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Festival celebrated on the eighth day (ashtami) of the light, or waxing, half of the lunar month called Magh (January–February), marking the death of Bhishma. Bhishma is an uncle to both the Kauravas and the Pandavas, warring factions in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is well known for his bravery, continence, and truthfulness.

He also has the power to choose the time of his death. Although he is mortal-ly wounded in the great Mahabharata war, he remains alive until weeks later (delivering discourses and advice to the victorious Pandavas the entire time), delaying his death until the sun has resumed its northward course (uttarayana). On this day parents give offerings of food and water in Bhishma’s name in the hope that their sons may have his good qualities.

Bhogamandapa

(“food pavilion”) The outermost entrance hall in the style of architecture found in the largest temples in Orissa.

At the temple of Jagannath in Puri, the term bhogamandapa specifically refers to the area where the food offered to Jagannath as prasad (“favor”) is cooked.

Jagannath’s temple is unusual in that the normal restrictions regarding commen-sality are suspended. Everyone eats together rather than being segregated by caste, signifying Jagannath’s ultimate lordship over all beings. The promi-nence of this particular rite makes the bhogamandapa all the more important.

Bhogawara

One of the four major organizational groups of the Dashanami Sanyasis, renunciant ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of the god Shiva; the other three groups are Kitawara, Bhuriwara, and Anandawara. Each of these divi-sions has its headquarters in one of the four monastic centers (maths) suppos-edly established by the philosopher Shankaracharya. Each group also has Bhogawara

certain religious associations: with one of the four Vedas, with a particular quar-ter of the Indian subcontinent, with one of the “great utterances” (mahavakyas) expressing ultimate truth, with a specific ascetic quality, and with several of the ten Dashanami divisions. The Bhogawara group is affiliated with the Govardhan Math in the city of Puri on the Bay of Bengal, and it is therefore connected with the eastern quarter of India. Their Veda is the Rg Veda, their mahavakya is Prajnanam Brahman (“Knowledge is Brahman”), and their ascetic quality is to remain indifferent to worldly pleasures. The particular divisions associated with this group are the Aranya Dashanamis and Vana Dashanamis.

Bhoja

(r. 918–955 C.E.) Medieval Hindu king in the Malwa region of the modern state of Uttar Pradesh. Bhoja was famous both as a scholar and as a dam builder who created lakes for irrigation.

Bholanath

(“simple lord”) Common epithet of the god Shiva. In ordinary usage the word bhola carries a negative connotation:

“simple,” “guileless,” and even “foolish.”

Yet in using this word to designate Shiva, his devotees (bhakta) are not intention-ally insulting him but celebrating his boundless generosity to those with whom he is pleased. Shiva’s devotees can give the simplest offerings (such as leaves, fruit, and water) and in turn ask for wealth, success, and power. Shiva’s nature is considered “simple” because he willingly participates in such unequal exchanges, providing sharp contrast to the world economy, which demands equal value.

Bhramargit

(“songs to the bee”) Poetic genre in the devotional poetry of the god Krishna, which is set in the time after Krishna has gone to claim his kingdom in Mathura,

never to return. The story tells how Krishna sends his companion Uddhava back to Braj with a message for the gopis, the cowherd women who are Krishna’s dear companions, and who are virtually insane with longing because of his absence. Uddhava tries to reassure the gopis by telling them not to dwell on Krishna’s physical absence. Uddhava further reminds them that since Krishna is the all-pervading divinity, he will always be with them even though he might not be visible. In the bhramargit poems, the gopis scornfully reject Uddhava’s notions, asserting that this view of Krishna is abstract, lifeless, and suitable only for those who have never known Krishna in his embodied form.

The genre’s name comes from this story’s earliest appearance, in the Bhagavata Purana. Here the gopis address their complaints about Krishna’s absence to a large black bee, which in their passion and loneliness they mistake for Krishna.

