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GLOSSARY

abhaya: State of fearlessness; offering shelter to one who
seeks refuge.
abheda: Without difference.
abheda buddhi: Concept free from ideas of difference.
abhishekam: The sacred bath of water, milk, curd, etc., given
to a deity.
abhyasa: Practice.
abhavam: Non-existence; absence.
adhama: Inferior.
adi: Beginning.
advaita: Non-duality; no-otherness.
advaitic: Pertaining to advaita.
advaitin: One who believes in non-duality.
aham: I; the ego.
ahamkaram: Ego-sense.
Aham vritti: The `I' thought.
ajnana: Ignorance; nescience.
akasa: Space; ether; sky; Brahman.
ananda: Bliss.
ananya bhakti: Whole-hearted devotion.
angushtha-pramana: Of the size of the thumb.
anta: The end.
antaryami: The controller within us. God.
anugraha: Blessing; grace.
anupallavi: Sub-refrain of a song.
apachara: Sacrilege.
arati: The waving of lights before a sacred image.
archana: Offering flowers to a sacred image.
arupa manas: Mind which has no form or concept.
asariri: Without body; a celestial voice.
asat: Non-existence.
Ashta Dik Palakas: Protectors of eight quarters.
Ashta Dik Lingams: Eight lingams.
Ashta Vasus: Celestial beings who are eight in number.
asti: Exists.
asuric: Demoniac.
atma: Self.
atma sakshatkaram: Perceiving (realizing) the Self directly.
Avadhuta:
An ascetic who has given up everything including
his clothes.
avastha: State, especially the state of waking or dream or
sleep.
avatar: Incarnation; descent of God in a worldly form.
avidya: Ignorance; nescience.
aviyal: A South Indian preparation in which several kinds
of vegetables are used.
avyabhicharini bhakti: Bhakti which does not change from one object to another.
bhagavat bhakta: One who is devoted to Bhagavan (Vishnu).
bhajan: Singing devotional songs in chorus.
bhakti: Devotion to a personal God.
bhakti marga: The spiritual path of devotion to a personal God.
bhakti rasa: The joy of bhakti.
bhati: Shines, manifests, is aware.
bhava: Feeling ; emotion.
bheda bhava: A sense of separateness.
bhiksha: lit. The food offered to begging ascetics in charity;
a feast given to ascetics and other religious persons.
bhoga Kshetra: A place of enjoyment.
bhu: A sacred and symbolic syllable called a vyahriti.
bhuvar: A sacred and symbolic syllable called a vyahriti.
bindu: A dot; in yoga the dot over OM.
brahmacharya: The first stage of life, the stage of the student.
brahmajnana: Realization of Brahman.
brahmakara vritti: Concept of the form of Brahman.
Buddhi:
Intellect.
chaitanya: Consciousness; sentience.
chakora: A mythical bird which is to feed only on rain
water.
chakra: A yogic centre in the body.
chalana: Movement.
charanam: The body of a song.
charya: Regular observance of rites.
chattram: A place of free lodging for pilgrims and travellers.
Sometimes food is also provided free.
cheetah: A small leopard.
chembu: A small round water pot made of brass or copper.
chidabhasa: The reflected consciousness; the jiva.
chidakasa: The akasa or ether or space in the heart; Brahman.
chinmudra: The hand-pose indicating illumination.
chiranjivi: One who lives for ever.
chit: Consciousness.
chit-jada granthi: The knot which ties the sentient (Self ) and the inert (the body).
chitta suddhi: Purity of mind.
daharakasa: The tiny akasa; A term applied to the Self which
is realized in the Heart.
daivic: Godly; divine.
darshan: Seeing a holy person or image.
dasara: holidays: The ten days devoted to the worship of the
Universal Mother.
deham: Body.
dehatma buddhi: The idea that the body is the Self.
deva: A celestial being.
dhoti: A long piece of cloth tied round the waist.
dhyana: Meditation; contemplation.
diksha: Formal initiation of a disciple by the Guru.
deeksha: Formal initiation of a disciple by the Guru.
dosai prasad: Prasad (Offering to God) consisting of dosai, a
pancake made out of rice and blackgram.
drishti srishti: Perception followed by creation.
dvaita: Duality.
dvaitic: Pertaining to dvaita.
dvaitin: One who believes in duality.
eka chintana: Concentrated thinking.
ekagra bhakti: Complete devotion to one.
ganjira: A tabor-like musical instrument.
