They appear in Zend as the
Hapta-heando, and the early Muhammadan travellers have translated
the term. But their Saba Sin, 'seven rivers,' according to Biruni,
applies to the rivers which flow northwards from the mountains of
the Hindu Koh, and "uniting near Turmuz, form the river of Balkh
(the Oxus).” The hymn in which the names of the rivers have been
given has the following description :-" Each set of seven (streams,
has followed a threefold course. The Sindhu surpasses the other
rivers in impetuosity. ...Receive favourably this my hymn, O Ganga,
Yamuna, Saraswati, Sutudri, Parushni; hear, O Marud-vridha, with the
Asikni and Vitasta, and thou, Arjikiya, with the Sushoma. Unite
first in thy course with the Trishtama, the Susartu, the Rasa, and
the Sweti; thou meetest with the Gomati, and the Krumu with the
Kubha and the Mehatnu." According to this, the "seven rivers" are -
(1.) Ganga (Ganges); (2.) Yamuna (Jumna); (3.) Saraswati (Sarsuti);
(4.) Sutudri (Satlej); (5.) Parushni; (6.) Marud-vridha; (7.)
Arjikiya (the Vipasa, Hyphasis Byas). Wilson says "the Parushni is
identified with the Iravati" (Hydraotes, Ravi), but in this hymn it
is the Marud-vridha which would seem to be the Iravati, because it
is said to unite with the Asikni (Akesines, Chandrabhaga, Chinab)
and the Vitasta (Hydaspes or Jhilam). This would leave the Parushni
unsettled. The other names, with the exception of the Gomati
(Gumti), are not identified. Sushoma has been said to be the Sindhu,
but in this hymn the Sindhu is clearly distinct. In the Maha-bharata
the seven rivers are named in one place Vaswokasara, Nalini, Pavani,
Ganga, Sita, Sindhu, and Jambu-nadi; and in another, Ganga, Yamuna,
Plakshaga, Rathastha, Saryu (Sarju), Gomati, and Gandaki (Gandak).
In the Ramayana and the Puranas the seven rivers are the seven
streams into which the Ganges divided after falling from the brow of
Siva, the Nalini, Hladini, and Pavani going cast, the Chakshu, Sita,
and Sindhu to the west, while the Ganges proper, the Bhagirathi,
flowed to the south. The term is also used for the seven great
oceans of the world, and for the country of the seven rivers.
SAPTA-VADHRI
A Vedic
Rishi. In a hymn he says, "Aswins, by your devices sunder the
wickerwork for the liberation of the terrified, imploring Rishi
Sapta-vadhri." Concerning this the following old story is told.
Sapta-vadhri had seven brothers who determined to prevent his having
intercourse with his wife. So they shut him up every night in a
large basket, which they locked and sealed, and in the morning they
let him out. He prayed to the Aswins, who enabled him to get out of
his cage during the night and to return to it at
daybreak.
SARABHA 1. A
fabulous animal represented as having eight legs and as dwelling in
the Himalayas. It is called also Utpadaka and Kunjararati. 2. One of
Rama's monkey allies.
SARA-BHANGA A
hermit visited by Rama and Sita in the Dandaka forest. When he had
seen Rama he declared that his desire had been granted, and that he
would depart to the highest heaven. He prepared a fire and entered
it. His body was consumed, but there came forth from the fire a
beautiful youth, and in this form Sara-bhanga departed to
heaven.
SARADA-TILAKA 1. A
mystic poem by Lakshmana. 2. A dramatic monologue by Sankara, not
earlier than the twelfth century. 3. Name of a Tantra.
SARADWAT A
Rishi said to be the father of Kripa. He is also called Gautama. See
Kripa.
SARAMA 1. In
the Rig-veda the dog of Indra and mother of the two dogs called,
after their mother, Sarameyas, who each had four eyes, and were the
watchdogs of Yama. Sarama is said to have pursued and recovered the
cows stolen by the Panis, a myth which has been supposed to mean
that Sarama is the same as Ushas, the dawn, and that the cows
represent the rays of the sun carried away by night. 2. The wife of
Vibhishana, who attended upon Sita, and showed her great kindness
when she was in captivity with Ravana. 3. In the Bhagavata Purana,
Sarama is one of the daughters of Daksha, and the mother of wild
animals.
