Hinduism: A Popular Dictionary of
Hinduism: A Popular Dictionary of
Hinduism: A Popular Dictionary of
Hinduism
A POPULAR DICTIONARY OF
Hinduism
I<.AREL WERNER
El
~~
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1994 by Routledge
Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this
reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original
may be apparent
ABBREVIATIONS
adj. adjective
AU Aitareya Upani~ad
Av. A vesta, A vestan
AV Atharva Veda
BhG Bhagavad Gitii
BP Bhiigavata PuriiQa
BS Brahma Siitras of BadarayaQa
BU BrhadaraQyaka Upani~ad
cf. compare
cu Chandogya Upani~ad
f. feminine
fr. from
Germ. Germanic
Gr. Greek
lE lndo-European
Lat. Latin
lit. literally
Lith. Lithuanian
m. masculine
Mhb Mahiibhiirata
n. neuter
Pkt. Prakrit
PI. Pali
pi. plural
RV f3.g Veda
SB Satapatha BrahmaQa
sg. singular
Skt. Sanskrit
Slav. Slavonic
sv Siima Veda
TS Taittirlya Sarilhita
vern. vernacular
vs Vajasaneyi Sarilhita
YV Yajur Veda
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
2
A NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF
THE SANSKRIT ALPHABET
Vowels:
a short like 'u' in 'luck'
a long like 'a' in 'grass'
short like 'i' in 'sit'
f long like 'ee' in 'sweet'
u short like 'u' in 'bull'
1.1 long like 'oo' in 'food'
r as a hard rolling syllable-producing vowel 'rr'
(perhaps the only living IE language which has
preserved this vowel is Czech, e.g. in 'brk'; the
new Indian pronunciation is 'ri' as in 'river' and
this has also been adopted in English pronuncia-
tion and spelling of some words, e.g. 'Sanskrit')
e long like 'ai' in 'fair'
o long like 'au' in 'cause'
a1 like 'i' in 'mine', i.e. as a diphthong
au like 'ou' in 'house', i.e. as a diphthong
Consonants:
k like 'c' in 'comma'
kh like 'k-h' in 'cook-house'
g like 'g' in 'giggle'
gh like 'g-h' in 'log-house'
n like 'ng' in 'thing'
c like 'eh' in 'chalk'
eh like 'ch-h' in 'church-house'
j like 'j' in 'jam'
jh like 'dgeh' in 'Edgehill'
n like 'gn' in Italian 'signor'
3
Note on pronunciation
4
INTRODUCTION
5
Introduction
global vision of the world and its anticipation of the goal of life:
liberation. From this universalistic vantage point all concrete
issues can be approached with a good chance of adequate solution
according to the circumstances, but it will always depend on the
right perception of the individual or on his willingness to work it
out for himself. In a way this is also true for the outsider - for a
certain type of academic, for the tourist or for the visitor on
business who gets a glimpse of the bewildering variety of the
Hindu religious scene. It is further true, no doubt, for the
Westerner in his home, who is confronted with unfamiliar
customs in the life of his immigrant neighbours. And so it is
hoped that this Dictionary may help towards an overview and
deeper understanding of Hinduism for all those who may need it
and can benefit from it.
17
Introduction
om santi!
18
a
Adam's bridge, also: Riima's bridge the name for the chain of
islets and sandbanks (setubandha) between the islands of
Riimesvaram off the southern tip of India and Mannar off the
north coast of Sri Lanka which could be crossed on foot till 1480
when a storm breached it. According to the epic Riimiiyal)a it was
built by Hanumiin's forces helping Riima to cross over to
Riival)a's kingdom in Lanka in order to recover the abducted Sltii.
