Dictionary of Proper Names
Selected from Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works (1989/1996)
S
Sabines ancient Italic tribe in hilly region east of the Tiber.
Sacred Books of the East series of translations of Oriental, i.e., non-European & non-Christian religious works edited by Max Müller from 1875, published in 51 volumes from 1879 to 1904. In 1883 Max Müller wrote India, what it can teach us? Already, in 1855-57, Otto von Böhtlingk & Röth had published the first Sanskrit-German 7-volume lexicon. Thus began the school of Western & westernised Indian Orientalists whose works mould ‘secular’ India’s anti-Hindu attitude. Sri Aurobindo: “Vedic Rishis ought surely to have known something about their own religion, more, let us hope, than Röth or Max Müller....” [SABCL, 17:339]
The Sacrifice of the Sikh translation of the Bengali Sikher Balidan by Kumudini Mitra. It was intended to teach the lesson of martyrdom to young Bengal.
Sadā Wodiyār, a Tamil Christian supervisor of the jail at Pondicherry around 1914. Sri Aurobindo attended his marriage & accepted his daughter Bālā as Ashramite.
Sadānanda Sadānanda Yogindra Saraswati, author of Vedanta-sāra. He belonged to the ‘Saraswat’ order, one of the ten orders of Sannyasins of Shankara’s school.
Sadducee Jewish priestly sect which thrived for about two centuries before the Second Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 BC. They accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament & rejected all not taught therein, e.g. demons & angels, immortality & resurrection. They were in conflict with Pharisees.
Sadghana-loka the occult world of dense existence.
Sadhyadeva third highest of the ten forms of consciousness in the evolutionary scale of man; the Supreme Rākshasa, who raises Mind to the Ananda.
Sādi Muslih-ud-Din Sādi, 13th century Persian mystic writer of Gulistan& Bustaan.
Sāgar Sangit Bengali poems by C.R. Das; translated by Sri Aurobindo as Songs of the Sea. “The first book of poems published by Das was Malancha, a book of lyrics. His poetic works include other books like Mālā, Sāgar Sangeet, Antaryāmi, & Kishore Kishori… the great Oriental Scholar John Alexander Chapman translated some of Das’s poems…. Mālā was published in 1904…. Its poems revealed Das’s growing concern with religious faith & belief in the unknown & unknowable. If Malancha introduced Das as a poet, Sāgar Sangeet made him famous. It was written in November 1910 when he was returning from England by sea…. In feeling & movement it is deep like the sea & a happy fusion of devotion & thought.” [Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Govt. of India, 1960, 1969, 1977]
Sahadeva son of Jarāsandha. He had two younger sisters, Asti & Prāpti (see Ustie & Prāpti), who were married to Kansa king of Mathura.
Sahadeva elder of Madrie’s two sons, youngest of the Pandavas, was an expert herdsman, & though an adept astrologer & astronomer he avoided predicting events unless forced to.
Sahadeva a king of the Vedic times, son of Shrinjaya.
Sahajanya apsarā of Swarga, companion of Urvasie in Kālidāsa’s Vikramorvasīyam.
St. Jean/ St. John wrote fourth Gospel, three epistles, & the Revelation.
St. Paul/ Saul of Tarsus (d.67?) Saul of Tarsus (q.v.) was a Jewish tent-maker who regarded Jesus a threat to Pharisaic Judaism (see Pharisees); encouraged by Saul’s zeal the chief Rabbi of Jerusalem sent him to Damascus to fight off Christian missionaries enticing Jews. Instead, he was stopped on the way with a blinding Light & asked him “Why persecutest thou Me?” Intrigued, Saul lived among Christians of Damascus, converted to Christianity, became Paul & set off to convert Jews of Tarsus, Antioch, Jerusalem, & other Jewish colonies – thus became the greatest Apostle to the Gentiles i.e., of heathens & pagans not yet converted. His most successful stay was in Ephesus from where he had to go to Corinth via Macedonia to help the embattled Christians there. In his last five years he lived mostly in Rome, where he & St. Peter were killed on the same day by Emperor Nero. His epistles are the earliest & most powerful Christian theological writings for which he is sanctified as Fountainhead of Christianity & depicted with the Sword of the Martyr.
St. Paul’s (School) founded in 1509 by John Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, it opened in the Cathedral’s churchyard, primarily for the local low-class white boys who, E.R. Braithwaite would find in 1959, “were sure they were clean, because they bathed every Friday night.” [To Sir, With Love, Penguin, New York, 1987, p.77]
Under F.W. Walker as its High Master (1876-1905), it grew “from a small & obscure…school in the city, to a great & famous school”, from 211 boys in 1884 to 573 in 1888. Early in 1884, it moved to a Gothic edifice in Hammersmith, West Kensington. Soon after Drewett left, his mother moved to London, & enrolled the brothers in this school as baptised wards of her son. They took its entrance exam in May 1884, the first year St. Paul’s took in any Jewish or non-white boys. Manmohan was admitted as a paying scholar & Sri Aurobindo as elected to one of the 23 vacant Foundation Scholarships. Colet’s motto for his school was Fide et Literis (Faith & Humanities): “a Christian & humane education according to…the new learning of the Renaissance”, but in Sri Aurobindo’s experience, “There was no positive religious or spiritual element in the education received in England… [it] was mainly classical & had a purely intellectual & aesthetic influence.”
Since Charles Darwin had heard earth Nature’s decree that she was soon going to snuff out all coloured races, Lord R.A.T. Gascoigne-Cecil Salisbury (see Pax Britannica), announced in Parliament: “When a man has black, red, or yellow skin, when he has the Providential chance of being governed by whites [e.g., the white Tarzans, Phantoms, & Tintins], he ought to bow down & utter thanks.” [R.C. Majumdar’s History & Culture of the Indian Peoples, Vol. X, Part II, pp.383-84] And so, “the lower class used to shout Blackie, Blackie,” Sri Aurobindo would recall. “It was brought by Anglo-Indians & Englishmen retiring from the colonies. It is a result of democracy, I suppose.” [See Rudyard Kipling]. Sri Aurobindo was the youngest in his class. “I was weak physically & could not do anything. Only my will was bright.” And so, he kept away from his classmates & neighbours, employing his time & energy in studying the revolutions & rebellions which led France & America & Italy to national liberation. This fertilised the seed he was born with, the strength to redeem his motherland, not physical strength but the power founded upon Knowledge. When he was fourteen [1886], the seed began to sprout; at eighteen [1890] the foundation became firm & unshakeable. [See p.82 of Purani’s Life of Sri Aurobindo, 1978]. It was about that time that, because her expectations of remuneration from Dr Ghose were dashed, & Manmohan was not awed by Moses during her catechism class, Mrs Drewett threw out the boys. The next two years, only because India-born James Cotton (q.v.) came to their aid, did the three find shelter in the office room Cotton had permitted them to live. Benoy & Sri Aurobindo made do with a few slices of bread & butter, an occasional sandwich or two, some cups of tea & a penny worth of sausage; they had no fire in that attic-room & no overcoats to ward off the winter winds. Manmohan began going to a public ‘soup kitchen’. Binyon (q.v.), admitted in 1926: “Manmohan lived in lodgings with two brothers, but what his actual circumstances were when he came to England, & how he came to be at St. Paul’s, I do not think I ever enquired.” No such admission, belated even, seems to have made by the great critic Chesterton (q.v.) or the 500-plus white Christian boys & Masters, including Mr Walker. E.R. Braithwaite: “It was not entirely their fault. They had been taught with the same textbooks that these children [in his class] were using now [in 1959], & had fully digested the concept [Prophet Darwin’s discovery] that coloured people were physically, mentally, socially & culturally inferior to themselves…. It is not necessary for them to do anything special for a Negro, or any other black, but simply to behave to them as to a stranger Briton, without favour or malevolence, but with the courtesy & gentleness which every human being should give to & expect from every other.” [To Sir, With Love, pp.41, 99-100, 182] The only truthful disclosure was that by Arthur Wood (admitted a year before Arabinda), son of a journalist, hence acquainted with Lord Salisbury’s advice, in 1908: “…where or how they lived or who looked after them I think none of us knew or cared. We only noticed that Arabinda especially grew more & more dirty & unkempt, & looked more & more unhealthy & neglected. He neither played any games or made any friends…he was childish…seemed to have no ideas in his head.” Wood omitted what St Paul’s official publication Raes Pauline published in 1911: Mr Walker “never allowed games to interfere with school work”, & for months after Arabinda left it (1890), St Paul’s ‘playfield’ remained “a semi-subterranean basement” with “no organized games” supervised by Masters. In 1888, Arabinda joined the class which coached for ICS Open Entrance exam in subjects that were part St. Paul’s curriculum. He studied them by himself while Wood et al hired tutors. Both passed the ICS entrance exam in 1890, it was Wood’s 2nd attempt, yet Arabinda, taking ten papers, ranked 11th & Wood, taking seven papers, stood 22nd. Even before taking up the obligatory studies as a classical scholar at King’s & as a probationer for the ICS, he began to prepare himself for his roles in the liberation of his motherland & in the forthcoming period of worldwide upheavals & changes. Of those years, Sri Aurobindo revealed only once, & only to a few disciples: “I was extremely selfish & then something came upon me & I felt I ought to give up selfishness. I tried in my own way, of course imperfectly, to put it into practice. But that was a sort of turning point in my inner life.” Thus began the self-discipline which, at Cambridge brought him a brief “mental” experience of the Atman; in February 1893 brought the spiritual experience of the Self, in 1908-09, the realisation of All in the Self & the Self in All. [Darwin: The Descent of Man; for Salisbury R.C. Majumdar: History & Culture of the Indian Peoples, Vol. X, Part II, pp.383-84; CWSA Vol. 6:390; Georges van Vrekhem: Evolution, Religions, & the Unknown God; Purani: Life of Sri Aurobindo, & Evening Talks, 2007; see also H.M. Hyndman, Ruin of India by British Rule, 1907; Laurence Binyon in his lengthy “Introductory Memoir” to Manmohan’s Songs of Love & Death, 1926, p.9; Arthur Wood: Foundation Scholar, Sept. 1883: left School 1889: entered ICS June 1890: wrote this Note as Collector, Kaira Dist., Bombay, to Director, CID: this note was filed as Govt. of India’s Home Dept. Proceedings, D–June, 1908, 13:3; RAES PAULINA…, Ed. Gardiner & Lupton, St. Paul’s School, West Kensington, 1911:116-17; CWSA Vol. 36.]
St. Peter (died c. 64), Peter, from the Greek petros & Latin petrus; his original name was Simeon, but Jesus gave him the nickname Cephas, “Rock”. The early Christians recognized him as the leader of the early disciples of Jesus Christ, the Prince of the Apostles, & the “Rock” on which has been built Roman Catholic Church as its first pope. St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is the largest church in Christendom (q.v.). Its construction occupied no less than 181 years (1445-1626). The dome of the church, 404 ft. high from the pavement, spans an internal diameter of 137 ft. Below this lofty dome is the high altar, canopied by Bernini’s magnificent bronze baldachin 95 ft. high. The crypt beneath the altar contains the tomb of St Peter. The interior of St Peter’s is a series of unending marvels, of which probably the most beautiful, certainly the most famous, is the “Pieta”, a marble group by Michelangelo.
Saintsbury George Edward Bateman (1845-1933), English historian & critic.
Swami Sakaria Sakāriā Bābā, a Yogi who spent part of his life in a town called Chharodi, on the way to Gungānath (q.v.). Barindra, when he was his disciple, took him to Surat during the Congress session of 1907. Sakāriā Baba had fought in the army of the Rāṇi of Jhansi in 1857.
S(h)aka(s) nomads from central Asia who began to invade India in waves from 2nd cent. BC. They were encountered & repulsed by King Vikramāditya of Ujjayini; but later settled in western India where they were gradually absorbed in native life.
Śākya(s)/ Çakyas a clan of Sūryavanshis (descendants of Ikshwāku) living in the Nepalese Terai in 6th cent. BC. Their king, Suddhodana of Kapilāvastu, was the father of Buddha.
Salamis island in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, part of Attica, Greece; also a port town of this island, west of the city of Piraeus (q.v.); home of Ajax & Teucer.
