A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |      Part 2 – N through Z

A

Abhasavada: Doctrine holding that all creation is a reflection of the Supreme Reality.

Abhaya(m): “Without fear;” fearlessness; a state of steadfastness in which one is not swayed by fear of any kind.

Abheda: Non-difference; non-duality.
Abheda-ahamkara: The pure ego that identifies itself with Brahman or the Absolute.

Abhedananda, Swami: A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, who spent many years traveling and teaching Vedanta and Yoga in America.

Abhimana: Egoism; conceit; attachment; I-sense; pride; the function of the ego; the delusion of “me” and “mine;” identification with the body.

Abhimani: One who has egoistic feeling.

Abhimata: Desired; favorite; attractive; agreeable, appealing; object of choice.

Abhinivesha: Clinging to earthly life; will to live; strong desire; false identification of the Self with the body or mind; an instinctive clinging to life and a dread of death.

Abhisheka(m): Bathing–the ritual pouring of various items over a sacred image or personage in homage and worship.

Abhyantara: Internal; inward.

Abhyasa: Sustained (constant) spiritual practice.

Abhyasa Yoga: Yoga, or union with God, through sustained spiritual practice.

Abhyasin: Yoga-practitioner.

Achala: Not moving; immovable; standing still; firm; steady; fixed, unwavering; without change.

Achamana: Sipping water from the hollowed palm of the hand; a preliminary simple rite connected with ritualistic worship.

Achara: 1) Immobile. 2) Right conduct; good behavior; custom; practice; external observance of established rules and laws; teaching.

Acharya: Preceptor; teacher; spiritual teacher/ guide; guru.

Achintya: Unthinkable; inconceivable; incomprehensible; inexplicable. A title of Brahman because the mind cannot conceive Its nature.

Achintya shakti: Inscrutable power ineffable force.

Achyuta: The indestructible; the unchanging; the imperishable one–a title of Krishna.

Adesha: A divine command from within the being.

Adhara: 1) “To support or prop;” support; substratum; body apparatus. In yoga, it means various places of the body where the attention is focussed for control, concentration, and meditation. 2) A reservoir of pranic energies, storage units for the energies that flow into the subtle bodies through the chakras, therefore often mistaken for a chakra.

Adharma: Unrighteousness; demerit, failure to perform one’s proper duty; unrighteous action; lawlessness; absence of virtue; all that is contrary to righteousness (dharma).

Adhibhautika: Elemental.

Adhibhuta: Primal Being; pertaining to the elements; the primordial form of matter.

Adhidaiva: Primal God.

Adhidaivika: Pertaining, to the heaven or the celestial beings.

Adhikara: Authority; qualification; jurisdiction; prerogative; office; claim; privilege.

Adhikari(n): An eligible or qualified person; a worthy person. It implies both fitness and capability.

Adhishthana(m): Seat; basis; substratum; ground; support; abode; the body as the abode of the subtle bodies and the Self; underlying truth or essence; background.

Adhiyajna: Primal Sacrifice; Supreme Sacrifice.

Adhyatma: The individual Self; the supreme Self; spirit.

Adhyatmika: Adhyatmic; pertaining to the Self (Atman or Jivatman), individual and Supreme (Paramatman).
Adi: First, original, or primary.

Adi Purusha: The First or Original Purusha. See Purusha.

Adibhuta: Primal Being; Primal Element; Primordial Matter. Also: Supreme Being and Supreme Element.

Adidaiva: Primal God; Supreme God.

Adishakti: Primal Power.

Aditattva: The first principle; Brahman; Mula Prakriti; the first element (of matter) next but one above akasha in the gradation of subtlety.

Aditi: Boundless; unbounded; “Infinite Mother”–the source of all the cosmic forms of consciousness from physical upwards; in Vedic cosmology: the mother of the gods.

Aditya: The sun; the Sun God.

Adityas: Solar deities, the greatest of which is Vishnu.

Advaita: Non-dualism; non-duality; literally: not [a] two [dvaita].

Advaita Nishtha: Establishment in the state of non-duality.

Advaita vada: The theory that Brahman is the only existence; monism; Vedanta.

Advaita Vedanta: The teaching that there is only One Reality (Brahman-Atman), as found in the Upanishads. Non-dualistic philosophy, especially that of Shankara.

Advaitic: Non-dual; having to do with the philosophy of Advaita (Non-Dualism).

Advaitin: A proponent of Advaita philosophy.

Advaitist: A proponent of Advaita philosophy.

Adwitiya: Without a second.

Adya: Primordial; original.

Adyasakti: The Primal Energy; Avyaktam. or Mula Prakriti.

Agama: Scripture; particularly scriptures dealing with the four topics of temple construction and the making of images, philosophy, meditation practice, and methods of worship.

Agamapaya/agamapayi: That which appears and disappears–comes and goes.

Agami karma: Karma produced by present action that will be experienced by the individual in the future.

Agastya: A sage and reputed seer of many hymns in the Rig Veda.

Agni: Fire; Vedic god of fire.

Agnihotra: “Fire offering;” a Vedic fire sacrifice.

Agrahya: Unfit to be taken; that which cannot be grasped; that which cannot be understood; Brahman.

Aguna: Without guna or quality.

Aham: I; I-awareness; the ego; the individual soul; self-consciousness; the pure inner Self.

Aham Brahmasmi: “I am Brahman.” The Mahavakya (Great Saying) of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

Ahamika: Egoism; Pride.

Ahamkara: See Ahankara.

Ahankara: Ego; egoism or self-conceit; the self-arrogating principle “I,” “I” am-ness; self-consciousness.

Ahara: Food; object of senses; anything taken in by the senses.

Ahata: Natural sound.

Ahimsa: Non-injury in thought, word, and deed; non-violence; non-killing; harmlessness.

Ahuti: Oblation (poured into the fire in sacrifices).

Airavata: The white elephant of Indra that was produced by the churning of the ocean.

Aishwarya: Dominion, power; lordship; divine glory; majesty; splendor; attribute(s) of Ishwara.

Aja: Unborn; unproduced; birthless.

Ajapa japa: A yogic term that means the natural, spontaneous sound of the breath that goes on perpetually through the simple act of breathing. This sound is extremely subtle, and though non-verbal is the highest form of mantra. The Mantra “So’ham” (I am He) which is produced by the breath itself, without any conscious effort at repeating it: the inhalation sounding ‘So’ and the exhalation ‘ham.’

Ajapa Gayatri: So’ham Mantra.

Ajara: Without old age; ageless.

Ajara Amara Avinashi Atma: The ageless, immortal, imperishable Self.

Ajna chakra: “Command Wheel.” Energy center located at the point between the eyebrows, the “third eye.” The seat of the mind. The medulla center opposite the point between the eyebrows, having two “petals” or rays.

Ajnana: Ignorance; nescience.

Ajnani: One who is ignorant, devoid of knowledge and wisdom.

Akanksha: Desire (all round).

Akara: Form; shape; category.

Akarma: Inaction; non-doing.

Akarshana shakti: Power of attraction.

Akarta: Non-doer; non-attached.

Akasha: Ether; space; sky; literally: “not visible.” The subtlest of the five elements (panchabhuta), from which the other four arise. It is all-pervading, and is sometimes identified with consciousness–chidakasha. It is the basis of sound (shabda), which is its particular property.

Akashavani: Ethereal voice; heavenly voice.

Akasha Tattwa: The ether-principle.

Akhanda: Unbroken (literally: “not broken”); indivisible; undivided; whole.

Aklishta: Unafflicted; non-afflicted; unmoved.

Akshara: Imperishable; indestructible, immutable, undying; undecaying; unchanging–all in reference to the individual self and the Supreme Self, Brahman. It also means syllable and is used in reference to the ekakshara–the one syllable, the One Imperishable: Om.

Akula: Without form; formless.

Alabdhabhumikatva: Non-achievement of a stage; inability to find a footing.

Alambana: Support.

Alakshana: Without distinctive marks.

Alasya: Laziness; idleness; apathy; sloth.

Alata chakra: A stick burning at one end, when waved round quickly, produces an illusion of a circle of fire.

Alinga: Without any attribute, characteristic or mark; Parabrahman; noumenal; undifferentiated prakriti.

Amala: Without impurity.

Amalaka: Embelica myrobalan

Amalam: Free from Maya; free from the impurity of Maya.
Amana/Amanaska: Mindless.

Amangala: Inauspicious.

Amara: Immortal; deathless.

Amatra: Having no sign.

Amavasya: New moon day.
Ambara: Sky ; ether; cloth; garment.

Amrita: That which makes one immortal. The nectar of immortality that emerged from the ocean of milk when the gods churned it.

Amsha: Part; component; limb; fragment.

Anadi: Beginningless; eternal.

Anahata: “Unstruck;” “unbeaten.” Continuous bell-like inner resonance; the heart; the heart chakra; the inner divine melody (mystic sounds heard by the Yogis); supernatural sound; So’ham.

Anahata chakra: “Unstruck.” Energy center located in the spine at the point opposite the center of the chest (sternum bone). Seat of the Air element.

Anahata-dhvani: Mystic sounds heard by Yogis.

Ananda: Bliss; happiness; joy. A fundamental attribute of Brahman, which is Satchidananda: Existence, Consciousness, Bliss.

Ananda sagara: Ocean of Bliss.

Anandamaya: Full of bliss.

Anandamaya kosha: “The sheath of bliss (ananda).” The causal body (karana sharira). The borderline of the Self (atman).

Anandamayi Ma: One of the major spiritual figures in twentieth-century India, first made known to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a Yogi.

Ananta: Infinite; without end; endless; a name of Shesha, the chief of the Nagas, whose coils encircle the earth and who symbolizes eternity, and upon whom Vishnu reclines.

Anarabdha-karya: Works which have not yet begun to produce their effects.

Anarya(n): Not aryan; ignoble; unworthy. See Aryan.

Anatma(n): Not-Self; insentient.

Anavashtitatvani: Unsteadiness; instability of mind; inability to find a footing; mental unsteadiness.

Aneka: Not one–i.e., many.

Anga: Limb; individual part; accessory; member; step d. The yoga expounded by Pantanjali in the Yoga Sutras (Yoga Darshan) has eight limbs: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, dharana, dhyana, pratyahara, and samadhi.

Angamejayatva: Shaking of the body; lack of control over the body.

Anima: Subtlety; the power of making the body subtle; reducing the physical mass and density at will; one of the eight Siddhis.

Anishta: Undesired; bad.

Anitya: Impermanent; transient.

Anna(m): Food; matter.

Annamaya kosha: “The sheath of food (anna).” The physical–or gross–body, made of food.

Annapurna: “Full of Food.” A title of the Goddess (Shakti) depicted as the Goddess of Food and Abundance. The consort of Shiva.

Anrita: Falsehood or untruth.
Anta: End.

Antahkarana: Internal instrument; the subtle bodies; fourfold mind: mind, intellect, ego and subconscious mind.

Antahkarana-chatushtaya: The mind in its four aspects, viz., Manas, Buddhi, Citta and Ahamkara; fourfold internal organ.

Antah-prajna: Inner subjective consciousness.

Antar: Internal; middle; interspace.

Antaranga: Internal organ; mind.

Antaratma(n): Inner Self; conscience.

Antardrishti: Inner vision.

Antarika: Inward; whole-hearted.

Antariksha: Firmament; sky.

Antarmukha: Literally “inner face”–inward vision or perception.

Antarmukha vritti: A state in which the mind is turned inwards and is withdrawn from objects.
Antaryamana: Ruling within.

