Upamanyu: 14 definitions

Introduction:

Upamanyu means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit. 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

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

[«previous next»] — Upamanyu in Purana glossary
Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

1) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—A dutiful disciple of the teacher Ayodhadhaumya. This teacher had three disciples of prominence. They were Āruṇi, Upamanyu and Veda. To know how Upamanyu was put to test by the teacher see under Ayodhadhaumya.

2) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—In the Kṛtayuga, there lived a hermit named Vyāghrapāda who had two sons. They were called Upamanyu and Dhaumya. Some learned men are of opinion that Upamanyu the son of Vyāghrapāda and Upamanyu the disciple of Ayodhadhaumya, were one and the same. Once Upamanyu visited another hermitage along with his father. He happened to drink the milk of the cow there. After that they returned to their own hermitage, Upamanyu went to his mother and asked her to make milk pudding for him. But the mother felt very sorry because there was no milk. At last she mixed flour in water and made pudding and gave it to him. Upamanyu did not accept it. His mother told him that there was no way to get milk and that men could get wealth, crops etc. only by the grace of Śiva.

2) Upamanyu who was of a wilful nature did penance with meditation and contemplation on Śiva. Finally Śiva appeared before him in the shape of Indra and told him to ask for his boon. Upamanyu boldly replied that he wanted no boon from anybody else except Śiva. Śiva made his appearance in his own form and made Upamanyu a deva (God).

2) Upamanyu said all these things when he talked with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. (Mahābhārata Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 14).

2) In the Book "Our hermits," written by Rāmasvāmi Śāstrī in Tamil, it is mentioned that Upamanyu had written a book "Śiva bhaktavilāsa" in which biographies of devotees of Śiva of great attainments are given.

3) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa we come across another Upamanyu as the son of a hermit named Sutapas. Upamanyu reached the hermitage of Kaśyapa, with the idea of marrying Sumati, the daughter of Kaśyapa and the elder sister of Garuḍa. Nobody liked the idea of giving Sumati in marriage to that old man. The hermit got angry at this and cursed Kaśyapa that if he gave his daughter in marriage to any Brāhmaṇa his head would break into a hundred pieces. (Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Chapter 18).

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

Upamanyu (उपमन्यु) is the name of an ancient Sage (Muni), according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.39 (“The gods arrive at Kailāsa”).—Accordingly: “[...] Lord Śiva thus requested by Viṣṇu, and being himself eager to follow worldly conventions performed the same duly. Authorised by Him, I performed all the rites conducive to prosperity, assisted by the sages. The sages [e.g., Upamanyu, ...], and other sages came to Śiva. Urged by me they performed the sacred rites duly. All of them who had mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas performed the safety rites for Śiva and tied the auspicious thread round his wrist. [...]”.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—A Śrutarṣi and a madhyamādhvaryu; son of Vasu; after him came the group of Aupamanyus.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 33. 3 & 15; III. 8. 98; Vāyu-purāṇa 70. 89.
Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and places

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

Source: Shodhganga: The saurapurana - a critical study

Upamanyu (उपमन्यु) is the elder brother of the sage Dhaumya, according to the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.

The story of Upamanyu is related in the thirty sixth chapter of the Saurapurāṇa:—

“Once Upamanyu, the elder brother of the sage Dhaumya, tasted sweet milk at the house of his uncle. Returning to his mother’s house he requested his mother to give milk more tasteful than the one he had tasted in his uncle’s house. Unable to give him what he desired, his poor mother gave him artificial milk prepared from flour. When he could not be satisfied with that milk, her mother explained that such milk is rare on the part of the poor, living in forest but can be achieved by the grace of Lord Śiva. The boy promised to bring the ocean of milk near his mother by winning Śiva’s favour.

Upamanyu went to the Himalayas and practised austere penance invoking Śiva. Śiva appeared before him in the form of Indra and asked him to choose a boon. But Upamanyu didn’t desire a boon from the deity other than Śiva. He could not be shaken from his firm resolve to obtain favour from Śiva. Indra spoke ill of Śiva and wanted to taste his devotion. Upamanyu wanted to get rid of Indra. Thus Śiva was pleased with his steadfast devotion and appeared in his original form before Upamanyu. Śiva blessed him by giving him ocean of milk and making him a leader of his Gaṇas (Gāṇamtya)”.

Note: This story is described in detail in the Mahābhārata, Anuśāsanaparva 14.112-370 and Liṅgapurāṇa 1.170.3-64; Śivapurāṇa III.32. In Mahābhārata, Upamanyu is stated to be the son of sage Vyaāhrapāda and in Liṅgapurāṇa he is said to be son of Dhaumya.

