Shurparaka, Surparaka, Sūrpāraka, Śūrpāraka: 14 definitions
Introduction:
Shurparaka means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, the history of ancient India. 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 Śūrpāraka can be transliterated into English as Surparaka or Shurparaka, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma)
Source: Prabhupada Books: Sri Caitanya CaritamrtaSūrpāraka is about twenty-six miles north of Bombay. In the Maharashtra province, near Bombay, is a district known as Thānā and a place known as Sopārā. Sūrpāraka is mentioned in the Mahābhārata (Śānti-parva, 41.66-67).
Vaishnava (वैष्णव, vaiṣṇava) or vaishnavism (vaiṣṇavism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshipping Vishnu as the supreme Lord. Similar to the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions, Vaishnavism also developed as an individual movement, famous for its exposition of the dashavatara (‘ten avatars of Vishnu’).
Kavya (poetry)
Source: Shodhganga: A critical appreciation of soddhalas udayasundarikathaŚūrpāraka (शूर्पारक).—One of the various countries and cities mentioned by Soḍḍhala.—Śūrpāraka is identified with Sopārā (Nālā Sopārā) in the district of Thāṇā (of the Koṅkaṇa kingdom), 37 miles north of Bombay and 4 miles north-west of Bassein. It was a great Tīrtha in ancient times. Dr. Bhagvanlal Indraji got it excavated and he discovered an inscription of Aśoka. Soḍḍhala says, “Vatsarāja, the king of Lāṭa, ccaning from Śūrpāraka-nagara altered and sat in the temple in the vicinity of the road. He saw there a eulogy on the wall.”
Source: Shodhganga: The Kavyamimamsa of RajasekharaSūrpāraka (सूर्पारक) is the name a locality mentioned in Rājaśekhara’s 10th-century Kāvyamīmāṃsā.—According to Rājaśekhara, it is the region of south India. This is also identified with Śopārā in the district of Thānā, thirty seven miles north of Bombay (presently Mumbai) and four miles north-west of Bassein.
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’.
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: archive.org: Puranic EncyclopediaŚūrpāraka (शूर्पारक).—Another name for Kerala. In Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Chapter 99, we read that Paraśurāma threw a "Śūrpa" winnowing basket from Gokarṇa southwards and the ocean up to the spot where the Śūrpa fell, became dry land. Since the land was formed by throwing the Śūrpa, it came to be called "Śūrpāraka". References to Śūrpāraka in the Mahābhārata, are given below:—
(i) In the course of his triumph of the southern lands, Sahadeva conquered "Śūrpāraka". (Mahābhārata Sabhā Parva, Chapter 31, Verse 65).
(ii) There is a sacred bath here, known as "Śūrpāraka tīrtha". By bathing here, one would obtain golden rāśis. (Mahābhārata Vana Parva, Chapter 85, Verse 43).
(iii) In Śūrpāraka Kṣetra, there is a sacrificial platform originally used by Jamadagni. Close by, there are two holy places called "Pāṣāṇa tīrtha" and "Candra tīrtha". (Mahābhārata Vana Parva, Chapter 88, Verse 12).
(iv) Yudhiṣṭhira once happened to visit this sacred place. (Mahābhārata Vana Parva, Chapter 118, Verse 8).
(v) Śūrpāraka is the land formed by the withdrawal of the ocean. It is also called "Aparāntabhūmi". (Śānti Parva, Chapter 49, Verse 66).
(vi) Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 25, Verse 50 states that by bathing in the water of Śūrpāraka Kṣetra and observing a fast for a fortnight, one would be born as a prince in the next birth.
Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and placesŚūrpāraka (शूर्पारक) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. II.28.43, III.86.9) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Śūrpāraka) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.
Śūrpāraka also refers to the name of a Tīrtha (pilgrim’s destination) mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. II.28.43, III.83.40).
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.
India history and geography
Source: Wisdom Library: India HistorySūrpāraka (सूर्पारक) is the name of a country included within Dakṣiṇapatha which was situated ahead of Māhiṣmatī according to Rājaśekhara (fl. 10th century) in his Kāvyamīmāṃsā (chapter 17). Dakṣiṇāpatha is a place-name ending is patha mentioned in the Gupta inscriptions. The Gupta empire (r. 3rd-century CE), founded by Śrī Gupta, covered much of ancient India and embraced the Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (history)Śūrpāraka (शूर्पारक).—It is certain that the great ports of the western coast: Śūrpāraka (Souppara, Sopara), Bharakaccha (Greek Barygaza, modern Broach) were connected with the Golden Chersonesos.
Source: archive.org: Geography in Ancient Indian inscriptionsŚūrpāraka (शूर्पारक) or Sopāraka.—The famous city of Śūrpāraka is called Sopāraka in two Karle and one Nanaghat inscriptions, Sopāraga in two Kanheri inscriptions, and Śorpāraga in Nasik cave inscription of Uṣavadāta. On the evidence of Sopara Rock edict, the antiquity of Śūrpāraka can be traced to the third century B.C. Śūrpāraka is identical with Sopara, in the Thana district, about forty miles north-west of Bassein and thirty-seven miles north of Bombay.
