->Magic links bot: Replace magic links with templates per local RfC and MediaWiki RfC

2017-06-30T16:39:22Z

Replace magic links with templates per local RfC and MediaWiki RfC

New page

'''Śivadāsa''' was the author of one of the best-known versions of stories from the [[Vetala Panchvimshati|Vetālapañćavinśati]] or "Vetāla Tales"; a series of [[Sanskrit Literature#Fairy tales and fables|nīti-śāstras]] (tales of [[political ethics]]) involving the semi-legendary Indian king [[Vikramāditya]].<ref>Published as ''The Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie'', translated and with an introduction by [[Chandra Rajan]], Penguin Classics, 2007. {{ISBN|0-14-045519-1}}</ref>

==The Author==
Nothing is known about him for certain. The name is probably a [[nom-de-plume]]. Based on what may be inferred from his writing, he was a very well-educated [[courtier]] whose audience consisted of young men in the lower nobility with plenty of leisure time and a fondness for amusing stories involving warriors and [[courtesans]]. He may also have been an orator/actor who developed his stories through performance and only later wrote them down. He is believed to have lived somewhere between the twelfth to fourteenth centuries AD.

==The Tales==
Though often attributed to [[Bhavabhuti]], the true origin of these tales is lost in antiquity.
They appear to have been part of a large corpus of [[Katha (storytelling format)|Kathā]] (narrative tales) about Vikramāditya that were first written down in [[Kashmir]] during the eleventh century. Several versions exist, the best-known being those by Śivadāsa and [[Jambhaladatta]].<ref>''Jambhaladatta’s Version of the Vetālapañcavinśati''; a critical Sanskrit text in transliteration, with an introduction, and English translation, by [[Murray Barnson Emeneau]]. New Haven, Conn. American Oriental Society, 1934.</ref>

In Śivadāsa's version, King Vikramāditya's kingdom is endangered by the machinations of a powerful [[necromancer]]. While planning what to do, he encounters a [[Vetala]] (a form of [[genie]] that inhabits and animates corpses). He asks for the Vetala's help. He is then told twenty-five stories, each of which end with a riddle he must solve to prove his wisdom and knowledge. After solving all the riddles, the genie helps him to vanquish his enemy.

The story is told in the [[Champu]] literary style, (a mixture of prose and verse), which suggests the possibility of [[Jain]] influence.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivadasa}}

[[Category:Sanskrit writers]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian writers]]

Śivadāsa - Revision history

->Magic links bot: Replace magic links with templates per local RfC and MediaWiki RfC