The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

a vow of celibacy, particularly a lifelong vow. In the Hindu tradition, celibacy is important not only for removing one from enj ...

deity that some viewers have sought to identify as a “proto-Shiva.” Utpanna Ekadashi Religious observance falling on the elevent ...

the sun is calculated as entering Capricorn, usually January 14) and ends the day before Karka Sankranti(the day the sun enters ...

V Vachaspati Mishra (ca. late 15th c.) Commentator and com- piler of the dharma literature. He com- posed dozens of texts in his ...

Ravana proceeds to cut off his heads, one by one, and to offer them to Shiva. As he is about to cut off the last of his heads, S ...

philosophy, and a school whose special concern was the elucidation of physics and metaphysics. The Vaisheshika analysis of the c ...

mind, and Selves—and that whatever exists was both knowable and name- able. The Vaisheshikas subscribed to the causal modelknown ...

Alvars, a group of twelve devotional (bhakti) poet-saints who lived in south- ern India between the seventh and tenth centuries. ...

Each of these sampradays is differen- tiated not only by its founder, but also by its tutelary deity or deities. The Ramanandis ...

vaishyas did all sorts of economic activ- ity, from farming to animalhusbandry to all sorts of trades and services. Vaitarani In ...

body, along with a certain amount of his partner’s blood. Despite some com- mentators’ discomfort and denials (characteristic of ...

Valmiki is a bandit in his early life. One day, one of his victims asks him whether his family will also share the sins he is co ...

Indian culture, with the former being deemed better. Vamakhepa (1843–1911) Asceticdevotee (bhakta) of the Goddessin her fierce a ...

philosopher, Shankaracharya, in an effort to create a corps of learned men who could help revitalize Hindu life. Each of the div ...

less severe than the last stage, the Sanyasi—the texts are very clear that he should remain with his wife and that he should con ...

before them, both by treading in their physical footsteps and by singing their songs of devotion. Although the pil- grimage conc ...

India to earn their living by trading or other businesses. This four-fold varna plan does give the general status picture, but t ...

and reduces him to ashes with a burst of flame from his third eye. Despite being destroyed, in the end Kama is successful—after ...

Vasudeva (2)(“sonof Vasudeva”) Epithet of the god Krishna, a patronymic formed from the name of his father, Vasudeva, by length- ...

aesthetic experience, as well as pure carnal pleasure. Vatsyayana (2) (4th c.) Writer and commentator in the Nyaya school, one o ...