Rupavati, Rūpavati, Rūpavatī: 13 definitions
Introduction:
Rupavati means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Marathi. 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 Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Puranic EncyclopediaRūpavatī (रूपवती).—A harlot who lived in Tretāyuga. It is mentioned in Padma Purāṇa, Pātāla Khaṇḍa, that Rūpavatī and her lover Devadāsa attained salvation by adopting the life of a house-holder in the forest.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexRūpavati (रूपवति).—A daughter of Kāśyapa and Diti; given by the father of Brahmā. Mother of Viśvarūpa.*
- * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa IV. 9. 3.
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.
Kavya (poetry)
Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara1) Rūpavatī (रूपवती) is the name of a courtesan (veśyā) from Ekalavyā, but was in a previous life known as a holy Brāhman virgin (brahmacāriṇī) named Lāvaṇyamañjarī, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 69. Accordingly, as the Muni Vijitāsu said to Puṣkarākṣa: “... but on account of that intent meditation she [Lāvaṇyamañjarī] was born in the next birth as a courtesan, of the name of Rūpavatī, in a town named Ekalavyā. However, owing to the virtue of her vow and of the holy bathing-place [on the shore of the Gandhavatī], she remembered her former birth...”.
2) Rūpavatī (रूपवती) is the daughter of Ratnadatta, as mentioned in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 123. Accordingly, “... and then he made him [Keśaṭa] 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. And Keśaṭa married there with all due ceremonies that fair-faced Rūpavatī, to whom her father gave great wealth”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Rūpavatī, 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 (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 Buddhism
Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Pali Kanon: Pali Proper Names1. Rupavati. Daughter of Vijayabahu I. and Tilokasundari. She had four sisters, and a brother called Vikkamabahu (Cv.lix.31). She died young and unmarried (Cv.lix.45).
2. Rupavati. Queen of Parakkamabahu I. She was a descendant of King Kittisirimegha. She is mentioned as having erected a golden thupa in Pulatthipura. Cv.lxxiii.137, 142ff. The thupa has been identified with the modern. Pabulu Vehera (Arch. Survey of Ceylon, vi.1014, p. 6).
Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita SastraRūpavatī (रूपवती) refers to the “bhūmi full of beauty” and represents one of the ten Bodhisattva grounds (bodhisattabhūmi), according to the Mahāvastu referring to a Daśabhūmikasūtra, as mentioned in the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 52.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Tibetan Buddhism1) Rūpavatī (रूपवती) is the name of Dūtī (i.e., messengers of Lord Vajrapāṇi) mentioned as attending the teachings in the 6th century Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa: one of the largest Kriyā Tantras devoted to Mañjuśrī (the Bodhisattva of wisdom) representing an encyclopedia of knowledge primarily concerned with ritualistic elements in Buddhism. The teachings in this text originate from Mañjuśrī and were taught to and by Buddha Śākyamuni in the presence of a large audience (including Rūpavatī).
2) Rūpavatī (रूपवती) is also the name of a Yakṣiṇī mentioned as attending the teachings in the 6th century Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa.
Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra1) Rūpavatī (रूपवती) is the daughter of Indra (son of Sahasrāra), according to the Jain Ramayana and chapter 7.2 [Rāvaṇa’s expedition of conquest] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra (“lives of the 63 illustrious persons”): a Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three important persons in Jainism.—Accordingly, “When he heard that Rāvaṇa was coming, wise Sahasrāra said to his son Indra affectionately because of affection for his son: ‘Son, our family has reached the highest position through you, who are very powerful, being born in it, and has taken away prosperity from other families. This has been done by you by power alone. [...] Offer him your beautiful daughter, Rūpavatī. So you will have the best alliance because of the connection’”.
2) Rūpavatī (रूपवती) refers to one of the eight chief-queens of Lakṣmaṇa (son of Sumitrā and Daśaratha), according to chapter 7.8 [The abandonment of Sītā].—Accordingly, “In Lakṣmaṇa’s household there were sixteen thousand women. Among them were eight chief-queens: [e.g., Rūpavatī, ...]. There were two hundred and fifty sons and among these were eight born of the chief-queens: [e.g., Pṛthvītilaka, son of Rūpavatī]”.
