• Adhyaya – “lesson,” “reading” or “lecture.”
  • Āgama – Lit., ‘to carry on’ or ‘to go forward’. Testimony; revealed text. Traditional knowledge, that which is handed down from generation to generation. It allows one to know (gam-) the object under all its aspects (ā), whence the word ‘āgama’. They have been classified into three categories: the dualistic, the mono-dualistic (i.e. dualistic cum non-dualistic) and the monistic āgama-s. All of them have been recognized as authorities in Shaivism. The āgama-s refer to the ancient scriptures of Tantric tradition which express the spiritual doctrine of the S̒aiva-s, which are said to have been revealed by divine authority and are considered appropriate for Kali Yuga. In them S̒iva teaches Parvati, his consort, a code of living which includes ritual, worship, discipline, meditation and attainment of siddhi-s. The āgama literature is very extensive, including everything that comes under the banner of experiential knowledge or is related to existence and creation.
  • Bhakta – Lit., ‘devotee’; ‘devoted’. A great lover of God.
  • Bindu – A point, a dot. A symbol of S̒iva as concentration of luminous energy. A symbol of creation – the compact mass of Śakti gathered into an undifferentiated point, ready to create. It is nāda condensed into a dynamic center, the source of all manifestation, the point of potential energy where the descending consciousness first emerges into multiplicity and diversity. Other meanings of bindu are: (1) The anusvara or nasal sound indicated by a dot on a letter, saying that S̒iva, in spite of the manifestation of the universe, is undivided; (2) A śakti of pranava, subtle stage in the ascent of energy, also known as bindu visarga; (3) Psychic centre at the top back of the head; (4) Drop of ojas according to Tantra.
  • Chitta Suddhi – Purity of Mind
  • Devanāgarī – ‘Language of the gods’. The script used to write Sanskrit and other Indic languages.
  • Devī – Goddess.
  • Dharma – The duty of the being to the Macrocosm.
  • Dharmacakra – The Wheel of Dharma
  • Dhautī – ‘Cleansing’ or ‘washing’. The dhautī-s are part of the sat karma kriya (Six Purification Techniques). The dhautī-s are in turn subdivided in four groups: antar-dhautī (internal dhautī), danta-dhautī (dental dhautī), hṛd-dhautī (cleansing the heart) and mulasodhana (cleansing the root).
  • Dhyāna – ‘Meditation’. Spontaneous state of meditation which arises out of the perfection of dhāraṇā; seventh stage of Patañjali’s Ashtanga Yoga; fusion of mind with the object of contemplation; inner awakening; natural expression of the sattvic state. Dhyāna (meditation) is a dynamic process: during it, the mental processes are aimed at the object of meditation, making free associations related to that particular object only. The activity of the mind reaches a tremendously dynamic intensity and eventually becomes a laser-beam-like stream of concentrated thinking. Dhyāna (meditation) is superimposed upon dhāraṇā (mental concentration). In other words, mental concentration lasts permanently during the whole period of meditation. The purpose of mental concentration is to keep the object before the mind’s eye, and it is a static process. Meditation takes place at a higher (or innermost) level of mind and implies mental dynamics.
  • Dos̒a – There are three energetic ‘humors’ of the body: phlegm (kapha), acid (pitta) and wind (vata). Defect. One of the four main obstacles to sadhana, according to Patañjali. This is called the tridosa (three dosa-s) theory of Ayurveda. The five elements (panca tattva) of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether form in their turn three essential factors, called dosa-s, which are considered the major coordinators (vata dosa, pitta dosa and kapha dosa). In this theory, the subtle elements of Earth and Water are combined and called kapha dosa (Water is dominant); Water and Fire as are combined as pitta dosa (Fire is dominant); Air and Ether blend together as vata dosa (Air is dominant). Thus, every individual is born with a bodily constitution that reflects a specific balance of dosa-s.
  • Garudāsana – Garuda is the name for the fabulous mythological bird that carries Viṣṇu, the god of preservation. It is the ‘vehicle’ of Viṣṇu, and the destroyer of the nāga-s, which represent dark, inferior, harmful forces. This illustrates some of the mysterious effects of garudāsana.
