The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2
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Sharada Math<br />
considered both a musical instrument<br />
and an instrument <strong>of</strong> war, since through<br />
its powerful sound he is said to have<br />
struck terror in the hearts <strong>of</strong> his enemies.<br />
<strong>The</strong> conch is also commonly<br />
carried by certain powerful forms <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Goddess. <strong>The</strong> reason for this can be<br />
found in her charter myth, in which she<br />
is formed from the collected radiance <strong>of</strong><br />
all the gods and receives duplicates <strong>of</strong> all<br />
their weapons.<br />
Shanta (“peaceful”) Bhava<br />
<strong>The</strong> first <strong>of</strong> the five modes <strong>of</strong> devotion to<br />
God that were most prominently articulated<br />
by Rupa Goswami, a devotee<br />
(bhakta) <strong>of</strong> the god Krishna and a follower<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Bengali saint Chaitanya.<br />
Rupa used five different models <strong>of</strong><br />
human relationships to explain the variety<br />
<strong>of</strong> links followers might have with<br />
the deities. <strong>The</strong>se five models showed<br />
growing emotional intensity, from the<br />
peaceful (shanta) sense that comes from<br />
realizing one’s complete identity with<br />
Brahman, or Supreme Reality, to conceiving<br />
<strong>of</strong> god as one’s master, friend,<br />
child, or lover. <strong>The</strong> shanta bhava, in<br />
which one finds mental peace through<br />
the realization <strong>of</strong> complete identity with<br />
Brahman, is the only one <strong>of</strong> these modes<br />
in which the devotee does not have a<br />
personalized relationship with God.<br />
Given Rupa’s assumption that Krishna<br />
was the highest manifestation <strong>of</strong> godhead,<br />
and that true religious life<br />
in<strong>vol</strong>ved having a relationship with him,<br />
the shanta bhava was thus judged inferior<br />
to the other four modes.<br />
Shantanu<br />
In the Mahabharata, the later <strong>of</strong> the two<br />
great Sanskrit epics, Shantanu is the<br />
father <strong>of</strong> Bhishma by his first wife, and<br />
the husband <strong>of</strong> Satyavati in his second<br />
marriage. Satyavati has agreed to marry<br />
Shantanu on the condition that her sons<br />
reign, despite the fact that Bhishma is<br />
the eldest and thus is rightly entitled to<br />
the throne. Shantanu agrees to this condition,<br />
and to please his father Bhishma<br />
vows never to marry, so that he will have<br />
no heirs to compete with Satyavati’s.<br />
Bhishma upholds his promise until his<br />
death, but Shantanu’s willingness to put<br />
aside the rightful heir has terrible consequences.<br />
When Satyavati’s son Vichitravirya<br />
dies childless, she calls on her<br />
elder son Vyasa to sire children by his<br />
wives. From this union comes Pandu<br />
and Dhrtarashtra. <strong>The</strong> struggle for royal<br />
power by their respective sons culminates<br />
in the Mahabharata war, in which<br />
the family is destroyed.<br />
Shantiniketan<br />
(“abode <strong>of</strong> peace”) Town in the Birbhum<br />
district <strong>of</strong> West Bengal, about ninety<br />
miles northeast <strong>of</strong> Calcutta. It is most<br />
famous for Vishva-Bharati University,<br />
founded in 1921 by the Indian poet and<br />
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore<br />
(1861–1941). As an educational institution,<br />
the university was dedicated to<br />
providing an education that would satisfy<br />
people’s material and spiritual needs<br />
and thus develop an integrated human<br />
being. It did this in part by promoting<br />
the arts and by stressing the interconnection<br />
between nature and human<br />
beings, both themes that were close to<br />
Tagore’s heart.<br />
Sharada Math<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the four maths or sacred centers<br />
for Hindu ascetics (<strong>of</strong>ten translated as<br />
“monasteries”) traditionally believed to<br />
have been established by the great<br />
philosopher Shankaracharya; the others<br />
are the Jyotir Math, Shringeri Math,<br />
and Govardhan Math. <strong>The</strong>se four sacred<br />
centers are each associated with one <strong>of</strong><br />
the four geographical corners <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Indian subcontinent; the Sharada<br />
Math is in the western quarter, in the<br />
city <strong>of</strong> Dwaraka in the state <strong>of</strong> Gujarat,<br />
on the shore <strong>of</strong> the Arabian Sea.<br />
Shankaracharya is traditionally cited as<br />
the founder <strong>of</strong> the Dashanami Sanyasis,<br />
the most prestigious Hindu ascetic<br />
order. <strong>The</strong> Dashanami (“ten names”)<br />
ascetics are devotees (bhakta) <strong>of</strong> the god<br />
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