lunar year. The discrepancy meant
that the two calendars would increas-
ingly diverge, such that (for example)
“spring” festivals could occur at any
time of the year.
It has been resolved by the addition
of an intercalary month about every
21 ⁄ 2 years—more precisely, every thirty-
two months, sixteen days, one hour
and twenty-six minutes. This intercalary
month can take place during any of
the year’s twelve lunar months and
takes the name of the regular lunar
month preceding it.
As an unusual phenomenon, the
extra month is generally seen as a ritually
dangerous time, and one of its common
epithets is the “impure month” (mala-
masa). During this month it is believed
that one should not initiate any new
projects, or perform any religious cere-
monies whose timing is fluid and can be
postponed, particularly marriages.
Worship is highly encouraged during
this time and keeping religious fasts and
giving charity (dana) are also thought to
be highly efficacious.
All of these are means of countering
the inauspiciousnessof this calendrical
time—fasts and worship are ways to
gain divine favor and protection, while
charity acts as a channel to remove any
potential bad fortune, by transferring it
to the recipient.
When this extra month comes in the
lunar month of Ashadh, it is called
Purushottama Mas, and especially
marked by the devotees (bhakta) of the
god Vishnuas a time for worship and
other spiritual exercises.
Internal Sacrifice
In general, a type of worshipin which
concrete external actions have been
replaced by internal and purely mental
ones. See antaryaga.
Intoxicants
In general, Hindu culture condemns
anything that could lead to loss of
control, including intoxicants such as
alcohol and mind-altering drugs. The
level of disapproval associated with
these substances depends on the
substance itself and the circumstances
under which it is consumed. For
example, consumption of distilled
spirits (“foreign liquor”) is seen as a
sign of adopting outside values, while
consuming undistilled, fermented
beverages such as “country liquor” and
toddyis considered a low-class activi-
ty. However, there are a handful of
Hindu temples at which liquor is the
everyday offering to the deity and
worshipers consume it as prasad, the
sanctified food or drink that carries the
deity’s blessing.
The attitude toward intoxicating
drugs is also complex. Although they are
also subject to general disapproval,
Hindu mythology portrays Shiva as
regularly consuming both bhang, made
from crushed marijuana, and the
intoxicating datura plant. Some of
Shiva’s devotees (bhakta) do the same in
emulation of their chosen deity, and
many asceticsregularly smoke hashish
(charas) mixed with tobacco, a habit
interpreted by some as an intentional
separation from the normal social
system. Consuming bhang is a fairly
common feature of certain religious
festivals, such as Shivaratri and
Holi, although there are many people
who abstain.Isha (“Lord”) Upanishad
At eighteen verses, one of the shortest
of the early speculative texts known
as the Upanishads; the name of this
upanishad comes from the first word of
the text. It is believed to be one of the
late upanishads due to its brevity, its
composition in verse rather than prose,
and the use of verses that appear in
other upanishads. As with many of the
later upanishads, the Isha Upanishad
propounds a loosely defined monism, in
which the source of all things is ascribed
to a single power. This power can be
discovered through a flash of mystic
insight when the seeker is able toIsha (“Lord”) Upanishad