Salimullah, Nawab/ Sallimullahi(sm) the Nawab (of Dacca) Nawab Khwajah Salimullah: succeeded his father as head of family of the Nawabs of Dacca in Dec. 1901: was a Deputy Magistrate for some years: a nominated member of the Bengal Legislative Council in 1903. His father Nawab Bahadur Khwajah Ahsanulla (1846-1901): enlightened & loyal supporter of Govt.; for years a Municipal Commissioner & Hon. Magistrate of Dacca, he was made Khan Bahadur 1871, Nawab 1875, CIE (Commander of Indian Empire), KCIE (Knight Commander of Indian Empire), Member of the Gov.-Gen.’s Legislative Council 1890 & 1899). His grandfather Nawab Sir Khwajah Abdul Ghani Mia (d.1896): descendant of a clan which had invaded Kashmir: one his ancestors held a job under the Moghul dynasty, & on its overthrow they family moved to Sylhet & then to Dacca & became wealthy zamindars in Eastern Bengal. During the Mutiny, the family head’s loyalty to Govt. helped E.I. Co. to hold on to Eastern Bengal: he patched up quarrels between local Shias & Sunnis in 1869 & helped the Octopus in suppressing the Lushai & Naga uprisings, in famine relief for his Muslim brethren; his public & private charity to his Muslim brethren amounted to lakhs; he provided Dacca with the Islam-prescribed waters: was made Hon. Magistrate, Member of the Bengal Legislative Council 1866, & of the Gov.-Gen.’s Legislative Council 1867, CSI (Companion of the Star of India) 1871, KCSI (Knight Commander of the Star of India) 1886, granted the personal title of Nawab in 1875, made it hereditary on Jan. 1, 1877, & pinned a medal by the Prince of Wales in Calcutta in 1875. [Buckland, pp.235-36, de-husked]
“The Hon. Nawab Bahadur Salimollah of Dacca succeeded his father in December 1901. He has already shewn himself a public spirited man, taking interest in whatever is for the benefit of his fellowmen, &, in particular displaying masterly judgment in managing his estates & intricate family affairs.... Lately he has been appointed to the Lt. Governor’s Council.... He has proved himself a worthy successor to his illustrious ancestors.... His charity & kindly & genial disposition bid fair to make out for him a career of usefulness & honour.” [Caption to his photo in volume 1 of Claude Campbell’s Glimpses of Bengal, (pub. Campbell-Medland, 3/4 Hare Street, 1907, p.197]
“Towards the end of the year 1903 Lord Curzon’s Govt. proposed to separate the whole of Chittagong Division & the Districts of Dacca & Mymensingh from Bengal, & to incorporate them with Assam…. The crowning act of Lord Curzon’s folly was the partition of Bengal in the teeth of an angry, unanimous opposition, the like of which was never seen before during the British rule. [It] called forth all the latent forces of nationalism which had been gathering strength for years. Ere long, the protest took the form of Swadeshi movement which soon outstripped its original limitations of space & object & merged itself into an all-India national struggle for achieving freedom from the British yoke. That struggle continued through ups & downs, but without a break, until freedom was won….” ― “[By July 1905] the Govt. of India was in feverish haste to put into operation the entire scheme of Partition. On 3 August, 1905, they forwarded to the Secretary of State a draft proclamation & a draft Bill…. The Secretary of State was equally prompt, & with his approval the Proclamation was published on September 1, 1905. It was the final decision regarding Partition & gave a list of the districts in Bengal which, along with Assam, would ‘form a separate Province called the Province of Eastern Bengal & Assam’. It was further stated that the new Province would be a Lieutenant-Governorship with Mr Joseph Bampfylde Fuller, then the Chief Commissioner of Assam, as the first Lt-Gov. Finally, it stated that the new arrangement would come into force from October 16, 1905…. There is, however, no doubt that the solidarity of opposition against the Partition was gradually weakened. Lord Curzon won over Salimullah, the Nawab of Dacca, partly by advancing a loan at a very low rate of interest, & partly by holding out the hope that the interests of the Muslims will dominate the administration of the new Province, & the Nawab, as their leader, will occupy a unique position there, with Dacca, his own home, raised to the status of a great capital city of an opulent Province. The Nawab gradually became a great supporter of the Partition, & gathered a section of Muslims round him…. The new administration, in its actual operation, openly favoured the Muslims, & the first Lieutenant-Governor, Fuller, said with reference to the two main sections of population, the Musalmans & Hindus, that they were like his two queens of Indian legends, the first being the suo (favoured) & the second, the duo (neglected). No wonder that the followers of Salimullah would gain in strength. When the partition led to the Swadeshi, i.e. the movement for the use of indigenous & boycott of English goods, the Englishmen gradually became hostile to anti-Partition agitation, & withdrew their support from it. Injury to material interests proved a much stronger force than sympathy for a just cause.” [R.C. Majumdar’s History of the Freedom Movement in India, Vol.1, Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta, 1963]
“Viceroy Curzon’s division of the large province of Bengal was announced in July 1905. Eastern Bengal & Assam would have 18 million Muslims & 12 million Hindus. Western Bengal would have 42 million Hindus to 9 million Muslims, but those speaking Bengali were outnumbered by the Biharis & Oriyas. The secret motivation of Lord Curzon seems to have been to divide the Bengali movement that he considered seditious. This technique of divide & rule increased the conflicts between Hindus & Muslims in Bengal. The plan was approved by the Secretary of State without consulting the Parliament. The Bengal Legislative Council strongly denounced the plan on July 8, & the Indian press in Bengal & other provinces condemned the proposal. Curzon won over Dacca Nawab Salimullah with a low-interest loan & with the prospect of Dacca becoming the new capital. The weekly Sanjivani in Calcutta suggested a boycott of British goods on July 13, & a public meeting at Bagerhat adopted it three days later. The boycott idea spread as two thousand public meetings were organized in the cities & in hundreds of villages. In the town of Barisal students & even teachers went to school barefoot & were threatened with expulsion…. When Lord Curzon refused to receive a deputation from Congress in 1905, they sent Gokhale & Lajpat Rai to England. The Congress met at Benares in December 1905, & 758 delegates elected Gokhale president. The Moderates complained that the boycott methods of passive resistance were impractical or even injurious by denying themselves educational opportunities. For the first time Gokhale mentioned ‘self-government within the empire’ as their goal; & he denounced the partition of Bengal. He spoke of Swadeshi as a profound & passionate movement that calls people to serve the Motherland. The Moderate Congress condemned the Government repression & justified the boycott as a ‘last protest’. They repeated their demands for reform of the legislative councils. [“India's Freedom Struggle 1905-1918” by Sanderson Beck in India's Renaissance 1881-1905 – part? titled India's Boycott 1905-07]
Samain, Albert (1858-1900), French poet classed as a symbolist.
Sāma-Veda/ Samans the third Veda. Its Samhita contains 1875 mantric verses are called Sāmans. They are mantras of divine Ananda, “the word of calm & harmonious attainment for the bringing of the divine desire of the spirit” [SABCL 13: 314]
Samba a son of Sri Krishna by Jāmbavati, daughter of Jāmbuvant, King of Bears who fought beside Lord Rama against Rāvaṇa. Jāmbavati became the youngest & sweetest of Sri Krishna’s three wives. Samba participated in the Kurukshetra war.
Sambara/ Shambara a Dasyu who fought against King Divodāsa of Kashi. He was defeated & his many cities were destroyed by Indra.
Sammer Francis Sammer, a young Czech who worked in the Ashram as resident architect of Golconde, assistant to Antonin Raymond. He was in the Ashram for three or four years, & left around 1940 to join the War.
Samnite Roman name of tribes inhabiting the mountains of south-central Italy.
Samson Israelite hero portrayed in an epic narrative in the Old Testament’s Book of Judges. Hebrew tradition sometimes designates him the last of the great ‘judges’.
Samson Agonistes Milton’s tragedy, modelled on classic Greek tragedy.
Samudragupta emperor (c.330-80) in the period of imperial Guptās (320-510); considered the epitome of the ideal king of a golden age.
Samurai noblest warrior caste of Japan. After 1868 they also became great statesmen, generals, & businessmen – their nobility & patriotism built modern Japan.
Sunaaman Sunāman or Sunāmā, son of Ugrasena & brother of Kansa.
Sanatsujātiya Sanatkumār’s guidance to Dhṛitarāṣṭra in Mahābhārata.
Sanatkumar chief of the four Kumaras or mind-born sons of Brahma (see Prajāpati).
Sand, George Amandine-Aurore-Lucie Dupin, Baronne Dudevant (1804-76), French Romantic novelist & playwright. Much of her work was autobiographic.
Sandhyā evening newspaper started on 16 December 1904, edited by Brahmabāndhav Upādhyāya, prosecuted for sedition in August 1907. After his death Pandit Makhoda Charan Samadhyāya became its editor & general director. The Govt. killed the paper in January 1909 by outlawing its Press & printer.
Saṅga, Rāṇā/ Saṇgrām Singh popularly known as Rāṇā Saṅga, was ruler of Mewār (1508-29). Grandson of legendary Sisodia Rāṇā Kumbha, he succeeded his father Rāṇā Raimal after winning a battle of succession with his brothers. He began by expanding his territories: Taking advantage of the internal strife in the Delhi Sultanate, he annexed the north-east of Rājputāna by defeating Sultan Ibrahim Lodi in the battles of Khatoli & Dholpur; but his attempt to vassalise the Muhammedan ruler of Idar, led to a war with Idar’s ally the Muslim ruler of Gujarat whom he successfully defeated. In 1510 Mahmud II ascended the throne of Mālwā. To get rid of the influence of the Muslim nobles, he appointed Medini Rāi, the powerful Rajput chief of Chanderi, his minister. Seeing Medini appoint capable Hindu chiefs to offices of trust & responsibility, the jealous Muslim nobles in Mahmud’s Mālwā, removed him with help of Sultan Muzaffar Shāh II of Gujarat. Medini sought the help of Rāṇā Saṇga who captured Mahmud’s capital Mandsaur & defeated the joint forces of Mahmud & Muzaffar Shāh in the battle of Ghagron.
The Rāṇā who aspired (like Bāppā before him, & Bājirao Peshwa after him) to restore the primacy of Hindu culture & civilisation, proved a formidable to the pucca barbarian Bābur, a Chagatai Turk descended on his father’s side from Tīmūr, & connected on his mother’s side with Chenghīz Khān. Bābur had made several exploratory expeditions before being invited to overthrow the Delhi Sultanate by two its own nobles: Daulat Khān Lodi of Punjab, to take revenge for the cruel treatment meted out to his son Dilāwar Khan by Sultan Ībrāhīm Lodi of Delhi, & ‘Ᾱlam Khān, uncle of Ībrāhīm eager to take over the throne of Delhi. Bābur at once responded, entered Punjab & occupied Lahore in 1524. The next year Bābur swooped down from Kabul, took over Daulat’s Punjab. On 21 April 1526 Bābur vanquished Ibrahim Lodi at Pāṇīpat (q.v.) who, unlike him, trained in the underhand tactics & strategies perfected by such invincible invaders as Timur & Chenghiz, & an equally unethical park of artillery, possessed neither the right tactics nor the cannons. But the barbarian knew that before establishing himself on the throne of Delhi, he needed to defeat the Afghāns settled in Hindusthan & the Rajput alliance led by Rāṇā Saṇgha.
Rāṇā Saṇgha marched to Delhi with the rulers of Mārwād, Amber, Gwalior, Ajmer & Chanderi, & Sultan Mahmud Lodi (another son of Sultan Sikandar Lodi) whom the Rāṇā had acknowledged as the ruler of Delhi. Rāṇā Saṇgha led the allied forces to Biyāna, where he was joined by Hasan Khān Mewāti & some other Afghan supporters of the Lodi dynasty…but no other Afghān chief joined them, converted as they were by wily Babur turned the confrontation as a religious war, taunting them on their having joined the godless Kāfirs against their co-religionist. The course of Indian history might have taken a different turn had that descendant of Timur & Chenghiz faced the united strength of the Hindus & the Muslims of that period.
The two armies met at Khānua or Kānwā, a village almost due west of Ᾱgrā on 16th March 1527. This battle too ran its course in the same fashion as had the one on 21 April 1526 when Bābur & Ibrahim Lodi met at Pāṇīpat. Before the battle Babur had carefully inspected the site. Like in Pāṇīpat, he strengthened his front by procuring carts that were fastened by iron chains (not leather straps, as at Pāṇīpat) in the Ottoman fashion. These were used for providing shelter to horses & for storing artillery. Gaps between the carts were used for horsemen to charge at the opponent at an opportune time. To lengthen the line, ropes made of rawhide were placed over wheeled wooden tripods. Behind the tripods, matchlock men were placed who could fire &, if required, advance. The flanks were given protection by digging ditches. In addition to the regular force, small contingents were kept apart on the left flank & in front for the tulghuma (flanking) tactic. Thus, a strong offensive-defensive formation had been prepared by Babur. Rāṇā Saṇga, fighting in a traditional way, attacked the Mughal army’s flanks. He was prevented from breaking through by reinforcements dispatched by Babur. Once the advance of the Rajputs & their Afghan allies had been contained, Babur’s flanking tactic came into play. The carts & matchlock men were ordered to advance, hemming in the Rajputs & their allies. At about this time Silhadi of Raisen deserted the Rāṇā’s army & went over to Babur’s. It was then inevitable that despite putting up a gallant fight, Rāṇā Saṇga & his allies suffered a disastrous defeat. It is suggested that had it not been for the artillery of Babur, Rāṇā Saṇga might still have achieved victory. Following his victory, Babur ordered a tower of enemy skulls to be erected, a practice formulated by his ancestor Timur against his adversaries, irrespective of their religious beliefs. According to Chandra, the objective of constructing a tower of skulls was not just to record a great victory, but also to terrorize opponents. Earlier, the same tactic had been used by Babur against the Afghans of Bajaur.
Nine months after the defeat of his painstakingly built Rajput alliance, while planning to renew the fight with Babur, Rāṇā Saṇga died (murdered by his own chiefs?) on 30 January 1528, in Chitore). [Based on Bhattacharya’s D.I.H.; Advanced History of India, R.C. Majumdar et al, pp.344, 395-96, 418-21, 442; & Internet]
Sangbād Prabhākar started & edited by Ishwara Chandra Gupta (q.v.) as a weekly in 1831 as a weekly; he revived it in 1836 as a tri-weekly; & a daily in 1839.
Sanjibani/ Sanjivani organ of the Sādhāran Brahmo Samāj of Calcutta, edited by Sri Aurobindo’s uncle Krishna Kumar Mitra from his house at 6, College Square.
Sāṅkhya one of the six schools of Yoga founded Kapila Muni (q.v.). It is the abstract & analytical realisation of the truth.
Sāṅkhya Karikā(s) verses on Sāṅkhya by Ishwara Krishna.
Sanskrit Research Anglo-Sanskrit quarterly journal started by the Sanskrit Academy of India, Bangalore, under the editorship of Pandit Lingeca Mahābhāgawat. It was devoted to research work in all fields of Indian antiquity.
Santa Catarina Spanish form of St. Catherine, used as an exclamation.
Santayana, George (1863-1952), American philosopher, poet, critic, humanist.
Sapphira wife of Ananias, a member of the church at Jerusalem. A legend finds the couple struck dead for misrepresenting the amount of their gifts to Saint Peter.
Sappho of Lesbos, greatest of early Greek lyricists. Plato called her the tenth Muse.
Saracen name or Arabs & Moslems of the Syro-Arabian deserts in the time of the Crusades. Also in Europe’s Middle Ages for Muslim enemies of Christianity.
Shāradā(mani) Devi Shāradeshwari Devi (1853-1920), consort of Sri Ramakrishna.
Sarajevo city in Bosnia, Yugoslavia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia & Herzegovina in 1908 inciting a resistance movement that led Bosnian Serb to murder the heir apparent & his wife on June 28, 1914, handing the Austro-Hungarian Govt. a pretext to mobilize against Serbia, which led to a war which set the stage for an all-Europe War which sucked in its colonies as well as non-European nations.
Saramā the Vedic Hound (Intuition) who pursues & recovers the cows (Spiritual Light) stolen by the Pānis (anti-Divine powers).
Sarameya two dogs, messengers of Yama, mentioned in the tenth Mandala of the Rig-Veda, without reference to Saramā being their mother.
Saraswati(e)/ Saruswathi Vedic goddess of Inspiration. In Puranas, she accompanies Brahma as the goddess of speech, poetry, learning, arts & crafts. (2) The river which joined the Gungā & the Yamuna at Prayāga. [See Dravidians, Drishdāwati, Dwārkā etc.]
Sarat Maharaj (1865-1927), Sarat Chandra Chakravarti, renamed Sāradānanda on taking up Sanyāsa; joined Barānagar Math, 1887; worked for New York’s Vedanta Society; appointed Secretary of Ramakrishna Math & Mission, 1889; wrote Sri Ramakrishna Lila Prasanga.
Sardesai, Govind Sakhārām; when he was in Sayājirao’s service, he & Sri Aurobindo were taken to work for the Gaekwad during his sojourn in Kashmir in 1903. Later he became a well-known historian.
Sarojini/ Saro (1877-1957) the only sister of Sri Aurobindo. In 1879, Dr Ghose took his family to England; in 1880 Swarnalata returned to India with her last two offsprings Saro & Barin. The three lived in a house in Rohinie; about four miles from Rajnarayan Bose’s house in Deoghar. Later she was sent to the Aghōra family in Bankipore for her education. In January 1894, Sri Aurobindo visited Rohini to meet his mother, Sarojini, & Barindra. It was their first meeting after about fifteen years. After his marriage in 1901, Sri Aurobindo returned to Baroda with Mrinalini & Sarojini, via Nainital where the Gaekwad was holidaying at the time. He went to the railway station to receive Sarojini when she came to Pondicherry in 1921, & again to see her off. He gave her the publication rights of his book War & Self-determination.