The Islamic tradition maintains that after the expulsion from
paradise Adam crossed by this way to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Adi Granth (also: Granth Sahib) the sacred book of the Sikhs
installed in the Golden Temple of Amritsar (since 1604).
as the mother of men, gods and all creatures (RV 1,86, 10. AV
7,61), the protectress and guide of those who have made spiritual
vows and the queen of the eternal law (A V 7 ,6,2; VS 21 ,5). Later
she was identified with 'Mother Earth' and the 'Cosmic Cow',
but her actual appearance was never described. The only part of
her that was ever referred to was her womb, out of which the
world was born. She was the centre of one of the oldest creation
myths of the Vedas, representing the original infinite dimension
of the unmanifest before the world (her offspring) came into
being and indicating by her nature as goddess that reality in its
pre-manifest latency is not the mere precreational chaos of
philosophers (or the subatomic plasma of astrophysicists heading
for a 'big bang'), but an intelligent and infinite divine personage:
in her bringing forth the world and giving birth to beings there is
an intelligent design. Her first offspring were the Adityas, one of
them being Dak!;>a, and Aditi then became his daughter. Thus she
herself was born into the manifested world as a deity so that her
role within subsequent mythical world history is in this secondary
guise. This may be the first ever recorded indication of the
doctrine of divine incarnations.
advaita non-dual.
agni fire; one of the four elements (earth, water, air, fire, with
space or ether sometimes added as the fifth) or physical forces
constituting the material universe.
Aja (f., the unborn one) another name for Maya; ajii-sakti: the
unborn energy (another name for iidi-sakti) said in Saktic
mythology (which emulates PuriiQ.ic Trimurti) to have assumed
three forms, namely Mahasarasvatf (representing creation),
Mahiilak~mf (preservation) and Mahiikiilf (destruction).
Asoka (PI. Asoka, cca 272-32 B. C.) the third and greatest king
of the Maurya dynasty and the first emperor of India, who
converted to Buddhism but supported all religious movements.
He is famous for his rock edicts extolling charitable work,
morality and piety in life.
described in the Yoga Siitras. The eight angas are: (1) yama, i.e.
observance of ahimsii (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya
(non-stealing), brahmacarya (pure living) and aparigraha (non-
acquisitiveness); (2) niyama, i.e. practice of sauca (purity),
santo~a (contentment), tapas (austerity), sviidhyiiya (own study)
and isvarapraflidhiina (lit. 'surrender to God', often interpreted
as 'self-surrender'); (3) iisana (posture); (4) prii71iiyiima (control
of the life force, through breath-control); (5) pratyiihiira (sense
withdrawal); (6) dhiira71ii (concentration); (7) dhyiina (medi-
tation); and (8) samiidhi (unification).
iitmajniina self-knowledge.
the identity of the inner self with the divine essence of the
universe, which is the central theme of the Upani~adic teachings.
It is further the main tenet of the Advaita Vedanta school of
thought and in a modified way also of Vi~i~ta Advaita. It is,
moreover, the most widely held view among Hindus, often in a
popularized form, namely that God or the Divine dwells in the
human heart, in all creatures and in every single thing.
active also in the political field. In 1917 she was even elected to
chair the Indian National Congress which earned her temporary
internment by the British administration. She wrote several books
on Theosophical teachings which overlap in many areas with
those of Hinduism.
Bhagavad Giti (BhG, the 'Song of the Lord') one of the best
known religious works of the world, it is an insertion into the epic
of Mhb in the form of a conversation between Arjuna and Kr~Qa
which took place on the battlefield of Kuruk~etra before the start
of the great war. It popularizes the Upani~adic teachings and yoga
and its main message concerns the method of disinterested action
in fulfilling one's duties, while still pursuing the path to salvation.
It adopts a strong theistic stance and spells out for the first time
the teaching on periodic divine incarnations on earth to help
restore truth or righteousness in times of its decline. Its date is
uncertain, but it can hardly be earlier than 200 B. C. or later than
A.D. 400.
51
cintamal)i
into the divine source to be sent forth again at the beginning of the
new manifestation which starts with the birth of a new Brahma.
One day of Brahma, i.e. one world period or kalpa, is divided
into 1000 mahiiyugas; each of these lasts 4,320,000 years and is
further divided into four yugas or ages of world history with
progressively worsening conditions of life: Krta (1 ,728,000
years), Treta (1 ,296,000 years), Dvapara (864,000 years) and
Kali Yuga (432,000), the present age.
devanagari (the script 'of the city of the gods') the Sanskrit
script developed from an earlier form called briihmf. It is used
also for Hindl and some other modern Indian languages.