Bhramari

(“circling”) Powerful form of the Goddess. Bhramari takes form to oppose the demon Aruna, who in his hubris is trying to compromise the chastity of the gods’ wives. They implore the Goddess to help them, and in her form as Bhramari, she kills the demon and removes the threat. Bhramari is worshiped on the eighth night of Navaratri, a nine-day festival in which one goddess is appeased every night.

Bhrgu

In Hindu mythology, one of the sons of Brahma and one of the seven sages whose names mark exogamous clan

“lineages” (gotra); the others are Kashyapa, Bharadvaja, Vasishtha, Gautama, Atri, and Vishvamitra. All brahmins are believed to be descended from these seven sages, with each family taking the name of its progenitor as its gotra name. In modern times these divisions are still important since Bhoja

marriage within the gotra is forbidden.

After her marriage the bride adopts her husband’s gotra as part of her new identity.

Bhrgu is most famous for testing the three major Hindu gods, which results in Vishnu being declared the greatest of the three. Bhrgu first goes to Brahma’s house where the god does not pay Bhrgu appropriate respect, and in revenge Bhrgu curses Brahma to receive no wor-ship. Next he goes to see Shiva, who refuses to meet with him because he is making love to his wife Parvati at the time. In turn, Bhrgu curses Shiva to be worshiped as the linga, the pillar-shaped symbol that has undeniable phallic associations. Lastly he visits Vishnu and, finding him asleep, gives him a sound kick in the chest. Vishnu wakes up, but shows no anger at this dis-respect. Instead he massages Bhrgu’s foot, gently inquires whether it has been hurt, and promises to retain its mark on his chest forever, where it appears as the shrivatsa. Vishnu’s magnanimous behavior leads Bhrgu to proclaim him the best of all the gods. Not surprisingly, this version of the tale appears only in Vaishnava sectarian literature. See also marriage prohibitions.

Bhubaneshvar

Capital city of the modern Indian state of Orissa. Bhubaneshvar reportedly has over 500 temples, of which the most prominent is the Lingaraja Temple. It is dedicated to Shiva in his form as Tribhuvaneshvar (“Lord of the Triple World”), from which the city also gets its name.

Bhudevi

See earth.

Bhujangavalaya

(“snake bracelet”) In Hindu iconogra-phy, the name of a particular ornament worn by the god Shiva. The bhujan-gavalaya is a bracelet shaped in the form of a snake. In Hindu mythology Shiva is

famous for wearing serpents, especially cobras, as ornaments around his arms and torso. This is just one of the attributes that marks him as different, powerful, and potentially dangerous.

The prescriptive canons for the creation of Hindu images have followed up on this tradition, and Shiva is invariably shown wearing these bracelets.

Bhuriwara

One of the four major organizational groups of the Dashanami Sanyasis, renunciant ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of the god Shiva; the other three groups are Kitawara, Bhogawara, and Anandawara. Each of these groups has its headquarters in one of the four monastic centers (maths) supposedly established by the philosopher Shankaracharya. Each division also has certain religious associations: with one of the four Vedas, with a particular quar-ter of the Indian subcontinent, with one of the “great utterances” (mahavakyas) expressing ultimate truth, with a partic-ular ascetic quality, and with several of the ten Dashanami divisions. The Bhuriwara group is affiliated with the Shringeri Math in the southern Indian town of Shringeri and is thus connected with the southern quarter of India. Their Veda is the Yajur Veda, their mahavakya is Aham Brahmasmi (“I am Brahman”), and their ascetic quality is to renounce all wealth and to live on food growing wild in the jungles. The specific divi-sions associated with this group are Saraswati Dashanami, Bharati Dashanami, and Puri Dashanami.

Bhushundi

A character in the Ramcharitmanas, the version of the Ramayana written by the poet-saint Tulsidas (1532–1623?).

