Glossary of Sanskrit Terms
aahladini: Power of bliss, causing joy or delight
abhaya mudra: Sign of grace and fearlessness
Adi Shankaracharya: Founder of Advaita
Advaita: Philosophy of nondualism
Advaitin: One who practices this philosophy
adya spanda: Primeval throb of creation
Agastya: Great sage
Aghora: Extreme sect of Tantric philosophy
Aghori: Follower of Aghora
agni: Fire
ahamkara: Ego
ajna chakra: Chakra located between the eyebrows
ajnana: Ignorance
ajna shakti: Special forces of Lalitha in charge of wisdom
akasa: Ether; first of the elements
Akasa Ganga: Ganga flowing in the heavens; the Milky Way
akshaya patra: The pot of never-ending food
Alakananda: Tributary of the Ganga
amrita: Nectar of immortality
Amsuman: Bhagiratha’s grandfather
anahata chakra: Heart chakra
ananda: Bliss
Ananga: Reincarnation of Kama; “the bodiless one”
Ananta: Serpent on which Vishnu sleeps; endless time
apana vayu: Pranic current controlling the lower portion of the body
apas: Water; fourth element
apsara: Celestial dancer
Arjuna: One to whom the advice of the Bhagavad Gita was given; the aspiring human being
Arundhati: Wife of sage Vasishta
Asamanjas: Great-grandfather of Bhagiratha
ashrama: Refuge; sanctuary
ashta shaktis: Eight forces of Lalitha
Ashwatthama: Son of Drona
Asikni: Wife of Daksha
astra: Missile
asura: Demon
asuric: Pertaining to an asura
Asvapati: Father of Savitri
Aswamedha Yajna: Horse sacrifice
Aswin: Seventh month of the lunar calendar, roughly corresponding to September/October
atman: Cosmic inner spirit, a contracted expression of the Brahman, containing the whole in a potential form and returning to the whole upon death of the body
aum: A mantra of primeval sound
avadhuta: Highest yogi; one who wanders naked and owns nothing
avatara: Incarnation of a deity
avidya: Ignorance; nescience; cosmic delusion
avidya maya: Veiling power of the goddess
avyakta: The unmanifest; primordial cloud of undifferentiated energy and matter from which the five elements emanate
Ayodhya: Capital city of Lord Rama
ayonija: Not born from a womb; describes Sita
Ayurveda: Science of medicine
Badrikashrama: Holy spot in the Himalayas; in modern usage Badrinath
Bana: Seventeenth-century poet; author of Chandikashtaka
bana linga: Linga found in the anahata chakra
Barsana: Birthplace of Radha
Bhagavan: One who has all six lordly characteristics
Bhagiratha: Prince of the solar dynasty who brought the Ganga to the earth
bhakta: Devotee
bhakti: Devotion
bhakti yoga: Yoga of devotion
bhand: An expletive
Bharata Varsha: Ancient name of India
Bhavabhuti: Eighteenth-century poet
bhava samadhi: State of superconsciousness
bhukti: Enjoyable experiences
bhupura: One of three lines forming outer squares in the Sri Chakra
Bhur: One of the astral worlds (lokas); the earthly plane or material world
bhuta agni: Fire of spirituality
bhuta shuddhi: Purification of the bhutas
bhutas: Spirits; the five primary elements
Bhuvar: One of the astral worlds (lokas), corresponding to the middle world of humankind; the world of becomings and desire that is the pivot for action
bija: Seed
bijakshara: Seed sound of a deity
bija mantra: Seed sound
bindu: Point; mystic point from which creation emanates
Bindusaras: Lake of drops
Brahma granthi: Knot of Brahma, formed by the junction of the sushumna, ida, and pingala nadis at the muladhara chakra
Brahma Jnana: Knowledge of the supreme
Brahman: The transcendental absolute; beyond thought and description
Brahma nadi: Nadi through which kundalini passes
brahmarandra: Orifice at the top of the skull
Brahmin: Member of the priest caste
Brighu: Famous sage; expounder of Brighu Samhita
buddhi: Intellect
buddhi shuddhi: Cleansing of the intellect
Chaitra: A lunar month, roughly corresponding to March/April
chakra: Lotus-shaped whorl of psychic energy
Chakraraja: King of chakras; another name for the Sri Chakra
