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.