119 month(devotees), and she is one of the
favourite saints of northern India. (See
also ANfiÄL.)miracle
An essential ingredient especially of
popular Hinduism. Apart from the
siddhis (miraculous powers, e.g. making
oneself small like an atom or big like a
mountain) ascribed to famous YOGIS
(and obtainable through methodic
Siddha Yoga) every temple, big and
small, boasts of miracles that happened
to worshippers, from cures from incur-
able diseases to manifestations of life by
the mürtis (IMAGES), which are reported
to have drunk the milk offered to them
or to exude healing substances, or to
show signs of menses etc. The epics and
the Puräæas, especially the Sthäla
Puräæas are full of stories of miracles
and many Hindus also today claim to
have witnessed miraculous events,
which they report in religious maga-
zines such as Kalyän. A contemporary
GURUsuch as SATHYASAIBABAis credited
with miraculous powers: he has brought
healing to many and is miraculously pro-
ducing all kinds of objects, as reported in
many books.Mitäk•arä
A commentary by Vijñäneÿvara (fl.
second half of 11th century CE) on the
Yäjñavalkyasmøtiwhich enjoyed great
authority all over India.Mithilä
Capital city of Videha, in today’s north-
ern Bihär, the country over which King
JANAKAruled.mithyä (‘false’, ‘unreal’)
Description of the visible world from
the standpoint of ADVAITAVEDÄNTA:
brahma satyam, jagad mithyä (‘brahman
is real, the world is false’).Mitra (‘friend’)
A name of the SUN. In the Vedas Mitra
is usually associated with VARUŒAas
guardian of morality: Mitra rules the
day, and Varuæa the night.mleccha (‘barbarian’)
People who do not speak Sanskrit and
do not observe the rules of life of the
Äryans; a foreigner, an outcast.moha (‘delusion’)
One of the ‘three gates to hell’, to be
avoided by a religious person. (See also
LOBHA, KRODHA.)mok•a
SeeLIBERATION.Monier-Williams, Monier
(1819–99)
Eminent lexicographer. Born in
Bombay, he was the Boden Professor of
Sanskrit at Oxford, founder of the
Indian Institute at the University of
Oxford (1883), compiler of a major
Sanskrit dictionary, and the author of
several scholarly works and transla-
tions.month
Hindus use a lunar–solar CALENDAR,
and their months do not coincide with
those used in the Gregorian calendar.
The year begins in spring with the
month Caitra (March–April), followed
by Vai•äkha (April–May), Jyai•flha (May–
June), Ä•äõha (June–July), Ÿrävana
(July–August), Bhädra (August–Septem-
ber), Äÿvina (September– October), Kär-
ttika (October–November), Märgaÿïr•a
(November–December), Pau•a (December–
January), Mägha (January–February),
Phälguna (February–March). All the
Hindu FESTIVALSare calculated accord-
ing to this CALENDAR.Encyclo - Letter M 10/2/03 9:50 am Page 119