Satyavati
In Hindu mythology, the mother of the
sage Vyasa. Satyavati is born in an
unusual way. Her mother, a celestial
nymph who lives as a fish in the
Gangesas the result of a curse, one
day swallows some semen that has
fallen into the Ganges, becomes preg-
nant, and delivers a sonand a daugh-
ter. Satyavati grows into a beautiful
young woman, but because of her ori-
gins she always smells of fish, and
because of this is also called
Matsyagandhi (“fish-scent”). She
works ferrying passengers across the
Ganges and one day ferries the sage
Parashara, who is struck by her
charms. Parashara creates an artificial
fog to give the two of them privacy, has
sexual relations with her, and grants
that from that day onward Satyavati
will smell of musk instead of fish. The
son born of this union is Vyasa.
Satyavati continues to ply her trade,
and one day ferries King Shantanu, who
is also struck by her beauty. Before she
will marry him she demands that her sons
will rule Shantanu’s kingdom. Shantanu
agrees; and to give her absolute certainty,
his son Bhishmatakes a vow that he will
never marry, so that his line will never
compete with hers. Satyavati has two
sons: Chitrangada dies in childhood, and
Vichitraviryadies after he marries the
princesses Ambikaand Ambalika but
before having any children. In despera-
tion, Satyavati thinks of her first son
Vyasa, who conceives a son with each of
the wives: Pandufrom Ambalika, and
Dhrtarashtrafrom Ambika. The descen-
dants of these two sons are the warring
families in the Sanskrit epic
Mahabharata, of which Vyasa is famed as
the narrator.
Saumya
(“mild”) Term used to refer to the
deitiesin their benevolent, beneficent,
and gentle manifestations, as opposed
to their terrifying (ghora) manifesta-
tions. This distinction is particularly
applicable to Shiva and the Goddess,
both of whom can appear in either
form and whose worshipcan focus on
either aspect.Saundaryalahari
(“waves of beauty”) Poetic text dedicat-
ed to the praise of the Goddessas the
supreme power in the universe. The text
is traditionally ascribed to the philoso-
pher Shankaracharya, who is also
believed to have written other hymns in
praise of Hindu gods and goddesses,
despite being the greatest exponent of
the philosophical school known as
Advaita Vedanta, in which the Supreme
Reality, called Brahman, is believed to
be completely devoid of specific attrib-
utes. If Shankaracharya did in fact
author these poetic texts, one possible
explanation is that Shankaracharya was
an intensely religious man and
expressed this devotion in various ways.
The text has been an enormously influ-
ential, particularly in those schools of
tantra(a secret, ritually based religious
practice) in which the Goddess is con-
sidered the single Ultimate Reality.Savaiya
Syllabic meter in Hindipoetry, com-
posed of four lines of between twenty-
two and twenty-six syllables each. Its
loose form gives the poet some flexibility,
but the challenges of working with such
an extended meter place considerable
demands on the poet’s skill, making this
one of the more “literary” meters.Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar
(1883–1966) Hindu nationalist leader
and thinker whose ideas have had last-
ing influence. Savarkar spent his entire
life opposing British rule, often by violent
means. He was also virulently opposed to
Muslims, whom he saw as invaders and
intruders in the Indian homeland. After
being expelled from college for organizing
a political rally, he spent four years in
London, where he and his compatriots
learned bomb-making and planned
political assassinations. In 1911 he wasSatyavati