Finding the Joy within You: Personal Counsel for God-
Centered Living (Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellow-
ship, 2002); ———, God Alone: The Life and Letters
of a Saint (Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship,
1998); ———, Only Love: Living the Spiritual Life in a
Changing World (Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellow-
ship, 1976).
Matagiri See AUROBINDO, SRI.
math
Math is a word for monastery in the Hindi lan-
guage. Many Hindu traditions established maths
as austere residences where monks could live
and study. Most famous are the four maths estab-
lished by the great VEDANTA teacher SHANKARA
(circa eighth century): BADRINATH in far northern
India, DVARAKA (Dwarka) in Gujarat, Shringeri in
Karnataka, and Puri in Orissa. Monks from the
Dashanami order following Shankara’s teachings
now live at these locations. The abbot of each of
these maths is referred to as the Shankaracharya
(while Shankara himself is referred to as the Adis-
hankaracharya, or first Shankaracharya).
Further reading: Austin B. Creel and Vasudha Naray-
anan, Monastic Life in the Christian and Hindu Traditions:
A Comparative Study (New York: Edwin Mellen Press,
1990); Ram Niwas Pandy, The Mathas of the Dasanami
Sanyasis of Lalitpur, Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu:
Royal Nepal Academy, 2002); Vasudeva Rao, Living tra-
ditions in Contemporary Contexts: The Madhva Matha of
Udupi (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2002).
matsya See PANCHA MAKARA.
Matsya avatar
The Matsya (fish) AVATA R of VISHNU is said to have
preserved the world from a cataclysmic flood in
a previous cycle of time. According to the story,
the MANU (primordial man) of that era was a great
king. He came upon a tiny fish as he was washing
himself in the morning. The fish, speaking in a
human voice, beseeched the king to save him. He
promised to reward Manu by saving him in turn
from an impending flood.
Manu agreed. He first put the fish in a bowl
of water, but the fish grew very quickly and
outgrew it. Then Manu put the fish in a pitcher,
but it became too big for it overnight. Manu suc-
cessively put it into a well, pond, and then the
GANGES, but it outgrew them all. Finally, he put
it in the ocean, where it became very huge. Once
in the ocean the fish instructed Manu that after
certain cataclysms a flood would wipe out all of
the beings on Earth. The fish instructed Manu to
build a huge boat, put the world’s creatures in it,
and tie a rope to it in preparation for that time.
When the flood arrived, Manu attached the rope
to the fish’s horn and the fish took him to the
northern mountain, where he attached the boat
to a tree. Thus were all creatures rescued by the
Matsya incarnation of VISHNU.Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); E. Washburn Hopkins, Epic Mythology
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986); W. J. Wilkins, Hindu
Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, 2d ed. (Calcutta: Rupa,
1973).Mauritius
The British acquired the island nation of Mauri-
tius in the Indian Ocean from the French in 1814
as part of the Treaty of Paris. Sugar production
on the island flourished under the British, who
imported large numbers of African slaves to work
on plantations. Prior to 1835, almost 70 percent
of the population of Mauritius was of African
descent. After the abolition of slavery, British
officials began in 1835 to employ indentured ser-
vants from India to fill the labor shortage on theK 280 Matagiri