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Gaandeev
Gaandeev was Arjun's famous bow. It was given to him by Agni Dev when he
gratified him by burning Khaandav Van.
Gaargee
A learned woman who had the conversation with Yaagyavalkya Rishi. Their
conversation is given in Brihadaaranya Upanishad.
Gaarhapatya
Fire see also
Agni (Under "The Agni Deity"
This is one of the three sacred Fires which is maintained and worshipped by a householder.
According to Devee Bhaagvat, he is one of the three sons of Agni Dev and Swaahaa (Devee's one form) -
Gaarhapatya Agni (the fire worshipped in the home), Dakshinaagni (the
fire placed in the south) and Aahvaaneeya Agni (the sacred fire lit for
a specific spiritual purpose).
Gaayatree
(1) A type of Chhand - meter of poetry. (2)
Mantra. Any Mantra may be
called Gaayatree Mantra if it satisfies Gaayatree Chhand's requirements.
But Gaayatree Mantra is more famous by a certain Mantra which was
composed by Vishwaamitra. see Gaayatree Mantra
below
Gaayatree
Mantra
Gadaa
(1) Club. (2)
Mace. Gadaa can be used in four types - (1) hurling it from a distance,
(2) striking it at foes who are near, (3) whirling it at the midst of
many, and (4) driving the foe before.
Gaj
Elephant. Haathee. It is believed that the old incident - Gaj (the king
of the forest) and Graah (crocodile - the king of the waters) fight
happened in Sonpur, Bihaar.
Gajaanan
Whose face is of elephant. Another name of Ganesh.
Gan
(1) Troop. (2) Group. (3) Group of men or angels under the superintendence of Ganesh Jee. That is why he is called Ganapati or Ganaadhipati also.
Ganagaur
Celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Triteeyaa by women. It is said that on this
day Paarvatee blesses women for the long life of their husbands. This
festival is popular in Raajsthaan.
Ganapati
Who is the Lord of Gan (servants). Another name of Ganesh.
Ganapati
Stotra
A special prayer in praise of Ganesh.
Gandhaar
The third note of North Indian music. There are seven notes in North
Indian music - Shadaj, Rishabh, Gandhaar, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat, and
Nishaad.
Gandharv
Male fairies living in Heaven. They are the musicians in Indra's court.
Their counterparts, female fairies, are called Apsaraa. They are the
consorts of Gandharv. Gandharv is also the name of an Indian tribe.
Gandharv
Vivaah
One of the eight types of marriages prescribed by Manu. This is love
marriage, without ceremony, with the consent of boy and girl.
Ganesh
Believed to be the son of Shiv and Paarvatee Jee. Younger brother of
Kaartikeya. Elephant-headed god of Hindoo. He is worshipped first among
all Devtaa. He has 108 names, some of them are - Gajaanan, Ganapati,
Vaachaspati, Vaageesh, Vighnesh, Vinaayak.
Ganesh
Chaturthee
Bhaadrapad Shukla Chaturthee which is considered the birth date of
Ganesh.
Garud
Garuddhwaj
Garud Puraan
see also
Puraan
One of the main 18 Puraan. According to Aangiras (p 122), its contents
have doubtful value.
Gati
(1) Status. (2) Situation. When a soul is born in lower species, it is
said to have bad Gati. Born being a human being is considered a good
Gati on Prithvi. In after life if somebody goes to Hell, he is said to
have bad Gati. Going to Heaven is a good Gati, and attaining Moksh is
the best Gati.
Gauraang
(1) Fair-complexioned. (2) Another name of Chaitanya Mahaaprabhu.
Geetaa
Book of songs. Short name of Bhagavad Geetaa - the dialog between Krishn
and Arjun, found in MBH.
Gems
Expensive stones, such as (1) Heeraa (diamond), (2) Laal, or Chunnee
(ruby), (3) Neelam, or Padm-raag, or Indraneel (sapphire), (4) Motee or
Muktaa (pearl), (5)
Moongaa (coral), (6) Pannaa or Marakat (emerald).
Geroo
A type of red clay which is mostly used in drawing Mandals and other
Devtaa-related drawings. It comes in hard lumps, so it is ground and
mixed with water, which gives a kind of red ink. Then this ink is used
to draw figures on floor or walls. For beauty, other colors are also
diluted and filled in thos drawings made by Geroo. It is very popular in
north India.
Ghaat
A place on the banks of river, where one can take bath safely. There are
several such famous places on various holy rivers, such as
Dashaashwamedh Ghaat, Manikarnikaa Ghaat etc
Ghadee
A time period in Indian religious astrology - 24 minutes.