Sarpedon commander of Lycian contingent of Priam’s allies. He was the son of Zeus & Laodamia, daughter of Bellerophon. Slain by Patroclus, his body was returned to Lycia for burial.
Sati a form of Ᾱdya Shakti was born as the youngest of the three daughters of Prajāpati Daksha; the other two were Danu & Diti. She was led to invoke & marry Lord Shiva by the Rishis against Daksha’s wishes. She came to Daksha’s Mahā-yajña though he had not invited Shiva to it. After an altercation with him, she jumped into the fire of Yajñakund. Infuriated, Shiva destroyed Daksha’s yajña & beheaded him. Carrying her body broke out in a terrible Tāndava which threatened to destroy all creation. Vishnu’s Sudarshana Chakra cut through her body breaking it up in many parts. Wherever a part fell to the earth became an occult centre combining her Power with that of Kāla Bhairava (Shiva’s Occult aspect), called thereafter a Shakti Peetha. Though over 52 to 108 sites claim to a Shaktipeetha, generally only four or eight (depending on the tradition) are considered paramount. Later Shiva resuscitated Daksha who thereafter became one of his staunchest devotees. The Ādya Shakti then manifested on earth as Pārvati.
Sarayu tributary of Ganga, flows by Ayodhya through the kingdom of Koshala.
Saturnia(n) of the Golden Age when human life was innocently happy & spontaneously harmonious; Roman tradition placed it in the reign of Saturn, the god of agriculture, loosely identified with the Greek Cronus.
Satyadeva highest of the ten forms of consciousness in the evolutionary scale of man; the Supreme Deva who raises the mind to Sat.
Satyakāma Jabāla Chhandogya Upanishad’s 4th Khanda relates how Satyakāma, sent by his guru Rishi Haridrumata Gautama to live the forest tending to 400 cows of the ashrama until they became 1000, returned enlightened by four divine teachers.
Sātyaki(e) son of Satyaka, also known as Yuyudhāna & Dāruka (q.v.), he was one of the seven Vrishnis (see Vrishny) of the Yādava Kula & charioteer of Sri Krishna.
Satya Loka highest of the seven Lōkas; also highest of the three supreme worlds of Puranic cosmology; also world of the highest truth of being.
Satyr Greek creature with horse’s ears & tail, represented by Romans, with goat’s ears, tail, legs, budding horns, bestial in desires, lustful & fond of revelry.
Saubala see Gāndhāri
Saul first king of Israel (c.1021-1000 BC).
Saul of Tarsus see St. Paul.
Saurin Saurin Bose, Mrinālini’s cousin, came to Pondicherry in September 1911 & was given charge of the Arya Office & the “Aryan Stores” opened in the Pondicherry bazaar in 1916. He returned for good to Bengal in 1919 .
Sāvarkar, Ganesh Damodar (1879-1945) eldest of four children of a Chitpāvan Brahmin couple of Bhagur, near Nāshik in Maharashtra, hence addressed as Bābārao. After the parents’ death he looked after his brothers Narayan & Vināyaka, & sister Maina. The brothers organised the revolutionary Abhinava Bharat Society (which in 1905 arranged a public burning of English goods) & the Mitra Mela, he headed both organisations after Vināyaka left for England in May 1906. In April 1907, he published 2000 copies of Vināyaka’s Marathi biography of Mazzini which outlined the guerrilla tactics developed by Swami Ramdas & Shivaji & suggested similar ways of tackling the British: e.g. a network of bomb-factories & stores for arms smuggled from abroad. In 1909, he was transported for life for patriotic songs. This led to the murders of Wyllie & Jackson (q.v.). Later, Baba worked for the Rāshṭriya Swayamsevak Sangh & Sanskritized Hindi in Devanāgri to cleanse Urduised Hindi. [Shyamji Krishnavarma…., Indulal Yāgnik, Bombay, 1950; Internet]
Sāvarkar, Vināyak Damodar (1883-1966) younger brother of Ganesh Sāvarkar. In May 1906, sent by Tilak to England where & Krishnavarma Sardarsingh Rāṇā granted him their Rs 2000 p.a. Shivaji Travelling Fellowship. Vināyak enrolled in Grey’s Inn Law College but in 1909, became the first Indian denied admission to the English Bar despite passing all law exams & stipulated formalities. At India House Vināyak founded the Free India Society to recruit Indian students willing to join the revolutionary path to Swaraj. Scouring underground European sources he obtained a completer copy of the bomb-making manual which Hemchandra (q.v.) smuggled successfully to Barindra. But Chaturbhuj Amin, through whom Vināyak sent some Browning pistols, was ambushed by British CID & tortured. Copies of Vināyak’s Indian War of Independence, 1857, were smuggled & circulated among young Indian revolutionaries before the Octopus banned it. When Krishnavarma, Rāṇā, & Mme Cāmā were arrested as co-conspirators, Mme Cāmā signed a declaration taking the entire blame. Still, Vināyak returned to London in March 1910 & was arrested under the Fugitive Offenders Act. After three months of ‘due legal process’ a path-breaking verdict was passed, viz. British Courts would not do justice to him so he should be extradited to his country. On 8th July, he escaped from his escorts at Marseilles. The French promptly handed him back to fellow-imperialist British. His friends in Paris petitioned the Hague Tribunal against violation of International Laws. Hague threw out their case. In Bombay, the Special Tribunal including Justice Chandavarkar (q.v.), holding him guilty of making bombs, procuring firearms, smuggling them to India, & abetting Jackson’s murder, sentenced him to two successive life terms in Andamans.
After release in 1921, he joined Hindu Mahāsabhā, advocated dismantling caste system & reconverting converted Hindus, opposed Gandhi’s Quit India agitation, the Partition of India, & INC’s blatant appeasement of Muslims at the expense of Hindus; regretted Nehru Govt.’s vote in the UNO against the creation of the Jewish State of Israel & restoration of entire Palestine to Israel. In his 1937 speech, Sāvarkar declared, “Let the Indian State be purely Indian. Let it not recognize any invidious distinctions whatsoever as regards the franchise, public services, offices, taxation on the grounds of religion & race. Let no cognizance be taken whatsoever of man being Hindu or Mohammedan, Christian or Jew. Let all citizens of that Indian State be treated according to their individual worth irrespective of their religious or racial percentage in the general population. If such an Indian State is kept in view, the Hindu Sanghatanists will, in the interest of Hindu Sangathan itself, be the first to offer their whole-hearted loyalty to it. I for one & thousands of the Mahāsabhāites like me have set this ideal of an Indian State as our political goal ever since the beginning of our political career & shall continue to work for its consummation to the end of our life.” ― The Hindu Mahāsabhā started a Satyagraha in March 1939 to secure religious & cultural liberty for the Hindus of Hyderabad State who at that time constituted 86% of its total population. Among the participants were Senāpati Bāpat, V.G. Deshpande, Prabhākar Balwant Dāni, Madhavrao Mule, while the Arya Samāj sent about 10,000 satyagrahis. At last, on July 19, 1939, the Nizam government announced some political reforms which granted only 50% seats to non-Muslims. [Shyamji Krishnavarma…., Indulal Yāgnik, Bombay, 1950; & other sources]
Savitr in the Veda the Creator in conjunction with Surya (sometimes with other gods) but also independently. Sayāna considered Savitr the rising Sun & Surya the setting Sun.
The Sāvitri(e) the tale or episode of Satyavān & Sāvitri related in the Mahābhārata in the book entitled Pati-vratā-Mahātmya-Parva.
Savyasāchin epithet of Arjūna, meaning ambidextrous bowman.
Sayājirao III (1863-1939), Mahārāja of/ The Gaikwād of Baroda (1875-1939). The Gaikwāds were a Marāthā clan settled in the village of Bhare, Haveli Tāluk, in the district of Pune. Of the three sons of Pilāji Gaikwād who went on to establish the kingdom of Baroda around 1770s, the youngest was Pratāp Rao who stayed back at Kalvānā to look after their little estate of 46 villages in Khāndesh. In 1761, his elder brother Dāmāji, then the Gaikwād, called Pratāp Rao to join the Maratha Confederates led by the Peshwa in the gigantic battle of Pāṇīpat from which he never returned. However, it was a descendant of his living in Kalvānā, 12-year old Gopal Rao who, in 1875, was chosen by the Maharani Jamnābai, the widow of Khanderao, the 12th Gaekwad of Baroda, to sit on the gādi of Baroda, as Sayājirao III, the 14th Gaekwad. During his minority Raja Sir Tanjore Mādhava Rao K.C.S.I. was appointed Regent & F.A.H. Elliot, a serving ICS officer as his tutor. On 28th Dec. 1881, Sir James Fergusson, Governor of Bombay (1880-85), placed him on the throne of Baroda. The most striking achievements of Sayājirao were his administrative, educational & socio-political reforms. In 1883, inspired by the ideals & solid work of Tilak, Agarkar et al in starting the New English School & the Fergusson College, Sayājirao launched free compulsory primary education in 1883, beginning by opening a High School in Baroda itself & Kadi, then the most volatile district, along with revival of traditional elected panchayats & other local bodies. In 1890, a new filing system was introduced (it was later copied in British India); in 1893, in addition to Mori (a form of Marathi) Gujarati also became an official language in administration. English replaced Latin-French as court language in England in 1731 – 500 years after the Magna Charta & by 1894 native tongues were already official court languages in Baroda. In 1906, free compulsory primary education was made state-wide! At the same time Sayājirao opened schools for girls & illiterate adults in Baroda & for tribals & backward & untouchable classes in as many villages as possible – one of most illustrious product was Dr. Ambedkar. In Baroda a school was opened for Sanskrit & music, & public libraries & the Kalā Bhavan institute of arts & technology were set up. Educational institutions thus increased from 217 in 1906 to 2,542 in 1939. Among social & administrative reforms: Hindu widow-remarriage, ban on child-marriage, unification of Hindu laws, codification of penal criminal procedure, a Sanitary Commissioner for the whole state (1891), a museum, a vast public park, the Ājwā waterworks, elective principle in panchayats & town councils, separation of judicial & executive functions. An admirer of the parliamentary form of government, a believer in industrialization, an advocate of all-round reforms & imbued with love for his country & his people, he played a decisive part in the general awakening of the people of India.
In December 1892, when James Cotton introduced Sri Aurobindo to him, Sayājirao was twenty-nine & Sri Aurobindo, twenty. He returned to his capital in January 1893, & Sri Aurobindo arrived there in February. The opinion Sri Aurobindo formed of his abilities by the turn of the century, was that Sayājirao had acquired the political savoir-faire to rule over an empire. “The Gaikwād’s idea,” said Sri Aurobindo in April 1926, “was to create real centres of power in Princely States in order to hasten the march of freedom; but Princes as a class lack courage & political wisdom.” [cf. Purani, Evening Talks, 2007, p.289] It perhaps this idea of his that prompted Sayājirao to go to Calcutta; to quote Abinash: “A few days after March 1906, after settling all his affairs in Baroda, Aurobindo-babu joined us. The Maharaja of Baroda came to call him back but had to return disappointed.” [See Bhattacharya, Abinash] ─ In 1908 Sayājirao told the Aga Khān: “The first thing you’ll have to do when the English are going is to get rid of all these rubbishy states. I tell you there’ll never be an Indian nation until this so-called Princely order disappears.... If Lord Dalhousie (1812-60) hadn’t [by inventing ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ for wanton seizure] taken half India, abolishing or diminishing the sovereignty or territorial authority of scores of principalities, then perhaps something would have evolved along the lines of the German Empire, with considerable decentralization & local courts & capitals. But Dalhousie destroyed the possibility of principalities ever becoming useful, federal constitutional monarchies.” [H.H. Buch’s Maharaja Sayājirao III, M.S. Univ. publication, 1988; Philip W. Sergeant’s The Ruler of Baroda; Buckland’s Dict. of Indian Bio.; Fatehsingh Rao Gaekwad, Sayājirao of Baroda – The Prince & the Man, 1989, pp.219-20; s/a Purani, Evening Talks, 2007 & Rishabhchand’s Sri Aurobindo, 1972]
Sayāna brother of Madhavāchārya, prime minister of Vijayanagara. Over a 100 scholarly works, commentaries on the Saṁhitās & Brāhmaṇas of the Vedas & original treatises on grammar & law are attributed to them.
Nawab Sayyed Mohammed (d.1919) a wealthy nationalist, descendant of Tippu (see Haider Ali); he presided over the 1913 Congress at Karachi.
Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von (1759-1805): German poet, dramatist, historian, & philosopher; one of the founders of modern German literature.
Schlegel Friedrich von (1772-1829): German philosopher, critic, & writer, most prominent of the founders of the Romantic school. He studied Sanskrit in Paris.
Schopenhauer Arthur (1788-1860): German philosopher, his metaphysical doctrine prepared the way for Existential Philosophy & Freudian psychology.
Scott, Sir Walter (1771-1832), first great Scottish novelist & poet: inventor of the historical novel (see Rebecca) & one of the most popular novelists of all time.
Scott’s Lane a lane in central Calcutta near Sealdah where Sri Aurobindo lived from February to April 1908 (at No. 23). The Scott whose fame dignifies this street was doubtless David Scott (1786-1831) in whose memory the Supreme Govt. at Calcutta erected a monument & declared him ‘indeed a second Cleveland’. Like Augustus Cleveland (1755-84) collector & judge of Bhagalpur (q.v.), Monghyr & Rājmahal districts, Scott ‘accomplished the entire subjection of the lawless & savage inhabitants of the jungle-territory, who had long infested the neighbouring lands by their predatory incursions, attached them to the British Govt. by a conquest over their minds, the most permanent as the most rational mode of dominations’. Scott began his career as judge & magistrate at Purnea 1812-3, rising to A.G.G. (Agent of Gov.-General) on the N.E. frontier of Bengal & Commissioner of Revenue & Circuit in the districts of Assam, N.E. Rangpur, Shirpur, & Sylhet. He arranged for Christian missionaries to move into Upper & Lower Assam to convert the locals in his domain, after he had terrorised the Garos, & open a school for the ‘conquest over their minds, the most permanent as the most rational mode of dominations’. He also coerced the Khāsias into signing a treaty benefiting the British at their expense. When, in April 1831, the Khāsias retaliated &, in spite of suffering heavy losses due to their inferior weapons, killed two of his brutal officers, Scott escaped & returned with more fire-power to punish the entire community. [Vide Buckland; s/a Bhagalpur]
Scylla & Charybdis Scylla was the daughter of Phorcys & Hecate. Her rival Amphitrite turned her into a monster; she seized & devoured mariners caught in the whirlpool of Charybdis situated opposite her cave in the straits of Messina.
Scyros Island in Aegean ruled by Lycomedes. Thetis, knowing her son Achilles would die fighting in Troy, had got Lycomedes to marry his daughter to Achilles. After a son was born to him, Achilles was enlisted by the Greeks invading Troy.
Scythia land of a people famed for archers mounted on horses, masters in elusive desert tactics. The term Scythian covers tribes like Śakas (q.v.) & Kushāns (q.v.).
Sea-Drift collection of poems by Walt Whitman.
