Eastern Spirituality

Glossary Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Truthfulness. Sacca (Pāli; Sanskrit Satya) word meaning "real" or "true". In early Buddhist literature, sacca is often found in the context of the "Four Noble Truths", a crystallization of Buddhist wisdom. In addition, sacca is one of the ten pāramitās or "perfections" a bodhisatta must develop in order to become a Buddha.

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In Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism, a sādhaka is someone who follows a particular sādhanā, or a way of life designed to realize the goal of one's ultimate ideal, whether it is merging with brahman or realization of one's personal deity. The word is related to the Sanskrit sādhu, which is derived from the verb root sādh-, 'to accomplish'. As long as one has yet to reach the goal, they are a sādhaka, while one who has reached the goal is called a siddha. In modern usage, sadhaka is often applied as a generic term for any religious practitioner. In medieval times it was more narrowly used as a technical term for one who had gone through a specific initiation.

Hindu, Jain, and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions use the term sadhaka for spiritual initiates and/or aspirants.

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Sādhanā, literally "a means of accomplishing something", is an ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.

In particular, sādhanā can refer to a tantric liturgy or liturgical manual, that is, the instructions to carry out a ritual.

The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sādhanā as follows:

Religious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and molds the mind and disposition (bhāva) into a form which develops the knowledge of dispassion and non-attachment. Sādhanā is a means whereby bondage becomes liberation.

Iyengar (1993: p. 22) in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:

Sādhanā is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhanā, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal.

Example video:

Example via www.ramdass.org: Making it Sacred

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: The Teacher by Chogyam Trungpa

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A renunciate. In Hinduism, a sādhu (Sanskrit: sādhu, "good; good man, holy man") is a religious ascetic or holy person. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa (liberation), the fourth and final aśrama (stage of life), through meditation and contemplation of Brahman. Sādhus often wear saffron-coloured clothing, symbolising their sanyāsa (renunciation). This way of life is open to women; the female form of the word is sādhvī. In 2014, an all-female akhada (group of sadhus) was formed; it is believed to be the first such group in India.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Sub Ek: All One

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King Sagar is one of the greatest kings of Suryavansha in the Satya Yuga. He was king of Ayodhya, ancestor to King Dasharatha. He had two wives Keshini and Sumati. Asamanja was his son from Keshini.

In Hindu mythology, Sagara (IAST: Sagara) is a prominent king of the Suryavansha dynasty in Satya Yuga. He has two wives, one a princess of the Vidarbha, and the other from royal lineage of Sivi. and is an ancestor to Bhagiratha, Dasharatha and Rama.

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Youngest of the Pandava princes who offered the first honors to Krishna at the Rajasuya sacrifices.

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Sahadeva was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers. Nakula and Sahadeva were twins born to Madri, who had invoked the Ashwini Kumaras using Kunti's boon. Nakula and Sahadeva are referred as Asvineya, as the two physicicans of gods.

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A ruler friendly to the Pandavas.

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In the epic Mahābhārata, Jayadratha was the king of Sindhu Kingdom (so he is also called as Saindhava). He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the 100 Kaurava brothers. He was the son of the king Vridhakshtra.

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A maid servant or female attendant employed in royal female apartments.

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Śakra is identified with the Vedic deity Indra. Śakra is sometimes named as one of the twelve Ādityas.

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Friend of Sisupala, who besieged Dwaraka Sri Krishna's kingdom to avenge Sisupala's death at the latter's hand.

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A term used in yogic meditation. Samadhi is also the Hindi word for a structure commemorating the dead.

Samādhi (Hindi pronunciation: [səˈmaːd̪ʱi]), also called samāpatti, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is the last stage or ultimate stage of meditation, when the person is out of physical consciousness. In samādhi the mind and soul are in equal balance. It is meditative absorption, attained by the practice of dhyāna. In samādhi the mind becomes still, one-pointed or concentrated while individual awareness remains present. When someone dies in India, it is not uncommon to say, that person has gone to 'Samādhi'. The tombstone area is also referred to as place of 'samādhi'.

In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.

Example via www.ramdass.org: "Samadhi" Transcription

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A śrāmaṇera is a male novice monk, who, after a year or until the ripe age of 20, will be considered for the higher Bhikkhu ordination. A female novitiate is a śrāmaṇerī or śrāmaṇerikā.

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Mental stabilization; tranquility meditation. Distinguished from vipassanā meditation. Samatha (Pāli), (śamatha is the Buddhist practice (bhavana) of the calming of the mind (citta) and its 'formations' (sankhara). This is done by practicing single-pointed meditation most commonly through mindfulness of breathing. Samatha is common to all Buddhist traditions.

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A Yadava youngster dressed as a woman who gave birth to a mace, as foretold by rishis.

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Sambu was son of Krishna, who married Lakshmana, daughter of Duryodhana.

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Samkhya or Sankhya (IAST: sāṃkhya) is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. It is described as the rationalist school of Indian philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, and its rationalism was influential on other schools of Indian philosophies.

Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy whose epistemology accepted three of six Pramanas as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge. These included Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference) and Sabda (Āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).

Samkhya is strongly dualist. Sāmkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities; Puruṣa (consciousness) and prakriti (matter). Jiva (a living being) is that state in which puruṣa is bonded to prakriti in some form. This fusion, state the Samkhya scholars, led to the emergence of buddhi (“spiritual awareness”) and ahankara (individualized ego consciousness, “I-maker”). The universe is described by this school as one created by Purusa-Prakriti entities infused with various permutations and combinations of variously enumerated elements, senses, feelings, activity and mind. During the state of imbalance, one of more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage, particularly of the mind. The end of this imbalance, bondage is called liberation, or moksha by Samkhya school of Hinduism.

The existence of God or supreme being is not directly asserted, nor considered relevant by the Samkhya philosophers. Sāṃkhya denies the final cause of Ishvara (God). While Samkhya school of Hinduism considers the Vedas as a reliable source of knowledge, it is an atheistic philosophy according to Paul Deussen and other scholars. A key difference between Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars, is that Yoga school of Hinduism accepts a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god".

Samkhya is known for its theory of gunas (qualities, innate tendencies). Guna, it states, are of three types: Sattva being good, compassionate, illuminating, positive, and constructive; Rajas guna is one of activity, chaotic, passion, impulsive, potentially good or bad; and Tamas being the quality of darkness, ignorance, destructive, lethargic, negative. Everything, all life forms and human beings, state Samkhya scholars, have these three gunas, but in different proportions. The interplay of these gunas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life. The Samkhya theory of gunas was widely discussed, developed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies including Buddhism. Samkhya's philosophical treatises also influenced the development of various theories of Hindu ethics.

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Sampati was one of the two sons of Aruna, elder brother of Jatayu. Sampati lost his wings when he was a child.

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One who has taken a vow to conquer or die, and never to retreat. The Samsaptakas were suicide-squads, vowed to some desperate deed of daring.

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The cycle of birth and rebirth; the world as commonly experienced. Saṃsāra (Sanskrit, Pali; also samsara) is a Buddhist term that literally means "continuous movement" and is commonly translated as "cyclic existence", "cycle of existence", etc. Within Buddhism, samsara is defined as the continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from ordinary beings' grasping and fixating on a self and experiences. Specifically, samsara refers to the process of cycling through one rebirth after another within the six realms of existence, where each realm can be understood as either a physical realm or a psychological state characterized by a particular type of suffering. Samsara arises out of avidya (ignorance) and is characterized by dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction). In the Buddhist view, liberation from samsara is possible by following the Buddhist path.

Saṃsāra (Wylie: khor ba, Standard Tibetan IPA: [kʰoːwɔ]), is the repeating cycle of birth, life and death (reincarnation) as well as one's actions and consequences in the past, present, and future in Hinduism, Buddhism, Bon, Jainism, Taoism, and Sikhism.

According to these religions, a person's current life is only one of many—stretching back before birth into past existences and reaching forward beyond death into future incarnations. During the course of each life the quality of the actions (karma) performed determine the future destiny of each person. The Buddha taught that there is no beginning to this cycle but that it can be ended through perceiving reality. The goal of these religions is to realize this truth, the achievement of which (like ripening of a fruit) is moksha or nirvana (liberation).

In popular use, samsara may refer to the world (in the sense of the various worldly activities which occupy ordinary, ignorant human beings), the various sufferings thereof; or (mistakenly) the unsettled and agitated mind through which reality is perceived.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Lama Norlha Rinpoche

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Siddhartha: Everything is Necessary

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Samskaras or sanskaras has several context driven meanings in Indian philosophy and Indian religions. One of these is "mental impression, recollection, psychological imprint" and this meaning is the basis for its use in Hindu philosophies, particularly in the development of its karma theory.

According to various schools of Indian philosophy, every action, intent or preparation by an individual leaves a sanskara (impression, impact, imprint) in the deeper structure of his or her mind. These impressions then await volitional fruition in that individual's future, in the form of hidden expectations, circumstances or unconscious sense of self-worth. These Sanskaras manifest as tendency, karmic impulse, subliminal impression, habitual potency or innate dispositions. The theory of Sanskara has also been used, in ancient Indian texts, to develop explanations for how and why human beings remember anything, and the impact these memories have on his sense of suffering, happiness and contentness.

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Discriminating Powers & Future Karma

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Work, conceived as a part of Zen training. Samu refers to physical work that is done with mindfulness as a simple, practical and spiritual practice. Samu might include activities such as cleaning, cooking, gardening, or chopping wood. Samu is a way to bring mindfulness into everyday life as well as to get things done. Samu is popular in Zen monasteries, particularly as a means of maintaining the monastery and as practicing mindfulness.

If you consider quietude right and activity wrong, then this is seeking the real aspect by destroying the worldly aspect, seeking nirvana, the peace of extinction, apart from birth and death. When you like quiet and hate activity, this is the time to apply effort. Suddenly when in the midst of activity, you topple the sense of quietude-that power surpasses quietistic meditation [seated meditation] by a million billion times.
—Dahui Zonggao

Mindfulness means accepting reality just as it is. Samu is a means of finding Buddha-nature in everyday life, that reality has ever been pure from the very beginning, which was the central idea behind a Japanese movement called "primordial enlightenment".

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Samudra manthan or The churning of the ocean of milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas and is celebrated in a major way every twelve years in the festival known as Kumbha Mela.

In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the best known episodes in Hinduism. The story appears in the Bhagavata Purana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Krishna Das – “Om Namah Sivaya”

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Brihaspati's younger brother, a person of great learning.

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Conventional, as opposed to absolute, truth or reality. In Buddhist context, saṁvṛiti or saṁvṛiti-satya (Sanskrit) refers to the conventional (saṁvṛiti), as opposed to absolute, truth or reality (satya). Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the illusory (called samvriti, parikalpita or pratibhasika according to different schools of thought), considered false compared to the empirical (samvriti, paratantra or vyavaharika), in turn trumped by the transcendental (paramartha or paramarthika)

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Sanatana Dharma is another, lesser known, name for the path of Yoga Spirituality. In fact, it can be truthfully said that the practical techniques of Yoga are nothing less than the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma in practice.