Bhushundi is a crow who symbolizes the power of devotion to God to redeem even the lowest of creatures. One of the most pronounced differences between the original Valmiki Ramayana and the Tulsidas Ramayana is that Tulsidas puts Bhushundi

far greater stress on devotion to Rama, of which Bhushundi is a perfect exam-ple. In Indian culture, crows are consid-ered unclean birds since they are scavengers who will eat anything. Yet in one of the narrative levels of the Ramcharitmanas, it is the “unclean”

crow Bhushundi who narrates the story to the “sacred” eagle Garuda—the vehi-cle of the god Vishnu. As part of his account in the Ramayana, Bhushundi relates the terrifying experience of being given an unmediated vision of Rama in all his majesty, and how he (as did the sage Markandeya) went into Rama’s mouth and perceived the entire uni-verse inside.

Bhut

(“[someone who] was”) The spirit of a person who has recently died, which is still inappropriately connected to the world of the living. This is often a trou-bling or malevolent presence, either to the departed’s family or the general pop-ulation. Bhuts and other malignant spir-its, such as prets or churails, have generally either suffered an untimely or

violent death or died with certain unful-filled desires, particularly relating to marriage and family life. In cases where both these factors are present, the likelihood of the departed becoming a bhut is deemed much greater. Bhuts make themselves known to the living through either dreams or possession. In some cases they have specific requests and can be placated by worship and offerings. In such cases the dreams and possession are methods of communi-cating with the living, who can perform the necessary actions. Some bhuts resort to possession as an attempt to realize their unfulfilled desires by directly using a living person’s body.

These spirits are far more malevolent, and the only way to remove them is through exorcism. For further informa-tion on the care of restless family spirits, see Ann Grodzins Gold, Fruitful Journeys, 1988; for a masterful psycho-logical interpretation of spirits, posses-sion, and healing, see Sudhir Kakar, Shamans, Mystics, and Doctors, 1991.

Bhut

Women praying at a shrine in Bihar. This northern Indian state is home to many sacred sites.

Bhuta

Epithet of the god Shiva. See Shiva.

Bhutalingas

(“elemental lingas”) A network of five southern Indian sacred sites (tirthas), four in the state of Tamil Nadu and one in Andhra Pradesh, all dedicated to the god Shiva. In each of these centers, the most sacred object is the linga, a pillar-shaped form representing Shiva. What makes these sites unique is that the linga is supposedly composed of one of the five primordial elements. Thus the linga in Tiruvannamalai is formed from fire; the linga in Jambukeshvar is formed from water; the one in Kanchipuram is made from earth; that in Kalahasti, the sacred site in Andhra Pradesh, is formed from air; and the linga in Chidambaram is made from space. Between them, these five sites comprise a symbolic cosmology that encompasses all created things.

Bhutam

(7th c. ^C.^E.) With Pey and Poygai, one of the first three Alvars, a group of twelve poet-saints who lived in southern India between the seventh and tenth cen-turies. All of the Alvars were devotees (bhakta) of the god Vishnu. Their stress on passionate devotion (bhakti) to a personal god, conveyed through hymns sung in the Tamil language, trans-formed and revitalized Hindu religious life. According to tradition, the three men were caught in a torrential storm, and one by one they took shelter in a small dry spot, with each making room for the next. As they stood together they felt a fourth presence, which was Vishnu. The Alvars were such great devotees that their combined energy was sufficient to provoke Vishnu’s mani-festation. Overwhelmed with ecstasy, the three burst into song, which formed the first of their compositions. For fur-ther information see Kamil Zvelebil, Tamil Literature, 1975.

Bhutayajna

(“sacrifice to creatures”) One of the five great sacrifices (panchamahayajna) that is prescribed in the texts on reli-gious duty (Dharma Shastras). These five great sacrifices are daily religious observances for a “twice-born” house-holder, that is, a householder born into one of the three “twice-born” groups in Indian society—brahmin, kshatriya, and vaishya—who is eligible to receive the adolescent religious initiation known as the “second birth.” Each sacri-fice (yajna) is directed toward a different class of beings, from the Ultimate Reality down to animals, and is satisfied by specific actions. The bhutayajna is directed toward animals and outcasts (and in some understandings, ghosts), and it is satisfied by putting out food for them to eat. In the time since the Dharma Shastras were composed, Hindu life has undergone significant changes, and this particular sacrifice is rarely performed today.