60 Ghadee
makes 1 day. 60 x 24 minutes = 1440 minutes; 1440/60 minutes =
144/6 = 24 hours = 1 day.
Ghantaa
(1) Bell. (2) Hour - 1/24th part of one day.
Ghatee
see Ghadee
Ghee
Clarified butter. Butter is boiled and its water content is dried. the
remains is called Ghee. It is used to light lamp before God, making
sweets and food. Normally people do not use oil to light lamps in
religious ceremonies. In India people use it in cooking and eat it in
their daily food items.
Go (Gau)
Cow. For several centuries, cow has been a sacred animal in Hindoo
society. It is interesting to know as how it came to be a sacred animal.
In the early Vaidik times, the cow did not have any special place. In
fact the Hindoo of early Vaidik age ate beef as it is evident from Rig
Ved and Uttar-Raamcharit of Bhavabhooti. In due course they found that
eating beef was not a good idea since it was harmful to human body. The
germ of this experience is also present in Rig Ved itself, where
the term "Aghnya" suggests it. As time passed Hindoo stopped eating beef
and became vegetarian.
History is
repeating itself in west. They are rediscovering that beef and other
meats are harmful for human body and are becoming vegetarian. The Hindoo
society did not have large dairy farms. Each family owned its own cow or
cows to provide milk, butter, cheese etc. Thus they became the family
member and as such people found them difficult to kill that cow which
provided milk etc for so long for the family.
[Aangiras, p 126-127]
Go-Charm (Bhoomi)
see also
Distance
2,100 arm-length (2 arm-length = 1 yard, thus 2,100 arm-length land is
about 1,050 yard land) land is called Go-Charm Bhoomi (land).
(Naarad
Puraan, p 721)
Go-Daan
see also
Daan
Gift of cow or cows. Go-Daan has a great importance in Hindoo religion.
Go-Maya
Cow dung.
Gopaal
Sahstranaam
A book of poems mentioning 1,000 names of Krishn
Gope
Cowherd
Gopee
Cowherdess
Gopee
Chandan
Soil of Dwaarakaa.
Gopuram
Literally means "Cow city". The term first assigned to the Vaidik
village, later assigned to the gate of the city and finally the
monumental entrance. This type of tower is distinguished from the Vimaan
by its oblong plan at the top which is an elongated vaulted roof with
gable ends. It has pronouncing sloping sides, usually 65 degrees, so
that the section at the top is about half the size of the base. Although
the first two storeys are usually built solidly of stone masonry, the
rest is of lighter material, usually brick and plaster. One can see the
Paandyaa Gopuram at Jambookeshwar near Tiruchiraapallee and in
Chidaambaram and Tirumalai Temples.
Gotra
Clan. In the beginning of the creation, when families started,
individual sons were treated as of individual families and Gotra. Gotra
is mainly used in marriages. Children of the same Gotra do not usually
marry. They are somewhat considered like brothers and sisters and
brothers and sisters do not marry each other.
-------------
The original classification of Braahman was based on 7 ancient priest
families. Gotra were the family names derived from the original Rishi,
such as Vashishth, Kashyap etc. As the population increased these 7
Gotra began to be considered as Mool Gotra (original Gotra).
Sub-divisions of these Gotra were created in hundreds all traceable to
original Gotra. The Gotra of Kshatriya and Vaishya were based on the
Gotra of their family-priest from ancient times.
[Aangiras, p
127]
Graam
(1) 1/1000th part of Kilogram a measure to weigh dry things. (2)
Village
Graas
Kaur. Morsel.
Graha
see also Individual Planets
Planets. According to Hindoo astrology, there are nine planets - (1) Soorya
(the Sun), (2) Chandra (the Moon), (3) Mangal (Mars), (4) Budh or Kujaa (Mercury), (5)
Brihaspati or Guru (Jupiter), (6) Shukra (Venus), (7) Shani (Saturn), (8)
Raahu, and (9) Ketu. Our Prithvi (the Earth) is also a planet, but it is not
counted as planet while seeing other planets' affect on Prithvi or its people.
Read about Ratn or gems according to Graha at
Ratn. All Graha have their own Devtaa,
read about them at Graha Devtaa.
[Read more
about Planets in
Bhaagvat Puraan, 5/7]
Graha Devtaa
Grahan
(1) Accepting. (2) Grasping. (3)
Eclipse. There are two Grahan - Soorya Grahan (Solar eclipse) and
Chandra Grahan (Lunar eclipse). Soorya Grahan alwyas falls on Amaavasyaa
(New Moon day) and Chandra Grahan always falls on Poornimaa (Full Moon
day). Both periods are considered auspicious for charity (Daan).