Seasons (1) Kālidāsa’s lyric Ritusamhāram (The Garland of the Seasons); & (2) the long four-part poem by James Thomson published in 1726 (Winter), 1727 (Summer), 1728 (Spring), & 1730 (the whole poem including Autumn).
Seeley Sir John Robert (1834-95), professor of history at Cambridge, 1869-95. A proponent of British imperialism his The Expansion of England came out in 1883.
Seleucid(ae) a dynasty founded by Seleucus, that governed Syria (c.312-64 BC).
Seleucus or Seleukos Nikator (358/354–281 BC) was a general of Alexander of Macedon on whose death (323BC) he obtained the kingdom of Babylonia in 312. He extended his rule to the Oxus & the Indus & conquered a large part of Asia Minor & all of Syria. In 305, he was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya (q.v.)
Self-help by Samuel Smiles; collection of lectures on self-improvement given to young men in Leeds. One of the book’s admirers was the young Louis Pasteur.
Semites descendants of Shem, the oldest son of Noah; represented by peoples of the Middle East, namely, Babylonians, Assyrians, Aramaeans, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Jews & Arabs.
Sen, Baikunthanath/ Baikuntha Babu (1843-1921), a lawyer of Berhampur, a prominent Moderate of Murshidabad.
Sen, Birendrachandra/ Birendra (1894-1970), a revolutionary of Sylhet. In the Alipore Bomb Case Beachcroft sentenced him transportation for life, but on appeal the High Court reduced it to seven years. After release he settled in Pondicherry.
Sen, Hemchandra (born c. 1883), elder brother of Birendrachandra Sen; a co-accused in the Alipore Bomb Trial, he was acquitted by Beachcroft.
Sen, Kāmini (1864-1933), daughter of Chandi Charan Sen; greatest woman poet of Bengal, two her longer poems, Mahāshvetā& Puṇḍarīka, became very popular.
Sen, Keshab/Keshav Chandra (1838-84): grandson of Ram Kamal Sen, the Diwan of the Calcutta Mint & a Secretary of the Asiatic Socy of Bengal: educated at Hindu, Metropolitan & Presidency Colleges, Calcutta: was thrown much into the society of Christian Missionaries: in 1857 he joined the Brahmo Samāj founded by Raja Rammohan Roy & extended by Debendranath Tagore: appointed Minister of the Ādi Brahmo Samāj by Debendranath, he established a central association at Calcutta 1862: established branches in Bombay & Madras: retired from Debendranath’s Samāj & established his Brahmo Samāj of India: published Great Men in which he contended that other men besides Jesus Christ also were “above ordinary humanity”: opened his Brahmo Mandir on 22Aug.1869 then went on a missionary tour to North-West Frontier Provinces & Bombay, visited Viceroy Lord Lawrence at Shimla & induced him to introduce a Bill for legalizing Brahmo marriages: visited chief towns of England & Scotland speaking at more than 70 meetings & chapels: back in Calcutta established Indian Reform Association & Bharat Ashram in 1872 when Brahmo Marriage Act was passed: his popularity among Bengalis decreased when he married his daughter to the young Maharaja of Cooch Behar both of them being under the ages fixed by the Brahmo Marriage Act; his appeal of divine adesha failed to pacify his followers, & he founded the Catholic Brahmo Samāj which replaced the simple Theism by mystical doctrines claiming special divine inspiration: in person he was a handsome powerfully built man, 6 feet tall. [Buckland]
Sen, Narendra Nath (1843-1911): educated privately & at the Hindu College, Calcutta: joined the staff of the Indian Field edited by Kishori Chand Mitra: began contributing to Indian Mirror 1861 & edited it when Manmohan Ghose went to England: admitted as an attorney of Calcutta High Court Dec.1886: became sole proprietor & editor of Indian Mirror 1879, then a daily paper: Municipal Commissioner & Hony Magistrate 1880: founder member of Indian National Congress at Bombay 1885: represented Calcutta Municipality in Bengal Legislative Council 1897-1900. [Buckland]
Sen, Nobin/ Nabin Sen/ Nobin (1847-1909), regarded as one of the best epic poets of his time, his outstanding creation is his autobiography Amar Jibon in five volumes.
Sen, Prabodh (1897-1986), gold-medallist M.A. of Calcutta University: professor of Bengali literature at Vishwa Bharati University 1942-62: principal, Rabindra Bhavan 1962-65: authored a dozen books including Chhanda-Jijnāsā on Bengali metre.
Sen, Sachindra of Dacca. A good singer, he was in Alipore Jail as an accused in the Alipore Bomb Trial but was acquitted by the Sessions Court.
Sen, Saroda Charan a teacher in Jessore Zilla School; he was arrested on 29 August 1907 as manager of Sandhyā.
Sen Gupta, Naresh Chandra (1882-1964), professor of law at Dacca University & later at Calcutta University; author of about 60 books. Active in the anti-Partition movement of 1905, he later presided over the Workers’ & Peasants’ Party (1925-26), the Labour Party of India (1934), & other organizations & committees.
Sennacherib king of Assyria (704-681 BC), he rebuilt the Assyrian capital, Nineveh.
The Shadowy Waters play (1900) by W. B. Yeats.
Shah Jahan lit. Lord of the World, (1592-1666), he was the second son of Jehangir & the fifth Moghul emperor of India (1628-58).
“Hindu rulers had charged [cultivators] one-sixth of the produce as tax, Akbar raised it to one-third, & Shah Jahan to one-half” writes L.S.S. O’Malley, editor of Modern India & the West: A Study of Interaction of Their Civilisations, 1941, 1968) [K.R.S. Srinivasa, Sri Aurobindo: A biography & a history, 1985].
Shāh Jahān was favoured by his father since his elder brother Khushrav had been put up as Akbar’s successor & was kept in confinement. In 1612 he married Arjumand Bāno daughter of the richest & most powerful noble Asaf Khan, brother of Empress Noor Jahan, while his youngest brother married Noor Jahan’s daughter. (Khushrav had refused to marry Noor Jahan’s daughter by a previous husband & Shah Jahan had him killed in 1622.) When Noor Jahan plotted to place her son-in-law on the throne, her brother upheld Shah Jahan’s right & installed him in 1628. “Shah Jahan,” writes R.C. Majumdar, “was a zealous champion of his faith. He revived the pilgrimage tax & took steps not only to check the conversion of Muslims to other faiths but also to add to their number” – all that his unzealous grandfather Akbar suppressed; & extended his dominions south by annexing Ahmadnagar. He had an intense love for Mumtaz Mahal (1592-1631), whom he had married in 1612.” No wonder than that in 1618 his zealous genes brought forth in the Ahmedabad created by Ahmad Shah, no less renowned for his jihadi zeal, the greatest Mogul jihadi Aurangzeb (q.v.). Shah Jahan built for himself the Peacock Throne at a cost of one crore rupees. At Agra, which was his capital till 1648, he built the Jāmā Masjid, the Red Fort containing the Moti Masjid, the Dewan-i-Khās & Dewan-i-Am & the incomparable Taj Mahal (q.v.). In 1648 he transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi where also he built a gorgeous palace with its own Dewan-i-Khās & Dewan-i-Am. He recovered Kandahar, lost it the next year & made three attempts to recover it but gave up after the last in 1653. He fell ill in 1657 & at once began the war of succession amongst his four sons: Dara, Shuja, Aurangzeb, & Murād ending with Aurangzeb imprisoning his illustrious father until death released him in 1666 from his only birth on this earth.
Shahnameh Shāhanāmeh chronology of all the kings of Persia written by Persian poet Firdausi in 1010 AD for Mahmud of Ghazni; it contains nearly 60,000 verses.
Shaibya Satyakāma descendant of the Rishi Shibi (q.v.), he was king of the kingdom called Shibi. He was father-in-law of Yudhishthira.
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616), Ben Jonson had prophecised that he “was not of an age, but for all time”. The majority of scholars accept 38 plays, 154 sonnets, & 2 heroic narrative poems as the work of Shakespeare.
“Around 1719, Alexander Pope was employed by the publisher Jacob Tonson to produce an opulent new edition of Shakespeare. The six-volume New Edition of the Collected Works of Shakespeare finally appeared in 1725. It had silently ‘regularised’ Shakespeare’s metre & rewritten his verse in a number of places, & demoted about 1560 lines of Shakespearean material to footnotes, arguing that they were so ‘excessively bad’ that Shakespeare could never have written them. Other lines were excluded from the edition altogether. In 1726, the lawyer, poet & pantomime deviser Lewis Theobald published a scathing pamphlet called Shakespeare Restored (1726), revealing his superior knowledge of editorial technique, cataloguing the errors in Pope’s work, & suggesting a number of revisions to the text. This upset Pope, who then made Theobald the original hero of Dunciad. The second edition of Pope’s Shakespeare appeared in 1728, but aside from making some minor revisions to the preface, it seems that Pope had little to do with it. Most of later 18th-century editors of Shakespeare dismissed Pope’s creatively motivated approach to textual criticism. Pope’s preface, however, continued to be highly rated. It was suggested that Shakespeare’s texts were thoroughly contaminated by actors’ interpolations & they would influence editors for most of the 18th century.” [Internet]
Shakuntalā/ Shacoontala/ Shacountala/ Shacuntala was daughter of Vishwāmitra by the Apsarā Menaka; found abandoned in a forest she was brought up by Rishi Kaṇwa in his hermitage as his own daughter. The love, marriage, separation, & re-union of Shakuntalā & Dushyanta are the subject of Kālidāsa’s drama Abhijñāna Śākuntalam.
Shalwa a country & its king.
Shama’a English quarterly magazine of art, literature, & philosophy edited by Mrinalini Chattopadhyaya & published from Madras.
Shankarāchārya/ Shankar(a) (c.788-820) At the time which just preceded the incarnation of Ādi (the first) Shankarāchārya, the primary menace to Dharma was the chaos & darkness of superstition & bigotry created by constant conflicts between over seventy sects especially the powerful Charavakas, Lokāyathikas, Kapālikas, Shāktas, Sānkhyās, Bouddhas & Mādhyamikas. And the external forces opposed to Vedic religion & philosophy were so numerous & powerful that Bhāratavarsha would never have survived the murderous sword, the devastating fire & the religious intolerance of the successive invaders, if Shankarāchārya had not lived the life he lived & taught the lessons he taught. Shankara was born in a Brahmin family in a village named Kālādi on the banks of the river Purṇa (now Periyār) in the Southern Indian coastal state Kerala. His parents, Shivaguru & Ᾱryambā, had been childless for a long time & the birth of Shankara was a joyous & blessed occasion for the couple. Legend has it that Ᾱryambā had a vision of Lord Shiva & promised her that he would incarnate in the form of her first-born child. He was a prodigious child & was hailed as ‘Eka-Shruti-Dara’, one who can retain anything that has been read just once. He entered the Sanyāsa order early in life & mastered the Vedas & Vedāṅgas & recited extensively from the epics & Puranas. He also studied the philosophies of diverse sects & was a storehouse of philosophical knowledge. He is known as Bhāgavatpāda Āchārya as apart from refurbishing the scriptures, he cleansed the Vedic religious practices of ritualistic excesses & restructured various forms of desultory religious practices into acceptable norms & stressed on the ways of worship as laid down in the Vedas.
By the time he visited Kashmir (q.v.) in first quarter of 9th century, he had travelled the entire country in his mission of re-establishing the ancient Vedic Dharma. In Srinagar a shāstrārtha was arranged between him & Ubhayabhārati (q.v.), subsequently he accepted the supremacy of the Shiva-Shakti cult & though not an adherent of any form of sectarian Shaivism, he did much to popularise the worship of Shiva & Shakti. Though not an adherent of any form of sectarian Shaivism, Shankara did much to popularise the devotion to Shiva & Shakti but it was his reinterpretations of Hindu scriptures, esp. Upanishads or Vedanta that had a profound influence on the growth of the main currents of Hinduism. For, he was a great organiser & spread the tenets of Adwaita Vedanta; the most enduring testimonial of his organising zeal are the famous monasteries at Shringeri in Mysore, Dwārkā in Kāṭhiāwār, Puri in Odishā & Badrināth in the Himalayas. He died in the Himalayas.
Sri Aurobindo: “Krishna opened the possibility of Overmind with its two sides of realisation, static & dynamic. Buddha tried to shoot from mind to Nirvana in the Supreme, just as Shankara did in another way after him. Both agree in overleaping the other stages & trying to get at a nameless & featureless Absolute. Krishna on the other hand was leading by the normal course of evolution. The next normal step is not a featureless Absolute, but the Supermind.” [CWSA 28:488]
Shanks, Edward an English poet of the early 20th century.
Shanti-Sechan ceremonial crowning of Surendranath Banerji: “a floral chaplet was placed on his head while Brahmins blew conches & recited Vedic mantras” [his paper, Bengalee of 2 Sept. 1906]. And on 11th, the Hindoo Patriot described it as a “miserable crowning farce” & advised the “new king” to retire.
Sharabha a Rishi of the Vedic period
Sharma, R.S. a spy sent by Madras British whom Sri Aurobindo turned away because he saw through him, managed to rip-off Motilal Roy. [SABCL 27: 431 + 444]
Sharmishthā Michael Madhusudan’s comedy based on an episode in Mahābhārata.
Śhāraṅgarava disciple of the sage Kaṇwa in Kālidāsa’s Abhijñāna Śākuntalam.
Shatahrida in Ramayana, mother of the Rākshasa Virādha.
Shatakratu ‘god of a hundred rites’, an epithet of Indra.
Shatrūghna in Ramayana twin-brother of Lakshmaṇa.
Śhatadrū/ Shotodrou the name of a sacred river of Aryavarta, corrupted to Sutlej.
Shaunaka of the Bhrigu gōtra; son of Śunaka & Kūlapati of Naimisha (q.v.).
Shauri descendant of Śūrasena (q.v.) father of Vasudeva (father of Vāsudeva i.e. Sri Krishna). Hence ‘Shauri’ is epithet of both Vasudeva & Vāsudeva.
Shaw, Bernard George (1856-1950) British playwright whose prefaces to his plays best express his passion for social reform. In 1925, he got Nobel Prize for Literature.
Shela Shailā, an apsarā.
Mrs Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851), second wife of P.B. Shelley; she is best known for her Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818).
Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822), English poet & thinker.
Shepherd’s Week mock classical poems in pastoral setting, by John Gay (see Pope Alexander).
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (Butler) (1751-1816), British playwright & politician noted for his comedies of manners, especially The School for Scandal.
Sheva (Shiva) Ekling the battle cry of the historical Bāppā & his men. The first grand temple of Eklingji near Udaipur was built by Bāppā Rāwal in 734 AD, 1 km from Nāgdā where he was born, & dedicated to Lord Shiva, the kūla-Devatā of his clan. Over the centuries, Mohammedan jihadis kept ravaging the temple & the descendants of Bāppā kept decontaminating, rebuilding & rededicating it. It is still officially worshiped every Monday (known as Sōmawāra after the god Sōma), by Bāppā’s successors, the rulers of Mewār who regard themselves as the Dewan of Eklingji. The 50 ft. high Mūrti of black marble has four faces: facing east is Lord Surya, the clan being Sūrya-Vamshi, facing west is Lord Brahma, facing north is Lord Vishnu, & facing south is Lord Rudra. Kailāshpūri, the town that grew up around the temple, is 22 km north of Udaipur.