Antaryamin: Indweller; inner guide; inner ruler; God as the Inner Controller.

Anu: Atom; of minute size.

Anubhava: Perception; direct personal experience; identity of the Jiva with Brahman; spiritual experience; intuitive consciousness and knowledge.

Anubhava-advaita: Actual living experience of Oneness.

Anukarah: Following; imitating.

Anumana: Inference.

Anumanika: Inferential.

Anuswara: Bindu.

Anusandhana: Enquiry or investigation; in Vedanta, enquiry or investigation into the nature of Brahman.

Anuraga: Intense prema or love (towards God).

Anushaya: The balance or residue of karma which forces the soul to take rebirth in this or the other world after temporary freedom enjoyed in the higher spheres.

Anushthana: Observance; religious exercise; repetition of a mantra for a set number of times during a given period; systematic performance of religious practices, usually undertaken for some definite period of time.

Anusmarana: Remembrance; constant memory of Brahman or God.

Anvaya-vyatireka: Positive and negative assertions; proof by assertion and negation. Just as several kinds of dal are mixed together, so also, the Atman is mixed with the five koshas. You will have to separate the Self from the five sheaths. You will have to separate name and form from Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Anvaya and vyatireka processes always go together. The Self exists in the five sheaths, yet it is not the sheaths. This is Vedantic sadhana. The aspirant rejects the names and forms and the five sheaths and realizes the one, all-pervading, indivisible, infinite, eternal, unchanging essence, viz., Brahman.

Apah: Water.

Apamana: Disrespect; disgrace.

Apana: The prana that moves downward, producing the excretory functions in general; exhalation.

Apara: Lower; lower knowledge; other; relative; inferior.

Aparadha: Fault; mistake.

Aparajita: Unconquerable.

Aparigraha: Non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-selfishness, non-acquisitiveness; freedom from covetousness; non-receiving of gifts conducive to luxury.

Aparna: Imperfect; not full; incomplete.

Aparoksha: Direct; immediate.

Aparoksha anubhuti: The direct, immediate, intuitive experience or perception of the invisible–the realization of Brahman. The title of a treatise on Advaita Vedanta by Shankaracharya.

Aparokshanubhava-svarupa: The essence of direct intuitive perception; of the nature or form of direct realization.

Aparokshatva: Feeling of directness or immediateness.

Apavarga: Liberation; release; escape from pain; release from the bondage of embodiment.

Apavitra: Impure.
Aprajnata: Unknown

Apsara: A celestial damsel, nymph, and dancer.

Apta: Competent person; a sage or an adept; a wellwisher.

Apunya: Demerit; vice; non-meritorious acts; unvirtuous deeds; sinful. See Punya.

Aradhana: Worship of the Divine; adoration; self-surrender.

Arambha: Origin; cause; original; causal. Mental initiation of an action; sankalpa.

Arambha-vada: “The theory of origination;” the doctrine of the creation of the world by Ishwara; the theory of a beginning, an origination, a creation of the world by an agency external to the questioner; the doctrine of an absolute new creation; the theory of the Nyaya Vaisesika.

Arani: Sacrificial wood stick for creating fire through friction.

Aranyaka: “Forest book;” philosophical, symbolic, and spiritual interpretations of the Vedic hymns and rituals. Mainly meant for forest-dwelling ascetics (vanaprasthas).

Arati: A ceremony of worship in which lights, incense, camphor, and other offerings representing the five elements and the five senses–the totality of the human being–are waved before an image or symbol of the Divine.

Aratrika: See Arati.

Archa(nam): Worship; adoration; offering of flowers and sacred leaves, etc., at the time of puja or worship, uttering the names of the object of worship.

Ardhangini: Partner in life (wife); especially Parvati, the wife of Lord Siva.

Arghya: Offering of water made in ritualistic worship. Sometimes an offering of flowers, bel leaves, sandal paste, durva grass, and rice together.

Arjava(m): Straightforwardness; simplicity; honesty; rectitude of conduct (from the verb root rinj: “to make straight”); uprightness.

Arjuna: The great disciple of Krishna, who imparted to him the teachings found in the Bhagavad Gita. The third of the Pandava brothers who were major figures in the Mahabharata War. His name literally means “bright,” “white,” or “clear.”

Artha: Wealth; object; thing; meaning; sense; purpose; an object of desire. It is the secular value which is both desired and desirable. It satisfies the acquisitive tendency in individuals. It is the economic value.

Arya(n): One who is an Arya–literally, “one who strives upward.” Both Arya and Aryan are exclusively psychological terms having nothing whatsoever to do with birth, race, or nationality. In his teachings Buddha habitually referred to spiritually qualified people as “the Aryas.” Although in English translations we find the expressions: “The Four Noble Truths,” and “The Noble Eightfold Path,” Buddha actually said: “The Four Aryan Truths,” and “The Eightfold Aryan Path.”
Arya Dharma: The Dharma of the Aryas. See Sanatana Dharma.

Arya Samaj: The organization founded by Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati in the nineteenth century to encourage the restoration of the more ancient and simple forms of original Vedic religion.

Aryaman: Chief of the Pitris.

Aryavarta: The land of the Aryas. Usually applied to northern India.

Asambhava: Total inapplicability; impossibility.

Asamprajñata samadhi: Highest superconscious state where the mind and the ego-sense are completely annihilated. Superconscious union; a stage in samadhi wherein one is not conscious of any object and in the mind ceases to function.

Asamprayoga: Withdrawal of the senses from their objects; non-communication; non-interchange; withdrawal; disuniting; disconnecting.

Asana: Posture; seat; meditation posture; Hatha Yoga posture.

Asanga: Non-attachment; without attachment.

Asara: Without essence; dry; barren; worthless.

Asat: Unreal[ity]; nonbeing; nonexistence; false; falsehood.

Asatya: Unreal; untrue.

Asha: Hope; expectation.

Ashanti: Absence of peace of mind; restlessness; distraction.

Ashaucha: Impurity; uncleanness.

Ashishah: Primordial will; drive-to-survive; will-to-live; desire to live; expectation. From a which means near to or toward, and shas which means to order or direct. It is the force within the individual that causes it to pass from the absolute into the conditioned, from the transcendent into the immanent condition, from eternity into time, into relative existence.

Ashram(a): A place for spiritual discipline and study, usually a monastic residence. Also a stage of life. In Hinduism life is divided ideally into four stages (ashramas): 1) the celibate student life (brahmacharya); 2) the married household life (grihasta); 3) the life of retirement (seclusion) and contemplation (vanaprastha); 4) the life of total renunciation (sannyasa).

Ashrama-dharma: Duties pertaining to the four order or stages of life.

Ashramite: Resident of an ashram.

Ashtami: “The eighth”–eighth day of the dark or light fortnights of the lunar cycle.

Ashtanga Yoga: The “eight-limbed” Yoga of Patanjali consisting of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi (see separate entries for each “limb”).

Ashuchi: Impure; not clean.

Ashuddha: Impure; incorrect.

Ashuddhi: Impurity.

Ashwattha: The pippal (sacred fig) tree, in the Bhagavad Gita, the eternal tree of life whose roots are in heaven. The “world tree” in the sense of the axis of the earth and even of the cosmos.

Ashwins: Two Vedic deities, celestial horsemen of the sun, always together, who herald the dawn and are skilled in healing. They avert misfortune and sickness and bring treasures.

Ashubha: Inauspicious, unfortunate.

Asmi: I am; I exist.

Asmita: I-ness; the sense of “I am;” “I exist;” sense of individuality.

Asteya: Non-stealing; honesty; non-misappropriativeness.

Asthira: Wavering and unsteady.

Asti: Exists; is; Brahman.

Astikyam: Piety; belief in God.

Astra: Missile; weapon invoked with a Mantra.

Asura: Demon; evil being (a-sura: without the light).

Asuric: Of demonic character.

Asurim: The state of an asura, one who dwells in darkness (a-sura–without the light). The condition of those negative souls who are turned away from divinity and moving further into degradation of consciousness and mode of life.

Asurisampat: Devilish qualities; demonaical wealth.

Aswara: Without sound, accent, or tone.

Atattwa: The absolute opposite of Tattwa; non-principle; non-element; non-essence; untruth; unreality.

Atiprashna: Transcendental question; too much questioning; questioning carried to the extreme.

Atita: Past; above; beyond; transcendent.

Atma(n): The individual spirit or Self that is one with Brahman. The true nature or identity.

Atmabala: Soul-force.

Atma-bhava: The nature of the Self; awareness of the self; feeling: “I am the Self.”

Atma-bodha: Knowledge of the Self; also a work of that name by Sri Sankara.

Atma-cintana: Reflection on the Self or the Atman.

Atma-darshan: The seeing or sight of the Self (atma); the vision of the Self; knowledge of the Self through direct vision or knowing; the vision of seeing everything as the Self.

Atma-drishti: Atma-darshan.

Atmajna: One who has known the Self; seer with Self-knowledge.

Atmajnana: Direct knowledge of the Self; Brahma-Jnana.

Atma shakti: Power of the Self; personal power or strength.

Atmalakshya: Having the Self as the goal; Self as the object of meditation of Vedantins.

Atmanistha: Established in the Self.

Atmanivedana: Dedicating one’s entire self to the divine; self-surrender.

Atmaprakasha: The shining forth or light of the Self.

Atmapratyaksha: Direct perception of the Self.

Atmarama: Satisfied–delighted–in the Self.

Atmarati: Rejoicing in the Self; interested or centred in the Self.

Atmasakshatkara: “Direct sight of the Self;” realization of the true nature of the Self; Self-realization.

Atmasamarpana: Self-consecration; offering of the self, at the feet of the Lord.

Atmatripti: Satisfaction in one’s own Self.

Atmavichara: Enquiry into the Self.

Atmavidya: Teaching about the Self and its reality; knowledge of the Self.

Atmavit: Knower of the Self.

Atmic: Having to do with the atma–spirit or self.

Atyantabhava: Complete non-existence; extreme unreality, like the horn of a rabbit or a lotus in the sky or the son of a barren woman.

Aum: Alternate spelling of Om.

Aurobindo Ghosh, Sri: One of India’s greatest yogis and spiritual writers, he was at first involved in the Indian freedom movement, but came to see that yoga was the true path to freedom. His ashram in South India became one of the major spiritual centers in modern India, and his voluminous spiritual writings are read and prized throughout the world.

Aushadi: Herb; medicine.

Avadhuta: “Cast off” (one who has cast off the world utterly). A supreme ascetic and jnani who has renounced all worldly attachments and connections and lives in a state beyond body consciousness, whose behavior is not bound by ordinary social conventions. Usually they wear no clothing. They embody the highest state of asceticism or tapas.

Avarana: Concealment; veil; screen; obstruction; the veiling power of ignorance.

Avarana-shakti: Veiling power of Maya; Avidya in the individual.

Avastha: State of experience; state of consciousness; condition.

Avastu: Non-material; non-substance; nothing; without the characteristic of a thing as being spacebound and time-tied; unsubstantial.

Avatar(a): A fully liberated spirit (jiva) who is born into a world below Satya Loka to help others attain liberation. Though commonly referred to as a divine incarnation, an avatar actually is totally one with God, and therefore an incarnation of God-Consciousness.

Avidya: Ignorance; nescience; unknowing; literally: “to know not.” A Sakti or illusive power in Brahman which is sometimes regarded as one with Maya and sometimes as different from it. It forms the condition of the individual soul and is otherwise called Ajnana or Asuddha-maya. It forms the Karana Sarira of the Jiva. It is Malina or impure Sattwa. Also called ajnana.

