652 
SAN 
sect of Saiva, and the followers of the Vedanta theory, of 
which he is reckoned the restorer. He tarnished the bril¬ 
liancy of his reputation by his intolerance and bigotry, 
which induced him to stir up and foipent a furious persecu¬ 
tion against the heretical sect of Jaina, and others. For this 
hq was canonized by this own followers; though by others, 
especially by the descendants of the objects of his holy ven¬ 
geance, his name is held in deserved abhorrence. His pious 
fury was so excessive, that his abettors judged it to be more 
than mortal, and that a portion of the avenging deity must 
have inspired him; and it is accordingly fabled that he was 
a manifestation, or avatara, of the god Siva, one of whose 
names is Sankara; ac/iarya being a surname denoting lite¬ 
rary celebrity.. A biographical account of this extraordinary 
man would afford a tine moral lesson. His literary works 
would do honour to any name of any country, and his ac¬ 
tions are indelibly disgraceful. To the compunctious visit- 
ings of his conscience may perhaps be attributed the mode 
of his departure from this world, which was by the expiatory 
process of a meritorious species of suicide, called karshagni. 
This consists in casing the body with a thick covering of 
cow-dung, lubricated with cow’s urine, which, when dry, 
ignites speedily, and burns rapidly with a beautifully pure 
blue flame. This being set on fire, quickly consumes, they 
say, both sin and sinner. His commentary on the Veda is 
held in great respect by the literati of the East. Its popular 
title is the Bashea. He flourished in the year 1000 of our 
era. 
SANKARI, a town of Manding, in Central Africa, in 
the vicinity of which rises a river, which has been supposed 
to be the head of the Niger; but geographers have recently 
been led to place this farther to the eastward. 
SANKEY, Great, a village of England, in Lancashire ; 
4 miles west-by-north of Warrington. Population 466. 
SANKYA, the name of one of the six principal schools, 
or theories of philosophy among the Hindoos. It is attri¬ 
buted to a philosopher of the name of Kapil a, who by some 
is said to have upheld tenets leading to materialism. The 
Sankyas, however, profess to believe in the existence of two 
eternal substances or beings: the one they call Parusha, or 
male ; the other Prakriti, or nature. As far as this Sankya 
theory can be seen somewhat freed from personification, it 
seems to teach that Parusha, or the male essence, exists in an 
eternal state of rest, impassible, and a mere spectator of the 
motions of the universe. This state of their supreme being 
they illustrate by the popular figure of a lolus, or water-lily ; 
which, after the water passes over it, is left in its original 
condition: for the Hindoos find in the lotus illustrations 
of almost every obscurity. The argument by which the 
Sankyas support the tenet just ascribed to them, is not very 
clear. “Spirit is life; effect and cause 1 are inseparably 
united; consequently a cessation of effect involves a cessa¬ 
tion of the cause; therefore agency cannot be predicable of 
the Supreme Being. The idea that he acts arises from the 
union of life and understanding.” Hindoo metaphysicians 
profess to find no difficulty in fully comprehending such 
arguments as these ; and they endeavour to illustrate them 
by saying, that “ life here denotes its simple abstract nature, 
divested of the qualities of thought, feeling, action, &c. 
This simple abstract life is the Supreme Being. Under¬ 
standing (which denotes the active and sensitive principles 
of beings) arises from the operations of nature; and the 
union of understanding, or the active faculties, with life, 
which is the Supreme Being, produces the idea that he is the 
agent in the motions of the universe.” In opposition to the 
Vedanti theory, affirming that understanding is the termi¬ 
nation or completion of the one being, the Sankya asserts 
that it is the completion of nature. “ Nature is eternal, but 
it is upheld by Life, the Supreme Being. When the uni¬ 
verse disappears, Nature remains in an invisible seminal 
state; but at the desire of the Supreme Being, it assumes a 
visible form, and becomes the creator of the world.” If we 
put this sentence into another shape,—the shape, indeed, in 
SAN 
which it would appear in its original metaphysical language, 
it will assume a mythological air, and admit of easy per¬ 
sonification and application. Thus, “ Prakriti is eternal, 
but it or she is upheld by Parusha. At a mahapralaya, 
Prakriti assumes an invisible seminal state; but by the voli¬ 
tion of Parusha, or Brahm, a Kalpa occurs, and Prakriti 
assumes a visible form, and becomes Brahma the Creator.” 