Sanatana Dharma is the world's most ancient culture and the spiritual path of almost one billion of the earth's inhabitants. Followers of Sanatana Dharma are known as Dharmis (“followers of Dharma”). Though the majority of followers today are Indian (South Asian), Sanatana Dharma is a global spiritual path that has adherents from almost every nationality, race and ethnic group in the world, including an ever-increasing number of Americans. There are approximately 5 million followers in America, of which roughly a third are from India and the majority (3.5 million) are non-Indian Americans (Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, etc.). Statistics aside, Sanatana Dharma represents much more than just a religion in the normative sense of the term; rather, it provides its followers with an entire way of life and with a coherent and rational view of reality.

Sanatana Dharma is by its very essence a term that is devoid of sectarian leanings, denominational prejudices, or ideological divisions. This is evident by the meaning of the very term itself. The two words, "Sanatana Dharma", come from the ancient Sanskrit language. "Sanatana" is a Sanskrit word that denotes "that which does not cease to be", "that which is eternal".

The word "Dharma", on the other hand, is a term that is only properly rendered into the English language with a bit of difficulty. This is the case because the word "Dharma" is describing, not an object, but rather a profound philosophical concept. Its approximate meaning is "Natural Law," or “the Natural Way”, or those principles of reality which are inherent in the very nature and design of the universe itself.

Thus the term "Sanatana Dharma" can be roughly translated to mean "The Eternal Natural Way."

Dharma - Natural Law - is universal. Dharma is eternal. Dharma is nothing less than God's laws as they are manifest in the natural world around us. Sanatana Dharma is referring to those natural principles and ways of being that are in concert with the Absolute. Being a direct reflection of God's will in this world, such principles are therefore axiomatic, or unalterable, laws of the cosmos. The term Sanatana Dharma is not referring to something that is open to alteration, speculation or human manipulation. Neither is Sanatana Dharma referring merely to some denominational faith or sectarian belief system. The principles of Dharma are transcendent and eternal laws, and thus applicable to all people for all time.

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Son of Virata. When king Virata was wounded, he had to get into Sanga's chariot, having lost his chariot, horses and charioteer.

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Confluence of three sacred rivers.

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The community of Buddhist monks and nuns. Teachers and practitioners. Sangha is a word in Pali and Sanskrit meaning "association", "assembly," "company" or "community" and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of ordained Buddhist monks or nuns. This community is traditionally referred to as the bhikkhu-sangha or bhikkhuni-sangha. As a separate category, those who have attained any of the four stages of enlightenment, whether or not they are members of the bhikkhu-sangha or bhikkhuni-sangha, are referred to as the ariya-sangha or "noble Sangha".

The Sangha also includes laymen and laywomen who are personally dedicated to the discipline of Dharma-Vinaya. This use of the word "Sangha" is only sometimes found in the Pali texts.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Thích Nhất Hạnh

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The narrator who tells blind Dhritarashtra the progress of the war from day to day. He told the king that a victim of adverse fate would first become perverted and loses his sense of right and wrong. Time would destroy his reason and drive him to his own destruction.

Sanjaya (meaning "victory") is a character from the ancient Indian historic battle Mahābhārata.

In Mahabharata—a story of war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas—the blind king Dhritarashtra is the father of the principals of the Kaurava side. Sanjaya is Dhritarashtra's advisor and also his charioteer. Sanjaya—who has the gift of seeing events at a distance (divya-drishti), granted by the sage Vyasa—narrates to Dhritarshtra the action in the climactic battle of Kurukshetra, which includes the Bhagavad Gita.

Sanjaya had the unpleasant duty of breaking the news of the death of Dhritarashtra's hundred sons at the hands of Bhima at different points of time in the battle, and offers the sorrowing king solace in his darkest hours. He is known to be brutally frank in his recital of the day's battle events and his own opinions, which usually would predict the utter destruction of the Kauravas at the hands of Arjuna and Krishna.

In the Bhagavad Gita, passages often start with the Sanskrit words "Sanjaya uvāca:" ("Sanjaya said:"). The entire Bhagavad Gita is Sanjay's recital to Dhritarashtra of the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna.

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Sanjeevani is a magical herb (Selaginella bryopteris) mentioned in the Ramayana when, Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Ravana. Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dronagiri a.k.a. Mahodaya in the Himalayas. Sushena took the life-giving plant and made Lakshman to smell its savour, so that he rose up whole and well.

In Hindu mythology, Sanjeevani is a magical herb which has the power to cure any malady. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could revive a dead person. Herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when, Ravana's son Indrajit hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana. Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Indrajeet. Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dunagiri (Mahodaya) in the Himalayas or Valley of Flowers. Upon reaching Mount Sumeru, Hanuman was unable to identify the herb and decided to lift the entire mountain and bring it to the battlefield.

While some references in scientific literature list Selaginella bryopteris as the Sanjeevani mentioned in Hindu mythology, a search of ancient texts currently underway in CSIR laboratories has so far not revealed any plant that can be definitively confirmed as Sanjeevani. In certain texts it is written that Sanjeevani glows in the dark.

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A melee, confused fight, a soldiers battle as distinguished from the combats of heroes.

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Buddhist philosophical school based on the Madhyamaka school. East Asian Mādhyamaka refers to the Buddhist traditions in East Asia which represent the Indian Mādhyamaka system of thought. In Chinese Buddhism, these are often referred to as the Sānlùn school, or "Three Treatise" school, known as Sanron in Japan, although modern scholars think them not an independent sect. The Mādhyamaka texts that it was founded on were first transmitted to China in the early 5th century by the Buddhist monk Kumārajīva.

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Daughter of Dasharatha, Wife of sage Rishyasringa.

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One who has renounced the world and its concerns. Sannyasa (saṁnyāsa) is the life stage of renunciation within the Hindu philosophy of four age-based life stages known as ashramas, with the first three being Brahmacharya (bachelor student), Grihastha (householder) and Vanaprastha (forest dweller, retired). Sannyasa is traditionally conceptualized for men or women in late years of their life, but young brahmacharis have had the choice to skip householder and retirement stage, renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits (moksha).

Sannyasa is a form of asceticism, is marked by renunciation of material desires and prejudices, represented by a state of disinterest and detachment from material life, and has the purpose of spending one's life in peaceful, love-inspired, simple spiritual life. An individual in Sanyasa is known as a Sannyasi (male) or Sannyasini (female) in Hinduism, which in many ways parallel the Sadhu and Sadhvi traditions of Jain monasticism, the bhikkhus and bhikkhunis of Buddhism and the and monk and nun traditions of Christianity, respectively. The fourth stage of a Brhamin's life is usually called Chatruthasharma, indicating Sanaysa.

Sannyasa has historically been a stage of renunciation, ahimsa (non-violence), simple life and spiritual pursuit in Indian traditions. However, this has not always been the case. After the invasions and establishment of Muslim rule in India, from the 12th century through the British Raj, parts of the Shaiva and Vaishnava ascetics metamorphosed into a military order, to rebel against persecution, where they developed martial arts, created military strategies, and engaged in guerrilla warfare. These warrior sanyasis (ascetics) played an important role in helping European colonial powers establish themselves in India.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Sri Ramana Maharshi

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A formal interview with a teacher in many traditions of Zen. Similar to dokusan. Sanzen, aka nisshitsu, means going to a Zen master for instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as dokusan, which is specifically a private interview between student and master, often centering around the student's grasp of an assigned koan. If the master rings a bell to dismiss the student, this means the student's understanding is not right and that their work with the koan must continue. It is typically held twice a day in a monastery, though during a week-long sesshin sanzen may take place as often as four times in one day.

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The spy of Ravana, Mentioned in Ramayana Yuddha Kanda/Sarga 26, who tells Ravana about strength of the army of vanaras.

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One of the Kaurava brothers who died in the war.

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Saraswati is the first of the three great goddesses of Hinduism, the other two being Lakshmi and Durga. Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahmā, the Creator.

Saraswati (Sarasvatī) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and learning. She is a part of the trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. All the three forms help the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva to create, maintain and regenerate-recycle the Universe respectively.

The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a goddess is in Rigveda. She has remained significant as a goddess from the Vedic age through modern times of Hindu traditions. Some Hindus celebrate the festival of Vasant Panchami (the fifth day of spring) in her honour, and mark the day by helping young children learn how to write alphabets on that day. The Goddess is also revered by believers of the Jain religion of west and central India, as well as some Buddhist sects.

Saraswati as a goddess of knowledge, music and arts is also found outside India, such as in Japan, Vietnam, Bali (Indonesia) and Myanmar.

Example via www.ramdass.org: The Story of Saraswati

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Sarayu was an ancient Indian river, sometimes thought of at probably today's Ghaghara river, and sometimes as a tributary. The river where Lakshamana practices austerities.

The Sarayu (also Sarju) is a river that flows through the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. This river is of ancient significance, finding mentions in the Vedas and the Ramayana. The Sarayu forms at the confluence of the Karnali (or Ghaghara) and Mahakali (or Sharda) in Bahraich District. The Mahakali or Sharda forms the Indian-Nepalese border. Ayodhya is situated on the banks of river Sarayu. Some mapmakers consider the Sarayu to be just a section of the lower Ghaghara River.

On Ram Navami, the festival that celebrates the birthday of Lord Rama, thousands of people take a dip in the Sarayu River at Ayodhya.

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Satcitānanda, Satchidānanda, or Sat-cit-ānanda "Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss", is a description of the subjective experience of Brahman. This sublimely blissful experience of the boundless, pure consciousness is a glimpse of ultimate reality.

The description saccidānanda comprises the three Sanskrit words sat-chit-ananda:

  • sat सत् (present participle); [Sanskrit root as, "to be"]: "Truth", "Absolute Being", "a palpable force of virtue and truth". Sat describes an essence that is pure and timeless, that never changes.
  • cit चित् (noun): "consciousness","true consciousness", "to be consciousness of", "to understand","to comprehend".
  • ānanda आनन्द (noun): "bliss","true bliss", "happiness","joy","delight", "pleasure"

"Sat-Chit-Ananda" or "Saccidānanda" is the Sanskrit compound form of the word,which can be translated in various ways:

  • "Eternal Consciousness Bliss"
  • "Absolute Consciousness Bliss"
  • "Consisting of existence and thought and joy"

Example via www.ramdass.org: Letting it All Go

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The Satya Yuga, also called Sat Yuga, Krta Yuga and Krita Yuga in Hinduism, is the "Yuga (Age or Era) of Truth", when humanity is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and humanity will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age". The Satya Yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. The goddess Dharma (depicted in the form of cow), which symbolises morality, stood on all four legs during this period. Later in the Treta Yuga it would become three, and two in the later Dvapara Yuga. Currently, in the immoral age of Kali, it stands on one leg.

Example via www.ramdass.org: An Environmental Awakening

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Virata's son whose bead was severed by Drona.

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Satguru, or sadguru, means the true guru. However the term is distinguished from other forms of gurus, such as musical instructors, scriptural teachers, parents, and so on. The satguru is a title given specifically only to an enlightened rishi/sant whose life's purpose is to guide initiated shishya along the spiritual path, the summation of which is the realization of the Self through realization of God, who is omnipresent. A Satguru has some special characteristics that are not found in any other types of Spiritual Guru. The words 'Sant' and 'Satguru' firstly came into existence from the spiritual ideology of “Sant Samrat Satguru Kabir Sahib” in the 15th century. Kabir Sahib says "Satpurush Ko Jansi, Tiska Satguru Naam|" meaning the one who has seen the supreme lord of truth- Satya Purush is Satguru. "Devi dewal jagat mein, kotik poojey koye. Satguru ki pooja kiye, sabb ki pooja hoye". Kabir Sahib says Worship of Satguru includes in it worship of all deities.

