| A |
The first of the Sanskrit letters; all sounds are based on
this sound. |
| Achyuta |
(Lit., changeless one, someone who never falls) the
Infallible One, an epithet of Krishna. |
| adharma |
(Lit., the opposite of dharma) Impiety or unrighteousness.
See dharma. |
| Adityas |
Twelve deities constituting a group. |
| Ahamkara |
Ego; the lower self, responsible for the illusion of
separate existence. |
| Airavata |
The name of the celestial elephant born out of the
churning of the ocean by the gods and demons and given to
Indra for his use. |
| akasa |
The first of the five material elements that constitute
the universe; often translated as “space” or “ether.” |
| akshara |
Indestructible, imperishable; unchanging. |
| amrita |
(Lit., immortal) The elixir of immortality. |
| asura |
Demon. |
| ashvattha |
The holy fig-tree. |
| Aswins |
According to Hindu mythology they are the twin sons of the
Sun-god, and the physicians of the gods in heaven. |
| Atman |
The true Self, the Ultimate Reality of man. |
| bhakti |
Devotion to God. |
| Bhagavan |
(bhaga – fullness; van – possessing): the worshipable one,
the fulfilled, the one happy; the Supreme Lord; honorary title
for the Self-Realized Person. |
| Bharata |
A descendant of King Bharata, the son of Sakuntala and
Dushyanta. In honor of Bharata, India is called Bharata or
Bharatavarsha. In the Gita the word refers occasionally to
Dliritarashtra and frequently to Arjuna, both of whom were
descended from the ancient King Bharata. |
| Brahma |
God the Creator; the First Person of the Hindu Trinity,
the other two being Vishnu and Siva. |
| brahmachari |
(Lit., abiding in Brahman
) Usually is used to denote a celibate religious student
who lives with his teacher and devotes himself to the practice
of spiritual discipline. |
| Brahman >
Brahman |
The Impersonal Absolute; the Ultimate Reality in Vedanta
philosophy; synonymous with Paramatman, Parabrahman,
etc. |
| brahmin |
The priestly caste. |
| Brihaspati |
The preceptor and priest of the gods. |
| buddhi |
Intelligence, higher mind; the capacity for correct
spiritual and philosophical discrimination. |
| buddhi yoga |
Development of the faculty of spiritual discrimination,
which enables man to separate that which is real from that
which is unreal; this power of spiritual discernment becomes
available only to people who have developed sacred devotion
and are filled with love for God. |
| chaytanya |
Consciousness. |
| Daityas |
(Lit; the sons of Diti) The demons, who challenged the
power of the gods. |
| devarshi |
One who is at the same time a god and a rishi, or seer of
Truth. |
| Dhananjaya |
A name of Arjuna, given in honor of his having subdued the
kings of India and acquired their wealth. |
| dharma |
(Lit., that which holds together) The inmost constitution
of a thing, the law of its inner being, which hastens its
growth and without which it ceases to exist. The dharma of a
man is not imposed from outside, but is acquired by him as a
result of his actions in his past lives. Thus every man, in a
special sense, has his own dharma, which determines his
conduct, his righteousness, and his sense of right and
wrong. |
| Dhritarashtra |
The elder brother of King Pandu, and the father of one
hundred sons, of whom Duryodhana was the eldest. |
| Draupadi |
The wife of the five sons of Pandu. |
| Duryodhana |
The eldest son of King Dhritarashtra, and the leader of
the Kauravas. |
| Dvanda |
A compound in Sanskrit grammar in which the meanings of
the component parts are fully retained, which is not the case
with other compounds. |
| Gandharvas |
A class of demigods regarded as the singers and musicians
of the gods. |
| Gandiva |
The celebrated bow of Arjuna. |
| Garuda |
A mythical bird, the carrier of the Lord Vishnu. |
| Gayatri |
A Vedic metre of twenty four syllables; also the name of a
sacred Vedic verse repeated by every brahmin at the time of
his daily devotions. |
| god |
The word in Sanskrit is “deva,” literally, “shining one.”
