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Xame of a writer who was the author of the Sankhayana Brahma?ia of the ^/g-veda, and of certain /S^rauta-siitras also called by his name. 2. He is the oldest known writer on the Ars Erotica, and is author of the work called Sankhayana Kama-siitra. SAXKHYA. A school of philosophy. Bee Darsana. SAXKHYA-DARS'.yV^A. Kapila's aphorisms on the San- khya philosophy. They have been printed. SAXKHYA-KARIKA. A work on the SSnkhya philo- sophy, written by Iswara Kr/sh/ia j translated by Colebrooke and AVilson. SAXKHYA-PRAYACHAXA. A text-book of the Sankhya philosophy, said to have been written by Kapila himself. Printed in the Bihliotheca Indica. SAXKHYA-SARA. A work on the Sankhya philosophy by Yijnana Bhikshu. Edited by Hall in the Bihliotheca Indica. SAXXYASl. A Brahman in the fourth and last stage of his rehgious life. (See Brahman.) In the present day the term has a wider meaning, and is applied to various kinds of religious mendicants who wander about and subsist upon alms, most of them in a filthy condition and with very scanty clothing. They are generally devotees of A^iva. SANTA. Daughter of Da.sa-ratha, son of Aja, but adopted by Loma-pada or Roma-pada, king of Anga. She was married to itishya-snnga. /S'AXTAXU. A king of the Lunar race, son of Pratipa, father of Bhishma, and in a way the grandfather of Dhrita- rash^ra and Vsindu. Regarding him it is said, " Every decrepit man whom he touclies with his hands becomes young." (See Maha-bharata. ) He was called Satya-vach, ' trutli-speaker,' and was remarkable for his "devotion and charity, modesty, con- stancy, and resolution." /SAXTI-aS'ATAKA. a century of verses on peace of mind. A poem of repute writen by iS'ri /S'ililana. SAPTARSHI (Sapta-7-islii). The seven great itishis. See i?ishi. SAPTA--1SATT. A poem of 700 verses on the triumphs of Durga. It is also called Devl-mahatmya. SAPTA-SINDHAVA. 281 SAPTA-SIXDHAYA. 'The seven rivers.' The term fre- quently occurs in the Yedas, and has been widely known and somewhat differently applied. It was apparently known to the Romans in the days of Augustus, for Virgil says — " Ceu septem-surgens sedatis amnibus altus Per tacitum Ganges." — Eneid^ ix. 30. They appear iri Zend as the Hapta-heando, and the early Mu- hammadan travellers have translated the term. But their Saba' Sin, 'seven rivers,' according to Biriini, applies to the rivers which flow northwards from the mountains of the Hindu Koh, and "uniting near Turmuz, form the river of Balkh (the Oxus)." The hymn in which the names of the rivers have been given has the following description : — " Each set of seven (streams) has followed a threefold course. The Sindhu surpasses the other rivers in impetuosity. . . . Receive favourably this my hymn, 0 Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, /S'utudri, Parushni; hear, 0 Marud-vridha, with the Asikni and Yitasta, and thou, Arjikiya, with the Sushoma. Unite first in thy course with the Trish/ama, the Susartii, the Rasa, and the Sweti ; thou meetest with the Gomati, and the Krumu w^ith the Kubha and the Mehatnu." According to this, the " seven rivers " are — (i.) Ganga (Ganges) ; (2.) Yamuna (Jumna); (3.) Saraswati (Sarsuti) ; (4.) /S'utudri (Satlej) ; (5.) Parush?ii ; (6.) Marud-v?idha ; (7.) Arjikiya (the Yipasa, Hyphasis Byas). Wilson says " the Parushm is iden- tified with the IravatI " (Hydraotes, Ravi), but in this hymn it is the Marud-v?idha which would seem to be the Iravati, because it is said to unite with the Asikni (Akesines, Chandrabhaga, Chi- nab) and the Yitasta (Hydaspes or Jhilam). This would leave the Parush?2i unsettled. The other names, with the exception of the Gomati (Giimti), are not identified. Sushoma has been said to be the Sindhu, but in this hymn the Sindhu is clearly distinct. In the Maha-bharata the seven rivers are named in one place Yaswokasara, I^alini, Pavani, Ganga, Sita, Sindhu, and Jambii-nadi ; and in another, Ganga, Yamuna, Plakshaga, Rathastha, Saryu (Sarju), Gomati, and Gandaki (Gandak). In the Ramayawa and the Pura?ias the seven rivers are the seven streams into which the Ganges divided after falling from the brow of /Siva, the JSTalini, Hladini, and Pavani going east, the Chakshu, Sita, and Sindliu to the west, while the