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The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism James G. Lochtefeld, Ph.D. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York Published in 2001 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010 Copyright © 2001 by James G. Lochtefeld First Edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lochtefeld, James G., 1957– The illustrated encyclopedia of Hinduism/James G. Lochtefeld. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8239-2287-1 (set) ISBN 0-8239-3180-3 (volume 2) 1. Hinduism Encyclopedias. I. Title BL1105.L63 2000 294.5'03—dc21 99-27747 CIP Manufactured in the United States of America Nachiketas N poetry are dedicated to Krishna, a dif- ferent form of Vishnu. This seeming divergence may reflect her conviction that all manifestations of Vishnu are ultimately the same or indicate the dif- ference between personal devotion and literary expression. The thirty poems in the Nacciyar Tirumoli are told by a group of unmar- ried girls, who have taken a vow to bathe Nabhadas in the river at dawn during the coldest (c. 1600) Author of the Bhaktamal month of the year. This vow has a long (“Garland of Devotees”). In this hagio- history in southern India, where young graphic text, he gives short (six line) girls would take the oath to gain a good accounts of the lives of more than two husband and a happy married life. In the hundred contemporary bhakti (devo- poem, the girls have taken the vow to tional) figures, some from personal gain Krishna as their husband. The experience. Although Nabhadas identi- poems in the cycle describe various fea- fies himself as a Ramanandi—a devotee tures of the natural world at dawn, the (bhakta) of the god Rama—his work girls’ hopes in performing the vow, and includes devotees of all sectarian per- their return to Krishna’s house to awaken suasions. The text is notably free of mar- him and beg for his grace. The final velous and miraculous events, and poem in the series describes the benefits Nabhadas emphasizes the devotee’s gained by one who chants the text. personal qualities, to serve as a model of devotion for others. In many cases the Nachiketas Bhaktamal gives the earliest reliable A primary character in the Kathka account for these figures, making it an Upanishad, a speculative philosophical important source for northern Indian text considered one of the later upan- literary and religious history. Despite its ishads. In the text, the boy Nachiketas is importance the text cannot be defini- the seeker of ultimate wisdom. In a fit of tively dated, although internal evidence anger his father curses him to be given suggests that it was completed early in to Death; Nachiketas obediently goes to the seventeenth century. the house of Death to give himself up. He waits for three days at Death’s door, Nacciyar Tirumoli but receives none of the hospitality due One of two collections of poetry com- to a brahminguest. When Death returns posed by the poet-saint Andal (9th c.), he is disturbed to discover that his guest the other being the Tirruppavai. Andal has been neglected. To atone for the was the only woman among the Alvars, lapse, Death offers Nachiketas three a group of twelve poet-saints who lived boons. With his first two, Nachiketas in southern India between the seventh wishes to return to his father and to and tenth centuries. All the Alvars were understand the meaning of a particular devotees (bhakta) of the god Vishnu. sacrificial ritual. With the final boon he Their emphasis on passionate devotion asks what happens to a person after the (bhakti) to a personal god, conveyed death of the body. Death first tries to through hymns sung in the Tamil lan- evade the question, then tries to bribe guage, transformed and revitalized Nachiketas with other gifts. When the Hindu religious life. Andal’s chosen boy holds firm in his resolve, Death deity was Ranganatha, the form of begins to reveal his secrets. This dis- Vishnu presiding at the temple of course makes up the bulk of the text. Shrirangam. Yet both collections of her Death’s secrets focus mainly on the 451 Nadi reality of the Self (atman), its eternal bodies and flying matted hair presented and indestructible nature, and the diffi- a fearsome sight. As Indian social and culties in truly knowing it. The Self is political circumstances have changed, portrayed as the ultimate truth, and to their military importance has faded. know it is to