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Glossary of Sanskrit Terms
by Swami Sivananda


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Abhanavarana: Screening the outshining Brahman; one of the two Avarana Saktis which is removed by Aparoksha Jnana.
Abhasa: Reflection, appearance, semblance, not true.
Abhasamatra: In name only.
Abhasavada: Doctrine holding that all creation is reflection of the Supreme Reality.
Abhati: Shines, illumines.
Abhava:
In which one's self is meditated upon as zero or, as bereft of every quality or limitation whatsoever; absence; non-existence; negation.
Abhavamatra: Of a merely negative character.
Abhavana: Non-thought.
Abhava padartha: A thing which cannot have existence in reality, viz., horn of a hare, son of a barren woman.
Abhavarupavritti: The function of thinking of a non-existent thing.
Abhayadana: Gift (boon) of fearlessness.
Abhayam: Fearlessness.
Abheda: Non-difference.
Abheda-ahamkara: The pure ego that identifies itself with Brahman or the Absolute.
Abheda-bhakti: Highest devotion that has culminated in the identity of the worshipper and the worshipped; devotion without the sense of duality.
Abheda-buddhi: The Buddhi that beholds unity.
Abheda-chaitanya: Constant thought of the identity of the soul with Brahman; undivided Consciousness.
Abheda-jnana: Knowledge of the identity of the individual with the Absolute (Atman and Brahman).
Abhedabhava: Sense of non-separateness.
Abhigamana: Approach to the temple.
Abhijna: Direction; perception or recollection assisted by memory.
Abhijna-Jnana: Knowledge through perception.
Abhimana: Egoism; identification with the body.
Abhimani: One who has egoistic feeling.
Abhinaya: Controlling; training; disciplining.
Abhinivesa: Clinging to earthly life; will to live.
Abhivimana: As identical with himself; an epithet of the unlimited Supreme Being.
Abhivyakta: Manifested.
Abhokta: Non-enjoyer.
Abhyantara: Internal.
Abhyasa: Repetition; practice; one of the Shad Lingas.
Abhyasin: Yoga-practitioner; one who studies Veda.
Abhyudaya: Exaltation.
Abuddhi-purva: Unintelligent; insentient.
Achala: Not moving; fixed.
Achamana: Sipping water from the hollowed palm o the hand; a preliminary simple rite connected with ritualistic worship.
Achara: Right conduct, custom, practice, external observance of established rules and laws.
Acharana: Observance of right conduct.
Acheta: Unintelligent.
Achetana: Unconscious.
Achintya: Unthinkable.
Achintya Sakti: Inscrutable power.
Achit Sakti (of Brahman): Tamas or great darkness; the root of matter.
Achit: Inanimate matter.
Achit vastu: Non-sentient matter.
Achyuta: The indestructible; the unchanging.
Adambhitva: Unpretentiousness.
Adbhuta: Wonderful.
Adhama: Low; degraded.
Adhama uddharaka: Uplifter of the down-trodden.
Adharma: All that is contrary to the right and the law; demerit.
Adarsa: Ideal.
Adarsa-purusha: A person whom you can take as an ideal; an exemplary person.
Adesa: A divine command from within the being.
Adhara: Support; basis; Brahman; also, the system corn posed of the five principles constituting the physical, vital, mental, intellectual and the blissful sheaths; receptacle; that which supports.
Adhara-adheya-sambandha: Relation of the support and the thing supported; relation of location and the thing located; relation of abode and abiding.
Adhi: Disease of the mind.
Adhibhautika: Elemental.
Adhibhautika sarira: Body composed of elements.
Adhibhautika Taapa: Pain caused by the Bhutas, as scorpion-sting, snake-bite, etc.; nature-extrinsic suffering.
Adhibhuta: Pertaining to the elements; the primordial form of matter.
Adhibhuta-vidya: Science of the physical or material world.
Adhidaiva-vidya: Science of the heavens.
Adhidaivika: Pertaining to the heaven or the celes­tial beings.
Adhidaivika Taapa: Pain caused by gods or the heavens as thunder, rain, flood, etc.
Adhika: Additional.
Adhikarana: Section; topic; substratum; receptacle.
Adhikari: Qualified person.
Adhikari-vada: The doctrine upholding the neces­sity of prescribing a distinct course of discipline for each spiritual aspirant according to his capacity.
Adhimatra (Vairagya): Degree of Vairagya when worldly enjoyment even becomes a source of pain.
Adhipatipratyaya: The defining cause.
Adhishthana: Background; support; basis; substratum; repository (Brahman); underlying truth or essence.
Adhishthatri Devata: Presiding divinity.
Adhiyajna: Pertaining to the sacrifice.
Adhokshaja: A being who cannot be perceived by the outer senses; a name of Bhagavan Narayana.
Adhvaryu: A priest who recites the Yajur-veda in a sacrifice. (Yajur-veda is one of the four Vedas or source-scriptures of Hinduism. The others are Rig-veda, Sama-veda and Atharvana-veda.)
Adhyaksha: Agent; supervisor.
Adhyatmika: Pertaining to the Atman.
Adhyatmika Vidya: Science of Self.
Adhyaropa: Illusory attribution; superimposition; false attribution; one thing is mistaken for another; qualities of one are transferred to another; qualities of the Self arf transferred to the body.
Adhyaropita: Fictitiously ascribed.