Source: academia.edu: Tessitori Collection IRūpavatī (रूपवती) is the daughter of an ascetic who married Siṃhalasuta, according to the Priyamelakacopaī by Samayasundara (dealing with the lives of Jain teachers), 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.—Accordingly, “[...] Siṃhalasuta managed to get saved by somebody who took him to an āśrama. The ascetic, having noticed auspicious marks on him, gave him his daughter Rūpavatī. During the wedding ceremony he received magic objects: a purse which would give him hundred coins every day and a cot which would allow him to travel anywhere. He departed in the cot with Rūpavatī. [...]”.
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
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryrūpavatī (रूपवती).—f S A handsome and beautiful woman.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishrūpavatī (रूपवती).—f A handsome and beautiful woman.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit DictionaryRūpavatī (रूपवती).—name of the sixth Bodhisattva-bhūmi (q.v.) according to Mahāvastu i.76.16.
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Rūpāvatī (रूपावती).—name of a woman (previous incarnation of Śākyamuni): Divyāvadāna 471.5 ff.; 479.23; by an act of truth she changed herself into a man, Rūpāvata, 474.5 ff.; referred to Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā 25.2, where read sā Rūpāvatī for text [Page457-a+ 71] sārūpyavatī, compare Finot p. viii; the same story in Avadāna- kalpalatā, chapter 51, where the name is Rukmavatī.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Rūpavatī (रूपवती):—[=rūpa-vatī] [from rūpa-vat > rūpa > rūp] f. a handsome woman (Name of various women), [Buddhist literature; Kathāsaritsāgara]
2) [v.s. ...] of a river, [Bhāgavata-purāṇa]
3) Rūpāvatī (रूपावती):—[from rūpāvata > rūp] f. Name of a woman, [ib.]
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 corpusRūpavati (ರೂಪವತಿ):—[noun] a beautiful woman.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Rupavaticetiya, Rupavatithupa.
Ends with: Svarupavati, Tatvarupavati, Vrittirupavati.
Full-text (+20): Bharye, Rupyavati, Rupavamte, Sarupyavati, Rupasi, Rupasthe, Pararupa, Rupini, Dashabhumi, Prithvitilaka, Tilokasundari, Rupi, Shringaravati, Rupavant, Anuragavati, Subhadda, Alahana-parivena, Subhaddacetiya, Kirivehera, Baddhasimapasada.
Relevant text
Search found 12 books and stories containing Rupavati, Rūpavati, Rūpavatī, Rūpāvatī, Rupa-vati, Rūpa-vatī; (plurals include: Rupavatis, Rūpavatis, Rūpavatīs, Rūpāvatīs, vatis, vatīs). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 5.17.13 < [Chapter 17 - The Gopis Describe Their Remembrance of Sri Krsna]
Verse 6.16.17 < [Chapter 16 - Seeing Śrī Rādhā’s Form]
Verse 5.9.50 < [Chapter 9 - The Happiness of the Yadus]
Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra (by Helen M. Johnson)
Part 10: Lakṣmaṇa’s household < [Chapter VIII - The abandonment of Sītā]
Part 14: Defeat of Indra < [Chapter II - Rāvaṇa’s expedition of Conquest]
Part 11: Fifth incarnation as Aparājita < [Chapter I - Previous incarnations of Ariṣṭanemi (Nemi)]
Chaitanya Bhagavata (by Bhumipati Dāsa)
Verse 1.15.157 < [Chapter 15 - Marriage with Śrī Viṣṇupriyā]
Verse 2.18.128 < [Chapter 18 - Mahāprabhu’s Dancing as a Gopī]
Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story) (by Somadeva)
Chapter CXXIII < [Book XVIII - Viṣamaśīla]
Note on the “act of truth” motif in Folk-lore < [Notes]
Chapter LXIX < [Book XII - Śaśāṅkavatī]
Bhagavati-sutra (Viyaha-pannatti) (by K. C. Lalwani)