know the only thing that However, these organizations (akhara) really matters. of Naga ascetics still exist, although they are most important now in determining the order for bathing (snana) at the Nadi Kumbha Mela. The accounts of the (“tube”) In general, the word nadimay ascetics themselves are full of tales of be applied to any pipe or tube, strife along sectarian lines (Shaivasver- whether in plumbing or the human sus Vaishnavas); a good indication that circulatory system. A nadi has a more the Shaivas gained superiority is that specialized meaning with regard to they have priority in the bathing at the the Hindu conception of the subtle Kumbha Melas. For further information body. The subtle body is an alternate see Jadunath Sarkar, A History of the physiological system, existing on a Dasanami Naga Sanyasis, 1958; David different plane than gross matter, but Lorenzen, “Warrior Ascetics in Indian corresponding to the material body. It History,” in Journal of the American consists of six psychic centers Oriental Society, Vol. 98, No. 1, 1978; (chakras), visualized as multipetaled and James G. Lochtefeld, “The Vishva lotus flowers running roughly along Hindu Parishad and the Roots of the spine, connected by three vertical Hindu Militancy,” in Journal of the channels known as nadis. Of these, American Academy of Religion,Vol. LXII, the ida nadi is on the left side, the No. 2, 1994. pingala nadi on the right, and the sushumna in the center. Naga (2) In Hindu mythology, the Nagas are a Naga class of minor divinities who have the (“naked”) The general term for any fight- form of serpents. Their king is Vasuki. In ing or militant ascetic. Ascetic orders popular Hinduism, Nagas are often con- traditionally chartered companies of sidered to be the gods of a specific place. fighting ascetics to protect the members Often associated with fertility and and their resources. The Naga orders of fecundity, Nagas are usually believed to the Dashanami Sanyasiswere devotees live in springs, ponds, and other small (bhakta) of the god Shiva, whereas the bodies of water. In Buddhist and Jain Bairagiorders were devotees of the god iconography the Nagas often play the Vishnu. In northern India during the role of minor protective deities. It is eighteenth century these Naga ascetics common to see a seated figure shad- developed into dynamic military and owed by an “umbrella” of Nagas. mercantile powerhouses. In several Although this is unusual in Hindu instances, Naga ascetics managed to iconography, there may be remnants carve out petty kingdoms of their own. of this in the iconography of the god In many other instances, they had sig- Shiva, who is often depicted wearing nificant influence in the northern snakes for both his ornaments and his Indian economy and politics, whether in sacred thread. their own right or as mercenary soldiers in the service of a reigning monarch. Nagara Their name was a literal description of their practices, since many of these One of the three developed styles in ascetics would go into battle bearing medieval Hindu temple architecture, only their weapons. Their ash-smeared along with the Dravidaand the Veshara. 452 Nagara Built in the Nagara style, the Triloknath Temple in Mandi consists of a series of towers, the largest of which contains an image of the presiding deity. The Nagara style is found throughout upward, similar to a series of hills northern and eastern India. One of its leading to a distant peak. This vertical- prominent features is a shikhara or ity is accentuated through the use of tower. The shikhara is often surrounded turrets (urushringas) on the sides of by smaller towers that lead the eye up to the towers, which replicate the shape the highest point, which is directly over of the final peak. The entire temple is the image of the temple’s primary deity. set on a raised base (adhishthana). Within this general pattern there are two Within the temple there are usually variants, exemplified by the temples at several different zones: an entrance Khajurahoand Orissa. porch (ardhamandapa), a hall (man- In Khajuraho the series of shikha- dapa), an intermediate area (antarala), ras are connected, forming a continu- and a central shrine(garbhagrha) sur- ous rising swell that draws the eye rounded by a processional path 453 Nageshvar (pradakshina). Despite their different connected with the god Krishna, some parts, temples built in the Khajuraho scholars believe the Nageshvar linga style