Adhyasa: Superimposition or reflection of the attributes of one thing on another thing.
Adhyasta: Falsely-cognised thing.
Adhyasta astitva: Reflected existence.
Adhyatma Sastra: Spiritual science.
Adhyatma Vidya: Science of the Self.
Adhyatmavit: Knower of the Inner Self
Adhyavasaya: The determining function of the Buddhi or the intellect.
Adi-tattva: The first principle; Brahman; Mula Prakriti; the first element (of matter) next but one above Akasa in the gradation of subtlety.
Aditya: Sun-god; Sun; a class of celestial beings.
Adrishta: The unseen principle.
Adrishtam: Unperceived.
Adrisya: That which cannot be perceived by the physical eye (Brahman).
Advaita: Non-duality; monism.
Advaita-avastharupa-samadhi: Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Advaitins where there is no Brahmakara Vritti. [This is the highest superconscious state in which there is no triad (knowledge, knower and known), but One alone exists in Its own state.]
Advaita nishtha: Establishment in the state of non-duality.
Advaita-siddhi: Realisation of the non-dual Brahman or Oneness.
Advaita vada: The theory that Brahman is the only existence; monism; Vedanta.
Advaita Vedanta: Non-dualistic philosophy (of Sri Sankara.)
Advitiya: Without a second.
Advitiyata: State of being secondless.
Adya: Primordial; original.
Adyasakti: Primordial power; Avyaktam or Mula Prakriti.
Agadha: Unfathomable.
Agama: The Veda; manual of practical worship.
Agama pramana: The Veda as proof.
Agami (Karma): Karma now produced, to be en­joyed after.
Agandha: Smell-less, odourless.
Agati: Stability.
Aghamarshana: Some Vedic verses, the utterance of which, when bathing, purifies man; that which purifies.
Agni: Fire.
Agni astra: Fire missile.
Agni-hotra: A fire offering.
Agni-manavaka: Shining lad. [This illustrates Gauna Vritti or secondary sense. It literally means a lad who is fire itself. Instead of that, we should take the Guna (or quality) of fire and mean by that word a lad shining like fire.]
Agnistut: He who sings the praises of Agni (in Vedic sacrifice).
Agni-tattva: The fire-principle.
Agni-vidya: The process of meditating, taking fire as symbolising Brahman.
Agrahya: Unfit to be taken; that which cannot be grasped.
Aguna: Without Guna or quality.
Ahaituka: Motiveless; without purpose.
Aham: I; the ego.
Aham Atma: I am the Atman.
Aham Brahmasmi: I am Brahman.
Aham duhkhi: I am miserable.
Aham etat na: I am not this.
Aham idam: I (and) this.
Aham karta: I am the doer.
Aham pratyaya: 'I'-feeling; self-consciousness.
Aham sukhi: I am happy.
Aham vritti: Self-arrogating thought.
Ahameva sarvah: I alone am all.
Ahamgraha Upasana: A kind of meditation in which the aspirant identifies himself with Brahman or the Supreme Being. This is the Vedantic form of worship.
Ahamika: Egotism; pride.
Ahamkara: Egoism or self-conceit; the self-arrogating principle 'I', 'I am'-ness; self-consciousness. Rajasika ahamkara: Dynamic egoism with passion and pride. Sattvika ahamkara: Egoism composed in the sense of goodness and virtue. Tamasika ahamkara: Egoism as expressed in ignorance and inertia.
Ahamkara-avacchinna-chaitanya: Intelligence associated with egoism which is the migrating soul, Jivatman.
Ahamkara-tyaga: Renunciation of egoism.
Ahamta: I-ness.
Ahara: Food; object of senses; anything taken in by senses.
Ahavaniya: One of the three consecrated fires which oblations are offered by the householder.
Ahimsa: Non-injury in thought, word and deed.
Ahuti: Oblation (poured into the fire in sacrifices).
Aisvarya: Material or spiritual wealth.
Aitihya: Rumour; one of the eight proofs of knowledge.
Aja: Unborn.
Ajahallakshana: Not abandoned but amplified, e.g., “A red is running”, where we have to add the word “horse”, for redness being a quality, cannot run.
Ajapa: The Mantra “Soham” (I am He) which is produced by the breath itself, without any conscious effort at repeating it: the inhalation sounding 'So' and the exhalation 'ham'.
Ajapa-gayatri: Hamsah-soham Mantra.
Ajapa-japa: Japa of “Soham” Mantra.
Ajara: Without old age.
Ajati vada: The theory of non-evolution.
Ajita: The unvanquished; one of the epithets of Lord Vishnu.
Ajna-chakra: The sixth lotus of the Yogis, opposite the junction of the eye-brows; this is the seat of the mind; has two 'petals'.
Ajnana: Ignorance.
Ajnana-avrita-ananda: Ananda or Bliss enveloped by ignorance; the bliss that you get in deep sleep.
Akanksha: Desire (all round).
Akara: The first letter or the most fundamental sound which is represented by the first letter of the alphabet.
Akarma: Inaction.
Akarshana Sakti: Power of attraction.
Akarta: Non-doer.
Akartavya: That which should not be done.
Akarya: What ought not to be done.
Akasa Mandala: Region of ether.
Akasa Nila: Blueness of the sky.
Akasa Tattva: The ether-principle.
Akasa: Ether.
Akasaja: Born of Akasa (ether).
Akasamatra: Ether only.
