The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Sarvadarshanasangraha
604
Athens in 20 B.C.E. In Athens, Sarmanochegas,
tired of a life of bondage on
earth, committed religious suicide by
burning himself on a pyre.
Sarvadarshanasangraha
(“Collection of all [philosophical]
views”) A philosophical encyclopedia
composed by Madhava in the late fourteenth
century. In this text, Madhava
compiled the views of all the existing
philosophical schools, which he placed
in hierarchical order, based on his judgment
of their truth value. The materialist
schools were ranked the lowest and
least reliable since their proponents
completely denied the virtue of any religious
life. After this came various
Buddhist schools, whose low standing
can be attributed to the widespread perception
that they were nihilists (nastikas).
Madhava then moves through
the various Hindu philosophical
schools, finishing with the Advaita
Vedanta school—his own—which was
judged the highest and most perfect
expression of the truth. Although the
Sarvadarshanasangraha is a polemical
text with a clear bias, it is one of the few
extant sources that considers the perspectives
of all the existing schools.
Sarvam Idam Khalu Brahman
(“Truly, this universe is Brahman”) In
the Hindu philosophical tradition, one
of the “great utterances” (mahavakyas)
expressing the ultimate truth, here the
sameness of the individual Self (atman)
with the Supreme Reality (Brahman).
Sarvasvara
Sacrificial rite found in the Vedas, the
oldest and most authoritative Hindu
religious texts. The most notable feature
of the sarvasvara is that it involved the
suicide of the sacrificer, who concluded
the rite by entering the sacrificial fire.
The sarvasvara is an extreme example
of the class of ritual actions known as
kamya karma, which consists of
action performed solely because of the
performer’s desire (kama) to obtain certain
benefits. This element of desire
makes kamya karma different from the
other two classes of ritual action, nitya
karma and naimittika karma, which
were each in some way obligatory. The
sarvasvara could be undertaken to obtain
any outcome, such as birth in heaven as
a god, or rebirth in a royal family. The sacrificer
declares the benefit in the part of
the rite called the samkalpa. Although
the sarvasvara had extreme elements, it
was completely voluntary.
Sashanka
(7th c.) King of Bengal who was an
ardent devotee (bhakta) of the god
Shiva and a fierce opponent of
Buddhism, which was deeply entrenched
in his domain. According to reliable
historical reports, Sashanka not only
persecuted the Buddhists themselves
but also tried to destroy the tree in
Bodh Gaya under which the Buddha
gained enlightenment. This is one of
the few well-documented cases of religious
persecution.
Sat
In Indian philosophical thought, the
most basic denotation for “that which
(really and truly) exists.” The term is a
present participle of the verb “to be,” so
a fairly common translation is “Being,”
but the word also carries connotations
relating to the idea of Truth—that things
that exist are both “real” and “true.” Sat
is the first of the three attributes traditionally
ascribed to the unqualified, ultimate
Brahman as sacchidananda,
along with consciousness (chit) and
bliss (ananda).
Satavahana Dynasty
Central Indian dynasty whose core area
was in the Deccan plateau in the western
state of Maharashtra, and whose
capital was in the city of Paithan. The
Satavahana dynasty was at its peak from
the first to the third centuries, when it
ruled an area spanning the modern