concrete benefits for assiduous devotion
is an attractive option. See also Santoshi
Ma Vrat.
Santoshi Ma Vrat
Religious observance celebrated on
Fridays in homage to the goddess
Santoshi Ma(“the mother who satis-
fies”). This religious vow (vrat) is usually
kept by womenwith the aim of attaining
concrete goals for themselves or (more
commonly) their families: getting a job,
passing an exam, conceiving a child, or
arranging a marriage. When one’s wish
has been granted, a final ceremony
calls for the observant to feed eight
brahminboys a meal of rice, yogurt, and
bananas. After this concluding rite,
one is no longer required to observe the
vow, although many women choose
to continue performing it as a means
to maintain the household’s general
good fortune.
The Santoshi Ma Vrat has become
extremely popular throughout northern
India since the late 1970s, one reason
being that it is simple and inexpensive.
On the day of the fast (upavasa) the wor-
shiper should not eat until the evening
meal, although tea and other beverages
are generally allowed. In the late after-
noon the worshiper should light a lamp
in front of a picture of Santoshi Ma, offer
her small amounts of chickpeas and raw
sugar—things that can be found in even
the poorest households—and read
aloud the rite’s charter myth, which tells
how a poor, unfortunate woman solved
all her family’s troubles through her
devotion to Santoshi Ma. After this, the
worshiper may eat the evening meal,
although it is also subject to restrictions:
Since Santoshi Ma is a goddess associat-
ed with sweetness, the food must not
contain any sour, spicy, or bitter season-
ings. This observance thus carries the
two common features of most religious
vows: some form of worshipand modi-
fication of one’s diet, with the promise of
benefits in return.
Sanyasi
(“renunciant”) According to the dharma
literature, the last of the idealized
stages of life(ashrama) for a twice-born
man, that is a man born into the brah-
min, kshatriya, or vaishyacommuni-
ties. Boys born into these communities
are eligible for the adolescent religious
initiationknown as the “second birth.”
After engaging in religious learning as a
celibate student (brahmacharin), mar-
rying and raising a family as a house-
holder (grhastha), and gradually detach-
ing himself from the world as a forest-
dwelling recluse (vanaprastha), a twice-
born man should finally renounce all
possessions and all attachments to
devote himself exclusively to the search
for ultimate truth. Although in a general
sense the word Sanyasican (and some-
times does) refer to any such renun-
ciant, it is most used as the name of a
particular ascetic community, the
Dashanami Sanyasis, who are believed
to have been founded by the great
philosopher Shankaracharya, and who
are devotees (bhakta) of the god Shiva.Sanyasi Rebellion
Name given by the British to a long-term
struggle in the Bengal region in the latter
half of the eighteenth century. This was
the period in which the British East
India Company was consolidating its
economic, political, and military control
over the region, causing wide-ranging
dislocations in traditional Bengali soci-
ety. Among the entrenched powers with
which the British clashed were orga-
nized bands of soldier-ascetics, both
Hindus and Muslims. These soldier-
ascetics were significant local forces,
with both military and economic power
gained through mercenary services,
trading, and money-lending, and they
competed with the British East India
Company for political authority and
land revenue.
Conflict between the British and the
ascetics peaked shortly after the Bengal
famine of 1770–1771. The rebellion was
caused partly by competition for greatlySantoshi Ma Vrat