Vidyapati
(ca. 1400) Brahmincourt poet in the
Hindu kingdom of Mithilain northern
Bihar. Although Vidyapati wrote works
in Sanskrit, he is best known for his love
poetry, which was written in the vernac-
ular Maithali language. In this poetry he
drew on the literary traditions of
Sanskrit love poetry, but his favorite
subjects for this poetry were the divine
lovers Radhaand Krishna. Although
later Vaishnavasconsidered Vidyapati’s
love poetry as devotional works,
Vidyapati’s own religious writings defin-
itively describe Shivaas the Supreme
Being, clearly showing that he was a
Shaiva. For further information see
Edward C. Dimock Jr. and Denise
Levertov (trans.), In Praise of Krishna,
1981; and R. S. McGregor, The Love
Songs of Vidyapati, 1987.
Vidyarambha (“beginning of
study”) Samskara
Traditionally, the tenth of the life-cycle
ceremonies (samskaras), in which the
child begins formal education, usually
by starting to learn the alphabet.
Although people in modern India may
not perform this rite according to its
prescribed form (which includes mak-
ing offeringsto a sacrificial fireand giv-
ing gifts to brahmins), families in which
education is taken seriously usually
have a ritualized commencement of
study, often when the child is as young
as three.Vighneshvar
(“Lord of Obstacles”) Epithet of the god
Ganesh, reflecting the belief that he
wields control over all obstacles, and
thus can make things easy or hard on a
person. See Ganesh.Vihara
An early architectural form, in which a
central courtyard was surrounded by a
series of small rooms. This was originally
a Buddhist architectural form, intended
to create a living space for the monks—
individual cells in the small rooms and aVidyapati
Ruins of Vijayanagar, capital of the Vijayanagar dynasty.