Eternal India Encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

Eternal India

encyclopedia

GLOSSARY OF HINDUISM

Aditi:

Infinity.

Aditya:

The Sun.

Aham:

The Ego; the T.

Ananda

: Absolute bliss.

Asana:

Posture; bodily attitude assumed during meditation; the

third step in

Patanjali

Yoga

system.

Atman:

The spirit; the real self.

Aum

(or

Om):

A symbolic 'Holy Word" signifying the absolute

idea.

Avidya:

Ignorance.

Bhakti:

Ardent love of God;

Bhakti-Yoga,

the

Yoga,

or doctrine of the

Love of God;

Bhakti-Yogi,

A disciple of

Bhakti-Yoga.

Bramha:

The personified conception of Brahman; the conception of

Deity as the Creating God; the Creative Deity of the orthodox

Hindu Trinity.

Brahmin: A

member of the highest caste of India; a 'twice-born'

according to the Hindu term.

Buddhi:

The determinative faculty of the mind. The Determinative

Principle arising from

Prakriti

by reason of the involvement of

Purusha.

Chaitanya:

Pure Intelligence; also the name of an exalted Hindu

teacher, who lived about 1500 A.D. and who is regarded by some

as an incarnation or

avatar

Krishna.

Dhama

: Concentration; one-mindedness; The sixth step of yoga.

Dharma:

Duty virtue; the Path of Right Action.

Dhyana

: Meditation on the divine; the

Yoga

seventh step.

Dvaita:

The Dualistic School of Philosophy, opposed to

Advaita.

Gnana:

Wisdom,

Gnana Yoga,

the

yoga

of Wisdom.

Hatha-Yoga:

The

Yoga

of physical control;

Hatha-Yogi-

a follower or

practitioner of

Hatha-Yoga.

Indra:

The 'King of the gods' in the ancient Hindu mythology.

Ishwara:

The personal god; the Logos; the Demi-Urge; the

Universal

Purusha.

Jaimini:

The founder of the

Purva-Mimamsa

philosophy.

Jiva:

The individual life, or individual soul;

Jiva-Atman;

e Atman

in its manifestation of

Jivas.

Kalpa:

A cycle of time.

Kama:

Desire; passion; sense-longing.

Karma-Yoga:

The

Yoga

of work, or action, or duty-well-performed

without hope of reward;

Karma-Yoga.

Krishna:

An incarnation

of Vishnu,

who lived about 1400 B.C. and

whose general teachings are stated in the

Bhagavad-Gita.

Kundalini:

The concentrated psychic force, located in the lotus at

the base of the spinal column, and which when aroused, develops

the psychic and spiritual powers of the

Yogin.

Manas:

The deliberative or reasoning faculty or the mind.

Mantram

: An affirmation; prayer; holy word; verse, thought; idea,

etc., expressed in words, or meditated upon in the form of words,

during worship, meditation or concentration.

Maya:

Illusion, the phenomenal cloak or covering of the Absolute,

which is not real but exists merely as an appearance. '

Moksha:

The state of liberation; Emancipation; Freedom; Divine

Absorption, etc., often used in the same sense as

Nirvana.

Mukti:

Deliverance, or Emancipation from

Samsaara,

or Rebirth.

Nirguna:

Without-Gunas, i.e. without qualities or attributes.

Nishkamakarma:

Actions performed unselfishly, from duty, and

without desire or hope of reward; according to the teachings of

Karma Yoga

Nitya:

Eternal; without end; permanent; indestructible.

Nirvana:

The state of Emancipation, or Freedom from

Samsara,

Rebirth, the state of Absorption by the Divine; generally used by

the Buddhists, but sometime by the Hindus.

Paramahamsa:

Supreme soul, or being.

Paravidya:

Supreme Wisdom, or knowledge.

Parvathi:

The wife of Shiva.

Prana:

The Universal Principle of Energy; also used to designate

the Vital Force of the body, which is a manifestation of the

Universal

Prana.

Pranayama

: The Science of Control of the

Prana,

principally by

means of the Breath; the Fourth Step of Patanjali's

Yoga

System.

Pratyahara:

Control of the Senses; a part of the

Yoga

disciple and

practically the fifth Step of the

Yoga

Patanjali.

Prithivi:

Solid matter, earth cohesive mass.

Puraka:

Inhalation of the Breath.

Purusha:

The Spiritual Principle; the Spirit.

Raja Yoga:

The 'Royal

Yoga

a form of

Yoga

advanced by the

Yoga

School of

Patanjali

and others, which has for its object the devel-

opment of the psychic and the control of Mind.

Rig Veda:

The oldest part of the

Vedas,

and which is composed

principally of hymns, etc.,

Shakti:

Power, Authority.

Samadhi

Transcendental contemplation, of Ecstasy; Cosmic con-

sciousness; a supernormal state produced by meditation, concen-

tration, etc.; the eighth Step of

Patanjali's Yoga

system.

Samsara:

The World of Phenomenal Existence; the chain of Rebirth,

the Cycle of Existences; used particularly to distinguish the universe

of manifestation and phenomena from the Real Existence which lies

behind and under it.

Sat:

Absolute Existence; one of the terms applied to The Absolute

Brahman, or 'That'.

Sat-Chit-Ananda: A

term applied to The Absolute,

Brahman

'That' consisting of three terms, and meaning 'Absolute Existence

or Being-Absolute Wisdom and Knowledge-Absolute Bliss or

Happiness.

Sloka: A

verse of a poem or sacred writing.

Smriti:

Memory; also a term sometimes applied to the sacred

books which have been transmitted in the past by Memory.

Soma:

The nectar of the ancient gods; an Indian plant.

Sunya Vada:

The doctrine that behind the phenomenal world there

is an infinite void, or Nothing; a form of philosophical Nihilism.

Tamas:

Darkness; one of the

Gunas',

the

Guna

of Sloth, Ignorance and

Slowness.

Tat Tvam-Asi: A

term meaning 'That thou art,’ used by Hindu

teachers to their students, and which informs them of their rela-

tionship with

Brahman,

through the Indwelling Spirit.

Vedanta:

The great system of Hindu Philosophy, the distinguishing

feature of which is Idealism.

Vishnu:

The First principle of the Hindu Trinity; of whom

Krishna

was an

avatar;

the conception of

Vishnu

and

Krishna

is often

identical.

Yoga: A

term meaning 'yoking; joining, etc’ also meaning 'mental

control and advancement' resulting therefrom; the name of the

Yoga

System of Hindu Philosophy established by

Patanjali.

Yogi,

Yogin:

Practitioner of

Yoga,

or in a more general sense,

one who seeks Union, Realization and Attainment.