Akasavani: Ethereal voice; heavenly voice.
Akasmika: Without a why; causeless.
Akhanda: Indivisible.
Akhanda-ananda: Unbroken Bliss.
Akhanda-brahmacharya: Unbroken celibacy.
Akhandaikarasa: The one undivided Essence.
Akhandaikarasa-vritti: The pure homogeneous Brahmakara Vritti that is produced by meditating on Brahman.
Akhandakara: Of the nature of indivisibility.
Akhanda-mauna: Unbroken silence.
Akhanda-samadhi: Unbroken Samadhi.
Akhyana: Narrative; a variety of mythological narratives.
Akrishna: Not black; white or pure.
Akritabhigama: Occurrence of fruits of actions that are not done.
Akrodha: Absence of anger.
Akshara vidya: The Imperishable knowledge-process of meditation on Brahman.
Akshara: Syllable; imperishable Brahman; that which never wastes.
Akshara-suddhi: Clear pronunciation of the letters of the Mantras.
Aksharatma: Imperishable Self.
Aksharat-paratah-parah: Purusha greater than Akshara.
Akshaya: Everlasting; undecaying.
Akshobha: Emotionless; undisturbed; absence of agitation.
Akshobhya: Emotionless (being undisturbed by emotion).
Akunchana: Contraction.
Alakshana: Without distinctive marks.
Alambana pratyaya: Primal idea or the base cause.
Alambana: Support.
Alata chakra: A stick burning at one end, when waved round quickly, produces an illusion of a circle of fire.
Alaya vijnana: Internal cognition; the Supreme State according to the Yogacharas.
Alaya vijnana pravaha: Train of self-cogntion.
Alinga: Without mark; noumenal.
Alochana: Deep thinking; attention; consideration; reflection.
Alpa: Small.
Amala: Without impurity.
Amalaka: Embelica myrobalan.
Amalam: Free from Maya; free from the impurity of Maya.
Amana, Amanaska: Mindless.
Amanahstha: One who has reached mindlessness.
Amanaskata: State of being mindless.
Amanava: Not a man.
Amara: Immortal; deathless.
Amara-purusha: Immortal person like Vyasa, Narada etc.; one who has no death.
Amarsha: The emotion of anger and jealousy combined.
Amatra: Having no measure or sign.
Amhara: Sky; ether; cloth; garment.
Amrita (sya)-putrah: Nectar's son.
Amrita: Nectar.
Amritam: Immortality.
Amrita-nadi: A special psychic nerve branching from the heart.
Amritattva: Deathlessness; immortality.
Amsa: Part.
Amukhya karana: Subordinate cause; minor cause; not principal cause.
Amurta: Without form. (Amurta-elements: elements without form, viz., air and ether.)
Anabhidya: Not coveting others' goods; not thinking vain thoughts, and not brooding over injuries received from another.
Anadi: Beginningless.
Anadi-ananta: Without beginning and end; Infinite; This is Brahman.
Anadi-kala: Eternity; beginningless time.
Anadi-pravaha-satta: Beginningless flow; everlastingness; beginningless, but terminable.
Anadi-samskara: Beginningless impression.
Anadi-santa: Beginningless and terminable; Maya which terminates after the attainment of Brahma-Jnana.
Anagata: Belonging to the future.
Anaham: 'Not-I'; non-ego.
Anahata dhvani: Mystic sounds heard by Yogis. Anamaya: Without disease (Brahman).
Anahata: The fourth lotus of the Yogis, opposite the heart; mystic sounds heard by the Yogis.
Ananda Abhava: Absence of spiritual bliss.
Ananda Ghana: Mass of bliss.
Ananda pada: Blissful seat.
Ananda sagara: Ocean of Bliss.
Ananda svarupa: Of the essential nature of bliss.
Ananda valli: A portion of the Taittiriya Upanishad.
Andolana: Swinging; revolving.
Ananda: Bliss; happiness; joy.
Anandamaya Kosa: Blissful sheath or Karana Sarira, the seed body which contains Mula Ajnana or the potentialities.
Anandamaya: Full of bliss.
Ananta: Infinite; endless; the name of Sesha, the chief god of the serpent-world.
Ananta-amatra: Infinite and Immeasurable.
Ananta-ananda: Infinite bliss.
Anantatvat: Because of being Infinite or endless.
Ananta-drishti: Unlimited vision.
Ananta-jyoti: Infinite Light.
Ananta-matra: Having infinite signs; absolute.
Ananya Bhakti: Exclusive devotion to any single aspect of the Lord. Just as you see, through Vichara, the one essence (wood) in a chair, table, bench, door, stick, etc., you see Lord Narayana in all forms. This is Ananya Bhakti. When the meditator and the object of meditation become one, it is Ananya Bhakti. When you meditate on Lord Krishna as the Nirguna Brahman of the Upanishad, it is Ananya Bhakti. When the mind keeps up always one image of Lord Siva, to the exclusion of all other images, it is Ananya Bhakti.
Ananyata: Single-mindedness.
Anarabdha-karya: Works which have not yet begun to produce their effects.
Anartha: Evil; wrong; object of aversion.
Anasakti: Non-attachment; dispassion; Vairagya.
Anasrama: Not belonging to any one of the four orders of life.
Anatma: Not-Self; insentient. Anavacchinna-chaitanya: Undivideded con­sciousness which is the Real Self.