  • Guru – Lit., gu = darkness; ru = light; dispeller. Therefore ‘dispeller of darkness’; realized person who by the light of his own soul, or atma, can rid the disciple’s mind of ignorance and delusion. A self-realized spiritual master, a medium for the transmission of divine grace. A spiritual teacher who removes the ignorance of the pupil. The real guru is a transmitter of the spiritual impulse that quickens the spirit and awakens a genuine thirst for divine knowledge.
  • Īṣvara – Lit., The Lord, ‘one who rules’. The Supreme Ruler; the highest possible conception through reason, of the Absolute, which is beyond all thought. Cosmic, causal body of sound, also known as parabindu, parashabda, supreme being or God; state of unchanging transcendental reality, corresponding to the Western concept of a personal God. It is the aspect of S̒iva related with Jñāna Sakti. It is also God according to Vedanta, when Brahman is associated with avidya.

Sanskrit Spiritual Glossary 1

  • Karma – Lit., action, deed. Work or action, also effects of actions; the law of cause and effect in the moral world. The universal law of cause and effect, the rewards or consequences of every thought and action, in this life or in a future life. Accumulated effects of actions. There are three distinct types of karma in all: (1) Those karma-s which are ripe and have started bearing fruits, called prarabdha karma; (2) Karma-s which are unripe and therefore lie accumulated, called sanchit karma; (3) Karma-s being gathered during the present life of the aspirant, called sanchiyamana karma. With the achievement of the knowledge of pure svarupa, it is said that the second karma is destroyed, and the third is prevented from accumulating, while the first is allowed to remain to enable the sadhaka to exist in embodied form.
  • Kles̒a – Lit., ‘defiling element’; ‘trouble’. The five painful impurities (kles̒a-s) of man are: ignorance, egoism, attachment, hate and fear of death.
  • Kutastha – Wisdomlib.org/definition/kutastha
  • Lila – Lit., ‘play. Viṣṇu is the aspect of God which shapes, preserves and maintains the cosmic play.
  • Liṅga – (1) Mark, form; (2) To be absorbed; (3) Phallus. Svāyambu liṅgam is the phallus as a self-born generative element.
  • Loka – Lit., ‘place’, ‘world’. A realm or plane of existence, whether physical, astral or causal. There are seven loka-s:
    • 1) Bhu or Bhuloka: The material plane of atomic matter.
    • 2) Bhuvah or Bhuvaloka: The lesser astral world, similar to the material plane (Bhuloka)
    • 3) Svahah or Sva(r)loka: The median astral world.
    • 4) Mahah or Mahaloka: The higher astral world. Those who attain this world need never be reborn in the three lower worlds of Bhur, Bhuvah, and Swah.
    • 5) Janah or Janaloka: The world that embraces both the highest astral levels and the lower causal levels.
    • 6) Tapah or Tapoloka: The median causal world exclusively inhabited by advanced spirits.
    • 7) Satya or Satyaloka: The highest causal world inhabited by those who have attained liberation.
    • Bhū loka – The gross, or physical Universe. The Bhūvar and Suvar loka-s ar subtle universes.
    • Bhūvar loka – The lower astral plane (subtle-inferior). Includes nāga loka, or the level of the unfinished world, of the potential aspects of the creation, or of the fantasy. This plane is known by cabalists under the name of Qlipoth (the plane of the sparks of the creator).
  • Maha – Exceedingly great; infinite, cosmic.
  • Mandala – Sacred diagram within a circumference symbolizing the deeper aspects of man’s psyche, and capable of invoking cosmic powers. Complex geometrical symbol merging macrocosmic and microcosmic events.
