English
The devo- tion of Bhagiratha brought down from heaven the holy Ganges, wliich flows from the toe of Yishwu, and its waters having laved the ashes of the sons of Sagara, cleansed them from all impurity. Their Manes were thus made fit for the exequial ceremonies and for admission into Sw^arga. The Ganges received the name of Sagara in honour of Sagara, and Bhagirathi from the name of the devout king whose prayers brought her down to earth. {See Bhagirathi.) The Hari-vansa adds another marvel to the story. Sagara's wife Su-mati was delivered of a gourd containing sixty thousand seeds, which became embryos and grew. Sagara at first placed them in vessels of milk, but afterwards each one had a separate nurse, and at ten months they all ran about. The name of Sagara is frequently cited in deeds conveying grants of land in honour of his generosity in respect of such gifts. SAHA-DEVA. The youngest of the five Vixndu princes, twin son of IMadrl, the second wife of Pam/u, and mythologically son of the Aswins, or more specifically of the A.swin Da^ra. He was learned in the science of astronomy, which he had studied under Drona, and he was also well acquainted with the SAHASRAKSHA—SAKATAYANA. 273 management of cattle. {See Maha-bharata.) He had a son named Sii-hotra by his wife Vijaya. SAHASRAKSIIA. ' Thousand - eyed.' An epithet of Indra. SAHITYA-DARPAiVA. 'The mirror of composition.' A celebrated work on poetry and rhetoric by Yiswanatha Kavi Raja, written about the fifteenth century. It has been trans- lated into English for the Bibliotheca Indica. There are several editions of the text. aS'AIBYA. Wife of Haris-chandra (q.v.); wife of Jyamagha (q.v.) ; wife of /S'ata-dhanu (q.v.). SAINDHAYAS. The people of Sindhu or Sindh, of the country between the Indus and the Jhilam. SAIYA PURAiVA. Same as ^S'iva Purawa. <S^AKA. An era commencing 78 a.d., and called the era of /Sahvahana. Cunningham supposes its epoch to be connected Avith a defeat of the iSakas by /Salivahana. aSAKALA. The city of the Bahikas or Madras, in the Pan- jab. It has been identified with the Sagala of Ptolemy on the Hyphasis (Byas), south-west of Lahore. Cunningham says it is the Sangala of Alexander. ^AKALYA. An old grammarian and expositor of the Vedas who lived before the time of Yaska. He is said to have divided a Sanhita of the Yeda into five, and to have taught these por- tions to as many disciples. He was also called Veda-mitra and Deva-mitra. /S'AKAPUiYI, ^AKAPtJRYI. An author who arranged a part of the itig-veda and appended a glossary. He lived before the time of Yaska. /SAKAS. A northern people, usually associated with the Yavanas. Wilson says, "These people, the Sakai and Sacae of classical writers, the Indo- Scythians of Ptolemy, extended, about the commencement of our era, along the West of India, from the Hindu Koh to the mouths of the Indus." They were probably Turk or Tatar tribes, and were among those recorded as con- quered by King Sagara, who compelled them to shave the upper half of their heads. They seem to have been encountered and kept back by King Yikramaditya of UjjayinT, who was called *S^akari, ' foe of the >S'akas.' /S'AKArAYAI^A. An ancient grammarian anterior to Yaska s 274 SAKHA— SAKUNTALA. and Pamni. Part of his work is said to have been lately dis- covered by Dr. Biihler. iS'AKHA. ' Branch, sect.' The /S'akhas of the Vedas are the different recensions of the same text as taught and handed down traditionally by different schools and teachers, show- ing some slight variations, the effect of long-continued oral tradition. See Veda. /S'AKIoSriS. Female demons attendant on Durga. iS'AKRA. A name of Indra. /S'AKKAA^I. Wife of Indra. See Indrara. aSAKRA-PRASTHA. Same as Indra-prastha. SAKTA. A worshipper of the ^Saktis. aSAKTI. The wife or the female energy of a deity, but especially of >S^iva. See Devi and Tantra. ^AKTI, ^S'AKTRI. A priest and eldest son of Yasish/ha. King Kalmasha-pada struck him with a whip, and he cursed the king to become possessed by a man-eating Rakshasa. He himself became the first victim of the monster he had evoked. iSAKUXI. Brother of Queen Gandliari, and so uncle of the Ivaurava princes. He was a