Anavacchinnam: Unlimited.
Anavadhana: Non-attention.
Anavasada: Cheerfulness; non-dejection.
Anavastha: Fallacy arising from the absence of final­ity or conclusion.
Anavastha-dosha: Regressus ad infinitum.
Anavasthitva: Instability.
Andaja: Egg-born; oviparous.
Andolana: Swinging; revolving.
Aneka: Not one; many.
Anga: Subordinate member; limb; step.
Angirasa: Brihaspati or the divine preceptor; the commander or the lord of wisdom.
Angushtha-matra: Of the size of the thumb.
Anima: Subtlety; the power of making the body subtle; reducing the physical mass and density at will, one of the eight Siddhis.
Anirdesya: Indescribable; indefinable.
Anirvachaniya: Indescribable; inexpressible; nei­ther existence nor non-existence.
Anirvachaniya-satta: Inscrutable being (Maya).
Anisa: Not Lord; not master of but subject to, nature; impotent.
Anisata: Impotence.
Anishta: Undesired; bad.
Anitya: Impermanent.
Annam: Matter; food.
Annamaya kosa: Food-sheath; gross physical body.
Anrita: Falsehood or untruth.
Anta: End.
Antahkarana: Internal instrument; fourfold mind; mind, intellect, ego and subconscious mind.
Antahkarana-chatushtaya: The mind in its four aspects, viz., Manas, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahamkara; fourfold internal organ.
Antahkarana-pratibimba-chaitanya: Reflection of the intelligence in the mind.
Antahkarana-sastra: Psychology; science of the internal organ, viz., mind, intelligence and ego.
Antahkarana-vyapara: Thought-construction; working of the mind.
Antah-prajna: Inner subjective consciousness.
Antar: Internal; middle; interspace.
Antaranga: Internal organ; mind.
Antaratma: The indwelling Self; inner soul.
Antardhauti: Inward cleaning.
Antar-drishti: Inner vision.
Antargata: Hidden; immanent.
Antarika prema: Whole-hearted, inward, divine love.
Antarika: Inward; whole-hearted.
Antariksha: Firmament; sky.
Antarjyoti: Inner Light.
Antarlakshya: Introvision.
Antarmukha: Introspective; gaze turned inwards.
Antarmukha-vritti: A state in which the mind is turned inwards and is withdrawn from objects.
Antarvaha-sarira: The subtle body of a Yogi by which he accomplishes entry into the bodies of others.
Antarveshtini: This is an important Nadi which is very delicate. In this Nadi there is the pure and resplendent Sakti called the Kundalini.
Antaryamana: Ruling within.
Antaryamin: Inner ruler; the Supreme Being present in every creation which guides all creatures.
Antevasin: Immediate pupil.
Anu: Atom; of minute size.
Anubandha-chatushtaya: Four indispensable requisites of a work, viz., (1) Vishaya or the subject to be dealt with (here it is Brahman). (2) Prayojana or the benefit to be obtained by studying it (here it is Moksha). (3) Sambandha or the connection between the work as a whole and the subject dealt with (here it is exposition). (4) Adhikari or the qualified student (here he is a person endowed with the prescribed Sadhanas, viz., the four means of salvation, or the Sadhana-chatushtaya).
Anubhava: Direct perception; experience; intuitive consciousness (Self-realisation); identity of the Jiva with Brahman; personal spiritual experience.
Anubhava-advaita: Actual living experience of Oneness.
Anubhava-gamyam: Obtainable by direct perception (through Samadhi).
Anubhavi guru: Preceptor who has had personal spiritual realisation.
Anudbuddha: Unawakened.
Anugraha: Grace.
Anukampa: Sympathy.
Anumana: Inference; one of the proofs of knowledge.
Anumanta: Giver of the sanction to the movements of nature.
Anupadaka: Receiverless; the root element of matter next above Akasa, so called because there is as yet no organ or “receiver” developed by humanity for it.
Anupalabdhi: One of the eight proofs of knowledge of the existence of the non-existent or negative.
Anuparimana: Atomic; of the size of the atom.
Anuraga: Intense Prema or love (towards God).
Anusandhana: Enquiry or investigation; in Vedanta, enquiry or investigation into the nature of Brahman.
Anusaya: The balance or residue of Karma which forces the soul to take rebirth in this or the other world after temporary freedom enjoyed in the higher spheres.
Anushthana: Systematic performance of religious practices undertaken usually for some definite period, say, 40 days, 90 days, one year, etc.
Anusmarana: Remembrance; constant memory of Brahman or God.
Anutapa: Subsequent repentance; remorse.
Anutva: Minuteness; smallness; subtlety.
Anuvada: An additional statement or exposition about something well known or already mentioned.
Anuvritti: Turning round and round.
Anuvyakhyana: Exposition; gloss; commentary.
Anuvyavasaya: Perception of a sentiment or judgment.
Anuyogin: When a jar appears as existent, it seems as if it were totally distinct from the rest of the world; the distinction has got the jar for its anuyogin and the rest of the world for its pratiyogin (opposite).
Anvaya: Direct, positive, co-existence; the natural connection of words in a sentence; grammatical order or relation; logical connection of cause and effect; logical continuance; in Nyaya, statement of the constant and invariable concomitance of the middle terms; hetu and the major term sadhya of an Indian syllogism.
