ABHYASA

Spiritual practice

ACHARYA

Perceptor

ADHARMA

Non-righteous conduct, in thought, word, or deed

ADHIKARI

A person with the requisite qualifications to undertake spiritual study or practice. The qualifications are four-fold, for which refer tatwa-bodha or vivekachudamani

ADWAITA

Non-duality. The most popular philosophy in India today. "Brahman alone is real, the phenomenal world is an illusion, and the individual soul is none other than the Supreme Reality" is the essence of Adwaita.

AHAMKARA

Egoism. This is not pride, but the simple feeling of agency in action, like "I am doing," "I am eating" etc.

ARTHA

Wealth – in fact, anything I consider as "mine" is my wealth.

ASHRAMA

The four orders or stages of life, namely, Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, and sanyasa. Also means a hermitage or where a Sanyasi stays

ATHARVA VEDA

One of the four Vedas. It mainly deals with magic formulae, the Tantras, and other forms of esoteric knowledge. This Veda is said to have prepared the way for the subsequent scientific knowledge in India.

BRAHMA

The first of the Hindu Trinity – the creative aspect of the Supreme Reality, Brahman.

BRAHMACHARI

A Celebate – a disciplined student who leads an austere life devoted to studies. A person who is in the first Ashrama of life.

BRAHMACHARYA

A life of celibacy, discipline, devotion to studies and God. The first of the four orders or stages of life.

BRAHMAN

The Absolute Reality, the substratum for everything – the Supreme God – head without qualities or attributes.

BRAHMANA

The first of the four castes, the category of people who are sober, refined, intellectual, learned and devoted.

BUDHI

The power of intellection.

CHAITANYA

Pure Consciousness

CHARVAKA

The leader of the school of material philosophy in India.

CHIT

Consciousness

DAMA

Restraining of the sense organs

DANA

Charity

DARSHANA

A vision

DEVA

The illumined a celestial being

DEVATA

A deity

DEVI

Divinity in its female aspect.

DHARMA

Righteous conduct in thought, word, and deed

DHARMA SHASTRA

Scriptures dealing with the righteous conduct

DHYANA

Meditation

DISCIPLE

A person who follows a discipline.

DWAITA

The philosophy of dualism, the chief exponent of which was Madhwacharya

DWAPARA YUGA

The third of the four Hindu time cycles. A period of 8,64,000 years. A period while only two quarters of Dharma reigns.

EASHWARA

The personal concept with attributes, of the impersonal Brahman. Same as Ishwara.

EKAGRATA

One pointedness of the mind.

GANDHARVA

A class of celestial beings supposed to be highly proficient in music, dance and fine arts. The most sacred ‘Mantra’ in Sanatana Dharma, consisting of twentyfour letters in three lines of eight letters each. It is considered to be the quintessence of the Vedas. "GAYANTAM TRAYATE ITI GAYATRI" it redeems, by chanting and meditation on it, hence called Gayatri. The name of the metre in which this mantra is composed is itself called ‘Gayatri’ and is considered to be the most elegant and sacred among the thousands of metres in Sanskrit. This Gayatri is devoted to the Sun god, and hence this common mantra is called "Savitri Gayatri". Adorations to the several deities come in the form of their respective Gayatries. Hence we have Devi Gayatri, Rudra Gayatri, Brahma Gayatri, Hamsa Gayatri, and several others in the Vedas.

GRUHASTA

A householder, who sticks to the path of Dharma

GRUHASTASHRAMA

The second of the four stages or orders of life. The life of the householder

GURU

The teacher or Perceptor who removes the darkness of ignorance from the mind of the disciple.

HATHA YOGA

This is part of Raja Yoga, physical and psychical control.

HIMSA

Violence, or injury of any kind, physical or mental

INDRA

The Lord of the celestials, also applies to the mind, the king of Indriyas or the sense organs.

INDRIYA

The sense organs, any of the five organs of perception or the five organs of action.

ISHWARA

The personal concept with attributes, of the impersonal Brahman. Same as eeshwara

ITIHAS

The Hindu Epics- the Ramayana and the Mahabharata

JAGRUT

The Wakeful state. The state in which all the three bodies namely, gross, subtle and causal and functioning. When the self by means of one or more of its fourteen organs (the four inner organs namely Manas, Budhi, Chitta and Ahamkara; the five organs of perception namely hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell; and the five organs of action namely; speech, grabbing, movement, excreting and procreation.) perceives gross objects in the respective fields of its experiences such as Shabda, Sparsha, Roopa, Rasa, and Gandha and reacts to them, then the Jiva is said to be in its Jagrut or Wakeful state, in other words, when the Supreme Reality reflects through the Vasanas at the level of the Body, Mind and Intellect, as the Perceiver, Feeler, and Thinker, in the world of Objects, Emotions and Thoughts, then the self is in the wakeful state.

JAPA

Continuous repetition of the Lord’s name with devotion and concentration.