SARAMEYAS The
two children of Sarama, Indra's watch-dog; they were the watchdogs
of Yama, and each had four eyes. They have been compared with the
Greek Hermes.
SARANYU 'The
fleet runner.' A daughter of Twashtri. She has been identified with
the Greek Erinnys. The beginning of this myth is in a hymn of the
Rig-veda, which says- "1. Twashtri makes a wedding for his daughter.
(Hearing) this, the whole world assembles. The mother of Yama, the
wedded wife of the great Vivaswat (the sun), disappeared. 2. They
concealed the immortal (bride) from mortals. Making (another) of
like appearance, they gave her to Vivaswat. Saranyu bore the two
Aswins, and when she had done so she deserted the two twins." In the
Nirukta the story is expanded as follows :- " Saranyu, the daughter
of Twashtri, bore twins to Vivaswat, the son of Aditi. She then
substituted for herself another female of similar appearance, and
tied in the form of a mare. Vivaswat in like manner assumed the
shape of a horse and followed her. From their intercourse sprang two
Aswins, while Manu was the offspring of Savarna (or the female of
like appearance)." The Brihad-devata has another version of the same
story :- “Twashtri had twin children, (a daughter) Saranyu and (a
son) Tri siras. He gave Saranyu in-marriage to Vivaswat, to whom she
bore Yama and Yami, who also were twins. Creating a female like
herself without her husband's knowledge, and making the twins over
in charge to her, Saranyu took the form of a mare and departed.
Vivaswat, in ignorance, begot on the female who was left Manu, a
royal Rishi, who resembled his father in glory; but discovering that
the real Saranyu, Twashtri's daughter, had gone away, Vivaswat
followed her quickly, taking the shape of a horse of the same
species as she. Recognising him in that form, she approached him
with the desire of sexual connection, which he gratified. In their
haste his seed fell on the ground, and she, being desirous of
offspring, smelled it. From this act sprang the two Kumaras
(youths), Nasatya and Dasra, who were lauded as Aswins (sprung from
a horse)."- Muir's Texts, v. 227. See the Puranic version under
"Sanjna."
SARASWATA 1. In
the Maha-bharata the Rishi Saraswata is represented as being the son
of the personified river Saraswati. In a time of great drought he
was fed with fish by his mother, and so was enabled to keep up his
knowledge of the Vedas, while other Brahmans were reduced to such
straits for the means of subsistence that study was neglected and
the Vedas were lost. When the drought was over, the Brahmans flocked
to him for instruction, and 60,000 acquired a knowledge of the Vedas
from him. "This legend," says Wilson, "appears to indicate the
revival, or, more probably, the introduction of the Hindu ritual by
the race of Brahmans, or the people called Saraswata," who dwelt
near the Saraswati river. Saraswata Brahmans still dwell in the
Panjab, and are met with in many other parts. 2. The country about
the Saraswati river. 3. A great national division of the Brahman
caste.
SARASWATl
‘Watery, elegant.’ In the Vedas, Saraswati is primarily a river, but
is celebrated in the hymns both as a river and a deity. The
Saraswati river was one boundary of Brahmivartta, the home of the
early Aryans, and was to them, in all likelihood, a sacred river, as
the Ganges has long been to their descendants. As a river goddess,
Saraswati is lauded for the fertilising and purifying powers of her
waters, and as the bestower of fertility, fatness, and wealth. Her
position as Vach, the goddess of speech, finds no mention in the
Rig-veda, but is recognised by the Brahmanas and the Maha-bharata.