  • Mantra – Man means ‘mind’ and ‘tra’ means ‘to protect’, ‘to guide’. So mantra is a tool to protect and guide the mind, to bring it peace, to bring it home. ‘Man’ implies mananat (by pondering) or manana (mind) and ‘tra’ implies trayate (protects, saves) or tranam (that which protects). Mantra therefore means ‘that which protects or saves by pondering’ or ‘that which liberates the mind.’ Subtle sound vibration that liberates mental forces. Sacred word or words imbued with power which, when properly uttered and meditated upon, become efficacious in all sorts of ways. Mantra-s are divine sounds invested with the power to transform those who repeat it. Mantra-s are sounds that manifest exclusively at a mental level, subtle sonorous frequencies carrying certain cosmic energies. Hence mantra is used as a sacred or mystic formula for recitation. Most of the mantra-s of the Tantric tradition are codified through the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet, which has fifty letters. This alphabet is called Devanagari, ‘the language of gods’ – a direct reference to its hidden power to establish contact with invisible subtle energies through mantra-s.
  • Mauna – Lit., ‘silence’.
  • Mudrā – From ‘mud’ = joy, pleasure, ‘ra’ = to give or ‘dru’ = to draw forth. It is a gesture, attitude or posture used to express or channel cosmic / prāṇa-ic energy within the mind / body as an aid to concentration. It is called mudrā, because it gives the bliss of spiritual consciousness or because it seals up (mudranat) the universe into the being of the turiya consciousness; Also, yogic control of certain organs as help in concentration.
    • Abhāya mudra – Lit., ‘Fearlessness’ mudra
  • Muhūrta – A unit of time –a thirtieth part of a day, forty-five to forty-eight minutes in length.
  • Navaḥ – Term used for the thyroid gland, the parathyroid, tonsils and salivary glands (as they are all seen as closely related). Ayurvedic doctors say that the health and well-being of navaḥ ensures the well-being of the rest of the body, as these glands are superior to all the others. This is why yogin-s oppose the surgical removal of the tonsils, as this can weaken the entire being. The thyroid is also called the “gland of youth”, since its normal functioning preserves youthfulness.
  • Omkara – The sound AUM, or the pranava mantra.
  • Pranava – Pranava is the mantra of AUM, the first sound to originate in the cosmos. Thus pranava is the para nada, or transcendental sound, which is reverberating throughout the universe at all times. Pranava is synonymous with the pure Self, or Atman, before it becomes associated with the manifest nature. The pranava is more than sound; it is the source of sound. By continuous repetition of the AUM mantra, first at the level of vaikhari (spoken word), then at the levels of madhyama (whispering) and pashyanti (mental), the aspirant can realize the great void, which is pure consciousness. Correct repetition of Pranava acts as an aid for the awareness to pierce through the veils that obstruct higher experience. Pranava is the source of all manifest vibration and therefore it goes beyond vibration. Ultimately, AUM is the anahad, the un-caused or unqualified vibration which is heard in the silence of the shunya, or the void.
  • Prajna
  • Prana pratishta
  • Ṛṣi – Lit., ‘Seer of mantra-s (thoughts)’; one possessing super-sensory knowledge. Realized sage who meditates on the Self.
  • Sadhana – Spiritual practice done regularly for inner experience and liberation; the yogic process of transformation; process of internal refinement on the path towards perfection; an enlightenment technique that maps the path to the higher Consciousness; steadfast training, or methods and exercises leading to mastery of a path or of a stage in Yoga, which include three steps: a preparation, a main part or the achievement, and the awareness of the effects.
  • S̒aiva – A follower of the Monistic Indian philosophy, based on the S̒iva cult – which was in existence even before Vedic times – which worships S̒iva as the Supreme reality. Arguably the most ancient faith in the world, yet positive evidence about its existence was found relatively late, in the Shvetasvatara Upanishad, composed in the third century B.C. This system postulates that the individual soul has one and the same nature with the Divine. According to the S̒aiva philosophy, the objective world and the individuals have been created by S̒iva, the Undifferentiated Cosmic Consciousness, from himself, through the expansion of His own Śakti. In creating the objective world, S̒iva seems to depart from his Divine nature, but in reality the manifestation has never been separated from Him, being the projection of His own free will. Shiva is the manifestation itself but in a concealed way. It is exactly through this game of concealing and revealing Himself in the objective world that the Divine consciousness gives the individual soul the possibility to recognize again his own nature as being Divine and one with It. Historically, the S̒aiva stream consists of eight schools of thought that developed at different times in different parts of India: (a) dualistic schools (Pashupata and S̒aiva Shiddhanta); (b) dualistic-nondualistic (Lakulisha- Pashupata and Virashaiva schools); (c) the monistic stream (Nandikeshvara S̒aiva, Raseshvara S̒aiva, Trika S̒aiva and Vishishtadvaita S̒aiva of Shrikantha).
