Ratnadatta: 6 definitions

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Ratnadatta 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.

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In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

[«previous next»] — Ratnadatta in Kavya glossary
Source: Wisdom Library: The Vetālapañcaviṃśati

Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त) is the name of one of the four sons of Nidhipatidatta, a wealthy merchant and owner of caravans, from the city Puṣkarāvatī, according to the twenty-first story in the Vetālapañcaviṃśati, a Sanskrit work relating the ‘twenty-five stories of a vetāla’. These stories revolve around the Indian King Vikramāditya whose kingdom is threatened by the machinations of a necromancer. Ratnadatta was an expert in the studies of the fine arts.

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

1) Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त) is the son of Vitastadatta: a rich Buddhist merchant from Takṣaśilā: a city on the banks of the Vitastā according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 27. Accordingly, “there was in that city [Takṣaśilā] a certain rich Buddhist merchant called Vitastadatta, who was exclusively devoted to the honouring of Buddhist mendicants. And he had a son, a young man named Ratnadatta. And he was always expressing his detestation of his father, calling him an impious man”.

2) Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त) is the name of a merchant (vaṇij) from Kauśāmbī, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 57. Accordingly, “... one day, when he [prince Naravāhanadatta] was present, a merchant living in the city [Kauśāmbī] came to make a representation to his father, as he was sitting on his throne. That merchant, of the name of Ratnadatta, entered, announced by the warder”.

3) Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त) is the name of a merchant (vaṇij) from Ayodhyā, as mentioned in the thirteenth story of the Vetālapañcaviṃśati in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 88. Accordingly, “... during the reign of that king [Vīraketu] there lived in that city [Ayodhyā] a great merchant, named Ratnadatta, who was the head of the mercantile community. And there was born to him, by his wife Nandayantī, a daughter named Ratnavatī, who was obtained by propitiating the deities”.

4) Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त), father of Rūpavatī, is the name of a Brāhman, as mentioned in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 123. Accordingly, “... then the old Brāhman brought Keśaṭa adorned with the ornaments of a bridegroom, and entered that city with all the bridegroom’s party. And then he made him enter the house of Ratnadatta, in which an altar-platform was ready prepared, and which was made to resound with the music of various instruments”.

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

Kavya book cover
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’.

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Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Ratnadatta in Sanskrit glossary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त).—name of a Bodhisattva: Śatasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā 6.7.

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

Ratnadatta (रत्नदत्त):—[=ratna-datta] [from ratna] m. Name of various men, [Buddhist literature; Kathāsaritsāgara; Catalogue(s)]

[Sanskrit to German]

Ratnadatta 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.

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