Dr. Muir endeavours to account for her acquisition of this
character. He say, "When once the river had acquired a divine
character, it was quite natural that she should be regarded as the
patroness of the ceremonies which were celebrated on the margin of
her holy waters, and that her direction and blessing should be
invoked as essential to their proper performance and success. The
connection into which she was thus brought with sacred rites may
have led to the further step of imagining her to have an influence
on the composition of the hymns which formed so important a part of
the proceedings and of identifying her with Vach, the goddess of
speech." In later times Saraswati is the wife of Brahma, the goddess
of speech and learning, inventress of the Sanskrit language and
Deva-nagari letters, and patroness of the arts and sciences. “She is
represented as of a white colour, without any superfluity of limbs,
and not unfrequently of a graceful figure, wearing a slender
crescent on her brow and sitting on a lotus.”-Wilson. The same
authority states that "the Vaishnavas of Bengal have a popular
legend that she was the wife of Vishnu, as were also Lakshmi and
Ganga. The ladies dis-agreed; Saraswati, like the other prototype of
learned ladies, Minerva, being something of a termagant, and Vishnu
finding that one wife was as much as he could manage, transferred
Saraswati to Brahma and Ganga to Siva, and contented himself with
Lakshmi alone. (See Vach.) Other names of Saraswati are Bharati,
Brahmi, Put-kari, Sarada, Vagiswari. The river is now called
Sarsuti. It falls from the Himalayas and is lost in the sands of the
desert. In ancient times it flowed on to the sea. A passage in the
Rig-veda says of it, “She who goes on pure from the mountains as far
as the sea.”-Max Muller, Veda, 45. According to the Maha-bharata it
was dried up by the curse of the sage Utathya (q.v.). See
Sapta-sindhava.
SARASWATI
KANTHABHARANA A
treatise on poetical and rhetorical composition generally ascribed
to Bhoja Raja.
SARAYU The
Sarju river or Gogra.
SARMISHTHA
Daughter of Vrishaparvan the Danava, second wife of Yayati and
mother of Puru. See Devayani.
SARNGA The
bow of Krishna.
SARVA,
SARVA A
Vedic deity; the destroyer. Afterwards a name of Siva and of one of
the Rudras. See Rudra.
SARVA-DARSANA
SANGRAHA A work
by Madhavacharya, which gives an account of the Darsanas or schools
of philosophy, whether orthodox or heretical. It has been
printed.
SARVARI A
woman of low caste, who was very devout and looked for the coming of
Rama until she had grown old. In reward of her piety a sage raised
her from her low caste, and when she had seen Rama she burnt herself
on a funeral pile. She ascended from the pile in a chariot to the
heaven of Vishnu.
SARVA-SARA Name
of an Upanishad.
SASADA
‘Hare-eater.’ A name given to Vikukshi (q.v.).
SASI, SASIN The
moon, so called from the marks on the moon being considered to
resemble a hare (sasa).
SASTRA 'A
rule, book, treatise.' Any book of divine or recognised authority,
but more especially the law-books.
SATA-DHANU A king
who had a virtuous and discreet wife named Saibya. They were both
worshippers of Vishnu. One day they met a heretic, with whom
Sata-dhanu conversed; but the wife “turned away from him and east
her eyes up to the sun.” After a time Sata-dhanu died and his wife
ascended his funeral pile. The wife was born again as a princess
with a knowledge of her previous existence, but the husband received
the form of & dog. She recognised him in this form and placed
the bridal garland on his neck. Then she reminded him of his
previous existence and of the fault, which had caused his
degradation. He was greatly humiliated and died from a broken
spirit. After that, he was born successively as a jackal, a wolf, a
crow, and a peacock. In each form his wife recognised him, reminded
him of his sin, and urged him to make efforts for restoration to his
former dignity. At length “he was born as the son of a person of
distinction,” and Saibya then elected him as her bridegroom; and
having “again invested him with the character of her husband, they
lived happily together.” When he died she again followed him in
death, and both “ascended beyond the sphere of Indra to the regions
where all desires are for ever gratified.” “This legend,” says
Wilson, “is peculiar to the Vishnu Purana, although the doctrine it
inculcates is to be found elsewhere.
SATA-DHANWAN,
SATA-DHANUS
‘Having a hundred bows.’ A Yadava and son of Hridika. He killed
Satrajit, father of Satya-bhama, the wife of Krishna, in his sleep,
and was himself killed in revenge by Krishna, who struck off his
head with his discus.
SATA-DRU
‘Flowing in a hundred (channels).’ The name of the river Sutlej, the
Zaradrus of Ptolemy, the Hesudrus of Pliny.
SATA-GHNI
‘Slaying hundreds.’ A missile weapon used by Krishna. It is
described in the Maha-bharata as a stone set round with iron spikes,
but many have supposed it to be a rocket or other fiery
weapon.
SATA-KRATU ‘The
god of a hundred rites;’ Indra.
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