Example via www.ramdass.org: The Need for a Guru

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One of name of Dākshāyani, Dākshāyani is the consort of Shiva. Other names for Dākshāyani include Gaurī, Umā, Aparnā, Lalithā, Sivakāmini etc. Sati is also the term for the immolation of a widow on her husband's pyre in Hinduism.

Satī (IAST: satī), also known as Dakshayani (IAST: dākṣāyaṇī), is a Hindu goddess of marital felicity and longevity. An aspect of Adi Parashakti, Dakshayani is the first consort of Shiva, the second being Parvati, the reincarnation of Sati herself.

In Hindu legend, both Sati and Parvati successively play the role of bringing Shiva away from ascetic isolation into creative participation in the world. The act of Sati, in which a Hindu widow immolates herself on her husband's funeral pyre as a final and consummate act of loyalty and devotion, is patterned after the deed committed by this goddess to uphold the honour of her husband.

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Satipaṭṭhāna is the Pāli word for the Buddhist concept of the foundations of mindfulness. The corresponding word in Sanskrit (Skt.) is smṛtyupasthāna and in Chinese it is ‘mindfulness-place’.

The four foundations of mindfulness (Pāli cattāro satipaṭṭhānā) are four practices set out in the Satipatthana Sutta for attaining and maintaining moment-by-moment mindfulness (Sati) and are fundamental techniques in Buddhist meditation. The four foundations of mindfulness are:

  • mindfulness of the body;
  • mindfulness of feelings or sensations (vedanā);
  • mindfulness of mind or consciousness (citta); and
  • mindfulness of mental phenomena or mental objects (dhammā).

The Buddha referred to the four foundations for establishing mindfulness as a "direct" or "one-way path" to the realisation of nirvana.

These practices continue to be recognized, taught, and practiced as key techniques for achieving the benefits of mindfulness, especially in modern Theravadan Buddhism and in the Vipassana or Insight Meditation Movement.

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The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Sanskrit: Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra, The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) are two of the most important and widely studied discourses in the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, acting as the foundation for Buddhist mindfulness meditation practice. A similar parallel sutra is found in the Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvastivadin school, and has been embraced by contemporary Mahayana practitioners such as Thich Nhat Hanh.

These discourses (Pāli: sutta) provide a means for practicing mindfulness in a variety of contexts and potentially continuously. Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this discourse:

"This is the direct way [Pāli: ekāyano ... maggo], monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbāna...."

The meditation techniques identified in this sutta can be practiced individually or successively or in an interwoven fashion.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

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Application of mindfulness.

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Awakening; understanding. A Japanese term for enlightenment. Satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru.

In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to the experience of kenshō, "seeing into one's true nature". Ken means "seeing," shō means "nature" or "essence."

Satori and kenshō are commonly translated as enlightenment, a word that is also used to translate bodhi, prajna and buddhahood.

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A community of spiritual seekers. Satsanga, Satsangam, Satsang (Sanskrit: sat = true, sanga = company) in Indian philosophy means (1) the company of the "highest truth," (2) the company of a guru, or (3) company with an assembly of persons who listen to, talk about, and assimilate the truth. This typically involves listening to or reading scriptures, reflecting on, discussing and assimilating their meaning, meditating on the source of these words, and bringing their meaning into one’s daily life.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Importance of a Spiritual Family

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In Vedic philosophy, sattva (Sanskrit sattva / "purity", literally "existence, reality"; adjectival sāttvika "pure", anglicised sattvic) is the most rarefied of the three gunas in Samkhya, sāttvika "pure", rājasika "excitable", and tāmasika "indifferent". Importantly, no value judgement is entailed as all guna are indivisible and mutually qualifying.

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Vishnu, Embodiment as Krishna.

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A Panchala prince, a hero who stood by Yudhishthira to prevent his being taken prisoner by Drona, while Arjuna was away answering a challenge by the Samsaptakas (the Trigartas).

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A Yadava warrior, friend of Krishna and the Pandavas who advocated collecting their forces and defeating the unrighteous Duryodhana.

Yuyudhana (Sanskrit: Yuyudhāna), better known as Satyaki (Sanskrit: Sātyaki), was a powerful warrior belonging to the Vrishni clan of the Yadavas, to which Krishna also belonged. According to the Puranas, he was grandson of Shini of the Vrishni clan, and son of Satyaka. A valiant warrior, Satyaki was devoted to Krishna and was a student of Arjuna. He is also known as the unconquerable Satyaki.

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A fisherman's daughter who possessed uncommon beauty and emanated a divinely sweet fragrance and king Santanu became enamored of her, married her and made her his queen. The wife of Bhishma's father, Shantanu.

Satyavati (Sanskrit: Satyavatī) (also spelled Satyawati), or Setyawati (Indonesian) was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes (principal characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata). She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic. Her story appears in the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa and the Devi Bhagavata Purana.

Daughter of the Chedi king Vasu (also known as Uparichara Vasu) and a cursed apsara (celestial nymph)-turned-fish Adrika, Satyavati was brought up as a commoner – the adopted daughter of a fisherman-chieftain Dusharaj(who was also a ferryman) on the banks of the river Yamuna. Due to the smell emanating from her body she was known as Matsyagandha ("She who has the smell of fish"), and helped her father in his job as a ferryman.

As a young woman Satyavati met the wandering rishi (sage) Parashara, who fathered her son Vyasa out of wedlock. The sage also gave her a musky fragrance, which earned her names like Yojanagandha ("She whose fragrance is spread for a yojana (8-9 miles)") and Gandhavati ("fragrant one").

Later King Shantanu, captivated by her fragrance and beauty, fell in love with Satyavati. She married Shantanu on condition that their children inherit the throne, denying the birthright of Shantanu's eldest son (and crown prince) Bhishma. Satyavati bore Shantanu two children, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. After Shantanu's death, she and her prince sons with the help of Bhishma ruled the kingdom. Although both her sons died childless, she arranged for her first son Vyasa to father the children of the two widows of Vichitravirya through niyoga. The children (Dhritarashtra and Pandu) became fathers of the Kauravas and Pandavas, respectively. After Pandu's death, Satyavati went to the forest for penance and died there before witnessing the Kurukshetra War.

While Satyavati's presence of mind, far-sightedness and mastery of realpolitik is praised, her unscrupulous means of achieving her goals and her blind ambition are criticized.

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Warrior on the Kaurava side.

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A plant that produced a very beautiful and fragrant flower that Bhima went to get for Draupadi.

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Wife of Satyavan.

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Meaning the truth-speaker, husband of Savitri. The oldest known version of the story of Savitri and Satyavan is found in "The Book of the Forest" of the Mahabharata.

The story occurs as multiple embedded narratives in the Mahabharata as told by Markandeya. When Yudhisthira asks Markandeya whether there has ever been a woman whose devotion matched Draupadi’s, Markandeya replies by relating a story.

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Ambidexter, one who can use both hands with equal facility and effect. A name of Arjuna who could use his bow with the same skill with either hands.

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Burmese meditation master. A sayadaw (royal teacher and alternatively spelt hsayadaw, sayado, sayāḍo or sayāḍaw) is the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. Some distinguished sayadaws would often be referred to as a sayadawgyi (as a sign of reverence. The terms "sayadaw" and "sayadawgyi" originally corresponded to the senior monks who taught the former Burmese kings. These sayadaws may be influential teachers of Buddhism and also important meditation practitioners. They usually are abbots of monasteries or monastery networks with a large number of resident monks and a lay following. Sayadaw is used interchangeably with the term "U".

In Buddhism in Burma, several honorific terms exist for Buddhist monks, reflecting their achievements and how many vassas they have passed. The most frequently used terms, which are used as prefixes to the monks' dharma name, include:

  • "Bhaddanta"
  • "Ashin"
  • "Shin"
  • "U"
  • "Upazin"
  • "Sayadaw"
  • "Sayadawgyi"

Example via www.ramdass.org: Sayagyi U Ba Khin

A sayadaw may be known by his dharma name, a qualified name, or by the name of his monastery. Thus, venerable Mingun Sayadaw, who served as "Chief Respondent" at the Sixth Buddhist council in Yangon, could be addressed as:

  • Mingun Sayadaw (in reference to his home monastery at Mingun)
  • U Vicittasarabhivamsa
  • Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa
  • Mingun Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa
  • Tipitaka Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa
  • Tipitakadhara Dhammabhandakarika Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa, in reference to being the first monk to be awarded the titles "Bearer of the Tripiṭaka" and "Treasurer of the Dhamma"
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In the Zen Buddhist calendar, a period of intensive, formal monastic training. It is typically characterized by week-long Daisesshins and periodic sanzen.

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A Zen retreat where practitioners meditate, eat and work together for several days. A sesshin (literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery.

While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, during a sesshin they devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen practice. The numerous 30- to 50-minute-long meditation periods are interleaved with short rest breaks, meals, and sometimes short periods of work all performed with the same mindfulness; nightly sleep is kept to a minimum, at six hours or fewer. During the sesshin period, the meditation practice is occasionally interrupted by the master giving public talks (teisho) and individual direction in private meetings (which may be called dokusan, daisan, or sanzen) with a Zen Master.

In modern Buddhist practice in Japan and the West, sesshins are often attended by lay students, and are typically one, three, five, or seven days in length. Seven-day sesshins are held several times a year at many Zen centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddha's awakening to annuttara samyak sambodhi. At this Rohatsu sesshin, practitioners seek to relax and quiet the mind to the point of cessation of mental chatter and emotional impulse, samadhi, kensho, or satori.

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Selfless service or Seva is a service which is performed without any expectation of result or award for performing it. Such services can be performed to benefit other human beings or society.

The idea of selfless service (seva also sewa) is an important concept in a number of religions because God is perceived as having an interest in the well-being of others as well as oneself; serving other people is considered an essential devotional practice of indirectly serving God and living a religious life that is a benefit to others.

"Living creatures are nourished by food, and food is nourished by rain; rain itself is the water of life, which comes from selfless worship and service." - Bhagavad Gita, 3.14

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Wife of Indra, king of the gods on whom Nahusha's evil eye fell. Through the help of Brihaspati, she caused Nahusha's downfall and restored Indra as the leader of the Devas. She was also known as Indrani.

In Hinduism (specifically, early Vedic accounts), Shachi (Sanskrit: शची; also known as Indrani (queen of Indra), Aindri, Mahendri , Pulomaja and Poulomi) is the goddess of wrath and jealousy, and a daughter of Puloman, an Asura who was killed by Indrani's future husband, Indra. She is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses). She is described as beautiful and having the most beautiful eyes. She is associated with lions and elephants. With Indra, she is the mother of Jayanta and Jayanti and Midhusa, Nilambara, Rbhus, Rsabha and Chitragupta. In Hindu epics, she is also described as "The Endless Beauty".

Goddess Shachi or Indrani is one of the Sapta Matrikas – the seven divine mothers or Saptamatris in Hindu religion. It is said that she has similar characteristics to Indra and the same Vahana or vehicle – white elephant. A puja dedicated to Goddess Aindrani is performed during the Ashada Navratri.