convey the artistic impression of may have been promoted to maintain a an integrated, unified whole. Shaivite presence in an important The Orissan style emphasizes the Vaishnavaarea. contrast between the temple’s con- stituent parts. The two central compo- Nag Panchami nents are the entrance hall (jagamohan) Festival falling on the fifth day (pan- and the beehive-shaped temple tower chami) of the bright, waxing half of the (deul). The tower is often three or four lunar month of Shravan (July–August). times taller than the entrance hall, a dif- This day is devoted to the worship of ference that tends to heighten the con- serpents, whether as Nagas—the minor trast between the two. Other sections deitieswho take the form of snakes—or include a dance-hall (natamandira), actual cobras and other snakes. On this traditionally used for performances, and day the images of the Naga deities are a “food pavilion” (bhogamandapa), bathed and given offerings. Offerings where the prasad was cooked. These are also made to real serpents. On this architectural elements are connected day people refrain from digging in the like beads on a string, as seemingly sep- earth, since snakes live there. arable parts lined up with one another. This rite occurs on the fifth day The most important temples in the because in astrology (jyotisha), the Orissan style are the Lingaraja Temple guardian deity for this day is Shesha, the in Bhubaneshvar, the Jagannath god Vishnu’s serpent couch. This festi- temple in Puri, and the Sun Temple val falls at the beginning of the rainy at Konarak. season, when the rising waters caused by the monsoonrains often drive snakes Nageshvar out of their dens, and at times into peo- Temple and sacred site (tirtha) about fif- ples’ homes and gardens. The rainy sea- teen miles northeast of the holy city of son is also the time for growing crops; Dwaraka, in the eastern state of snakes pose a real danger for people Gujarat. The temple is named after its working in the fields. According to one presiding deity, the god Shiva in his estimate, 10,000 Indians die from manifestation as the “Lord of Serpents.” snakebites every year. According to pop- Shiva is present at Nageshvar in the ular belief, observing this rite will pro- form of a linga, a pillar-shaped image. tect one from snakebites for the entire The Nageshvar linga is one of the twelve year. This observance is a protective rit- jyotirlingas, a network of sites at which ual, marking the advent of a dangerous Shiva is uniquely present. Nageshvar’s time for many villagers. charter myth is based on the story of the demon Daruk and his wife Daruka. Nagpur Daruka is a fervent devotee (bhakta) of City in the eastern state of Maharashtra. Shiva’s wife Parvati; through Parvati’s Nagpur is the birthplace of the Hindu graceDaruka gains protection for all the nationalist organization known as the other demons. The demons use this Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh. The power to oppress the righteous. As the organization was formed in 1925 by Dr. demons are about to kill one of Shiva’s K. B. Hedgewar and still maintains its devotees, Shiva appears and slays them. headquarters in Nagpur. Parvati has come along with Shiva to protect Daruka, her devotee. Daruka persuades Shiva and Parvati to remain Nahusha in Nageshvar as a sign of their grace. In Hindu mythology, a king of the lunar Since the city of Dwaraka is also dynasty, and a paradigm for a person 454 Naina Devi afflicted with self-pride. Through Naimittika Karma amassing religious merits, Nahusha suc- (“occasional [ritual] action”) One of ceeds to the throne of Indra, the king of three general types of ritual action, the the gods, who has gone into hiding others being nitya karma and kamya because of an evil deed. Nahusha is karma. Naimittika karma rites follow a filled with lust for Indra’s wife, Indrani. particular cause (naimittika); when par- He tries to act on it despite the obvious ticular circumstances arise, one is improprieties of approaching another required to perform the ritual. For man’s wife and a mortal making a claim example, when a child is born, certain on a goddess. Nahusha sets off for rites must be performed. However, the Indrani’s palace in a palanquin. In his ritual is not required unless a birth has impatience, he whips the palanquin taken place. bearers, saying “Sarpa, sarpa” (“Move! Move!”). Unfortunately for Nahusha, Naina Devi one of the bearers is Agastya, the sage. For