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Under this character of restorer he is represented by his symbol the Linga or phallus, typical of re- production ; and it is under this form alone, or combined with the Yoni, or female organ, the representative of his ^S'akti, or female energy, that he is everywhere worshipped. Thirdly, he is the Maha-yogl, the great ascetic, in whom is centred the highest perfection of austere penance and abstract meditation, by which the most unlimited powers are attained, marvels and miracles are worked, the highest spiritual knowledge is acquired, and union with the great spirit of the universe is eventually gained. In this character he is the naked ascetic Dig-ambara, ' clothed with the elements,' or Dlmr-ja^i, ' loaded with matted hair,' and his bodv smeared with ashes. His first or destructive character is sometimes intensified, and he becomes Ehairava, 'the terrible destroyer,' who takes a pleasure in destruction. He is also Bhiiteswara, the lord of ghosts and goblins. In these char- acters he haunts cemeteries and places of cremation, wearing serpents round his head and skulls for a necklace, attended by troops of imps and trampling on rebellious demons. He some- times indulges in revelry, and, heated with drink, dances furiously with his wife Devi the dance called Tawt^ava, while troops of drunken imps caper around them. Possessed of so many powers and attributes, he has a great number of names, and is represented under a variety of forms. One authority enumerates a thousand and eight names, but most of these are descriptive epithets, as Tri-lochana, ' the three-eyed,' Nila-kantha, ' the blue-throated,' and Panch-anana, 'the five-faced.' S'lYSi is a fair man with five faces and four arms. He is commonly represented seated in profound thought, with a third eye in the middle of his fore- head, contained in or surmounted by the moon's crescent ; his matted locks are gathered up into a coil like a horn, which bears S/VA. 299 upon it a symbol of the river Ganges, wliich he caught as it fell from heaven ; a necklace of skulls (mu?i6?a-mala), hangs round his neck, and serpents twine ahout his neck as a collar (naga-ku?i^ala); his neck is blue from drinking the deadly poison which would have destroyed the world, and in his hand he holds a tri.siila or trident called Pinaka. His garment is the skin of a tiger, a deer, or an elephant, hence he is called Kntti-vasas ; sometimes he is clothed in a skin and seated upon a tiger-skin, and he holds a deer in his hand. He is generally accompanied by his bull JSTandi. He also carries the bow Ajagava, a drum (tkmaru) in the shape of an hour-glass, the Kha/wanga or club with a skull at the end, or a cord (pasa) for binding refractory offenders. His Pramathas or attendants are numerous, and are imps and demons of various kinds. His third eye has been very destructive. With it he reduced to ashes Kama, the god of love, for daring to inspire amorous thoughts of his consort Parvati while he was engaged in penance ; and the gods and all created beings were destroyed by its glance at one of the periodical destructions of the universe. He is represented to have cut off one of the heads of Brahma for speaking disrespectfully, so that Brahma has only four heads instead of five. /S'iva is the great object of worship at Benares under the name of Visweswara. His heaven is on Mount Kailasa. There are various legends respecting /S'iva's garments and weapons. It is said that " he once visited a forest in the form of a religious mendicant, and the wives of the itishis residing there fell in love with his great beauty, which the Bishis, per- ceiving, resented ; in order, therefore, to overpower him, they first dug a pit, and by magical arts caused a tiger to rush out of it, which he slew, and taking his skin wore it as a garment ; they next caused a deer to spring out upon him, which he took up in his left hand and ever after retained there. They then produced a red-hot iron, but this too he took up and kept in his hand as a weapon. . . . The elephant's skin belonged to an Asura named Gaya, w^ho acquired such power that he would have conquered the gods, and would have destroyed the Munis had they not fled to Benares and taken refuge in a temple of /S'iva, who then destroyed the Asura, and, ripping up his body, stripped off the (elephant) hide, which he cast over his shoulders for a cloak." — Williams. 