Dwaraka
Sacred city (tirtha) on the western coast
of Gujarat, on the shore of the Arabian
Sea. In mythic terms, Dwaraka is most
famous as the capital city for the god
Krishna’s kingdom, at which he is
believed to have lived in the years fol-
lowing the Mahabharatawar. Dwaraka’s
most important site is the Dwarakanath
Temple, dedicated to Krishna in his
form as the “Lord of Dwaraka.” Dwaraka
is also one of the four dhams(“divine
abodes”), sacred centers that approxi-
mately define the geographic bound-
aries of India; the three others are
Badrinath, Puri, and Rameshvaram.
Dwaraka is also the site of the Sharada
math, one of the four Dashanami
Sanyasi maths(monastic centers) sup-
posedly established by the philosopher
Shankaracharya. The Sharada math is
the headquarters of the Kitawaragroup
of the Dashanami Sanyasis, one of the
four major organizational groups, with
each one centered at one of the maths.
As with many other Hindu sacred sites,
Dwaraka is sanctified by a network of
mythic and religious associations.
Dyaus
A minor deityin the Vedas, the oldest
and most authoritative Hindu religious
texts. Dyaus is a god associated with
the sky, but his character is not well-
developed, since even at the time of the
Vedas he had been largely eclipsed by
other gods. Dyaus is part of the oldest
layer of Indo-Aryandeities, as evidenced
by the Greek form of his name, Zeus.
Dwaraka