Anvaya-vyatireka: Positive and negative assertions; proof by assertion and negation. (Just as several kinds of dal are mixed together, so also, Atman is mixed with the five Kosas. You will have to separate the Self from the five sheaths. You will have to separate name and form from Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Anvaya and Vyatireka processes always go together. The Self exists in the five sheaths, yet it is not the sheaths. This is Vedantic Sadhana. The aspirant rejects the names and forms and the five sheaths and realises the one, all-pervading, indivisible, infinite, eternal unchanging essence, viz., Brahman.)
Anyat: Another.
Anyatha: Separateness; the state of being otherwise.
Anyathakhyati: The process of mistaken false picturisation of an object at the sight of another similar object through the revival of the impression of the past experience of the first object. The theory that the snake seen in place of a rope is on account of having seen a snake somewhere previous to the present illusion.
Anyonya: Mutual.
Anyonya-abhava: Mutual non-existence (e.g., a jar does not exist in a cloth nor the cloth in a jar.)
Anyonya-adhyasa: Mutual superimposition.
Anyonya-asraya: Mutual interdependence.
Apahatapapmatva: The state of being free from all sins; the Supreme Soul.
Apamana: Disrespect; disgrace.
Apana: The nerve-current which governs the abdominal region, which has its centre in the anus; it does excretory function of the faecal matter; it works for ejection; the down-going breath.
Apanchikarana: Unquintuplicated form of elements (the Linga Sarira is made up of subtle matter in Apanchikrita state); subtle state of matter before mixing to form these five gross elements.
Apara: Other; relative; lower; inferior.
Apara-brahman: Lower Brahman; Saguna Brahman or Isvara (personal god).
Aparadha: Fault; mistake.
Aparajita: Unconquerable.
Apara-paksha: The other side or wing.
Apara-parsva: Another side or the other flank.
Apara-prakriti: The lower cosmic energy through which God projects all forms in nature, gross and subtle.
Apara-vairagya: The lower kind of Vairagya or dispassion of the inferior variety.
Apara-vidya: Knowledge of the Vedas or lower knowledge; intellectual knowledge.
Aparicchinna: Infinite; never-ending.
Aparigraha: Freedom from covetousness; non-receiv­ing of gifts conducive to luxury; one of the five canons of Yama, the preliminary discipline of Yoga.
Aparimita-drishti: The view transcending the limitation of space, time and causation.
Aparinami: Changeless.
Aparoksha: Direct; immediate.
Aparoksha-anubhuti: Direct, actual experience.
Aparokshanubhava-svarupa: The essence of direct intuitive perception; of the nature or form of direct realisation.
Aparokshatva: Feeling of directness or immediateness.
Apas: Water.
Apasarpana: Moving away.
Apas-tattva: Water-principle.
Apataramaniya: Beautiful at first sight; looking beautiful to the non-discriminative; superficially attractive and beautiful.
Apatkala: Abnormal time of misfortune.
Apavada: Exception; negation; rejection; sublation, refutation, as of a wrong imputation or belief; rajjuvivartasya sarpasya rajjumatratvat vastubhuta brahmano vivartasya prapancha desa vastu bhutrupadaupadesah apavadah: just as you take the rope alone in a rope superimposed as a serpent, similarly, you will take to the original thing itself in the original thing superimposed as world (the five elements and others). This is Apavada.
Apavada-yukti: The employment of the logical method of Apavada.
Apavarga: Release; liberation; the last of the four Purusharthas, viz., Moksha or final emancipation (the other three being Dharma, Artha, and Kama); release from the bondage of embodiment.
Apavitra: Impure.
Apekshikya: Relative.
Apekshita: Relative.
Aprajnata: Unknown.
Aprakata: Not published; concealed; hidden.
Aprama: False or incorrect knowledge.
Apramatta: Careful; watchful; vigilant; not dull or intoxicated.
Aprameya: Immeasurable,
Aprana: Without Prana; Brahman.
Apratarkya: Inscrutable; unthinkable.
Apratisamkhyanirodha: Cessation not dependent on a sublative act of the mind.
Apta: Competent person; a sage or an adept; a well-wisher.
Apta-dharma: The duty laid down by the reliable great ones or sages.
Apta-kama: One whose desires have been fulfilled; Jivanmukta; a realised sage.
Apta-vakya: The evidence of the wise; testimony of the trustworthy; Veda or Sruti.
Apunya: Non-meritorious; sinful.
Apurna: Imperfect; not full; incomplete.
Apurva: Unseen; strange; extraordinary; the hidden power or force of a Karma which brings its fruits in the future.
Apurvata: Uncommon nature of proof.
Aradhana: Respectable worship of God; special adoration.
Arambha: Mental initiation of an action; Sankalpa.
Arambhakopadhana: The material cause which gives birth to an effect as an essentially different entity, e.g. atoms of the Vaiseshika School.
Arambha-vada: The doctrine of the creation of the world by Isvara; the theory of a beginning, an origination, creation of the world by an agency external to the question; the doctrine of an absolute new creation; the theory of the Nyaya-Vaiseshika.
Arani: Sacrificial wood of sami tree, for creating fire through friction.
Arati: Divine service performed to God, generally in the early morning or at dusk, with lamps, incense and must especially ringing of bells.
Archana: Offering of flowers and sacred leaves, etc., at the time of Puja or worship, uttering the names of the object of worship.