Chandidasa: Fourteenth-century poet
Chandikashtaka: Eight verses on Chandika by the poet Bana
chandra nadi: Another name for the ida nadi
chaturyuga: Period of time comprising four yugas
chid: Consciousness
chidagnikunda: Eternal pyre in which all creatures are consumed
chintamani griha: Sanctum sanctorum of Maha Devi; made of the fabled jewel chintamani
chit: The force of pure consciousness; an aspect of Shakti
Chitrakarma: Sculptor who created Bhandasura
Chitrakuta: Hill on which Hanuman resided
chitra nadi: Nadi that encloses the Brahma nadi
chitta: Superconsciousness
daitya: Demon
Daksha: Father of Sati
Dakshina Marga: Right-hand path of Tantra
Dakshineswara: Famous Kaali temple in Bengal
danava: Demon
dasya bhava: Attitude of a servant
deha shuddhi: Purification of the body
Deva: Shining one; god
Devi: Goddess
Dhanya: Sister of Mena and daughter of Swadha
dharma: Law of righteousness
Dipavali: Festival of lights
divya: Pertaining to Deva or “the shining one”; the sattvic followers of Tantra are also known as divya since they are filled with light
Diwali: Another name for Dipavali
draavana: Ability to make people run in terror
dukkha: Sorrow
Durga Puja: Nine-day festival dedicated to Durga
Durvasa: Sage known for his anger
Dwapara Yuga: Third epoch
Dwaraka: Lord Krishna’s capital
Dyumatsena: Savitri’s father-in-law
Ganapatyas: Worshippers of Ganesha or Ganapathy
ganas: Shiva’s entourage of goblins and spirits
gandharva: Celestial singer; marriage of mutual consent
Ganga: Ganges river; also the name of the goddess of that river
Gangashtakam: Eight verses to Ganga
Gangotri: Source of the Ganga
Gantaki: River in Nepal
Garuda: Eagle vehicle of Lord Vishnu
gayatri: Poetic meter in which the Gayatri mantra is written
Gayatri mantra: Famous mantra to Gayatri
Geyachakra: One of the chariots of Lalitha’s army, driven by Mantrini
ghat: Safe place to bathe in the river; a “burning ghat” is a place on a riverbank where the dead are burned, after which bathing in the river is compulsory
ghee: Clarified butter
Gokarna: Famous temple town in south India; dedicated to Shiva
Goloka: Celestial world of Krishna
gopala: Cowherder
gopi: Milkmaid or woman of the gopalas
Goraknath: Famous Tantric sage; founder of the Nath
granthi: Knot
griha: Enclosure
guna: One of the three essential qualities (sattva, rajas, and tamas) of Prakriti and thus of all nature
gunatita: One who has risen above the gunas
gupta shaktis: Secret forces of Lalitha’s army
guru: Spiritual preceptor
ham: Bija mantra of the element akasa
Haridwar: Pilgrim center on the Ganga in north india
hatha yogi: One who practices hatha yoga, a yoga of physical purification
Himavan: King of the mountains (Himalayas)
hreem: Esoteric mantra of the goddess
iccha shakti: Will to create; power of desire
ida: Nadi that lies on the left side of the sushumna
indriyas: Subtle senses that eventually locate in the gross jnanendriyas
ishta devata: Favorite deity
jagat: World
Jahnu: Ancient sage who drank the entire Ganga River
Jana: One of the astral worlds (lokas); the world of creative delight
Janaka: Sage-king of Videha; father of Sita
japa: Repetition of a mantra
japa mala: Rosary used for japa
jatara agni: Fire of digestion
Jayadeva: Author of the Gita Govinda, a series of love poems
jiva: The spark of life; individual soul that remains individualized upon death and is reborn within another human body
jivan mukta: Liberated soul; a fully illumined sage
jivatman: Embodied divine spirit that thinks itself separate from the whole
jnana: Spiritual knowledge
jnana shakti: Knowledge of the process of creation; the power of intelligence
jnana yoga: Yoga of knowledge
jnanendriyas: Five sense organs of knowledge: ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose
jnani: Man of wisdom
jrimbhana: Ability to cause people to become lazy and keep yawning
Jyesta: Lunar month, roughly corresponding to mid-May through mid-June