She is also believed to help in destroying jealousy.

According to the Mahabharata, Goddess Shachi was incarnated as Draupadi, Shachi is said to be destroying Jealousy. But in this incarnation, Draupadi was jealous a time at Subhadra, second wife of Arjuna, who was Shachi's husband's son born by Kunti

She has a significance in Vedic literature in developing the idea of Shakti which denotes power, the feminine personified might, as described in later Hindu mythology. She gave origin to the concept that female consort, whether she is Parvati or Kali, is the most important Shakti of all, thus becoming the role model for all the goddesses in later period (the Purana has several mentions of this concept).

In Rig Veda she s described to be very beautiful, one of the hyms in RigVeda pictures her as jealous of rivals.In the same hymn Shachi also asks god to rid her of rivals .

It is said that unlike other goddesses, she possess an independent character of her own. Unlike most of the goddess wives who are known by their husbands name like Rudrani, Varuni (wife of Varun), Saranya (wife of Sun), Indra is probably the only god who is known to be after his wife's name as well, hence he was often referred as Shachipati - meaning master of shakti/power, or ShachiVat (possessor of Shachi)

Shachi is derived from the verb shak or shach - in vedas, it is said that shakti/Shachi is something a male god possess not female ..As the goddess itself is shakti

In the earlier Vedic accounts, Shachi was depicted as a female shadow of Indra. She was, for a short while, considered to be an evil spirit. She was said to be the daughter of a demon; hence she is sometimes referred to as the Goddess of wrath. Then, in later Hindu interpretations, she began personifying jealousy and evil intent, but after a few years, she became an important and highly worshiped Astral Spirit and is worshiped in South India until this day.

According to the Rig Veda, Shachi is considered a most fortunate female for Indra granted her immortality. It is said that he chose her over all of the other Goddesses because of Her magnetic attractions

Shachi is rarely worshipped as an independent deity and is usually part of the Saptamatris.

Yet she is a goddess, who even though and a father of demonish origin, is pure, the most beautiful, kind and the one who was a wonder to many eyes ; a source of jealously for long because there was no one who did not long for her.

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Shaivism or Saivism is one of the four most widely followed sects of Hinduism, which reveres the God Shiva as the Supreme Being. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", and also "Saivas" or "Saivites", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. It is also known as śaiva paṁtha ("pantha associated with Shiva") and Saivam. Followers of Shaivam are called "Shaivas" (also "Saivas", "Shaivites" or "Saivarkal"). They believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shaivism, like some of the other forms of Hinduism, spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Java, Bali, and parts of the Southeast Asian continent, including Cambodia.

Shiva is sometimes depicted as the fierce God Bhairava. Saivists are more attracted to asceticism than adherents of other Hindu sects, and may be found wandering India with ashen faces performing self-purification rituals. They worship in the temple and practice yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within.

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An aspect of Devi and a personification of God as the Divine Mother who represents the active, dynamic principles of feminine power.

Shakti (from Sanskrit shak, "to be able"), meaning "Power" or "empowerment," is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as 'The Great Divine Mother' in Hinduism. On the earthly plane, Shakti most actively manifests through female embodiment and creativity/fertility, though it is also present in males in its potential, unmanifest form.

Not only is Shakti responsible for creation, it is also the agent of all change. Shakti is cosmic existence as well as liberation, its most significant form being the Kundalini Shakti, a mysterious psychospiritual force. Shakti exists in a state of svātantrya, dependence on no one, being interdependent with the entire universe.

In Shaktism and Shaivism, Shakti is worshipped as the Supreme Being. Shakti embodies the active feminine energy of Shiva and is identified as Tripura Sundari or Parvati.

Example via www.ramdass.org: What is Shakti, or Prana?

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Shaktism or Shaktidharma (Sanskrit: Śāktaṃ, शाक्तं; lit., "doctrine of power" or "doctrine of the Goddess") is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead. It is, along with Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Smartism one of the primary schools of devotional Hinduism and is especially popular in Bengal and Assam.

Shaktism regards Devi ('the Goddess') as the Supreme Brahman itself, with all other forms of divinity, considered to be merely her diverse manifestations. In the details of its philosophy and practice, Shaktism resembles Shaivism. However, Shaktas (Sanskrit: Śākta), practitioners of Shaktism, focus most or all worship on Shakti, as the dynamic feminine aspect of the Supreme Divine. Shiva, the masculine aspect of divinity, is considered solely transcendent, and his worship is usually relegated to an auxiliary role.

Cults of goddess worship are ancient in India. The branch of Hinduism that worships the goddess, known as Devi, is called Shaktism. Followers of Shaktism recognize Shakti as the power that underlies the male principle, and Devi is often depicted as Parvati the consort of Shiva or as Lakshmi the consort of Vishnu. She is also depicted in other guises, such as the fierce Kali or Durga. Shaktism is closely related with Tantric Hinduism, which teaches rituals and practices for purification of the mind and body. The Mother Goddess has many forms. Some are gentle, some are fierce. Shaktas use chants, real magic, holy diagrams, yoga and rituals to call forth cosmic forces.

Over the course of its history, Shaktism has inspired great works of Sanskrit literature and Hindu philosophy, and it continues to strongly influence popular Hinduism today. Shaktism is practiced throughout the Indian subcontinent and beyond, in numerous forms, both Tantric and non-Tantric; however, its two largest and most visible schools are the Srikula (lit., family of Sri), strongest in South India, and the Kalikula (family of Kali), which prevails in northern and eastern India.

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Shakuni also known as Subala, was the prince of Gandhara Kingdom in present-day Gandhara, later to become the King after his father's death and one of the main villains in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the brother of Gandhari and hence Duryodhana's maternal uncle. He is believed to be an extremely intelligent but devious man. Shakuni is often credited as the mastermind behind the Mahabharata war. Shakuni had two sons named Uluka and Vrikaasur.The fact is that Shakuni was not actually fighting in favor of kauravas,he was avenging his father's death from by destroying the kuru clan,he was not in favor of kauravas neither the pandavas.

It is believed that Shakuni was the incarnation of Dvapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga.

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In Hinduism Shakuntala (Sanskrit: Śakuntalā) is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Shakuntala was born of Vishvamitra and Menaka. Her story is told in the Mahabharata and dramatized by Kalidasa in his play Abhijñānaśākuntala (The Sign of Shakuntala).

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Shila, (śila in IAST) or Shaligram refers to a fossilized stone used to invoke God, and as a representation of God. Shaligram is usually collected from sacred river beds or on the banks. Shiva worshipers use nearly round or oval shaped Shaligrams to worship as Shiva Linga.

Vaishnavas (Hindu) use aniconic representation of Vishnu, in the form of a spherical, usually black-coloured Ammonoid fossil found in the sacred river Gandaki.

They are more often referred to as Shilas, with Shila being the shortened version. The word Shila translates simply to 'stone' and Shaligram is a less well-known name of Vishnu. The origin of the name is traced to a remote village in Nepal where Vishnu is known by the name of Shaligramam. Shaligram in Hinduism is also known as Salagrama. The name Salagrama refers to the name of the village on the bank of Gandaki where the holy stones are picked up. The name is derived from the hut (sala) of the sage Salankayana, who beheld the form of Vishnu in a tree outside his hut (cf. Varaha-purana).

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The King with whom Ambā was secretly in love.

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In the epic Mahabharata, King Shalya was the brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), as well as the ruler of the kingdom of Madra (Madra-desa). A powerful yet righteous ruler, Shalya had a unique gift - he became stronger when faced with aggression, hence requiring everyone to be kind towards him. In Sanskrit, Shalya means a thorn (or any pointed weapon, like a dart). Shalya, being a skilled archer,a powerful mace fighter and formidable warrior, was tricked by Duryodana to fight the war on the side of the Kauravas. Shalya was an incredibly calm and deliberate fighter, which why he was such a good charioteer and why he could excel at mace-fighting despite his unimposing bulk. Krishna suggested that Yudhishthira should kill the powerful warrior because the eldest Pandava was not a man of aggression and could meet Shalya's coolness in battle.

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A name of Shiva; A great magician, friend of Chand Sagar.

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Shankha (Sanskrit: Śaṇkha) is a conch shell which is of ritual and religious importance in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The shankha is the shell of a species of large predatory sea snail, Turbinella pyrum, which lives in the Indian Ocean.

In Hinduism, the shankha is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver god Vishnu. It is still used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual, and in the past was used as a war trumpet. The shankha is praised in Hindu scriptures as a giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin and the abode of Lakshmi, who is the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu.

The shankha is displayed in Hindu art in association with Vishnu. As a symbol of water, it is associated with female fertility and serpents (Nāgas). The shankha is the state emblem of the Indian state of Kerala and was also the national emblems of the Indian princely state of Travancore, and the Kingdom of Kochi.

The shankha is one of the eight Buddhist auspicious symbols, the Ashtamangala, and in Buddhism it represents the pervasive sound of the Buddhadharma. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is known as "dung kar".

A powder made from the shell material is used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, primarily as a cure for stomach ailments and for increasing beauty and strength.

In the Western world, in the English language, the shell of this species is known as the "divine conch" or the "sacred chank". It may also be simply called a "chank" or conch. The more common form of this shell is known as "left-turning" in a religious context, although scientists would call it "dextral". A very rarely encountered form has reverse coiling which is called "right-turning" in a religious context, but is known as "sinistral" or left-coiling in a scientific context.

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Shantanu was a king of Hastinapura, father of Bhishma. Shantanu weds Satyavati, a ferryman's daughter.

In the epic Mahabharata, Shantanu was a Kuru king of Hastinapura. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and great-grandfather of the Pandavas and Kauravas. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura and had been born in the latter's old age. The eldest son Devapi suffered from leprosy and abdicated his inheritance to become a hermit. The middle son Bahlika(or Vahlika) abandoned his paternal kingdom and started living with his maternal uncle in Balkh and inherited the kingdom from him. Shantanu became the king of Hastinapura by default.

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King of Hastinapura, father of Bhishma. In the epic Mahabharata, Shantanu was a Kuru king of Hastinapura. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and great-grandfather of the Pandavas and Kauravas. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura and had been born in the latter's old age. The eldest son Devapi suffered from leprosy and abdicated his inheritance to become a hermit. The middle son Bahlika(or Vahlika) abandoned his paternal kingdom and started living with his maternal uncle in Balkh and inherited the kingdom from him. Shantanu became the king of Hastinapura by default.

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"Peace is found."

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Princess and daughter of asura king Vrishaparva, wife of Yayati, who got angry with Devayani and slapped and pushed her into a dry well. Sarmishtha gave birth to Druhyu, Anu, and Puru.

In Hindu mythology, Sharmistha, also known as Sharmista or Sharmishtha, was the daughter of the great Daitya King Vrishparva. She was also a friend of Devayani. She was given as dowry to Yayati of the Lunar dynasty, when he married Devayani, the daughter of Sage Shukracharya, the guru of all Asuras.But then Yayati fell in love with Sharmistha because of her beauty and character and had three sons Druhyu, Anudruhyu and Puru from her. The Puru vamsa takes its origin from Puru.

