Shardula, Śārdūla: 29 definitions
Introduction:
Shardula means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Marathi, Hindi, biology. 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 Śārdūla can be transliterated into English as Sardula or Shardula, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
Alternative spellings of this word include Shardul.
Images (photo gallery)
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—A spy of Rāvaṇa. It was he, who informed Rāvaṇa about the arrival of Rāma. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddhakāṇḍa, Canto 30).
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) refers to a “tigers”, acting as Vīrabhadra’s body-guards”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.33. Accordingly, as Brahmā narrated to Nārada:—“[...] Receiving his command, with his head bowed down in reverence, Vīrabhadra set off immediately to the place of sacrifice. [...] Many strong lions, tigers (śārdūla), crocodiles, huge fishes and thousands of elephants constituted his body-guard”.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) refers to “tigers” (living in the forest), according to the Rāmāyaṇa chapter 2.29. Accordingly:—“[...] Sītā was distressed to hear these words of Rāma and spoke these words slowly, with her face with tears: ‘[...] Oh Rāma! Antelopes, lions, elephants, tigers (śārdūla), Śarabhas (legendary animal with eight legs), birds, yaks and all others which roam in the forest, run away after seeing your form, since they have never seen your figure before. When there is cause for fear, who would not have fear?’”.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—The lord of animals.*
- * Vāyu-purāṇa 35. 6; 70. 10.
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.
Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) refers to one of the 23 types of dohā metres (a part of mātrā type) described in the 1st chapter of the Vṛttamauktika by Candraśekhara (17th century): author of many metrical compositions and the son of Lakṣmīnātha Bhaṭṭa and Lopāmudrā.
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.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) refers to a “tiger” (i.e., the gait of a tiger is considered excellent for elephants), according to the 15th century Mātaṅgalīlā composed by Nīlakaṇṭha in 263 Sanskrit verses, dealing with elephantology in ancient India, focusing on the science of management and treatment of elephants.—[Cf. chapter 2, “on favorable marks”]: “12. A gait like an antelope, lion, parrot, ape, wrestler, haṃsa or kādamba-bird shall be regarded as excellent [... gatiḥ sadṛśī śubhā syāt], or like a gandharva, kinnara, eagle, boar, tiger (śārdūla), king, śarabha (fabulous animal), serpent, or cakravāka-bird”.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) (lit. “one who is fabulous”) is a synonym (another name) for either the Lion (Siṃha) or the Tiger (Vyāghra), according to scientific texts such as the Mṛgapakṣiśāstra (Mriga-pakshi-shastra) or “the ancient Indian science of animals and birds” by Hamsadeva, containing the varieties and descriptions of the animals and birds seen in the Sanskrit Epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Nighantu (Synonyms and Characteristics of Drugs and technical terms)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) is another name for Citraka, a medicinal plant identified with (1) [white variety] Plumbago zeylanica Linn.; (2) [red variety] Plumbago rosea Linn. syn. or Plumbago indica Linn., both from the Plumbaginaceae or “leadwort” family of flowering plants, according to verse 6.43-45 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu.—The sixth chapter (pippalyādi-varga) of this book enumerates ninety-five varieties of plants obtained from the market (paṇyauṣadhi). Together with the names Śārdūla and Citraka, there are a total of twenty Sanskrit synonyms identified for this plant.
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.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) refers to “tigers”, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 12), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “Hear now the effects of the heliacal rising of Canopus (Agastya), a star sacred to Agastya who suppressed the Vindhya mountains whose soaring heights obstructed the course of the Sun; [...] whose summits appeared to score the starry vault; whose rocks were full of buzzing bees scared by the violent pulling of flower trees by wild elephants and were also the abodes of hyenas, of bears, of tigers and of monkeys [i.e., tarakṣa-ṛkṣa-śārdūla-śākhāmṛga-adhyāsita]; through which lay the secret course of the Ravi which appeared to embrace its bosom with the affection of a mistress; and in whose forests dwelt the Devas and also Brāhmaṇa recluses, some subsisting on water, some on roots, some on the air and some altogether without food”.
Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) is the name of an authority on Nāṭya (ancient Indian art of performance and theater), as mentioned in the Bharataśāstram, one of the works ascribed to Kohala (=Kohalācārya-Kavi)—a celebrated authority of the ancient period along with others such as Bharata, Yāṣṭika, Śārdūla, Kāśyapa etc.—The possibility of connecting Kohala as the author of a portion of this codex exists only in the unknown section. Therefore, it seems more than likely that Kohala was not the author of this section. [...] The nāndī-śloka is followed by verses of veneration of earlier authorities on nāṭya [e.g., Śārdūla] in chronological order. This entire passage with the exception of the final two lines, is an interpolation from Saṅgītaratnākara.
Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (shastra) of performing arts, (natya—theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing Dramatic plays (nataka), construction and performance of Theater, and Poetic works (kavya).
General definition (in Hinduism)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल, ‘tiger’) is mentioned in the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas. Cf. Vyāghra.
In Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) is the name of a Vīra (hero) who, together with the Ḍākinī named Śārdūlī forms one of the 36 pairs situated in the Medinīcakra, according to the 10th century Ḍākārṇava chapter 15. Accordingly, the medinīcakra refers to one of the three divisions of the dharma-puṭa (‘dharma layer’), situated in the Herukamaṇḍala. The 36 pairs of Ḍākinīs and Vīras [viz., Śārdūla] are yellow in color; the shapes of their faces are in accordance with their names; they have four arms; they hold a skull bowl, a skull staff, a small drum, and a knife.
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)
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) participated in the war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, on the side of the latter, as mentioned in Svayambhūdeva’s Paumacariu (Padmacarita, Paumacariya or Rāmāyaṇapurāṇa) chapter 57ff. Svayambhū or Svayambhūdeva (8th or 9th century) was a Jain householder who probably lived in Karnataka. His work recounts the popular Rāma story as known from the older work Rāmāyaṇa (written by Vālmīki). Various chapters [mentioning Śārdūla] are dedicated to the humongous battle whose armies (known as akṣauhiṇīs) consisted of millions of soldiers, horses and elephants, etc.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) refers to “lions”, according to the 11th century Jñānārṇava, a treatise on Jain Yoga in roughly 2200 Sanskrit verses composed by Śubhacandra.—Accordingly, “Snakes, fire, poison, tigers, elephants, lions (śārdūla), demons and kings, etc. do not hurt those whose selves are settled in the doctrine. On the earth even the lord of the snakes with a thousand trembling mouths is not able to describe clearly the entire power of the doctrine”.
Synonyms: Kaṇṭhīrava, Hari, Siṃha.
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.
Biology (plants and animals)
Shardula in India is the name of a plant defined with Plumbago zeylanica in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Plumbago zeylanica var. glaucescens Boiss. (among others).
Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):
· Taxon (1979)
· FBI (1882)
· Species Plantarum (1762)
· Fieldiana, Botany (1966)
· Flora of Southern Africa (1963)
· Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden (1985)
If you are looking for specific details regarding Shardula, for example extract dosage, side effects, health benefits, chemical composition, pregnancy safety, diet and recipes, have a look at these references.
This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
śārdūla (शार्दूल).—m S pop. śārdūḷa m A tiger. 2 A tree, Pentaptera tomentosa vel Urjuna.
śārdūla (शार्दूल).—m A tiger. A particular tree.
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
Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—[śṝ-ūlal duk ca Uṇādi-sūtra 4.97]
1) A tiger.
2) A leopard or panther.
3) A demon, Rākṣasa.
4) A kind of bird.
5) A kind of animal called शरभ (śarabha).
6) A lion.
7) (at the end of comp.) An eminent or distinguished person, foremost; as in नरशार्दूलः (naraśārdūlaḥ); cf. कुञ्जर (kuñjara).
