excerpts on a particular theme from the
Vedas, dharma literature, puranas, and
other authoritative religious texts, and
then compiled them into a single orga-
nized text. Excerpts from these same
authoritative texts on a different theme
would be compiled into a different vol-
ume, and so on. The compilers would
often have to reconcile conflicting texts,
or judge which passage was preferable
to another. Such judgments were gener-
ally done using rules for textual inter-
pretation developed by the Purva
Mimamsaphilosophical school, one of
the six schoolsof traditional Hindu phi-
losophy. The Purva Mimamsa school
had originally developed these rules for
interpreting the Vedas, the oldest and
most authoritative Hindu religious texts.
In many cases the nibandhas had
between fifteen and twenty volumes,
attempting to provide an exhaustive
investigation of Hindu religious life.
Among the most influential nibandhas
are the Kalpataru, compiled by
Lakshmidharain twelfth century, and
the Viramitrodaya, compiled by Mitra
Mishraearly in the seventeenth century.
Nigantha Nataputta
In early Indian philosophy, a figure
whose views are mentioned in the
Buddhist scriptures. Nigantha advocated
a four-fold self-restraint, although these
sources give no further indication of
his doctrines. It is generally accepted
that Nigantha was the same person
as Mahavira. Mahavira is believed to
have been the last of the Jain
tirthankaras, the founding figures in the
Jain religious tradition.Night, Goddess of
In the Vedas, the earliest and most
authoritative Hindu religious texts, the
gods and goddesses are associated with
phenomena in the natural world. In the
Vedas the goddessRatri (Night) is men-
tioned both as a goddess and as the
night itself. At times she is seen as life-
giving, allowing people the opportunity
to refresh and renew themselves. At
other times she is associated with the
dangers of the night, such as wild ani-
mals and thieves. Ratri is considered a
sister to Ushas, the dawn. As night and
day alternate, the two goddesses markNigantha Nataputta
Leader of a Toda tribe in the Nilgiri Hills.