Vidyadhara

Vidyadhara(s) (Sanskrit Vidyādhara, meaning "wisdom-holders") are a group of supernatural beings in Indian religions who possess magical powers. In Hinduism, they also attend Shiva, who lives in the Himalayas. They are considered Upadevas, or demi-gods.. In Jainism, Vidyadhara is described as Vansha (Lineage for Vidyadhar Dynasty),

Iconography

Sondani relief

A buff sandstone doorframe fragment from Sondani, near Mandsaur, now in the National Museum, New Delhi, depicts a large flying celestial couple beside a smaller standing couple in an architectural niche. The museum record identifies the sculpture as Flying celestial and gives its accession number as 51.94.

Prithvi K. Agrawala described the same object as "a flying Gandharva couple and a standing Mithuna". The more general identification as a flying celestial or Vidyadhara-type figure is also possible, since celestial beings such as Vidyadharas, Gandharvas and Yakshas often overlap in Indian religious art.

The fragment has also been compared with Jain celestial and guardian imagery. Its architectural context as a doorframe may suggest an auspicious or protective threshold function, and Jain tradition includes yakshas and yakshis as subsidiary deities associated with Tirthankaras. The apparent nudity of the smaller standing pair may also recall the Digambara Jain visual language of the sky-clad body. However, because the fragment does not preserve a Tirthankara, inscription, or specific yaksha-yakshi attributes, a Jain identification remains only a possibility rather than a secure attribution.

In Hinduism

In Hindu epics

In the Hindu epics, Vidyādharas are described as essentially spirits of the air. They are described as doing different activities in the epics like gazing at human prowess with astonishment, strewing flowers watching a combat, rejoicing with music and laughter, crowned with wreaths and fleeing with their wives from danger. They possess great magical powers like the ability to diminish their size. They are endowed with epithets describing them as "doers of good and devoted to joy". They also live in Gandhamandhana mountain and other Himalayan mountains with Kinnaras. They are also described residing on Mount Krauncha, on Citrakuta where Rama saw Vidyadhara women playing, in the hills of Malabar and in the Khandava forest. They are also seen in Kubera's court, headed by their leader Chakradharman and in Indra's palace under Vipracitti. A third leader of the Vidyadharas is described to the wise Jambavan. In the epic Mahabharata, Vidyadharas are described as following Indra with other semi-divine beings to the serpent-sacrifice of Janamejaya. In the epics, the women of the Vidyadharas, called Vidyadharis are described to possess great beauty, and were victims of kidnapping by demons like Ravana. In the Ramayana, Sundarkanda Verses 1.22 to 1.26 describe the plight of Vidyadharas and their women following the pressure exerted on Mount Mahendra by Hanuman while taking his position in his attempt to leapcross the ocean.

In Puranas and other texts

In Agni Purana, they are described as wearing garlands in the sky and mentioned with other semi-divine beings like Yakshas and Gandharvas.

In the Bhagavata Purana, Citraketu is described as the king of Vidyadharas. It also tells about a cursed Vidyadhara called Sudarshana. In various references in the Purana, they are coupled with other semi-divine beings, who pray to the god Vishnu for help or enumerated among the many creations of God. The Vidyadhras with siddhas are said to have milked Mother Earth (Prithvi), who had assumed the form of a cow, by using the sage Kapila as the calf and collected different yogic mystic powers (siddhis) and the art of flying as milk in the pot of the sky.

Gunadhya is said to have composed seven massive stories about Vidyadharas, then to have destroyed the first six stories when the king rejected them, retaining only the seventh story — of Naravahanadatta — which became the Brihatkatha written in Paishachi language. This work is not extant, but three adaptations exist in Sanskrit: Brhatkathamanjari by Kshemendra, Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, and Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha by Budhasvamin. The Kathasaritsagara presents some stories about Vidyadharas like Devadatta (a Brahmin boy who acquired Vidyadhara-hood), Jimutavahana, Muktaphalaketu and Naravahanadatta (who became an emperor of the Vidyadharas).

In Jainism

Jain narrative texts describe Vidyadharas as human or semi-divine lineages who possess Vidyas, or special sciences and powers. In Jain versions of the Ramayana, the Vanaras and Rakshasas are not treated as literal monkeys and demons. They are explained as branches of the larger Vidyadhara dynasty, whose members possess Vidyas(powers) such as flying and other superhuman abilities.

Jain genealogies also preserve long lines of Vidyadhara kings after Nami and Vinami. The following table lists selected figures who have notable roles in Jain narrative literature.

Vidyas and powers

The Sanskrit word vidya generally means knowledge, learning, or science. In Jain narrative literature, however, the vidyas of Vidyadharas are special sciences, spells, or powers that allow their possessors to perform extraordinary acts. Jain accounts describe Vidyadharas as people who may possess one or more such vidyas, giving them superhuman abilities such as flight.

K. R. Chandra's study of the Jain Paumacariya lists several named vidyas and describes their effects in Jain Ramayana narratives. These include sky-going powers, form-changing powers, magical construction, invisibility, curing snake-bites, creating illusions, and supernatural battle abilities.

See also

• Rishi
• Sennin
• Weizza
• Xian
• Yaksha