Sucandra, Sucandrā: 11 definitions

Introduction:

Sucandra means something in Buddhism, Pali, 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.

Alternative spellings of this word include Sucandra.

In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

[«previous next»] — Sucandra in Purana glossary

1) Sucandra (सुचन्द्र).—A King of Ikṣvāku dynasty. A son named Viśālanīti was born to King Ikṣvāku by his wife Alambuṣā. The city Viśālanagara was founded by this Viśālanīti. A son named Hemacandra was born to Viśāla. Sucandra was the son of Hemacandra. Dhūmrāśva was the son of Sucandra. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Sarga 47).

2) Sucandra (सुचन्द्र).—An asura. This asura was the son of Siṃhikā. (Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 66, Verse 46).

3) Sucandra (सुचन्द्र).—A Gandharva. (Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 66, Verse 46). This Gandharva was the son of Prajāpati Kaśyapa, by his wife Pradhā. This Gandharva participated in the birth celebration of Arjuna. (Mahābhārata Ādi Parva, Chapter 122, Verse 58).

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

1a) Sucandra (सुचन्द्र).—Went to Syamantapañcaka for the solar eclipse;1 an Andhaka.2

  • 1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa X. 82. 6.
  • 2) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 71. 143.

1b) A son of Krodhā and a Devagandharva; father of Dhūmrāśva.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 6. 39; Vāyu-purāṇa 68. 39; 86. 18.

1c) A son of Devajanī: an Yakṣa.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 7. 129.

1d) Of the solar race: an ally of Kārtavīrya: an able soldier: Attacking him, Paraśurāma remembered Bhadrakālī and vanquished him: father of Puṣkarākṣa.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 39. 18, 50; 40. 1.

1e) A son of king Hemacandra.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 61. 13.

1f) A son of Kṛṣṇa given to the sonless Karūṣa in adoption.*

  • * Matsya-purāṇa 46. 25.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

Sucandra (सुचन्द्र) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. I.59.31, I.65) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Sucandra) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

Sucandra is also mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. I.59.46, I.65) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places.

Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and places
Purana book cover
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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.

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In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Sucandra (सुचन्द्र, “beautiful moon”) refers to a type of gemstone described in the “the second Avalokita-sūtra” of the Mahāvastu. Accordingly, when the Buddha (as a Bodhisattva) visited the bodhi-tree, several hunderd thousands of devas, in their place in the sky, adorned the Bodhisattva with several celestial substances. Then some of them envisioned the bodhi-tree as sparkling with sucandra gems.

The stories found in this part of the Mahāvastu correspond to the stories from the avidūre-nidāna section of the Nidāna-kathā. The Mahāvastu is an important text of the Lokottaravāda school of buddhism, dating from the 2nd century BCE.

Source: Wisdom Library: Lokottaravāda

Sucandra (सुचन्द्र) is the name of a householder included in the list of spiritual friends of Sudhana: the son of a merchant from Sukhākara who received a prophecy from Mañjuśrī, according to the Avataṃsaka-sūtra. Accordingly, Sudhana devoted himself to 110 spiritual friends in a great building adorned with the ornaments of Vairocana. These spiritual friends included monks, bodhisattvas, ṛṣis, brāhmaṇas, girls, kings, youths, goddesses, householders (e.g., Sucandra), etc. From these beings, Sudhana took the vows without the need for any formal basis.

Source: Wisdom Library: Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana book cover
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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.

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Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

1) Sucandra (सुचन्द्र) refers to one of the “Seven Dharma kings” (Tibetan: chos rgyal bdun) as well as the “Thirty-two kings of Shambhala”, according to the Tibetan oral recounting and written texts such as the Kalachakra Tantra (kālacakratantra), dealing with the Buddhist conception of the end of the world and time.—The Tibetan mythic land (the kingdom of Shambhala) is a parallel world invisible and inaccessible to common people which is closely related to the teaching about the Wheel of Time (dus 'khor). The seven Dharmarajas [e.g., Sucandra] and twenty-five Kulikas are the traditional rulers of Shambhala, passing on the reign from father to son.

Sucandra is also known as Dharmaraja Suchandra, Candrabhadra (wrong spelling) and in Tibetan as (1) Dawa Zangpo (Sangpo) [zla ba bzang po] (2) Chogyal Dawazang [chos rgyal zla ba bzang] and in Mongolian as: Khaan Davaasanbo. His traditional reign is considered to be from 879 to 876 BC. Sucandra is further considered to be an emanation of Vajrapāṇi.

2) Sucandrā (सुचन्द्रा) is the name of Vidyārājñī (i.e., “wisdom queen”) 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 Sucandrā).

Source: Wisdom Library: Tibetan Buddhist Teachers, Deities and other Spiritual beings
Tibetan Buddhism book cover
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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.

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India history and geography

Suchandra (“moon”) or Chandra Sishta or Chandra or Vannavamsam is one of the exogamous septs (divisions) among the Komatis (a trading caste of the Madras Presidency). The Komatis are said to have originally lived, and still live in large numbers on the banks of the Godavari river. One of the local names thereof is Gomati or Gomti, and the Sanskrit Gomati would, in Telugu, become corrupted into Komati. The sub-divisions are split up into septs (viz., Suchandra), which are of a strictly exogamous character.

Source: Project Gutenberg: Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 1
India history book cover
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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.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Sucandra (सुचन्द्र).—(1) m. or nt., a kind of gem: Mahāvastu ii.310.13; (2) name of a Bodhisattva: Mahāvyutpatti 731 bis; (3) name of a king: (Ārya-)Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa 625.21; (4) name of a householder in Bharukaccha: Gaṇḍavyūha 452.26; (5) name of a kalpa: Gaṇḍavyūha 447.6; (6) name of a samādhi: Mahāvyutpatti 508; Śatasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā 1415.8.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

1) Sucandra (सुचन्द्र):—[=su-candra] [from su > su-cakra] m. a [particular] Samādhi, [Buddhist literature]

2) [v.s. ...] Name of a Deva-gandharva, [Mahābhārata]

3) [v.s. ...] of a son of Siṃhikā, [ib.]

4) [v.s. ...] of a son of Hema-candra and father of Dhūmrāśva, [Rāmāyaṇa; Viṣṇu-purāṇa]

5) [v.s. ...] of various kings, [Rāmāyaṇa; Kālacakra]

6) [v.s. ...] of a Bodhi-sattva, [Buddhist literature]

7) [v.s. ...] of a Ficus Indica, [Rāmāyaṇa]

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

[Sanskrit to German]

Sucandra in German

Sucandra (सुचन्द्र) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Sucaṃda.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)
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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