Shiah or Shia, one of the two major branches of Islam distinguished from the majority Sunni. It validates the authority of Ali, son-in-law of Muhammad & fourth Caliph & his descendants over the Muslim community. [See Prophet Mohamad & Islam]
Shikhandi in Mahābhārata, a son of King Drupada. Born as a girl & named Sikhandini whose sex was later on changed by the Yaksha Sthunakarṇa as she was born as result of her great tapasya to avenge her insult by Bhīṣma. Sri Krishna persuaded Arjūna to incapacitate Bhīṣma by attacking him standing behind Shikhandi whom Bhīṣma was oath-bound not to fight – there was no other way to put invincible Bhīṣma out of the battlefield & defeat the unrighteous Kauravas.
Shini Yādava descendant of Devamidha, great grandfather of Sri Krishna.
Shintoism Shinto (the way of the Kami) is the state religion of Japan that was first used in the 6th century C.E., although the roots of the religion go back to at least the 6th century B.C.E. Shinto has no founder, no official sacred texts, & no formalized system of doctrine. Shinto has been formative in developing the Japanese people’s fundamental attitudes & sensitivities, creating a distinct Japanese consciousness. Belief in the Kāmi (divine beings) is one of the foundations of Shinto. Since the Kāmi are not only extra-terrestrial spiritual beings but are also the spirits of all animate & inanimate earthly nature, its followers live in harmony & peaceful coexistence with mountains, hills, rivers, forests, trees, etc. & all living creatures, & consequently also with other religions & their followers. The Mikado, the hereditary emperor of Japan, has always been the highest authority of the Shinto religion as he & his family are believed to be the direct descendants of the Sun-Goddess Amaterasu & his importance lies in dealing with heavenly affairs, including Shinto ritual & rites throughout the nation; that is why he is called tennō. As the foundation of Japanese culture, Shinto has also played a significant role in the political realm. For centuries, Shinto religious festivals & ceremonies have become indistinguishable from the affairs of the government.
Shishupāl(a) son of Damaghosha (king of Chedi) & his queen Śrutaśrava (a cousin of Krishna) was born with three eyes & four arms which implied an Asuric nature. Then an ākāsha-vāṇi warned his parents not to kill or abandon child: “When your child sees him, his additional eye will disappear & when you place him on the lap of his nemesis his additional hands will fall off.” This prophecy was fulfilled when, of all the relatives & allies who came to felicitate the king & queen, the moment, the child saw Krishna & was placed in his lap. When Śrutaśrava begged him to forgive all her son’s past sins, Krishna replied, “Even after his time comes, I will pardon him up to 100 insults.” Shishupāla’s time came in the Rājasūya sacrifice held by Yudhishthīra who had made Sri Krishna Chief Guest. Enraged that his ally Jarāsandha was thus honoured, Shishupāla burst out with a litany of insults against Krishna; when he crossed the 100th the Sudarshana Chakra took off his head.
Shiv(a)/ Hara/ Mahādev(a)/ Maheshwara/ Rudra/ Shankara While popular belief has him residing on Mount Kailās in the Himalayas which Kālidāsa called “the massed laughter of Shiva”, for Sri Aurobindo “He sits on being’s summit grand, a peak of immense fire.... His voice is the last murmur silence hears, tranquil & dire” [SABCL 5:302], for he is the Divine’s Personality of Force, the Auspicious One, the Pure & White, the Ascetic, the Still, Contemplative Yogin, Lord of Tapas, Lord of Transformation. “Brahma, Vishnu, & Shiva, are only three Powers & Personalities of the One Cosmic Godhead…. All three are often spoken of as creating the universe.” – “Mahāshiva means a greater manifestation than that ordinarily worshipped as Shiva – the creative dance of a greater Divine manifesting Power.” [SABCL 22:390-91; s/a the Great Gods] He is Mahā-Kāla when complementing Mahākāli. Shiva as Omkāra expresses Brahma, Vishnu, as well as Rudra [Vayaviya Saṃhita 6.23-6.30].
Yoga begins with karma-yajña, progresses step by step from self-analysis or self-study, Jñāna-yajña, to the discovery of & meditation on the Self, then to tapo-yajña until one attains sāyujya____________, intimate union, with Supreme Shiva. The present Manvantara is the seventh. Mahā Shiva’s Tāndava, accompanied by his damaru (the echoes of whose powerful spiritual reverberation thunder all over the Brahmānda) transforms each Manvantara by destroying the old & creating the next evolutionary cycle on earth [Vishnu Purana]. The triangular upward & the triangular downward shapes of his damaru represent the Lingam & the Yoni (male & female procreativity) – a manvantara begins when they meet at the mid-point & ends when they separate from each other. The Nāga (cobra) round his neck indicates, with its upraised hood & light the illumination & victorious position of the emerged Kundalini Shakti, the divine power asleep in the human body’s lowest energy centre which, awakened in the yoga, ascends in light through the opening centres to meet the Divine in the highest centre & so connect the manifest & the unmanifested, joining spirit & Matter. Shiva’s trishūla symbolises various trinities: creation-maintenance-destruction, Sattwa-Rajas-Tamas. As his weapon, it destroys the physical world, the world of the forefathers (representing culture drawn from the past) & the world of the mind (representing the processes of sensing & acting) into a single non-dual plane of existence that is bliss alone. It also represents the three main nādi or energy channels: Idā, Pingalā & Sūshūmnā which, in the human body, meet at the brow, where the 6th chakra is centred; thence Sūshūmnā, the central one, continues upward to Sahasranāma, the 7th & highest energy centre at the top of the head. This is why its central spike, representing Sūshūmnā, is longer than the other two. [Shiva-mahā Purāṇa]
The three-petalled Bilwa leaf represents Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva, the three guṇas, his three eyes, & his three ayūdham (damaru, trishūla, pināka). Sōma (q.v.) was the first to invoke the Grace of Shiva by making a Shiva-lingam & worshipping it with cleansed Bilwas, in a sanctified site that later grew into Prabhāsa-Pātaṇ or Sōmanātha-Pātaṇ. Since Shiva appeared as a Column of Light in that Lingam, it became the first Jyōtirlinga & is called Sōmeshwara or Sōmanātha. The temple he built over it, according to the Dwādasha Jyotirlingam Stotram, is the first of the twelve most auspicious Jyōtirlingams (of sixty-four mentioned in other Purāṇas). Each of them is a specific emanation descended for a specific purpose, they are: Sōmanātha (Prabhāsa Pātaṇ), Mallikārjunam (Srisailam), Mahākāleshwara (Ujjain), Omkāreshwara (Māmaleshwaram), Vaidyanātha (Parali, Mahārāshtra), Bhīmashankaram, Rameshwaram, Nāgeshwara (Dwārkā), Vishwanātha (Vārānasi), Triambakeshwara (Nāshik), Kedārnātha, Gushmeshwara (Ellora).
Shivādry/ Shivālak / Sivālik / Siwālik Shiva+alik = ‘Shiva’s Head’, Shiva+alak means ‘Shiva’s Hair or Stresses’. These hills form the southernmost belt of the Himalayan foothills & have been known as Mainak or Shivālik Parvat. They extend, according to one source, about 1500 miles from the Sindhu to the Brahmaputra; according to another to just 200 miles from the Beas in Punjab to Hardwar. The width varies from 6.2 to 31.1 miles & their elevation from 4900 to 6600 ft. & several rivers including the Ganga cut through them. [See Roodhra, Prince of Mathura]
Shivaji (1627/30-80) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born in at Shivneri, a hill fort near Pune. Since his father Shāhāji Raje Bhonsle, employed as an officer in the army of the Sultan of Bijāpur, was often absent, he was brought up by mother Jijābai & guardian Dādāji Kondadev who trained him in the art of warfare & administration, & his guru Swami Ramdas Samartha inspired him with the noble & patriotic ideas & infused in him love for the religion & the motherland. From early teens he mixed with young mawalis (a hardy hill tribe) & organizing them into a loyal guerrilla force began to raid neighbouring territories. Beginning with the fort of Torṇa, about twenty miles from Pune, he captured the forts of Chakan, Singhaghad & Purandhar, situated within the territories of the Sultanate of Bijāpur. By 1655 he had occupied the northern part of Konkaṇ on the coast & the fort of Javāli. In 1659 the Sultan of Bijāpur sent a large army under a senior general named Afzal Khan, with instructions to kill him & bring the corpse to his court. Shivaji managed to outwit & kill Afzal Khan who tried to stab him to death after inviting him for negotiations in his camp. Shivaji went on to capture Pratapghad, the Sultan’s fort. The second army sent by the Sultan also failed to subdue him & Shivaji captured his weapons, horses, elephants & warfare materials. Emboldened Shivaji began raiding Mogul territories. Aurangzeb sent an army under Shaista Khan who occupied Pune; Shivaji made a surprise attack. Shaista Khan escaped after most his army was decimated. The second army of Aurangzeb, under Kartalab Khan, met with the same fate. In 1664, Shivaji sacked Surat. But he was defeated by his fellow Hindu king Raja Jai Singh of Amber who had sold his soul to Aurangzeb. By the terms of the treaty of Purandhar, Shivaji ceded 23 forts & acknowledged Aurangzeb’s supremacy. Unwarily, he fell into the trap laid by Jai Singh & allowed himself to be capture & imprisoned when he accepted to go to Aurangzeb’s court in Agra. But soon he escaped & crowned himself an independent ruler & assumed the title of Chhatrapati. Turning south, he conquered Ginjee, Vellore & a large part of Thanjavur. ― The most significant achievement of Shivaji was the welding of the Marathas into a nation. He infused a new spirit of unity & dignity into the Maratha people consisting of 96 clans. In recruitment to services Shivaji showed no partiality to any community. There was no discrimination, no casteism, & no communalism. He, however, laid emphasis on the recruitment of the son of the soil.
Prominent among the saintly persons whom Shivaji admired were Tukārām, Baba Yakub, Mauni Baba, etc. Sanskrit poets like Jairam, Paramānanda, Gaga Bhatt, & some Hindi poets received his patronage.
Administration: Largely borrowed from the administrative practices of the Deccan states modified by Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra & the Dharma shastras. Shivaji was assisted by a council of ministers. Territories under his direct rule, i.e., which had acquired Swaraj, were divided into provinces while preserving the age old system of Panchayats in the rural areas.
The revenue system: An elaborate survey of the land fixed the rent at 33 per cent of the gross produce. Shivaji afterwards demanded a consolidated rent of 40 per cent. Chauth & Sardeshmukhi, the main sources of income, were levied on territories not under his direct control. Chauth or one fourth of the standard revenue was exacted as protection money & against raids by Shivaji’s parties. And territories & principalities which in addition to chauth paid an additional tax called Sardeshmukhi received Marathi protection against other invaders. Both the taxes together made a sizeable income for the Maratha kings.
The Armed Forces: Shivaji created & maintained an organized & disciplined army consisting of infantry, cavalry & navy & a well-paid & efficient intelligence or espionage wing. The army mostly composed of light infantry & light cavalry was admirably well-adapted to guerrilla warfare & hill campaign. Forts played an important role in Shivaji’s military system. Every fort was kept under three officers of equal status. They acted together but served as a check on one another. The navy possessed about 200 warships whose job was to protect coastal fortresses. The Portuguese, the British, the Africans & the Moguls were thus effectively kept in check.
“In his private life, Shivaji remained immune from the prevalent vices of the time, & his moral virtues were exceptionally high. Sincerely religious from his early life, he did not forget the lofty ideals with which he had been inspired by his mother & his Guru Samartha Rāmdās (q.v.), in the midst of political & military duties. He sought to make religion a vital force in the uplifting of the Maratha nation & always extended his patronage to Hindu religion & learning. “Religion remained with him,” remarks a modern Marathi writer, “an ever-fresh fountain of right conduct & generosity; it did not obsess him mind or harden him into a bigot.” Tolerant of other faiths, he deeply venerated Muslim saints & granted rent-free lands to meet the expenses of illumination of Muslim shrines & mosques, & his conduct towards the Capuchin father (Christian monks) of Surat, during its first sack by him, was respectful. Even his bitterest critic, Khafi Khan, writes: “But he made it a rule that whenever his followers went plundering, they should do no harm to the mosques, the Book of God, or the women of any one. Whenever a copy of the Quran came into his hands he treated it with respect & gave it to some of his Muhammedan followers. When the women of any Hindu or Muhammedan were taken prisoners by his men, he watched over them until their relations came with a suitable ransom to buy their liberty.” [R.C. Majumdar et al, An Advanced History of India, 3rd Ed., 1973, 1974.]
Shivi Shibi, son of Ushinara, king of the country also called Ushinara, near Gāndhāra (q.v.). King Shibi was renowned for his charity & as protector of the weak. To test him, Agni assumed the form of a pigeon & Indra that of a hawk. The pigeon, pursued by the hawk, took refuge in the lap of Shibi. The hawk would accept in lieu of the pigeon only an equal weight of the king’s own flesh. Shibi cut piece after piece from his right thigh, but the pigeon remained heavier until the king offered his whole body to outweigh the pigeon. Indra & Agni revealed their true forms & blessed him.
Shogun title dating back of 794 AD meant general of imperial Japanese armies; it was assumed by military dictators who ruled of Japan from the 12th to 19th centuries. The overthrow of the Shogun in 1867 marked the beginning of modern Japan.
Shrichand (1494-1543), son of Guru Nanak, & founder of the Udāsi sect of Sikhism.
S(h)ruti “learning by hearing”, “revealed scripture” refers to Vedas, Brāhmaṇas, Araṇyakas, & Upanishads. (See Smṛti)
Shuka(deva) son of Vyāsa. He narrated Bhāgavata to Parikshit emperor of Hastināpura.
Shunahshepa (Ᾱjīgarti) / Sunahshepa a Rishi with the patronymic Ᾱjīgarti. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, King Harishchandra had promised to Varuṇa the sacrifice of his son Rohit. Rohit purchased Śunahshepa to take his place as the sacrificial victim. Shunahshepa was in fact bound to the stake, but was released in time through the efforts of Vishwāmitra. In the Rig-Veda, the only mention of Shunahshepa is a statement of his deliverance from peril of death by divine help; the Yajur-Veda simply says that he was seized by Varuṇa but saved himself from Varuṇa’s bonds.
Shushna Asura associated with Vritra; personification of impure & ineffective force.
Shwetashwatara name of the Vedic Rishi to whom is attributed the Shwetashwatara Upanishad of the Kṛṣṇa (Black) Yajur-Veda.
Shyāmsundara ‘the beautiful dark one’, epithet of Sri Krishna.
Sibyl poem by George Russell (see A.E.).
Siddha(deva) second of the three highest types of the ten forms of consciousness in the evolutionary scale of man; the supreme Asura, who raises mind to the Tapas.
