About
Anupama — Celestial Female Elephant, Consort of Kumuda
Anupama · Anupamaa
Anupama is the fourth of the eight female celestial elephants who are the consorts and siblings of the Ashtadiggajas. She is a daughter of Iravati, who is the daughter of Bhadramada, one of the ten daughters of Krodhavarsha, a wife of Kashyapa the great progenitor sage. Anupama is paired with Kumuda, the fourth of the eight male Ashtadiggajas and guardian of the south-western direction. She is named in enumerations of the dik-gaja consorts in the Matanga-Lila. The primary sources record no individual narrative episodes for Anupama beyond her identity, lineage, and pairing.
✦ The Name
Anupama is a compound of the Sanskrit prefix anu, meaning without, and upama, meaning comparison or equal, yielding the sense of she who is without compare or the incomparable one. It is a name of high praise, designating the bearer as peerless in beauty or excellence. The name is used more broadly in Sanskrit literature as a term of admiration for women of outstanding quality, and its application to this celestial female elephant identifies her as the most beautiful or excellent of her kind.
✦ Lineage
- Paternal great-grandfather: Kashyapa — the foremost progenitor sage
- Paternal great-grandmother: Krodhavarsha — daughter of Daksha, wife of Kashyapa
- Grandmother: Bhadramada — one of the ten daughters of Krodhavarsha
- Mother: Iravati — daughter of Bhadramada; mother of all sixteen dik-gaja elephants
- Siblings (female): Abhramu, Kapila, Pingala, Tamrakarni, Shubhradanti, Angana, and Anjanavati
- Siblings (male): Airavata, Pundarika, Vamana, Kumuda, Anjana, Pushpadanta, Sarvabhauma, and Supratika
- Consort: Kumuda — the fourth of the eight male Ashtadiggajas, guardian of the south-western direction
✦ References
- Primary Sources
- Matanga-Lila (attributed to Nilakantha): Names Anupama as the fourth of the eight female dik-gaja elephants and records her pairing with Kumuda.
- Secondary Sources
- Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopaedia. Motilal Banarsidass, 1975: Brief reference to Anupama in the context of the dik-gaja consort enumerations.