117 Merusacrifice (asses and camels, for instance,
are unfit for sacrifice, because they lack
medha).medicine
Traditional Indian medicine was
holistic, i.e. it aimed at restoring a
balance between the various compo-
nents of a person, believed to be dis-
turbed in sickness. Thus the medical
treatises by Caraka (Caraka Saƒhitä)
and Suÿruta (Suÿruta Saƒhitä) con-
tain, besides physiological diagnoses
and remedies, instructions concerning
the right lifestyle and the attainment
of the ultimate goal. Ancient Indian
medicine was quite advanced in its
surgical procedures, its knowledge of
the pharmaceutical properties of
plants and its understanding of psy-
chosomatic diseases. (See also
AYURVEDA.)meditation
A generic translation of a variety of
Indian notions referring to interioriza-
ton (manana, reflecting on a text;
pratyahära, withdrawing the senses;
dhyäna, a trance-like condition;
upäsana, worshipful meditation on a
deity, samädhï, contemplation); often
Yoga is identified with meditation as
such, although it consists of a variety
of practices, whose ultimate aim,
however, is in-depth meditation
(kaivalya, understood as a return of
the self to its own nature). Hinduism
has been associated for ages with
meditation, and contemporary GURUS
usually establish themselves in the
West as teachers of new meditation
techniques.megaliths
These are found in many places in India,
and are associated with the MAGAS,
who were famous for being able to
move huge objects.Megasthenes (fourth century BCE)
Greek ambassador to the Maurya
emperor Candragupta at Pataliputra
(Patna), whose book Indika remained
for many centuries the main source of
information in the West about ancient
India. The work is known today only
from quotes and references in other
ancient writers.melä (‘gathering’)
Generic designation of all popular festi-
vals, usually with a religious back-
ground, such as the KUMBHA-MELÄ.Melkote
Town in Karæätaka, to which
RÄMÄNUJAfled to avoid the persecu-
tions of the Ÿaivite COLA king, and
which under the HOYŸALAking, whom
Rämänuja converted from JAINISM,
became an important centre of
ŸRÏVAIÆŒAVISM.Menä
An APSARAsent by Indra to seduce the
sage Viÿvämitra to tempt him to desist
from his austerities; she became the
mother of ŸAKUNTALÄ.merit (puæya)
An important notion in Hinduism:
the result of good karma and the con-
dition for a good afterlife. Often the
aÿva-medha, the most prestigious of
Vedic yajñas (SACRIFICES), was used as
a measure of merit to be gained from
a particular religious act, such as a
dip in a sacred river at a particular
time, or the giving of a gift to a
brahmin.Meru
The mountain in the centre of the
world, on whose top lies SVARGA,
Indra’s heaven.Encyclo - Letter M 10/2/03 9:50 am Page 117