JIVA

The individual soul.

JIVANMUKTA

One who has realised the self, even while living in this body.

JNANA

The knowledge of the Self.

JNANENDRIYAS

The five organs of perception; eyes, ears, tongue (taste), skin, and nose.

KALI YUGA

The last of the four Hindu time cycles, the current one, duration 4,32,000 years, period when only one quarter of Dharma reigns.

KALPA

A time cycle of 4,32,000,0000 years, on of the Vedangas, the authority on religious rites.

KAMA

Desire for anything

KARMA

All expressios of activity, by thought, word or deed, the first of the two Doctrines on which Hindu religion and philosophy are based, the Law of Casuality in the spiritual world, the theory that every action has a reaction an that none can escape the result of his own actions.

KARMA KANDIN

One who strictly believes in and observes the rituals and duties enjoined in the Scriptures, without question.

KARMA YOGA

The Yoga (the spiritual path) of selfless service, without any attachment to the fruits of one’s actions

KARMENDRIYAS

The organs of action namely, tongue (speech), hands, legs, anus, and the genitals

KRUTA YUGA

Also called Satya Yuga, the first of the four Hindu time cycles, a duration of 17,28,000 years, a period when Dharma reigns in full, it is said that in this period, the word ‘Satya’ (truth) will be unknown, because the concept of ‘Asatya’ (untruth) will not be there.

KSHATRIYA

An individual belonging to the ruling caste, a person devoted to righteous conduct and protection of other peoples’ person, honour and property, when they deserve it.

MAHABHARATA

The latter and the more voluminous of the two great Hindu epics, author Sage Veda Vyasa, consists of 1,00,000 stanzas, Bagavad Geeta or the Lord’s Celestial Song occurs in this epic

MAHAYUGA

Also called ‘Charutyuga’, the four Yugas or the time cycles put together, duration 4320,000 years

MANTRA

An incantation, generally for chanting with devotion and concentration.

MOKSHA

Liberation from identification with things other than the self.

MUKTA

The liberated person.

MUMUKSHU

One who yearns to get liberated from all earthly attachments and bondage.

NADA

A mystic sound

NIRGUNA

Without qualities or attributes

NIRVIKALPA SAMADHI

Super conscious stage where the mental modifications completely cease to exist.

NIYAMA

Observances, the second of the eight limbs of the Yoga path.

OJAS

The spiritual energy in man

OM

This is the sacred mono syllable that symbolizes Brahman, also called ‘Pranava’. It is said that this is ‘Gayatri’ condensed into one letter of three sounds which stand for the three states in which we eke out our experiences namely the waking, dream and deep sleep states, and represent in the three sounds all the basic sounds the human vocal system is capable of producing. The esoteric significance and knowledge that lie concealed in this concentrated symbol, are so vast, that it defies a condensation here. It is said that the Vedas are summed up in the Gayatri, and the Gayatri is summed up in the Pranava (that is om) and the Pranava is the expression of the infinite and the Absolute.

PRAJAPATI

The creator, another name for Brahma, the creative aspect of Brahman

PRAKRUTI

Mother nature 

PRAMANA

Authority. eg. The Upanishads are the pramana for Vedanta

PRANA

The vital air in the system

PRANAVA

This is the sacred mono syllable that symbolizes Brahman, also called ‘Pranava’. It is said that this is ‘Gayatri’ condensed into one letter of three sounds which stand for the three states in which we eke out our experiences namely the waking, dream and deep sleep states, and represent in the three sounds all the basic sounds the human vocal system is capable of producing. The esoteric significance and knowledge that lie concealed in this concentrated symbol, are so vast, that it defies a condensation here. It is said that the Vedas are summed up in the Gayatri, and the Gayatri is summed up in the Pranava (that is om) and the Pranava is the expression of the infinite and the Absolute.

PRASHNATRAYA PRASTHANATRAYA

The collective name for the thee canonical works, the Upanishads, the Brahma sutras, and the bhagavad geeta.

PUJA

Worship the performance of a religious rite in which any deity is invoked

PURANAS

A class of Hindu scriptural literature, considered mythological, yet highly philosophical.

PURUSHARTHA

The four goals of human life, namely dharma, artha, kama, and moksha, that is righteous conduct, acquiring of wealth and possessions, satisfaction of desires, and finally liberation.

RAJAS

One of the three gunas, marked by activity and dynamism agitations also is a part of it

RAMAYANA

The anterior of the two great epics of the Hindus, author Sage Valmiki, the story of Rama and Sita, consisting of 24000, stanzas.

RAJA YOGA

The royal science, the eight limbed yoga of Sage Patanjali

RISHI

A seer

RIG VEDA

The first of the four Vedas, the oldest book known to man, mainly consists of hymns of praise and the precious collections of the Aryans of the day.

