The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2076 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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kta
s
dhaka
(practitioner) will follow one or other cult prescribed for him by the
guru
according to his personality.
aktism developed, and is still practised principally, in Bengal and Assam, though worship of the goddesses at village level is found throughout India, especially in the south.
aktism exalts the position of women by regarding them as incarnations of the Goddess; it is a mistake, however, to regard
aktism as a force for improving the social conditions of women or low castes. Equality is only in ritual, and the role of woman is to act as a partner (
akti or
d
t
) for the male s
dhaka.
akuni
.
In the
Mah
bh
rata
, the evil maternal uncle of the
Kauravas
, a master gambler, said to be an incarnation of the demon Dv
para, named for a throw of dice. On behalf of Duryodhana, he plays a dice game against Yudhi
hira, which he wins by trickery. The game leads to the great
Kuruk
etra
war, in which
akuni fights on the Kaurava side, and is killed by the
P
ava
Sahadeva.

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