Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

Ratnasambhava The third dhyanibuddha, or meditation Buddha, born of a jewel, worshipped from
around 500 BC to present. He is one of five mystic spiritual counterparts of the human
buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism.
Rig-Veda “Divine knowledge”. The Vedas are the holy books which are the foundation of the
Hindu religion. The word Veda means knowledge or wisdom, and the word Rig means
“to praise” in Sanskrit. The Rig Veda is a collection of hymns which sing praise for the
gods. The Vedas are believed to have been revealed by the gods to mankind. To this
day, the Rig Veda is considered the most holy of all Hindu texts. The hymns were
handed down from their origins in the distant past until they were finally set down in
writing as a collection somewhere around 900 BCE (or 1200-800 BCE).
Rishi “Seer”. Anything a Rishi sees or perceives becomes reality, because a Rishi is an
ethereal being of the highest class, one who is almost totally unlimited, who can travel
anywhere in the cosmos. The Rishis “saw” the hymns of the Vedas, from which all the
knowledge of ancient India was derived.
Rudra Lit. “the Crier”, or “He Who makes others cry”. Rudra is the ancient name for Shiva, the
god of death.
Rupee (Nepali) Local currency, 75Rs = 1$.
Rupee (Indian) Local currency, 50Rs = 1$
Sadhu Yogi, an ascetic hermit; one practising religious meditation.
Sadyojat The face of Pashupatinath towards west, symbolic representation of Dwarika.
Sagdid The rite of exposing a corpse to the gaze of a dog as part of the funerary procedure.
Saiyya Daan The katto ceremony.
Saivite Shiva devotee or devotional practices pertaining to Shiva.
Sakar Having a form or a body, bodied, corporeal form of worship in which deities are
conceived as having forms; idolatry.
Sakya Tribe. The Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Dravidian Sakya
tribe of Nepal.
Satya yuga “The eon of truth”; the first and longest of the four yugas. In Satya yuga, in which
dharma and righteousness operates at maximum capacity, there is no disease or discord.
Saligram Ammonite fossil found in Kaligandaki River, perceived as incarnation of Vishnu.
Samsara The life cycle, “the round of birth and death”. According to orthodox and scriptural
Hinduism and Buddhism an individual soul may take 8,4 million materialised bodies
(according to some texts, sages and seers there are 840.000 incarnations) before it
eventually may attain liberation – Nirvana.
Samskara Life cycle ritual.
Sangha One of The Three Jewels. Monastic community.
Sannyasi Holy man.
Sapindikarana The ritual of uniting the preta with the pitra. This ceremony takes place either on the
twelfth day, three weeks, or a year after the death. Until the rite is performed, the
deceased is not elevated to the status of a pitra.
Saraswati “Water, elegant”. In the Vedas she is primarily a river, but is celebrated in the hymns
both as a river and a deity. As a river goddess, Saraswati is lauded for the fertilising and
purifying powers of her waters.
Sarki Leather worker.
Satapatha Brahmana A sacred scripture. A celebrated sage, to whom it is attributed the White Yajur-veda.
Sati The Hindu custom in India in which the widow was burnt to ashes on her dead
husband’s pyre. Basically the custom was believed to be a voluntary Hindu act in which
the woman decided to end her life with her husband after his death. But there were many
incidences in which the women were forced to commit sati, sometimes even dragged
against her will to the pyre.
Shah Farid Muslim saint, Sufi mystic.
Shah Fariduddin Muslim saint, Sufi mystic.
Shaivaism The religious path of Shiva, sectarian worship of Shiva or his aspects.
Shakti Energy, the ability to perform action. Shakti is always female in Indian philosophy.
Shani Saturn.
Shashan Cemetery in Bangladesh.
Shashan Kali The cemetery form of Kali in Bangladesh. Shashan Kali is a dangerous and ferocious
form of Kali.
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