Dharma Sastra law book. There are several ancient law books
which go under various names such as Manu and Yajiiavalkya.
59
Dhatar
dhvaja banner, flag, votive column with the mount of the deity
to whom the column belongs; symbol of the world axis.
Lak~ml and the beginning of the new year, after the rainy season,
when the sun is welcomed again.
drg, drk the one who sees, a Vedantic expression for the true
self of man.
dYaita duality.
Dyaos Pitar (dyu: sky, heaven; pitar: father; cf. Gr. Zeus Pater
and Lat. Ju-piter) 'heavenly father', the originator of the world,
together with the Earth mother (Prfuivi Miitar). Before their
separation they represented the primeval unity, Dyiiviiprthivi.
This is a version of one of several creation myths which existed in
lE and Vedic antiquity.
Fire was the main focus in Brahminic ritual. Usually three or five
fires were set up for a sacrifice in the open. In the domestic ritual
it was one fire which was kindled at the marriage ceremony and
then continually maintained and used in sacrificial offerings.
Ritual use of fire declined somewhat with the virtual abandon-
ment of animal sacrifices. Cf. Agni.
gaQa troop, host; used mainly for groups of deities when they
appear together, e.g. Adityas, or of lower deities in the retinue of
high gods.
Gaya one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism (in Bihar) and
a place of pilgrimage, particularly for the followers of Vi~l)u.
Nearby is the place, now known as Bodh-Gaya, where Siddhattha
Gotama reached enlightenment and became the Buddha.
gotra clan.
79
indriya
Kala the god of death; one of the names of Siva and of Yama.
kali the throw of dice with one dot; the loser; Kali Yuga: the
fourth (present) age in the Pural)ic world history, often called the
dark age, but the name is probably derived from the throw of
dice. It started, according to Pural)ic reckoning, in 3102 B.C.
with the mythical destructive battle on the Kuruk!;>etra described
in the Mhb. Its duration is given as 432,000 years and its dawn,
84
Kali
Kali (the black one), often called Kali Ma (mother) the most
wrathful form of the Goddess who, according to some sects,
requires human sacrifices. She represents the destructive aspect
of 'mother' nature.
87
kaya
Kriya Yoga ('active' yoga) the part of yoga practice which uses
procedures requiring effort; a type of yoga which employs ritual
as one of its techniques; a type of yoga which utilizes active
involvement in life for spiritual progress, which may mean a
variety of Karma Yoga or may also refer to the left-handed
Tantric yoga approach. In the early times when yoga was the
prerogative of sramaf!aS, the renunciates, Kriya Yoga was the
hard preliminary stage requiring the adoption of the ascetic way
of life, dedicated study of the scriptures or teachings of the
chosen school or master, and total self-surrender to him or to the
Lord or to the goal of liberation, in order to prepare oneself for
the higher stage of meditative absorptions and discriminative
vision leading to the realization of the goal. In the context of
modern popularized yoga practice Kriya Yoga means, besides the
optional adoption of Hatha Yoga practice, incorporating into
one's working life principles compatible with the goal, thereby
enhancing the prospects of progress in one's regular meditative
sessions.
to death when they were born. When she conceived for the
seventh time, it was with Balarama, and as a part incarnation of
Vi~Qu he was miraculously transferred from her womb into that
of another wife of her husband. Kr~Qa was then born as her actual
seventh child and, being a full incarnation of Vi~l)u, the birth was
kept secret by his divine power. He was then taken by his father
Vasudeva across the river Yamuna to the woods of Vrodavana,
where he was adopted by Yasoda and Nada, a cowherding
couple, who passed him off as their own son. When Kamsa
discovered that Devaki did give birth to a son who was spirited
away, he ordered the slaughter of all the male infants of his realm
(cf. the Biblical story of the 'slaughter of the innocents'), but both
sets of parents managed to escape with Balarama, his mother and
Kr~Qa to Gokula. Kr~Qa grew up playing many pranks,
performing miraculous deeds and sporting with gopfs whom he
charmed by playing his flute, making them fall madly in love with
him. All this came to be interpreted as symbolizing the divine tilii
and as an allegory of the mystical love between God and his
devotees. In his other role, he appeared as the mature divine
teacher who revealed the teachings of the BhG to Arjuna and
showed himself to him as the Supreme Lord of the universe.