Ganges proper, 282 SAPTA- VADHRI—SARAME YAS. the Bhagiratlii, flowed to the south. The term is also used for the seven great oceans of the world, and for the country of the seven rivers. SAPTA- YADHRI. A Yedic i^ishi. In a hymn he says, " As wins, by j^our devices sunder the wicker work for the libera- tion of the terrified, imploring itishi Sapta-vadhri." Concerning this the following old story is told. Sapta-vadhri had seven brothers who determined to prevent his having intercourse with his wife. So they shut him up every night in a large basket, which they locked and sealed, and in the morning they let him out. He prayed to the Aswins, who enabled him to get out of his cage during the night and to return to it at daybreak. iSARABHA. I. A fabulous animal represented as having eight legs and as dwelling in the Himalayas. It is called also Utpadaka and Kunjararati. 2. One of Rama's monkey alUes. aSARA-BHANGA. a hermit visited by Rama and Sita in the Dawrfaka forest. AVhen he had seen Rama he declared that his desire had been granted, and that he w^ould depart to the highest heaven. He prepared a fire and entered it. His body was consumed, but there came forth from the fire a beautiful youth, and in this form ^Sara-bhanga departed to heaven. /SARADA-TILAKA. i. A mystic poem by Lakshmawa. 2. A dramatic monologue by ^S'ankara, not earlier than the twelfth century. 3. Name of a Tantra. >S'ARAD^yAT. A Eh\\\ said to be the father of Kr/pa. He is also called Gautama. See K?7'pa. SARAMA. I. In the ii*/g-veda the dog of Indra and mother of the two dogs called, after their mother, Sarameyas, who each had four eyes, and were the watchdogs of Yama. Sarama is said to have pursued and recovered the cows stolen by the Pa/zis, a myth which has been supposed to mean that Sarama is the same as Ushas, the dawn, and that the cows represent the rays of the sun carried away by night. 2. The wife of YibhishaTia, wdio attended upon Sita, and showed her great kindness when she was in captivity with Rava?ia. 3. In the Bhagavata Pura?ia, Sarama is one of the daugliters of Daksha, and the mother of wild animals. SARAMEYAS. The two children of Sarama, Indra's watch- dog ; they were the watchdogs of Yama, and each had four eyes. They have been compared with the Greek Hermes. SARANVtr—SAJ^ASlVA TA. 283 SAEAiVYtJ. 'The fleet runner.' A daughter of Twashifn. She has been identified with the Greek Erinnys. The begin- ning of this myth is in a hymn of the itig-veda, which says — " I. Twash^n makes a wedding for his daughter. (Hearing) this, the whole world assembles. The mother of Yama, the wedded wife of the great Vivaswat (the sun), disappeared. 2. They concealed the immortal (bride) from mortals. Making (another) of like appearance, they gave her to Vivaswat. Sara^iyii bore the two Aswins, and when she had done so she deserted the two twins." In the IsTirukta the story is expanded as follows : — " Sara?^yu, the daughter of Twash^H, bore twins to Vivaswat, the son of Aditi. She then substituted for herself another female of similar appearance, and fled in the form of a mare. Vivaswat in like manner assumed the shape of a horse and followed her. From their intercourse sprang two Aswins, while Manu was the offspring of Savar?ia (or the female of like appear- ance)." The B?'ihad-devata has another version of the same story: — "Twash^?i had twin children, (a daughter) Sarawyii and (a son) Tri-siras. He gave Sara^^yu in marriage to Vivaswat, to whom she bore Yama and Yami, who also were twins. Creat- ing a female like herself without her husband's knowledge, and making the twins over in charge to her, Sara?Z}ii took the form of a mare and departed. Vivaswat, in ignorance, begot on the female who was left Manu, a royal ^ishi, who resembled his father in glory ; but discovering that the real Sarawyu, Twash/ri's daughter, had gone away, Vivaswat followed her quickly, taking the shape of a horse of the same species as she. Recognising him in that form, she approached him with the desire of sexual connection, which he gratified. In their haste his seed fell on the ground, and she, being desirous of offspring, smelled it. From this act sprang the two Kumaras (youths), Xasatya and Dasra, who were lauded as Aswins (sprung from a horse)." — Muir's Texts, v. 227.