included the western part of the state of
Bihar. The Senas were originally vassals
of the Pala dynastybut became inde-
pendent in 1097 and later seized much
of the Pala domain in Bihar. The Sena
dynasty survived until 1245, when it was
finally conquered by the Mamluks, who
had been seizing Sena territory since the
beginning of that century. The Senas
(and their predecessors, the Palas) are
particularly noted for a certain type of
sculpturein which the images were
carved from black chlorite schist that
was polished to a mirror finish.
Setubandha
(“Building the Bridge”) Early medieval
poem whose theme is taken from the
epic Ramayanaand describes Rama’s
invasion of Lankaby building a bridge
across the ocean straits. The poem is
written in Prakrit, an umbrella term for
the grammatically simpler vernacular
languages that developed from Sanskrit
through natural linguistic change. The
poem has been falsely ascribed to
Kalidasa, the greatest Sanskrit poet. The
true author is unknown.
Seva
(“service”) Actions springing from an
attitude of loving devotion, manifested
as attendance on and service to a deity,
religious teacher (guru), or any superior
person. The notion of seva is particularly
important in the relationship between
religious teacher and disciple. The
teacher’s task is to further the disciple’s
spiritual development, which may
sometimes entail harsh criticism to
reform some of the disciple’s faults. The
ideal disciple will accept such direction
in a spirit of self-effacement and carry
out the teacher’s instructions faithfully
and without protest, as a sign of submis-
sion and service. Such arrangements are
often necessary for spiritual growth, and
a teacher can often give a much more
objective assessment of the disciple’s
true spiritual state and what must be
done for advancement. Still, when one
of the parties is not sincere, this model
has great potential for abuse. In such
circumstances the teacher’s call for obe-
dience and service—in which any “resis-
tance” to the teacher’s demands can be
cited as a sign of spiritual immaturity—
can be a way to take advantage of a
devotee (bhakta).Sevagram
(“service village”) City in the eastern
part of the state of Maharashtraabout
fifty miles south and west of Nagpur. It
is most famous for the ashramestab-
lished there by Mohandas K. Gandhiin
1933, which was founded to promote hisSevagramThe ashram established by Mohandas K. Gandhi in Sevagram, Maharashtra.