Avidyamaya: Maya, or illusion causing duality, has two aspects, namely, avidyamaya and vidyamaya. Avidyamaya, or the “maya of ignorance,” consisting of anger, passion, and so on, entangles one in worldliness. Vidyamaya, or the “maya of knowledge,” consisting of kindness, purity, unselfishness, and so on, leads one to liberation. Both belong to the relative world. See Maya.

Avidyasakti: The power of ignorance (avidya).

Avinashi: Indestructible; imperishable.

Avirati: Hankering after objects; non-dispassion; sensual indulgence; lack of control; non-restraint.

Avritta-cakshuh: One whose gaze is turned inwards.

Avyakta(m): Unmanifest; invisible; when the three gunas are in a state of equilibrium’ the undifferentiated.

Avyakta-nada: Unmanifested sound.

Avyaya: Inexhaustible; undiminishing; unchangeable

Ayam Atma Brahma: “This Self is Brahman.” The Mahavakya (Great Saying) of the Mandukya Upanishad).

Ayana: Movement; the sun’s passage northward and southward from the tropics of cancer and capricorn.

Ayurveda: “Life-knowledge.” The ancient system of Indian medicine formulated by the sage Dhanvantari and considered part of the Vedic revelation.

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B

Baddha: Bound; one who is in a state of bondage.

Bahusyam: “May I be many” the original “thought” or sankalpa of Brahman before the projection of creation.

Bahya: External; outward.

Bala brahmacharya: Brahmacharya observed from childhood (bala).

Balarama: Sri Krishna’s elder brother, also called “Balai.”

Bandha: “Lock;” bond; bondage; tie or knot.

Bel: A tree whose leaves are sacred to Siva; also the fruit of the same tree.

Bhadra: Blessing; happy; well.

Bhagavad Gita: “The Song of God.” The sacred philosophical text often called “the Hindu Bible,” part of the epic Mahabharata by Vyasa; the most popular sacred text in Hinduism.

Bhagavan: The Lord; the One endowed with the six attributes, viz. infinite treasures, strength, glory, splendor knowledge, and renunciation; the Personal God.

Bhagavata: A devotee of God (Bhagavan) or Vishnu.

Bhagavatam: Srimad Bhagavatam. A major purana devoted to the glory and worship of Vishnu and his incarnation as Krishna. The major scripture of the Vaishnavas.

Bhagavati: Goddess; the feminine form of Bhagavan.

Bhairava: Shiva.

Bhairavi: A nun of the Tantric sect.

Bhajan: Devotional singing; a devotional song; remembrance (of God).

Bhajana: Worship (of the Lord); praise (of the Lord); taking refuge (in the Lord).

Bhakta: Devotee; votary; a follower of the path of bhakti, divine love; a worshipper of the Personal God.

Bhakti: Devotion; dedication; love (of God).

Bhakti Marga: The path of devotion leading to union with God.

Bhakti Sutra: An aphoristic work on devotional Yoga authored by the sage Narada. Another text by the same title is ascribed to the sage Shandilya.

Bhakti Yoga: The yoga of attaining union with God through the prescribed spiritual discipline of the path of devotion.

Bhakti Yogi: One who practices Bhakti Yoga.

Bhaktivedanta (Swami): The founder of the Hari Krishna movement in America.

Bharat(a): The proper Sanskrit name for India; one of the brothers of Rama; a title of Arjuna.

Bharati: Indian

Bharat(a)varsha: The land of India.

Bhautika: Pertaining to or composed of elements; material; physical.

Bhava: Subjective state of being (existence); attitude of mind; mental attitude or feeling; state of realization in the heart or mind.

Bhava samadhi: Superconscious state attained by bhaktas or devotees through intense divine emotion in which the devotee retains his ego and enjoys communion with the Personal God.

Bhavamukha: An exalted state of spiritual experience, in which the aspirant keeps his mind on the borderline between the Absolute and the Relative. From this position he can contemplate the ineffable and attributeless Brahman and also participate in the activities of the relative world, seeing in it the manifestation of God alone.

Bhavanam: Meditation. “Bhavanam is setting the heart on the Lord Who is designated by Om and brought into the mind by It” (Shankara, Commentary on the Yoga Sutras). It has the connotation of all the awareness becoming focused and absorbed in it.

Bhavatarini: “Savior of the World (or Universe);” a title of the Divine Mother, especially Kali.

Bhaya: Fear; terror.

Bheda: Difference distinction; disjunction; splitting.

Bhedabheda: Difference and non-difference; a system of philosophy in which the individual is different from and one with the Supreme Soul.

Bhedabuddhi: The intellect that creates differences: the vyavaharika buddhi that diversifies everything as opposed to the paramartic buddhi that unifies everything.

Bhiksha: Almsfood; food obtained by begging or that is offered to a monk.

Bhikshu: One who lives on bhiksha (almsfood); a mendicant; a sannyasi; also a designation of a Buddhist monk.

Bhoga: Enjoyment, pleasure; experience; perception; also food (usually what has been offered to a deity).

Bhogya: Object of experience or enjoyment.

Bhokta: Enjoyer; experiencer; subject of experience or enjoyment.

Bhrama: Illusion; delusion; rotation; wandering.

Bhranti: Delusion; wrong notion; false idea or impression.

Bhrashta: Fallen from the way of Yoga.

Bhrigu: An ancient sage, so illustrious that he mediated quarrels among the gods.

Bhrikuti: Space between the eye-brows.

Bhuh: The earth-plane.

Bhukti: Material enjoyment.

Bhuma: The unconditioned Infinite; Brahman.

Bhumi: The earth; ground; region; place.

Bhuta (1): What has come into being; an entity as opposed to the unmanifested; any of the five elementary constituents of the universe; element.

Bhuta (2): A spirit. Some bhutas are subhuman nature spirits or “elementals,” but some are earthbound human spirits–ghosts. Bhutas may be either positive or negative.

Bhuvah: The higher etheric or the astral world.

Bhuvana: World.

Bija: Seed; source.

Bija Mantra: A “seed” mantra from which realization grows as a tree from a seed; usually a single-syllable mantra.

Bijakshara: The root-letter or the seed-letter in which there is the latent power of a Mantra.

Bijatma: The subtle inner Self; also called Sukshmatma, Sutratma or Antaryamin.

Bimba: Original; (Brahman).

Bimbapratibimbavada: The doctrine that the Jiva is a reflection of Brahman; Jiva who is the reflection of Brahman is not, therefore, a distinct thing from but is absolutely one with It. This is one phase of the theory of reflection which lays stress on the identity of the reflection and the original.

Bindu: Point; dot; seed; source; the creative potency of anything where all energies are focused; the point from which the subtle Omkara arises that is experienced in meditation.

Bodha: Consciousness; intelligence; wisdom; knowledge; “to be awake;” enlightenment.

Bodhi: Enlightenment; “to be awakened;” the state of the awakened yogi, or buddha.

Brahma: The Creator (Prajapati) of the three worlds of men, angels, and archangels (Bhur, Bhuwah, and Swah); the first of the created beings; Hiranyagarbha or cosmic intelligence.

Brahma satyam; jagan mithya; jivo brahmaiva naparah: “Brahman is real. The world is illusion. The jiva is none other than Brahman.” This is Shankara’s renowned “Vedanta in half a verse.”

Brahma Sutras: A treatise by Vyasa on Vedanta philosophy in the form of aphorisms. Also called the Vedanta Sutras or Vedanta Darshana.

Brahma-anubhava: Direct personal experience of Brahman.

Brahmabhata: One who has become Brahman.
Brahmabhava(na): Feeling of identity with Brahman, as well as of everything as Brahman.

Brahmabhavanam: Meditation on Brahman; feeling of identity with Brahman, as well as of everything as Brahman.

Brahmabhyasa: Meditation on Brahman; Nididhydsana; reflection on Brahman; conversing on Brahman; discussing about Brahman; etc., that is calculated to the realization of Brahman.

Brahmachaitanya: Divine Consciousness, Brahman-Consciousness.

Brahmachari(n): One who observes continence; a celibate student in the first stage of life (ashrama); a junior monk.

Brahmacharini: Female “brahmachari.”

Brahmacharya: Continence; self-restraint on all levels; discipline; dwelling in Brahman.

Brahmacharya-ashrama: Order of the students engaged in the study of the Vedas and the service of the Guru or the preceptor.

Brahmachintana: Constant meditation on Brahman; constant thought of or awareness of God.

Brahmajnana: Direct, transcendental knowledge of Brahman; Self-realization.

Brahmajnani: One who possess Brahmajnana.

Brahmajyoti: The Light of God.

Brahmakaravritti: The sole ultimate thought of Brahman alone to the exclusion of all other thoughts that is arrived at through intense Vedantic meditation.

Brahmaloka: The world (loka) of God (Brahman); the infinite consciousness of God.

Brahmamaya: Formed of Brahma; filled with Brahma.

Brahmamuhurta: “The muhurta of Brahman.” The period of one and a half hours before sunrise (sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.), which is said to be the best time for meditation and worship.

Brahman: The Absolute Reality; the Truth proclaimed in the Upanishads; the Supreme Reality that is one and indivisible, infinite, and eternal; all-pervading, changeless Existence; Existence-knowledge-bliss Absolute (Satchidananda); Absolute Consciousness; it is not only all-powerful but all-power itself; not only all-knowing and blissful but all-knowledge and all-bliss itself.

Brahmana (1): A knower of Brahman; a Brahmajnani.

Brahmana (2): A member of the Brahmin caste.

Brahmana (3): A Vedic liturgical text explaining the rituals found in the Vedic samhitas (collection of hymns). A guidebook for performing those rites.

Brahmananda: The bliss of communion with Brahman.

Brahmanda: “The egg of Brahma” or “the Brahmic egg.” The cosmic “egg;” the universe; the cosmos; the macrocosm.
Brahmanirvana: The state of liberation (nirvana) that results from total union with Brahman.

Brahmanishtha: Remaining steadfast in the Absolute (Brahman). One who is firmly established in the Supreme being, in the direct knowledge of Brahman, the Absolute Reality.

Brahmanubhava: Self-realization; God-realization; absolute experience.

Brahmanusandhana: Considering, thinking of, searching after, enquiring into, looking after, investigation of, exploration into the nature of Brahman; receiving of the Upadesha about Brahman and reflection upon it.

Brahma-parayana: One whose faith and sole refuge is in Brahman.

Brahmarandhra: “The hole of Brahman,” the subtle (astral) aperture in the crown of the head. Said to be the gateway to the Absolute (Brahman) in the thousand-petaled lotus (sahasrara) in the crown of the head. Liberated beings are said to exit the physical body through this aperture at death.

Brahmarishi: A knower of Brahman.

Brahmasakshatkara: Realization of Brahman; direct experience of the Absolute Being.

Brahmashakti: The power of the Supreme Being.

Brahmasamstha: Grounded in Brahman; Sannyasin.

Brahmastithi (or Brahmistithi): The establishment or dwelling in Brahman.
Brahmatejas: The effulgent splendor of Brahman.

Brahmavada: The Path to Brahman; the way to supreme enlightenment.

Brahmavadin: Literally “one who walks the path of Brahman.” One who advocates that there is one existence alone–Parabrahman.

Brahmavakya: Divine revelation, such as the Upanishads.

Brahmavichara: Enquiry into the Absolute (Brahman).

Brahmavidya: Science of Brahman; knowledge of Brahman; learning pertaining to Brahman or the Absolute Reality.

