The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2
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Shaiva<br />
This pilgrimage is most <strong>of</strong>ten taken<br />
by men, since, according to the charter<br />
myth, the site is forbidden to women<br />
<strong>of</strong> childbearing age. <strong>The</strong> pilgrimage<br />
itself is a highly structured ritual<br />
process. Pilgrims carry out their spiritual<br />
training for the journey in welldefined<br />
village groups, each headed by<br />
a local leader, who supervises their<br />
strict religious discipline. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
preparatory vows commence forty-five<br />
to sixty days before the actual journey<br />
begins, and entail strict celibacy and<br />
avoiding the company <strong>of</strong> women, distinctive<br />
dress, a ban on shaving and<br />
wearing shoes, a strict vegetarian diet,<br />
daily worship, and the erasing <strong>of</strong> all<br />
social and status distinctions among<br />
members. In essence, the men training<br />
for this pilgrimage live as renunciant<br />
ascetics for this period and later revert<br />
to their normal identities. <strong>The</strong> pilgrimage<br />
itself is an arduous and exhausting<br />
journey over the twisted ridges <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Periyar Hills, during which pilgrims<br />
symbolically divest themselves <strong>of</strong> their<br />
egos, to be filled with the grace <strong>of</strong> God.<br />
For a first person account <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Shabari Malai pilgrimage, see E.<br />
Valentine Daniel, Fluid Signs, 1984.<br />
Shabda<br />
(“word”) In Indian philosophy, the<br />
general term for authoritative testimony.<br />
This is generally accepted as one <strong>of</strong><br />
the pramanas, the means by which<br />
human beings can gain true and accurate<br />
knowledge, except by the materialists,<br />
who reject all pramanas except<br />
perception (pratyaksha). Such<br />
authoritative testimony is <strong>of</strong> two sorts.<br />
It most <strong>of</strong>ten refers to authoritative<br />
scriptural texts, such as the Vedas, but<br />
it can also refer to verbal instruction<br />
given by one’s guru, which is considered<br />
to have equal authority, at least<br />
by members <strong>of</strong> that spiritual lineage.<br />
Shabda is an important pramana<br />
because it tells people about those<br />
things that the other pramanas cannot<br />
uncover, such as the nature <strong>of</strong> the<br />
heavens, the course <strong>of</strong> the soul after<br />
death, proper religious life, and so<br />
forth. With regard to the liberation <strong>of</strong><br />
the soul, it is <strong>of</strong>ten the most important<br />
pramana, since this cannot be discovered<br />
in any other way.<br />
Shabdabrahman<br />
(“Brahman-as-sound”) This term<br />
refers to the notion that the Supreme<br />
Reality (Brahman) exists in its most<br />
subtle form, not as matter, but as<br />
sound. This idea is particularly prevalent<br />
in tantra, a secret, ritually based<br />
system <strong>of</strong> religious practice, and helps<br />
to explain the tantric stress on<br />
mantra, or sacred sound, as the essential<br />
means through which one gains<br />
access to this reality. In this understanding,<br />
the primary mantra (mulamantra)<br />
<strong>of</strong> one’s particular deity<br />
would be the clearest articulation <strong>of</strong><br />
shabdabrahman, with other mantras<br />
conceived as derivative forms <strong>of</strong><br />
that primary mantra; these latter<br />
mantras were the source for everyday<br />
speech and the mundane sounds <strong>of</strong><br />
ordinary experience.<br />
Shachi<br />
In Hindu mythology, the wife <strong>of</strong> the god<br />
Indra, also known as Indrani. See<br />
Indrani.<br />
Shaddarshana<br />
(“six perspectives”) Collective name for<br />
the six schools <strong>of</strong> classical Hindu philosophy.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se six were usually grouped<br />
in three pairs: Nyaya and Vaisheshika,<br />
Samkhya and Yoga, and Purva Mimamsa<br />
and Vedanta. See six schools.<br />
Shaiva<br />
Devotee (bhakta) <strong>of</strong> the Hindu<br />
god Shiva, who along with Vishnu is<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the major figures in the<br />
Hindu pantheon. From the evidence at<br />
hand, it seems that the earliest<br />
sectarian Shaivites were the<br />
Kapalikas, Kalamukhas, and<br />
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