Analogy
In certain schools of Indian philosophy,
analogy is considered to be one of the
pramanas, the means by which human
beings can gain true and accurate
knowledge. See upamana.
Ananda
(“bliss”) One of the three traditional
attributes of the Supreme Reality
(Brahman), usually described as being-
consciousness-bliss (sacchidananda).
Ananda, or bliss, is heavily stressed in
certain forms of tantra, an esoteric ritu-
al tradition. In tantra, ananda is both an
aspect of mundane physical enjoyment
and a way of describing the ultimate
realization. In this understanding, even
ordinary pleasures are reflections of ulti-
mate bliss. Ultimate bliss differs from
ordinary pleasure both because it is per-
manent, and because you lose your
sense of self and are aware only of bliss.
Ananda Akhara
The name of a specific group of the Naga
class of the Dashanami Sanyasis, a par-
ticular type of renunciant ascetic. The
Dashanami Nagas are devotees (bhakta)
of the god Shiva, organized into six dif-
ferent akharas or regiments on the
model of an army. Until the beginning of
the nineteenth century, the Nagas’ pri-
mary occupation was as mercenary sol-
diers, although they also had substantial
trading interests; both of these occupa-
tions have largely disappeared in con-
temporary times.
For organizational purposes, the
Ananda akhara is considered a sub-
sidiary of the powerful Niranjani
akhara, one of the other seven akharas.
All of the groups have particular
features that define their organizational
identity, especially specific tutelary
deities; the tutelary deity of the Ananda
akhara is fire.
Ananda Marga Yoga Society
Modern Hindu organization founded
by Shri Anandamurti. The Society
emphasizes yogaand meditation, which
are intended to set its practitioners on
the path (marga) to bliss (ananda). The
movement is the strongest in the state of
West Bengal, and has been dogged by
controversy in India, particularly after
Anandamurti was indicted for the mur-
der of two of his disciples. In the end he
was acquitted of all charges, but the
organization’s legal troubles made its
members withdraw from society. Many
Indians view them with suspicion, if not
outright hostility, and the movement is
associated with ritual murder and black
magic. In recent times, it has even been
suspected of terrorism, after a large
shipment of black-market arms was
mysteriously parachuted into a nearby
region in early 1995. Although it has
never been proved that the arms were
for the Society, this incident is one more
element in the surrounding cloud of
secrecy and suspicion.Anandamath
Novel by the Bengali nationalist
author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
(1838–1894). It is set in eighteenth-
century Bengal during the so-called
Sanyasi Rebellion, which invloved
bands of Hindu and Muslim militant
ascetics. Both groups fought with the
British East India Company for con-
trol over the region.
Historical inquiry suggests that the
roots of this conflict lay in the extreme
social tensions in Bengali society,
particularly changes in land ownership
patterns and the havoc wreaked by
the great famine of 1770–1771.
Chatterjee was an ardent Indian nation-
alist and portrayed the Sanyasi
Rebellion as a struggle by Mother India’s
loyal children to expel the parasitic
British invaders from her shores.
Although the novel was set in an earlier
era to avoid problems with the British
authorities, Anandamathis clearly alle-
gorical and nationalistic, and it is viewed
by contemporary critics as Chatterjee’s
way to symbolize the need for continuing
the struggle against British imperialism in
the mid-nineteenth century.Anandamath