The Sanskrit terms Saptaśatikā and Saptaśatika can be transliterated into English as Saptasatika or Saptashatika, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: archive.org: The Indian Buddhist Iconography

Saptaśatika (सप्तशतिक) or Saptaśatikahayagrīva refers to one of the various forms of Amitābha having their Sādhana described in the 5th-century Sādhanamālā (a collection of sādhana texts that contain detailed instructions for rituals).—His Colour is red; his Symbols are the vajra and daṇḍa; his Special feature is a ‘horse-head’.—This particular form of Hayagrīva should refer to the spiritual son of Amitābha with the red colour and the samādhi-mudrā. The present Sādhana describing his form states in the colophon that it is restored from the Saptaśatika Kalpa. This particular form of Hayagrīva, therefore, is designated as the Saptaśatika Hayagrīva

The Dhyāna (meditation instructions) of Saptaśatika described in the Sādhanamālā as follows:

“The worshipper should conceive himself as (Saptaśatika Hayagrīva) of red complexion, who is terribly awe-inspiring, with three-eyes, and a brown beard. He is angry and has protruding belly. His face appears terrible with bare fangs; he wears a garland of skulls with teeth and lips, is crowned with his jaṭā and the figure of Amitābha. His second face is distorted like that of a horse, which is blue in colour and neighs incessantly. He tramples on the top of the world with one leg and the bottom of the world with the other. He wears ornaments of eight serpents, is short and dwarfish, is clad in tiger-skin and decked in all ornaments. He threatens all the gods and Asuras, and holds the vajra and the staff (in his two hands)”

[It may be noticed that the Dhyāna is not clear about the numberof hands and faces; but it seems from the description that Hayagrīva is endowed with a principal face, terrible in appearance, over which there is the horse’s head. This horse’s head over the principal face, is found only in case of Hayagrīva, and distinguishes him from all other Buddhist deities. But when, as a minor god, he accompanies others, the horse’s head is not seen as a rule. In such cases, the daṇḍa or the staff serves as the identification mark. From the dhyāna it also appears that he is two-armed and carries the vajra and the daṇḍa, the vajra being generally held in the right hand, while the daṇḍa is carried in the left. About the name, however, the colophon is certain, and it asserts that this sādhana has been restored from the Saptaśatika Kalpa, that is to say, a ritual work consisting of letters that can make up seven hundred verses in the Anuṣṭubh metre.]

context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Aufrecht Catalogus Catalogorum

Saptaśatikā (सप्तशतिका) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—a name of the Devīmāhātmya. All the tracts from Laghu Saptaśatī up to Saptaśatīstotra are connected with it.

Saptaśatikā has the following synonyms: Saptaśatī.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Saptaśatikā (सप्तशतिका):—[=sapta-śatikā] [from sapta-śataka > sapta > saptan] f. the aggregate of 700 [Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary]

2) [v.s. ...] Name of [work]

[Sanskrit to German]

Saptashatika in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Shatika, Sapta.

Starts with: Saptashatikalpa, Saptashatikanyasavidhi, Saptashatikaprajnaparamita, Saptashatikavacavivarana, Saptashatikavidhi, Saptashatikavijasamputikarana.

Ends with: Laghusaptashatika.

Full-text: Laghusaptashatikastava, Laghusaptashatikastotra, Saptashatikavidhi, Saptashati, Shuklakurukulla.

Relevant text

Search found 2 books and stories containing Saptashatika, Saptaśatikā, Sapta-śatikā, Sapta-shatika, Saptasatika, Saptaśatika, Sapta-satika, Sapta-śatika; (plurals include: Saptashatikas, Saptaśatikās, śatikās, shatikas, Saptasatikas, Saptaśatikas, satikas, śatikas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Lord Hayagriva in Sanskrit Literature (by Anindita Adhikari)

Hayagrīva in Buddhism < [Chapter 6]

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Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)

Introduction to first volume < [Introductions]

Abbreviations

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