Derivable forms: śārdūlaḥ (शार्दूलः).
Śardūla (शर्दूल).—[, Lalitavistara 207.17; read with some mss. gar- dūla, q.v.]
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Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—name of a Bodhisattva: Gaṇḍavyūha 442.16.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—m.
(-laḥ) 1. A tiger. 2. Another animal. 3. A Rakshasa. 4. A sort of bird. 5. (In composition,) Pre-eminent, excellent. 6. A form of metre, a variety of the class Dhriti, or stanza of four lines of 18 syllables each; also of the class Atidhriti, in which there are 19 syllables in the line. E. śṝ to injure, dūlac aff.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—m. 1. A tiger, [Nala] 12, 129. 2. A Rākṣasa. 3. A sort of bird. 4. (as latter part of comp. words), Best, pre-eminent; e. g. muni-, m. A pre-eminent sage, [Lassen, Anthologia Sanskritica.] 49, 15; rājaśardūla, i. e. rājan-, m. A pre-eminent king, [Rāmāyaṇa] 3, 49, 28.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल).—[masculine] tiger ([feminine] ī); best among (—°).
1) Śārdūla (शार्दूल):—m. (of unknown derivation) a tiger, [Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā] etc. etc.
2) a lion, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
3) a panther, leopard, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) the fabulous animal Śarabha, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
5) a kind of bird, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
6) any eminent person, best, excellent, pre-eminent (ifc.; cf. vyāghra), [Mahābhārata; Kāvya literature] etc.
7) Plumbago Zeylanica, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
8) Name of two metres (cf. below), [Colebrooke]
9) of a Rākṣasa, [Rāmāyaṇa]
10) [plural] Name of a Śākhā or school of the Yajur-veda
Śārdūla (शार्दूल):—(laḥ) 1. m. A tiger; a rākshasa; sort of bird; name of a metre; (in compounds) preeminent.
Śārdūla (शार्दूल):—m.
1) Tiger [UJJVAL.] zu [Uṇādisūtra 4, 90.] [Amarakoṣa 2, 5, 1.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 1285.] [Anekārthasaṃgraha 3, 686.] [Halāyudha 2, 71.] [Vājasaneyisaṃhitā 24, 30.] [Kāṭhaka-Recension 12, 10.] [The Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 5, 3, 5, 3. 4, 1, 9. 11. 5, 4, 10.] lomāni [18. 11, 8, 4, 1.] carman [Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa 1, 7, 8, 1. 8, 5, 2.] [ŚIKṢĀ 36] in [Weber’s Indische Studien 4, 107.] [Mahābhārata 3, 2432. 2528. 4, 51. 345. 12, 4276.] [Rāmāyaṇa 3, 75, 17.] [Śākuntala 154.] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 12, 6. 68, 103. 104, 4] (mit Anspielung auf das Metrum Śārdūlavikrīḍita). [VĀGBH. 6, 9.] [Bhāgavatapurāṇa 9, 2, 4.] f. ī Tigerin [Mahābhārata 3, 16029.] als Urmutter der Tiger und anderer Raubthiere [1, 2625. 2629.] [Rāmāyaṇa 3, 20, 22. 26.] Nach [Rājanirghaṇṭa im Śabdakalpadruma] ist śārdūla auch = citraka Panther. —
2) am Ende eines comp. der erste unter — (vgl. vyāghra) [Amarakoṣa 3, 2, 9.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 1440.] [Hemacandra’s Anekārthasaṃgraha] nara [Mahābhārata 3, 2086. 4, 348.] [Rāmāyaṇa 1, 61, 1. 3, 49, 28. 4, 33, 31.] rāja [Mahābhārata 3, 2387. 2575. 5, 6099.] [Rāmāyaṇa 2, 103, 27. 112, 4.] nṛpati [4, 17, 13.] vibudha [Mahābhārata 8, 1470.] yādava [13, 1024.] yadu [Harivaṃśa 10570.] [Rāmāyaṇa 2, 25, 3. 4, 17, 47.] muni [?1, 59, 15. 63, 22. Brahmapurāṇa in Lassen’s Anthologie (III) 49, 5.] hari unter den Affen [Rāmāyaṇa 4, 6, 21. 12, 19. 18, 12.] —
3) ein best. fabelhaftes Thier, = aṣṭāpada [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 2, 5, 2.] = paśubheda [Hemacandra’s Anekārthasaṃgraha] —
4) ein best. Vogel [Dharaṇīkoṣa im Śabdakalpadruma] —
5) pl. Name einer Schule [Weber’s Indische Studien 1, 61. 3, 273. fg.] —
6) Nomen proprium eines Rākṣasa [Hemacandra’s Anekārthasaṃgraha] [Rāmāyaṇa 6, 6, 1. 14.] —
8) Bez. zweier Metra: a) 4 Mal ¯ ¯ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ˘ ¯, ¯ ˘ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ [Colebrooke 2, 162 (XIII, 9).] — b) = śārdūlavikrīḍita ebend. [(XIV, 1).]
