Simhaladvipa, Simhala-dvipa, Siṃhaladvīpa: 7 definitions
Introduction:
Simhaladvipa 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
Kavya (poetry)
Source: Wisdom Library: KathāsaritsāgaraSiṃhaladvīpa (सिंहलद्वीप) or simply Siṃhala is the name of an island (dvīpa) according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 56. Accordingly, “... there he [Candrasvāmin] heard that the merchant Kanakavarman had gone from that island to an island named Karpūra. In the same way he visited in turn the islands of Karpūra, Suvarṇa and Siṃhala with merchants, hut he did not find the merchant whom he was in search of”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Siṃhaladvīpa, 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
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Tibetan Buddhist Teachers, Deities and other Spiritual beingsSiṃhaladvīpa (सिंहलद्वीप) is the name of a sacred region associated with Vajrīputra—one of the Sixteen Arhats (known in Tibetan as gnas brtan bcu drug) who were chosen by Buddha Shakyamuni to remain in the world and protect the Dharma until the arrival of the future Buddha Maitreya. They vowed to maintain the Dharma for as long as beings could benefit from it. These legendary Arhats [e.g., Vajraputra in Siṃhaladvīpa] were revered in countries such as China, Japan, India and Tibet—a tradition which continues up until this day, for example in Zen Buddhism and Tibetan art.
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: TrisastisalakapurusacaritraSiṃhaladvīpa (सिंहलद्वीप) is the name of an ancient province, according to chapter 6.2 [aranātha-caritra] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra: an ancient Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three illustrious persons in Jainism.
Accordingly, as Sāgaradatta said to Kumbha:—“[...]. One day Vīrabhadra went in his wandering to the city Ratnapura, ruled over by King Ratnākara, in Siṃhaladvīpa. He sat down in the shop of Sheth Śaṅkha, who had a wealth of virtues fair as a conch, and was asked, ‘Where are you from, sir?’ Vīrabhadra replied, ‘I left my own home in Tāmralipti in anger and came here in the course of wandering, father.’ [...]”.
Source: academia.edu: Tessitori Collection ISiṃhaladvīpa (सिंहलद्वीप) is the name of an ancient kingdom, 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, was a beautiful prince, son of Siṃhalasiṃha on Siṃhaladvīpa. Once, when he was in a park, Dhanavatī, the daughter of the city leading businessman was carried away by a mad elephant. He rescued her and was married to her. [...]”.
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 Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishsiṃhaladvīpa (सिंहलद्वीप).—n The island of Ceylon.
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: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English DictionarySiṃhaladvīpa (सिंहलद्वीप):—[=siṃhala-dvīpa] [from siṃhala > siṃha] m. the isl° of C°, [Buddhist literature; Kathāsaritsāgara etc.]
[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)
Partial matches: Dvipa, Simhala.
Full-text: Simhala, Simhavikrama, Shingaladvipa, Simhalasuta, Simhalasimha, Tamradvipa, Dhanavati, Priyamelakacopai, Vajriputra, Priyamelaka, Ratnakara, Sixteen arhats, Shankha.
Relevant text
Search found 15 books and stories containing Simhaladvipa, Siṃhala-dvīpa, Simhala-dvipa, Siṃhaladvīpa; (plurals include: Simhaladvipas, dvīpas, dvipas, Siṃhaladvīpas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Bhagavad-gita-mahatmya (by Shankaracharya)
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Madras (by M. Seshagiri Sastri)
Page 451 < [Volume 12 (1912)]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Appendix 2 - The location of Suvarṇabhūmi or Suvarṇadvīpa < [Chapter XVI - The Story of Śāriputra]
Bhagavad-gita Mahatmya (by N.A. Deshpande)
Shringara-manjari Katha (translation and notes) (by Kumari Kalpalata K. Munshi)
shringaramanjari-katha-antargata-visheshanama-anukramanika < [Sanskrit text]
Part 6 - A picture of medieval India according to Bhoja < [Introduction to the Shringaramanjari-katha of Shri Bhojadeva]
Section 7.3 - The third tale of Madhava < [English translation]
A Glimpse into Sinhalese Poetry < [May, 1928]