Meghanada (an epithet of Indrajit) on
the night of Dussehra, and these effigies
often contain fireworks to enhance their
pyrotechnic capacity. This time of year is
often celebrated with dramatic enact-
ments of the Ramayana(the Sanskrit
epic), known as the Ram Lila. In some
cases this lasts for ten days, ending on
Dussehra; in other cases (as in the Ram
Lila in Benares, the sacred city on the
banks of the GangesRiver) it will last an
entire month, with Dussehra marking
the death of Ravana.
Dussehra is a highly auspicious day,
and popular tradition holds that any-
thing begun on this day will succeed.
Dussehra is thus a favored occasion for
initiating any important projects, begin-
ning endeavors, or forming organiza-
tions, even if it is only a token beginning.
Dussehra also marks the beginning of
the cool season, when the end of the hot
weather and the monsoon rains bring
better conditions for military action.
Both charter myths have connections
with battle and conquest, and in earlier
times Dussehra was particularly cele-
brated by the royal and martial classes.
On Dussehra it was customary for sol-
diers to worship their weapons. Given
the festival’s martial associations and
the guarantee that all things initiated on
that day would be successful, it was also
the day of choice for rulers to send out
their armies to invade neighboring terri-
tories. Even today one of the most spec-
tacular celebrations is in Mysore, where
the ruler presides over this festival in his
ritual position as king, even though he
no longer rules. The other great celebra-
tion is in Kulu, where all the deitiesin
the region journey to Kulu to celebrate
this festival (along with hordes of their
human retainers).
Dvadashakshara Mantra
(“[the] twelve-syllable mantra”) Twelve-
syllable mantra (sacred sound) used in
parts of the Vaishnavacommunity. The
mantra is “Om namo bhagavate
narayanaya” (“Om, Homage to the
blessed Narayana”).
Dvaitadvaita Vedanta
One of the branches of Vedanta, the
philosophical school claiming to reveal
the ultimate (anta) teaching of the
ancient sacred texts known as the Vedas.
Dvaitadvaita Vedanta’s founder and
most important figure was the four-
teenth-century philosopher, Nimbarka.
Nimbarka stressed the worshipof the
god Krishna and his companionRadha
as a divine couple, but on a philosophi-
cal level he was attempting to find some
middle ground between the monism of
the Advaita Vedantaschool and the
dualism of the Dvaita Vedantaschool.
The former claimed that a single
Ultimate Reality—called Brahman—lay
behind all things, and that all things
were merely differing forms of this sin-
gle reality. The latter emphasized the
utter distinction between God as
Ultimate Reality on the one hand, and
the world and human souls on the other.
Nimbarka stressed that the world and
souls were dependent on God, in whom
they exist and with whom they had a
subtle connection. Nimbarka thus sup-
ported the philosophical doctrine called
parinamavada, which stressed the real
transformation of the divine and the
capacity of human beings to transform
themselves back to their divine status.Dvaita (“dual”) Vedanta
One of the branches of Vedanta, the
philosophical school claiming to reveal
the ultimate (anta) teaching of the
ancient sacred texts known as the
Vedas. Dvaita Vedanta’s founder and
most important figure was the philoso-
pher Madhva, who lived in southern
India in the thirteenth century.
Madhva’s basic theory is the utter tran-
scendence of God, and this conviction
leads him to suggest a philosophical
position known as dualism. Dualism
asserts a qualitative difference
between God in his transcendence and
the corruptions of material things.
According to Madhva, God is com-
pletely different from human Selves
and the material world, even thoughDvaita (“dual”) Vedanta