The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Saraswat
in a sacred river, although with the
advent of better transportation this is
sometimes now performed before the
twelfth day rites. In addition, people
still perform annual memorial rites for
the deceased. For an excellent account
of this rite, see David M. Knipe,
“Sapindikarana: The Hindu Rite of Entry
into Heaven,” in Frank E. Reynolds and
Earle H. Waugh (eds.), Religious
Encounters With Death, 1977.
Saptapadi
(“seven steps”) The most important rite
in the Hindu marriage ceremony, in
which the bride and groom take seven
steps together to symbolize their marital
union. The seventh step completes the
transfer of the bride from her natal family
to the groom’s family and is also the
point when the marriage becomes permanent.
As described in the dharma literature,
the bride and groom would
perform this rite by taking seven steps in
a straight line. In contemporary times
this rite is often combined with the
agnipradakshinam (“circumambulating
the fire”), in which the bride and
groom make seven revolutions around a
small fire—considered to be a form of
the god Agni and thus the divine witness
to the marriage. While circling the fire,
the bride and groom are often physically
joined by tying part of his turban to the
edge of her sari as a visible sign of their
marital union.
Saptasindhu
(“seven seas”) In traditional mythic
geography, the seven oceans surrounding
the seven concentric landmasses
(dvipas) that make up the visible world.
Each of these seven seas is composed of
a different substance. The ocean accessible
to human beings is composed of
salt water, but the oceans beyond that
are composed of sugarcane juice, wine,
ghee (clarified butter), yogurt, milk, and
sweet water. Few specific details exist
about most of these oceans, but the
Ocean of Milk has a prominent place in
Hindu mythology, since it was by churning
this that the gods obtained the nectar
of immortality (amrta). See also
Tortoise avatar.
Sarama
In the Rg Veda, the earliest Hindu sacred
text, a servant of the storm-god Indra. In
Rg Veda 10.108, Sarama is sent as an
emissary to Indra’s enemies, the Panis,
to inquire where they have hidden the
cows they have stolen, and to threaten
them with Indra’s wrath if they do not
reveal their location.
Saraswat
Traditional Indian society was modeled
as a collection of endogamous, or
intermarried, subgroups known as jatis
(“birth”). Jatis were organized (and their
social status determined) by the group’s
hereditary occupation, over which each
group has a monopoly. This sort of differentiation
applied even to brahmins,
whose role has been to serve as priests,
scholars, and teachers. The Saraswats
are a brahmin jati counted as one of the
five northern Indian brahmin communities
(Pancha Gauda); the other four
are the Gaudas, the Kanaujias, the
Maithilas, and the Utkalas. Unlike most
other brahmin communities, which had
a well-defined core region, the Saraswats
are found in several widely separated
locations. One group lived in the
coastal region of Sindh in modern
Pakistan, although after Partition in
1947 most of the group migrated to
Bombay. Another group was located in
prepartition Punjab, although here too
they have tended to migrate away from
the part of Punjab in modern Pakistan.
A third branch, known as the Gauda
Saraswats, is found on a narrow strip of
coastline in the southern Indian state
of Karnataka. The Saraswat community
takes its name from Saraswati,
patron goddess of speech and learning,
and, as a group, is famous for its erudition
and piety.
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