300 SIVA PURANA—SKANDA PURANA. Other names or epithets of ;S'iva are Aghora, 'horrihle;' Babhrii, Bhagavat, 'divine;' Chandra-sekhara, 'moon-crested;' Ganga-dhara, 'bearer of the Ganges;' GirLsa, ' mountain lord ; ' Hara, 'seizer;' Isana, 'ruler;' Ja/a-dhara, 'wearing matted hair;' Jala-murtti, 'whose form is water;' Kala, 'time;' Kalan- jara ; Kapala-malin, 'wearing a garland of skulls;' Maha-kala, 'great time;' Maliesa, 'great lord;' M?7tyunjaya, 'vanquisher of death;' Pa5u-pati, 'lord of animals;' iS'ankara, /Sarva, Sada^iva or /S'ambhu, 'the auspicious;' /Sthanu, 'the firm;' Tryambaka, 'three-eyed;' Ugra, 'fierce;' Yiriipaksha, 'of mis- formed eyes ;' Yiswanatha, 'lord of alL' SlXk. PURA^^A. See Purana. aSTYL Son of Usinara, and king of the country also called Usinara, near Gandhara, The great charity and devotion of ;S'ivi are extolled in the INIaha-bharata by the sage ]\Iarka?2Jeya. Agni having assumed the form of a pigeon, was pursued by Indra in the shape of a falcon. The pigeon took refuge in the bosom of iS'ivi, and the falcon would accept nothing from SW\ instead of the pigeon but an equal weight of the king's own flesh. ^S'ivi cut a piece of flesh from his right thigh and placed it in the balance, but the bird was the heavier. He cut again and again, and still the pigeon drew the scale, until the king placed his whole body in the balance. This outweighed the pigeon and the falcon flew away. On another occasion Yish?iu went to /S'ivi in the form of a Brahman and demanded food, but would accept no food but ^S'i^ni's own son Yi'ihad-garbha, whom he required >S'ivi to kill and cook. The king did so, and placed the food before the Brahman, who then told him to eat it him- self. /S'ivi took up the head and prepared to eat. The Brahman then stayed his hand, commended his devotion, and restoring the son to life, vanished from sight. SKAMBHA. ' The supporter.' A name sometimes used in the i?ig-veda to designate the Supreme Deity. There is con- siderable doubt and mystery about both this name and deit}'. "The meaning of the term," says Goldstiicker, "is 'the fulcrum,' and it seems to mean the fulcrum of the whole world in all its physical, religious, and other aspects." — Mu'ifs TextSy v. 378. SKANDA. God of war. See Kilrttikeya. SKANDA PURAA^A. " The Skanda Purfma is that in which the . six-faced deity (Skanda) has related the events of the SMARTA—SOMA. 301 Tatpurusha Kalpa, enlarged with many tales, and subservient to the duties taught by Maheswara. It is said to contain 81,800 stanzas : so it is asserted amongst mankind." "It is uniformly agreed," says Wilson, " that the Skanda Purawa, in a collective form, has no existence; and the fragments, in the shape of Sanhitas, Kha?Z6?as, and Mahatmyas, which are affirmed in various parts of India to be portions of the Purawa, present a much more formidable mass of stanzas than even the immense number of which it is said to consist. The most celebrated of these portions in Hindusthan is the KasI Khaw?a, a very minute description of the temples of /Siva in or adjacent to Benares, mixed with directions for worshipping Maheswara, and a great variety of legends explanatory of its merits and of the holiness of Kasi. Many of them are puerile and uninteresting, but some of them are of a higher character. There is every reason to believe the greater part of the contents of the Kasl Kha/if/a anterior to the first attack upon Benares by Mahmiid of Ghazni. The Ka5i Kha?2C?a alone contains 15,000 stanzas. Another con- siderable work is the Utkala Khawtia, giving an account of the holiness of Orissa." A part of this Pura72a has been printed at Bombay. SMARTA Appertaining to the Smriti. The Smarta-siitras. See Siitras. SMJ?/TI. ' What was remembered.' Inspiration, as dis- tinguished from /S'ruti, or direct revelation. What has been remembered and handed down by tradition. In its widest application, the term includes the Yedangas, the Siitras, the I^amaya??