Archiradi-marga: The path of the gods or the northern path taken by the Jiva after death through which the Yogi, departing in Uttarayana ascends to the world of Brahman, after leaving the body on this earth.
Ardhangini: Better half; Partner in life (wife); especially Parvati, the wife of Lord Siva.
Arghya: Offering of water to Devatas and Rishis.
Arjava: Simplicity; straightforwardness; rectitude conduct; uprightness.
Aroha: Ascent.
Artha: Meaning; sense; purpose; object; object of perception; an object of desire; wealth.
Arthapatti: Presumption; one of the proofs of knowledge.
Arthartha: Longing for wealth.
Artharthi: One who longs for wealth.
Arthavada: Glorifying passage; persuasive expression; texts which contain censure or praise in an exaggerated manner; exaggerated glorifying with the definite purpose of inducing man to follow a certain line of action.
Arundhati-nyaya: The star Arundhati is rarely visible to the naked eye; to point it out, therefore, some very big star near it is shown at first as Arundhati; then it is rejected and a smaller star is pointed out as Arundhati and so on till the actual Arundhati is located. This method of leading from the gross to the more subtle is called Arundhati-nyaya. This method is followed specially in Indian philosophy where in the beginning men are goaded to have faith in the lower form of worship with the help of Agamas and Tantras; then guided to the Bhakti method or the dualistic religion of the Puranas; then, again, to the rigour of the Smritis, and finally, to the non-dual (Advaita) Vedanta of the Upanishads and Ajati-vada. (Compare this with the Bhramara-kita-nyaya which is a direct meditation on the Absolute at one stretch without any such preliminary stages of religion as in the case of the former.)
Arupa: Formless.
Arupa-mano-nasa: Destruction of the mind without form, as in Videhamukti.
Arurukshu: One who is attempting to climb to the state of Yoga.
Aryadharma: Religion of the Indo-Aryans; Vedic region.
Aryavarta: The tract in Northern India, occupied the Indo-Aryans in the early stage for their expansion.
Asa: Hope; expectation.
Asabda: Soundless.
Asabdam: Without sound; soundless. (Refers to Brahman.)
Asadavarana: A power of Avarana Sakti which screens the existence of Brahman and which makes us think there is no Brahman; screening the existence of a thing (Brahman); one of the aspects of Avarana Sakti. This is removed by Aparoksha Jnana.
Asadharana karana: Uncommon cause.
Asadharana: Extraordinary; uncommon.
Asadharana-nimitta: Special or chief cause.
Asakta: Unattached; resigned; unselfish.
Asamavaya-karana: A Nyaya terminology; non-concomitant cause; wheel and stick of the potter that help in the manufacture of the pot.
Asamavayi: Not intimately related; a cause forming part of an effect; not being the substance.
Asambhava: Impossibility.
Asambhavana: Spiritual doubt; this is one of the three Pratibandhas that stand in the way of Self-realisation. This is a kind of doubt; improbability; impossibility of thought; “I know quite well that the Upanishads are uniform in proclaiming the oneness of the Absolute. But, how can that be in the face of the potent distinctiveness of Isvara, Jiva and the universe?” This is the kind of doubt that arises in the minds of the aspirants. This is removed by Manana or reflection. This is one of the three Bhavanas; vain thought; this is the kind of doubt as to how Brahman which is Akarta and Abhokta can become a Karta and a Bhokta as seen in the case of Jivas for practical purposes in daily life.
Asamhita: Unsteady.
Asamprajnata-samadhi: Highest superconscious state where the mind and the ego-sense are completely annihilated.
Asamsakti: Fifth Jnana-bhumika or the fifth stage in the path of knowledge, wherein there is non-attachment to objects of the world to the highest degree.
Asamvedana: Non-receptivity of the mind; imperishable state of quiescent Jnana; Nirvikalpa Samadhi; thought­less state.
Asamyagdarsana: Consciousness of the objective universe; imperfect vision.
Asamyagdarsin: A person who has not risen to perfect knowledge; one who has no proper vision and has the consciousness of the world.
Asana: Posture; seat.
Asanaya: Hunger; food-carrier.
Asanga: Non-attachment.
Asanga-bhavana: Feeling or attitude of the mind, of non-attachment.
Asango-ayam purushah: This Purusha is unattached (refers to Brahman, Who is unattached).
Asanti: Restlessness; absence of peace of mind; distraction.
Asara: Without essence; dry; barren.
Asariraka: Bodiless.
Asat: That which is not; non-existent; non-being as opposed to Sat or Being or existence or Reality; unreal.
Asaya-bija: Potent seed; seed containing future diverse growth.
Ashtakshara mantra: Mantra with eight letters Om Namo Narayanaya
Ashtanga Yoga: Yoga with eight limbs; Raja Yoga of Patanjali Maharshi.
Ashtavadhani: One who does eight things at a time.
Asiddha: Not perfected; unrealised.
Asmat: Pertaining to us or me.
Asmi: I am; I exist.
Asmita: Egoism; I-ness; “am”-ness.
Asmita-nasa: Destruction of egoism or I-ness.
Asmita-samadhi: Superconscious state immediately below.
Asmriti: Forgetfulness; state of unconsciousness.
Asparsa: Touchless; name of Brahman.
Asrama: Hermitage; order of life (of which there four, viz., Brahmacharya or studentship, Grihastha or household-life, Vanaprastha or forest-dwelling, and Sannyasa monastic life).
