god’s brother Lakshmana, and they
agree that Rama will help Sugriva regain
his wife and kingdom if Sugriva and his
monkey-subjects will help to search for
Sita. Sugriva challenges Bali to battle but
cannot compete with his superior
strength. Although Rama has agreed to
shoot Bali with an arrow, he is unable to
tell which of the monkeys he is. In a sec-
ond battle, when Sugriva is marked by a
garland, Rama shoots Bali with an arrow
from behind and kills him.
Bali
(3) Island in Indonesia that has the last
surviving remnant of the Hindu-
Buddhist culture that pervaded the
region after the early centuries of the
common era. Indian beliefs were first
brought by traders and merchants, and
inscriptions reveal that the Balinese
kings patronized a variety of sects, both
Hindu and Buddhist. In time, Indian
sacred geography was transferred and
transposed to Bali, native deitieswere
gradually assimilated into the pantheon,
and all the competing sects finally were
fused into the new entity known as
Balinese religion.
Bana
Bana
(“arrow”) One of the characteristic
objects in Hindu iconography, which is
associated with various deities—the
Goddess, Shiva, and Vishnu—and is
thus emblematic of no particular one. It
is often found in images in which the
figure carries a bow (dhanus).
Bana
(2) (7th c. C.E.) Poet and author who was
a contemporary of the northern Indian
emperor Harsha(r. 606–647), and one of
the leading members of Harsha’s court.
Bana is widely acclaimed as one of the
great Sanskritwriters, based on his two
best works: the Harshacharita, a pane-
gyric narrative of Harsha’s deeds, and
Kadambari, a romance left unfinished
at his death. He is also famous for his
Chandishataka, a collection of one
hundred poems dedicated to the
differing forms of the Goddess.Bana Linga
An egg-shaped stone considered a
svayambhu (“self-manifested”) form of
the god Shiva. As with all svayambhu
images, the bana linga is considered to
be extraordinary, since in it the god has
spontaneously revealed himself. Bana
lingas are only found in certain places,
particularly on the banks of the
Chambal River in the state of Madhya
Pradesh, where they can be found in
large numbers. They come in a wide
spectrum of colors and can be several
feet in width, although most are smaller.
The smaller ones are movable and may
even be carried by wandering asceticsas
portable objects of worship. The larger
ones are usually found only in temples,
not only because of the limits on motion
imposed by their greater size, but also
because they are believed to be so pow-
erful that they should be kept in a care-
fully maintained place.Bania
(variant of Baniya) In traditional north-
ern Indian society, a merchant or shop-
keeper often but not exclusively
belonging to the vaishya varna, which is
the third of four social classes in Hindu
culture. Aside from their merchant
activities, the more prosperous ones
often engaged in moneylending, some-
times at prodigious rates of interest, as a
way to further increase their capital. InBaniaThe bana linga, an egg-shaped stone,
is believed to be a manifestation of the god Shiva.