Vicitrakatha, Vicitrakathā: 5 definitions
Introduction:
Vicitrakatha means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali. 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 Vichitrakatha.
In Hinduism
Kavya (poetry)
Source: Wisdom Library: KathāsaritsāgaraVicitrakatha (विचित्रकथ) is one of the ten ministers of Mṛgāṅkadatta: the son of king Amaradatta and Surataprabhā from Ayodhyā, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 69. Accordingly: “... and that young prince had ten ministers of his own: [Vicitrakatha... and others]... They were all of good birth, young, brave and wise, and devoted to their master’s interests. And Mṛgāṅkadatta led a happy life with them in his father’s house, but he did not obtain a suitable wife”.
The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Vicitrakatha, 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’.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English DictionaryVicitrakatha (विचित्रकथ):—[=vi-citra-katha] [from vi-citra] m. ‘one whose stories are amusing’, Name of a man, [Kathāsaritsāgara]
[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.
Pali-English dictionary
[Pali to Burmese]
Source: Sutta: Tipiṭaka Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary (တိပိဋက-ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန်)vicitrakathā—
(Burmese text): ဆန်းကြယ်သော (တရား)စကား။
(Auto-Translation): Wonderful (holy) words.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Vicitra, Katha, Katta, Kata.
Full-text: Bhadraksha, Pavitradhara, Trigarta, Pushkaraksha, Saudamini.
Relevant text
Search found 2 books and stories containing Vicitrakatha, Vicitra-katha, Vicitrā-kathā, Vicitrakathā; (plurals include: Vicitrakathas, kathas, kathās, Vicitrakathās). 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)
Note on the effect of the moonlight < [Notes]
Chapter C < [Book XII - Śaśāṅkavatī]
Chapter CII < [Book XII - Śaśāṅkavatī]
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Madras (by M. Seshagiri Sastri)
Page 155 < [Volume 4, Part 1 (1908)]