Gayatri: A well-known Vedic mantra.
giri pradakshina: Going round the Hill.
Gokulashtami: The eighth lunar day on which Sri Krishna was
born.
gosala: A place where the cows are kept.
gottuvadyam: A stringed musical instrument.
grihapravesam: House warming.
grihasta: One who is in the second stage of life, that of a
householder.
guna: Quality; mode.
guru stuti: Praise of the Guru; verses in praise of the Guru.
harikatha: A religious discourse interspersed with devotional songs.
hasta diksha: Spiritual initiation in which the Guru places his
hand on the head of the disciple.
hastamalakam: An amalaka fruit in the hand.
hatha yoga: A form of yoga involving difficult bodily postures.
homa: Sacrifice offered in the sacred fire.
idam: This, usually applied in Vedanta to the world.
ishta devata: The deity whom one desires to worship or
contemplate.
isvara: God.
isvara maya: The maya (delusion) produced by God.
isvaravadi: One who expounds the doctrine of a personal
God.
jada: The inert.
jagrat: The waking state.
japa: Repetition of a sacred word or syllable or the name
of God.
jada: Matted hair.
Jayanti: The birthday of a God or a holy person.
jibba: A long, loose shirt without collar and cuffs.
jiva: The individual.
jivanmukta: One who is Liberated while alive.
jivatman: The individual self.
jnana: Knowledge; Wisdom; Enlightenment. jnanottara bhakti: Bhakti which follows Jnana.
jutka: A carriage on two wheels drawn by a pony.
jyoti: Effulgence.
jyoti maya: Full of effulgence.
kainkaryam: Service rendered to God, the Guru, etc.
kalakshepam: A religious discourse interspersed with songs.
kali yuga: The last of the four yugas (aeons).
kamandalam: A receptacle for holding water used by ascetics and generally made out of the shell of a large
coconut.
kanji: Gruel.
kashaya: Taint; impurity.
kattalai: Offerings made to a temple at regular times by a
devotee.
kayakalpa: A medicinal preparation for longevity.
kirtan: A devotional song.
koham: Who am I?
kripa: Mercy.
kripa drishti: Look of mercy or grace.
kriya: An act.
kshetra: A field; a place; the body.
kshira sagara: The ocean of milk in which Vishnu lies on a
serpent with a thousand hoods.
kummi: A song which accompanies a kind of rustic
dance.
kumkum(am): Vermilion applied to the forehead, generally by women.
kundalini: The mystic circle of three and a half coils situated in the umbilical region. The yogic principle of Serpent power. The Primordial Maya.
kuvalaya: The lotus.
laya: Dissolution; absorption.
lila: Sport.
lingam: Symbol; the symbol of Siva.
lingamaya: Full of lingas.
madhu: Honey; enjoyment.
madhu Vidya: The name of a spiritual and esoteric practice.
madhwada: One who enjoys the good and bad things in the world; the jiva.
madhyama: Middling.
maha prana: The important life-force.
manana: Reflection on what has been heard.
manas: Mind.
manasa japam: Japam done mentally.
mangalam: Auspicious.
manigar: The person in charge of an institution.
mano nasa: The extinction of the mind.
mantapam: A raised platform of stone covered over with an
ornamental roof supported by pillars.
manthi: A grown up male monkey.
mantra: A sacred word or words supposed to have spiritual
potency.
mantra japam: Repetition of mantra.