When a human being performs meritorious action on earth, he
becomes a god after death and occupies a temporary position in
heaven, where he is given charge of a cosmic process. Thus the
Hindu scriptures describe the god of fire, the god of wind,
the god of the ocean, and so on. |
| Govinda |
(Lit., protector of cows) An epithet of Krishna. |
| Gudakesa |
(Lit., one who has controlled sleep) An epithet of
Arjuna. |
| guna |
According to Sankhya philosophy, Prakriti (Nature or
matter), in contrast with Purusha (Soul), consists of three
gunas—usually translated as “qualities”—known as sattva,
rajas, and tamas. Tamas stands for inertia or dullness, rajas
for activity or restlessness, and sattva for balance or
wisdom. |
| hathayoga |
A school of yoga that aims chiefly at physical health and
well-being. |
| Hrishikesa |
(Lit., the Lord, or Director, of the senses) A name of
Krishna. |
| Ikshvaku |
The son of Manu and ancestor of the Solar dynasty of
kshatriyas. |
| Indra |
The king of the gods. |
| indriyas |
Organs; there are five jnanendriyas – sense organs, organs
of perseption: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell (often
translated as senses); and five karmendriyas – organs of
action: hands, feet, vocal organ, organs of generation and
evacuation. |
| Isvara-form |
The Divine Form of the Lord, possessed of omnipotence,
omnipresence, infinite wisdom, infinite strength, infinite
virtue, and infinite splendor. |
| Janaka |
A king of ancient India, who was endowed with the highest
knowledge. |
| Janardana |
(Lit., the Destroyer of the demon Jana) According to
Sankara, an epithet of Krishna because He is prayed to for
prosperity and liberation. |
| japa |
Repetition of a name of God. |
| Kalpa |
A thousand cycles of four Yugas. |
| Kamadhenu |
The famous cow of the sage Vasishtha, which fulfilled all
de¬sires and yielded milk in abundance. |
| Kandarpa |
The Hindu god of love. |
| Kapila |
Reputed to be the author of Sankhya philosophy. |
| karma |
Action in general; the term is also used to denote the
consequence of action; also: ritualis¬tic worship. |
| karma phala tyaga |
Renunciation of the fruit of action. |
| karma yoga |
Path of selfless action; dedicating all fruits of one’s
actions to the Lord; karma yoga culminates in attainment of
nishkama karma, i.e. performance of all actions without an eye
on the result thereof and without the feeling “I am the
doer”. |
| Kasi |
Benares. |
| Kesava |
A name of Krishna. |
| Kesi |
The name of a demon. The warrior caste. |
| kshara |
Transitory, perishable. |
| kshatriya |
The warrior caste. |
| Kunti |
A wife of King Pandu; same as Pritha. |
| Kuru |
A section of northern India, comprising the country around
modern Delhi; a prince of that country. The epithet “chief of
the Kurus” is applied in the Gita to Arjuna. In the
Mahabhaarata this title is used also to denote Dhritarashtra
and Duryodhana. Kuru was a common ancestor of them all. |
| Kurukshetra |
A place near modern Delhi. |
| kusa-grass |
A kind of grass from which mats for meditation are
made. |
| Kuvera |
The god of riches and treasure; also the king of the
Yakshas. |
| life-breath |
Same as prana. See prana. |
| Madhava |
A name of Krishna. |
| Madhusudana |
(Lit., the Slayer of the demon Madhu) An epithet of
Krishna. |
| maharatha |
One able to fight single-handed ten thousand
archers. |
| Manu |
The celebrated law-giver of ancient India; the name of a
mythical personage regarded as the representative man and the
father of the human race. The Manusamhita, or Institutes of
Manu, mentions fourteen Manus, who were the fourteen
successive progenitors or sovereigns of the earth. The seventh
Manu, called Vaivasvat, is supposed to have been born of the
sun and is re¬garded as the progenitor of the present race of
human beings. |
| Maruts |
The winds. |
| maya |
A term of Vedanta philosophy denoting ignorance obscuring
the vision of God; the cosmic illusion on account of which the
One appears as many, the Absolute as the relative. |
| Meru |
A mythical mountain abounding in gold and other
treasures. |
| muni |
A sage given to meditation and contemplation. |
| Nagas |
These form a class of snakes. |
| Nirvana |
(Lit., blowing out—as of a flame) Annihilation of desire,
passion, and ego liberation characterized by freedom and
bliss. |
| Om |
Pranava, primeval sound, the most sacred word of the
Vedas; also written AUM. It is the symbol of both the Personal
God and the Absolute. |
| pairs of opposites |
All correlated ideas and sensations, for instance, good
and evil, pleasure and pain, heat and cold, light and
darkness. |
| Pandava |
(Lit., son of Pandu) Often used to denote Arjuna, the
third son of Pandu. |
| Pandu |
The younger brother of King Dhritarashtra and father of
Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. |
| Partha |
(Lit., son of Pritha) An epithet of Arjuna. |
| Pitris |
Forefathers. |
| Prahlada |
The son of Hiranyakasipu, who was an unrighteous demon.