While being revered as to date the most important incarnation of
Vi~l)U in mainstream Hinduism, he has a large sectarian following
as the Supreme Lord and is the centre of an extremely popular
bhakti cult.
along the spine through the central channel (su.fU111/1fJ nadf) and
awakens six spiritual centres (cakras) on the way, until it reaches
the seventh centre called 'the thousand-petalled lotus' (sahasrara
padma) at the top of the skull or above, which is the point of
contiguity where the individual and the universal meet, wher-
eupon enlightenment takes place.
lalita m.: the name of a musical scale; n.: sport, play, charm.
elegance; a dance form in Siva's cosmic dance.
Lanka the name of the island and its capital described in the
Ramayal)a as the seat of the demon king Raval)a who abducted
S!ta. Originally the summit of Mount Meru, it was broken off by
Vayu, the god of wind, and thrown into the sea, thus becoming an
island.
divine sanction in the eyes of his subjects, but did not necessarily
guarantee his righteous conduct and rule.
laya dissolution (of the world at the end of the world period
called ka/pa, i.e. the end of a Brahma's day); meditative
absorption.
symbolizes the cosmic pillar, Mount Meru and the axis mundi
which penetrates all levels of reality. When rounded also at the
bottom so that it becomes egg-shaped, it stands for Hira-
l)yagarbha. A frequent form of the linga as a centre of worship in
temples dedicated to Siva is a rounded pillar set in a circular
stone, representing the yoni, which has a groove with a spout for
draining ghee and liquids from ceremonial washing. As a twin
symbol the linga-yoni effigy represents the polarity of phenome-
nal reality, but by its union it points to the transcendental unity of
godhead.
ways of achieving it. The Pural)ic tradition has it that the great
war took place in 3102 B. C. and that with it started the present
dark age of human history (Kali Yuga), but if there is a historical
reality behind it, it will have taken place after 1000 B.C. Begun in
the mist of those early times, the epic started taking its familiar
shape from around the third century B.C. and grew over
subsequent centuries by constant elaboration and additions of
further episodes for perhaps another 600 more years, although
some interpolations occurred later still. Tradition attributes the
authorship of the epic to Kn;l)a Dvaipayana, a legendary figure
known as Vyasa (the arranger), who himself appears in the epic,
participating in the events.
maharatri the 'great night', the period of rest between the end
of one great world period and the start of the next manifestation
of the universe (or between the death of one Brahma and the birth
of the next).
Mandara the mountain used by the gods and titans for churning
the cosmic ocean to obtain the drink of immortality. It was
supported for the purpose by the turtle incarnation of Vi~l)u.
105
Manvantara
Mok~ Dharma a text inserted into the bulk of the Mhb and
dealing with philosophical questions of life and liberation, with
many overlaps with pre-classical Sankhya thought.
nabha, nabhi navel, centre; the Vedic altar, the sacrificial altar
(as the meeting-place of gods and men); the centre of the world or
the central power point of universal energy (see RV 10,82,5; cf.
the Gr. omphalos in Delphi). It is not the centre of the physical
world, but rather the transcendental centre of the multi-
dimensional world-complex, and by the same token the gate of
creation (cf. the Vedic womb of Aditi) and the hidden central
point of contiguity between the transcendent and phenomenal
worlds. Also: a focus for meditation ('belly watching', an ancient
method made known in modern times mainly as the Burmese
Buddhist vipassanii meditation, but practised also in medieval
Bulgarian monastic communities of Bogomils). In mythology:
Vi~l)u's navel (with a lotus growing out of it while he is lying on
the snake Ananta and Brahma is sitting on the lotus about to start
the process of creation).
