A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie

a•flävaraæa 30
a•flävaraæa
(‘eightfold armour’)
The eight commandments that VÏRA
ŸAIVAS have to observe, namely: obedience
towards the GURU, wearing a Ÿiva
linga (see LI¢GA (3)), worshipping
Ÿaivite ascetics as incarnations of Ÿiva,
sipping water in which the feet of the
guru have been bathed, offering food to
a guru, smearing ashes on one’s body,
wearing a string of RUDRÄKÆA beads,
reciting the mantra Ÿiväya namäh (see
also MANTRA (3)).
asteya (‘not-stealing’)
One of the basic commandments of
Hindu ethics. Steya (stealing) was considered
a grave sin (MAHÄ-PÄTAKA) only
when it involved a large amount of
goods (especially gold) stolen from a
brahmin. The penalty for this was
death. Taking food and other necessities
of life was not considered theft.
ästika
Literally, someone who affirms ‘it is’,
i.e. one who accepts the VEDA as normative,
an adherent of one of the socalled
‘orthodox six systems’, namely:
NYÄYA, VAIŸEÆIKA, SÄßKHYA, YOGA,
PÜRVA MÏMÄßSÄ and VEDÄNTA (2)). (See
also NÄSTIKA.)
astrology
(jyoti•a, literally ‘light-science’)
Astrology, which also includes astromnomy,
considered a science, has played
a great role in Hinduism since ancient
times. References to eclipses found in
the Øgveda have been used to date the
texts to the fourth millennium BCE. One
of the VEDÄNGAS (auxiliary sciences of
the Veda) is devoted to determining the
right time for Vedic SACRIFICES. At birth
a horoscope is established for every
child by a professional astrologer,
which provides the basis for determining
auspicious and inauspicious dates
for major events like the beginning of
schooling, marriage, major business
transactions etc. There is a jyoti•ï department
at Benares Hindu University which
annually produces the official astrological
calendar (PAÑCÄ¢GA) which serves to
determine the exact dates for sacred days
and to find out auspicious times for
public functions, such as the opening of
parliament. (See also NAKÆATRA.)
asura (‘demon’)
Class of superhuman beings hostile to
the DEVAS (gods). While usually engaged
in battles with the devas, the asuras are
not without noble qualities: they are
often described as brave, chivalrous,
generous and loyal. Among the most
famous asuras are RÄVAŒA, King of
Laökä, who abducted Räma’s wife Sïtä,
BALI, who invited Vi•æu in the form of
the dwarf to his banquet and surrendered
his realm to Vi•æu, and Mahi•a,
the buffalo-demon, whose defeat by the
Goddess is celebrated in the yearly
Durgäpüjä festival. The linguistic affinity
of asura with the Zoroastrian high
god Ahura (Mazda) has led to the suggestion
that asura might initially have
been the Indian designation for the
deity, the term sura (gods) being an artificial
creation after the split between the
Indian and Persian populations. (See
also DAITYAS.)
aÿva-medha
See SACRIFICE.
(‘horse sacrifice’)
Aÿvins (‘possessed of horses’)
The two physicians of the gods, represented
as twin sons of the Sun by a
nymph in the form of a mare, harbingers
of the dawn, frequently invoked in
the Øgveda. As a constellation they are
Gemini (Castor and Pollux).
Atharvan
Name of a famous Vedic sage, eldest
son of BRAHMÄ, who learned from