Suvadana, Suvadanā: 8 definitions

Introduction:

Suvadana means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit. 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

Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstra

Suvadanā (सुवदना) refers to a type of syllabic metre (vṛtta), according to the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 16. In this metre, the first four, the sixth, the seventh, the fourteenth, the fifteenth, the sixteenth and the twentieth syllables of a foot (pāda) are heavy (guru), while the rest of the syllables are light (laghu).

⎼⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⎼¦¦⎼⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⎼¦¦
⎼⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⎼¦¦⎼⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⏑⏑¦⏑⎼⎼¦⎼⏑⏑¦⏑⎼¦¦

Suvadanā falls in the Kṛti class of chandas (rhythm-type), which implies that verses constructed with this metre have four pādas (‘foot’ or ‘quarter-verse’) containing twenty syllables each.

Natyashastra book cover
context information

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).

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Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)

Source: Shodhganga: a concise history of Sanskrit Chanda literature

1) Suvadanā (सुवदना) refers to one of the 135 metres (chandas) mentioned by Nañjuṇḍa (1794-1868 C.E.) in his Vṛttaratnāvalī. Nañjuṇḍa was a poet of both Kannada and Sanskrit literature flourished in the court of the famous Kṛṣṇarāja Woḍeyar of Mysore. He introduces the names of these metres (e.g., Suvadanā) in 20 verses.

2) Suvadanā (सुवदना) means a lady with a beautiful face. Vāsudeva (18th century) has used this metre in right place where he describes the happiness of the Gandharva namely Huhū, (who got salvation by Lord Viṣṇu) by seeing his previous physical body and wives in front of him. The happiness of the Gandharva and his wives by seeing each other has been described to justify the name of the metre.

3) Suvadanā (सुवदना) refers to one of the seventy-two sama-varṇavṛtta (regular syllabo-quantitative verse) mentioned in the 334th chapter of the Agnipurāṇa. The Agnipurāṇa deals with various subjects viz. literature, poetics, grammar, architecture in its 383 chapters and deals with the entire science of prosody (e.g., the suvadanā metre) in 8 chapters (328-335) in 101 verses in total.

Chandas book cover
context information

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.

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In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Lokottaravāda

Suvadana (सुवदन) is the name of a Buddha under whom Śākyamuni (or Gautama, ‘the historical Buddha’) acquired merit along the first through nine bhūmis, according to the Mahāvastu. There are in total ten bhūmis representing the ten stages of the Bodhisattva’s path towards enlightenment.

Suvadana is but one among the 500 Buddhas enumerated in the Mahāvastu during a conversation between Mahākātyāyana and Mahākāśyapa, both principle disciples of Gautama Buddha. The Mahāvastu is an important text of the Lokottaravāda school of buddhism, dating from the 2nd century BCE.

Mahayana book cover
context information

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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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

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

Suvadana (सुवदन).—name of a former Buddha: Mahāvastu i.138.7.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Suvadana (सुवदन).—adj., f. , beautiful, [Ṛtusaṃhāra] 6, 20.

Suvadana is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms su and vadana (वदन).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Suvadana (सुवदन).—[adjective] handsome-faced; [feminine] ā a beautiful woman, [Name] of a metre.

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

1) Suvadana (सुवदन):—[=su-vadana] [from su > su-yaj] mf(ā)n. having a handsome or beautiful face, [Kālidāsa; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]

2) [v.s. ...] m. a kind of plant (= sumukha), [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

3) Suvadanā (सुवदना):—[=su-vadanā] [from su-vadana > su > su-yaj] f. a beaut° woman, [Ṛtusaṃhāra]

4) [v.s. ...] a kind of metre, [Chandomañjarī]

5) [v.s. ...] Name of a woman, [Veṇīs.]

[Sanskrit to German]

Suvadana in German

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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