kaala: Time
Kailasa: Abode of Lord Shiva in the Himalayas
Kalaratri: The great night of destruction; also another name for Durga
Kalavati: Daughter of Swadha
Kalidasa: Great poet; devotee of Kaali
Kalindi: River in Vrindavana
Kali Yuga: The fourth epoch (in which we are living now)
kalpa: An epoch or age of Brahma the creator
kalpavriksha: Wish-fulfilling tree
kama: Selfish love; infatuation with and desire for material things
Kamadhenu: Wish-fulfilling cow
kamakala: A digit of desire
Kamakhya: Famous temple in Assam
kamandalu: Water pot
Kamarupa: Ancient name of Kamakhya
Kanakadara Stotram: Poem by Adi Shankara on Lakshmi
Kanchipuram: City in Tamilnadu
kanda: Egg-shaped junction located just above the muladhara chakra that is the source of all nadis
kanta: Beautiful
Kapila: Famous sage
kara: Arm
karma: Action; duty
karma yoga: Yoga of action
karmendriyas: Five organs of action: tongue, hands, legs, genitals, and anus
karmic: Pertaining to the law of karma
Kartika: Lunar month, roughly corresponding to mid-October through mid-
November
Kaula Marga: Another name for Vama Marga
Kauravas: One hundred princes of the Kuru dynasty; dark forces of the Universe
Kaustubham: Ruby on the breast of Lord Vishnu
Kirichakra: One of the chariots of Lalitha’s army, driven by Dandanatha
kona: Corner kosha: Sheath
kri: Denotes rajas in pra-kri-ti
Krishna Dwaipayana: Name of Vyasa, author of the Puranas
Krishnamayam jagat: World filled with Krishna alone
Krita Yuga: The first epoch; also called Satya Yuga
kriti: Creation
Krittikas: Constellation known as the Pleiades
kriya shakti: Power to create; power of action
kshatriya: Warrior caste
kshobana: Ability to create emotional disturbance
kundala: Coil
kundalini: Psychic power coiled at the bottom of the spine; an aspect of Shakti; also the name of the godess who embodies this power
kundalini yoga: Yoga or study of kundalini
Kunti: Mother of the Pandavas
Kurukshetra: Battlefield of the Kurus—the race of the Kauravas and Pandavas; the field of human consciousness
laasya: Dance with slow movements; Parvati performs this dance to counteract Shiva’s thandava
lakh: Hundred thousand
lam: Bija mantra of the earth element
Lanka: Island kingdom of Ravana
lata: Creeper
laya: Dissolution of the individual self; in the spiritual sense, dissolution of the individual consciousness into the supreme undifferenetiated consciousness
laya yoga: Synonym for kundalini yoga that has the added meaning of dissolving in the supreme
lila: Cosmic play
lingam: Sign; phallic symbol of Shiva
linga sarira: Astral or subtle body
loka: Astral world; there are seven upper lokas and seven lower lokas or netherworlds
maarana: Ability to provoke death or destroy the enemy
madhu: Honey; wine; also the name of a demon
madya: Wine
maha: Great; glorious
mahakaarana: The great cause; Shiva
Mahakameswarastra: “Pure divine love”; missile of Kameswara (Shiva) used by Lalitha to kill Bhanda
Mahamoha: “Supreme illusion”; missile of Bhanda
Mahapadmatavi: Place where Lalitha kept her chariots
Maha Pralaya: Dissolution that takes place in the night of Brahma
Maha Puranas: Great Puranas; eighteen in number
Mahar: One of the astral worlds (lokas); world of vastness and pure thought and will
maha tattva: One of the five great elements: akasa (ether), vayu (air), agni (fire), apas (water), and prithvi (earth)
Mahavidyas: Ten ferocious aspects of the goddess: Kaali, Smashan Tara, Bhuvaneswari, Bagala, Dhumavati, Kamala, Matangi, Shodashi, Chinnamasta, and Bhairavi
makara: Crocodile
mala: Garland; necklace
Malati: Mother of Savitri
mamsa: Meat; flesh
manas: Mind
Manasarovar: Lake in the Himalayas; lake of the mind
mana shuddhi: Purification of the mind
mandala: Mystical design
Mandara: Mystical mountain
manes: Ancestors who live on a world of their own
Mani Dwipa: Mystic island on which the Maha Devi resides
