Vikatavadana, Vikaṭavadana: 3 definitions

Introduction:

Vikatavadana means something in 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

Kavya (poetry)

[«previous next»] — Vikatavadana in Kavya glossary
Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Vikaṭavadana (विकटवदन) is the name of a Gaṇa of Ambikā, who incarnated as Pañcaphuṭṭika, due to a curse by Kapilajaṭa, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 52. Accordingly as Ambikā said to Jīvadatta in bodily form: “... you four [eg., Vikaṭavadana] once went to the sand of the Ganges to amuse yourselves, and saw there a hermit’s daughter bathing. She was called Cāpalekhā, the daughter of Kapilajaṭa. And she was solicited by all of you, distracted with love”.

The story of Vikaṭavadana was told by Gomukha in order to demonstrate that “divine beings fall by virtue of a curse, and, owing to the consequences of their own wickedness, are incarnate in the world of men, and after reaping the fruit appropriate to their bad conduct they again go to their own home on account of previously acquired merit”.

The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Vikaṭavadana, 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 book cover
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’.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Vikatavadana in Sanskrit glossary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vikaṭavadana (विकटवदन):—[=vi-kaṭa-vadana] [from vi-kaṭa] 2. vi-kaṭa-vadana m. ‘hideous-faced’, Name of an attendant of Durgā, [Kathāsaritsāgara]

[Sanskrit to German]

Vikatavadana 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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