Brahmavit: Knower of Brahman.

Brahmayoga: State in which the Yogi realizes himself and the whole universe as Brahman.

Brihat: Large; big; absolute.

Brahmic: Divine; pertaining to God (Brahman).

Brahmin (Brahmana): A knower of Brahman; a member of the highest Hindu caste consisting of priests, pandits, philosophers, and religious leaders.

Brahmopasana: Worship of the Infinite Brahman.

Bhranti-darshana: Delusion; erroneous view.

Brihaspati: The guru–priest and teacher–of the gods.

Brihatsaman: A hymn to Indra found in the Sama Veda.

Brindaban: The place where Krishna was born and where he lived until the age of twelve. Today it is a city of devotees and temples. Many agree with my friend who once said to me in a very matter-of-fact way: “Brindaban is my life.” Its actual name is Vrindavan, but so many Bengali devotees and saints for centuries have called it “Brindaban” in their dialect, it has become common usage throughout India.

Buddha: “An awakened one;” one full of knowledge who has attained enlightenment (bodhi), and thereby moksha (liberation). The usual reference to Gautama (Sakyamuni) Buddha of the sixth century B.C,

Buddhi: Intellect; intelligence; understanding; reason; the thinking mind; the higher mind, which is the seat of wisdom; the discriminating faculty.

Buddhi-sattwa: Experience of the buddhi in its most subtle level in which the buddhi and the Self are virtually indistinguishable; the experience of I-am (asmita/aham), experience of the Self through the buddhi.

Buddhi-shakti: Intellectual power.

Buddhi-shuddhi: Purity of intellect.

Buddhi-tattwa: Principle of intelligence.

Buddhi Yoga: The Yoga of Intelligence spoken of in the Bhagavad Gita which later came to be called Jnana Yoga, the Yoga of Knowledge.

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Caste: See Varna.

Chaitanya: Consciousness; intelligence; awareness; the consciousness that knows itself and knows others; Pure Consciousness.

Chaitanyamayi: Full of (all-) consciousness; an attribute of Maya.

Chaitanya-samadhi: The state of superconsciousness which is marked by absolute self-awareness and illumination as distinguished from Jada-samadhi in which there is no such awareness.

Chakra: Wheel. Plexus; center of psychic energy in the human system, particularly in the spine or head.

Chakshuh: Eye; the visual sense or faculty; the subtle organ of sight; sense of seeing.

Chamatkara: Remarkable traits and abilities; cleverness; shining forth with divine glory.

Chandala: An untouchable, or outcaste; literally: “wild” or “bad.”

Chandra: Presiding deity of the moon or the astral lunar world (loka).

Chandranadi: The lunar psychic current that flows through the left nostril.

Charana: Foot; one-fourth; conduct.

Charanamrita: Water sanctified by bathing the feet of a deity or of a holy man with it.

Charu: A preparation of boiled rice, milk, sugar and ghee, to be offered into the fire for gods; a sattvic dietary regimen usually taken by yoga-practitioners and celibates. Havishya.

Charvaka: The Indian materialistic school, also known as Lokayata (“restricted to the world of common experience”). Its central teaching is that matter is the only reality, and sense perception is the only valid means of knowledge or proof. Therefore sense satisfaction is the only goal.

Chaturvarga: Fourfold aims, viz., dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.

Chaturyuga: The four ages of the Hindu world-cycle, viz., krta treta dvapara, and kali.

Chela: Disciple.

Cheshta: Endeavor; effort; activity.

Chetana: Consciousness. Whereas chaitanya is the principle of pure consciousness, chetana is consciousness occupied with an object. It is this “consciousness” that Buddha rejected as an obstacle.

Chetas: Subconscious mind.

Chidakasha: “The Space (Ether) of Consciousness.” The infinite, all-pervading expanse of Consciousness from which all “things” proceed; the subtle space of Consciousness in the Sahasrara (Thousand-petalled Lotus). The true “heart” of all things. Brahman in Its aspect as limitless knowledge; unbounded intelligence. This is a familiar concept of the Upanishads. It is not meant that the physical ether is consciousness. The Pure Consciousness (Cit) is like the ether (Akasa), an all-pervading continuum.

Chidananda: Consciousness-Bliss.

Chinmaya: Full of consciousness; formed of consciousness.

Chinta: Sorrow; worry.

Chintana: Thinking; reflecting.

Chit: Consciousness (that is spirit or purusha); “to perceive, observe, think, be aware, know;” pure unitary Consciousness. The principle of universal intelligence or consciousness.

Chitraratha: The chief of the gandharvas.

Chitshakti: Power of consciousness or intelligence.

Chitswarupa: Of the very form of pure intelligence or consciousness.

Chitta: The subtle energy that is the substance of the mind, and therefore the mind itself; mind in all its aspects; the field of the mind; the field of consciousness; consciousness itself; the subconscious mind.

Chittakasha: Mental ether; mind conceived of as ether (all-pervading).

Chitta-shuddhi: Purity or clarity or the chitta; purification or clarification of the chitta.

Chittavidya: Psychology; science of the mind and the sub-conscience.

Chittavimukti: Freedom from the bondage of the mind

Chitta-vritti-nirodha: Cessation of the modifications of the mind; control of thoughts; Patanjali’s definition of Yoga.

Crore: Ten million.

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Dacoit: A violent thief who preys on travelers, sometimes killing them.

Daityas: Demons who constantly war with the gods. Sometimes “races” or nationalities who acted contrary to dharma and fought against the “aryas” were also called demons (daityas or asuras); giant; titan..

Daiva: God Who controls all beings and gives them what is their due; belonging to or coming from the gods/God; celestial; divine; fate; destiny; controlling power.

Daivi: Same as Divya; divine.

Daivim: The state of a deva or “shining one;” the quality of those positive souls who are progressing toward divinity.

Daksha: Expert; intelligent; wise; able.

Dakshyam: Skill; virtuosity; dexterity.

Dakshinamurti: A name for Lord Shiva as the silent teacher. Vedic Religion declares that in every cycle of creation God manifests as Dakshinamurti and becomes the guru of the first human beings–those who were most spiritually evolved in the previous creation–teaching them the path to liberation (moksha).

Dakshineshwar: A village on the Ganges about five miles north of Calcutta, where, in the 1850’s, the Rani Rasmani built a compound of temples: the Kali temple, twelve small Shiva temples, and the Radhakanta (Radha-Krishna) temple. Just north of the northernmost Shiva temple is the room which Sri Ramakrishna occupied for a considerable part of his life.

Dama: Self-control; control of the senses; restraint.

Damaru: A small, handheld drum with two heads that is sounded by twisting the wrist and causing a ball tied to its middle to rhythmically strike the heads alternately.

Dambha: Hypocrisy; pride.

Dana: “Giving;” gift; charity; almsgiving; self-sacrifice; donation; generosity.

Danda: The staff of a mendicant or a Sanyasin; a kind of physical exercise common in India; punishment.

Darbha: A kind of grass held sacred for religious and spiritual purposes.

Darpa: Arrogance; pride.

Darshan: Literally “sight” or “seeing;” vision, literal and metaphysical; a system of philosophy (see Sad-darshanas). Darshan is the seeing of a holy being as well as the blessing received by seeing such a one.

Darshana: “Seeing” in the sense of a viewpoint or system of thought. The Sad-darshanas are the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta.

Dasa: Slave; servant.

Dasanami: “Ten named.” A term for members of the monastic order of Shankaracharya headquartered in the four quarters of India (Sringeri, Dwaraka, Badrinath and Jagannath Puri). After their proper monastic names they add one of ten titles (Saraswati, Bharati, Puri, Tirtha, Ashrama, Giri, Parvata, Sagara, Vanam, Aranya) according to their monastic succession.

Dasya: The attitude of a devotee expressing the relationship of a servant with God.
Dasyu: A slave; a symbolic term used in the Vedas for those of low and bound consciousness who are the opposite of the Aryans.

Datta: Given; adopted; give.

Dattatreya: A famous sage, son of the Rishi Atri and Anasuya. His birth was a divine boon, hence his name: Datta–“given”–and atreya–“son of Atri.” Considered a divine incarnation and known as the Lord of Avadhutas, he is often revered as the embodiment of the Supreme Guru. He is credited with the authorship of the Avadhuta Gita, the Jivanmukti Gita, and the Tripura Rahashya.

Daurmanasya: Despair, depression etc., caused by mental sickness; feeling of wretchedness and miserableness.

Daya: Mercy; compassion; grace; empathy.

Dayananda (Maharishi Swami): A leading reformer within Hinduism in the nineteenth century (1824-1883) and the founder of the Arya Samaj.

Deha: Physical body.

Dehabhimana: Egoistic attachment to the body.

Dehadhyasa: False identification with the body.

Dehashuddhi: Purity or purification of the body.
Dehi: One who has a body; the conscious embodied self; Jiva or the individual soul.

Desha: Place; locus; spot; space; country.

Deva: “A shining one,” a god–greater or lesser in the evolutionary hierarchy; a semi-divine or celestial being with great powers, and therefore a “god.” Sometimes called a demi-god. Devas are the demigods presiding over various powers of material and psychic nature. In many instances “devas” refer to the powers of the senses or the sense organs themselves.

Devaloka: The world (loka) of the gods.

Devata: Godhead; god; divinity; celestial being. See Deva.

Devatma: The divine, inner Self.

Devayana: The way or path of the gods, “the shining ones;” the path that leads beyond earthly rebirth and ultimately to liberation.

Devi: Goddess; the Supreme Shakti (Divine Power) or Divine Mother, or a demigoddess.

Dhairya: Boldness; courage.

Dhana: Wealth; riches.

Dhanvantari: The great rishi who first revealed the principles of Ayurveda to his students.

Dhara: Stream; continuous repetition.

Dharana: Concentration of mind; fixing the mind upon a single thing or point. “Dharana is the confining [fixing] of the mind within a point or area” (Yoga Sutras 3:1).

Dharma (1): The righteous way of living, as enjoined by the sacred scriptures and the spiritually illumined; law; lawfulness; virtue; righteousness; norm.

Dharma (2): Attributes; natures; essential/visible characteristics; characteristic form; properties; qualifications.

Dharma-megha samadhi: The final state of one-pointedness, when an individual becomes disinterested even in omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. This state of superconsciousness or samadhi is called dharma-megha–cloud of virtue–inasmuch as it showers nectar drops of immortality through knowledge of Brahman, when all the hosts of vasanas are entirely destroyed. This state of superconsciousness or Samadhi is called ‘cloud of virtue’ in as much as it showers nectar drops of immortality through knowledge of Brahman, when all the hosts of Vasanas are entirely destroyed. The cloud of virtue is the name given to Samadhi in the Astanga Yoga of Patanjali.

Dharma shastras: Scriptures which set forth the rules for society and individuals, including spiritual observances. Manu Smriti is the most authoritative–and the foundation–of all the dharmashastras of India.

Dharmakaya: Reality; the Void; the Absolute; Sheath of the Law–the Embodied Law.

Dharmashala: A place for pilgrims to stay, either free of charge or at a minimal cost.

Dharmi (1): One who follows dharma.

Dharmi (2): The substratum in which attributes or characteristics are seen to manifest or inhere.

Dharmic: Having to do with dharma; of the character of dharma.

Dhatu: Element; original element; core; constituent; the vital force in the human being by conserving which, through celibacy, the yogi develops ojas and tejas.

Dhira: Steadfast; strong; bold; courageous. One who possesses these qualities.

