ORIENTAL SERIES.

SANKARASANKHA. 279
two Aswins and Bevanta. Surya tlien took Sanjna back to his
own dwelling, but his effulgence was still so overpowering, that
her father, Viswa-karma, placed the sun upon his lathe, and cut
away an eighth part of his brilliancy. She is also call Dyumayi,
'
'
the brilliant,' and Maha-virya, the very powerful/
$ANKARA. 'Auspicious.' A name of $iva in his creative
character or as chief of the Rudras.
tfANKARACHARYA (Sankara + acharya).
The great reli-
gious reformer and teacher of the Vedanta philosophy, who lived
in the eighth or ninth century. He was a native of Kerala or
Malabar, and lived a very erratic life, disputing with heretics and
popularising the Vedanta philosophy by his preaching and writ-
ings wherever he went. His travels extended as far as Kashmir,
and he died at Kedaranath in the Himalayas ab the early age of
thirty-two. His learning and sanctity were held in such high
estimation and reverence, that he was looked upon as an incarna-
tion of $iva, and was believed to have the power of working
miracles. The god $iva was the special object of his worship, and
he was the founder of the great sect of Smartava Brahmans, who
are very numerous and powerful in the south. He established
several maths or monasteries for the teaching and preservation
of his doctrines. Some of these still remain. The chief one is
at Sn'nga-giri or Snngiri, on the edge of the Western Ghauts
in the Mysore, and it has the supreme control of the Smartava
sect. The writings attributed to him are very numerous ; chief
among them are his Bhashyas
or commentaries on the Sutras or
aphorisms of Vyasa, a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, some
commentaries on the Upanishads, and the Ananda-laharl, a
hymn in praise of Parvatl, the consort of Siva,
The triumph of Sankam' A bio-
SAKKABA-VIJAYA. <
graphy of Sankaracharya relating
his controversies with here-
tical sects and his refutation of their doctrines and superstitions.
one by Ananda
There is more than one work bearing this name ;
Giri, which is published in the BMiotheca Indica; another by
Madhavacharya ; the latter is distinguished as the Sankshepa
Sankara-vijaya. The work of A&aixda Giri has been critically
examined by Kashinath Trimbak Telang in the Indian Antir
gyMry, voL v.
SANKAKSHAjVA. A name of Bala-rama,
&ANKHA. Writer of a Dharma-sastra or law-book bearing