ORIENTAL SERIES.

SIKHANDINSISUMARA. 293
', STKRANDINl
Sik'hmdml is said to have
been the daughter of Raja Drapada, but according to another state-
ment she was one of the two wives whom Bhishma obtained for
his brother
"
Vichitra-vlrya. She (the widow) perished in the jungle,
but before her death she had been assured by Parasu-rama that
she should become a man in a future birth, and cause the death of
Bhishma, who had been the author of her misfortunes." Accordingly
she was born again as SikhaTwKn, son of Drupada. Bhishma
fell in battle pierced all over by the arrows of Arjuna, but ac-
cording to this story the fatal shaft came from the hands of
$ikha?i^in. See Amba.
/STKSHA. Phonetics ; one of the Vedangas. The science
which teaches the proper pronunciation and manner of reciting
the Vedas. There are many treatises on this subject.
/SILPA-^ARTKA, The science of mechanics; it includes
architecture. Any book or treatise on this science,
SLNDHU. i. The river Indus ; also the country along that
river and the people dwelling in it. From Sindhu came the
Hind of the Arabs, the Hiudoi or Indoi of the Greeks, and
our India. 2. A river in Malwa. There are others of the
name. See Sapta-sindhava.
SINHALA, SINHALA-DWIPA Ceylon.
SINHASANA DWATRINSAT. The thirty-two stories
told by the images which supported the throne of King Vikra-
maditya. It is the Singhasan Battlsl in Hindustani, and is
current in most of the languages of India.
SINII1KA. i. A daughter of Daksha and wife of Kasyapa;
also a daughter of Kasyapa and wife of Viprachittl 2. A Rak-
shasi who tried to swallow Hanumtin and make a meal of him.
Ho allowed her to do so and then rent her body to pieces and
departed. Her habit was to seize the shadow of the object she
wished to devour and so drag the prey into her jaws.
/S1PRA. The river on which the city of ITjjayini stands.
SlRA-DHWAJA. t He of the plough-banner.' An epithet
for Janalca.
SLSUMARA.
7 A porpoise.
The planetary sphere, which, as
explained by the Vislmu Purana, has the shape of a
porpoise,
Vishnu being seated in its heart, and Dhruva or the pole star in
its tail.
" AH Dhruva revolves, it causes the sun, moon, and
other planets to turn round also \
and the lunar asterisms follow