Dhoti: A long piece of material worn around the waist by traditionally-dressed men in India, rather like a long skirt.

Dhrita: Steadfastness; constancy; sustained effort; firmness; patience; endurance.

Dhriti: Steadfast; constant; sustaining effort; firm; patient; endurant.

Dhuni: A fire lighted by wandering monks, beside which they meditate and sleep.

Dhvani: Tone; sound; the subtle vibratory aspect of the vital shakti of the jiva.

Dvaita: Dual; duality; dualism.

Dhvani: Tone: sound; word; the subtle aspect of the vital shakti or the jiva in the vibrations.

Dhyana(m): Meditation; contemplation.

Dhyanagamya: Attainable through meditation.

Dhyanika: Pertaining to dhyana or meditation.

Dhyeya: Object of meditation or worship; purpose behind action.

Digambara: Naked; clad with the sky.

Diksha: Initiation.

Dina: Humble; helpless.

Dina bandhu: Friend of the Lowly; Friend of the poor and the helpless; a title of God.

Dinadayalu: Merciful towards the helpless.

Dipa: A wick lamp fed by oil or ghee; a flame in a lamp.

Dirgha: Long; prolonged; protracted.

Divya: Divine; divine nature; heavenly; celestial; sacred; luminous; supernatural.

Divyachakshu: Divine eye.

Divyachara: Conduct of the godly ones; a Tantric course of spiritual discipline meant for the pure and advanced aspirants.

Divyadrishti: Divine vision.

Dosha: Defect; imperfection; blemish; fault; shortcoming. In Yoga philosophy there are five doshas: lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), and envy (matsarya).

Dosha drishti: Seeing the defects in samsara and samsaric life.

Drashta (1): Seer; perceiver; subject; a title of both the individual and the Supreme Selves or Purushas.

Drashta (2): The visible; the seen; that which is perceived.

Dravya: Substance.

Dridha: Firm; unshaken.

Dridhasushupti: Deep sleep state.

Dridhata: Firmness.

Drik: Seer; perceiver; vision.

Drishta: The visible; seen; that which is perceived.

Drishti: Seeing; sight; vision; view; opinion; gaze; perception.

Drishtisrishtivada: The doctrine holding that the existence of the world is purely the outcome of the faculty of perception, and that actually nothing exists beyond imagination.

Drishya(m): The seen; the object seen; the seeable; visible; perceptible; object of consciousness; nature; the world; that which can be seen by the physical sense.

Droha: Treachery; offence.

Dukha(m): Pain; suffering; misery; sorrow; grief; unhappiness; stress; that which is unsatisfactory.

Durga: “Incomprehensible One;” “Difficult to reach;” the Universal Mother; she rides a lion (or tiger) and carries a weapon in each of her eight arms symbolizing the powers of the Self against ignorance and evil. She is invoked against all forms of evil–physical and metaphysical. Considered the consort, the shakti, of Shiva.

Dushkrita: Demerit; sin; evil action.

Dvaita: Dual; duality; dualism.

Dvaitadwaitavivarjita: Beyond monism and dualism; destitute of both oneness and two-ness or multiplicity.

Dvaita-bhava: Feeling of duality.

Dvaitavada: Dualism; the doctrine of dual existence propounded by Madhva.

Dwandwa(s): The pairs of opposites inherent in nature (prakriti) such as pleasure and pain, hot and cold, light and darkness, gain and loss, victory and defeat, love and hatred.

Dwandwata: State of duality.

Dwandvatita: Beyond the pairs of opposites, like heat and cold, hunger and thirst, pleasure and pain, etc.

Dwapara Yuga: See Yuga.

Dwesha: Aversion/avoidance for something, implying a dislike for it. This can be emotional (instinctual) or intellectual. It may range from simple non-preference to intense repulsion, antipathy and even hatred. See Raga.

Dwija: “Twice born;” any member of the three upper castes that has received the sacred thread (yajnopavita).

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Eka(m): One.

Ekadashi: “The eleventh.” The eleventh day of each half of the lunar month (that is, the eleventh day after the new and full moons) that is devoted to the worship of Vishnu and his avataras.

Ekadashi Vrata: Observing ekadhashi (the eleventh day after the new and full moons, sacred to Vishnu) by fasting–through abstinence from grains and other staples and eating much less than usual, oftentimes fasting from food (and sometimes water) until after sundown.

Ekagrata: One-pointedness of the mind; concentration.

Ekakshara: A common term for Om meaning “the Single Syllable” or “the Single Letter.”

Ekam-evam-advitiyam: “One, only, without a second.” A description of Brahman.

Ekanta: Solitude; seclusion.

Ekantabhava: Feeling of isolation or solitariness.

Ekantavada: Nondualism.

Ekantika: Final or ultimate; the Absolute.

Ekarasa: Homogeneous; uniform; one essence; Brahman.

Ekata: Oneness; homogeneity; absoluteness.

Ekatva: Unity; oneness.

Ekoham bahushyam: May I, the One, become many; this describes the primal idea which manifested itself from the One undivided Being prior to creation.

Evam: Thus; so; in this manner.

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G

Gagana: Sky; firmament.

Gaja: Elephant.

Gajanana Maharaj: Sri Gajanana Maharaj (Gajanan Murlidhar Gupte) of Nasik in western India (Maharashtra state) was a saint of the Nath Sampradaya in the first half of the twentieth century.

Gambhira: Deep; magnanimous; dignified; grand; imperious; grave.

Gana: One of a group of spirits that wander together–usually of various types. The term is also used as a kind of “miscellaneous” category for entities that have not otherwise been identified. A gana may be benevolent or malevolent, but is usually disorderly, chaotic, and wild in the sense of untamed or unruly, and potentially dangerous (hazardous). A gana’s appearance is usually deformed, repulsive, or frightening. Shiva is said to be always accompanied by a group of devoted ganas.

Ganapati: “Lord of the Ganas” (the spirits that always accompany Shiva). See Ganesha.

Ganapatya: A Hindu sect worshipping God as Ganpati (Ganesha); a member of this sect; pertaining to this sect.

Gandha: Smell; scent.

Gandharva: A demigod–a celestial musician and singer.

Ganesha: The elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati; the remover of obstacles; lord (pati) of the ganas (spirits that always accompany Shiva); god of wisdom; god of beginnings; the granter of success in spiritual and material life; in ritual worship he is worshipped first, and is therefore known as Adi-deva, the First God.

Ganga: See Ganges.

Ganges (Ganga): The sacred river–believed to be of divine origin–that flows from high up in the Himalayas, through the plains of Northern India, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. Hindus consider that bathing in the Ganges profoundly purifies both body and mind.

Ganja: Indian hemp; a form of marijuana found in India.

Garihastya: The second stage of Hindu social life; married householder’s life.

Garuda: A great being who can assume bird form, and therefore considered the king of birds. Often depicted as an eagle, he is the vehicle of Vishnu.

Garva: Pride; egotism; arrogance.

Gaudapada: The guru of Shankara’s guru, Govindapada.

Gauri: “The Golden One.” A title of the Divine Mother, consort of Shiva.

Gayatri Mantra: A Rig Vedic mantra in the gayatri meter invoking the solar powers of evolution and enlightenment, recited at sunrise and sunset.

Gayatri Meter: A meter found only in the Rig Veda, consisting of three lines of eight syllables each. It is considered especially appropriate for mantric invocation of deities before worship.

Gerua: The brownish-orange mud used to dye the clothing of Hindu monastics; the color produced by dyeing with gerua is also itself called gerua.

Ghat: A bathing-place: a stairway leading down to a river, pond, or water reservoir.

Ghatashuddi: “Purifying the pot.” Purification of the physical body. An expression of Hatha Yoga, referring to the “earthen pot” of the body.

Ghee: Clarified butter.

Giri: Mountain; one of the ten branches of the Shankara Order.

Gita: Song; The Bhagavad Gita.

Gopala: “Cowherd;” a title of Krishna–both as baby and young boy.

Gopas: The cowherd boys of Vrindavan, playmates of Krishna.

Gopis: The milkmaids of Vrindavan, companions and devotees of Krishna.

Gopuram: A towerlike structure over an entrance (gateway) to a temple or temple compound, shaped like a wedge standing on its wide end, consisting of many tiers that are highly decorated (sculpted), often with images of deities and figures from Hindu cosmology.

Gorakhnath/Gorakshanath: A master yogi of the Nath Yogi (Siddha Yogi) tradition. His dates are not positively known, but he seems to have lived for many centuries and travelled throughout all of India, Bhutan, Tibet, and Ladakh teaching philosophy and yoga.

Goshala: Cow shed.

Gotra: Clan; family; lineage.

Govinda: “Cowherd”–a title of Krishna.

Graha: Grip; grasp; planet; eclipse.

Granthi: Tie or knot.

Grihastha: A married “householder;” the second stage (ashrama) in life.

Guha/Guhya: Cave; secret; secret place; the heart (hridaya guha).

Guna: Quality, attribute, or characteristic arising from nature (Prakriti) itself; a mode of energy behavior. As a rule, when “guna” is used it is in reference to the three qualities of Prakriti, the three modes of energy behavior that are the basic qualities of nature, and which determine the inherent characteristics of all created things. They are: 1) sattwa–purity, light, harmony; 2) rajas–activity, passion; and 3) tamas–dullness, inertia, and ignorance.

Gunatita: Beyond the Gunas; one who has transcended & three Gunas.

Guni: Possessor of quality or qualities.

Guru: Teacher; preceptor; spiritual teacher or acharya.
Guru Nanak: Founder of the Sikh religion.

Gurukula: “Teacher’s school” or “teacher’s abode.” A gurukula is the residence of a spiritual teacher where young students (brahmacharis) came to live and learn.

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Hamsah: “I am He;” swan.

Hansa: Swan; see Hamsah.

Hanuman: A powerful monkey chief of extraordinary strength and prowess, whose exploits are celebrated in the epic Ramayana, the life of Rama. He was an ideal devotee (bhakta) and servant of Lord Rama.

Hara: “One who takes away;” a title of Shiva; the destroyer; the remover.

Hardwar: “The Gateway to Hari,” a holy city in north-central India where the Ganges river flows into the plains.

Hari: Vishnu; “thief” in the sense of stealer of hearts.

Harikatha: Literally “Hari [Vishnu] Story,” a Harikatha is a narration of the life and deeds of a deity or saint, interspersed with songs relevant to the events being spoken about or actual poetic reflections on those events and their significance. Kirtan is often a part, as well. This is the most popular and widespread traditional form of spiritual “entertainment.”

Harsha: Exhilaration; joy.

Hatha Yoga: A system consisting of physical exercises, postures, and breathing exercises for gaining control over the physical body and prana.

Havishya: Sacrificial food. See Charu.

Havan: Fire sacrifice; yajna.

Hetu: Cause; reason.

Himsa: Injury, violence; killing.

Hiranyagarbha: Cosmic intelligence; the Supreme Lord of the universe; also called Brahma, cosmic Prana, Sutratma, Apara-brahman, Maha-brahma, or karya-brahman; Samasti-sukshma-sarirabhimani (the sum-total of all the subtle bodies); the highest created being through whom the Supreme Being projects the physical universe; cosmic mind.

Holy Mother: A reference to Sri Sarada Devi (Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya), the wife of Sri Ramakrishna, believed by many to have been an incarnation of the Divine Mother.

Homa: Vedic fire ritual/sacrifice.

Hri: Modesty; shame felt in doing wrong action.

Hridaya: Heart; essential center or core of something; essence; the Self.

