Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism

A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism 10 Since Hinduism as such has no central authority, no common creed, no magisterium, but cons ...

11 Introduction Hinduism, the vernaculars became the preferred linguistic medium. Most of the bhaktipoets came from backgrounds ...

A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism 12 schools within Vai•æavism, Ÿaivism or Ÿäktism would narrate in great detail the specific t ...

13 Introduction caused by ignorance (avidyä) concerning the true nature of reality. Hindu philosophies are immensely sophisticat ...

A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism 14 Conclusion It is hard to describe a phenomenon like Hinduism, with its thousands of years ...

abhäva (‘non-being’) Absence of reality, a category in NYÄYA. Abhinav Bhärat Society ‘Young India Society’, founded by Vinayak D ...

dharmahe will appear as an AVAfiÄRAto save the righteous and destroy the wicked. adhidaivata (‘relating to the gods [devas]’) A ...

afterlife Belief in life after death is universal among Hindus. However, the forms in which it is envisaged have changed over ti ...

number of bricks (10,800) symbolized the number of hours in the year, the five layers in which they were piled symbol- ized the ...

Airävata A four-tusked white elephant produced from the CHURNING OF THE OCEANand appropriated by INDRAas his VAHANA. Guardian of ...

Akhil Bhäratïya Vidyärthi Pari•ad (‘All India Students’ Council’) An organization for students created by the Rä•flrïya Svayamse ...

India (sixth to ninth centuries CE), devo- tees of Mäl (the Tamil form of KØÆŒA and of VIÆŒU Näräyana) whose hymns are collected ...

Änanda Tïrtha SeeMADHVA. ananta (‘infinite’) An attribute of the supreme. Ananta Name of the world-snake (ŸEÆA) upon which VIÆŒU ...

animal sacrifice SeeSACRIFICE. anna SeeFOOD. annihilation (saƒhära, pralaya) One of the three divine cosmic func- tions. Accordi ...

Äpastamba Ancient writer on ritual and law and author of the Äpastamba Dharmasütra. He is often quoted by later writers. apauru• ...

of stüpas, caityasand caves (often rich- ly ornamented and provided with archi- tectural embellishments) in all probabil- ity ma ...

One story explains its origins thus: an ardent devotee of Ÿiva, who refused to worship PÄRVATÏ, his consort, tried to avoid CIRC ...

Artha-ÿästra (‘the science of acquiring wealth [and power]’) A class of writings dealing with eco- nomics and politics. One such ...

expected to become more and more detached from self-indulgence as he progressed through life. A brahmin’s life was to end in SAM ...

A•flädhyäyï (‘eight chapters’) Title of the celebrated SANSKRITgram- mar by PÄŒINÏ(6th century BCE?) which has been hailed as on ...