḍava or Bālabhārata. Bālarāmāyaṇa. Viddhaśālabhañjikā. In the introduction to the Bālarāmāyaṇa he speaks of 6 works of his. Verses of his are quoted by Kṣemendra, Maṅkha, Śp. p. 77, [Sūktikarṇāmṛta by Śrīdharadāsa] (where he is mentioned by Abhinanda as a contemporary, and by Vasukalpa), [Subhāshitāvali by Vallabhadeva] in Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa, Gaṇaratnamahodadhi. See Saṃkṣepaśaṅkarajaya Oxf. 255. 258^a.

3) Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर):—Kāvyamīmāṃsā Kavirahasya.

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

Rājaśekhara (राजशेखर):—[=rāja-śekhara] [from rāja > rāj] m. (also with kavi, sūri etc.) Name of various authors and teachers; ([especially]) of a poet (son of Durdaka and Śīla-vatī, tutor of Mahendrapāla, king of Kānyakubja; he lived in the 10th century and wrote 4 plays, viz. Pracaṇḍa-pāṇḍava or Bāla-bhārata, Bāla-rāmāyaṇa, Viddhaśāla-bhañjikā, and Karpūra-mañjarī)

[Sanskrit to German]

Rajashekhara 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.

Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Rājaśēkhara (ರಾಜಶೇಖರ):—

1) [noun] an excellent, wise king.

2) [noun] Śiva, who has adorned his head with the moon.

context information

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

Relevant text

Search found 38 books and stories containing Rajashekhara, Rāja-śekhara, Raja-sekhara, Raja-shekhara, Rājan-śekhara, Rajan-sekhara, Rajan-shekhara, Rājaśekhara, Rajasekhara, Rājaśēkhara; (plurals include: Rajashekharas, śekharas, sekharas, shekharas, Rājaśekharas, Rajasekharas, Rājaśēkharas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Part 19 - Rājaśekhara’s Praśasti < [Chapter 1 - Introduction]

Alaṃkāra (3): Kāvyārtha-Yoni < [Chapter 3 - Contribution of Rājaśekhara to Sanskrit Poetics]

Part 3 - Synthesis of Rīti, Vṛtti and Pravṛitti < [Chapter 3 - Contribution of Rājaśekhara to Sanskrit Poetics]

+ 133 more chapters / show preview

Part 39 - Treatment for indigestion (37): Raja-shekhara rasa < [Chapter IV - Irregularity of the digesting heat]

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Part 1b - The Date of Bhavabhūti < [Chapter 1 - Introduction]

Part 3.1-2 - Definition of Rīti (the mode of arranging words) < [Chapter 2 - Literary Study of the Mālatīmādhava]

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The First Novel in Telugu < [January – March, 1978]

Contribution of Women to Sanskrit Literature < [April – June, 1985]

English Influence on Telugu Fiction < [January - March 1977]