master (also used as equivalent to Master of Arts).
acetana
without consciousness (used as attribute of matter).
acintya
beyond intellectual understanding.
ādāna
taking away.
adbhūta
marvellous, miraculous.
adharma
unrighteousness, evil.
adhikāra
qualification (especially of students of religion).
adhyāsa
superimposition;misidentification.
adhyātma
supreme; spiritual; relating to the Supreme Being.
adhyāya
chapter (of a treatise).
Aditi
Vedic Goddess, “Mother Earth,” mother of
ādityas
.
adṛṣṭa
invisible; important technical term in the Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika systems.
advaita
nonduality; name of a school of Vedānta.
ādya prakṛti
primeval matter.
ādya śakti
primeval power, title of the Goddess.
āgama
source, beginning, scriptures; name of a class of writings which are considered revealed.
aghora
horrible; name of a sect of Śaivites.
agni
fire; one of the foremost Vedic gods.
agnicayana
a particular kind of Vedic fire sacrifice.
agnihotra
Vedic fire sacrifice.
agniṣṭoma
fire sacrifice.
ahaṁkāra
principle of individuation; egotism.
ahiṃsā
not killing; nonviolence.
ahi
snake.
ahita
improper, unwholesome, not propitious.
aikya
unity, oneness.
aiśvarya
Lordliness.
aja
unborn (masc.); attribute of the Supreme Being; billygoat.
ajā
unborn (fem.), attribute of Primordial Matter; nannygoat.
ajñāna
ignorance; absence of (redeeming) knowledge.
akala
without parts; attribute of Supreme Being.
ākāśa
ether (one of the five elements of Indian cosmology); space.
akhila
undivided, complete.
akhila rasāmṛta mūrti
description of Kṛṣṇa as “perfect embodiment of the nectar of all feelings.”
akṛti
uncreated; eternal principle underlying words, etc.
akṣa-mālā
rosary made of beads from a shrub sacred to Śiva.
akṣara
imperishable; syllable (letter); name of Supreme Being.
amarṣa
impatience; anger; passion.
ambikā
mother; Mother Goddess.
amṛta
nectar; draught of immortality.
aṃśa
part, fragment.
anādhāra
without support.
anādi
without beginning; eternal.
anahaṛa
“unstruck,” mystical sound arising from within the body, signifiying divine grace.
ānanda
bliss; used as last part of the proper name of many
samnyāsis
.
ananta
without end; proper name of the world-snake upon which Visnu rests.
aṇava
veil; congenital ignorance concerning the ultimate; stain.
aṅga
member, constituent part, e.g., of a major work.
aṇimā
smallness; in
yoga
the faculty to diminish one’s size.
aniruddha
free, without hindrance; proper name of one of the
vyūhas
of Viṣṇu.
anitya
not permanent; transient.
ahkuśa
goad; one of the divine attributes.
anṛta
against the (moral) law.
anta
end, death.
antarātman
conscience.
antaryāmī
the “inner ruler,” the Supreme Being as present in the human heart (literally understood).
aṇu
atom.
anubhava
experience.
anugraha
attraction; grace of God.
anumāna
inference.
apara
unsurpassed; attribute of the Supreme Being.
aparigraha
without having (and wanting) possessions.
aparokṣa
immediate, present.
apas
water.
apāśraya
supportless.
apauruṣeya
not man-made; technical term for the supernatural origin of the Veda in Mīmāṃsā.
apsarā
nymph.
apūrva
technical term in the Mīmāṃsā system to denote the not-yet realized effect of a sacrifice.
araṇya
forest.
arcā
rites of worship of an image.
arcāvatāra
image of God, who took on this form in order to become an object of worship for the devotees.
ardha
half.
ardhanārīśvara
figurative representation of Śiva, in which one half shows a male figure, the other half a female one.
arjuna
bright; proper name of the hero of the
Bhagavadgītā
.
arka
sun.
artha
object; meaning; wealth.
arthavāda
“eulogy”, mere description (without authority).
ārya
noble (man); self-designation of the “Āryans.”
āsana
seat, sitting posture.
asat
not true; “not real.”
āśirvādam
(ritual) blessing.
asmitā
egoism; from
asmi
, “I am.”
āśrama
hermitage; stage in life; proper name of a group of
saṃnyāsis
.
aṣṭamūrti
“eightfold embodiment,” eight proper names of Śiva.
asteya
not stealing.