Nahusha’s lust and disrespect, Presiding deityof the Naina Devi temple Agastya curses him to become a in the Shiwalik Hills in the state of snake (sarpa). Nahusha remains a Himachal Pradesh, and one of the nine serpent for many years but is released Shiwalik goddesses. Naina Devi’s tem- from the curse by the sight of the ple is located on a mountaintop close to Pandavabrothers. the border of Punjab. It is nine miles from Anandpur Sahib, a famous Sikh place of pilgrimage, and about one mile Nai from Nangal village. The greatest pil- Traditional Indian society was modeled grimage traffic occurs during festivals as a collection of endogamous, or inter- held on the eighth day in each half of the married, subgroups known as jatis lunar month of Shravan, and also dur- (“birth”). Jatis were organized (and their ing the first nine days of the month of social status determined) by the group’s Ashvin, when the Navaratri festival hereditary occupation, over which the takes place. group held a monopoly. The Nai jati’s According to the temple’s charter occupation was barbering, a low status myth, Naina Devi is one of the Shakti job because it required continual con- Pithas, a network of sites sacred to the tact with cut human hair, considered Goddess which spreads throughout the a source of impurity (ashaucha). In subcontinent. Each Shakti Pitha marks many instances the Nais also served the site where a body part of the dis- as messengers. membered goddess Sati fell to earth, taking form there as a different goddess; Naimisha Naina Devi was Sati’s eyes (naina). As with many of the other Shiwalik god- City and sacred site (tirtha) in the state desses, the images in Naina Devi’s tem- of Uttar Pradesh, about fifty miles ple are self-manifested (svayambhu northwest of the city of Lucknow. In the images) outcrops of stone. In a different later sectarian literature known as the version of the myth, the images were puranas, Naimisha is described as a for- discovered by a herdsman named est. Today the city’s major attraction is a Naina, who heeded the command of spring-fed bathing (snana) pool named the Goddess to build a temple for her. Chakra Tirtha. According to tradition, For further information see Kathleen this bathing pool contains water from Erndl, Victory to the Mother, 1993. See all the holy places of India, and thus is also pitha. the best place for pious Hindus to take a holy bath. 455 Naisthika Naisthika to be incompatible with certain everyday (“fixed”) A person who takes a vow to activities, which should be avoided during remain a perpetual religious student that time. Hindus who pay attention to (brahmacharin), keeping lifelong vows astrology are keenly aware of the passage of celibacy, austerity, study, and service of time and the quality of each moment. to his or her religious preceptor (guru). Nakula Naivedya In the Mahabharata, the later of the (“to be presented”) The thirteenth of the two great Hindu epics, Nakula is the sixteen traditional upacharas (“offer- fourth of the five Pandava brothers, ings”) given to a deityas part of worship. the epic’s antagonists. Nakula’s mother, To treat the deity as an honored guest, a Madri, is the younger wife of King Pandu. person may offer food. The food is often None of the Pandava brothers are actually returned to the worshipers as prasad, the Pandu’s sons, since he has been cursed to sanctified food bearing the deity’s grace. die the moment he holds his wife in The offering may be done in various ways, amorous embrace. Instead, they are mag- but the underlying motive for all the ically created through the effect of a upacharas is to show one’s love for the mantragiven to Madri’s co-wife, Kunti, by deity and attend to the deity’s needs. the sage Durvasas. The mantra gives the woman who recites it the power to call down any of the gods to conceive a son Naiyayika who will be as powerful as the god himself. Term for a follower of the Nyaya and With Pandu’s blessing Kunti teaches the Vaisheshikaphilosophical schools, two of mantra to Madri. She meditates on the the six schoolsin Hindu philosophy. After Ashvins, the divine twins who are the the early centuries of the common era, the physicians of the gods. Thus, she bears Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools merged, as twins. As the sons of the physicians of the did the Samkhya and Yoga schools and gods, both Nakula and Sahadeva are theMimamsa and Vedanta schools. The skilled healers of animals and human