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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Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar)

Source: Wikisource: A dictionary of Sanskrit grammar

1) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—The famous commentator on the grammatical verses attributed to Nandikeśvara which are known by the name नन्दिकेश्वरकारिका (nandikeśvarakārikā) and which form a kind of a commentary on the sūtras of Maheśvara;

2) Upamanyu.—A comparatively modern grammarian possibly belonging to the nineteenth century who is also named Upamanyu and who has written a commentory on the famous Kāśikāvṛtti by Jayāditya and Vāmana. Some believe that Upamanyu was an ancient sage who wrote a nirukta or etymological work and whose pupil came to be known as औपमन्यव (aupamanyava).

Vyakarana book cover
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Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) refers to Sanskrit grammar and represents one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas. Vyakarana concerns itself with the rules of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic analysis in order to establish the correct context of words and sentences.

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General definition (in Hinduism)

Source: Shodhganga: The significance of the mūla-beras

Upamanyu is the son of Vyāghrapāda (previously known as Madyanthinar), whose story is associated with the sthala-purāṇa of the Thillai Nataraja Temple in Cidambaram (Chidambaram) which is one of the Pañcasabhā or “five halls where Śiva is said to have danced”.—According to legends, the origin of the sthala is described thus: [...] Later, Vyāghrapāda (Madyanthinar) married the sister of Sage Vasiṣṭha according to his father’s desire and they lived happily, worshipping the Tirumūlanāda (Śiva in liṅga form). In course of time, a male child was born to Vyāghrapāda and the child was named Upamanyu. The child was brought up in sage Vasiṣṭha’s place. He was nourished with Kāmadhenu’s milk. When they came back from the sage’s place to Vyāghrapuram, the lord created the sea of milk for Vyāghrapāda, as the child cried for milk. This made the child happy. The child grew and became well versed in the four Vedas and the six Śāstras.

In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra

Upamanyu (उपमन्यु) is the chaplain of king Daśaratha from a former birth, according to the Jain Ramayana and chapter 7.4 [Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa] 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 Muni Satyabhūti said to king Daśaratha (son of king Anaraṇya): “[...] Then a god, the soul of your chaplain in a former birth, named Upamanyu, came from Sahasrāra and said [to king Ratnamālin]: ‘Listen! Noble sir! Do not commit such a great crime. You were a king, Bhūrinandana, in a former birth. Then you from discernment promised to abstain from meat and you were said by the chaplain Upamanyu to have broken the vow. [...]’”.

General definition book cover
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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.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—a. Ved.

1) Understanding, intelligent.

2) Zealous, striving after.

3) (m.) Name of the pupil of Āyoda-dhaumya, who aided Śiva in the propagation of his doctrine and received the ocean of milk from him.

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

Upamanyu (उपमन्यु).—[adjective] eager, zealous; [masculine] a man’s name.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Aufrecht Catalogus Catalogorum

1) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—on dharma. Quoted by Vijñāneśvara Oxf. 356^a.

2) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु):—Ardhanārīśvarāṣṭaka. Burnell. 198^b. Tattvavimarśinī [tantric] Oudh. Ix, 22. Śivastotra. Burnell. 202^b. Poona. 597. Printed in Bṛhastotratnākara p. 15. Śivāṣṭaka. Burnell. 198^a.

3) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु):—Tattvavimarśinī Kāśikāṭikā [grammatical] K. 82. Nandikeśvarakārikāvivaraṇa, a
—[commentary] on the first fourteen sūtra of Pāṇini. Oudh. Xix, 54. Lahore. 6.

4) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु):—Śivāṣṭaka. read 198^b.

5) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु):—Kāśikāstavaṭīkā.

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

1) Upamanyu (उपमन्यु):—[=upa-manyu] mfn. striving after, zealous ([Boehtlingk & Roth’s Sanskrit-Woerterbuch]), [Ṛg-veda i, 102, 9]

2) [v.s. ...] (knowing, understanding, intelligent, [Sāyaṇa])

3) [v.s. ...] m. Name of a Ṛṣi (pupil of Āyoda-dhaumya, who aided Śiva in the propagation of his doctrine and received the ocean of milk from him), [Mahābhārata; Liṅga-purāṇa; Kathāsaritsāgara] etc.

4) [v.s. ...] m. [plural] (avas) the descendants of the above, [Āśvalāyana-śrauta-sūtra] (cf. aupamanyava.)

[Sanskrit to German]

Upamanyu 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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