Vamshastha, Vaṃśasthā, Vaṃśastha: 7 definitions
Vamshastha 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.
The Sanskrit terms Vaṃśasthā and Vaṃśastha can be transliterated into English as Vamsastha or Vamshastha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)Source: Wisdom Library: Nāṭya-śāstra
Vaṃśasthā (वंशस्था) refers to a type of syllabic metre (vṛtta), according to the Nāṭyaśāstra chapter 16. In this metre, the second, the fourth, the fifth, the eighth, the tenth and the twelfth syllables of a foot (pāda) are heavy (guru), while the rest of the syllables are light (laghu).
Vaṃśasthā falls in the Jagatī class of chandas (rhythm-type), which implies that verses constructed with this metre have four pādas (‘foot’ or ‘quarter-verse’) containing twelve syllables each.
Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (śāstra) of performing arts, (nāṭya, e.g., theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing dramatic plays (nataka) and poetic works (kavya).
Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres)Source: Shodhganga: a concise history of Sanskrit Chanda literature
1) Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ) is the alternative name of a Sanskrit metre (chandas) mentioned by Hemacandra (1088-1173 C.E.) in his auto-commentary on the second chapter of the Chandonuśāsana. Vaṃśastha corresponds to Vasantamañjarī, Avabhraśā. Hemacandra gives these alternative names for the metres by other authorities (like Bharata), even though the number of gaṇas or letters do not differ.
2) Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ) refers to one of the 135 metres (chandas) mentioned by Nañjuṇḍa (1794-1868 C.E.) in his Vṛttaratnāvalī. Nañjuṇḍa was a poet of both Kannada and Sanskrit literature flourished in the court of the famous Kṛṣṇarāja Woḍeyar of Mysore. He introduces the names of these metres (e.g., Vaṃśastha) in 20 verses.
3) Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ) refers to one of the 130 varṇavṛttas (syllabo-quantitative verse) dealt with in the second chapter of the Vṛttamuktāvalī, ascribed to Durgādatta (19th century), author of eight Sanskrit work and patronised by Hindupati: an ancient king of the Bundela tribe (presently Bundelkhand of Uttar Pradesh). A Varṇavṛtta (e.g., vaṃśastha) refers to a type of classical Sanskrit metre depending on syllable count where the light-heavy patterns are fixed.
4) Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ) refers to one of the 34 varṇavṛttas (syllabo-quantitative verse) dealt with in the Vṛttamaṇimañjūṣā, whose authorship could be traced (also see the “New Catalogus Catalogorum” XXXI. p. 7).
5) Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ) refers to one of the seventy-two sama-varṇavṛtta (regular syllabo-quantitative verse) mentioned in the 334th chapter of the Agnipurāṇa. The Agnipurāṇa deals with various subjects viz. literature, poetics, grammar, architecture in its 383 chapters and deals with the entire science of prosody (e.g., the vaṃśastha metre) in 8 chapters (328-335) in 101 verses in total.Source: Journal of the University of Bombay Volume V: Apabhramsa metres (2)
Vaṃśasthā (वंशस्था) is the name of a catuṣpadi metre (as popularly employed by the Apabhraṃśa bards), as discussed in books such as the Chandonuśāsana, Kavidarpaṇa, Vṛttajātisamuccaya and Svayambhūchandas.—Vaṃśasthā has 30 mātrās in each of its four lines, divided into the groups of 4, 5, 5, [IIS], 4, 4 and [IIS] mātrās.
Chandas (छन्दस्) refers to Sanskrit prosody and represents one of the six Vedangas (auxiliary disciplines belonging to the study of the Vedas). The science of prosody (chandas-shastra) focusses on the study of the poetic meters such as the commonly known twenty-six metres mentioned by Pingalas.
Kavya (poetry)Source: Shodhganga: Bhismacaritam a critical study
Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ) is the name of a Sanskrit metre (chandas) employed in the Bhīṣmacarita (Bhishma Charitra) which is a mahākāvya (‘epic poem’) written by Hari Narayan Dikshit.—The poet has successfully used vaṃśastha metre in the poem Bhīṣmacarita like that of Māgha, Bhāravi and Kālidāsa. In this regard Madhusudan Mishra observes that vaṃśastha takes up the sensitive topics closely or distantly related with family (vaṃśa). In Suvṛttatilaka it is said that in the description of six-fold policy, the vaṃśastha is suitable. Thus in the description of King Śāntanu’s appropriate governance, our poet has appropriately made the use of the Vaṃśastha metre in verse 1.28 of the Bhīṣmacarita.
The poet has deftly used the different fourteen (14) varieties of vaṃśastha metre in union with the indravaṃśā metre as depicted in Vṛttaratnākara:—Vairāsikī, Ratākhyānakī, Indumā, Puṣṭidā, Upameyā, Saurameyī, Śīlāturā, Vāsantikā, Mandahāsā, Śiśirā, Vaidhātrī, Śaṅkhacūḍā, Ramaṇā, Kumārī.
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 dictionarySource: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary
Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ).—[neuter] [Name] of a metre.Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary
Vaṃśastha (वंशस्थ):—[=vaṃśa-stha] [from vaṃśa] n. (or f(ā). ?) a [particular] metre (= vaṃśasthavila), [Piṅgala Scholiast, i.e. halāyudha]
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)
Full-text: Upajati, Vaṁshastha, Shankhacuda, Saurameyi, Shilatura, Ramana, Upameya, Mandahasa, Induma, Vaidhatri, Shishira, Vairasiki, Kumari, Ratakhyanaki, Avabhrasha, Vasantika, Vasantamanjari, Ugragalitaka, Pushtida.
Search found 3 books and stories containing Vamshastha, Vaṃśasthā, Vaṃśastha, Vamsastha, Vamsha-stha, Vaṃśa-stha, Vamsa-stha; (plurals include: Vamshasthas, Vaṃśasthās, Vaṃśasthas, Vamsasthas, sthas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Kautilya Arthashastra (by R. Shamasastry)
Chapter 9 - Examination of the Conduct of Government Servants < [Book 2 - The duties of Government Superintendents]
Chapter 10 - The Procedure, of Forming Royal Writs < [Book 2 - The duties of Government Superintendents]
The Natyashastra (by Bharata-muni)
Bhishma Charitra (by Kartik Pandya)