The Sanskrit term Madanadaṃṣṭrā can be transliterated into English as Madanadamstra or Madanadamshtra, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Kavya (poetry)

Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Madanadaṃṣṭrā (मदनदंष्ट्रा) is the wife of Vīrabhuja: an ancient king from Śailpura that was devoured by a Rākṣasa according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 42. Accordingly, as Khaḍgadaṃṣṭrā said to Indīvarasena: “... in this city of Śailpura there lived a king of the name of Vīrabhuja, and this is his wife Madanadaṃṣṭrā, and this Rākṣasa came and devoured him by the help of his magic power. And he ate up his attendants, but he did not eat this Madanadaṃṣṭrā, whom alone he spared because she was beautiful, but he made her his wife”.

The story of Madanadaṃṣṭrā and Vīrabhuja was narrated by Gomukha to Naravāhanahatta in order to demonstrate that “the great must endure great pains and gain great glory, but others have little pain and little glory”.

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

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

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

Madanadaṃṣṭrā (मदनदंष्ट्रा):—[=madana-daṃṣṭrā] [from madana > mad] f. Name of a princess, [Kathāsaritsāgara]

[Sanskrit to German]

Madanadamshtra 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.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Damshtra, Madana.

Query error!

Full-text: Khadgadamshtra, Virabhuja.

Relevant text

Search found 1 books and stories containing Madanadamshtra, Madana-damshtra, Madana-daṃṣṭrā, Madana-damstra, Madanadaṃṣṭrā, Madanadamstra; (plurals include: Madanadamshtras, damshtras, daṃṣṭrās, damstras, Madanadaṃṣṭrās, Madanadamstras). 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 XLII < [Book VII - Ratnaprabhā]

show preview