Manikkavachakar: Fourteenth-century saint; famous devotee of Lord Shiva
manipura chakra: Stomach chakra
Manoja: A member of Lalitha’s army of shaktis
manoja: Aspect of love
mantra: Mystical incantation
mantra shastra: Knowledge of mantras; another name for Tantra
Manu: First of the lawgivers
manvantara: Age of one Manu; 4,320,000 human years
Markandeya: Ancient rishi who lived for a whole manvantara
mathurya bhava: Feeling of intense or ecstatic love
matsya: Fish
maya: Illusion; power of Maha Devi
maya shakti: Power to create illusion
medhas: Discriminative intellect; bone marrow
Medhas: Name of sage
Mena: Mother of Parvati
mithuna: Coitus
mithya: Unreal
mohana: Ability to attract and delude
moksha: Enlightenment; final liberation from mortality
Mount Meru: Celestial mountain; axis of the world
mudra: Mystical sign; in the panchamakara ritual also stands for parched grain
mukti: Liberation
muladhara chakra: First chakra, found at the base of the spine
nad: Motion; movement
nada: Sound of creation
Nada Brahman: Aum; pure consciousness manifesting as sound
nadi: Astral tube that carries psychic energy, such as kundalini
nadi shuddhi: Purification of the nadis
Naimittika Pralaya: Another name for Maha Pralaya
nama: Name
Nandagopa: Foster father of Lord Krishna
Nandi: Bull vehicle of Lord Shiva
Narada: Celestial singing sage
Naraka Chaturdasi: Fourteenth day of the lunar month on which Lord
Krishna kills the demon Naraka
Narayanastra: Missile of Narayana
Nath: Ancient tribe of Aghoris
navadhanyas: Nine types of grains
Navaratri: Nine-day festival dedicated to the Divine Mother
nirakara: Without form
nirguna: Without the three gunas or essential qualities of nature
nitya: Eternal
Nitya Pralaya: Dissolution of individual awareness during sleep
Paasupata: Great arrow of Shiva
padmasana: Lotus posture for sitting
panchamakara: Tantric ritual of five offerings, the names of which each begin with the Sanskrit letter ma
Pandavas: Sons of Pandu, representing the virtues of the evolved person
Para Brahman: Supreme consciousness, without form or attributes
paramahamsa: Great swan; title given to highly evolved yogis
paramanu: Smallest particle of matter
paramanukala: Shortest period of time
Paramatman: The supreme self; Brahman
Parasara: A sage; father of Veda Vyasa
Paraskara-sutra: Vedic hymn
pasha: Rope (of ignorance which binds the soul)
pashu: Animal; a tamasic practitioner of Tantra
Patala Ganga: Name of Ganga in the netherworld
peepul: Fig tree (Ficus religiosa)
peetha: Seat
pingala: Nadi on the right side of sushumna
pra: Exalted; superior; denotes sattva in pra-kri-ti
prajapati: Patriarch
Prakriti: Executive will of the Purusha
Prakritika Pralaya: Complete dissolution, when all the universe reverts to its original cause
pralaya: Cosmic dissolution; flood; period of repose
prana: Life breath or force; associated with Shakti
pranava: The mantra aum
prana vayu: Five forces or winds that control all the involuntary actions
pranayama: Science of breath control
prasada: Grace; leftovers of offerings to god
Prayaga: Confluence of the three sacred rivers of the Indian subcontinent: the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati
Preeti: A member of Lalitha’s army of shaktis
preeti: Highest form of selfless love
prema: Unselfish love
prithvi: Earth
puja: Ritualistic worship of the divine
Punyabhoomi: The blessed land, another name for India
punya thirtha: Especially holy river
Puranas: Hindu scriptures, of which there are eighteen main and eighteen
subsidiary
Puranic: Pertaining to the Puranas
purnata: Fullness
Purusha: Supreme soul; witness of the play of Prakriti
Pushkara: Holy city on a lake (the city has taken on the name of the lake) dedicated to Brahma
rajas: One of the three gunas, meaning passion, energy, desire, kinesis
rajasic: Having rajas, meaning energetic, passionate, active
raja yoga: Yoga of stilling the mind in order to unite with the supreme