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The Shatapatha Brahmana (śatapatha brāhmaṇa, "Brahmana of one hundred paths") is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina (ŚBM, of the vājasaneyi madhyandina śākhā) and Kanva (ŚBK, of the kāṇva śākhā), with the former having the eponymous 100 chapters (adhyayas), 7,624 kandikas (parts) in 14 books, and the latter 104 chapters, 6,806 kandikas in 17 books.

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One of Dasharatha's four sons, King of Madhu. Shatrughna(Sanskrit: Śatrughna, Indonesian: Satrugna, Burmese: Tharugana, Malay: Citradan) was the youngest brother of Lord Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is the twin brother of Lakshmana. According to Valmiki Ramayana, Shatrughna is one half component of manifest Vishnu (Rama).

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In Hinduism, Shesha (Sanskrit: Śeṣa), also known as Sheshanaga (Śeṣanāga) or Adishesha(Ādi Śeṣa) is the nagaraja or king of all nāgas and one of the primal beings of creation. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of the god Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as Ananta Shesha, which translates as endless-Shesha or Adishesha "first Shesha". It is said that when Adishesa uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place and when he coils back, the universe ceases to exist.

Vishnu is often depicted as resting on Shesha. Shesha is also considered a servant as well as a manifestation of Vishnu. He is said to have descended to Earth in four human forms or avatars: Lakshmana, brother of Rama; Balarama, brother of Krishna, Ramanuja and Manavala Mamunigal. Patanjali the major compiler of yogic traditions is also considered to be an incarnation of Shesha.

"Shesha" in Sanskrit texts, especially those relating to mathematical calculation, also implies the "remainder" – that which remains when all else ceases to exist.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

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Soto Zen. Shikantaza is a Japanese translation of a Chinese term for zazen introduced by Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddhism. "Only concentrated on sitting" is the main practice of the Soto school of Japanese Zen Buddhism.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Zen Master Eihei Dōgen

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Daughter-son of Drupada, A girl turned man, warrior on the Pandava side. He had been born in an earlier lifetime as a woman named Amba, who was rejected by Bhishma for marriage.

Shikhandi (Sanskrit: Śikhaṇḍī ; Indonesian, Srikandi) is a character in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. He was originally born as a girl child named 'Shikhandini' to Drupada, the king of Panchala. Shikhandi fought in the Kurukshetra war on the side of the Pandavas, along with his father Drupada and brother Dhristadyumna. His son's name was Kshatradeva.

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Shishupal or Sisupal (Sanskrit: IAST: Śiśupāl) was son of Damaghosh, king of Chedi, by Srutadev, aunt of Vasudev. Therefore he was not only cousin of Krishna, but also Krishna's implacable foe, because Krishna had carried off Rukmini, his intended wife. He was slain by Krishna at the great sacrifice of Yudhishthir in punishment of opprobrious abuse. He was also called Chaidya.

The Mahabharat states that Sisupal was born with three eyes and four arms. His parents were inclined to cast him out, but were warned by a voice not to do so, as his time had not come. It also foretold that his superfluous members should disappear when a certain person took the child into his lap, and that he would eventually die by the hands of that same person. Krishna placed the child on his knees and the extra eye and arms disappeared indicating Shishupal's death was destined at the hands of Krishna.

In the Mahabharat, Shishupal's mother was given a vow by Krishna, her nephew, that he would pardon his cousin Shishupal a hundred times per day and he will kill him when he exceeds the limit. When Yudishthir decided to make the Rajasuya Yajna. At that time Shishupal insulted Krishna as a cowherd and worthless to be honoured as a king. On an earlier instance he felt humiliated when Krishna rides away with Rukmini, his beautiful bride to be, and marries her. Shishupal who happens to be a great friend of Rukmini's brother Rukmi.

The Vishnu Puran contributes an additional legend about him. "Sisupal was in a former existence the unrighteous but valiant monarch of the Daityas, Hiranyakashipu, who was killed by the divine guardian of creation (in the Narasimha Avatar). He was next the ten-headed (sovereign Ravan), whose unequaled prowess, strength, and power were overcome by the lord of the three worlds (Ram). Having been killed by the deity in the form of Raghav (Ram), he had long enjoyed the reward of his virtues in exemption from an embodied state, but had now received birth once more as Sisupal, the son of Damaghosh, king of Chedi. In this character he renewed with great inveteracy than ever his hostile hatred towards Pundarikaksha (Vishnu), and by consequence was slain by him. But from the circumstance of his thoughts being constantly engrossed by the supreme being, Sisupal was united with him after death, for the lord bestows a heavenly and exalted station even upon those whom he slays in his displeasure."

His death forms the subject of the celebrated 8th century poem Shishupal Vadh.

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Shiva (/ˈʃivə/; Sanskrit: Śiva, meaning "The Auspicious One"), also known as Mahadeva ("Great God"), is one of the main deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme god within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.

At the highest level, Shiva is regarded as limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. Shiva also has many benevolent and fearsome forms. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya, and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.

The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his musical instrument. Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam.

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Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in reverence of the god Shiva. It is the day Shiva was married to the goddess Parvati. The Maha Shivaratri festival, also popularly known as 'Shivaratri' (spelt as Sivaratri, Shivaratri, Sivarathri, and Shivarathri) or 'Great Night of Shiva', marks the convergence of Shiva and Shakti. Maha Shivaratri is celebrated on the Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi of Hindu calendar month Maagha as per Amavasya-ant month calculation. As per Poornima-ant month calculation, the day is Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi of Hindu calendar month Phalguna which falls in February or March as per the Gregorian calendar. Of the twelve Shivaratris in the year, the Maha Shivarathri is the most holy.

The festival is principally celebrated by offerings of Bael leaves to Shiva, all-day fasting and an all-night-vigil (jagaran). All through the day, devotees chant "Om Namah Shivaya", the sacred mantra of Shiva. Penances are performed in order to gain boons in the practice of Yoga and meditation, in order to reach life's highest good steadily and swiftly. On this day, the planetary positions in the Northern hemisphere act as potent catalysts to help a person raise his or her spiritual energy more easily. The benefits of powerful ancient Sanskrit mantras such as Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra increase greatly on this night.

In Nepal, millions of Hindus attend Shivaratri together from different part of the world at the famous Pashupatinath Temple. Thousands of devotees also attend Mahasivaratri at the famous Shiva Shakti Peetham of Nepal.

In Indo-Caribbean communities throughout the West Indies, thousands of Hindus spend the auspicious night in over 400 temples across the country, offering special jhalls to Lord Shiva.

On Maha Shivaratri, Nishita Kala is the ideal time to observe Shiva Pooja. Nishita Kala celebrates when Lord Shiva appeared on the Earth in the form of Linga. On this day, in all Shiva temples, the most auspicious Lingodbhava Puja is performed.

Example via www.ramdass.org: “Om Namah Sivaya”

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Shivi was a republic in ancient India, ruled by a democratic system of government known as ganatantra. Kshudrakas had formed a sangha with Malavas. Shivis formed a sangha with a big federation or sangha known as Jat, which is clear from Pāṇini's shloka in grammar of Aṣṭādhyāyī. The famous Sanskrit scholar Pāṇini of 900 BCE has mentioned in his Sanskrit grammar known as Aṣṭādhyāyī in the form of shloka in Sanskrit language as 'जट झट संघाते' or (IAST:Jat Jhat Sanghate). This means that the terms 'Jat' and 'democratic federation' are synonymous.

At the time of invasion of India by Alexander the great, in 326 BCE, they were found inhabiting an area in the vicinity of the Malava tribes. The Greek writers have mentioned them wearing clothes similar to wild people even during the war. After some time of Alexander's war, they probably moved to Rajasthan along with Malavas. Thus they are found moving from Punjab to Malwa and from there to Rajasthan. There are ruins of an ancient town called 'Tamva-vati nagari' 11 miles north of Chittor. Ancient coins of Shivi people are found near this town bearng 'Majhamikaya Shivajanapadas', which means coins of 'Shiva janapada of Madhyamika'. The 'Tamvavati nagari' was called as 'Madhyamika nagari'. These coins are of the period 2nd to 1st centuries BCE.

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Another name of Lakshmi, a goddess, the delight of Vishnu. Shri (Devanagari: IAST; Śrī), also transliterated as Sree or Sri or Shree is a word of Sanskrit origin, used in the Indian subcontinent as a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." or "Ms." in written and spoken language, or as a title of veneration for deities (usually translated as "Holy").

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Daughter of Kushadhwaja; bestowed on Shatrughna.

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Shudra is the fourth varna, whose mythological origins are described in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, one of the sacred texts of Hinduism, and later explained in the Manusmṛti. This latter text defines society as comprising four groups, sometimes also called chaturvarna, of which the other three are Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (those with governing functions) and Vaishya (agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders). According to this ancient text, the Shudra perform functions of serving the other three varna.

The Rig veda was compiled over a considerable period and it is generally agreed that the Purusha Sukta, which is the only hymn in the Rig Veda which mentions the varnas, was added during the Mantra period, the period immediately preceding the Brahmana period, or the beginning of the post-vedic age. Since the varnas are first mentioned in the Purusha Sukta, it is evident that they did not exist before the Mantra period.

The relationship between occupation, varna, and social ordering in the Rig Vedic period is complex. In the varna ordering of society, notions of purity and pollution were central. The phenomenon of the upper classes living on the labour of tribesmen was just emerging, and was not ritualized or ideologically ratified until the Purusha Sukta. R. S. Sharma states that "the Rig Vedic society was neither organized on the basis of social division of labour nor on that of differences in wealth... [it] was primarily organised on the basis of kin, tribe and lineage."

The varna system became rigid in the later Vedic period. In modern Indian society, the government is taking steps to end these distinctions.

Ambedkar, a polymath and a Dalit activist, believed that there were initially only three varnas: the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya, and that the Shudras were the Kshatriyas who were denied the Upanayana, an initiation ritual, by the Brahmins. This claim has been contested by historians such as Sharma.

The tenets of Vedic Hinduism in north India held less sway in the south, where the societal divisions were simply Brahmin and Shudra. However, some non-Brahmins adopted the classification of Sat Shudra (clean Shudra) in an attempt to distinguish themselves from other non-Brahmin communities.

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In Hinduism, a siddha is "one who is accomplished". It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual perfection or enlightenment. Siddha may also refer to one who has attained a siddhi, paranormal capabilities.

Siddhas may broadly refer to siddhars, naths, ascetics, sadhus, or yogis because they all practice sādhanā.

In Jainism, siddhas are the liberated souls who have destroyed all karmas and have obtained moksha. Siddhas do not have a body; they are soul in its purest form. They reside in the Siddhashila, which is situated at the top of the Universe.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Bhagavan Nityananda

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Dwelling place of highest celestial beings.

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Highest saint.

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Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in eastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one". "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in a Yuga era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Siddhartha: Everything is Necessary

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Siddhis are spiritual, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of spiritual advancement through sādhanās such as meditation and yoga. The term ṛddhi (Pali iddhi) "psychic powers" is often used interchangeably in Buddhism.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Limitations of Knowing

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Buddha of Knowledge. According to the Buddhavamsa and Buddhist mythology, Sikhī (Pāli) is the twenty-third of twenty-eight Buddhas. The penultimate Buddha of the Alamkarakalpa (Adorned Eon), Sikhī was preceded by Vipassī Buddha and succeeded by Vessabhū Buddha.

