Shalagram
Black stone containing an ammonite,
the spiral-shaped fossil shell of a prehis-
toric sea creature. The shalagram is pri-
marily found in the upper reaches of the
GandakiRiver in Nepal. The circular
ammonite fossil is understood to be
Vishnu’s chakra, and the shalagram is
thus understood as a “self-manifest”
(svayambhu) form of Vishnu. As with all
such “self-manifest” forms, the shala-
gram is believed to be especially holy,
since in it Vishnu has chosen to reveal
himself to his devotees (bhakta) rather
than coming to an image fashioned by
human hands. Because of its holiness,
the shalagram is often an object of wor-
ship. Its portability (and durability) made
it the preferred form of Vishnu for wan-
dering Vaishnavaascetics. One also finds
cases in which small images are claimed
to have been revealed when a shalagram
was broken open; these images carry the
glamour of a finished image as well as the
divine powerthat accompanies sponta-
neous manifestation.
Shambhu
(“causing happiness,” “granting pros-
perity”) Epithet of the god Shiva.
See Shiva.
Shamvuka
Shudra asceticwho appears both in
the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, and in the poet
Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha, whose
story line is based on the Ramayana.
According to the story a brahmin
comes to Rama, the epic’s protago-
nist, and complains that his son has
died because of the unrighteousness
running through the land. Since the
king is considered responsible for the
general moral climate in his kingdom,
Rama immediately asks the brahmin
for more information. He is told that a
man named Shamvuka has been
doing physical asceticism(tapas) in a
bid to generate spiritual powers
through his suffering, even though
Shamvuka is a member of the servant
(shudra) class, and these sorts of reli-
gious exercises are forbidden to peo-
ple of such low social status. Rama
finds Shamvuka hanging his head
downward over a smoking fire, and
when he refuses to desist from his
ascetic practices, Rama kills him. This
episode conveys several important
messages. One of these is the Indian
cultural belief that physical suffering
generates spiritual and/or magic
powers. When this belief is combined
with a profoundly hierarchical model
of society, it becomes important for
the higher-class people to control the
people who are allowed to do this,
lest the lower classes gain power over
their “betters.” Finally, this story
shows the Ramayana’s general ten-
dency to uphold established social
values and boundaries.Shankara
(“auspicious”) Epithet of the god
Shiva. With the honorific suffix
acharya(“teacher”), this is also the
name of the most significant figure in
the Advaita Vedanta philosophical
school, Shankaracharya, who is pop-
ularly considered to be Shiva incar-
nate. As noted above, the generally
accepted meaning of the nameShalagram
Believed to be a manifestation of the god Vishnu,
a shalagram is a black stone that contains the
fossilized spiral shell of a prehistoric sea creature.