mantramaya: Full of mantra.
marundu: Medicinal preparation. Mattu Pongal: day: The day on which the cows are venerated.
mauna (mowna): Silence.
mayavadi: One who expounds the doctrine of maya.
megha: Cloud.
megha mandala: A bank of clouds.
mithya: Unreal; false.
moham: Delusion.
moharrum: A Muslim festival.
moksha: Liberation.
mridangam: A small drum which is struck with the fingers of both the hands and used in South Indian Musical Concerts.
mudra: Pose of the hands.
mukta: One who is liberated.
mukti: Liberation.
muladhara: The name of the lowest Yogic chakra or centre.
mumukshu: One who desires to be Liberated.
nada: Sound; in yoga the sound represented by OM.
nadi: River.
nadi: Yogic nerve.
nadi horoscope: A system of astrology.
naham: I am not the body.
naivedyam: Food offered to a God at the time of worship.
nakshatra: A star; an asterism.
nama: Name.
nama smarana: Repetition of the name of God.
Navami: The ninth lunar day.
nididhyasana: Uninterrupted contemplation.
nirvikalpa samadhi: Samadhi in which all differences between the individual self and Brahman cease to exist.
nishkama karma: Action done without a selfish motive.
nitya karma: The daily rites which are obligatory.
niyati: Law; rule; established order.
om(kar): The sacred syllable which represents Brahman.
padaiveedu: A temple or shrine built on the site of a battle fought by gods with demons.
padmasanam: The lotus-posture of sitting for meditation.
pakva: Fit; proper; mature.
pallavi: Refrain in a piece of music.
paramatman: The Supreme Self; Brahman.
parayana: The chanting of the Vedas.
pathasala: A school, especially one in which boys are taught to chant the Vedas.
pipal: A sacred tree; the ficus religiosa.
poli: A North Indian preparation made of wheat flour fried in ghee.
pongal: A South Indian preparation made of rice, pulses, nuts, ghee, etc.
pongal prasadam: Pongal offered to God.
pooran poli: A North Indian sweet preparation.
pradakshina: Going round a sacred object or person.
prakara: The paved yard surrounding the shrine in a temple.
prakriti: Nature; compound of the three gunas, satva, rajas and tamas.
prana: Life-force; the vital airs, breath.
pranayama: Regulation or control of breath.
prarabdha: That part of one's karma which has to be worked out in this life.
prasad: Food distributed to devotees after it is offered to God, the Guru, etc.
pratyaksha: Direct; immediate.
pravritti: Activity.
prayaschittam: An expiatory act.
priyam: Bliss.
puja: Ceremonial worship with flowers, water, etc.
punarvasu: The name of an asterism.
punya: Merit; the result of a good deed.
puranas: Ancient poems containing mythological stories,
legends, etc.
purusha: Man; the Self.
purushottama: The best of men; an epithet of God.
ramamaya: Full of Rama.
sadhana: Spiritual practice.
sadhu: An ascetic; a sannyasin.
sadguru: The Self-realized Guru.
sahaja samadhi: Samadhi which is natural and constant.
sahaja sthiti: Natural state.
sadhaka: An aspirant; one who follows a spiritual discipline.
sahasrara: The lotus of the thousand petals; the topmost
yogic centre situated in the head.
sakshatkara: Direct perception.
sakti: Power; Energy.
samasanam: See Sama asraya.
sama asraya(m): Vaishnava method of initiation.
samkalpa: Idea, concept; imagination.
samsara: Cycle of births and deaths.
samskara: impression.
samudram: Ocean.
sanchitakarma: Karma which has been accumulated in former lives and which has not yet taken effect.
sandal: A fragrant paste made by rubbing a piece of sandalwood on a rough and moist stone.
sandhi: Conjunction, especially of syllables and words.
sannyasa: Asceticism; the fourth stage of life.
shanti: Peace; tranquillity.
sastra: Scripture; a science.