skilful gambler and a cheat, so he was selected to be the opponent of Yudhi-sh/hira in the match in which that prince was induced to stake and lose his all. He also was known by the patronymic Saubala, from Su-bala, his father. >SAIvXJjN^TALA. a nymph who was the daughter of Viswa- mitra by the nymph Menaka. She was born and left in a forest, where she was nourished by birds until found by the sage KaTZwa. She was brought up by this sage in his her- mitage as his daughter, and is often called his daughter. The loves, marriage, separation, and re-union of /S'akuntalii and King Dushyanta are the subject of the celebrated drama iSakun- tala. She was mother of Bharata, the head of a long race of kings, who has given his name to India ( Bharata- varsha), and the wars of Avhose descendants are sung in the Maha-bharata, The story of the loves of Dushyanta and *S'akuntala is, that while she was living in the hermitage of Ka?iwa she was seen in the forest by King Dushyanta, who fell in love with her. He induced her to contract with him a Gandharva mar- riage, that is, a simple declaration of mutual acceptance. On leaving her to return to his city, he gave her a ring as a pledge SALAGRAMA—SAMA-VIDHANA BRAHMANA. 275 of his love. When the nymph when back to the hermitage, she was so engrossed with thoughts of her husband that she heeded not the approach of the sage Dur-vasas, who had come to visit Kawwa, so that choleric saint cursed her to be forgotten by her beloved. He afterwards relented, and promised that the curse should be removed as soon as Dushyanta should see the ring. /Sakuntala, finding herself with child, set off to her husband ; but on her way she bathed in a sacred pool, and there lost the ring. On reaching the palace, the king did not recognise her and would not own her, so she was taken by her mother to the forest, where she gave birth to Bharata. Then it happened that a fisherman caught a large fish and in it found a ring which he carried to Dushyanta. The king recognised his own ring, and he soon afterwards accepted /S'akuntala and her son Bharata. Ivali-dasa's drama of /S'akuntala was the first translation made from Sansk7'it into English. It excited great curiosity and gained much admiration when it appeared. There are several recensions of the text extant. The text has been often printed, and there are many translations into the languages of Europe. ' Professor WiUiams has published a beautifully illustrated trans- lation. iS'ALAGRAMA. A stone held sacred and worshipped by the Vaish?2avas, because its spirals are supposed to contain or to be typical of Yish7m. It is an ammonite found in the river Gan- dak, and is valued more or less highly according to the number of its spirals and perforations. /S'ALIVAHANA. A celebrated king of the south of India, who was the enemy of Vikramaditya, and whose era, the /S'aka, dates from a.d. 78. His capital was Prati-sh/hana on the Godavarl. He was killed in battle at Karur. aSALAYA. Name of a country in the west of India, or Raja- sthan ; also the name of its king. /S^ALYA. King of the Madras, and brother of ]\Iadri, second wife of Pa7Zf?u. In the great war he left the side of the Paw^a- vas and went OA^er to the Kauravas. He acted as charioteer of Kar/ia in the great battle. At the death of Karwa he suc- ceeded him as general, and commanded the army on the last day of the battle, when he was slain by Yudhi-sh/hira. SAMA-YEDA. The third Yeda. See Yeda. SAMA-YIDHANA BRAIDIAA^A. The third Brahmawa 276 samayachArika sutras—sambara. of the Sama-veda. It has been edited and translated by Bur- nelL SAMAYACHARIKA SUTRAS. Rules for the usages and practices of everyday life. See Siitras. aS'AMBA. a son of K?i'sh7za by Jambavati, but the Linga Puraiia names Rukmi?ii as his mother. At the swayam-vara of Draupadi he carried off that princess, but he was pursued by Dur-yodhana and his friends and made prisoner. Bala-rama undertook to obtain his release, and when that hero thrust his ploughshare under the ramparts of Hastina-pura and threatened it with ruin, the Kauravas gave up their prisoner, and Bala- rama took him to Dwaraka, There he lived a dissolute life and scoffed at sacred things.