Grains
see also Cereals
(1) A single unit of a cereal or pulse, or anything. (2) An imperial
measurement of weight for dry things
Granthi
(1) Knot. (2) Problem.
There are seven Granthi mentioned in Naarad Puraan, p 405 - Kalaa, Kaal
(Time), Niyati (destiny), Vidyaa (knowledge), Raag (intense love),
Prakriti (five Bhoot), and Gun (attributes - three Gun - Sat, Raj, and
Tam).
Grih
House or home.
Grih Devtaa
Deity of some family. Many families have their own Deity to worship for.
These Grih Devtaa are always worshipped on all important occasions of
the family, such as births, marriages, any religious Sanskaar etc.
Grihya-Sootra
A book describing how sacraments should be performed. Several writers
have written such books, the more well-known among them being
Aashwalaayan, Gobhil, Hiranyakeshee, Paaraskar, Shankhaayan and
Aapastamb. All of these books are very similar to each other in contents
and were perhaps written during 600 BC - 200 BC period. Much of the
materials of these books has been obsolete except some Mantra borrowed
from Ved. A new Grihya-Sootra has been written by Aangiras Muni based on
Rig Ved, Atharv Ved and other sources to make it meaningful to modern
times.
Gun
see also Gun Vibhaag and Karm Vibhaag
Quality, a natural tendency. There are three Gun, called also Tri-Gun -
1. Saatwik, or Sato Gun is the tendency to think and perform virtuous
deeds
2. Raajas, or Rajo Gun denotes the passion for acquiring worldly
pleasures.
3. Taamasik, or Tamo Gun denotes laziness and ignorance
Since they are the attributes, these can be attached to many things, for
example, Tri-Gunee Prakriti, Tri-Gunee Karm, Tri-Gunee creation, etc.
Men are said to have all three natures in different proportions. The
ideal is to shed Raajas and Taamas and adopt pure Saatwik nature.
Gun Vibhaag
and Karm Vibhaag
All the ten Indriyaan (5 Gyaanendriya and 5 Karmendriya), their five
pleasures (seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting and feeling), three Gun
(Sat, Raj, and Tam), Maayaa's five Mahaabhoot (fire, air, earth, water
and sky), Man (mind), Buddhi (intelligence), Ahankaar all jointly are
called "Gun Vibhaag" and their actions are called "Karm Vibhaag".
Vibhaag means division or sections. When somebody knows Aatmaa (soul),
which is separate from "Gun Vibhaag" and "Karm Vibhaag", he is said to
know about Tattwa (element).
Gunaateet
[Geetaa,
14/21-27]
A compound word. Gun (attributes) and Ateet (beyond), means who is
beyond the three Gun, or who is not affected by Gun. There are three Gun - Sat, Raj, and Tam. Sat Gun produces Gyaan, Raj Gun inspires for actions and
Tam Gun makes a man ignorant. When these three Gun do not affect a
person, he is called Gunaateet.
Guru
see also Aachaarya,
Upaadhyaaya
(1)
Teacher. (2) Well educated, well skilled in some art or science.
(3) [Bhavishya Puraan, p 15] Who performs Garbhaadhann Sanskaar etc and feeds with Ann, that Braahman
is called Guru. (4) Elder or older people and more educated and learned
people are also called Guru. They are not teachers as such, but Guru
word is used for them in the sense of older people and more educated and
learned people, such as "Guru Jan are around.", means older people and
more learned people are around.
Guru
Deekshaa
Vow of rituals.
Gurukul
In ancient India, children used to go to Gurukul, where they lived to
get education. Guru's wife used to take care of them. After they
finished their education, they went back to home and marry and lead
family life.
Gyaan
(1) Knowledge of Shaastra. (2) Bodh power - power to discriminate
between good and bad. (3) [Padm
Puraan, 3/4] says by whichever knowledge one knows Bhagavaan, is
called Gyaan. (3) Awareness.
(4) [Bhavishya
Puraan, 1/1], says that there are 14 types of Gyaan - 4 Ved (Rig,
Yajur, Saam, and Atharv); 6 Vedaang (Shikshaa,
Kalp,
Nirukt,
Vyaakaran,
Chhand,
and Jyotish); Meemaansaa;
Nyaaya,
Puraan; and Dharm Shaastra - including Aayur Ved, Dhanur Ved, Gaandharv
Ved and Arth Shaastra (economics) - they constitute the 18 knowledge.
Gyaan
Indriyaan see
Indriyaan
Gyaan
Yog see
Yog
Gyaat
(1) Known. (2) Understood. (3) Mentally grasped.
Its antonym is A-Gyaat.
Gyaataa
Knower who wants to know something.
Gyeya
By which something is known.
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