Prah¬lada was tortured by his father for his great love of
God. The Lord, in His Incarnation as Narasimha, Man-lion,
appeared and killed the cruel father. |
| Prajapati |
An epithet of the ten lords of created beings, the first
to be created by Brahma. Prakriti Primordial Nature; the
material substratum of the creation, con¬sisting of sattva,
rajas, and tamas |
| Prana |
The vital breath, which sustains life in a physical body;
the breath. In the books of yoga, prana is described as having
five modifica¬tions, according to its five different
functions. They are: prana (the vital energy that controls
breath), apana (the vital energy that carries downward
unassimilated food and drink), samana (the vital energy that
carries nutrition all over the body), vyana (the vital energy
that per¬vades the entire body), and udana (the vital energy
by which the contents of the stomach are ejected through the
mouth). Ac¬cording to some writers on yoga, prana and apana
mean, respec¬tively, the in-going and the outgoing
breath. |
| Pritha |
A wife of King Pandu; same as Kunti. |
| Purusha |
(Lit., person) A term of Sankhya philosophy denoting the
Conscious Principle. The universe evolves from the union of
Prakriti (Nature) and Purusha. In Vedanta the word also
denotes the Soul and the Absolute. |
| Purushottama |
The Supreme Person. |
| rajas |
See guna. |
| rajayoga |
(Lit., royal yoga) A system of yoga ascribed to Patanjali,
dealing with concentra¬tion, control of the mind, samadhi, and
similar matters. |
| Rakshasas |
Members of a class of demigods; monsters. |
| Rik |
A part of the Vedas. |
| Rudras |
Members of a group of gods, eleven in number, supposed to
be collateral manifestations of Siva, who is their
leader. |
| sadhana |
Spiritual discipline. |
| Sadhyas |
Members of a particular class of celestial beings. |
| samadhi |
Ecstasy, trance, complete concentration, communion with
God. |
| Saman |
A part of the Vedas. |
| samsara |
The relative world. |
| Sanjaya |
The reporter who recounted the progress of the battle of
Kurukshetra to the blind King Dhritarashtra. |
| sannyasa |
(Lit., complete renunciation) Renunciation practiced by
sannyasis, or monks, in the form of giving up all desire for
progeny, wealth, and happiness in heaven after death. |
| sannyasi |
A Hindu monk, who renounces the world in order to realize
God. |
| Sat |
Existence, being; that which is unchanging over three
periods of time: past, present and future. |
| Sat-Chit-Ananda |
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss; the inherent qualities of
Atman. |
| sattva |
See guna. |
| Siddhas |
Semi-divine beings of great purity and holiness, endowed
with super¬natural powers. |
| Siva |
The Destroyer God; the Third Person of the Hindu Trinity,
the other two being Brahma and Vishnu. |
| Skanda |
The commander-in-chief of the armies in heaven. |
| sraddha |
The untranslatable Sanskrit word “sraddha” denotes an
intuitive conviction in the existence of Truth and also a
mental attitude, on the part of the aspirant, consisting
primarily of sincerity of purpose, humility, and
reverence. |
| sthitaprajna |
A person with perfect equanimity. |
| Subhadra |
A wife of Arjuna. |
| sudra |
The laboring caste. |
| tamas |
See guna. |
| tyaga |
Renunciation; inner freedom from desires and
attachments. |
| vaisya |
The commercial and agricultural caste. |
| Varshneya |
(Lit., one belonging to the clan of the Vrishnis) An
epithet of Krishna. |
| Varuna |
The lord of the ocean; usually associated with
Mitra. |
| Vasudeva |
(Lit., son of Vasudeva) A name of Krishna. |
| Vasus |
Members of a class of deities, usually eight in
number. |
| Vedanta |
A system of philosophy discussed mainly in the Upanishads,
the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma-sutras. |
| Vedas |
The great scriptures of the Hindus and the ultimate
authority of the Hindu religion. |
| Vijnana |
Knowledge of Creation, i.e. of the phenomenal world; thus,
the term is often used to refer to science. |
| Vishnu |
(Lit., the All-pervading Spirit) A name of the Supreme
Lord; the Second Person of the Hindu Trinity, the other two
being Brahma and Siva. |
| Vivasvan |
The Sun-god. |
| Vrikodara |
(Lit., one having the belly of a wolf) A name of Bhima,
given because of his enormous appetite. |
| Vyasa |
A celebrated sage, who is reputed to have arranged the
Vedas in their present form; he is also believed to be the
author of the Mahabharata. The eighteen Puranas and the
Brahma-sutras are also ascribed to him. |
| Yadava |
(Lit., belonging to the race of Yadu) A name of
Krishna. |
| yajna |
The Sanskrit word “yajna” means a religious rite or
wor¬ship. It also denotes the offering of oblations to God, or
any action performed with a spiritual motive. An additional
meaning is the Supreme Lord. |
| Yajur |
A part of the Vedas. |
| Yakshas |
Certain demigods. |
| Yama |
The lord of death. |
| yoga |
The union of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul;
also the discipline by which such union is effected. |
| Yogesvara |
The Lord of Yoga; an epithet of Krishna. |
| yogi |
One who practices yoga. See yoga. |
| Yuga |
A particular age. There are four Yugas, and they repeat a
thousand times in one aeon. |
| Yudhishthira |
The eldest son of King Pandu. |