Nandi ('joyful') the name of Siva's white bull, the chief of his
attendants, his mount and emblem. As a primal image of strength,
potency and the power of natural instincts, he becomes a symbol
of moral and religious duty, justice and law, i.e. of dharma, when
tamed or mastered (hence the image of 'riding the bull').
112
Nandini
neti neti 'not so, not so' (BU 4,2,4,) is an often quoted extract
from Yajii.avalkya 's statement about the impossibility of giving an
114
nidra
nidra sleep.
115
niyama
117
Par_u;lavas
prakaral)a treatise.
praQava (from the Vedic root nu, 'to sound', hence 'primeval
sound') the designation for the sacred syllable om.
pr8Qayama the control of the life force through regulated or
relaxed breathing, one of the an gas in Pataiijali 's a~(anga yoga;
in Hatha Yoga and KUJ:I(;lalini Yoga it is an elaborate system of
breathing exercises aiming at the achievement of bodily and
mental health and at inducing special abilities and powers.
of little islands between India and Sri Lanka which are said to be
the remnants of the bridge built by Hanuman's troops to cross
over to rescue Sita.
(Visi~ta Advaita). He was born near Madras and came from the
Paiicaratra tradition. He wandered India as a sannyiisi for a time
and eventually settled in Srirariga from where he only temporarily
fled to avoid forceful conversion to Saivism by the Chola king.
He taught that the Upani~adic brahman was at the same time the
transcendental divine source and also the highest personal God,
namely Vi~QU. According to him, God possesses, as well as his
spiritual nature, a subtle body and by transforming it into a gross
one, he brought about the creation of the world. The individual,
while being in a way himself, is in essence only God's attribute
and can reach his mok~a on the path of bhakti by getting to know
God, i.e. by apprehending him in a kind of cognitive mystic
union. Ramanuja wrote extensive commentaries on the Upa-
ni~ads, the BS and the BhG. His sectarian followers hold him for
an incarnation of Vi~Qu's serpent Se~a/Ananta.
RamayaJ:Ia the story of Rama and his wife Sita as they went into
exile, accompanied by Rama's brother Lak~mal)a, and of how
Sita was abducted by Rava1,1a, the demon-king of Lanka, and
rescued with the help of Hanuman, the king of the monkey tribes.
It is the earliest Indian epic, composed in 24000 slokas, reputedly
by Valmiki, but obviously a composite work the bulk of which is
dated by some to around 500 B. C. , by others to 300 B. C. , with
subsequent extensions added up to A.D. 200-300.
rg, re verse.
f$i seer. This term was originally used only for the inspired
composers of at least one ~gvedic hymn, but later it came to be
applied also to some Upani~adic and other types of sages, such as
132
rta
rta right; truth; the cosmic law of balance governing the cosmic
processes: natural, social, moral and spiritual. It is a Vedic
expression which went out of use, its principles being preserved
in post-Vedic times by the notions of (sanatana) dharma and
karma.
sanatana everlasting.
identify with their pralqtic bodily forms, their sensory and mental
experiences and their roles in the events in worldly life, forgetting
their true status. When a puru~a recognizes his situation for what
it is, namely an irksome entanglement depriving him of his
freedom, he can initiate the process of his liberation from it by
mentally discriminating between all prakrtic evolutes or forma-
tions (including all intruding sensory perceptions and mental
processes) and his own pure consciousness. The puru~a thereby
dissociates himself from the evolutes of prakr:ti and the whole
prakrtic universe, his prakrtic personality dissolves and he gains
total freedom, called kaivalya. The system does not recognize a
God or lord (ifvara).
sant holy man; a term for bhakta-type holy men who do not
belong to the mainstream Vi~l)uite movements, being influenced
by Niitha cults and Sufism or being active within the Sikh
tradition.