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"Morals", "morality", "ethics": precepts. Śīla or sīla (Pāli) in Buddhism is one of three sections of the Noble Eightfold Path, and is a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with the principal motivation being non-violence, or freedom from causing harm. It has been variously described as virtue, right conduct, morality, moral discipline and precept.

Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation. The Sanskrit and Pali word sīla is an ethical compass within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word "morality" (i.e., obedience, a sense of obligation, and external constraint - all of which are quite foreign to the concept of sīla as taught by Gautama the Buddha since 588BC). In fact, the commentaries explain the word sīla by another word, samadhana, meaning "harmony" or "coordination."

Sīla is one of the three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement — sīla, samādhi, and paññā as well as the Theravadin foundations of sīla, dana, and bhavana. It is also the second pāramitā. Though some popular conceptions of these ethics carry negative connotations of severe discipline and abstinence, sīla is more than just avoiding the unwholesome.

Sīla is also wholehearted commitment to what is wholesome. Two aspects of sīla are essential to the training: right "performance" (caritta), and right "avoidance" (varitta). Honoring the precepts of sīla is considered a "great gift" (mahadana) to others, because it creates an atmosphere of trust, respect, and security. It means we pose no threat to another person's life, property, family, rights, or well-being.

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The Indus River also called Sindhu River is one of the longest rivers in Asia. It flows through Pakistan, the state of Jammu and Kashmir and western Tibet (China). Originating in the Tibetan Plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar, the river runs a course through the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, towards Gilgit-Baltistan and then flows in a southerly direction along the entire length of Pakistan to merge into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Sindh. The total length of the river is 3,180 km (1,980 mi). It is Pakistan's longest river.

The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km2 (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow stands at around 207 km3 (50 cu mi), making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow. The Zanskar is its left bank tributary in Ladakh. In the plains, its left bank tributary is the Chenab which itself has four major tributaries, namely, the Jhelum, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej. Its principal right bank tributaries are the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Kabul, the Gomal and the Kurram. Beginning in a mountain spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himalayas, the river supports ecosystems of temperate forests, plains and arid countryside.

The Indus forms the delta of present-day Pakistan mentioned in the Vedic Rigveda as Sapta Sindhu and the Iranian Zend Avesta as Hapta Hindu (both terms meaning "seven rivers"). The river has been a source of wonder since the Classical Period, with King Darius of Persia sending his Greek subject Scylax of Caryanda to explore the river as early as 510 BC.

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The grim rakshasi who rose from the sea and caught Hanumana, when he coursed through the air like Garuda in search of Sita.

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One of the suitors to Devaki's hand. A kinsman of the Kauravas.

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Sita (Nepali: also spelled Sîta, Seeta or Seetha [ˈsiːt̪aː], About this sound listen meaning "furrow") is the central female character of the Hindu epic Ramayana and a daughter of King Janak of Janakpur. She is the consort of the Hindu god Rama (avatar of Vishnu) and is an avatar of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and wife of Vishnu. She is esteemed as a paragon of spousal and feminine virtues for all Hindu women. Sita is known for her dedication, self-sacrifice, courage and purity.

Sita is described as the daughter of the earth goddess Bhūmi and the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Mithila and Queen Sunayna. In her youth, she marries Rama, the prince of Ayodhya. Soon after her marriage, she is forced into exile with her husband and brother-in-law Lakshmana. While in exile, the trio settle in the Dandaka forest, from where she is abducted by Ravana, Rakshasa King of Lanka. She is imprisoned in the Ashoka Vatika of Lanka by Ravana. Sita is finally rescued by Rama in the climatic war where Rama slays Ravana. Sita proves her chastity by undergoing a trial by fire. Thereafter, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, where they are crowned as king and queen. However, Rama abandons a pregnant Sita when one of his subjects casts doubt over her chastity. In the refuge of Sage Valmiki's hermitage Sita gives birth to twins Lava and Kusha. After her sons grow up and unite with their father, Sita returns to her mother, the Earth's womb, for release from a cruel world as a testimony of her purity. Her other names are Bhumije and Janaki.

Example via www.ramdass.org: The Language of the Heart

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Mantra using the names of Sita and Ram.

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A verse of lines in Sanskrit, typically recited as a prayer. Shloka (meaning "song", from the root śru, "hear") is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anustubh. It is the basis for Indian epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for example, are written almost exclusively in shlokas. The traditional view is that this form of verse occurred to Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, on seeing a hunter shoot down one of two birds in love.

The shloka is treated as a couplet. Each hemistich (half-verse) of 16 syllables, composed of two Pādas of eight syllables, can take either a pathyā ("normal") form or one of several vipulā ("extended") forms. The form of the second foot of the first Pāda (II) limits the possible patterns the first foot (I) may assume, as in the scheme below.

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The Smarta Tradition (also known as Smarta Sampradaya, and also spelled Smartha) is an orthodox Hindu "family tradition" or sect composed of Brahmins, which follows Panchayatana. The term Smarta is used to denote a specific, specialized category of Brahmins, who specialize in the smriti, who hold the smriti as the most authoritative texts.

Generally Smartas worship the Supreme in one of five forms: Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, and Surya. Because they accept all the major Hindu Gods, they are known as liberal or nonsectarian. They follow a philosophical, meditative path, emphasising man's oneness with God through understanding. It is based on the recognition that Brahman (God) is the highest principle in the universe and pervades all of existence.

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A ritual drink of importance among Hindus. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing or intoxicating qualities.

Soma (Sanskrit: sóma), or Haoma (Avestan), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a Vedic ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent greater Indian and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities. In the Avesta, Haoma has the entire Yašt 20 and Yasna 9-11 dedicated to it.

It is described as being prepared by extracting juice from the stalks of a certain plant. In both Hindu and Zoroastrian tradition, the name of the drink and the plant are the same, and also personified as a divinity, the three forming a religious or mythological unity.

There has been much speculation concerning what is most likely to have been the identity of the original plant. There is no consensus on the question, although some Western experts outside the Vedic and Avestan religious traditions now seem to favour a species of Ephedra, perhaps Ephedra sinica.

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One of the suitors to Devaki's hand. A kinsman of the Kauravas.

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Sect of Zen emphasizing shikantaza as the primary mode of practice; see also Dōgen. Sōtō Zen or the Sōtō school is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Dongshan Liangjie. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.

The Japanese brand of the sect was imported in the 13th century by Dōgen Zenji, who studied Caodong Buddhism abroad in China. Dōgen is remembered today as the co-patriarch of Sōtō Zen in Japan along with Keizan Jōkin.

With about 14,000 temples, Sōtō is one of the largest Japanese Buddhist organizations. Sōtō Zen is now also popular in the West, and in 1996 priests of the Sōtō Zen tradition formed the Soto Zen Buddhist Association based in North America.

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Sri Anandamayi Maa (30 April 1896 – 27 August 1982) was an Indian saint from Bengal. Swami Sivananda (Divine Life Society) described her as "the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced." Precognition, healing and other miracles were attributed to her by her followers. Paramhansa Yogananda translates Anandamayi as "joy-permeated". This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe what they saw as her habitual state of divine joy and bliss.

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Example via www.ramdass.org: Sri Anandamayi Ma

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Work and Desire by Sri Anandamayi Ma

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Also knew as Rama, Ramachandra or Sri Rama. Hanumana tells Bhima how he was deeply thrilled when he happened to touch Rama's body. This king of Ayodhya was banished to the forest for fourteen years, killed Ravana the king of Lanka who abducted his wife, Sita.

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Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), born Gadadhar Chatterji or Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Gôdadhor Chôṭṭopaddhae), was an Indian mystic and yogi during the 19th-century. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda. Tota Puri gave him the name Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal. He became a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, dedicated to the goddess Kali, which had the influence of the main strands of Bengali bhakti tradition. The most widely known amongst his first spiritual teachers was an ascetic woman, called Bhairavi Brahmani, who was skilled in Tantra and Vaishnava bhakti. Later an Advaita Vedantin ascetic, Tota Puri, taught him non-dual meditation, and he experienced nirvikalpa samadhi under his guidance.

Example video: A story from Sri Ramakrishna on the Guru.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Sri Ramakrishna

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna's teachings were imparted in rustic Bengali, using stories and parables. These teachings made a powerful impact on Calcutta's intellectuals, despite the fact that his preachings were far removed from issues of modernism or national independence. His spiritual movement indirectly aided nationalism, as it rejected caste distinctions and religious prejudices.

In the Calcutta scene of the mid to late nineteenth century, Ramakrishna was opinionated on the subject of Chakri. Chakri can be described as a type of low-paying servitude done by educated men—typically government or commerce-related clerical positions. On a basic level, Ramakrishna saw this system as a corrupt form of European social organisation that forced educated men to be servants not only to their bosses at the office but also to their wives at home. What Ramakrishna saw as the primary detriment of Chakri, however, was that it forced workers into a rigid, impersonal clock-based time structure. He saw the imposition of strict adherence to each second on the watch as a roadblock to spirituality. Despite this, however, Ramakrishna demonstrated that Bhakti could be practised as an inner retreat to experience solace in the face of Western-style discipline and often discrimination in the workplace.

Ramakrishna emphasised God-realisation as the supreme goal of all living beings. Ramakrishna taught that kamini-kanchana is an obstacle to God-realization. Kamini-kanchan literally translates to "woman and gold." Partha Chatterjee wrote that the figure of a woman stands for concepts or entities that have "little to do with women in actuality" and "the figure of woman-and-gold signified the enemy within: that part of one's own self which was susceptible to the temptations of ever-unreliable worldly success." Carl T. Jackson interprets kamini-kanchana to refer to the idea of sex and the idea of money as delusions which prevent people from realising God. Jeffrey Kripal translates the phrase as "lover-and-gold" and associates it with Ramakrishna's alleged disgust for women as lovers. Swami Tyagananda, considered this to be a "linguistic misconstruction." Ramakrishna also cautioned his women disciples against purusa-kanchana ("man and gold") and Tyagananda writes that Ramakrishna used Kamini-Kanchana as "cautionary words" instructing his disciples to conquer the "lust inside the mind."

Ramakrishna looked upon the world as Maya and he explained that avidya maya represents dark forces of creation (e.g. sensual desire, selfish actions, evil passions, greed, lust and cruelty), which keep people on lower planes of consciousness. These forces are responsible for human entrapment in the cycle of birth and death, and they must be fought and vanquished. Vidya maya, on the other hand, represents higher forces of creation (e.g. spiritual virtues, selfless action, enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, and devotion), which elevate human beings to the higher planes of consciousness.

Ramakrishna practised several religions, including Islam and Christianity, and taught that in spite of the differences, all religions are valid and true and they lead to the same ultimate goal—God. Ramakrishna taught that jatra jiv tatra Shiv (wherever there is a living being, there is Shiva). His teaching, "Jive daya noy, Shiv gyane jiv seba" (not kindness to living beings, but serving the living being as Shiva Himself) is considered as the inspiration for the philanthropic work carried out by his chief disciple Vivekananda.

Ramakrishna used rustic colloquial Bengali in his conversations. According to contemporary reports, Ramakrishna's linguistic style was unique, even to those who spoke Bengali. It contained obscure local words and idioms from village Bengali, interspersed with philosophical Sanskrit terms and references to the Vedas, Puranas, and Tantras. For that reason, according to philosopher Lex Hixon, his speeches cannot be literally translated into English or any other language. Scholar Amiya P. Sen argued that certain terms that Ramakrishna may have used only in a metaphysical sense are being improperly invested with new, contemporaneous meanings.

