D

Dabistan-I-Mazahib

(“School of Manners”) An outside
source for the religious life of the times,
and gives the earliest detailed descrip-
tion of the Sikhs, as well as many other
contemporary religious communities.
The text traditionally is ascribed to
Muhsin Fani. Fani was a Persian who
traveled through much of northern
India, apparently motivated only by his
intense curiosity to encounter the
country’s different forms of religious
life. The text is also notable for the
seeming absence of authorial bias—
Fani reports that he had simply translated
what his friends and informants had
told him, and the Dabistan’stone seems
to maintain this claim. The text has
been translated by David Shea and
Anthony Troyer as The Dabistan, or
School of Manners, 1843.

Dadhichi

A sage in Hindu mythology who is a par-
adigm for self-sacrifice. The gods
(devas) and the demons(supernatural
beings) are engaged in a long-running
war, in which neither side can prevail.
Indra, the king of the gods, finally
decides to seek advice from the god
Brahma. Brahma advises Indra that if
he obtains a bone from Dadhichi’s
body, it can be made into a weapon that
will defeat the demons. Indra is under-
standably uncertain that his request
will be granted, but when he appears
before Dadhichi, he not only gives his
consent, but immediately abandons
his body through yogic powers. Indra
takes Dadhichi’s bones, fashions a
weapon from them, and successfully
defeats the demons.

Dadhikra

A divine war horse described in a few of

the hymns in the Vedas, the oldest

Hindu religious texts. The Vedas were

the religious hymns of a group known

as the Aryans, and hymns throughout

the Vedas clearly show the importance

of horse-drawn chariots as weapons of

war. Given this importance, it is not

surprising that one finds a divinized

horse in these hymns, even if it is only a

minor figure.

Dadu

(1554–1603) Sant poet-saint and

founder of the religious organization

known as the Dadupanth. The sants

were a group of central and northern

Indian poet-saints who share several

general tendencies: a stress on individ-

ualized, interior religion leading to a

personal experience of the divine; dis-

dain for external ritual, particularly

image worship; faith in the power of the

divine Name; and a tendency to ignore

conventional caste (social order) dis-

tinctions. According to tradition, Dadu

was born into a family of cotton-

carders, a fairly low-status occupation.

He is also reported to have been born a

Muslim, although based on his poetry

he seems to have been relatively unaf-

fected by Islam. His songs highlight

many of the aforementioned sant

themes. His poems also stress nonvio-

lence (ahimsa), and as a practical appli-

cation of that principle, vegetarianism.

Another prominent theme is the reli-

gious value of work, since despite his

fame he is said to have carded cotton

until his death.

Some of Dadu’s poems give lists and

categories, as if systematizing his ideas

for instruction. This suggests that he

envisioned an established community

of disciples. According to legend, Dadu

met with the Moghul emperor Akbar,

who was so impressed by Dadu’s charis-

ma that he ceased his harming of living

beings. The tale is probably fictitious,

since there are similar stories for many

of the sant poets, which all illustrate the

Dadu