Stair Siddhar saw Sri Aurobindo early in 1914. In April Siddhar left Pondicherry for Bengal, where he associated with Shyam Sundar Chakravarti, Liaquat Husain & other nationalists. In October he was deported from India as an undesirable alien. In November he was again deported from Port Said as being a Palestinian Jew.
Sidgwick Henry (1838-1900), known for his ethical theory based on Utilitarianism. He was also a founder of the Society for Psychical Research.
Sidhpur Siddhapur, a town c.70 miles north of Ahmedabad, is popularly known as Siddhapur-Pātaṇ as if a twin of the city of Pātaṇ (the ancient capital of Hindu Gujarat) as the two stand on opposite banks of the river Saraswati. On a hillock on the bank of the former capital, there is a large cluster of temples along the way to the ancient Shiva temple on the top; the whole area is flooded with devotees on the Shivarātri days. While, Siddhapur’s historical & religious importance stems from its being Mātru-Gayā since the time Parashurāma performed the śrāddha, last rites, of his mother beside a lake there which became known as Bindu sarovar (though the lake has over time shrunk to a pond). [S/a Gaya].
Sidney, Sir Philip (1554-86), English courtier & poet. The ideal gentleman of his age, a master of social graces, an idealistic politician, a military leader, learned in the arts & sciences, he was, after Edmund Spenser, the best writer of English prose & verse of his generation. He was one of the luminaries of Queen Elizabeth I’s court.
Sidon ancient city on the coast of Phoenicia (now Lebanon).
The Siege of Mathura CWSA’s Vol.10-11 (Record of Yoga)’s “Undated or partly dated Script, 1912-13”, notes on p.1291: “The literary Karma falls under three heads – poetry, prose & scholarship…. The prose comprises – philosophical writings, fiction & essay in its many forms…. The fiction includes romance, ordinary novel & short stories…. To begin with you have to complete...the Idylls of the Occult, The Return of Moro Giafferi & The Siege of Mathura (Prose fiction).”
Siey鑚 Emmanuel-Joseph (1748-1836), his concept of popular sovereignty guided the French bourgeoisie in their struggle against the monarchy & nobility in the opening months of the French Revolution. Although he enjoyed fame as a clergyman his vanity & lack of oratorical skill reduced his political effectiveness.
Sigurd Icelandic form of Siegfried, the Germanic hero who killed Fafnir.
Sikhism/ Sikhs a non-sectarian monotheistic religion founded by Guru Nanak. The Sikhs accept the Ādi Grantha as their one canonical scripture & their “living” Guru. A basically peace-loving people, they had been from the beginning attacked & oppressed by Muhammedans whether jihadi invaders or established imperialists of the region, until the ninth & last guru of the Sikhs, Guru Govind Singh, transformed the community into a well-armed warrior class determined to resist any aggression or atrocity. Guru Govind Singh was murdered by an Afghan fanatic towards the end of 1708. The Sikhs struggle for independence continued the battles with the Moguls under the temporal leadership of Banda till he was captured & horrendously executed in 1715/1716 by the 9th Mogul emperor Farruksiyar. (This emperor was the grandson of Emperor Shah Alam who died in 1712. Since his father, the rightful heir, had been killed by one of his brother in the war of succession & occupied the throne, Farruksiyar had strangled that uncle.) Though along with Banda hundreds of Sikh soldiers were captured, tortured & killed, the Khālsā carried on its struggle for independence from the Mogul with renewed determination. Not only could the relentless persecution of the Mughuls kill the military spirit of the Khālsā, the growing weakness of the Moghul Empire gave them the opportunity to reorganise, enhance their military power & political influence. They baffled all attempts of Afghan invader Abdali & when he left Lahore in 1762 they pursued & harassed his army & occupied Lahore in 1764 & by 1767 subsequently wrested all his Indian conquests from his weak successor. By 1773 Sikh sway extended from Saharanpur in the east to Attock in the west, from Multan in the south to Kangra & Jammu in the north. But with the disappearance of a common enemy jealousies, discords, surfaced among their twelve misls or confederacies while the British Octopus was rapidly expanding its empire all over India. It was Mahārāja Ranjit Singh who united the twelve into a single unit – the work for which he was destined. [Based on Advanced history of India, R.C. Majumdar et al, 1973-1974:494, 728-29]
Sri Aurobindo: It was not from the people of India that India was won by Moghul or Briton, but from a small privileged class. On the other hand, the strength & success of the Marathas & Sikhs in the 18th century was due to the policy of Shivaji & Guru Govinda which called the whole nation into the fighting line. They failed only because the Marathas could not preserve the cohesion which Shivaji gave to their national strength or the Sikhs the discipline which Guru Govinda gave to the Khālsā. [SABCL 1:308]
Shimla Shimla, a hill-station in the lower Himalayas, capital of present India’s Himachal Pradesh. From 1865 to 1939 it served as British India’s summer capital. Certainly at the turn of that century & most probably until the end of British Raj, the European section of the town, with the church, the Mall, the Gaiety Theatre, the Viceroy’s residence, & all the better buildings, houses & shops, was situated on the heights of the hills & inter-connecting ridges [s/a Darjeeling & Ooty]. “Lower down were located the native bazaar – a veritable jumble of rusty tin & wood houses packed so closely together on the steep mountainside that they gave the disconcerting impression of being stacked, willy-nilly, on top of each other. In 1892, there was no railway line to Shimla, the native riff-raff going up to eke out their living in Burra Sahibs’ bungalows trekked up & richer natives hired tongas.” [Based on The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes, by Jamyang Norbu; HarperCollins, India, 1999.]
Simon de Montfort (c. 1208-65), Earl of Leicester; Anglo-Norman politician who led the opposition to Henry III, instigated the Barons’ War (1263-67), & established the Great Parliament of 1265 – the origin of the British system of representation.
Simmonides of Ceos (c. 556-468? BC), Greek lyric poet & epigrammatist.
Sind(h) the valley of River Sindhu below its confluence with Vitastā (native name of Jhelum). It witnessed the birth & collapse of a pre-historic civilization in about 3000 BC of which many relics have been discovered at Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, & other sites. Under British rule Sindh was administered as a part of the Bombay Presidency until April 1936, when it was made into a separate province having Karachi as its capital. After the partition of India in 1947 it became a part of Pakistan.
The Sindhu (Sanskrit for Ocean), is the broadest & one of the longest of the sacred rivers in Ᾱryavarta or Bhāratavarsha. Rising in a spring in the Himalayas near the sacred Mānsarovar, fed with glaciers & Himalayan Rivers, the Sindhu runs a course through (present Ladakh), supporting temperate forests, plains, & arid countryside, & flowing down in a southerly direction to Sindh to merge into the Ocean in a large delta. Rigvedic hymns apply a feminine gender to all the rivers mentioned therein but Sindhu is the only river attributed with a masculine gender. Sindhu is seen as a strong warrior amongst other rivers which are seen as goddesses & compared to cows & mares yielding milk & butter. In the plains, her left bank tributary (renamed Chenab) has four major sub-tributaries (renamed Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, & Sutlej). Her principal right bank has five sub-tributaries (renamed Shyok, Gilgit, Kabul, Gomal, & Kurram). Her northern part with its tributaries supports the Punjab region.
The Sindhu has nurtured many cultures of the region. It is mentioned in the Rig-Veda as Sapta Sindhu, in Avesta as Hapta Hendu or Hindu (both terms meaning ‘seven rivers’); the Greeks named her Indos, the Romans Indus, the Assyrians Sinda, the Pashtuns Abasind, the Arabs Al-Sind, the Chinese Sintow, & others invented other names. The ancient Greeks referred to the natives living along her banks Indoi, but by 300 BC, Greek writers including Herodotus & Megāsthenes were applying the term to the entire subcontinent that extends much farther eastward – not to forget our Benevolent British Mai-Baap. Naturally therefore the name ‘India’ was adopted by the civilised creators of our Socialist Secular Republic born on 15th Aug. 1947, & then out of sheer pity for the uncivilised natives added, ‘India that is Bhārat’.
Singhal named Simhala-dweepa, island of Simhas (lions), by king Vijaya (q.v.) one of its conquerors. Rāvana was called Lankesh (lord of Sri Lanka).
Sinnet Alfred Percy (b.1840): journalist, editor of Hong-Kong Daily Press 1865-8: editor of Pioneer, India 1872: converted to theosophy in 1879 on witnessing one of the most famous of Mme Blavatsky’s miracles, which took place during a picnic. He recorded several such phenomena in his books The Occult World, Esoteric Buddhism, Karma & United, The Growth of the Soul: president of London branch of the Theosophical Socy: editor of Broad Views Review from 1904 [Buckland].
Sinn Fein ‘Irish Ireland’, nationalist struggle started by Arthur Griffith (1872-1922).
Sinis of Corinth robbed then bound his victim to two pine trees which he had tied down; when released the trees straightened up tearing the victim apart. He was killed by Theseus.
Sircar Mahendra (1882-1954): Secretary & Vice-President of Bengal Branch of British Medical Association, at first he denounced Homeopathy but in 1867 declared his faith in it & started Calcutta Journal of Medicine to advance his views: in 1876, with the support of Sir R. Temple he founded the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science: Fellow of the Calcutta University 1870: Hony Magistrate 1877-1902: Sheriff of Calcutta 1887: Member of the Bengal Legislative Council 1887-93: Doctor of Law 1898: member of the Council of Asiatic Socy: Trustee of the Indian Museum: Commissioner of the Calcutta Corporation for years: of advanced views he never attacked Govt. measures [Buckland].
Sirish Srishchandra Ghosh of Chandernagore; he smuggled revolvers into Alipore Jail to kill Noren Gossain. In February-March 1910, Srish assisted Sri Aurobindo during his stay in Chandernagore, & on 31 March helped him get to Calcutta.
Sir Patrick Spense hero of a Scottish ballad written in 16th century by an unknown poet. Spense was a Scottish nobleman put in charge of a ship by the king.
Sisyphus son of Aeolus & king of Corinth. He insulted Zeus who condemned him to push a huge stone up a steep hill in Tartarus & begin again when it rolled down.
Sītā adopted daughter of Janaka, king of Videha (or Mithīla), hence also known as Jānaki, Vaidehi, & Maithili. She is one of the Pañcakanyāḥ (see Ahalyā).
Sitaram (1) Sitaram Roy (b.1757/58), zamindar of East Bengal who, challenging the authority of the Nawab of Bengal, declared himself king. The Nawab tried & failed several times to subjugate him. He built a number of temples & tanks. (2) Sitaram novel by Bankim Chandra based on Roy’s life.
Six Oxford Thinkers book by Algernon Cecil.
Skylark To a Skylark, (1) poem by Wordsworth (2) poem by Shelley.
Slaying of Shishupāla English translation of Sanskrit epic of same name.
Slough of Despond first used by Bunyan in his The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Smart Christopher (1722-71), English poet of “A Song to David”.
Smiles Samuel (1812-1904), Scottish advocate of material progress based on individual enterprise, expounded in his book Self-Help.
Smith, Adam (1723-90), Scottish economist, known for his An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Smith, Joseph (1805-44), progenitor of Mormons, he founded their Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints.
Smith, Vincent (b.1848), Irishman; ICS: posted in India, 1871: NW Frontier Province, Oudh, the Settlement Dept. & subordinate posts until he became Magistrate-Collector 1889: District Judge 1895: Chief Secretary & Commissioner 1898, retired 1900: Reader in Indian History & Hindustani in the University of Dublin 1902-3: wrote General Index to Cunningham’s Archæological Survey Reports 1887; The Remains near Khāsia 1896; the Jain Stūpa & Other Antiquities of Mathura 1901; Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India 1901; the Early History of India 1904: Catalogue of the non-Muhammadan Coins in the Indian Museum & articles in Calcutta Review, Quarterly review & Indian Antiquary: edited Sleeman’s Rambles & Recollections 1893. [Buckland]
Smṛti(s) elaborate, interpret, & codify Shrutis, i.e., Vedas, but being derivative are considered less authoritative than Shruti (the Revealed Word). They include Kalpa Sutras, Puranas, Manu-Smṛti, & Yajñavalkya-Smṛti.
Socinian doctrine of 16th century Italian theologians Laelius & Faustus Socinus; it denied divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, etc. & explained sin & salvation rationalistically.
Socrates (c. 470-399 BC), first of the great trio of ancient Greeks, the other two being Plato & Aristotle. He wrote nothing himself. His life & teachings were recorded by his disciple Plato & Xenophon. He is best remembered for his “Know Thyself”.
Soham Gita by Shyamakanta Banerji who took the name Soham Swami.
Sohrāb & Rūstum epic by Matthew Arnold, based on Firdausi’s Shah-nāmeh.
Solomon (c.972-c.932BC), son of David, he was the greatest king of Israel.
Soma in Veda, husband of Indu & Vena (Delight & Immortality), he represented & animated the Sōma-juice. In Puranas he is the god Chandra, son of Atri & Anasūya.
Sōmadutta of Kuru-Vamsha, son of Vahlika & grandson of Pratipa.
Somaka in Veda, son of Sahadeva; in Mahabharata, grandfather of Drupada.
Somadeva Bhatta of Kashmir, writer or compiler of Kathāsaritsāgara.
Lord Somers John Somers (1651-1716), English jurist & statesman who presided over the framing of the Declaration of Rights.
Samitiṅjay one of the seven great heroes of the Yādavas of Dwārakā.
Sonar Bangla a pamphlet written in 1906 by Bāsudeb Bhattacharjee, sub-editor of Sandhyā, exhorting Bengalis to unite against the Govt. It was printed at Keshab Press, & distributed through Bar Associations.
Songad Songadh-Vyārā is now a village in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat in the hills of the Sahyādri, linking south-west Gujarat to Khāndesh (q.v.). The hill was densely wooded when Shivaji’s army had gone through it on its way to attack the British at Surat. Later Songadh, the fortress on this hill, was taken over by Pilāji Gaekwad. The natives still speak a mixture of Gujarati & Marathi. Situated near the Ukai dam on the river Tāpti it is now famous for its timber trade.
Songs of the Sea Sāgar Sangit collection of C.R. Das’s poems translated by Sri Aurobindo around 1912, & first published in 1923.
Sonnets of Shakespeare (1609), a collection of 154 sonnets.
Sophist(s) Greek lecturers, writers, & teachers in 5th-4th centuries BC, most of whom travelled about teaching young men in return for fees. They prepared their pupils for success in public life through the art of speaking, appreciation & use of reasoned arguments in public debate, & in a wide range of humanistic studies.
Sophocles (c.497-406 BC), one of the three great tragic playwrights of classical Greece. He wrote some 123 dramas, only seven of which have survived.
Prof Sorley William Ritchie (1855-1935), professor of logic & philosophy, moral sciences (veiled Christian Catechism), etc. He always thought & wrote as one for whom Christian “moral & spiritual values are not only an essential part of experience but its ultimate meaning”. In 1900 he succeeded his teacher Henry Sidgwick in the Knightsbridge Professorship at Cambridge.
Soul of India a book (1911) by Bipin Chandra Pal.
Saurāshṭra an ancient region of west Gujarat popularly called Sōrath. It bore the brunt of many invading barbarians from its west & north & survived through their tyrannous rulers, thanks to its study natives, the Sōrthis.
