The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2031 page)

 
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(Jap., ‘dragon’). A deity which protects Buddhism. It is the equivalent of
n
ga
, a snake-like creature with power to cause rain.

 
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(882–942).
Leader of Babylonian Jewry in the
geonic
period. Sa‘adiah grew up in Egypt, but eventually settled in Baghd
d. From 921, he became involved in a struggle between the
Jerusalem
academy
and the Babylonian authorities on the dating of the
festivals
—in his
Sefer ha-Mo‘adim
, he gives an account of the affair. In 928, he became head of the academy at
Sura
. With extraordinary energy he revived the academy, but he quickly came into conflict with the
exilarch
David b. Zakkai, who deposed him. Sa‘adiah in his turn appointed an alternative exilarch. Ultimately the two were reconciled, but not until a bitter and long-drawn-out quarrel had taken place. Sa‘adiah is remembered as a
halakhist
, a philosopher, a grammarian, and a liturgist. He wrote several halakhic books, most of which are still in manuscript. Those in print were collected and edited by J. Mueller (1897). His major philosophic work was his
Kitab al-Amanat w’al-l’tiqadat
(
The Book of Beliefs and Opinions
, 1948). The Hebrew translation by Judah ibn Tibbon,
Sefer ha-Emunot ve-ha-De’ot
(1562) was extremely influential and was drawn on by the opponents of
Maimonides
.

 
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(Pañj
b
from Skt.,
abda
, ‘word’). The divine word. Sikhs generally use this term for the
hymns
of the
di Granth
. For
N
nak
, it was the Satgur
's revelatory Word.
abad also signifies the mystical ‘sound’ experienced at the climax of
N
th
Yoga
and the authoritative Word in the
Vedic
tradition.See also
ABDA
.