Srishti

Meaning “creation” in Sanskrit, it is one of the cosmic acts of deities in the Hindu religious tradition. It is primarily associated with the Hindu deity, Brahma, and is also one of the five acts (panchakriya) of Shiva in his form as Nataraja.

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Sangha

A monastic order comprising bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns), it is one of the Three Jewels of Buddhism. From the…

Sutra

Literally meaning "string" or "thread," it refers to literature from the ancient and medieval periods that was originally preserved and…

Nayanar

A group of sixty-three Shaivite poet-saints in Tamil Nadu between the third to eighth century CE. Belonging to diverse castes,…

Shringara

One of the nine rasas within Indian performing arts, it may be understood as the feeling of love, or as…

Puranas

A genre of ancient and religious texts written in Sanskrit, Tamil and other languages. The texts are encyclopaedic and cover…

Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription

A bilingual edict, written in Greek and Aramaic, dating to c. 260 BCE. It is the earliest known rock edict…

Vishnudharmottarapurana

An ancient Hindu encyclopaedic text consisting of three khandas (parts), it deals with a wide range of subjects, including cosmology,…

Prakriti

In the Hindu religious tradition, it is a theological concept that describes the primary principle, or source, of matter. In…