asura and to be killed each time by
Vishnu. In his previous incarnations
Vijaya is born as Hiranyakashipu,
who is killed by the Man-Lion avatar
(one incarnation of the god Vishnu)
and as Kumbhakarna, who is killed by
Vishnu’s Rama avatar. When Dantavaktra
is killed by Krishna, the curseis broken,
and Vijaya returns to his rightful place.
Darshan
(“seeing”) By far the most common reli-
gious act in popular modern Hinduism,
darshan designates direct eye contact
between the devotee (bhakta) and the
image of a deity, which is considered to
be a conscious, perceiving being. Such
intimate interaction is a way to commu-
nicate with the deity on a personal basis,
which is similar to the stress on the indi-
vidual found in bhakti(devotional) reli-
giosity. For further information see
Diana Eck, Darsan, 1985.
Darshan
(2) (“perspective”) In the context of
Indian philosophy, this is the word most
often used to designate a philosophical
“school.” The word itself comes from the
verb “to see,” and thus can be loosely
translated as a “point of view,” “perspec-
tive,” or “[way of ] seeing.” In a diverse
and competitive philosophical culture,
this is a neutral way to describe a philo-
sophical position, whether or not one
agrees with it.
Dasa (“servant”) Bhava
The second of the five modes of devo-
tion(system of devotion to a deity) to
God that were most prominently
articulated by Rupa Goswami, a devo-
tee (bhakta) of the god Krishnaand a
follower of the Bengali saint Chaitanya.
Rupa used differing types of human
relationships as models for differing
conceptions of the link between deity
and devotee. These five modes
showed growing emotional intensity,
from the peaceful (shanta) sense that
comes from realizing one’s complete
identity with Brahman, or Ultimate
Reality, to conceiving of God as one’s
master, friend, child, or lover. The
Dasa Bhava is the second of these, in
which devotees considered them-
selves as servants and the deity as
their master. This second mode of
devotion should be understood in
light of the relationship between mas-
ters and servants in Indian society,
which goes far beyond that of employ-
er and employee in modern American
society. A family’s servants will often
stay with a family for many years and
in some cases, such service becomes
hereditary. Longtime servants become
virtual members of the family; they
are respected, trusted, and sometimes
regarded as advisers.Dashamukha
(“ten-faced”) In the Ramayana, the ear-
lier of the two great Indian epics, this
was one of the epithets of Ravana, the
demon-king of Lanka. This name is
descriptive, since Ravana has ten heads.Dashanami
(“ten names”) Collective name for the
ten divisions among the Sanyasis, an
ascetic order supposedly founded by
the great philosopher Shankaracharya,
whose members are devotees of the
god Shiva. These ten divisions are each
distinguished by a different name,
which is taken as a surname by
an ascetic after his initiationin the
division. These ten names are Giri
(“mountain”), Parvata (“mountain”),
Sagara(“ocean”), Saraswati (the god-
dessof learning), Bharati(“India”), Puri
(“city”), Aranya (“forest”), Vana (“for-
est”), Tirtha (“crossing-place”), and
Ashrama(“hermitage”).
Although all of the ten divisions are
Dashanami Sanyasis, there are internal
status differences based on the distinc-
tion between three ascetic classes:
Dandi, Paramahamsa, and Naga. The
Dandi Sanyasis, named for the staff
(danda) that they must always carry,Dashanami