Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism

(Michael S) #1
muni
Someone who keeps silence, a sage, a
saint; also a title of honour for religious
persons.

muñja
A kind of grass or rush from which the
girdle of a brahmin at initiation is made.

Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal
(1887–1971)
Prominent freedom fighter and Con-
gress politician, instrumental in re-
building and rededicating the ancient
Ÿiva temple at Somnäth, founder of the
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an important
cultural institution that promotes the
study of Sanskrit and traditional Indian
learning, and publishes a scholarly jour-
nal (Bhäratïya Vidyä) and a monograph
series, Bhavan’s Book University, with
hundreds of volumes on Hindu shrines
and saints, Hindu literature and art,
translations and summaries of Hindu
classics. It also has branches outside
India, promoting the teaching of
Sanskrit and Hindï.

Muräri
(‘the enemy of the demon Mura’)
A favourite epithet of KØÆŒA.

mürti (‘embodiment’)
An IMAGEused in worship, the presence
of the deity.

Murti, Tiruppatur
Rameseshayyar Venkatachala
(1902–85)
Born into a South Indian brahmin family,
educated both in the traditional and
modern academic ways, for many years
a professor of Philosophy at the Benares
Hindu University, with guest professor-
ships in many prestigious Western uni-
versities, although best known for his
work The Central Philosophy of
Buddhism (1955), one of the foremost
Hindu philosophers and exponents of
ADVAITAVEDÄNTAin our time. He pub-
lished dozens of important papers on all
aspects of Indian philosophy; some of
these are found in H. C. Coward (ed.)
Studies in Indian Thought: Collected
Papers of Prof. T. R. V. Murti(1983).

Murugan
Tamil god of youth, beauty, divine free-
dom, the Lord of the World, war god;
also known as Sey, Vel and Neduvel.
The elephant and peacock are associat-
ed with him. Part of his cult is a frenzied
kind of dance, the Veriyadal. He is

121 Murugan

Music making from the Ho Tribe, Bihar.

Encyclo - Letter M 10/2/03 9:50 am Page 121

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