The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2108 page)

(Skt., from
sa
-pra da
, ‘to give completely up’, ‘to hand down by tradition’). In Indian religions, any established doctrine and set of practices transmitted from one teacher to another. From this it has come to mean any sectarian religious teaching or a religious sect. In the
Mah
bh
rata
(
Anu
sanaparvan
141), the four (supposedly) original sa
prad
yas are listed more as styles of increasing
asceticism
through which
tapas
is generated. For Jains, see
MULA SANGHA
.

 
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(Skt., ‘differentiated’)
or sab
ja
(Skt., ‘with seed’). A stage of
sam
dhi
in
r
ja
yoga
following from
dhy
na
and preliminary to
asamprajñ
ta
sam
dhi. It is a state of suppressed or controlled consciousness.