SAGUNA

With attributes or qualities

SAMADHANA

Single pointed ness of the mind

SAMA VEDA

The most voluminous of the four Vedas, deals with the melodies, contains the songs to be chanted at the rites and sacrifices with their correct modulations and intonations, a purely liturgical collection.

SANATANA

Eternal

SATVA

One of the three gunas marked by purity, calmness, tranquility and all that is good in human nature.

SINDHU

The river of that name, now known as Indus, another meaning, the ocean

SMRUTIS

Man realized, brought forth from recollection, deal with the practical application of the eternal principles according to the need of the changing times and places.

SHRADHA

Faith in the words of the guru and in the scriptural injunctions

SHRUTIS

The Vedas, believed to be god- revealed, deal with the eternal principles which hold good for all time and all places

SHUDRA

The serving class that contribute the labour for the well being of the society

SUSHUPTI

The deep sleep state where only the causal body is functioning. When the fourteen (see Jagrut organs cease from activity and there is the absence of differentiated knowledge, that is, when even the mind and the other inner organs do not function, consciousness by itself remaining alone without any object for support, then the jiva is said to be in its sushupti or dreamless sleep. In other words, when the perceiver, feeler, thinker has withdrawn from the world of objects, emotions and thoughts, but is ignorant of its state being still in ‘avidya’ (ignorance) then the self is said to be in the deep sleep state, that is sushupti.

SUTRAS

Short aphorisms which serve as memory aids, Brahma sutras, Jaimini sutras, Narada bhakti sutras are examples.

SWAPNA

Dream state where the gross body does not function, only the subtle and the causal bodies function, when even in the absence of the fields, like shabda, sparsa, roopa, rasa and gandha, that is, though the organs of the senses are inactive, the self, not divested of its desires for them, experiences by means of the four inner organs namely manas, budhi, chitta and ahamkara, the objects in the fields aforesaid in the form of desires, then the jiva that is the individual soul is in the state of swapna or dream. In other words, when the Supreme Reality reflects through the vasanas at the level of the mind and intellect (body excluded ) as the perceiver, feeler, thinker in the world of objects, emotions and thoughts then the self is said to be in the dream state. The thinking in dream comes from the desire or attachment to sense objects, caused by impressions consciously or unconsciously left in the mind by the accumulated karma, good or bad, either in the past lives, or even from current experiences in the waking state.

TAMAS

One of the three gunas, marked by inertia, inactivity and ignorance.

TAPASYA

Practice of austerities

TIRTHA

Holy waters, also sacred place

TITIKSHA

Capacity to endure heat or cold, pain or pleasure (and such opposites), without the least distress or lamentation.

TREAT YUGA

The second of the four Hindu time cycles, duration12,96,000 years, only three quarters of Dharma reigns in this period.

TURIYA

When the essence of consciousness which manifests itself as and in the three states of waking, dream and deep l\sleep, is a witness of the states, but is itself devoid of the states, and remains in the state of non separation and oneness, then it is spoken of as the turiya state, which is the state of the Absolute, devoid of any sense of duality. In other words, when the perceiver feeler, thinker has withdrawn from objects emotions and thoughts, and is aware of the state, having transcended avidya (that is ignorance of the self) and therefore the vasanas, and has realized its identity with the supreme reality, then that state is called turiya. In fact that is the real state of man, and the other three namely waking, dream and deep sleep are only modifications, due to avidya and functioning under maya

UPANISHADS

Generally the philosophical portions containing the esoteric knowledge, at the end of each veda, said to be 1179 in number in all the four Vedas put together.

UPARAMA

Strict observance of one’s own dharma

UPAVEDAS

A class of sacred literature subordinate to the Vedas

VAIRAGYA

Determination to achieve or reach, a quality essential in a spiritual sadhaka

VAMA

Colour, distinct characteristics, the four different castes, not on the basis of birth or parentage, but on individual’s tendencies and actions

VASANA

The inherent tendencies or predilections

VEDA

The shrutis, god-revealed, the four Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva

VEDANGA

The limbs of the Vedas, phonetics, grammar, vedic glossary, religious rites, prosody, and astronomy

VEDANTA

The hypothetical conclusions arrived at in the Vedas, especially in the concluding portions, the Upanishads, the esoteric philosophy

VEDA-UPANGS

The sub limbs of the Vedas, the six Darshanas, Nyaya, Vyseshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Meemamsa and Vedanta

VISISHTASWAITA

Qualified non-dualism, the philosophy that preaches that we are a part of god, the chief exponent Ramanujacharya

VIVEKA

Capacity to discriminate between the good and bad

VYASYA

One of the four castes, the trading class that supply the need of the society

YAJURVEDA

One of the four Vedas, generally deals with the sacrificial formulae and contains special directions for the conduct of religious rites and ceremonies.

YOGA

Means merging of the individual soul with the universal soul, physical exercise is only an infinitesimal part of it, it is primarily the control of the mind and its modifications as defined by Sage Patanjali

YOGASANA

Conducive postures for the practice of psychic control