Hridayagranthi: The knot of the heart, viz., avidya, kama, and karma.

Hridayaguha: The cave or chamber of the heart.

Hridayakamala: Lotus of the heart.

Hrishikesha: The bristling (or bushy) haired one. A title of Krishna.

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Ichcha: Desire; will; wish; divine will; free will. From the verb root icch: “to wish,” “to will.”

Iccha Mrityu: Death at will.

Ichcha shakti: The power of desire; the power of the will; Shakti in the aspect of omnipotent Divine Will.

Ida: The subtle channel that extends from the base of the spine to the medulla on the left side of the spine.

Indra: King of the lesser “gods” (demigods); the ruler of heaven (Surendra Loka); the rain-god.

Indriya: Organ. The five organs of perception (jnanendriyas) are the ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose. The five organs of action (karmendriyas) are the voice, hand, foot, organ of excretion, and the organ of generation.

Isha: The Lord; Ishwara.

Isha Nath: The monastic name of Jesus in India as a member of the Nath Yogi Sampradaya.

Ishana: The all-enjoyer; Lord of everything; Lord of space; a name of Shiva.

Ishta: Object of desire.

Ishta-devata: Beloved deity. The deity preferred above all others by an individual. “Chosen ideal” is the usual English translation.

Ishta mantra: The mantra of the divine form specially beloved by an individual (ishta devata).

Ishtamurti: Favorite form or image of God.

Ishwara: “God” or “Lord” in the sense of the Supreme Power, Ruler, Master, or Controller of the cosmos. “Ishwara” implies the powers of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.

Ishwarakoti: Of the degree of God.

Ishwarapranidhana: Offering of one’s life to God (Ishwara).

Ishwaraprayatna: God’s will.

Ishwarapujanam: Worship of the Lord.

Ishwarasrishti: That which has been created by the Lord such as the elements, etc.

Ishwari: The Divine Cosmic Mother; the feminine form of Ishwara.

Iti: So; thus; this.

Itihasa: Epic; a book describing the life and adventures of a hero or heroes. The term is applied to Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The hero of the former is Sri Rama, the son of Dasaratha, and of the latter, the five Pandavas.

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Jada: Inert; insentient; unconscious; matter.
Jada Bharata: A king of ancient India who became so fond of a deer that he was thinking of it intently at the time of death and was reborn as a deer though with full awareness of his previous life.

Jagadguru: “World guru;” world teacher.

Jadasamadhi: The state of Samadhi induced by the Hatha Yogic process in which there is no awareness or illumination as opposed to the Chaitanya Samadhi of the Vedantins.

Jagannath Puri: A pilgrim city on the east coast of India in Orissa State where multitudes come daily to worship Krishna in the temple of Jagannath (Lord of the World).

Jagat: World; cosmos; the ever-changing.

Jagradavastha: State of waking consciousness; consciousness of the objective universe.

Jagrat: The waking state.

Jai: See Jaya.

Jala: Not real; a net; a snare; illusion.

Janaka: The royal sage (raja rishi) who was the king of Mithila and a liberated yogi, a highly sought-after teacher of philosophy in ancient India. Sita, the wife of Rama, was his adopted daughter.

Janardana: Agitator of men (properly an epithet of Vishnu)–a title of Krishna.

Janma: Birth; coming into being.

Janmotsava: Birthday celebration.

Japa: Repetition of a mantra.

Japa Mala: A string of beads, usually one hundred and eight, on which repetitions (japa) of a mantra are kept count of, or used just to help the yogi remember to do japa. Though one hundred and eight is the usual number of beads, smaller malas can be used when more convenient, especially since they can be put around the wrist when not in use. The beads can be of any substance, whatever is convenient or preferred.

Jara: Old age.

Jara-marana: Old age, decay, and death.
Jarayu: Womb.

Jata: Long matted hair.

Jati: Species; class; creation.

Jatismara: Remembrance of the incidents of one’s previous births (whether spontaneously or through special voluntary effort).

Jatyantaraparinama: Transformation of one genus or species into another.

Jaya: Victory; victorious; mastery; hail; salutations.

Jayanti: Birth day; victorious; conquering.

Jijnasa: Desire to know.

Jijnasu: One who aspires after knowledge; spiritual aspirant.

Jitendriya: One who has controlled the indriyas–the senses.

Jiva: Individual spirit.

Jivacaitanya: Individual consciousness.

Jivakoti: Belonging to the category or class of the individual soul.

Jivanmukta: One who is liberated here and now in this present life.

Jivanmukti: Liberation in this life.

Jivashrishti: That which has been created by the Jiva, viz., egoism, mine-ness, etc.

Jivatma(n): Individual spirit; individual consciousness.

Jiveshwarabhedha: Difference between the individual soul and God; the fundamental tenet of the dualistic school of thought.

Jnana: Knowledge; knowledge of Reality–of Brahman, the Absolute; also denotes the process of reasoning by which the Ultimate Truth is attained. The word is generally used to denote the knowledge by which one is aware of one’s identity with Brahman.

Jnana kanda: The parts of the Veda dealing with the knowledge of the Absolute Brahman; the upanishads.

Jnana Marga: The path of discriminative knowledge leading to union with God.

Jnana Yoga: The path of knowledge; meditation through wisdom; constantly and seriously thinking on the true nature of the Self as taught by the upanishads.

Jnana yogi: One following the path of knowledge–jnana yoga.

Jnanabhyasa: A term generally used for the Vedantic mode of Sadhana.

Jnanacakshu: Eye of wisdom or eye of intuition.

Jnanagni: Fire of spiritual knowledge or wisdom.

Jnanakara: Of the form of wisdom; Brahman; sage.

Jnanakasha: The ether of knowledge; Brahman.

Jnanaloka: A particular region of the seven higher planes; just below Tapaloka.

Jnanamarga: The path of Knowledge; Jnana Yoga.

Jnanamaya: Full of knowledge.

Jnanamaya kosha: “The sheath of intellect (buddhi).” The level of intelligent thought and conceptualization. Sometimes called the Vijnanamaya kosha. The astral-causal body.

Jnananishtha: Established in the knowledge of the Self.

Jnanashakti: Power of knowing; the omnipotent universal force of knowledge.

Jnanayajna: Dissemination of knowledge; the Sadhana for, and the attainment of, knowledge, conceived of as an offering or divine sacrifice; offering of the individual to the Supreme.

Jnanendriya: The five organs of perception: ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose.

Jnani: A follower of the path of knowledge (jnana); one who has realized–who knows–the Truth (Brahman).
Jnanodaya: Dawn of knowledge.

Jnanopadesha: Instruction in wisdom (jnana).

Jneya: Knowable; to be known.

Jyeshtha (1): The eldest; the best.

Jyeshtha (2): A star.

Jyoti(h): Light; flame; illumination; luminosity; effulgence.

Jyotisha: Astronomy; astrology.

Jyotirmaya: Full (mass) of light.

Jyotishmati: Effulgence; full of light.

Jyotiswarupa: Of the form of light.

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Kabir: An Indian mystic of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Kala: Time measure, as in the time required to recite a mantra. It also sometimes means levels of creation or manifested beings.

Kailash(a): “Crystalline;” the name of the mountain home of Siva–a mountain peak in the Himalayas (in present-day Tibet) revered as the abode of Shiva, that is a famous place of pilgrimage.

Kaivalya: Transcendental state of Absolute Independence; state of absolute freedom from conditioned existence; moksha; isolation; final beatitude; emancipation.

Kaivalya-mukti (moksha): Liberation in which the yogi becomes one with Brahman while living (jivanmukti); final emancipation.

Kala (1): Time; death (or Yama); fate; black.

Kala (2): A unit of time; part; aspect; bit.

Kalachakra: The wheel of time.

Kalatita: Beyond time.

Kali: “The Black One;” the black-skinned goddess who emerged from the body of Goddess Durga to defeat the demons that were attacking her. She wears a garland of skulls (or severed heads) around her neck and a skirt of severed arms–both symbolizing the sense of egotism. In one hand she wields the sword of spiritual wisdom (prajna) and in the other carries a severed head (ego). Despite her fearsome appearance, her two other hands are held in the gestures (mudras) that indicate: “Fear not” and “Draw near.”

Kali Yuga: The dark age of spiritual and moral decline, said to be current now. See Yuga.

Kalki: The future–tenth–incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu.

Kalpa: A Day of Brahma–4,320,000,000 years. It alternates with a Night of Brahma of the same length. He lives hundred such years. Brahma’s life is known as Para, being of a longer duration than the life of any other being, and a half of it is called Parardha. He has now completed the first Parardha and is in the first day of the second Parardha. This day or Kalpa is known as Svetavarahakalpa. In the Day of Brahma creation is manifest and in the Night of Brahma is it resolved into its causal state.

Kalpana: Imagination of the mind; the association of name and permanence to objects; presumptive knowledge; assumption; creation.

Kalpanamatra: Mere imagination; lying only in imagination.

Kalpanika: That which is imagined; falsely created.

Kalpataru: “The wish-fulfilling tree.” The celestial tree of Hindu mythology, which grants all that a person standing or sitting under it desires.

Kalpita: Imaginary; created (artificial, unreal); dreamt.

Kalpita bheda: Imaginary difference.

Kalyana: Auspicious; blessed.

Kama: Desire; passion; lust.

Kamadeva: God of beauty and love; the Vedic Cupid who shoots a bow with flowers instead of arrows.

Kamadhenu: Wish-fulfilling cow produced at the churning of the milk ocean.

Kamadhuk: See Kamadhenu.

Kamagni: Fire of passion.

Kamajata: Born of desire or passion.

Kamakancana: Lust and wealth, the two great barriers to Self realization.

Kamamaya: Full of desire and lust.

Kamana: Longing; pleasure-seeking; cupidity.

Kamandalu: A water vessel carried by a traveling sannyasi; usually made of a gourd or coconut shell, it may also be earthenware. The kamandalu and staff (danda) are considered the insignia of the sannyasi along with gerua clothing.

Kamashakti: Force of lust or desire.

Kamasankalpa: Thought born of desire.

Kamyakarma: Any action done with desire for fruits thereof.

Kandarpa: See Kamadeva.

Kantha: Throat; neck.

Kapila: The great sage who formulated the Sankhya philosophy which is endorsed by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. (See the entry under Sankhya.)

Karana: “Instrument;” cause; instrumental cause; means of accomplishing something; reason. The means of knowledge and action. The inner and outer instruments (sense organs). The unmanifested potential cause that, in due time, takes shape as the visible effect; the material cause of the universe in such a state during the period of dissolution, i.e., cosmic energy in a potential condition.

Karana brahman: The highest and the first manifestation of the Absolute; the Absolute qualified by Maya; Saguna Brahman.

Karana-jagat: Causal world.

Karana sharira: The causal body (where the individual rests during sound, deep, dreamless sleep, the intellect, mind and senses being reduced to an unmanifested potential condition), also known as the anandamaya kosha, the “sheath of bliss.”

Karanatma: The causal soul.
Karanavairagya: Dispassion caused through some misery, disappointment or failure in life.

Karanavastha: Causal state or condition.

Karatalabhiksha: Using hands (palms) as the begging bowl.

Karika: Commentary; treatise.

