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Brahmo Samaj

(Encyclopedia)Brahmo Samaj bräˈmō səmäjˈ [key] [Hindi,=society of God], Indian religious movement, founded in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1828 by Rammohun Roy. It promoted a monotheistic, reformed Hinduism with str...

Puri

(Encyclopedia)Puri po͞oˈrē [key], town (1991 pop. 125,199), Odisha (Orissa) state, E central India, on the Bay of Bengal. The life of the town centers around the cult of Juggernaut (Jagannath), a form of the Kri...

Brahma

(Encyclopedia)Brahma bräˈmə [key], a god often identified, with Vishnu and Shiva, as one of the three supreme gods in Hinduism. In the late Vedic period he was called Prajapati, the primeval man whose sacrifice ...

Shiva

(Encyclopedia)Shiva or Siva shēˈvə [key], one of the greatest gods of Hinduism, also called Mahadeva. The “horned god” and phallic worship of the Indus valley civilization may have been a prototype of Shiva ...

Bhils

(Encyclopedia)Bhils bēlz [key], people, numbering about 3 million, who inhabit portions of Pakistan and of W central India, especially S Rajasthan and Gujarat states. They speak an Indo-European language, Bhili, a...

nirvana

(Encyclopedia)nirvana nērväˈnə [key], in Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, a state of supreme liberation and bliss, contrasted to samsara or bondage in the repeating cycle of death and rebirth. The word in Sansk...

karma

(Encyclopedia)karma or karman kärˈmə, kärˈmən [key], [Skt.,=action, work, or ritual], basic concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The doctrine of karma states that one's state in this life is a r...

Sabin, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Sabin, Joseph săbˈĭn [key], 1821–81, American bibliophile, b. England. Sabin came to the United States in 1848 and established himself as a dealer in rare books in New York City and Philadelphia....

ahimsa

(Encyclopedia)ahimsa əhĭmˈsä [key] [Sanskrit,=noninjury], ethical principle of noninjury to both men and animals, common to Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. Ahimsa became influential in India after 600 b.c., co...

samadhi

(Encyclopedia)samadhi səmäˈdē [key], a state of deep absorption in the object of meditation, and the goal of many kinds of yoga. In Buddhism the term refers to any state of one-pointed concentration. In Hinduis...