A
abhyasa: repetition; practice
abhyasa yoga: the yoga of persistent practice
adhibhuta: pertaining to the elements
adhidaiva: presiding deity
adhiyajna:the entire administration of the cosmos in its various facets
adhyatma: spirituality; pertaining to the spiritual
advaita: non-dual
advaita vedanta: non-dualistic philosophy
aham: I; the ego
ahamkara: egoism or self-conceit
ajnachakra: the psychic point between the eyebrows
ajnana: spiritual ignorance
akshara: imperishable Brahman
ananda: bliss; happiness; joy
ananya chintana: completely absorbed thinking or contemplation.
annamaya kosha: gross physical body; food sheath
anatma(n): non-self; insentient
antahkarana: internal instrument; fourfold mind; mind, intellect, ego and subconscious mind
arati: waving of light before the Lord
artha: meaning; sense; purpose; object of perception or desire; wealth asana: posture; seat
ashtanga yoga: the eight-limbed raja yoga of Maharshi Patanjali
asura: demon; evil tendency in man
atma(n): the Self
avatara: incarnation

B
bhagavan: the Lord
Bhagavadgita: 700 verses from the great Hindu epic Mahabharata recording the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, prior to the commencement of the war and giving in clear and concise form the highest teachings and truths
bhakta: devotee
bhakti: devotion; love of God
bhakti yoga: path of devotion
bhav(a): mental attitude; feeling; purity of thought
bheda: difference; splitting; soliciting political alliances against an opponent
bhokta: subject of experience or enjoyment
bhrumadhya: concentration on the centre between the eyebrows
bhuma: the unconditioned; infinite; Brahman
brahma-loka: highest heaven
brahma-jnana: direct knowledge of Brahman
brahmakara vritti: thought of Brahman alone that is arrived at through intense Vedantic meditation
Brahman: the Absolute Reality, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute; the Supreme Reality that is one and indivisible, infinite and eternal; all-pervading, changeless Existence
brahma-vidya: science of Brahman; knowledge of Brahman; learning pertaining to Brahman or the Absolute Reality
Buddha: the enlightened one; full of knowledge
buddhi: the discriminating faculty; intellect; reason; understanding

C
chaitanya: the consciousness that knows itself and knows others; Absolute consciousness
chakra: plexus; a centre of psychic energy in the human system
chit: the principle of universal intelligence or consciousness
chitta: the subconscious mind

D
dakshina marg: the Southern Path
dama: control of the outer senses
dana: charity; giving; a political sacrifice
danda: the staff of a mendicant or a sannyasin; a kind of physical exercise common in India; punishment
darshan: vision; sight; way of seeing
dharana: concentration of mind
dharma: righteous way of living as enjoined by the sacred scriptures; characteristics; virtue
dhyana: meditation; contemplation
dukhya: pain; misery; sorrow; grief
dvaita: dualism

G
ghee: clarified butter
Gita: see Bhagavadgita
guna: quality born of nature; sattva, rajas and tamas
guru: teacher; spiritual preceptor

H
Hiranyagarbha: cosmic intelligence; the supreme Lord of the universe; also called Brahma, cosmic prana, cosmic mind, etc.

I
ida nadi: the psychic nerve current flowing through the left nostril
Ishvara: God

J
japa: repetition of the Lord’s name; repetition of a mantra
jigjnasu: one who aspires after knowledge
jitendriya: one who has contolled the senses
jiva: individual soul with ego
jivanmukta: one who is liberated in this life
jivatma(n): individual soul
jnana: knowledge; wisdom of the Reality or Brahman
jnana indriya(s): organs of knowledge
jyoti: illumination; luminosity; efflugence

K
karma: action; actions operating through the law of cause and effect
karma bandhana: bondage caused by karma
karma yoga: the yoga of selfless service
karma yogi: one who practises karma yoga
kosha: sheath
kramamukti: progressive emancipation
kshara: perishable
kshetra: field; holy place; physical body in the philosophical sense
kshetrajna: knower of the field
kumbhaka: retention of breath; suspension of breath
kutastachaitanya: inner self; individual consciousness deviod of egoism

L
loka: world of names and forms; realm

M
mahatma: great soul; saint; sage
mahatattva: the great principle, principle of intelligence or buddhi, Hiranyagarbha or Brahma
mahat: great, lofty; the first product of prakriti in evolution according to the Samkhya philosophy
mantra: sacred syllable or word or set of words through the repetition and reflection of which one attains perfection or realisation of the Self
marga: path; road
maya: the illusory power of Brahman; the veiling and projecting power of the universe
moksha: liberation from the wheel of birth and death; Absolute experience
mrityu-loka: the world of suffering and death
mukta: the liberated one
mulaprakriti: the ultimate subtle cause for all matter
muni: a sage or austere person; one observing the vow of silence