Mahaprayala denotes a periodical destruction, or change, of 
all things; Kalpa, a reorganization of matter; and matter is 
personified in Brahma.” 
The soul, or sensitive part of living beings, proceeds, by 
the Sankya theory, from the organization of nature, but is 
formed of its more refined parts. This affords an opening 
for the charge of materialism. Bui, continue the Sankyas, 
in common with the Vedanles, by the efficacy of virtuous 
actions, men are cleared from the effects of Maya, passion, 
or delusion, and united to the supreme spiritual essence. 
SAN-LI-KIAO, a town of Chinese Tartary; 18 miles 
south-south-west of Ning-yuen. 
SANN. See Sannah. 
-SANNA, a river of the north-west of European Turkey, 
in Bosnia, which joins the Unna, at a small town called 
Novi. 
SANNAK, a cluster of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, 
near the south coast of Alashka. Lat. 54. 50. N. long. 196. 
29. E. 
SANNAZAB.0 (Jacopo), an eminent Italian and Latin 
poet, was born at Naples, in 1458. He received his clas¬ 
sical education in the school of Giuniano Maggio, and the 
academy of Pontano, and upon entering the latter, he 
changed his baptismal name into Actius Sincerus, which he 
always used in his Latin works. He was first inspired as a 
poet by Carmosina Bonifacia, a lady who became the theme 
of his verse. Finding himself overwhelmed in this passion, 
he quitted his native country, and passed some time in 
France: being, however, unable to endure a very long ab¬ 
sence from the object of his attachment, he returned; before 
he could arrive, his Carmosina had died in the bloom of her 
youth. His poetical reputation was now considerable, and 
he became known to king Ferdinand I. and princes Alfonso 
and Frederic: he was admitted into their train, and accom¬ 
panied them in several military expeditions. For the enter¬ 
tainment of his patrons, he composed some dramatic pieces 
in the Neapolitan dialect, which became extremely popular. 
In the subsequent revolutions of the kingdom of Naples, and 
amidst all the vicissitudes undergone by the house of Arragon, 
Sannazaro remained faithfully attached to its members, and, 
upon the succession of Frederic to the throne, he was re¬ 
warded with a pension of 600 ducats, and the present of 
the pleasant villa of Mergoglino, so much celebrated in his 
poems under the name of Mergillina. When this prince 
lost his crown, and was obliged to retire to France, Sanna¬ 
zaro, after selling the remainder of his hereditary possessions, 
to relieve the necessities of his sovereign, followed him, and 
continued attached to his service till he died, in 1504. San¬ 
nazaro then returned to Italy, where he devoted himself to 
poetry and letlers, preserving his gaiety and the gallantry of 
a courtier to advanced years. He had, at length, the mor¬ 
tification to witness the destruction of his Mergillina by the 
imperial army under Fhillibert, prince of Orange; and 
though his revenge was in some degree gratified, by the in¬ 
telligence that this leader was soon slain in battle, he himself 
did not long survive. He died near Naples, in 1530, at the 
age of 72. The name of Sannazaro stands very high in 
Italian and Latin poetry. In the first, he is accounted one 
of the purest and most elegant composers of his age, and if 
he had not employed his mature powers upon Latin verse, 
it has been thought that he might have attained to the 
highest rank in vernacular poetry. The most celebrated of 
his works in this class, is entitled “ Arcadia,” a pastoral, 
consisting of dialogues in verse, each preceded by an intro¬ 
duction in a sort of poetical prose. It was, at the time of 
publication, so very popular, that it went through many 
editions, 