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Saddūla.
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.
Hindi dictionary
Śārdūla (शार्दूल) [Also spelled shardul]:—(nm) a tiger.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Śārdūla (ಶಾರ್ದೂಲ):—
1) [noun] a very fabulous mythological animal having eight legs, believed to overpower lions and elephants.
2) [noun] a tiger.
3) [noun] a lion.
4) [noun] a panther or leopard.
5) [noun] (in comp.) an excellent man.
6) [noun] name of a daemon.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Śārdūla (शार्दूल):—n. 1. a ferocious animal; like a lion or tiger; 2. a leopard or panther; 3. an eminent or distinguished person;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with (+0): Shardoolavicreedit, Shardulacarman, Shardulagati, Shardulajyeshtha, Shardulaka, Shardulakanjika, Shardulakanjika, Shardulakarna, Shardulakarnavadana, Shardulalalita, Shardulaloman, Shardulamrigasevita, Shardulasamavikrama, Shardulashataka, Shardulavahana, Shardulavaktra, Shardulavarman, Shardulavikridita.
Full-text (+368): Shardulavikridita, Shardulalalita, Shardulakarna, Shardulavahana, Kshudrashardula, Bharatashardula, Pakshishardula, Shardulacarman, Yadavashardula, Bhrigushardula, Narashardula, Shardulaloman, Shardulashataka, Shardulavarman, Rasashardula, Purushashardula, Gramashardula, Gulmashardula, Shardulajyeshtha, Rajashardula.
Relevant text
Search found 68 books and stories containing Shardula, Śārdūla, Sardula, Śardūla, Shardulas; (plurals include: Shardulas, Śārdūlas, Sardulas, Śardūlas, Shardulases). 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)
Verses 1.15.41-45 < [Chapter 15 - Revelation of the Universal Form to Nanda’s Wife]
Verse 5.21.1 < [Chapter 21 - The Story of Śrī Nārada]
Verse 2.8.45 < [Chapter 8 - Description of Seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa]
Ramayana of Valmiki (Griffith) (by Ralph T. H. Griffith)
Chapter XXX: Sardula’s Speech < [Book VI]
Chapter XXIX: shardula Captured < [Book VI]
Chapter XX: The Spies < [Book VI]
Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana (by Gaurapada Dāsa)
Text 10.13 < [Chapter 10 - Ornaments of Meaning]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 349 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 140 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 3]
Page 141 < [Hindi-Marathi-English Volume 3]
Kavyalankara-sara-sangraha of Udbhata (by Narayana Daso Banhatti)
Chapter 1 (prathamo vargah) < [Sanskrit text of the Kavyalankara-sara-sangraha]
Chapter 1—First Varga < [English notes to the Kavyalankara-sara-sangraha]
Orissa and her remains (District Puri) (by Mano mohan Ganguly)