N
nadabindukalatita: the supreme state of Brahman beyond the states of nada, bindu and kala, in Tantric conception
nam(a): name
nirguna: without attributes or qualities
nirvana: liberation; final emancipation
nirvitarka: unchanging; without modification

P
parabhakti: the highest level of devotion
pingala nadi: the psychic nerve current which terminates in the right nostril
prakriti: nature; causal matter
prana: vital energy; life-force; life-breath
prana sakti: the subtle vital power arising from control of prana and self-restraint
pranava: the sacred monosyllable Om
pranayama: regulation and restraint of breath
pratyahara: abstraction or withdrawal of the senses
pravesha: to dissolve oneself in the Absolute
puja: ritualistic worship; adoration
punya: merit; virtue
Puranas: Hindu scriptures containing the whole body of Hindu mythology (the major Puranas are eighteen in number)
purusha: the Supreme Being; the Self which abides in the heart of all things
purushartha: human effort, right exertion
purushottama: the Supreme Person

R
rajas: one of the three aspects of cosmic energy, the principle of dynamism in nature bringing about all change, activity, passion, restlessness
rajasuya: a sacrifice performed by a monarch as a mark of his sovereignty over other kings
raja yoga: the royal yoga of meditation; the system of yoga propounded by Patanjali Maharshi
raja yogi: one who practises raja yoga

S
sadhaka: spiritual aspirant; one who exerts to obtain an object
saguna: with attributes or qualities
sakti: power; energy; force; the divine power of becoming; the dynamic aspect of eternal being; the absolute power or cosmic energy
sama: control of mind; tranquillity; political conciliation between opponents
samadhi: the state of superconsciousness where the Absolute is experienced, attended with all-knowledge and joy; oneness
samatva: evenness of mind; equanimity under all conditions
samkhya: correct understanding; knowledge of reality; a school of philosophy
samkhyabuddhi: correct understanding; higher reason
samsara: life through repeated births and deaths; the process of worldly life
samskara: impression; ceremonial purification; pre-natal tendency
samyama: perfect restraint; an all-complete condition of balance and repose, concentration, meditation and samadhi
sannyasin: a monk; one who has embraced the life of complete renunciation
sastra: scriptures; words of authority
sat: existence; being; reality; truth
satsanga: association with the wise
sattva: light; purity; reality
sattvic: pure
satya-loka: the abode of Brahma, the creator
savitarka: with logic and argumentation
sharanagati: self-surrender
siddhi: psychic power; perfection
sloka: verse
sraddha: faith
sushumna nadi: the psychic nerve current that terminates in the sahasrara
sutratman: the immanent deity of the totality of the subtle bodies; the cosmic thread
svabhava: one’s own nature or potentiality; innate nature

T
tamas, tamo guna: ignorance; inertia; darkness
tanmatra: rudimentary element in an undifferentiated state before panchikarana or quintuplication
tapas: asceticism; austerity; penance; purificatory action
tattva: reality; element; truth; essence; principle

U
Upanishads: knowledge portion of the Vedas, texts dealing with the Ultimate Truth and its realisation. 108 Upanishads are regarded as important ones of which ten are regarded as most important
upasana: worship or contemplation of God or deity; devout meditation
uttara marga: the Northern Path

V
vairagya: dispassion; indifference towards worldy things and enjoyments
Vedanta: the end of the Vedas (lit); the Upanishads
Vedas: the most ancient authentic scripture of the Hindus
vibhuti: manifestation; divine glory and manifestation of divine power; the special forms in thich the Lord exhibits Himself
Virat: the physical world that we see; macrocosm; the Lord in His form as the manifested universe
vitarka: projection; emanation; ejection; bringing forth

Y
yajna: a sacrifice
yoga: union (lit); abstract meditation or union with the Supreme Being; the name of the philosophy by the Sage Patanjali, teaching the process of union of the individual with the Universal Soul; unruffled state of mind under all conditions; yoga is mainly of four types: karma, bhakti, raja and jnana
yogi(n): one who practises yoga
yogayukta: one who is established in yoga or linked up through yoga
yugas: divisions of time
yugasandhi: one power colliding with another power