The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1353 page)

(Gk.,
laos
, ‘people’). Baptized Christians who are not clergy or ordained to specific ministry (i.e. the majority). Since the New Testament envisages a priesthood of all believers, the place of the laity in the mission and life of the Church should be paramount. In fact, virtually the whole of mainstream Christianity is dominated by the ordained clergy, so far as control and decision-making is concerned. The term is now also applied to people in other religions who are not among the formally accredited personnel—e.g., in Buddhism, those who do not belong to the
sangha
, the community of
bhikkhus
, i.e.
up
saka
.

 
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(Skt., ‘marks’). Marks on a body, auspicious for Hindus if they appear on the right (for a man) or the left (for a woman): see also
ASHES
. The term has also been used for the five characteristics of a complete
pur
a:

(i) creation of a cosmos;
(ii) its dissolution and renewal;
(iii) the origin and descent of gods and heroes;
(iv) the work of the
Manus
(lawgivers);
(v) the work of their descendants

.

 
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Lak
ma
a
.

The half-brother of
R
ma
and son of Da
aratha, king of
Ayodhy
. As R
ma's life-span was coming to an end, Lak
ma
a took upon himself the death-sentence that was R
ma's and committed suicide by drowning in the River
aray
, whence his body was removed to heaven by the gods.