Asrama-dharma: Duties pertaining to the four orders or stages of life.
Asrama-karani: Duties of the four stages of life.
Asrupata: Flow of tears.
Asteya: Non-stealing; one of the five items of Yama in Ashtanga Yoga.
Asthi: Bone.
Asthira: Wavering and unsteady.
Asthula: Without grossness; subtle; Brahman.
Asti: Exists; is; Brahman.
Asti-bhati-priya: Sat-chit-ananda; the eternal qualities inherent in Brahman.
Astra: Missile; weapon invoked with a Mantra.
Asu: Any pursuit for the maintenance of life; breath of life; the Prana-vayu or the five Pranas.
Asubha: Evil; inauspicious.
Asubha-vasana: Impure desire or tendency.
Asuchi: Impure; not clean.
Asuddha: Unpurified; not pure.
Asuddha-manas: Impure mind; lower mind with evil impressions.
Asuddha-maya: Maya preponderating with Rajas; this is Avidya Upadhi of Jiva; this is termed as Malina Maya or Malina-Sattva; impure Maya; this is Avidya or Malina-sattva or impure Sattva mixed with Rajas and Tamas.
Asuddha-sankalpa: Impure resolve.
Asuddhi: Impurity.
Asu-dravana sakti: Power of melting very quickly.
Asukla: Not white; black.
Asura: Demon; evil tendency in man.
Asuri-sampat: Devilish qualities; demoniacal wealth.
Asuya: Jealousy; envy.
Asvamedha-yajna: Horse-sacrifice; an elaborate Vedic ceremonial undertaken by kings to attain son or sovereignty.
Asvanaya: Horse-carrier.
Asvattha-vriksha: The sacred peepul tree.
Atadvyavritti: The process of knowing the truth through a thing opposed to it; e.g., The Self is distinct from the three bodies.
Atadvyavritti-samadhi: Samadhi that does not care or require the aid of other; Samadhi attained through the negation of Anatma.
Atanu: Bodiless; Brahman.
Atarkya: That which cannot be reasoned out; Brahman.
Atigraha: Object of sense.
Atilaghava: Exceeding lightness.
Atindriya sukha: Happiness beyond the reach of the senses; the Bliss of Brahman or the Absolute.
Atindriya: Beyond the reach of the senses.
Atiprasna: Too much questioning; questioning carried to the extreme; transcendental question.
Atisaya: Excess; pre-eminence; highest perfection.
Atisukshma: Extremely subtle.
Atita: Past; above; beyond; transcendent.
Atithi: Guest.
Atithi-yajna: Entertaining and feeding of the guests; one of the Pancha-maha-yajnas or daily duties enjoined upon the householder.
Ativahika-deva: Celestial being whose action it is to conduct the soul forwards after death, to the different worlds (to light, day, Deva-loka, Vayu-loka, Chandra-loka, Vidyulloka, Indra-loka, Prajapatiloka, etc.)
Ativahikatva: A stage of being able to convey to the other bodies; the deity appointed by God to help in the conveying of the Sukshma (subtle) body to other bodies at the expiry of good actions which contribute to the enjoyment of material pleasures.
Ativarnasrami: One who has transcended the order and stage of life. A Paramahamsa or an Avadhuta.
Ativyapti: Redundancy: this is one of the three tests of understanding an object. This arises when the characteristics pointed out are found in or are common to other objects also. For instance, the cows are four-legged. Here not only cows, but also other animals have four legs. Hence, redundancy.
Ativyapti-dosha: A fallacy in Nyaya where a definition is unwarrantedly stretched beyond its legitimate deno­tation, e.g., a cow is a horned animal. Here, the definition “horned animal” can be applied to all other horned animals also.
Atma (also, Atman): The Self.
Atma-anatma-viveka: Discrimination between the Self and the not-Self.
Atmabala: Soul-force.
Atma-bhava: Feeling that everything is the Self
Atma-bodha: Knowledge of the Self; also a work of !hat name by Sri Sankara.
Atma-chintana: Reflection on the Self or the A tman.
Atma-drishti: The vision of seeing everything as the Self.
Atma-ghata: Slaughter of the self; suicide, physical or otherwise; worldliness; ignorance ofthe nature of the Self.
Atmaha: Slayer of the self.
Atmajna: One who has known the Self; seer with Self-knowledge.
Atma-jnana: Direct knowledge of the Self; Brahma-jnana.
Atma-krida: One who rejoices in one's own Self.
Atma-labha: Attaining realisation of the Self.
Atma-lakshya: Having the Self as the goal; Self as the object of meditation of Vedantins.
Atma-nishtha: Established in the Self.
Atma-nivedana: Dedicating one's entire self to the divine; self-surrender.
Atma-prakasa: The shining forth or light of the Self.
Atma-pratyaksha: Direct perception of the Self.
Atma-rati: Rejoicing in the Self; interested or centred in the Self
Atma-samarpana: Self-consecration; offering the self at the feet of the Lord.
Atma-santushti: Contentment in one's own Self.
Atmasrayi: Dependent on the Self for existence, as the case of Isvara.
Atma-tripta: One who rests contented in the Self.
Atma-tripti: Satisfaction in one's own Self.
Atma-vibhuti: Spiritual wealth consequent upon Self-realisation.
Atma-vichara: Enquiry into the Self.
Atma-vit: Knower of the Self.
Atura-sannyasa: Sannyasa taken at the moment of death.
