In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

1) Tejasvatī (तेजस्वती) is the name of a daughter of a rich merchant (named Guṇavartman) who was presented to king Ādityasena as a gift, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 18. Their story was told by Udayana (king of Vatsa) in order to demonstratrate to his ministers that a brave man by himself without any support obtains prosperity.

2) Tejasvatī (तेजस्वती) is the daughter of king Vikramasena: an ancient king from Ujjayinī according to the “story of Tejasvatī ” as mentioned in the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 30. Accordingly, as Somaprabhā said to Kaliṅgasenā: “once on a time there lived in Ujjayinī a king named Vikramasena, and he had a daughter named Tejasvatī, matchless in beauty. And she disapproved of every king who sued for her hand. But one day, while she was on the roof of her palace, she saw a man, and, as fate would have it, she felt a desire to meet him as he was very handsome, and she sent her confidante to him to communicate to him her desire”.

The story of Tejasvatī and Vikramasena was narrated by Somaprabhā to Kaliṅgasenā in order to demonstrate that “fate watches to ensure the objects of auspicious persons, as good servants of their masters, when the latter are not on the look-out”.

3) Tejasvatī (तेजस्वती) is a daughter of Dhaneśa (Kubera) and one of the wifes of Sunītha, son of the Asura Maya and Līlāvatī, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 45. Accordingly, as Līlāvatī said to Sunītha: “... my son, you know that these wives of yours are the daughters of mighty ones, Tejasvatī being the daughter of the God of Wealth, Maṅgalāvatī of Tumburu; and as for Kīrtimatī, that wife that you married in your existence as Candraprabha, her you know to be the daughter of the Vasu Prabhāva, so you must look upon these three with an equal eye, my son”.

The story of Tejasvatī was narrated by the Vidyādhara king Vajraprabha to prince Naravāhanadatta in order to relate how “Sūryaprabha, being a man, obtain of old time the sovereignty over the Vidyādharas”.

The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Tejasvatī, 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.

context information

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 Encyclopedia

1) Tejasvatī (तेजस्वती).—A heroine in a story in Kathāsaritsāgara intended to show that all happenings either good or bad are but the workings of fate.

Tejasvatī was the daughter of king Vikramasena of Ujjayinī and was very beautiful. She never liked any male and so never wished to marry. One day while she was sitting upstairs in her palace, she happened to see a young man passing that way and surprisingly was attracted by him. She sent her companion to him and informed him of her liking for him. He did not like the idea first, but the clever persuasions of the maid made him agree to a clandestine meeting with the princess at a temple at night that day. Tejasvatī anxiously waited for the night to come.

About that time a Rajput prince greatly grieved at the loss of his father and subsequent loss of his kingdom started on a tour to see an old friend of his father. That night, by sheer accident, he came and rested in the same temple where the rendezvous of the princess was fixed. When night fell the princess came to the temple and without the least suspicion went and embraced the solitary figure sitting in the temple. The prince did not show any surprise and responded fully. The princess then understood all details of her lover and took him to his father the next morning. Somadatta (that was the prince’s name) then told Vikramasena all his mishaps and Vikramasena got back all the lost kingdom of Somadatta and also gave his daughter in marriage to him. (Taraṅga 4, Madana Mañcukālambaka, Kathāsaritsāgara).

2) Tejasvatī (तेजस्वती).—The queen of Ādityasena a king of Ujjayinī.

context information

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.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

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

1) Tejasvatī (तेजस्वती):—[=tejas-vatī] [from tejas-vat > tejas > teja] f. (tī) Name of a princess, [Kathāsaritsāgara xviii]

2) [v.s. ...] cf. jo-v.

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.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Tejas, Vati.

Full-text: Gunavarman, Tejasvant, Vikramasena, Gunavartman, Jihva, Sthuladatta, Devajnanin, Mangalavati, Somadatta, Harisharman.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Tejasvati, Tejas-vati, Tejas-vatī, Tejasvatī; (plurals include: Tejasvatis, vatis, vatīs, Tejasvatīs). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story) (by Somadeva)

Chapter XXX < [Book VI - Madanamañcukā]

Chapter XVIII < [Book III - Lāvānaka]

Chapter XLV < [Book VIII - Sūryaprabha]

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