GLOSSARY
- Ahimsa:
- Non-violence
- Anusuya:
- Wife of sage Bharadwaja (embodiment of virtue and
chastity).
- Asana:
- Lit. Seat. A physical posture. One of t he eight
'limbs' of Patanjali's yoga.
- Ashrama:
- A spiritual retreat.
- Atma:
- Lit. The Self. The interior self as distinguished from
the empirical self which one experiences in everyday life. In the
Upanishads and Advaita Vedanta, Atma is believed to be non-different
from Brahman, the ultimate reality of the universe.
- Avatara:
- Lit. Incarnation (usually of God) Sanskrit term for a
Savior or a saint.
- Beedies:
- Local handmade cigarettes.
- Bhagavad Gita:
- Also called simply 'Gita'. One of the major scriptures
of Hinduism. Officially part of the epic Mahabharata. Teaches different
paths to union with God (or liberation) including 'disinterested
action'.
- Bhagavatam:
- Sacred text dealing with the lives of various
incarnations of Vishnu. The text also deals elaborately with Lord
Krishna.
- Bhagawan:
- Lit. God. Also a form of addressing a liberated
person, as such persons are believed to be incarnations of God.
- Bhakti:
- Devotion to God.
- Chakras:
- The nerve plexuses or centers along the spine and in
the head through which the Kundalini (see below) energy is led.
- Chapatis:
- North Indian round roasted bread.
- Damayanti:
- Wife of king Nala (embodiment of virtue and
chastity).
- Durbar:
- Royal court; Hall of audience.
- Gaudapada:
- (c: 780 A.D.) The philosopher who revived the monistic
teaching of the Upanishads. His pupil Govinda is the teacher of Sankara,
the famous Advaita (non-dualist) philosopher. He is the author of
Mandukya-Karika, a commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad.
- Gayatri japa:
- Sacred Vedic hymns invoking the Sun God.
- Guru:
- A teacher, particularly of the spiritual kind.
- Homas:
- Fire sacrament performed to satisfy gods.
- Hundi:
- A chest in temples in which offerings of devotees are
placed.
- Idlis:
- Cooked rice cakes.
- Japa:
- Lit. Muttering or whispering. A muttered prayer
consisting of reciting (and repeating) passages from scriptures, spells
or names of a deity.
- Jivanmukti:
- Liberation during one's lifetime.
- Karma:
- The effects of a person's past actions on his or her
present and future state.
- Karnataka:
-
A state in the South of India.
- Kundalini:
- A form of yoga practiced in India, primarily in the
school of Tantra. The term means 'serpent power', the energy which is
believed to lie dormant in the human being and which through breath
control and other means is made to travel through various chakras
(see above) along the spine to be ultimately united with universal
energy or Godhead in the Sahasrara Chakra (the thousand-petaled
lotus) located in the top of the head.
- Madhvacharya:
- The dualistic Vedanta philosopher and teacher from the
South of India from about the 13th Century A.D.
- Mala:
- Garland; also rosary.
- Mantra:
- A series of syllables, considered sacred (and
sometimes magical), used in meditation and rituals.
- Maricha:
- In the epic of Ramayana, uncle of Ravana who came in
the form of a deer to entice Sita.
- Maya:
- Cosmic illusion on account of which the one appears as
many.
- Moksha:
- Sanskrit term for liberation.
- Mukti:
- Lit. Release. Liberation.
- Murti:
- Lit. Form, shape. An idol in a temple. Also suffix for
some given names in the South of India.
- Nirvana:
- Lit. Blowing out. Buddhist term for the 'extinction'
of the ego leading to enlightenment.
- Papads:
- Crisp thin wafers, salted and spiced, made out of
ground dry legumes.
- Pranam:
- Salutation.
- Prasad(am):
- Is the sacred offering to the deity returned to the
devotee after the worship as part of the deity's grace.
- Puja:
- Devotional ritual and prayer.
- Pundit:
- A learned man. Also used as a honorary title.
- Ram nam:
- A mantra, lit. the name of Rama.
- Ramanujacharya:
- The famous Vaishnava saint and philosopher in South
India; founding of the school of Qualified Non-dualism.
- Rasam:
- Thin soup made out of tamarind and spices.
- Sadhana:
- Spiritual practice.
- Samadhi:
- Deep meditative trance state.
- Samskara:
- A term used for psychological conditioning or
impressions from past lives.
- Sandhyavandanam:
- Morning and evening salutations to God.
- Sankara:
- The foremost exponent of Advaita (n on-dualistic)
Vedanta hailing from South India about 8th Century A.D.
- Sanskrit:
- The classical language of India in which most
religious and spiritual literature was composed.
- Sannyasins:
- Men who have 'renounced' the world; monks.
- Sattvic:
- Endowed with a mellow, light and spiritual
quality.
- Savasana:
- The 'corpse' posture. One of the asanas (see
above) consisting of lying on the back and relaxing all limbs.
- Shakti:
- Lord Shiva 's consort; female energy.
- Shastras:
- Sacred Hindu scriptures. Also ancient Sanskrit texts
in various disciplines.
- Shivapanchakshari:
- A five-syllabled mantra saluting Shiva.
- Shivaratri:
- A special New Moon night when Shaivites worship Lord
Shiva.
- Sita:
- Wife of Rama (embodiment of virtue and
chastity).
- Slokas:
- Verses in Sanskrit texts; hymns of praise in Hindu
scriptures.
- Swami:
- Lit. Master or lord. A form of addressing spiritual
teachers or one's favorite deity.
- Telugu Desam:
-
The Telugu speaking region of South India -- Andhra Pradesh
State.
- Vedanta:
- A system of Hindu monistic or pantheistic philosophy
founded on the Upanishads of the Vedas.
- Yajnas:
- Religious rites and sacrifices to propitiate
gods.
- Yoga:
- Lit. Joining or
union. In general, a path to liberation. More specifically, the system
of physical and mental discipline and meditation propounded by
Patanjali, the practice of which is believed to lead to 'isolation' or
liberation.
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