term Naiyayika is used to denote a follower beings. Although Nakula and Sahadeva of the combined Nyaya-Vaisheshika are among the five Pandava brothers, they school of philosophy. are less important to the Mahabharata than their three elder siblings. Nakshatra In Indian astrology (jyotisha), a nakshatra Nala is one of the twenty-seven signs in the In Hindu mythology, the King of lunar zodiac. In a single lunar monththe Nishadas and the husband of Damayanti. moonmoves through each of the twenty- The story of Nala andDamayanti appears seven lunar houses. The territory for these as a story within the Mahabharata, the lunar houses is divided equally through- later of the two great Hindu epics. It is out the solar zodiac—with 2.25 lunar recounted to the five Pandava brothers, houses for each of the twelve solar signs. the epic’s protagonists, during their twelve The nakshatras are important in Indian year exile in the forest, as a way to keep up astrology, partly because they change their spirits by telling how others have quite rapidly, but also because the charac- transcended misfortune. ter and qualities associated with each When Damayanti is old enough to nakshatra are believed to color the time marry, her father sends invitations to the period in which they fall. One group of five kings of the earth, announcing her nakshatras, the Panchak Nakshatra, is svayamvara, a rite in which Damayanti considered extremely inauspicious; many will choose her husband. The kings of activities will be curtailed until this period the earth come to the svayamvara to has passed. Certain nakshatras are judged seek her hand, as do the gods (devas) 456 Namakarana (“name-giving”) Samskara themselves. Yet Damayanti has already decided to choose Nala after being advised by a swan who praises him. The gods try to foil this by taking on the physical appearance of Nala, so that Damayanti will not be able to tell the difference between them. As a last resort, Damayanti makes an act of truth, a ritual action whose efficacy is based on the power of truth. In her act of truth, Damayanti declares that she has never loved anyone but Nala. To prove that this statement is true, she directs the gods to resume their true forms. Compelled by the power of truth, the gods immediately do as she commands. Nala and Damayanti are married, and as a reward for her fidelity, the gods give Nala various divine gifts. Hearing of the marriage, two of the rejected suitors curse Nala to lose his kingdom. Because of the curse, Nala and Damayanti are separated and suffer long tribulations, which include Nala having his body magically changed so that no one is able Namakarana samskara being performed on an to recognize him. In the end Damayanti infant, who in this photo is wrapped in cloth for recognizes him by his divine powers, protection from the evil eye. which cannot be hidden, and the lovers hymns of the Alvars, compiled in the are happily reunited. See also truth, tenth century by Nathamuni. The Alvars power of. were a group of twelve poet-saints who lived in southern India between the sev- Naladiyar enth and tenth centuries. All the Alvars One of the most important pieces of were devotees (bhakta) of the god early Tamil literature, along with its pre- Vishnu and emphasized passionate decessor, the Tirukkural. The Naladiyar devotion (bhakti) to a personal god, is a collection of four hundred verses conveyed through hymns sung in the that date from the fifth or sixth century. Tamil language. Their collected hymns Mainly concerned with moral and ethi- were popularly known as the “Tamil cal life, the verses were written by a Veda.” They carry Vedic authority for group of Jain monks who found shelter many southern Indian Vaishnavas, par- with a pious king in time of famine. In ticularly the Shrivaishnava school, gratitude each monk wrote one verse. which applied more developed philo- Despite the Naladiyar’s sectarian origin, sophical articulation to these devotional it has become the cultural property of ideas. See also Veda. Tamils from all religious communities; many of the verses have come into the Namakarana language as proverbial sayings. (“name-giving”) Samskara The fifth of the traditional life-cycle Nalayira Divyaprabandham ceremonies (samskaras), during which (“The Four Thousand Divine the newborn child is given a name. Compositions”) Title for the collected Although some commentators believe 457

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