APPENDIX FOUR

Names of Gods

Adi Shesha	Another name for Ananta
Agni	God of fire
Ananta	Serpent on which Lord Narayana (Vishnu) reclines; denotes endless time
Ardhanareeshwara	Single form of Shiva and Shakti; half male and half female
Aruna	Charioteer of the sun god
Bhava	Shiva; being
Brahma	Creator in the Hindu trinity
Brihaspati	Preceptor of the gods
Chandra	Moon god
Dakshinamurti	Shiva as the universal teacher
Ganapati	Master of the ganas
Ganesha	Son of Parvati; elephant god venerated by all sects of Hinduism
Hanuman	Monkey god; son of the wind god; chief helper of Rama in the Ramayana
Hara	Shiva; one who removes sins
Hari	Vishnu; one who removes sins
Hayagriva	The horse-headed incarnation Vishnu took in order to kill the demon Hayagriva
Indra	King of the demigods
Iswara	Divine as lord and ruler of the universe; personal god in all systems
Janardana	Name of Krishna; giver of all that people ask
Kalki	The tenth avatara of Vishnu, still to come
Kama	God of love and desire
Kameswara	Shiva
Kartikeya	General of the gods; son of Shiva
Krishna	Supreme incarnation of Vishnu
Kubera	God of wealth; king of the yakshas
Kumara	Another name for Kartikeya
Lakshmana	Brother of Rama
Madhusudana	Vishnu; slayer of the demon Madhu
Mahadeva	The great god; Shiva
Mahakaala	Shiva; god of destruction; lord of time
Maha Vishnu	Vishnu; the harmonizer and maintainer in the trinity
Maha Yogi	Vishnu; Krishna; lord of yoga
Maheswara	Shiva; the great lord
Mayan	Principal architect of the gods
Narasimha	The half-man, half-lion incarnation of Vishnu
Narayana	Lord Vishnu, who lies on the serpent Adi Shesha on the cosmic waters
Nataraja	Shiva as the cosmic dancer
Parjanya	Another name for Indra; giver of rain
Pradyumna	Son of Krishna
Pratyaksha Devata	Sun god; the form of the god as is visible before us
Purushottama	The supreme person; Krishna
Raghava	Lord Rama; born in the line of Raghu
Rama	Seventh incarnation of Vishnu; hero of the epic Ramayana
Rudra	The fierce form of Shiva
Sadashiva	The eternal entity of Shiva, corresponding to the Brahman
Savitur	One of the names of the sun god
Shambhu	Shiva
Shanmukha	Kartikeya; the six-faced one
Sharavanabhava	Kartikeya; born among the reeds
Shiva	The destroyer in the Hindu trinity
Shukra	Preceptor of the demons
Skanda	Another name for Kartikeya
Soma	Moon god
Subramania	Another name for Kartikeya
Sundaramurti	Shiva; the most handsome one
Surya	Sun god
Turiya Brahman	The absolute that is ever united with Mula Prakriti or the creative force
Uttama Purusha	The supreme person; Krishna
Vaasudeva	Krishna; son of Vasudeva; one who is immanent in all creation
Vamana	Fifth incarnation of Vishnu; the dwarf man
Varaha	Third incarnation of Vishnu as the boar
Varuna	God of waters; god of the sea
Vayu	God of wind
Vinayaka	Another name for Ganesha
Virabhadra	Incarnation of Shiva
Vishnu	The harmonizer in the Hindu trinity
Vishvakarma	Architect of the gods
Yama	God of death