of Amrit DESAI, who founded the center for KRI-
PALU YOGA in Lenox, Massachusetts. Both Desai
brothers were students of Swami Kripalu and
accomplished in yogic disciplines as well as the
application of yogic principles to everyday life.
Shanti traveled to the United States to pur-
sue graduate work at Drexel University. He was
awarded his M.S. in 1964 and subsequently
worked as a chemist until 1972, when he realized
that yoga was his life’s path. He returned to India
and accepted a SHAKTIPAT initiation from his guru.
Shaktipat involves an energy transfer from the
guru to the student that releases the KUNDALINI
believed to lie latent at the base of the spine.
Shanti Desai founded his institute upon his
return from India. In Ocean City, New Jersey, he
opened the doors of the Yoga Retreat, in 1974 and
Prasad, a holistic health food store and restaurant
in 1981. Shanti has designed his yoga teaching
especially to address American perspectives. His
writings are published by the Shanti Yoga Insti-
tute.
Further reading: Yogi Shanti Desai, The Complete Prac-
tice Manual of Yoga (Ocean City, N.J.: Shanti Yoga Insti-
tute, 1976); ———, Meditation Practice Manual (Ocean
City, N. J.: Shanti Yoga Institute, 1981).
Shashthi
Shashthi, “the sixth,” is a GODDESS meant to repre-
sent the sixth day after the birth of a child, when
it is understood that danger to both the child and
the mother has ended. She is believed to protect
children from evil and illness. Shashthi is best
known in Bengal, where she is worshipped by
married women who desire children. She is rep-
resented as a golden-complexioned woman with a
child in her arms, riding on a cat.
There is a Bengali belief that women should
never harm a cat because doing so will incur the
anger of Shashthi. Festivals are held several times
a year to honor this goddess. The husband of a
family must worship her on the sixth day after a
child’s birth. A wife must make offerings to her
after the child’s third month. Women who do not
have children go to her to ask for children; many
other gods are also approached for this purpose.Further reading: Donald S. Lopez Jr., ed., Religions of
India in Practice (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1995); Akos Ostor, The Play of the Gods: Locality,
Ideology, Structure and Time in the Festivals of a Bengali
Town (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980).shastra
Shastra (from shas, to order or enjoin) is a term
for any authoritative scripture in the Brahminical
or Hindu tradition. For example, the ARTHASHAS-
TRA is an authoritative scripture on artha (worldly
action) as it relates to a king. The DHARMASHAS-
TRA is authoritative scripture concerning DHARMA
(right conduct).Further reading: A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was
India (Calcutta: Rupa, 1997); Klaus K. Klostermaier,
A Survey of Hinduism (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1989).Shatapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana (c. 700 B.C.E.) is one
of the most important texts for the interpretation
of late Vedic ritual (see VEDAS). Its treatment of
certain ritual ideas may have strongly influenced
later Hindu philosophical developments. This
BRAHMANA is attached to the White YAJUR VEDA.
The most important part of the Shatapatha
Brahmana is its elaboration on the grandest of
public Vedic rites, the AGNICHAYANA or “build-
ing of the fire altar.” It explains this ritual as a
reenactment of the sacrifice of the primordial
man or PURUSHA, which created the universe. The
ritual thus becomes a cosmic process transcend-
ing every mundane action. The various BRAHMINS
performing the ritual identify themselves in turn
with various aspects of the universe; one Brah-K 404 Shashthi