King42: Created Initial Details With Sources

2026-01-22T16:15:47Z

Created Initial Details With Sources

New page

{{Short description|Race in Hindu mythology}}

The '''kimpurushas''' ({{Langx|sa|किंपुरुष|translit=Kimpuruṣa}}) are a race of beings featured in Hindu literature, described as possessing the bodies of human beings and lion heads. They are associated with, and sometimes considered the same as the [[Kinnara|kinnaras]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hudson |first=D. Dennis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMCxbOezDi4C&dq=kimpurushas+shadow&pg=PA588 |title=The Body of God: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram |date=2008-09-25 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-970902-1 |pages=589 |language=en}}</ref> though some [[Puranas]] distinguish between them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pargiter |first=F. E. (Frederick Eden) |url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924022991974 |title=The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa |date=1904 |publisher=Calcutta : Asiatic Society of Bengal |others=Cornell University Library |pages=381}}</ref> They are attendants of the god of wealth, [[Kubera]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joseph O. Gill |url=http://archive.org/details/dictionary-of-mythology-folklore-and-symbols-vols-1-3-gertrude-jobes-1962 |title=Dictionary Of Mythology, Folklore And Symbols, Vols 1 3 Gertrude Jobes 1962 |date=2021-05-17 |pages=928}}</ref>

== Literature ==

=== Bhagavata Purana ===
[[Brahma]] is described to have created the kimpurushas and the kinnaras from his own reflected image.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Purnendu Narayana Sinha |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217245 |title=A Study Of The Bhagaata Purana |date=1901 |pages=41}}</ref>

The kimpurushas, along with a number of other beings, praise the glory of the [[Narasimha]] [[avatar]] of [[Vishnu]] after he slays [[Hiranyakashipu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramakrishna Math |url=http://archive.org/details/hFtq_bhagavat-vol.-2-translated-by-swami-tapasyanand-ramakrishna-math |title=Bhagavat Vol. 2 Translated By Swami Tapasyanand Ramakrishna Math |pages=250}}</ref>

The beings sing the praises of [[Mahabali]] for his selfless deed of offering the [[Trailokya|three worlds]] to the [[Vamana]] avatar of Vishnu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramakrishna Math |url=http://archive.org/details/hFtq_bhagavat-vol.-2-translated-by-swami-tapasyanand-ramakrishna-math |title=Bhagavat Vol. 2 Translated By Swami Tapasyanand Ramakrishna Math |pages=377}}</ref>

=== Ramayana ===
[[Budha]] transforms a number of women into kimpurushis (female kimpurushas) and instructs them to make a mountain their abode and take kimpurushas for their consorts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hari Prasad Shastri |url=http://archive.org/details/The.Ramayana.of.Valmiki.by.Hari.Prasad.Shastri |title=The Ramayana of Valmiki, translated by Hari Prasad Shastri - 3 Volumes Combined - 1709 Pages, with complete Outline |pages=604 |language=English}}</ref>

=== Tirumurai ===
The poet-saint [[Appar]] references the kimpurushas as one among the eighteen [[Gana|classes]] in his [[Tirumurai|hymns]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=T.n.ramachandran |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.382686 |title=Tirumurai The Sixth St Appars Thaandaka Hymns |date=1995 |pages=507}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Kinnara|Kinnaras]]
* [[Yaksha|Yakshas]]
* [[Gandharva|Gandharvas]]

== References ==
[[Category:Legendary creatures in Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Nature spirits]]
[[Category:Types of deities]]

<references />{{Hindu deities and texts}}
[[Category:Hindu deities]]

Kimpurushas - Revision history

King42: Created Initial Details With Sources