āstika
someone who accepts the authority of the Veda; orthodox.
aśubha
inauspicious.
aśuddha
impure.
asuras
demons; class of superhuman beings.
aśvamedha
horse sacrifice.
aśvatha
tree
(ficus sacra)
.
aśvins
Vedic gods, a pair of brothers; astronomy, Castor and Pollux.
ātmakūṭa
self-deceit.
ātman
self.
ātmanivedana
self-surrender (as part of religious initiation).
avatāra
descent (of god in a bodily form).
avidyā
ignorance (of reality).
avyakta
unmanifest.
āyurveda
traditional Indian medicine; literally, “life-knowledge.”
baddha
bound (into
saṃsāra)
bala
strength, power.
bana
arrow; attribute of images of deities.
bandha
bondage.
bhadra
well, happy; blessing.
bhāga
luck, fortune.
bhagavān
lord; most general title of god.
bhagavadgītā
“Song of the Lord,” celebrated religio-philosophical epic poem, conceived as dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, part of the
Mahābhārata
.
bhajana
devotional recitation.
bhakta
devotee.
bhakti
love, devotion.
bhasma
(sacred) ashes.
bhāṣya
commentary.
bhāva
condition; emotion; nature.
bhaviṣya
future.
bhaya
fear, terror.
bheda
difference.
bhoga
enjoyment.
bhū, bhūmī
earth; proper name of Viṣṇu’s second consort.
bhukti
enjoyment.
bhūta
being, a spirit.
bibhatsa
trembling.
bīja
seed.
bīja-mantra
“seed-spell,” mystical syllables identified with the Goddess, used by Śāktas.
bindu
“drop,” crescent.
brahmā
(personal) creator-god.
brahmacarin
student; celibate.
brahmacarya
first period in life, celibate studenthood.
brahmaloka
world of Brahmā; highest abode.
brahman
(impersonal) absolute.
brāhmana
member of the highest caste; class of ritual texts.
brahmārandra
the place from where the soul departs at death (the backside of the cranium).
buddhi
intelligence; in the Sāṁkhya system name of the first product of the union of
puruṣa
and
prakṛti
.
caitanya
spirit, consciousness, also proper name for the Supreme; proper name of a Bengali saint of the sixteenth century.
caitta
consciousness.
cakra
circle, disc; centers in body; one of Viṣṇu’s weapons; discus.
cakravartin
universal ruler.
Caṇḍa
moon; silver.
candāla
wild; bad; proper name of lowest caste; outcaste.
caṅḍana
sandalwood.
caṅḍī
fierce woman; proper name of Devī.
carita
biography.
caryā
activity; mode of behavior.
caturmukha
four-faced; proper name of Brahmā.
caturvarṇāśrama
the four
varṇas
(“castes”) and stages of life.
chāyā
shadow.
cit
consciousness; spirit.
citta
thought.
daitya
a goblin, a slave, a demon.
dakṣina
sacrificial fees.
dakṣinācāra
right-handed path.
dāna
gift; charity.
Dānava
member of a group hostile to Vedic Āryans.
darśana
view; audience; theory; philosophical system.
dāsa
servant; often part of proper name.
dāsa-mārga
“way of the servant”, lowest rank in Śaiva-Siddhānta.
daśanāmī
ten-named; proper name of a religious order.
dasyu
slave; name for non-Āryan in
Ṛgveda
.
dayā
compassion.
deva, devatā
divine (superior) being.
devayāna
path of the gods.
devī
goddess.
dhairya
firmness.
dhama
area; body.
dhāraṇa
support.
dharma
“law,” religion, support, etc.
dharmaśāstras
law books.
dharmakṣetra
“the field of righteousness.”
dhatṛ
giver; proper name for God.
dbyāna
meditation; concentration in Yoga.
dig-vijaya
conquest of the four quarters; appellation of the successful competition of a religious teacher.
dīkṣā
initiation.
dīpā
lamp.
divya-mārga
“way of the deities,” highest rank in Śaiva-Siddhānta.
duḥkha
sorrow, suffering.
dvaita
duality; name of a school of Vedānta.
dvaitādvaita vivarjita
beyond duality and non-duality.
dvandva
pair of opposites (hot-cold, etc.).
dvāpara yuga
second era of each
kalpa
.
dveṣa
hatred.
dvijati
twice-born; appellation of the three upper castes whose initiation is considered a second birth.
dvīpa
island; continent.
dyaus
resplendent; sky; Vedic high god.
ekādaśī