sati wife; perfect wife; also: the designation for a faithful wife
who voluntarily follows her deceased husband onto the funeral
pyre. By a wrong application of the term it came to be used for
the act of burning widows with their deceased husbands
(anglicized as 'suttee'). The Skt. expressions for this practice
were: sahagama ('going with'), anugama ('going after'),
anumaraflll ('dying after') and others. The practice seems to have
been rare in ancient times, but it is mentioned in Gr. chronicles in
the fourth century B. C. It became quite customary with k~atriyas
by the first century B.C., then receded, but started increasing
again in the sixth century and later, especially in the wake of the
Islamic invasions as a way of escaping capture and slavery. It
then came to be regarded by the Brahminic establishment as an
important part of their ancient tradition to be sustained under both
Muslim and British rule, and instances of dubious methods of
pressurizing reluctant victims to undergo the rite have been
recorded. Muslim rulers tried to limit the custom and it was
condemned by some Hindu poets, by Tantric writers and by
various reformers. It was made illegal by the British in 1829
under Lord Bentinck, but isolated cases continued to be recorded
from time to time, one as late as 1946. Cases of attempted revival
of the practice were recorded newly in the 1980s. Some lE
139
Sati
Sati the daughter of Dak~a who chose Siva for her husband at
her svayamvara against her father's wishes. When, according to
Pural)ic mythology, her father later offended Siva, she burned
herself to death in protest, was reborn as Uma and again became
Siva's wife.
Savitar a Vedic solar god, the 'brilliant' one, the golden sun,
the lord of vivifying, life-sustaining power to whom is addressed
the daily invocation from the RV 3,62,10 known as Savitri or,
more commonly, Gayatri Mantra.
revelation (fruti, that which was heard, i.e. revealed), but possess
great religious authority. They are: the auxiliary Vedic sciences
known as Vedailgas; Smarta Sutras; Dharmasastras; Itihasa,
including the epics, the Pura1.1as and the Upapura1.1as; and
Nltisastras (ethical and didactic writings, including fables).
soma (Av. haoma) a plant regarded as sacred whose juice,
which had intoxicating effects, was used in Vedic times for ritual
purposes. Its preparation was itself a ritual and involved pressing
it and adding to its juice water, milk, butter and barley. The
actual plant used may have changed with availability of plants in
the course of migrations and its identification is still a subject of
controversy. Symbolically: divine ecstasy, mystic experience,
enlightenment; in later mythology it refers also to amrya, the
drink of immortality, stored in the moon which wanes when gods
drink it and waxes when it automatically refills.
Soma the Moon god and guardian of herbs who rides in a car
drawn by antelopes or in a three-wheeled chariot drawn by ten
white horses. He once abducted for a time Tara, the wife of
Brhaspati, and as a result she gave birth to Budha (the planet
Mercury).
Soul there is no precise equivalent of this notion in Hinduism, if
we understand it as an indestructible individual substance created
by God at a certain point of time, but for eternity. Different
Hindu schools have different conceptions of what is in Western
languages called soul and employ different expressions for it, but
generally speaking, the 'soul' which transmigrates from life to
life is understood to be a complex personality structure,
composed of several layers or 'sheaths' or subtle 'bodies', which
may harbour a universal core which is common to all but remains
untouched by its relation to the multiplicity of persons just as the
moon is not touched by its multiple reflections in waters. There is
also a variety of conceptions of the 'soul' in the state of liberation,
from complete merging with the universal core (the brahman of
the Advaita Vedanta school) to total individual independence (the
puru~a of the Sailkhya system).
of oral tradition either as the notes of the teacher for his use when
instructing his pupils or as notes or records of the teacher's
instructions taken down by pupils. As a result most sutra type
works are difficult to interpret or even impossible to understand
without the help of commentaries.
svastika (fr. Skt. su 'well' and asti 'is', i.e. 'all is well') an
object bringing luck, an auspicious sign. The sign popularized
under this name by the Nazis is thought to have been an ancient
symbol of the sun and appears in the context of Buddhism as well
147
svayambhu
Sivaratri (Siva 's night) is every fourteenth night of the dark half
of every lunar month. His great night, Mahasivaratri, is in the
lunar month of Magha (January/February), or in some parts of
India in Phalguna (February/March) and it is celebrated by all
151
Siva Samhita
tat tvam asi 'thou art that' (CU 6,8,7; 6,9,4; 6,14,3), one of
the four 'Great Sayings' (mahiiviikyas) of the Upani~ads
expressing the Vedantic philosophy of oneness, widely popular-
ized as a basic Hindu tenet about the divine essence present deep
down in everything and everybody.