  • Śakti – Power. The Divine power of God; His Godhead. The supreme energy of S̒iva as well as her various forms and manifestations; not different from S̒iva; the face, door or entrance to S̒iva. The divine energy that creates, maintains and dissolves the universe; Also, spiritual energy, the female or dynamic aspect of Consciousness, of creation and divinity. Being feminine, it denotes woman; vital energy, creative potential force; center where intense waves of bliss permeate one’s being. Also the name of a step in Kuṇḍalinī rising in uccāra-yoga.
  • Śaktism – Sect in which Śakti or cosmic mother (female creative principle) is worshiped as the supreme reality.
  • Sattvika – Having the Sattva quality highly developed, hence one who is pure and holy.
  • S̒iva-liṅgam – The Śaivite symbol of a liṅgam (phallus) inserted into a yoni (vagina), representing the elevation of sexuality to the Divine and the cosmic marriage of opposites; A symbol of consciousness.
  • Sūtra – Lit., ‘thread’. That which, like a thread runs through or holds together certain ideas; a rule, a formula; a direction. In Latin, sutura; in English, suture. A Sūtra must contain the fewest possible words, must be free from ambiguity, must be meaningful and comprehensive, must not contain useless words or pauses and it must be faultless. Short and comprehensive aphorisms on the principles of a subject of study; a verse.
  • Svastika
  • Tantra
  • Tapas
  • Tattva – Lit., ‘that-ness’; the very being of a thing; essential constitutive element or principle. A constituent of the universe; a category, class or principle of world creation. There are 25 tattva-s in Samhkya philosophy and 36 tattva-s in Kashmir Shaivism cosmology.
  • Tejas – Lit., ‘bright’; fire; heat; that which illuminates subtle objects. The Fire, called agni. A product of rupa tanmatra (sight-in-itself or form-essence). Another meaning of tejas is subconscious state related to dream whose essence is light.
  • Vairāgya – Perfect detachment; dis-passion; non-attachment toward the transient, nor to the attractions of the senses. Renunciation. State in which one remains internally calm and balanced under all circumstances; absence of sensual craving and desire.
  • Vāk – Lit. “speech.” Primordial Word or Logos. The karmendriya no.1, the power of speaking.
  • Vāsanā – Lit., ‘desire’. An aggregate of similar samskara-s that induces a person to repeat worldly actions; the impression of actions that remains unconsciously in the mind; a habit or tendency arising from an impression remaining unconsciously in the mind from past experiences that constitute one’s karma.
  • Veda-s – Lit., ‘transcendental knowledge’. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, they constitute the oldest known spiritual texts, and the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature; the basic scriptures of Hinduism comprising its hymns, rituals and philosophy. The Veda-s are apauruṣeya (“not of human agency”), considered authoritative and divinely revealed, and thus are called śhruti (“what is heard”), distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛiti (“what is remembered”). The four Veda-s (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda samhita-s), as well as the Brahmana-s and the Upanishad-s.
  • Vidya – Lit., ‘knowledge’, ‘wisdom’, ‘insight’; from the root ‘vid’ = to know, to understand deeply. Both spiritual, unlimited knowledge (especially superior esoteric), and mundane knowledge or instruction.
  • Vijnana – Pure intellligence
  • Visarga – Power of creativity; emission; emanation. S̒iva power of projection of the universe; Śakti; The aspirated sound (ha) at the end of a word, represented by two points, or two dots placed perpendicularly one upon the other after a letter ‘:’, giving the sound ‘ha’ hence a symbol of S̒iva and Śakti.
  • Viveka https://trueayurveda.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/discernment-viveka/