Bidpai

English

Etymology

From Sanskrit [Term?], possibly a corruption of विद्यापति (vidyāpati, “Vidyapati”, literally “knowledge-lord”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪdpaɪ/

Proper noun

Bidpai

1. (India) A wise philosopher in traditional fables.
   • 1938, Ollie Depew, Children's Literature by Grades and Types, page 31:

     Another name made to stand sponsor for fables was Bidpai, said to have been an Oriental philosopher.

   • 1999, Rāya Kr̥shṇadāsa (Edward B Eastwick), Anwar-e-Suhaili: Iyar-i-Danish, page 56:

     Whereupon Bidpai said, 'There is no coin more precious than true friendship: When two hearts united giving each other's inclinations precedence over their own, they are able to face any odds and repulse any foe.'

   • 2010, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Classical Arabic Stories: An Anthology, →ISBN, page 22:

     Kalila and Dimna is based on the answers allegedly given to Dabshalim, a king of India, by his vizier, a Brahman philosopher called Bidpai, in the form of fables in which animals act and speak and furnish subtle allusions to human life and experience.

   • 2013, Pierre Joris, Habib Tengour, Poems for the Millennium, Volume Four, →ISBN:

     And Bidpai said: the thieves have stormed across the harbor mole, they've broken the ship's mast and plundered its precious cargo, the captain is still searching through the alleys for his old telescope.

Translations

A wise philosopher in traditional fables

• Arabic: بيدبا