Source: archive.org: Gazetteer of the Bombay PresidencySurpāraka is the name of an ancient locality corresponding to Sopārā near Bassein, as mentioned in the “copper-plate charter from Khārepāṭaṇ in the Ratnāgiri District” (1095 A.D.).—The command contained in it is addressed to, amongst others, the people of the town of Hañjamana. And the object of it was to release certain tolls on carts coming into Sthānaka, Nāgapura (very possibly the modern Nāgaon, about six miles south-east of Alībāg), Surpāraka (Sopārā near Bassein), Cemūli (Chaul in the Kolāba District), and other sea-ports in the Koṅkaṇ fourteen-hundred. The record describes Anantadeva as “casting into the ocean of the edge” of his sword these fierce heaps of sin who, at a time of misfortune due to the hostility of relatives, obtained power and devastated the land of the Koṅkaṇ, harassing gods and Brāhmans.
Source: What is India: Inscriptions of the ŚilāhārasŚūrpāraka (शूर्पारक) or Śūrpārakaṣaṭṣaṣṭi is the name of a province (viṣaya) mentioned in the “Ṭhāṇā plates of Mummuṇirāja”. Śūrpāraka-ṣaṭṣaṣṭi-viṣaya comprised the territory round Śurpāraka, modern Sopārā in the Bassein-tālukā.
These copper plates (mentioning Śūrpāraka) were discovered in 1956 while digging the ground between the Church and the District Office at Ṭhāṇā, the chief town of the Ṭhāṇā District in Mahārāṣṭra. Its object is to record the grant, by the Śilāhāra Mummuṇirāja, of some villages and lands to learned Brāhmaṇas on the occasion of the lunar eclipse on the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Phālguna in the Śaka year 970, the cyclic year being Sarvadhārin.
Source: Singhi Jain Series: Ratnaprabha-suri’s Kuvalayamala-katha (history)Sūrpāraka (सूर्पारक) refers to a “flourishing sea-port” of ancient India, according to Uddyotanasūri in his 8th-century Kuvalayamālā (a Prakrit Campū, similar to Kāvya poetry).—The Kuvalayamala (779 A.D.) is full of cultural material which gains in value because of the firm date of its composition. [...] Page 65.13 f.: This is a brilliant description of a Sārthavāha taking his caravan, or a trading expedition, from Taksila to Sūrpāraka which was the biggest sea-port. [...] At Sūrpāraka there was the merchant Bhaddaseṭṭhi whose wealth lasted for several generations, and there was also a guild of local merchants. It was their custom to hold a reception in honour of merchants from outside and to learn from them the country of their origin, the destination, field of trade, the nature, value and volume of commodity in which he is interested and all such matters relating to his business. It was the ancient and traditional custom of the great emporium city of Sūrpāraka which was also a flourishing sea-port for oceanic commerce with the western world. He was offered essence, betel leaf and perfume as a mark of honour.
The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryŚūrpāraka (शूर्पारक).—[masculine] [plural] [Name] of a people & country.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Śūrpāraka (शूर्पारक):—m. Name of a country and ([plural]) its inhabitants, [Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa; Purāṇa]
2) n. Name of a town ([according to] to some of two different towns), [Harivaṃśa; Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa; Buddhist literature]
[Sanskrit to German]
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)
Starts with: Shurparakashatshashti.
Full-text (+24): Saurparakiya, Soparaka, Shaurparaka, Ashokatirtha, Pashanatirtha, Saptagodavara, Bharakaccha, Bhaddasetthi, Aparanta, Shurparakashatshashti, Vaiduryaparvata, Suparaga, Vakkhali, Supparaka, Ranjali, Laghu-Adanika, Sopara, Vishupadhyaya, Conch-shell, Brihad-Adanika.
Relevant text
Search found 21 books and stories containing Shurparaka, Surparaka, Sūrpāraka, Śūrpāraka; (plurals include: Shurparakas, Surparakas, Sūrpārakas, Śūrpārakas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Chaitanya Bhagavata (by Bhumipati Dāsa)
Verse 1.9.151 < [Chapter 9 - Nityānanda’s Childhood Pastimes and Travels to Holy Places]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Appendix 1 - Teaching the Rādhasutta at mount Makula < [Chapter X - The Qualities of the Bodhisattvas]
Appendix 2 - The journey of the Buddha to southern India and Koṭikarṇa < [Chapter XV - The Arrival of the Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions]
Appendix 5 - The story of Vakkhali < [Chapter XXXIX - The Ten Powers of the Buddha according to the Abhidharma]
List of Mahabharata people and places (by Laxman Burdak)
Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara (Study) (by Debabrata Barai)
Part 8.5 - Region of Dakṣiṇāpatha (southern part) < [Chapter 5 - Analyasis and Interpretations of the Kāvyamīmāṃsā]
Appendix 2 - Identification of Geographical names mentioned in the Kāvyamīmāṃsā
Puranic encyclopaedia (by Vettam Mani)
List of Mahabharata tribes (by Laxman Burdak)