Southey Robert (1774-1843), English poet & writer, associated with Coleridge & Wordsworth, though his poetry has little in common with theirs.
South Indian Bronzes O.C. Gangoly, issued by Indian Society of Oriental Arts, Calcutta.
Spain In 1516, Habsburg dynasty unified a number of disparate predecessor kingdoms & expanded their empire to the Americas. The Spanish Empire was also involved in all major European wars, including the Italian Wars, the Eighty Years’ War, the Thirty Years’ War, & the Franco-Spanish War, but instability set in with the French Revolution & the Peninsular War. In early 1873, a government of radicals & Republicans was formed that declared Spain a republic, which was immediately under siege from all quarters: there were calls for socialist revolution from the International Workingmen’s Association, revolts & unrest in the autonomous regions of Navarre & Catalonia, & pressure from the Catholic Church against the fledgling republic. On 28 December 1874, the son of Bourbon Queen Isabella II was crowned as Alfonso XII of Spain. He rapidly gained the support of most of his countrymen, established a system of turnos in which the liberals & the conservatives alternated in control of the government. Constitutional monarchy continued under King Alfonso XIII whose reign (1886–1931) saw the Spanish–American War of 1898, culminating in the loss of the Philippines plus Spain’s last colonies in the Americas, Cuba & Puerto Rico. His reign also saw the rise of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, who ruled as a dictator with Alfonso’s support for seven years (1923–30).
In 1931 Republican & anticlerical candidates won the majority of votes; Alfonso left the country in response to the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, but did not abdicate. Political ideologies were intensely polarized. The central issue was the role of the Catholic Church, which the left saw as the major enemy of modernity & the Spanish people, & the right saw as the invaluable protector of Spanish values. The Republic allowed women to vote in general elections for the first time, & devolved substantial autonomy to the Basque Country & to Catalonia. Complex coalitions formed & fell apart. The first governments of the Republic were centre-left, but substantial debt, & fractious, rapidly changing governing coalitions led to escalating political violence & attempted coups by right & left. In 1933, the right-wing Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (CEDA), based on the Catholic vote, formed the government. An armed rising of workers in October 1934, which reached its greatest intensity in Asturias & Catalonia, was forcefully put down. This in turn energized political movements across the spectrum in Spain, including a revived anarchist movement & new reactionary & fascist groups, including the Phalange & a revived Carlist movement. In 1934 there was widespread labour conflict & a bloody uprising by miners in Asturias that was suppressed by troops led by the fascist General Francisco Franco (q.v.). A succession of governmental crises culminated in the elections of February 16, 1936, which brought to power a Popular Front government supported by most of the parties of the left & opposed by the parties of the right & what remained of the centre. On one side were the Fascists – mostly Roman Catholics, important elements of the military, most landowners, & many businessmen; on the other, the Republicans – mainly urban workers, most agricultural labourers, & many of the educated middle class. Politically, their differences often found extreme & vehement expression in parties such as the Fascist-oriented Falange & the militant anarchists. Between these extremes were other groups covering the political spectrum from monarchism & conservatism through liberalism to socialism, including a small communist movement divided among followers of Stalin & his arch-rival, Trotsky. The outcome was a polarization of Spanish life & politics that had developed over previous decades. On 17th July, 1936, Franco led a military revolt against the elected Popular Front or Republican Govt. The outcome was a devastating civil war (see Franco, Guadalajara, & Madrid) that ended on 30th March 1939 when the Fascists defeated the Republicans. On 1 April 1939, Spain’s Catholic Church anointed Franco.
The Spanish Civil War proved a prelude to the far more ruinous Second World War (1939-45). But when Hitler sought financial or military aid from Franco, devastated Spain was in no position to provide either, all Franco could do was sponsor a small army of volunteers known as La División Azul. After Franco’s death in 1975, Spain returned to Bourbon constitutional monarchy headed by Prince Juan Carlos & to democracy; it entered the European Economic Community in 1986 & the Eurozone in 1999. The financial crisis of 2007-08 ended a decade of economic boom & Spain entered a recession & debt crisis & remains plagued by very high unemployment & a weak economy. Although is a part of the G6 is not part of the G8 & participates in the G20 only as a guest. [Based on article by Editors Ency. Britannica (July2017); Images of Revolution & War by Alexander Vergara, & other sources]
Spectator a London daily published by Sir Richard Steele & Joseph Addison from Mar. 1711 to Dec.1712; revived by Addison in 1714. It adopted a fictional method of presentation through a “Spectator Club” whose imaginary members were the mouthpieces of the authors’ own ideas about society.
Speight, Thomas, English editor of editions of Chaucer’s works (1598 & 1602).
Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903), English philosopher; he insisted on a synthesis of knowledge from scientific observation of biological & social phenomena.
Spender, Stephen Stephen Harold (1909-95), English poet & critic, his poems expressed the politically conscience-stricken leftist “new writing” of that period.
Spenser, Edmund (1552/53-99), English poet, his allegorical The Faerie Queene – in what became known as the Spenserian stanza – glorified England & English. James Thomson, Shelley, Keats, Byron, & T. S. Eliot acknowledged him as their master.
Sphinx (1) of Thebes, has a woman’s head & a lion’s body; she proposed the riddle “What walks on four feet in the morning, on two at noon, & on three in the evening?” to Thebans she met & killed those who failed to solve it. When Oedipus solved it with “Man”, she threw herself from her perch & died. (2) In Egyptian antiquities, a figure with a lion’s body & a man’s or animal’s head, glorified by Sphinx of Gizeh.
Spinoza Benedict de (1632-77), Dutch rationalist who formulated the metaphysical systems of Western philosophy.
Squire, J.C. Sir John (Collins) Squire (1884-1958): English journalist, playwright, & poet of the Georgian school of pastoral poetry; an influential critic & editor.
Srinivasa/ Achari Mandāyam Srinivāsāchariyār, publisher of Tamil nationalist papers India, Vijaya, Karmayoga, & Bāla Bhārati, with his elder brother Tirumalāchariyār (see Subramania Bhārati); he settled in Pondicherry in 1908. He & his revolutionary colleagues received Sri Aurobindo on 4 April, 1910 & make arrangements for his stay in Pondicherry.
Srinjaya son of Devavāta & father of King Sahadeva of Pāñchāla.
Sri Ranganātha Lord Vishnu; installed in the temple at Srirangam.
Srivatsa sacred symbol over the heart of Lord Vishnu.
Standard Bearer monthly started by the Prabartak Saṇgha at Chandernagore in 1920.
The Statesman a daily of Calcutta started by Robert Knight in 1875. In 1877 it was merged with the Friend of India under the title The Friend of India & The Statesman. In 1907-08 it was edited by S.K. Radcliffe.
Stead, W.T. William Thomas (1849-1912): English journalist, one of the founders of sensational journalism. He started the Review of Reviews & similar publications in United States & Australia. In his later years he took up psychical research.
Stephenson George (1781-1848), English engineer, chief inventor of the railroad locomotive. He also found the principle on which Davy’s Safety Lamp was based.
Stevenson Robert Louis (1850-94): British essayist, critic, poet, & novelist.
Sthenelus friend of Diomedes; he led an Argive contingent in the Trojan War.
Stoic(s) philosopher(s) of the school founded at Athens c. 308 BC by Zeno: it held virtue as highest good, concentrated on ethics, & inculcated control of the passions & indifference to pleasure & pain. Emperor Marcus Aurelius was a well-known Stoic.
The Stolen Child poem by Yeats.
Stuart(s) a dynasty whose senior branch inherited the Scottish crown in 1371 & the English crown in 1603. To it belonged James I & II, Charles I & II, Mary, & Anne.
Y. Subbārao wrote on the originality of Shankara’s philosophy in the October 1915 number of Sanskrit Research.
Subhadrā sister of Sri Krishna, wife of Arjūna, & mother of Abhimanyu.
Subramaniya, S(h)iva (1884-1925), a close associate of V.O.C. Pillai (q.v.), he too was a nationalist in the Tilak school of politics. He had probably accompanied Pillai to the momentous 1907 Congress Session at Surat & on return propagated the goals & principles of the Nationalist Party. A leader of the labouring classes he organised the strike at British-owned Coral Mills in collaboration with Pillai. Their speeches & those of their colleagues at the Swadeshi meetings effectively spread the message of the nationalist party. Nine of them were arrested on March 12, 1908, on the charge of distributing among students a pamphlet describing a secret organisation of the Russians, leading to much damage to Government property & records in Tuticorin & Tirunelveli. Reports of these events appeared in Tilak’s Marāthā Sri Aurobindo’s Bande Mataram. Shiva & Pillai were sentenced to transportation for life, but the High Court reduced it to six years imprisonment.
Sudas Vedic king whose court was graced by Rishis Vasishtha & Vishwāmitra.
Śuddhi Samāj worked for the readmission of Hindus converted to other religions.
Sudhanwan the ancestor of the Ribhūs when considered powers of Light who have descended into Matter. In Brihadāranyaka he is a descendant of Angiras. [S/a D. Swami]
Sudhiranjan Samvād-Sadhuranjan, Bengali paper of Īśvarachandra Gupta in 1847.
Suffragette(s) derived from suffrage, the right to vote. In the early part of the 19th century when the Women’s Suffrage Movement in England started an agitation to obtain the parliamentary vote it suffered police action, incarcerations & deaths. On 18 August 1909, Sri Aurobindo’s Karmayogin: “The account of the recent starvation strike of the Suffragettes has shown what callous & brutal treatment can be inflicted by English officials in England itself even on women, & women of education, good birth, position & culture, guilty only of political obstruction & disorderliness. Yet this is the civilisation for which we are asked to sacrifice the inheritance of our forefathers!” In 1920, America granted political suffrage to its women; in 1928, England granted it to its women of thirty & above.
Sufi(sm) Tasawwuf, the inner mystical dimension of Islam, emerged among the Shi’ites as a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate that was set up in 668. Though Prophet Muhammad is the Al-Insān al-Kāmil, the primary perfect man who exemplifies the morality of God, hence the prime spiritual guide for all Sufis, they often belong to different Turuqs (orders or congregations) formed around a grand master referred to as a Mawla who maintains a direct chain of teachers back to the Prophet. All orders trace many of their original precepts from the Prophet through Ali ibn Abi Tālib, except the Naqshbandi order who trace their origins through Abu Bakr. Sufism includes the greatest of the Persian poets – Abu Said ibn Abi-l-Khair, Ferid ed-Din Attar, Hafiz, Omar Khayyam, & Jalal ed-Din Rumi. The highly developed symbolism of the soul’s union with God is expressed in exquisite lyric style. Some Sufis consider Sufism universal, its roots predating the rise of Islam & Christianity; traditional Sufis, such as Bastami, Rumi, Veli, Baghdadi, & Al-Ghazali, define it as purely based upon the teachings of the Prophet & the tenets of Islam; while orthodox Muslims deem it outside Islam. Some scholars see in it the influence of Christianity & Neo-Platonism & some others see it as an Aryan reaction against Semite cultural influence. Sufis have spanned several continents & cultures over a millennium, originally expressing their beliefs in Arabic, before spreading into Persian, Turkish, & Urdu among dozens of other languages.
Sūgriva/ Sūgrive ‘one with a strong neck’, brother of Vāli, king of the Vānaras of Kishkīndā (now in Karnataka).
Śukra-Niti political & administrative doctrine by Shukrāchārya, son of Bhrigu & guru of the Asūras & Rākshasas.
Sukumar Mitra, Sri Aurobindo’s cousin who organised his passage to Pondicherry.
Sullan of or enacted by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (Felix) (138-78 BC): Roman general & dictator who carried out notable constitutional reforms in an attempt to strengthen the Roman Republic during the last century of its existence.
Sullivan Sir Arthur (Seymour) (1842-1900): Irish composer who, with William Schwenk Gilbert (q.v.), created a distinctive comic operetta. Gilbert’s satire & verbal ingenuity with Sullivan’s resourceful melodies & sense of parody brought the “Gilbert & Sullivan” shows a lasting international acclaim.
Shūmbha & his brother of Nishūmbha, performed great tapasyā & obtained boons of invincibility from Shiva. When they turned on the gods, Durga killed them.
The Sunday Times weekly of Madras, founded in 1928 by M.S. Kāmath who later edited it. From 1941 it was edited by P.A. Prabhu.
Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), led in the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty (1911). He headed the Chinese Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) & was provisional president of the Republic of China for four months in 1911-12. The Communists overthrew the Republic in 1940s. His followers withdrew to Formosa, now Taiwan.
Suprabhāt illustrated literary periodical started in July 1907 & edited till 1914 by Kumudini Mitra, daughter of Sri Aurobindo’s uncle Krishna Kumar Mitra.
Sūradāsa 15th century Krishna-bhakta: leading disciple of Vallabhācharya; he composed thousands of padas, of which only four or five thousand form various manuscripts & editions of Sūra Sāgara.
Shūrase(g)na father of Vasudeva (Krishna’s father) & Kūnti, mother of Pandavas [s/a Shauri].
