Hinduism: Details about 'Svaha'
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In Hinduism, Svaha is a minor goddess, wife of Agni. She was originally a nymph but became immortal after marrying Agni, with whom she is the mother of Karttikeya. Whenever fire sacrifices are made, "Svaha" is changed, as per Agni's order. In Hinduism and Buddhism, "Svaha" (Sanskrit: svāhā) is a component in Buddhist mantras used roughly equivalent to the word amen in Christian prayers - a holy word used to indicate finality in prayers or holy sayings. The word has long since lost any Hindu connotation. Translations could include "let it be," "hail," "verily," "I prostrate myself," "how wonderful!" etc. For example, the heart sutra concludes with the mantra: Gate gate pāragate pārasamgate bodhi svāhā Translated as: "Gone, gone, gone beyond, completely gone beyond, enlightenment, how wonderful!"
Svaha is also a word in a Native American language for the time between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder. In this interpretation, it was used by Charles de Lint as the title for his novel, Svaha, first published in 1989 and reissued in 1994 and 2000, and issued as an e-book in 2001. See also
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