aesthetic experience, as well as pure
carnal pleasure.
Vatsyayana
(2) (4th c.) Writer and commentator in
the Nyaya school, one of the six
schoolsof traditional Hindu philoso-
phy, which since early in the common
era has been combined with another of
the six schools, the Vaisheshikas.
Vatsyayana is best known for his
commentary on Gautama’s Nyaya
Sutras, themselves the foundational
text for the Nyaya school.
Vayu
In Hindu mythology, the deitywho is
windpersonified. Vayu is a minor deity
who is one of the eight Guardians of the
Directions; his direction is the north-
west. Aside from being the external
winds, Vayu is also believed to be pre-
sent inside the body, in the five “vital
winds” (prana) through which all phys-
iological processes are believed to occur.
Although Vayu is a minor deity, two of
his sonsare extremely significant. His
son, Bhima, is one of the five Pandava
brothers who are the protagonists in the
Mahabharata, the later of the two great
Sanskritepics. Bhima is famous for his
size and strength, and also for his earthy
appetites, both of which reflect the
wind’s raw, uncontrollable nature. Vayu’s
other famous son is the monkey-god,
Hanuman. Even though mythically
Hanuman is most famous for his devo-
tion and service to the god Rama, in
practical terms he is one of the most
popular and widely worshiped deities in
northern India. This popularity may
stem from his intermediate status;
because Hanuman is also a servant, he
is less remote and majestic than Rama
and, therefore, accessible to human
petitions. Another important factor is
that this accessibility is coupled with
power and the ability to protect those
who call on him.
Veda
(“knowledge”) The oldest and most
authoritative group of Hindu sacred
texts, also designated by the term shruti
(“heard”). According to tradition, these
texts were not composed by human
beings, but are based in the primordial
vibrations of the cosmos itself. The
ancient sages, whose faculties of per-
ception had been honed through ardu-
ous religious practice, were able to
“hear” and understand these vibrations,
and transmitted them to others in a lin-
eage of learning. On one level, the term
vedais part of the names of four individ-
ual texts—the Rg Veda,Sama Veda,
Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda, each of
which has a differing focus and content.
The term vedais also a collective term
for the material in these texts or their
associated appendices: the Vedic hymns
(samhitas), the Brahmanas, the
Aranyakas, and the Upanishads.
Although these four groups of texts are
all considered part of the Vedas, they
have very different forms and character-
istics. The samhitas are hymns of praise
addressed to particular deities, and are
found mainly in the Rg Veda and the
Sama Veda. In contrast, the Brahmanas
are detailed ritual manuals, giving the
instructions for performing complex
sacrificial rites; the Aranyakas and the
Upanishads are speculative ponderings
on the nature of the cosmos. The Vedas
were considered so sacred that for 3,000
years they were not written down, but
transmitted orally, a mode of transmis-
sion that still persists today. The Vedas’
power comes not from their literal
meaning, but from their very sound,
which is the identical sound heard by
the sages long ago. To safeguard this tra-
dition, Hindus developed an elaborate
system of mnemonicsto ensure that the
texts would not be altered or corrupted,
thus preserving their efficacy.Vedanga
(“[subsidiary] member of the Veda”)
General name for six classes of works
considered auxiliary to the VedasVatsyayana