Social Reform Sri Aurobindo: Reform is not an excellent thing in itself as many Europeanised intellects imagine; neither is it always safe & good to stand unmoved in the ancient paths as the orthodox obstinately believe. Reform is sometimes the first step to the abyss, but immobility is the most perfect way to stagnate & to putrefy. Neither is moderation always the wisest counsel: the mean is not always golden. It is often an euphemism for purblindness, for a tepid indifference or for a cowardly inefficiency. Men call themselves moderates, conservatives or extremists & manage their conduct & opinions in accordance with a formula. We like to think by systems & parties & forget that truth is the only standard. Systems are merely convenient cases for keeping arranged knowledge, parties a useful machinery for combined action; but we make of them an excuse for avoiding the trouble of thought. . . . One is repelled by the ignorant enthusiasm of [Hindu] social reformers. Their minds are usually a strange jumble of ill-digested European notions. Very few of them know anything about Europe, & even those who have visited it know it badly. But they will not allow things or ideas contrary to European notions to be anything but superstitious, barbarous, harmful & benighted, they will not suffer what is praised & practised in Europe to be anything but rational & enlightened. They are more appreciative than Occidentals themselves of the strength, knowledge & enjoyment of Europe; they are blinder than the blindest & most self-sufficient Anglo-Saxon to its weakness, ignorance & misery. . . . The social reformer repeats certain stock arguments like shibboleths. For these antiquities he is a fanatic or a crusader. Usually he does not act up to his ideas, but in all sincerity he loves them & fights for them. He pursues his nostrums as panaceas; it would be infidelity to question or examine their efficacy. His European doctors have told him that early marriage injures the physique of a nation, & that to him is the gospel. It is not convenient to remember that physical deterioration is a modern phenomenon in India & that our grandparents were strong, vigorous & beautiful. He hastens to abolish the already disappearing nautchgirl, but it does not seem to concern him that the prostitute multiplies. Possibly some may think it a gain that the European form of the malady is replacing the Indian! . . . . At the present moment all societies are in need of reform, the Parsi, Mahomedan & Christian not a whit less than the Hindu which alone seems to feel the need of radical reformation. . . . Unknown to men the social revolution prepares itself, & it is not in the direction they think, for it embraces the world, not India only. Whether we like it or not, He will sweep out the refuse…. But the broom is not always sufficient; sometimes He uses the sword in preference. It seems probable that it will be used, for the world does not mend itself quickly, & therefore it will have violently to be mended. . . . But…how shall we determine the principles that are particular to the nature of the community & the nature of the Age? There is such a thing as yugadharma, the right institutions & modes of action for the age in which we live. For action depends indeed on the force of knowledge or will that is to be used, but it depends, too, on the time, the place & the vessel. Institutions that are right in one age are not right in another. Replacing social system by social system, religion by religion, civilisation by civilisation God is perpetually leading man onwards to loftier & more embracing manifestations of our human perfectibility…. [CWSA Vol.12: 50-55; s/a The Yuga(s)]
Surat is believed to have been founded by a Brahmin named Gopi, who named the area Surajpur or Suryāpur. A Greek writer relates how in the reign of Euergetes II (145-116 BC) the Greek ruler of Egypt, a merchant ship from Bharuch in bay of Khambhāt lost its course & reached Egypt with all but one of its crew dead out of hunger. Another Greek writer relates how a group of Indians merchants sailing from Suevi (Surat?) had been driven by storms into Germany. In the 1st century AD trade between India & the West was greatly facilitated when Greek-Egyptian navigator discovered how to lay his course straight across the ocean along the coasts of the Red Sea & the Arabian Sea, & recorded a minute account of his experiences in a book called The Periplus of the Erytharean Sea. The land & sea routes connecting the commercial cities on the bay of Khambhāt with Europe were first appropriated by Arabs (q.v.) then the Moghuls. Akbar captured Surat in 1573 by evicting the Portuguese. Despite prospering under the Moghuls, Surat looked like a typical “grubby” trader’s town with mud-and-bamboo tenements & crooked streets; although along the riverfront there were a few mansions & warehouses belonging to local merchant princes & the establishments of Turkish, Armenian, English, French & Dutch traders. There were also vetenary hospitals run by religious Jains! Some streets were narrow while others were of sufficient width. In 1630-32, in the 4th & 5th year of Shah Jahan’s rule, an appalling famine of the most severe type desolated Deccan & Gujarat. The chief ports of Moghul India were Sindh’s Lahori Bunder & Gujarat’s Surat, Bharuch, & Khambhāt. In January 1664 Shivaji sacked Surat, & by 1680, the entire coast from Surat in the north to Kārwār in south was part of the Maratha Empire. Surat became the emporium of India, exporting gold & cloth. Its major industries were shipbuilding & textile manufacture. The coast of the Tapti River, from Athwalines to Dumas, was specially meant for shipbuilders, who were usually Rassis. Afterwards, Surat’s shipbuilding industry declined & Surat itself gradually declined throughout the 18th century. In 1790-1, an epidemic killed 100,000 Gujaratis in Surat. In 1800, Richard Colley, Gov.-Gen. 1798-1805, the most successful of ruthless imperialists of the E.I. Co. ordered the rulers of Thanjāvur & Surat to surrender their administrative powers & remain content with ‘empty titles’& ‘guaranteed pensions’. In 1842 Dalhousie’s Doctrine of Lapse swallowed Surat.
One of the major issues at the 1907 Surat Congress was the election of the president of the session. The Mehta cabal nominated Rash Behari Ghose (q.v.), the Nationalists proposed Lālā Lajpat Rai who surprisingly withdrew. On 24 December Sri Aurobindo presided over a closed-door meeting of the nationalists & called upon the delegates to make the Congress a body focused on work instead of opinion. The whole aim, Tilak pointed out, was to see that the Congress did not slide back from the Calcutta position. As the draft resolution was not available even a day before the conference, a very unusual thing, the suspicion grew stronger. On the 26th morning, the day of the conference, Tilak along with Sri Aurobindo & some others met Surendranath who asked them to meet Mālvi, Chairman of the Reception Committee. Mālvi declined to meet Tilak. On 27th at 2.30 p.m. Rash Behari Ghosh & Moderate leaders ascended the podium. Ambalal Desai proposed Dr Ghosh take the Chair. As soon as Surendranath Banerji stood up to second the proposal, his words were drowned in an ear-splitting chorus of protest. The greatest orator of the then Bengal, the pied piper of many a rally, had the jolt of his life. Henry Nevinson: “Waving their arms, their scarves, their sticks, & umbrellas, a solid mass of delegates & spectators on the right of the Chair sprang up to their feet & shouted without a moment’s pause….the whole 10,000 were on their feet, shouting for order, shouting for tumult. Mr Mālvi still half in the chair, rang his brass Benares bell & rang in vain. Surendranath sprang on the very table itself. Even a voice like his was not a whisper in the din. Again & again he shouted, unheard as silence.... Again he sprang on the table & again the assembly roared with clamour.... Again the Chairman rang his Benares bell, & rang in vain. In an inaudible voice, like a sob, Mālvi declared the sitting suspended.”
After all chances of a negotiated solution were closed, Tilak informed the other group that he proposed to move an amendment to the presidential election. A slip requesting permission to move an adjournment in Tilak’s own handwriting was passed to Mālvi. The proceedings of 27th began. Tilak began to move to the platform finding his request dishonoured. Mālvi declared Dr. Ghose elected President amid shouts of No, No. By this time Tilak had planted himself on the platform. What followed is best described by Nevinson: “With folded arms Mr Tilak faced the audience. On either side of him young moderates sprang to their feet, wildly gesticulating vengeance. Shaking their fists & yelling to the air, they clamoured to hurl him down the step of the platform. Behind him, Dr. Ghose mounted the table, & ringing & unheard bell, harangued the storm in shrill, agitated, unintelligible denunciations.... But Tilak stood there with folded arms, defiant, calling on violence to do its worst.... Suddenly something flew through the air – a shoe! – Mahratta shoe! Reddish leather, pointed toe, sole studded with lead. It struck Surendranath on the cheek; it cannoned off upon Sir Pherozshah. It flew, it fell, &, as at a given signal, white waves of turbaned men surged up the escarpment of the platform. Leaping, climbing, hissing the breath of fury, brandishing long sticks, they came, striking at any head that looked to them Moderate, & in a moment, between two brown legs standing upon the green-baize table, I caught glimpses of the Indian National Congress dissolving in chaos. Like Goethe at the battle of Valmy, I could have said, ‘Today marks the beginning of a new era, & you can say that you were present at it.” [Vide Prof Manoj Das’s Sri Aurobindo in the First Decade of the Century, 1972.]
Within an hour of the death of the old Congress, Moderate leaders decided to hold their Convention the next day at the Congress Pandal. The Nationalists also met that evening under the chairmanship of Shri Arvind Ghose. He requested Tilak to explain the implications of the Congress-split. Dr. Moonje has thus set down his impressions of Tilak’s speech: “Tilak spoke in English for over 90 minutes.... It was an extremely argumentative speech. He diagnosed the situation to its root causes. This clear analysis was followed by an equally distinct indication of the dangers lurking ahead. The unanimous impression was that Tilak that night spoke like a prophet, delivering a divine message. The atmosphere was tense & grave. As everyone listened to him with bated breath, the proverbial pin-drop silence pervaded the scene. I sat next to Mr Nevinson making pencil jottings of Tilak’s speech in his pocket notebook. The speech had impressed him immensely. At the end of the speech, as he thrust his note-book in his coat-pocket he exclaimed with an expressive sigh: ‘That’s the man!’” [S.L. Karandikar, Lōkamānya B.G. Tilak – the Hercules & Prometheus of Modern India, 1957.]
Surath Raja a Chandra-vamshi king who fostered the worship of Durga.
Surmishthā daughter of Vrishaparvā, second wife of Yayāti; mother of Puru.
Sūrya/ Sun in the Vedic Trinity, he governs the Sky, Agni the earth, & Indra the heavens. In later scriptures his chariot is driven by Aruṇ, Dawn; (s/a Savitr)
Sūrya-lōka the world of Sūrya taken as a symbol of Vijńāna, the spiritual plane of revelatory Knowledge or Intuition.
Sūrya Vamsha the lineage or race of Kshatriyas who worship Sūrya as representing vijńāna the plane of revelatory Knowledge or Intuition. Two great kūlas (races) sprang from Ikshwāku who is revered as grandson of Sūrya: the elder kūla reigned at Ayodhya descended from Ikshvākū’s eldest son Vikukshu; the younger kūla reigned at Mithilā, descended from Nimi, another son of Ikshwāku. Most Rajput clans trace their descent from the Sūrya or the Chandra Vamsha.
Sūryā daughter of Sūrya & bride of the Ashwins.
Sushil Kumar Sen/Sengupta (1892-1915): Sushil (Chandra) was sentenced by the magistrate Kingsford to 15 stripes for assaulting S.L. Huey in a fracas with the police (see Alipore). He was sentenced by Beachcroft but acquitted on appeal. On his release he resumed his revolutionary activities, & was killed by the police in 1915.
Sūta Loma-haṛshana after his father: learned Mahabharata & Puranas from Vyāsa.
Swadesh a Moderate Congress journal published around 1907.
Swadesh Bāndhab Samiti association of Barisal grown out of the Ashwini Kumar’s “Little Brothers of the Poor”; suppressed in January 1909.
Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company See V.O. Chidambaram Pillai.
Swar/ Swaralōka/ svah/ Svar/ Swah the luminous world of the Divine Mind, the special realm of Indra; the world of Light; the third (from below) of the seven worlds of the Puranas, & one of the three vyāhṛtis of the Vedas (see Bhūr).
Swarāj English fortnightly started in England in February 1909 by B.C. Pal & G.S. Khaparde. But a few months later, its distributing agent G.B. Modak was convicted for an article in its issue of 16th June, proved fatal to the magazine.
Swarājya a nationalist Urdu journal of Allahabad. In 1908, in the wake of the bombing in Muzaffarpur, its editor Shanti Narayan was sentenced in July to three & a half years’ R.I. After ‘convicting’ three successive editors, along with those of scores of other nationalist papers all over, the Press Act of 1910 killed all nationalist voices.
The Swaraj Party In 1922 C.R. Das was elected president of the Congress at Gaya. He, Motilal Nehru, N.C. Kelkar, Ajmal Khan & Viṭhalbhai Patel (q.v.), seeing that the system of Diarchy introduced by the Act of 1921 gave only marginal portfolios to elected natives ministers, tabled a resolution to enter the new councils & adopt the tactics of Parnell to “mend or end” their constitution, in effect to adopt the policy of responsive cooperation to work from within, constitutionally proposed by Tilak at the Amritsar Congress of 1919. They expected carry the Congress since Gandhi was then in jail but Gandhi’s disciples Rajagopalachari (q.v.) & Rajendra Prasad managed to persuade the unthinking majority to reject it. Disgusted the five launched the Swaraj Party as a party within the Congress. ― In the special session of the Congress held in Delhi under Maulana Azad in September 1923, the key resolution “passed almost unanimously” adopted the plank of the Swaraj Party: by getting elected to the Central & Legislative Councils & “to make government by Councils impossible”. Swarajists contested the elections to the provincial & central assemblies in early 1924, & did extremely well, especially in Bengal & Maharashtra. At the all-India Legislative Assembly they found an ally in Jinnah’s party. Together they commanded a majority & demanded the release of all political prisoners, repeal of repressive laws, provincial autonomy & immediate summoning of a Round Table Conference to draw up a scheme for full control of the Councils over the Government. But in Feb.1924, following an attack of appendicitis Gandhi was released & immediately disrupted their progress. Nehru & Das tried in vain for his endorsement. Gandhi hustled them into a compromise by making Jawahar General
Secretary of INC – fulfilling Tilak’s prediction in Dec.1919 at Amritsar [q.v.. s/a Motilal’s paper Independent] ― However in 1925, the Swaraj Party created a great fervour in the country & convinced Secretary of State Birkenhead (q.v.) to consider Das’s proposals in his public speech, “Swaraj & Dominion Status”, made as President of the Faridpur Conference on 2nd May. Birkenhead promised to announce London’s decision on 7 July. When, broken by his exertions Das passed away on 16 June. Motilal’s taking over the party’s reins was as good as Gandhi taking over due to Gandhi having taken Jawahar under his wings. When the party did well in the 1926 elections to the assemblies, Motilal got rid of his deputy Viṭhalbhai by getting him elected as the Speaker of the Central Assembly. Viṭhalbhai proved an effective Speaker. In April, Gandhi pulled the plug & the party ‘resigned’ from the Councils. The party’s peaceful path of parliamentary progress went into a coma. In 1927, on the pretext of Govt. not having granted immediate unqualified Dominion Status Gandhi took up his constructive programme of civil disruption, i.e., of restful jail-terms. On 2nd April 1934, fed up with Gandhi’s antics, the ineffectual intellectuals held a conference in Delhi to revive the Swaraj Party & resume the constitutional path. Chief among them were Dr. M.A. Ansari, Bidhān Chandra Roy, & Bhulābhai Desai (former Advocate-General of Bombay Presidency). Gandhi permitted them so that his antics could feed on the power that elected Swarajists would obtain. Then he undertook a countrywide tour to propagate his own programme & remind the masses of his authority. The Dec. 1934 Congress under Rajendra Prasad endorsed the neo-Swarajists’ programme & at the same time authorised J.C. Kumarappā to form an All-India Village Industries Association which would keep the crushing power of the masses in Gandhi’s hands – a magic whistle by which he could throw the Swarajists out of the assemblies any time he chose. [Bhattacharya; Durga Das, India-From Curzon to Nehru & After, 1969]
Swarna Kumari sister of Rabindranath Tagore; first woman to write Bengali novels, she edited Bharati & wrote books for children.
Swedenborg Emanuel (1688-1772), scientist & theologian. His Christian tracts created Swedenborgian societies which became the Church of the New Jerusalem.
Swetaketu son of Arūṇi Uddālaka of Gautama gōtra; he realised the Self by learning the full import of Tattvamasi “Thou art That” from his father.
Swetas(h)watara Upanishad attached to the Krishna Yajur-Veda.
Swift Jonathan (1667-1745), Dublin-born poet, wit, critic, churchman, political pamphleteer; best known for his Gulliver’s Travels (1726).
Swinburne Algernon Charles (1837-1909), English poet & critic, symbol of mid-Victorian poetic revolt.
Świtrā the White Mother: her son Shwaiterya is mentioned in the Rig-Veda.
Sybil one of the Greek women who acted as mediums of the oracles & prophecies of Olympian gods. Nine Sibylline books were offered to Tarquinius Superbus, last of the seven kings of Rome, by the Cumaean sibyl. He refused to pay her price, so she burned six of the books before finally selling him the remaining three at the price she had originally asked for nine. The books were thereafter kept in the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, to be consulted only in emergencies.
Symposium Plato’s dialogue in which banquet guests present their ideas on love.
Synge, J.M. John Millington (1871-1909), leading Irish poet & dramatist in Irish literary Renaissance, he portrayed the life of Aran Islands & western Irish seaboard.