Roberto Calasso - Ka

of the first list, partly to indicate that they came before all the other

ṛṣis

and partly because of the antiquity of the tradition that bears witness to them: Bharadv

ā

ja, Ka

ś

yapa, Gotama, Atri, Vi

ś

v

ā

mitra, Jamadagni, and Vasi

ṣ

ṭ

ha. The

ṛṣis

of the second list, predominant in the epics, are Mar

ī

ci, Atri, A

ṅ

giras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasi

ṣ

ṭ

ha. Bh

ṛ

gu is sometimes included in the second list

Saram

ā

Indra’s she-dog

Sara

ṇ

y

ū

Daughter of Tva

ṣ

ṭ

ṛ

, twin sister of Tri

ś

iras, wife of Vivasvat, mother of Yama and Yam

ī

and of the A

ś

vins

Sarasvat

ī

Flowing One; wife of Brahm

ā

, sacred river of the Punjab, whose waters sink into the sands of the Rajasthan

Ś

arava

ṇ

odbhava

Born-in-a-reed-marsh; name of Skanda

Ś

ā

riputra

Disciple of the Buddha

S

ā

rn

ā

th

Place where the Buddha began to preach, near V

ā

r

ā

nas

ī

Sarva

Everything; one of the names of Rudra

Ś

arva

Archer; one of the names of Rudra

Ś

ary

ā

ti

King, son of Manu, father of Sukany

ā

Śalapatha Brāhmaṇa

The Br

ā

hmana of the hundred paths; the most important and complex of the Br

ā

hma

ṇ

as, attributed to Y

ā

jñavalkya

Ś

atar

ū

p

ā

She who has a hundred shapes: daughter and consort of Brahm

ā

Sat

ī

She-who-is; daughter of Dak

ṣ

a and V

ī

ri

ṇ

ī

, consort of

Ś

iva

sattra

Sitting; a rite without

dakṣiṇā

, which can last from twelve days to, in theory at least, a hundred years

sattra

Being, purity; one of the three threads (

guṇas

) that make up the world

satya

Truth

satyarākya

Word of truth; ordeal of the word

Satyavat

ī

Born from the seed of King Uparicara swallowed by a fish who was the Apsaras Adrik

ā

; mother to Vy

ā

sa through her union with the brahman Par

ā

ś

ara, wife of

Ś

ā

ṃ

tanu

Savit

ṛ

He who gives impulse; shape of the Sun, one of the

Ā

dityas

S

ā

vitr

ī

Daughter of Savit

ṛ

, consort of Brahm

ā

S

ā

ya

ṇ

a

Commentator of the Vedas who lived in the fourteenth century

Self

Ātman

Ś

e

ṣ

a

Residue, also called Ananta; the snake Vi

ṣ

ṇ

u rests on as he drifts around the waters

śeṣa

Residue

Seven Sisters

The seven celestial rivers. “The young daughters of the sky, who do not eat and cannot do harm, do not dress and are not naked” (

Ṛg Veda

, 3.1.6)

Seven Wise Ones

Saptar

ṣ

is

Shadow

Ch

ā

y

ā

She-who-comes-from-the-north

Uttar

ā

She-who-is

Sat

ī

She-who-loosens-ties

Aditi

She-who-takes-across

Uttar

ā

Short Discourses

The doctrine of the Buddha, expounded in short texts

Siddh

ā

rtha

He who has reached the goal; name of the Buddha

sidhraka

Wood used for the club with which the dog is beaten to death at the beginning of the

aśvamedha

(perhaps

Lagerstroemia indica

)

Sindhu

The river Indus

Sirius

Star in the constellation Canis Major, on the edge of the Milky Way; Rudra, the Archer

Ś

i

ś

up

ā

la

King of Cedi. ally of the Kauravas against the P

ā

ṇ

ḍ

avas

Ś

iva

Propitious, Fortunate. Benign; his antecedent is Rudra; with Brahm

ā

and Vi

ṣ

ṇ

u. he constitutes the Trim

ū

rti, defined by K

ā

lid

ā

sa as “a single body divided in three shapes. Each can be the firstborn or last-born in relation to the others” (

Kumārasambhara

7.44)

Skanda

Squirt: son of

Ś

iva and P

ā

rvat

ī

, brought to birth by six of the K

ṛ

uik

ā

s

Sky

Dyaus

Smara

Memory; Epithet of K

ā

ma

Sm

ṛ

ti

Remembrance; daughter of Dak

ṣ

a and V

ī

ri

ṇ

ī

Snake

N

ā

ga

Soma

Divine king, made up of the substance called

soma

soma

Squeezed, juice; an intoxicating plant that has been identified over the centuries with munerous botanical varieties, both in India and by Western indologists. From the Br

ā

hma

ṇ

as on, the

soma

is replaced in the rites (because it is no longer available) by

Ephedra, Sarcostemma

, and other epiphytes. In 1968. R. Gordon Wasson claimed to have identified the

soma

as the hallucinogenic mushroom

Amanita muscaria

According to D.S. Flattery, on the other hand, it is another hallucinogenic plant,

Peganum harmala

Splendor of the World

Ś

r

ī

Squirt

Skanda

śraddhā

Trust, faith

śramaṇa

Ascetic

Ś

r

ī

Splendor of the World; appeared during the churning of the ocean and became the consort of Vi

ṣ

ṇ

u

sṛj-

To squirt

śruti

That which one hears: revelation, a term used to designate the Vedas as a whole

Sth

ū

ra

Gṛhapati

of a group of officiants of a

sattra

that was celebrated along the banks of the Sarasvat

ī

Styx

Infernal river

Subhadr

ā

A wanderer; the last disciple converted by the Buddha

Subhadr

ā

Fortunate One: sister of K

ṛ

ṣ

ṇ

a. wife of Arjuna, mother of Abhimanya

Ś

ubháspát

ī

s

Lords of Ornament: epithet of the A

ś

vins

Submarine Mare

Va

ḍ

av

ā

Ś

uddhodana

Nohleman of the

Ś

ā

kya tribe in Kapilavastu, father of Siddh

ā

rtha Gautama, later called the Buddha

Sugar Candy Forest

Forest of Kh

ā

ṇ

ḍ

ava

Suj

ā

t

ā

Well born; a girl from Uruvilva who lived at the time of the Buddha

Sukany

ā

Good daughter; daughter of

Ś

ary

ā

ti

Ś

unah

ś

epa

Son of the

ṛṣi

Aj

ī

garta Sauyavasi

śūnya

Empty

Suparn

ī

Aquiliue One: another name of Vinat

ā

S

ū

rya

Sun; son of Adini and Ka

ś

yapa

S

ū

ry

ā

Daughter of the Sun

suṣumnā

Central channel, inside the spinal cord. along which Dev

ī

Ku

ṇ

ḍ

alin

ī

ascends

sūta

Caste of charioteers, heralds, and bards