Temple (mandira) the house of god used for worship and ritual
offerings. In Vedic and Brahmanic times, altars for worship and
ritual sacrifices were constructed in the open. New ones were
built for each occasion. Shrines for popular worship were mostly
under sacred trees and in natural caves. Hindu temples developed
in emulation of rock-carved Buddhist assembly halls for monks
living in their cells in monastic communities. The assembly halls
had a stupa opposite the entrance, indicating the Buddha's
presence, later supplemented or replaced by a statue of the
preaching Buddha to whom simple pujiis were offered by monks
and visiting lay people. Originally, the Buddhist assembly halls
were of light wooden construction, as they developed from
157
thag
thag (vern.; fr. Skt. verbal root sthag, 'to conceal') member of
a secret sect of devotees of Kiill in the form of Bhaviinl (she still
has a temple in Mirziipur, near Variil)asl) who worshipped her by
bringing her human sacrifices, which they usually obtained by the
strangulation of unsuspecting victims. The earliest references to
the existence of the sect date from the seventh century A. D. It
was suppressed under the British Governor-General Lord
Bentinck in a comprehensive campaign in 1831-7, but small
groups were still being hunted till 1861. Individual instances of
the practice occurred even after that and the last recorded
execution of an offender took place in 1882 in Panjiib. There was
a parallel Muslim movement of Fidii'sls (devoted ones), a branch
of the Shl-ite sect, known as Hurs in India. The Hindu and
Muslim groups often mingled.· There is little doubt that purely
criminal elements from both the Hindu and Muslim communities
also joined the movement to achieve 'higher' status within the
criminal world and for the opportunity it offered them to carry out
robberies. (The word entered English vocabulary in the
anglicized form 'thug', meaning 'cut-throat, ruffian, violent
criminal' . )
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thagi
tirtha passage, road, ford; place for crossing over from this
world to the nether world or to the dimension of liberation; a
place of pilgrimage, especially if it is believed that a pilgrim who
dies there goes straight to heaven or is liberated.
torana gateway.
The other three states are: waking state, dream state and deep
sleep state, the last one being regarded as a temporary
unconscious unification with the ultimate reality.
U~as the goddess of dawn (cf. Aurora) who opens the gate in the
morning for the chariot of Siirya, the Sun god. Great admiration
of her was expressed in a number of hymns of praise in the RV in
verses of outstanding lyrical beauty.
Vaisiili (PI. Vesali) an ancient city north of Patna which was the
capital of a kingdom in Buddha's time.
cosmic ocean. He killed the demon, plunged into the ocean and
brought the earth up on his tusks. In his iconographical
representations he usually has a human body and a boar's head
and carries a small figure of the Earth goddess on his shoulder or
arm.
var.Qa colour; the Skt. name for the original four castes.
Vayu, also: Vata the god of wind and the 'breath of gods' who
mysteriously penetrates all dimensions of existence. In Vedic
times it was believed that he could bestow longer life on his
worshippers and even grant immortality. He ruled the life force
manifested as breath which was then called iitman (cf. Gr.
atmos), but when iitman came to be regarded as the highest
principle in the Upani~ads, the term priifiQ became current for the
life force. In the PuraQas Vayu is also the king of the gandharvas.
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Yama
Yasoda a gopf, the wife of the cowherd Nanda who became the
foster-mother of Kr~Qa.
yupa sacrificial post, used since early Vedic times and later
transformed into the flagpole (dhvaja) outside temples. It is
symbolical of Indra' s banner and the spear with which he pierced
Vrtra and propped up heaven to keep it and earth apart, and hence
also of the 'cosmic pillar' or world axis, with further associations
with respect to sivalinga.
185
By the same author
LOVE DIVINE:
STUDIES IN BHAKTI AND DEVOTIONAL MYSTICISM (Eo.)