Ramakrishna was skilled with words and had an extraordinary style of preaching and instructing, which may have helped convey his ideas to even the most skeptical temple visitors. His speeches reportedly revealed a sense of joy and fun, but he was not at a loss when debating with intellectual philosophers. Philosopher Arindam Chakrabarti contrasted Ramakrishna's talkativeness with Buddha's legendary reticence, and compared his teaching style to that of Socrates.

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Pandava supporters.

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Two brothers fighting on the Kaurava side attacked Arjuna but were killed.

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A Kaurava warrior whose mace hurled at Krishna rebounded fiercely, killing Srutayudha himself. Her mother Parnasa had obtained that gift from Varuna who had specified that the mace should not be used against one who does not fight, else it would kill the person who hurls it.

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Shruti (Sanskrit: IAST: śrūti) literally means "that which is heard", and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. It includes the four Vedas including its four types of embedded texts - the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the early Upanishads.

Shrutis have been considered revealed knowledge, variously described as of divine origin, or nonhuman primordial origins. In Hindu tradition, they have been referred to as Apaurusṣeya (authorless). All six orthodox schools of Hinduism accept the authority of Shruti, but many scholars in these schools denied that Shrutis are divine, work of God. Heterodox schools of Hinduism, such as the 1st millennium BCE Cārvākas, did not accept the authority of the Shrutis and considered them to be the flawed work of man.

Shruti, or "what is heard", differs from other sources of Hindu Philosophy, particularly smriti or text “which is remembered”. These sacred works span much of the history of Hinduism, beginning with the earliest known Hindu Vedic literature and ending in the early historical period with the later Upanishads. Of the Srutis, the Upanishads alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishadic Sruti are at the spiritual core of Hindus.

Shruti is sometimes spelled sruti or sruthi as in South India.

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A Yaksha, follower of Kubera, who exchanges his identity with Shikhandin, A rakshasa who helps disturb Vishvamitra's sacrifices.

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The base consciousness (alayavijnana) taught in Yogacara Buddhism.

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King of Kulinda in the Himalayas, ally of the Kauravas, Subahu was a demon who tried to interrupt Viswamitra's yaga. He was slain by Lord Rama. King of Chedi.

Subahu (Sanskrit: Supāhu, Tamil: Cupāku, Kannada: Thai: Sawahu) is a rakshasa character in the Ramayana. He and his mother, Tataka, took immense pleasure in harassing the munis of the jungle, especially Vishvamitra, by disrupting their yajnas with rains of flesh and blood.

Vishvamitra approached Dasharatha for help in getting rid of these pestilences. Dasharatha obliged by sending two of his sons, Rama and Lakshmana, to the forest with Vishvamitra, charging them to protect both the sage and his sacrificial fires. When Subahu and Tataka again attempted to rain flesh and blood on the sage's yajna, they were both killed by Rama.

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Subhadra is a character in the Mahabharata written by Vyasa. According to the epic, she was younger sister of Krishna and Balarama, wife of Arjuna and mother of Abhimanyu.

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The southern mountain deity.

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A warrior on the Kaurava side. Sudakshina was a king of the Kambojas, mentioned in the Mahābhārata as fighting on the side of the Kauravas and being slain by Arjuna.

On the fourteenth day of battle, Arjuna, with his charioteer Krishna, attempts to reach Jayadratha. Dronacharya and Duryodhana throw warriors in Arjuna's path, trying to impede his progress until sunset. Sudakshina rallies a fleeing Kaurava akshauhini, challenging Arjuna. He throws a spear at Arjuna; the spear connects and Arjuna swoons in his seat, dripping blood. The Kaurava army begins to cheer, thinking Arjuna is dead. However, Arjuna quickly recovers and angrily invokes the Indraastra, which multiplies into many arrows and decimates the Kaurava forces. Sudakshina is beheaded by one of these arrows.

It is later remarked that while Sudakshina was a just and good king, he felt obligated to fight for Duryodhana. In the years preceding the war, Karna had conquered the Kamboja army and Sudakshina had bent the knee to Hastinapur. Despite knowing that the Pandavas had dharma on their side, he raised his banners for Duryodhana.

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A warrior on the Kaurava army.

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The Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like weapon with 108 serrated edges used by the Hindu god Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is generally portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a shankha (conch shell), a Gada (mace) and a padma (lotus).

The Sudarshana Chakra may be depicted as an ayudhapurusha (anthropomorphic form). He is depicted as a fierce form of Vishnu. While the Sudarshana Chakra is depicted as a subordinate figure with Vishnu, in many South Indian Vishnu temples, the Chakra as an ayudhapurusha is worshipped in its own shrine attached to the central temple.

According to the Puranas, Sudarshana Chakra is used for the ultimate destruction of an enemy. The depiction of Vishnu with Sudarshana Chakra also means that Vishnu is the keeper-owner of the celestial bodies and heavens.

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In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Sudeshna was the wife of King Virata, at whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. She was the mother of Uttar, Uttara, Shveta, Satanika and Shankha, as well as others.

Sudeshna's kingdom of origin is not specified in the Mahabhartha. Her brother, Kichaka, is the commander-in-chief of the Matsya army. So presumably, Sudeshna is of Matsya origin herself.

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A Brahman who traced Damayanti in Chedi and later helps Damayanti in her quest to find Nala. He was friend of Damayanti's brother.

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Monkey-king, friend of Sri Rama, and brother of mighty Vali whom Sri Rama killed. In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Sugriva was the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara or monkey kingdom Kishkindha. Rumā was his wife. He was the son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun. As king of the monkeys, Sugriva aided Rama in his quest to liberate his wife Sita from captivity at the hands of the Rakshasa king Ravana. This aid is referred to as Sugrivajne (Sugriva pledge).

He is also known as Javanese: Sugriwa, rtgs: Su-khrip, Lao: Sugeep, Khmer: Sukhreeb, Creole: Soogrim, Lao: Sangkip, Tamil: Cukkirivan, Burmese: Thugyeik, Sugreeva or Sugreev.

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Daughter of Sage Uddalaka and wife of Kagola, his disciple who had virtue and devotion but not much of erudition, mother of Ashtavakra.

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Shuka (also Shukadeva, Shuka deva, Suka, Sukadev, Sukadeva Gosvami) was the son of the sage Vyasa (credited as the organizer of the Vedas and Puranas) and the main narrator of the Bhagavata Purana. Most of the Bhagavata Purana consists of Shuka reciting the story to the dying king Parikshit. Shuka is depicted as a sannyasin, renouncing the world in pursuit of moksha (liberation), which most narratives assert that he achieved.

According to the Mahabharata, after one hundred years of austerity by Vyasa, Shuka was churned out of a stick of fire, born with ascetic power and with the Vedas dwelling inside him, just like his father. The Mahabharata also recounts how Shuka was sent by Vyasa for training to King Janaka, who was considered to be a Jivanmukta, or one who is liberated while still in a body. Shuka asked Janaka about the way to liberation, with Janaka recommending the traditional progression of the four ashramas, which included the householder stage. After expressing contempt for the householder life, Shuka questioned Janaka about the real need for following the householder path. Seeing Shuka's advanced state of realization, Janaka told him that there was no need in his case.

Stories recount how Shuka surpassed his father in spiritual attainment. Once, when following his son, Vyasa encountered a group of celestial nymphs who were bathing. Shuka's purity was such that the nymphs did not consider him to be a distraction, even though he was naked, but covered themselves when faced with his father. Shuka is sometimes portrayed as wandering about naked, due to his complete lack of self-consciousness.

A completely different version of the later life of Shuka is given in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, considered a secondary Purana (upapurana) by many, but an important work in the Shakta tradition. In this account, Shuka is convinced by Janaka to follow the ashrama tradition, and returns home to marry and follow the path of yoga. He has five children with his wife Pivari—four sons and a daughter. The story concludes in the same vein as the common tradition, with Shuka achieving moksha.

A place called Shukachari is believed to be the cave of Shuka, where he disappeared in cave stones as per local traditions. Shuka in Sanskrit means parrot and thus the name is derived from the large number of parrots found around the Shukachari hills. Shukachari literally means abode of parrots in the Sanskrit language.

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Happiness; ease; pleasure; bliss. Sukha is a Sanskrit and Pali word that is often translated happiness, ease, pleasure or bliss. From the time of the earliest early scriptures, sukha is set up as a contrast to preya "pleasure", where sukha is a deep and authentic positive, fulfilling state of being that is lasting and not merely transient and ultimately unsatisfying, requiring constant modification, like preya. In the Pāli Canon, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits, meditative absorptions and intra-psychic phenomena.

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Son of Asamanja.

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Wife of Sagara.

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Sumitra(Burmese: Thumitra, Malay: Samutra) in the Indian epic Ramayana, was the third of King Dasharatha's three wives and a queen of Ayodhya. She was the mother of twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. She came from the ancient kingdom of Kashi. She was supposed to be the wisest of the wives of Dasaratha. She was the one to first realize that Rama was the incarnation of Lord Narayana. She even encouraged Lakshmana to accompany Rama and serve him during his exile.

There is a popular story about why twins were born to Sumitra. Dasaratha, despite having three wives had no children and none of the queens had been able to give him an heir to the Ikshvaku dynasty. The thought of his dynasty ending with him saddened Dasaratha and he was very eager to have a son who would take care of the throne of Ayodhya.

Guru Vasistha who was the raj (royal) purohit of Ayodhya asked the King the reason for his sadness and the King conveyed his worries about the lack of a male heir to his dynasty. On Vasistha's request, Dasharatha did a Yagya at the end of which he gave a plate of sweets each to Kausalya and Kaikeyi and asked them to share their plates with the third queen Sumitra. Sumitra got one bite from Kausalya's plate and one from Kaikeyi's and thus gave birth to twins. With Kausalya and Kaikeyi each bearing one son. Sumitra’s sons were later named by guru Vasistha as Lakshmana and Shatrughana.

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A mythological character from the great epic Mahabharata, Sunda was an asura prince and the brother of Upasunda. Their father was Jambha. The brothers grew up to be very powerful and were always of one mind. Together, they embarked on a campaign of world domination that began with a program of extreme asceticism in the mountains. Their asceticism generated such extreme heat that the gods themselves became exceedingly alarmed. Unsuccessfully, the gods attempted to distract the brothers through the enticement of maidens and by means of disturbing illusions of rampaging Rakshasas. Finally, Brahma agreed to grant the brothers a boon, on condition that they desist from their asceticism. The brothers agreed to the condition, and received the boon of being completely invulnerable, except that they could be killed by each other. Leaving the mountains, Sunda and Upasunda returned home, mustered an army, and proceeded to conquer and to devastate the entire world. They even drove the gods from their celestial abode. Finally, Brahma was again moved to action. He created the beautiful apsara Tilottama and ordered her to cause dissent between the brothers. Tilottama found Sunda and Upasunda in the countryside with their retinue, drinking and celebrating their victories. Beholding Tilottama, they immediately fell to fighting over her, and ended up killing each other. Thus was the world order reestablished.

Sunda and rakshashi Thataka were parents of famous asuras Maricha and Subahu.

