In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

Puṇḍarīkamukha (पुण्डरीकमुख).—An eminent serpent King. His subjects, Puṇḍarīkamukhas, lived with him in the beautiful serpent-city surrounded on all sides by gold castles. Gandharvas and Kinnaras of both sexes lived inside the city. A Gandharva of name Lalita fell in love with a Gandharva lady named Lalitā and they lived there happily enjoying amorous sports. One day Puṇḍarīkamukha held a music concert in which Lalita was asked to sing as the leading musician. His love Lalitā was absent at the assembly and Lalita could not sing or dance in proper form that day. Karkaṭaka, a serpent chief, privately informed his King the reason for the poor display of Lalita that day. The King got angry and cursed Lalita thus: "Wicked one, you will be born as a man-eating rākṣasa. This is the penalty for thinking about your wife while singing for me."

Lalita immediately became an ugly, fierce-looking demon. Lalitā deeply mourned over this pitiable plight of her husband and followed him in the forests where he roamed about making loud roaring sounds. While they were thus wandering in the forests, they found a pretty āśrama in which there was an ascetic engaged in penance. Lalitā stood before him with tears rolling down her cheeks. When the sage opened his eyes Lalitā told him that she was the daughter of the Gandharva named Vīradhanvā and that her husband had become a demon by the curse of the serpent King Puṇḍarīkamukha. The sage advised her to observe Ekādaśī Vrata. She observed the Vrata with devotion and her husband Lalita, was freed from the curse. He became the former handsome Gandharva once again. They then went back to Gandharvaloka. (Chapter 49, Bhāga 4, Padma Purāṇa).

context information

The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Puṇḍarīkamukha (पुण्डरीकमुख).—[adjective] lotus-faced; [feminine] khī a kind of leech.

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

Puṇḍarīkamukha (पुण्डरीकमुख):—[=puṇḍarīka-mukha] [from puṇḍarīka] mf(ī)n. l°-faced, [Mālatīmādhava]

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: Mukha, Pundarika.

Full-text: Pundarikamukhi, Viradhanva, Nirasta.

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