Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

91 results found

Bhave, Vinoba

(Encyclopedia)Bhave, Vinoba vĭnōbə bäˈvā [key], 1895–1982, Indian religious figure, founder of the Bhoodan Movement. While studying Sanskrit in Benares (Varanasi), he joined Mohandas K. Gandhi as a disciple...

Kosala

(Encyclopedia)Kosala kōˈsələ [key], ancient Indian kingdom, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Oudh. Its capital was Ayodhya. It was a powerful state in the 6th cent. b.c. but was weakened by a se...

Aryan

(Encyclopedia)Aryan ârˈēən [key], [Sanskrit,=noble], term formerly used to designate the Indo-European race or language family or its Indo-Iranian subgroup. Originally a group of nomadic tribes, the Aryans were...

Chaitanya

(Encyclopedia)Chaitanya chītŭnˈyə [key], 1485–1533, Indian mystic, also called Gauranga (“the Golden”). He was born of Brahman parents in Nabadwip, Bengal, a center of Sanskrit learning. As a young man he...

Eliade, Mircea

(Encyclopedia)Eliade, Mircea mûrˈshə āˌlē-ädˈə [key], 1907–86, American philosopher and historian of comparative religion, b. Bucharest. He studied Indian philosophy and Sanskrit at the Univ. of Calcutta...

Ujjain

(Encyclopedia)Ujjain o͞ojīnˈ, o͞oˈjīn [key], city (1991 pop. 362,633), Madhya Pradesh state, central India, on the Sipra River. Many pilgrims visit Ujjain, which Hindus consider one of the holiest places in I...

Mahabharata

(Encyclopedia)Mahabharata məhäˌbärˈətə [key], classical Sanskrit epic of India, probably composed between 200 b.c. and a.d. 200. The Mahabharata, comprising more than 90,000 couplets, usually of 32 syllables...

Kukai

(Encyclopedia)Kukai or Kobo-Daishi ko͞oˈkī, kōˈbō-dīˈshē [key], 774–835, Japanese priest, scholar, and artist, founder of the Shingon or “True Word” sect of Buddhism. Of aristocratic birth, he studie...

Magadha

(Encyclopedia)Magadha mŭˈgädə [key], ancient Indian kingdom, situated within the area of the modern states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Its capital was Pataliputra (now Patna). The kingdom rose to prominence in the ...

Katmandu

(Encyclopedia)Katmandu or Kathmandu both: kätmändo͞oˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 421,258), capital of Nepal, central Nepal, c.4,500 ft (1,370 m) above sea level, in a fertile valley of the E Himalayas. It is the ad...

Browse by Subject