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Müller, Max

(Encyclopedia)Müller, Max (Friedrich Maximilian Müller, Friedrich Max Müller, or Friedrich Max-Müller) ;frēˈdrĭkh mäkˌsēmēlˈyän [key], 1823–1900, German philologist and Orientalist, b. Dessau; son of...

Indian literature

(Encyclopedia)Indian literature. Oral literature in the vernacular languages of India is of great antiquity, but it was not until about the 16th cent. that an extensive written literature appeared. Chief factors in...

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...

Rajputs

(Encyclopedia)Rajputs räjˈpo͞ots [key] [Sanskrit,=son of a king], dominant people of Rajputana, an historic region now almost coextensive with the state of Rajasthan, NW India. The Rajputs are mainly Hindus (alt...

bodhisattva

(Encyclopedia)bodhisattva bōˌdĭsätˈwə [key] [Sanskrit,=enlightenment-being], in early Buddhism the term used to refer to the Buddha before he attained supreme enlightenment; more generally, any being destined...

Dravidian languages

(Encyclopedia)Dravidian languages drəvĭdˈēən [key], family of about 23 languages that appears to be unrelated to any other known language family. The Dravidian languages are spoken by more than 200 million peo...

Varanasi

(Encyclopedia)Varanasi bənäˈrĭz [key], city (1991 pop. 1,030,863), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India, on the Ganges River. Although a rail hub and trade center, Varanasi is chiefly important as a holy city. ...

Schlegel, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Schlegel, Friedrich von fən shlāˈgəl [key], 1772–1829, German philosopher, critic, and writer, most prominent of the founders of German romanticism. Educated in law at Göttingen and Leipzig, h...

Ramayana

(Encyclopedia)Ramayana rämäˈyənə [key] [story of Rama], classical Sanskrit epic of India, probably composed in the 3d cent. b.c. Based on numerous legends, it is traditionally the work of Valmiki, one of the m...

Bhagavad-Gita

(Encyclopedia)Bhagavad-Gita bŭgˈəvəd-gēˈtə [key] [Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata, one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism. The Gita (as it is often called...

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