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Mother of Dhruva.

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Śūnyatā (Sanskrit, also shunyata; Pali: suññatā), translated into English as emptiness, voidness, openness, spaciousness, or vacuity, is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. In Theravada Buddhism, suññatā often refers to the not-self (Pāli: anatta, Sanskrit: anātman) nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres. Suññatā is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience.

Sunyata is a key term in Mahayana Buddhism, and also influenced medieval Hinduism.

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One of Ravana's counsellors.

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Name of King Bhagadatta's elephant.

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Kamadhenu (Sanskrit: [kaːməˈd̪ʱeːnʊ], Kāmadhenu), also known as Surabhi (Surabhī), is a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as the mother of all cows. She is a miraculous "cow of plenty" who provides her owner whatever he desires and is often portrayed as the mother of other cattle as well as the eleven Rudras. In iconography, she is generally depicted as a white cow with a female head and breasts or as a white cow containing various deities within her body. All cows are venerated in Hinduism as the earthly embodiment of the Kamadhenu. As such, Kamadhenu is not worshipped independently as a goddess, and temples are not dedicated to her honor alone; rather, she is honored by the veneration of cows in general throughout the observant Hindu population.

Hindu scriptures provide diverse accounts of the birth of Kamadhenu. While some narrate that she emerged from the churning of the cosmic ocean, others describe her as the daughter of the creator god Daksha, and as the wife of the sage Kashyapa. Still other scriptures narrate that Kamadhenu was in the possession of either Jamadagni or Vashista (both ancient sages), and that kings who tried to steal her from the sage ultimately faced dire consequences for their actions. Kamadhenu plays the important role of providing milk and milk products to be used in her sage-master's oblations; she is also capable of producing fierce warriors to protect him. In addition to dwelling in the sage's hermitage, she is also described as dwelling in Goloka - the realm of the cows - and Patala, the netherworld.

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A rākshasī; sister of ravana; desires Rama; seeks to become Lakshamana's wife who attempts to slay Sita.

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Surya (/ˈsʊərjə/; Sanskrit: Sūrya, "the Supreme Light"), also known as Aditya, Bhanu or Ravi Vivasvana in Sanskrit, and in Avestan Vivanhant, is the chief solar deity in Hinduism and generally refers to the Sun.

Surya is the chief of the Navagraha, the nine Indian Classical planets and important elements of Hindu astrology. He is often depicted riding a chariot harnessed by seven horses which might represent the seven colors of the rainbow or the seven chakras in the body. He is also the presiding deity of Sunday. Surya is regarded as the Supreme Deity by Saura sect and Smartas worship him as one of the five primary forms of God. The sun god, Zun, worshipped by the Afghan Zunbil dynasty, is thought to be synonymous with Surya.

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King of Trigarta, a supporter of the Kauravas who backed the proposal to invade Matsya, Virata's country.

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A monkey chief ; at siege of Lanka.

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The Suśrutasanhitā is an important Sanskrit text on medicine, considered to be one of the earliest major works related to detailed study of medicine and surgery. Written by Sushruta, it is commonly dated to the period of 6th century BC.

It is one of the foundational texts of Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), alongside the Charaka Samhita, Bhela Samhita, and the medical portions of the Bower Manuscript.

The Sushruta Samhita, in its extant form, is divided in 184 chapters and contains descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources. The text discusses surgical techniques of making incisions, probing, extraction of foreign bodies, alkali and thermal cauterization, tooth extraction, excisions, and trocars for draining abscess, draining hydrocele and ascitic fluid, the removal of the prostate gland, urethral stricture dilatation, vesiculolithotomy, hernia surgery, caesarian section, management of haemorrhoids, fistulae, laparotomy and management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines, and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principles of fracture management, viz., traction, manipulation, appositions and stabilization including some measures of rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetics. It enumerates six types of dislocations, twelve varieties of fractures, and classification of the bones and their reaction to the injuries, and gives a classification of eye diseases including cataract surgery.

The text was translated to Arabic as Kitab-i-Susrud in the 8th century.

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Scripture; originally referred to short aphoristic sayings and collections thereof. A sutra (Sanskrit sūtra Pali: sutta, Ardha Magadhi: sūya) is an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a text in Hinduism or Buddhism. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew. The word "sutra" was very likely meant to apply quite literally to these texts, as they were written down in books of palm leaves sewn together with thread. This distinguishes them from the older sacred Vedas, which until recently were only memorised, never committed to paper.

In ancient Indian literature, sutra denotes a distinct type of literary composition, based on short aphoristic statements, generally using various technical terms. This literary form was designed for concision, as the texts were intended to be memorized by students in some of the formal methods of scriptural and scientific study (Sanskrit: svādhyāya). Since each line is highly condensed, another literary form arose in which commentaries (Sanskrit: bhāṣya) on the sutras were added, to clarify and explain them. For discussion of the literary form for sutras, their terse nature as a summary of ideas for memorization, and the rise of the commentorial literary form as an adjunct to sutras, see: Tubb & Boose 2007, pp. 1–2.

In Brahmin lineage, each family is supposed to have one gotra and one Sutra, meaning that a certain Veda (Śruti) is treasured by this family in way of learning by heart. One of the most famous definitions of a sutra in Indian literature is itself a sutra and comes from the Vayu Purana:

alpākṣaraṃ asandigdhaṃ sāravad viśvatomukham
astobhaṃ anavadyaṃ ca sūtram sūtravido viduḥ.
Of minimal syllabary, unambiguous, pithy, comprehensive,
continuous, and without flaw: who knows the sutra knows it to be thus.

In Jainism, sutra or suya refers to canonical sermons of Mahavira contained in the Jain Agamas and to some later (post-canonical) normative texts.

In Buddhism, sutra or sutta refers mostly to canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. The Pali form of the word, sutta, is used exclusively to refer to the scriptures of the early Pali Canon, the only texts recognized by Theravada Buddhism as canonical. In Chinese, these are known as 經 (pinyin: jīng). These teachings are assembled in part of the Tripiṭaka which is called the Sutta Pitaka. There are many important or influential Mahayana texts, such as the Platform Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, that are called sutras despite being attributed to much later authors.

Some scholars consider that the Buddhist use of sutra is a faulty Sanskritization of the Prakrit or Pali word sutta and that the latter actually represented Sanskrit sūkta, "well spoken, good news". The early Buddhist sutras do not present the aphoristic, nearly cryptic nature of the Hindu sutras even though they also have been designed for mnemonic purposes in an oral tradition. On the contrary, they are most often lengthy, with many repetitions which serve the mnemonic purpose of the audience. They share the character of sermons of "good news" with the Jaina sutras, whose original name of sūya in Ardha Magadhi can derive from Sanskrit sūkta, but hardly from sutra.

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The Sutta Pitaka (suttapiṭaka; or Suttanta Pitaka) is the first of the three divisions of the Tripitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. The Sutta Pitaka contains more than 10,000 suttas (teachings) attributed to the Buddha or his close companions.

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A soldier on the Kaurava side.

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An Olympian paradise, a place where all wishes and desires are gratfied, The heaven of Indra where mortals after death enjoy the results of their good deeds on earth.

In Hinduism, Svarga (or Swarga), also known as Swarga Loka, is any of the seven loka or planes in Hindu cosmology, which sequentially are Bhu loka (Prithvi Loka, Earth), Bhuvar loka, Swarga loka, Mahar loka, Jana loka, Tapa loka, and the highest, Satyaloka (Brahmaloka). It is a set of heavenly worlds located on and above Mt. Meru. It is a heaven where the righteous live in a paradise before their next incarnation. During each pralaya, the great dissolution, the first three realms, Bhu loka (Earth), Bhuvar loka, Swarga loka, are destroyed. Below the seven upper realms lie seven lower realms, of Patala, the underworld and netherworld.

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A son of King Virata who fell in battle to Bhishma's arrow.

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A swami (Sanskrit: svāmī [sʋaːmiː]) sometimes abbreviated “sw.” is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by some religious teacher. It is believed to be originally used for the ones who were initiated into to the Advaita Vedanta movement started by Adi Shankara. The usage of this word is not just for a yogi but also used for a religious guru, with or without disciples.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as:

Hindi svāmī master, lord, prince, used by Hindus as a term of respectful address, < Sanskrit svāmin in same senses, also the idol or temple of a god.

In the Bengali language, the word (pronounced [ˈʃami]), while carrying its original meaning, has a dual meaning of “husband”. The word also means “husband” in the Malay language, where it is spelled “Suami”. Swami also means husband in the Khmer language.

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Swami Ramdas (10 April 1884 – 25 July 1963) was an Indian saint, philosopher, philanthropist, and pilgrim. Giving up worldly possessions at a young age, he became a wandering monk. His story and his teachings been presented in several different books and he has developed a spiritual following.

Vittal Rao was born in Kanhangad, in northern Kerala, India on April 10, 1884. His parents were Sri Balakrishna Rao and Smt. Lalita Bai. He worked as a spinning master in a cotton mill and in 1908 he married. He experienced difficulties, both in his financial pursuits and domestic life, and seeking relief from his circumstances, he began to chant "Ram" – a name of God. Soon after, his father gave to him a holy mantra to repeat, the Ram Mantra: "Sri Ram jai Ram jai jai Ram". Through inner guidance he started adding the "Om" to each repetition: "Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram" and he found the benefit at least threefold.

He quickly became detached from materialistic pleasures and left on a pilgrimage, taking on the name Ramdas, and living on charity (though he never accepted money). His practice was to view the world as forms of Ram – and thus to see everything that might befall him as the will of Ram. His mantra practice also gradually became a round-the-clock practice.

In 1922 he encountered the sage, Ramana Maharshi, and received his grace. As a result of this, he went into his first retreat, living for 21 days in solitude in a cave in Arunachala. Upon leaving this cave he was filled with the realization that, “All was Rama, nothing but Rama”. Some time later an absorption experience near Mangalore fully erased his personal identity, so that only Oneness prevailed.

After continuing to live on the roads for many years, his devotees established Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala in 1931. The ashram worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, and continues to this day to share Swami Ramdas’ vision of Universal Love and Service.

A list of Ramdas' well known disciples includes Mataji Krishnabai, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Mudrananda and Yogi Ramsuratkumar.

He Attained Samadhi in 1963.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Swami Ramdas

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Swami Ramdas

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Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendra Nath Datta (Bengali: [nɔrend̪ro nat̪ʰ d̪ɔt̪t̪o]), was an Indian Hindu monk and chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day.

Example via www.ramdass.org: Swami Vivekananda

Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Swami Vivekananda on the Vedanta Philosophy

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Swayamvara, in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means groom in this context.

In this practice, the girl's father decides to conduct the Swayamvara of the daughter at an auspicious time and venue, and broadcasts the news of this to the outside world. Kings typically used to send messengers to outside lands, whereas commoners arranged to spread the news within the local community.

On the appointed day and venue, a list of suitors arrive at the girl's home and ask for her hand. The girl and her family get to choose among the suitors, sometimes through evaluating the completion of various tasks assigned. When the girl identifies the husband of her choice, she garlands him and a marriage ceremony is held immediately.

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A Yadava prince who insulted the sage Gargya, and was the cause of his becoming the father of Kalayavana, a great foe of Krishna and the Yadava family.

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