A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie
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117 Meru<br />
sacrifice (asses and camels, for instance,<br />
are unfit for sacrifice, because they lack<br />
medha).<br />
medicine<br />
Traditional Indian medicine was<br />
holistic, i.e. it aimed at restoring a<br />
balance between the various components<br />
<strong>of</strong> a person, believed to be disturbed<br />
in sickness. Thus the medical<br />
treatises by Caraka (Caraka Saƒhitä)<br />
and Suÿruta (Suÿruta Saƒhitä) contain,<br />
besides physiological diagnoses<br />
and remedies, instructions concerning<br />
the right lifestyle and the attainment<br />
<strong>of</strong> the ultimate goal. Ancient Indian<br />
medicine was quite advanced in its<br />
surgical procedures, its knowledge <strong>of</strong><br />
the pharmaceutical properties <strong>of</strong><br />
plants and its understanding <strong>of</strong> psychosomatic<br />
diseases. (See also<br />
AYURVEDA.)<br />
meditation<br />
A generic translation <strong>of</strong> a variety <strong>of</strong><br />
Indian notions referring to interiorizaton<br />
(manana, reflecting on a text;<br />
pratyahära, withdrawing the senses;<br />
dhyäna, a trance-like condition;<br />
upäsana, worshipful meditation on a<br />
deity, samädhï, contemplation); <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
Yoga is identified with meditation as<br />
such, although it consists <strong>of</strong> a variety<br />
<strong>of</strong> practices, whose ultimate aim,<br />
however, is in-depth meditation<br />
(kaivalya, understood as a return <strong>of</strong><br />
the self to its own nature). <strong>Hinduism</strong><br />
has been associated for ages with<br />
meditation, and contemporary GURUS<br />
usually establish themselves in the<br />
West as teachers <strong>of</strong> new meditation<br />
techniques.<br />
megaliths<br />
These are found in many places in India,<br />
and are associated with the MAGAS,<br />
who were famous for being able to<br />
move huge objects.<br />
Megasthenes (fourth century BCE)<br />
Greek ambassador to the Maurya<br />
emperor Candragupta at Pataliputra<br />
(Patna), whose book Indika remained<br />
for many centuries the main source <strong>of</strong><br />
information in the West about ancient<br />
India. The work is known today only<br />
from quotes and references in other<br />
ancient writers.<br />
melä<br />
(‘gathering’)<br />
Generic designation <strong>of</strong> all popular festivals,<br />
usually with a religious background,<br />
such as the KUMBHA-MELÄ.<br />
Melkote<br />
Town in Karæätaka, to which<br />
RÄMÄNUJA fled to avoid the persecutions<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Ÿaivite COLA king, and<br />
which under the HOYŸALA king, whom<br />
Rämänuja converted from JAINISM,<br />
became an important centre <strong>of</strong><br />
ŸRÏVAIÆŒAVISM.<br />
Menä<br />
An APSARA sent by Indra to seduce the<br />
sage Viÿvämitra to tempt him to desist<br />
from his austerities; she became the<br />
mother <strong>of</strong> ŸAKUNTALÄ.<br />
merit (puæya)<br />
An important notion in <strong>Hinduism</strong>:<br />
the result <strong>of</strong> good karma and the condition<br />
for a good afterlife. Often the<br />
aÿva-medha, the most prestigious <strong>of</strong><br />
Vedic yajñas (SACRIFICES), was used as<br />
a measure <strong>of</strong> merit to be gained from<br />
a particular religious act, such as a<br />
dip in a sacred river at a particular<br />
time, or the giving <strong>of</strong> a gift to a<br />
brahmin.<br />
Meru<br />
The mountain in the centre <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world, on whose top lies SVARGA,<br />
Indra’s heaven.