Karma: Karma, derived from the Sanskrit root kri, which means to act, do, or make, means any kind of action, including thought and feeling. It also means the effects of action. Karma is both action and reaction, the metaphysical equivalent of the principle: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). It is karma operating through the law of cause and effect that binds the jiva or the individual soul to the wheel of birth and death. There are three forms of karma: sanchita, agami, and prarabdha. Sanchita karma is the vast store of accumulated actions done in the past, the fruits of which have not yet been reaped. Agami karma is the action that will be done by the individual in the future. Prarabdha karma is the action that has begun to fructify, the fruit of which is being reaped in this life.

Karma Marga: The path of selfless knowledge leading to union with God.

Karma Yoga: The Yoga of selfless (unattached ) action; performance of one’s own duty; service of humanity.

Karma Yogi: One who practices karma yoga.

Karmabandhanam: Karmic bondage; karmic tie.

Karmabhumi: Land of action; the earth-plane.

Karmadhyaksha: Controller or ruler of actions; God; soul.

Karmaja: Born of action or Prarabdha.

Karmakanda: The ritual portion of the Veda. The philosophy that Vedic ritual is the only path to perfection.

Karmakandi(n): One who follows the Karma-kanda as philosophy and practice.

Karmapara: Dependent on karma.

Karmaphala: The fruit of actions; the consequence of a deed.

Karmasakshi: Witness of actions.

Karmashaya: The receptacle or mass of karmas; aggregate of works done; latent impressions of action which will eventually fructify.

Karmavada: The doctrine of karma upholding that each deed, good or bad, is inevitably followed by pleasure or pain as its sure effect.

Karmendriyas: The five organs of action: voice, hand, foot, organ of excretion, and the organ of generation.

Karmic: Having to do with karma.

Karta: The doer, the agent–specifically, of action.

Kartavya: Duty; that which is to be done or ought to be done.
Kartritva: Doership; agency of action.

Kartrivada: The claim of being an independent doer.

Karttikeya: See Subramanya.

Karuna: Mercy; compassion; kindness.

Karya: Effect (correlative of Karana); the physical body is described as the Karya, in contrast to the causal body, the Karana; the world; Hiranyagarbha.

Karyam: “To-be-done;” to be performed; a duty.

Kashi: Varanasi (Benares).

Kaupina: A small strip of cloth used to cover one’s private parts. Also called a langoti.

Kauravas: The opponents of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata War, led by Duryodhana.

Katha: Tale or story; history or narrative.

Kaviraj: Ayurvedic physician.

Kaya: Physical body.

Kedarnath (Kedar Nath): One of the chief places of pilgrimage in India: a temple on a mountaintop in the Himalayas, dedicated to the worship of Shiva in the form of a linga installed there by Adi Shankaracharya.

Kendra: Centre; heart.

Keshava: Handsome-haired one–a title of Krishna.

Kevala: Oneness; alone; single; independent; perfect; uncompounded. The Absolute.

Kevala-advaita: Absolute Non-dualism culminating in liberation.

Kevala Advaitin: A nondualist intent on the attainment of the state of Kaivalya–liberation.

Kha: Sky; ether.

Khechara: What moves in the sky; the celestial being or the bird.

Khechari Mudra: “Sky-walking” mudra that enables the yogi to “move” in (or expand into) the Chidakasha. There are two forms of Khechari Mudra. In Hatha Yoga it is the insertion of the tip of the tongue into the nasal cavity above the upper palate. In meditation (Dhyana Yoga) it is the gentle turning upward of the eyes as though looking at a point far distant.

Khol: See Mridangam.

Khyati: Apprehension; discernment; knowledge; vision.

Kinnara: A celestial musician.

Kirtan: Singing the names and praises of God; devotional chanting.

Kirti: Fame; reputation.

Klesha: Literally, taints or afflictions; pain. The kleshas are: ignorance, egotism, attractions and repulsions towards objects, and desperate clinging to physical life from the fear of death. (See Yoga Sutras 2:2-9.)

Klishta: Afflicted, painful or pain-bearing.

Kosha: Sheath; bag; scabbard; a sheath enclosing the soul; body. There are five such concentric sheaths or bodies: the sheaths of bliss, intellect, mind, life-force and the physical body–the anandamaya, jnanamaya, manomaya, pranamaya and annamaya bodies respectively.

Krama: Order; sequence; sequential order or progression; stage; underlying process; natural law–all these are inherent in their substratum or dharmi.

Kramamukti: Attainment of liberation in stages; gradual liberation; passing from this world to a higher world beyond rebirth and from there attaining liberation.

Kratu: Sacrifice: Yajna; action.

Kripa: Grace; mercy; compassion; blessing. There are three kinds of kripa: 1) sadhana kripa, the grace of self-effort; 2) guru kripa, the grace of a teacher, and 3) divya kripa, divine grace.

Krishna: An avatar born in India about three thousand years ago, Whose teachings to His disciple Arjuna on the eve of the Great India (Mahabharata) War comprise the Bhagavad Gita.

Krishnadvaipayana: The famous Vyasa, the writer of the Mahabharata, eighteen Puranas, and the compiler of the Vedas.
Kritabuddhi: (Very) intelligent; rational; discriminative.

Kritakritya: One who has done all actions, i.e., jnani.

Kritatma: Pure soul who is extremely good and extremely self-sacrificing.

Kriya: Purificatory action, practice, exercise, or rite; action; activity; movement; function; skill. Kriyas purify the body and nervous system as well as the subtle bodies to enable the yogi to reach and hold on to higher levels of consciousness and being.

Kriya Shakti: The power or faculty of action.

Kriya Yoga: The Yoga of Purification: “Austerity (tapasya), self-study (swadhyaya), and offering of the life to God (Ishwara pranidhana) are Kriya Yoga” (Yoga Sutras 2:1).

Kriyamana: (lit. what is being done) the effect of the deeds of the present life to be experienced in the future; same as Agami.

Krodha: Anger, wrath; fury.

Krurata: Cruelty; pitilessness.

Kshama: Forgiveness; patience; forbearance.

Kshara: World; perishable.

Kshatriya: A member of the ruler/warrior caste.

Kshaya: Destruction; thinning; diminishing; annihilation.

Kshetra: A holy place; field; also physical body in the philosophical sense.

Kshetrajna: The individual or the Supreme Soul.
Kshudha: Hunger.

Kubera: The god of wealth.

Kula: Possessing a form.

Kumar(a): A male virgin.

Kumaras (Four): Those advanced souls–Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara and Sanatsujata–who at the beginning of this creation cycle refused to engage in worldly life despite the command of Brahma. They were then taught by Lord Shiva, in the form of Dakshinamurti, the mysteries of Brahmajnana and attained liberation.

Kumari: A female virgin; a formal title of address for an unmarried woman.

Kumari Puja: The worship of a virgin (usually a prepubescent girl) as an embodiment of the Divine Mother.

Kumbha: Pot; water vessel.

Kumbhaka: Retention of breath; suspension of breath.

Kumkum: Red-colored powder used for making a ritual mark between the eyebrows.

Kund: A pond; a small natural bathing place.

Kundalini: The primordial cosmic conscious/energy located in the individual; it is usually thought of as lying coiled up like a serpent at the base of the spine.

Kusha: One of the varieties of sacred grass (darbha) used in many religious rites. Because of its insulating qualities, both physical and metaphysical, it is recommended as a seat (asana) for meditation, and as mats for sleeping (it keeps the sleeper warm).

Kutastha: Immutable; absolutely changeless; not subject to change; literally: “summit abiding” or “on the summit.” He who is found without exception in all creatures from Brahma or the creator down to ants and Who is shining as the Self and dwells as witness to the intellect of all creatures; rock-seated; unchanging; another name for Brahman.

Kutastha chaitanya: Inner Self; individual Consciousness destitute of egoism.

Kutir(a): Hut; cottage; house; building; hermitage.

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Laghava: Lightness of body through practice of meditation.

Laghima: Lightness; one of the eight major Siddhis of Yoga practice.

Lahiri Mahasaya: Shyama Charan Lahiri, one of the greatest yogis of nineteenth-century India, written about extensively in Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Lajja: Shame; shyness.

Lakh: One hundred thousand.

Lakshana: Definition; characteristic; condition; attribute; sign; mark.

Lakshmi: The consort of Vishnu; the goddess of wealth and prosperity.

Lakshya: Perceivable object; object or point of concentration-attention; target; vision.

Langoti: See kaupina.

Laya: Dissolution; merging.

Laya Yoga: Dissolution; merging; process of absorption of the individual soul into the Supreme Sou; another name of Nada-yoga or Kundalini-yoga.

Layachintana: Concentration of the mind with a view to dissolve it; meditation where the mind is carried on progressively from grosser to subtler ideas until it is dissolved in the Unmanifested or Para Brahman.

Lila: Play; sport; divine play; the cosmic play. The concept that creation is a play of the divine, existing for no other reason than for the mere joy of it. The life of an avatar is often spoken of as lila.

Linga: Mark; gender; sign; symbol. Usually a reference to a column-like or egg-shaped symbol of Shiva.

Lingadeha: The astral body; the subtle body.

Lingasharira: Subtle body; astral body (also called sukshma-sharira); the subtle or psychic body that becomes particularly active during the dream-state by creating a world of its own; the three sheaths of intelligence, mind and vital energy constitute this body.

Lingatman: The subtle self.

Lobha: Greed; covetousness.

Loka: World or realm; sphere, level, or plane of existence, whether physical, astral, or causal.

Lokaishana: Desire for fame.

Lokapala: The ruler, overseer or guardian of a loka.

Lokasangraha: Solidarity of the world; uplift of the world.

Loluta: Covetousness; cupidity; earthly enjoyment.

Lota: A metal water vessel used for drinking, carrying, or pouring water.

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Ma: Momma.

Mada: Pride.

Madhava: Descendant of Madhu (a Yadava or Madhava patriarch). A title of Krishna.

Madhavacharya: The thirteenth century Vaishnava founder and expounder of the Dvaita (Dualist) Vedanta philosophy.

Madhu: Honey; sweet substance; sweet.

Madhukari bhiksha: Alms collected from door to door like a bee collecting honey from flower to flower.

Madhuparka: An offering for the Lord containing honey, curd, etc.

Madhura: The attitude of a devotee expressing the emotion that exists between a lover and the beloved; the devotee looks upon God as his Beloved.

Madhusudana: Destroyer of the Demon Madhu (properly an epithet of Vishnu)–a title of Krishna

Madhyama: Moderate; the middle stage of sound as it develops from silent to fully audible or spoken. Sound in its subtle form as it exists in the mind/psyche before its gross manifestation.

Maha: A prefix meaning “great,” the root of the Latin word magna.

Mahabharata: The world’s longest epic poem (110,00 verses) about the Mahabharata (Great Indian) War that took place about three thousand years ago. The Mahabharata also includes the Bhagavad Gita, the most popular sacred text of Hinduism.

Mahabhutas: The Five Elements (Panchabhuta): ether (akasha), air (vayu), fire (agni), water(ap), and earth (prithvi).

Mahadbrahma: Hiranyagarbha; Sutratma; cosmic intelligence.

Mahadeva: “The Great God;” a title of Shiva.

Mahakalpa: The great cycle; hundred years of Brahma when the whole universe is dissolved in the Unmanifested.

Mahamantra: “The Great Mantra,” popularly known in the United States and Europe as “the Hare Krishna Mantra”–Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare.

Mahamaya: “Great illusion;” divine Power operating as identified with the Supreme Lord. A title of Shakti, the Goddess.

Mahamrityunjaya: “The Great Conqueror of Death.” A title and four-armed form of Shiva.

Mahamrityunjaya mantra: “The Great Conqueror of Death Mantra.” A Vedic verse addressed to Shiva that is recited for protection, recovery from disease, and extension of life.