Atyanta: Too much; to the extreme.
Atyanta-abhava: Complete non-existence; extreme unreality, like the horn of a hare or a lotus in the sky or the son of a barren woman.
Atyanta-asat: Extremely non-existent (similar to Atyantabhava).
Atyantika: Final; ultimate.
Atyantika-pralaya: Immediate liberation; liberation of the individual wherein there is complete annihilation of all phenomena subjectively.
Audasinya: Indifference to all sense-experience and pairs of opposites; a high state of Jnana.
Aupadhika: (Enjoyment) through the medium of the senses.
Aushadhi: Herb; medicine.
Avaccheda: Delimitation; section.
Avaccheda-upadhi: Limiting condition; limiting adjunct.
Avaccheda-vada: Doctrine of limitation; doctrine that the soul is the highest Self, limited by adjuncts.
Avacchinna-chaitanya: Consciousness limited by adjuncts.
Avadhuta: An ascetic who has renounced the world; the sixth order of Sannyasins, usually naked; the highest state of asceticism or Tapas.
Avahana: The invocation by Mantras of the deity of the purpose of manifestation during the time of worship.
Avaikalya: Perfection; non-distraction.
Avajna: Disdain; contempt.
Avangmanogochara: Beyond the reach of speech and mind; Brahman or the Self.
Avantara-vakya: In Vedanta, the secondary or intermediate saying or sentence employed to define Brahman before initiating the disciple into the significance of the highest Mahavakya of Absolute identity.
Avarana: Veil of ignorance.
Avarana-abhava: Absence of the covering veil.
Avarana-bhanga: Destruction of the veil of ignorance.
Avarana-sakti: Veiling power of Maya; Avidya the individual.
Avaroha: Descent,
Avasana: End; completion; termination.
Avastha: State.
Avasthantargataprapti: The state of the effect being resolved or involved into the cause.
Avasthasthiti: Permanent abiding; changeless­ness.
Avasthatraya: Three states of consciousness, waking, dreaming and deep sleep.
Avastu: Non-material; non-substance; nothing; without the characteristic of a thing as being space-bound and time-tied; unsubstantial.
Avatara: Descent; it is a coming down of the Divine into the human plane; incarnation.
Avatara-vada: The doctrine that holds that God takes human form.
Avayava: Limb; member.
Aveechi: Waveless; also the name of a region in hell.
Avibhaga: Non-separation; non-distinction.
Avicchinna: Continuous; undivided; not cut off.
Avidhi: Rites done not in accordance with the injunctions of the Sastras; not according to the formulae of the scriptures.
Avidya: Ignorance; nescience; a Sakti or illusive power in Brahman which is sometimes regarded as one with Maya and sometimes as different from it. It forms the condition of the individual soul and is otherwise called Ajnana or Asuddha-maya. It forms the Karana Sarira of Jiva. It is Malina or impure Sattva.
Avidyanasa: Destruction of ignorance; liberation from bondage of embodiment.
Avidya-nivritti: Removal of ignorance; Moksha.
Avidya-samskara: The impression of basic ignorance.
Avidyopadhi-paricchinna: This is the Jiva's nature. Paricchinna is divided, finite. Jiva is finite with the limiting adjunct of ignorance.
Avijnata: Unknown; Brahman.
Avikari: Immutable; Brahman.
Avimukta: The non-liberated soul.
Avinasi: Indestructible.
Avirati: Non-dispassion; sensual indulgence.
Avirodha: Without contradiction; the non-opposition of other means of right knowledge and other systems of philosophy to the same principle; the business of reasoning; the second chapter of the Brahma Sutras is called Avirodha-adhyaya.
Avisvasa: Distrust; suspicion.
Aviveka: Non-discrimination.
Avritta-chakshuh: One whose gaze is turned inwards.
Avyabhicharini-bkakti: Devotion to one thing alone; unswerving love to any particular aspect of the Lord.
Avyakrita: Undifferentiated; undefined.
Avyakta, Avyaktam: Unmanifest; invisible; when the three Gunas are in a state of equilibrium; the undifferentiated.
Avyakta-drishti: The view from the standpoint of the Infinite, Eternal, Whole.
Avyakta-nada: Unmanifested sound.
Avyapadesya: Indescribable.
Avyapti: Non-inclusion or exclusion of part of a thing defined. When you say, “the cow is of a tawny colour”, the object cow is subject to the fault of Avyapti, as the tawny colour is an attribute of one class of cows only and not of the whole class.
Avyavahara: Free from worldly activities or concern.
Avyavaharya: Non-usable; beyond worldly concerns.
Avyavahita: Near; immediate; direct; without any intervening object.
Avyaya: Inexhaustible; undiminishing; unchangeable.
Ayaama: Extent; extension.
Ayama: Non-restraint; indulgence.
Ayam-atma-brahma: This Self is the Absolute; this is one of the four Upanishadic Great Sentences.
Ayam ghatah asti: This jar is. (That existence is the Reality or Brahman, not the form, jar.)
Ayana: Movement; the sun's passage northward and southward from the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Ayukta: He who has no concentration; one who is not a Yogi.
Ayuta: Detached; not connected; separate; uninterrupted; undisturbed.
Ayuta-siddha: Proved to be inseparable and inherent.
Ayuta-siddhi: The proof of inseparability of certain things and notions according to Vaiseshika philosophy.