The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2289 page)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

see
ETHICS
(CHRISTIANITY).

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Germ., ‘place’ or ‘setting in life’). In historical criticism of religious traditions, the supposed circumstances in which a particular story, saying, etc., either originated, or was preserved and transmitted. See also
FORM CRITICISM
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Skt., ‘auspicious’). Major deity in Hinduism, the third in the Hindu trinity (
trim
rti
), along with
Brahm
and
Vi
u
. In the
Vedas
,
iva
appears as an epithet of
Rudra
, not as separate manifestation of divine power. The joint form, Rudra-
iva appears in the
g
hya
(household) rites, which suggests that there was a gradual process of assimilation, and that
iva has roots and origins in the pre-Vedic period. By the 2nd cent. BCE, Rudra was waning in significance, and
iva began to obtain a powerful separate identity. In
R
m
ya
a
, he is a mighty and personal god, and in
Mah
bh
rata