Mahan: The Great; the evolute from Prakriti according to the Sankhya; Brahma or Hiranyagarbha.

Mahant: The head of an ashram; an abbot.

Mahapralaya: The final cosmic dissolution; the dissolution of all the worlds of relativity (Bhuloka, Bhuvaloka, Swaloka, Mahaloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka, and Satyaloka), until nothing but the Absolute remains. There are lesser dissolutions, known simply as pralayas, when only the first five worlds (lokas) are dissolved.

Mahaprana: The undifferentiated, intelligent cosmic life-force that becomes the five pranas; all things contain the mahaprana and are manifestations of the mahaprana; the dynamic aspect of universal Consciousness; the superconscious Divine Life in all things.

Mahapurusha: Great being; great soul; a person of supreme spiritual character and realization; a sage; the Supreme Lord.

Maharaj(a): “Great king;” lord; master; a title of respect used to address holy men.

Maharloka: The fourth of the seven planes above the nether regions.

Maharatha: “A great-car-warrior,” a commander of eleven thousand bowmen as he rode in his chariot.

Mahar(i)shi: Maha-rishi–great sage.

Mahasamadhi: Literally “the great union [samadhi],” this refers to a realized yogi’s conscious departure from the physical body at death.

Mahashakti: The Great Power; the divine creative energy.

Mahashivaratri: “The Great Night of Shiva.” The major, night-long festival of the worship of Shiva that occurs on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the lunar month known as Phalguna (usually in February, but every third year when an extra month is added to the lunar calendar, it may occur in March).

Mahat: Great; the first product from Prakriti in evolution, according to Sankhya philosophy; intellect; the principle of intelligence or Buddhi; Hiranyagarbha or Brahma.

Mahat Tattwa: The Great Principle; the first product from Prakriti in evolution; intellect. The principle of Cosmic Intelligence or Buddhi; universal Christ Consciousness, the “Son of God,” the “Only Begotten of the Father,” “the firstborn of every creature.”

Mahatahparah: Beyond the great; greater than the great; above the reach of the intellect.

Mahatma: Literally: “a great soul [atma].” Usually a designation for a sannyasi, sage or saint.

Mahattva: Greatness.

Mahavakya: Literally: “Great Saying.” The highest Vedantic truth, found in the Upanishads expressing the highest Vedantic truths or the identity between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. There are four Mahavakyas: 1) Prajñanam Brahma–“Consciousness is Brahman” (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3); 2) Ayam Atma Brahma–“This Self is Brahman” (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2); 3) Tat Twam Asi–“Thou art That” (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7); 4) Aham Brahmasmi–“I am Brahman” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10).

Mahayoga: Great yoga.

Mahayogi: Great yogi.

Maheshwara: The Great Ishwara (Lord); Shiva.

Mahima (1): Greatness; glory; magnification; extensive magnitude; miracle.

Mahima (2): The psychic power (siddhi) to become as large as desired.

Mahout: Trainer-handler of an elephant.

Maitreya/Maitri: Friendliness; friendship; love.

Maithuna(m): Sexual intercourse.

Mala (1): Garland; flower garland; rosary; chain.

Mala (2): Taint; impurity; defilement; defect; ignorance, limitation of consciousness.

Malina: Impure; defective.

Mamakara: Mine-ness; the thought “this is mine” in relation to the body and the things connected with it, such as wife, children, relations,, friends, home, wealth and the like.

Mamata: Mine-ness.

Mana: Respect; sense of self-respect.

Manahkalpitajagat: The world created by the mind or imagination.

Manahshuddhi: Purification of the mind.

Manana: Thinking, pondering, reflecting, considering.

Manana shakti: Power of reflection and concentration.

Manas(a): The sensory mind; the perceiving faculty that receives the messages of the senses.

Manasahmanah: Mind of mind; the Inner Ruler or the Self or Brahman.

Manasa puja: Mental worship; an item of ritualistic worship requiring the devotee to go mentally through the entire procedure of worship.

Manasarovar: A sacred lake near Mount Kailash the abode of Shiva. Pilgrims not only bathe in the lake on the way to Kailash, they often see visions in its water, hence the name “Lake of the Mind.” The present Dalai Lama was found through visions seen in Manasarovar.

Manasic/Manasika: Mental; having to do with the mind (manas).

Manasika japa: Mental repetition of a Mantra.

Manasika kriya: Mental action.

Manashi shakti: Power of mind; standing.

Manava: Man; a human being; a descendant of Manu.

Manava dharma: The essential nature of man; religion of man; the duties of man.

Mandala: Region; sphere or plane, e.g., Suryamandala or the solar region.

Mandir(a): Temple; abode.

Mangala: Auspicious.

Mangalarati: See Arati.

Manipura chakra: Energy center located in the spine at the point opposite the navel. Seat of the Fire element.

Manisha: Independent power of thinking.

Manodharma: Natural attributes or properties of the mind.

Manojaya: Conquest of the mind.

Manolaya: Involution and dissolution of the mind into its cause.

Manomatrajagat: Mind alone is world; world made up of mind only.

Manomaya kosha: “The sheath of the mind (manas–mental substance).” The level (kosha) of the sensory mind. The astral body.

Manonasha: Destruction of the mind.

Manonirodha: Control or annihilation of the mind.
Manorajya: Building castles in the air; mental kingdom.

Manoratha: Desire of the mind.

Mantra(m): Sacred syllable or word or set of words through the repetition and reflection of which one attains perfection or realization of the Self. Literally, “a transforming thought” (manat trayate). A mantra, then is a sound formula that transforms the consciousness.

Mantra Yoga: The Yoga of the Divine Word; the science of sound; the path to divine union through repetition of a mantra–a sound formula that transforms the consciousness.

Mantra chaitanya: The dormant potency of a Mantra.

Mantra shakti: Power of the Lord’s Name; the potency of any Mantra.

Mantra siddhi: Perfection in the practice of Mantra-Japa; mastery over the Devata of a Mantra so that the Devata graces the votary whenever invoked.

Mantric: Having to do with mantra(s)–their sound or their power.

Manu: The ancient lawgiver, whose code, The Laws of Manu (Manu Smriti) is the foundation of Hindu religious and social conduct.

Manus: Progenitors of the human race who were also its lawgivers and teachers.

Manusha(m): Human being; humanity.

Mara: The embodiment of the power of cosmic evil, illusion, and delusion; Satan.

Mardava: Mildness; tenderness; smoothness.

Marga: Way; path; road; street; approach to God-realization (bhakti marga, jnana marga, karma marga, yoga marga, etc.).

Margashirsha: A lunar month, roughly the latter half of November and the first half of December. This is the time of ideal weather in India.

Marichi: The chief of the Maruts.

Martanda: The Sun-God.

Maruts: The presiding deities of winds and storms.

Math: A monastery.

Mata: Mother.

Mati: Thought; view; opinion; faith; religion; doctrine; tradition; conviction; mind rightly directed towards knowledge revealed and practice enjoined by the shastras.

Matra: Letters of the alphabet or their sounds; mode; measure; unit; prosodial instant–the length of time required for pronouncing a short vowel.

Matrika: Letter or sound syllable which is the basis of all words and hence of all knowledge; “little mothers.”

Matsarya: jealousy.

Martyaloka: The mortal world; earth-plane.

Matsyendranath: Guru of Gorakhnath and the first publicly known Nath Yogi, having become a disciple of Adinath who is considered an avatar of Shiva. As with Gorakhnath, we have no dates for him.

Mauna(m): Silence–not speaking.

Maya: The illusive power of Brahman; the veiling and the projecting power of the universe, the power of Cosmic Illusion. “The Measurer”–a reference to the two delusive “measures,” Time and Space.

Mayamohajala: The jugglery or deception set by the infatuation of Maya.

Mayashabalabrahma: Another name for Saguna Brahman or Ishvara (the Brahman conjoined with attributes, enwrapped in and coloured with Maya.)

Mayavada: Also known as Mithyavada; theory of illusion; doctrine of the phenomenal character of the universe.

Mayavi: Master-magician; great juggler; Brahman.

Mayic: Having to do with Maya.

Medha: Power of retaining the import of studies; intelligence or intellect; power of understanding.

Meru: The mountain, of supreme height, on which the gods dwell, or the mountain on which Shiva is ever seated in meditation, said to be the center of the world, supporting heaven itself–obviously a yogic symbol of the spinal column or merudanda. The name of the central bead on a japa mala (rosary).

Merudanda: The spinal column in yogic symbolism; see Meru.

Mimamsa: An enquiry into the nature of a thing; the science of philosophical logic enquiring into Vedic knowledge. Usually a reference to Purva-Mimamsa, one of the six schools of orthodox Indian philosophy. It focuses on the Vedas and the Vedic rites to establish their supreme spiritual value and authority.

Mimamsaka: A follower of the Purva Mimamsa school of philosophy. See Mimamsa.

Mirabai: A sixteenth-century Rajasthani princess, whose devotional songs are among the greatest written in India.

Mitahara: Moderate diet.

Mithya: Not real; neither real nor unreal; illusory; false; untrue; incorrect.

Mithyabhimana: False egoism.

Mithyachara: Sinful conduct; hypocrisy.

Mithyadrishti: The vision that this world is unreal.

Mithyahamkara: Same as Mithyabhimana.

Mithyajnana: False knowledge.

Mithyasambandha: False relationship.

Mithyavada: Phenomenal doctrine; theory of illusion.

Mleccha: Foreigner; an alien; barbarian; non-Aryan.

Moha: Delusion–in relation to something, usually producing delusive attachment or infatuation based on a completely false perception and evaluation of the object.
Mohana: Fascination.

Moksha: Release; liberation; the term is particularly applied to the liberation from the bondage of karma and the wheel of birth and death; Absolute Experience.

Mridanga(m): A drum used exclusively in devotional music, also known as a khol.

Mridu: Mild.

Mrisha: Vain; hollow; false; unreal.

Mrita(m): Dead.

Mrityu(h): Death; of death; a title of Yama, the Lord of Death.

Mrityum: Death.

Mrityunjaya: Conquerer of death; one of the names of Lord Siva.

Mudita: Complacency; joy; happiness.

Mudra: A position–usually of the hands/fingers–which inherently produces a desired state in the subtle energy levels (prana) according to the Tantric system. A Hatha Yoga posture. A position of the eyes in meditation.

Muhurta: A unit of time–a thirtieth part of a day, forty-eight minutes in length; auspicious moment.

Mukta: One who is liberated–freed–usually in the sense of one who has attained moksha or spiritual liberation.

Mukta purusha: A person liberated from all kinds of bondage; One freed from birth and death.

Mukti: Moksha; liberation.

Mula: Origin(al); primary; root; base.

Mulachaitanya: Root consciousness; seed of the creation.

Muladhara chakra: “Seat of the root.” Energy center located at the base of the spine. Seat of the Earth element.

Mulajnana: Primal ignorance which contains all potentialities.

Mulamantra: Root Mantra; the powerful and the most important of the Mantras of any deity.

Mulaprakriti: Avyaktam; the Root [Basic] Energy from which all things are formed. The Divine Prakriti or Energy of God.

Mulashakti: Root power or energy; Mulaprakriti.

Mumukshu: Seeker after liberation (moksha).

Mumukshutwa: Intense desire or yearning for liberation (moksha).

Muni: “Silent one” (one observing the vow of silence–mauna); sage; ascetic.

Murti: Image; statue; idol; figure; embodiment.

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A Brief Sanskrit Glossary – Continued: N through Z