Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 16,028

Date uploaded in London – 28 July 2026

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.

this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

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Words beginning with letter “S”

Sabha – assembly ; used in Rig Veda and Sangam Tamil literature.In Tamil it becomes Avai, because Tamil Grammar said no word should begin with SA. But nowadays used verywhere. Indian parliament has two chambers

Lok Sabha

Rajya Sabha

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Sachi- Wife of Indra; another name Indrani; she is in the oldest book Rig Veda.

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Sadhyas – saadhyaas

 A class or gana of inferior deities. They are the personified rites and prayers of he Vedas who dwell with the gods or  in the intermediate region between heaven and earth.Their number is 12 according one authority and 17 according to another. Puranas make them sons of Dharma and Sadhya (saadhyaas) , daughter of Daksha.

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Sagara

Sea is called Saagara in Sanskrit because they were dug by the Sagaras.

Sagara was a king of Ayodhya and son of King Bahu, who was driven out of the country by the Haihayas. Bahu took refuge in the forest with his two wives. One of them was pregnant. Rival wife gave her a drug to prevent her delivery and hence the birth of the baby was delayed. In the meantime, Bahu died and she wanted to die with him in the pyre. But sage Aurva prevented her and told her that she would get a baby soon who will be a great king. And the baby was named Sagara. When he grew up, he vowed to eliminate the Haihayas and regain the lost kingdom. He defeated Yavanas and other foreign tribes and made them to shave off their hair fully or partly. Sagara married two wives Sumati and Kesini. Asamanja was born to Kesini and Sumati gave birth to 60,000 sons (In Sanskrit 60,000 is a phrase which mean s a lot). When Sagara did Ashvamedha Yaga, the horse disappeared; Sagara’s sons dug earth and found the horse in the Patala Loka (under earth) and meditating sage Kapila was near the horse. Thinking that he stole the horse the sons of Sagara threatened him. When Kapila opened his eyes, the sons were burnt to ashes. Asamanja’s son Anumat came to Kapila and begged him to send the dead ones to heaven. Then Kapila said that it will be done when The Ganges River flowed over the ashes. Anumat’s son was Dilipa and his son was Bhagiratha who brought Ganges from heaven to earth. The Holy River washed away the ashes of Sagaras. The water filled the Bay of Bengal and other seas. Then sea was called Saagara and the Ganga River was called Bhagirathi to honour Bhagiratha.

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Sahadeva

One of the Five Pandava brothers; born to Madri with his twin Nakula. Both are considered sons of Vedic Twins Aswin brothers. Sahadeva, the youngest of the five was an expert in Astronomy.

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Sairindhri- Sairindhri is Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, for whose sake the Kicakas have been slain, and she is disguised in Virata’s court.

During the thirteenth year of forest life, that is incognito period, Draupadi assumed this name and worked in Vrata’s court.

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Saka dwipa

One of the seven islands of Puranic cosmology

The Maga Brahmins who came from Iran are associated with Saka Dwipa.

The identification is confusing ; some link them to Saka Tree area and others associate them to Saka Tribe.( Scythian) tribes of Central Asia.

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Saka era

The Saka era is a historical calendar year-counting system starting in 78 CE, widely used across India and Southeast Asia and adopted as the Indian National Calendar in 1957

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Sakalya and Saktayana

Ancient Grammarians ; Both lived before Panini and Yaska, the etymologist.

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Sakas

Foreign tribes identified with Yavanas or Scythians. King Sagara conquered them.

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Sakha-saakhaa- branch. Vedic recensions are called Sakhas . RSS gatherings are also called Sakhas/ branches.

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Sakra – another name of Indra.

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Sakti- Goddess; general meaning Power. Called by many names such as Gnana Sakti, Para Sakti, Kriya Sakti etc; also name of Vaishtha’s son.

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Sakuni

Brother of Quuen Gandhari; he was an expert in gambling; he knew the cheating techniques in the game and defeated the Pandavas. They were driven out of the country and they spent 13 years in the forest.

To be continued………….

Tags- Sakuni, Sabha, HINDU DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH AND TAMIL 88; இந்து மத கலைச்சொல் அகராதி-88