The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

the ascetic and his entrance into social and family life. Their union highlights the cultural tension between the two most impor ...

Pashupatinath Temple and sacred site (tirtha) in Katmandu, Nepal. The temple is named for its presiding deity, who is the god Sh ...

was so cryptic that it virtually presup- posed a commentary, which Patanjali provided. Patanjali’s Mahabhashya is not only impor ...

Paush According to the lunar calendar, by which most Hindu religious festivals are determined, Paush is the tenth month in the l ...

between the seventh and ninth cen- turies. Together with their Vaishnava counterparts, the Alvars, the Nayanars spearheaded the ...

symbolic form Shiva is thus both male and female—an appropriate form for a deitywho is famous for transcending any and all duali ...

tributaries of the Ganges, the Pindara is considered sacred along its length, but this region is so mountainous and so thinly se ...

shaft set in a horizontal base, represents, not only the union of male and female, but also their transcendence, since Shiva is ...

time, such as buying any article or initi- ating any new project, unless it is absolutely necessary. The period is also deemed a ...

qualities weakened and contained. This can be done either through wearing par- ticular gemstonesthat are believed to correspond ...

Sun and to the god Ganesh, and then given to friends. On the final day, Pongal of Cows (Mattu Pongal), worshipers walk in a circ ...

ball, thus making the ball red. This assumption leads him to characterize error as akhyati(“nondiscrimination”), the inability t ...

authoritarian organization, with all power ultimately vested in a single, unelected leader, the sarsanghchalak, and the prachara ...

a deity as part of worship, on the model of treating the deity as an honored guest. The underlying motive here, as for all the u ...

(purusha) who is sacrificed by the gods and from whose parts the world devel- ops. In later Hindu practice the name Prajapatican ...

Since Brahmanis believed to be the locus of all things, Vivarana Advaitins conclude that ignorance must also be a part of Brahma ...

(pratyaksha), which includes magical or yogic insight as well as direct sensory perception; inference (anumana), which ultimatel ...

samana(in the navel) aids digestion, udana(in the throat) conveys things out of the mouth—like speech, song, burps, etc.—and vya ...

Brahmo Samaj, who attempted to remake the tradition wholesale by giving it a strong, quasi-monotheistic emphasis, a quality heav ...

Pratihara Dynasty See Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty. Pratijna (“assertion”) In Indian logic, a part in the generally accepted form o ...