sannyasi: An ascetic; a person belonging to the fourth stage of life.
sariram: Body.
sat: Existence; being.
satavadhana: Attending to various things at one and the same time.
sat karma: Good or meritorious acts.
sat sang: Contact with good or pious persons.
satakam: A poem of one hundred stanzas.
satvic: Good; wholesome; possessing the quality of satva.
satya yuga: The first of the four yugas (aeons).
siddhi: Supernatural attainment.
siva lingam: The symbol of Siva which is an object of worship.
sivanamavali: Repetition of the names of Siva.
sloka: A stanza in Sanskrit poetry.
soham: I am He.
sphurana: Manifestation.
sravana: Hearing, especially the sacred truth.
srishti: Creation.
srishti drishti: Creation followed by perception.
sruti: That which is heard or revealed; inspired words, generally applied to the Vedas.
sthalapurana: The legend of a sacred place.
sthapati: An architect of temples and other sacred structures.
sthitaprajna: One who is stable in intelligence; a Self-realized Sage.
stotram: A hymn of praise.
suddha manas: Pure mind; mind without concepts.
sukshma: Subtle.
sukshma sarira: The subtle body.
sushumna nadi: A yogic nerve.
sushupti: The state of deep and dreamless sleep.
sushupti ananda: The bliss experienced in sushupti
sutra: Aphoristic words or phrases.
suvar: A sacred syllable known as a vyahriti.
svabhavasthiti: Natural state.
svanubhava: One's own experience.
svarga loka: The world of the Personal God.
swarupa: Nature; form; Self.
taila: Medicated oil.
tapal(s): Mail; the post.
tapam: Heat.
tapas: Austerities; severe spiritual discipline.
tapasvi: One who performs tapas.
tapasya: See Tapas.
tat: That; Brahman.
tattwa: Truth; significance.
Thai: The name of a Tamil month corresponding to
the middle of January to the middle of
February.
Thai Poosam: The day on which the moon is in conjunction with the asterism Pushya in the Tamil month of Thai.
thengalai: A sect among the Vishnu Worshippers.
thevaram: Songs composed by important Tamil Saints which are venerated like Vedas.
tithi: A lunar day.
tope: A grove of trees.
triputi: A triad like knower, known and knowledge.
tulsi: A sacred plant.
turiya: The fourth state which is beyond the three states of waking, dream and dreamless sleep.
turiya ananda: Bliss experienced in the state of turiya, the fourth state, Brahman.
turiyatita: Beyond turiya, the fourth state beyond waking, dream and dreamless sleep.
upadesa: Spiritual instruction.
upadhi: An adjunct.
upadhi ananda: Bliss which is caused by an adjunct.
upasana: Contemplation of a deity or word or syllable like
Om.
uppuma: A South Indian preparation made of semolina or
broken rice.
uttama: Superior; the best.
vadai: A South Indian preparation of blackgram dough
which is fried in oil.
vaikasi: The name of a Tamil month corresponding to
the middle of May to the middle of June.
vairagya: Dispassion.
varnasrama (dharma): The order of castes and stages of life; the duties
pertaining to the several castes and order of life.
vasana: Inherent tendency.
vibhuti: Sacred ashes.
vichara: Enquiry.
vichara marga: The path of enquiry.
videha mukti: Liberation after death.
vidya: A spiritual and esoteric discipline.
vikalpa: Doubt; wrong concept.
vikshepa: Tossing to and fro.
vimanam: The upper portion of the tower of a temple; a
celestial car.
viparita: Contrary.
viparita buddhi: A wrong conception.
visishtadvaita: Advaita in a modified form.
viyoga: Separation.
vrata: A rite; an observance.
vritti: An idea, a thought.
yajna: Ritualistic sacrifice.
yama: Control.
yama: the god of death.
yathartham: Truth; a thing as such.
yoga nidra: Yogic sleep.
yuga: A long period of time consisting of thousands of
years (aeons).
Page 367

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