rakshasa: Giant of darkness and evil; violently egoistic with uncontrollable passions
ram: Bija mantra for the element of agni
Ramakrishna: Great Bengali saint of the twentieth century
Ramarajya: Kingdom of Sri Rama, noted for its all-around social perfection
Rasa Lila: Dance of Krishna with the gopis in the forest of Vrindavana
rasa mandalam: The circular formation that the gopis made suring the performance of Rasa Lila
rasis: Twelve constellations around the earth
Rati: Wife of Kama
rishi: Truth seer; seer-sage; the composers of the Vedic hymns were rishis
rita: Truth in action; working of sat or reality in the cosmos
Rudra granthi: Knot of Rudra, formed by the junction of the sushumna, ida, and pingala nadis at the ajna chakra between the brows
rupa: Form
Sabda Brahman: Emanation of consciousness or the absolute as sound; aum
sadhaka: One who practices spiritual disciplines
sadhana: Spiritual practice or discipline
sadhana shastra: Another name for Tantra
Sagara: Ancient king of the Surya dynasty; ocean
saguna: Having form and all qualities of nature
sahasrara chakra: Chakra at the top of the skull; known as the thousand-petaled lotus
sakhya bhava: Attitude of a friend
saligrama: Stone found in the Gantiki River in Nepal that carries the mark or image of Vishnu
samadhi: Superconscious state
samana vayu: One of the five winds that takes care of involuntary actions and controls digestion
Samaya: Conservative path of Tantra
samsara: World of cyclical movement; world of transmigration
samvit: Intelligence
Sanatana Dharma: Eternal law of righteousness; name of Hinduism
Sanat Kumaras: Four boy saints, named Sanaka, Sananda, Sanat Kumara, and Sanatana; they are the eternal powers of the divine, ever youthful, who lead people to the truth
sankalpa: Intention; determination
Sapta Matrikas: “Seven mothers”; the seven fierce forms of Maha Devi: Brahmaani, Maheswari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Vaarahi, Indrani, and Nrisimhi
sarabha: Fabled animal that is half bird, half dragon
sarga: Primary creation
sarira: Body
sarva anandamaya chakra: Giver of unending bliss
sarva rakshakara chakra: Giver of all protection
sarva rogahara chakra: Remover of all diseases
sarvartha sadhaka chakra: Accomplisher of all purposes
sarva sankshobhana chakra: Agitator of all
sarva siddhiprada chakra: Giver of all powers
sarva saubhagya chakra: Giver of all auspiciousness
sarvasya paripuraka chakra: Fulfiller of all desires
sat: Being; reality; existence
sattva: One of the three gunas, meaning balance, harmony, and equilibrium
sattvic: Having sattva, meaning balanced and harmonius
satya: Truth
Satyaloka: The astral world (loka) of Brahma; world of highest truth; also Satya loka
Satyavan: Prince who married Savitri
Saundaryalahari: Poem in praise of Lalitha’s beauty by Adi Shankaracharya
Savarnika: Epoch of the Manu Savarni, in which the story of the Devi Mahatmyam took place
Shaiva: Sect that considers Shiva to be the supreme reality
Shaivite: Follower of Shaiva
Shakta: Sect that considers the goddess to be the supreme reality; also, a
follower of this sect
shakti: Power; a particular energy of the goddess that can manifest as another goddess
Shakti Peetha: Place where part of Sati’s body had fallen, filled with divine energy
Shaktism: Philosophy of the Shaktas
shanta bhava: Peaceful approach to God
shanta murti: Peaceful aspect of the godhead
shastra: Scripture
Shatagni: Blazing weapon of Agni
shatkona: Six-cornered figure of two intersecting triangles
shava: Corpse
shiva lata mudra: One of the sexual practices in Tantra; mystical gesture in which all traces of animal desire are completely eliminated
shuddha tattva: Purest element
shuddhi: Spiritual purification
Shuka: Son of Vyasa
shunya: Void; zero
Shunyaka: Another name for Sonitapura
siddhi: Spiritual perfection
siddhis: Supernatural powers, eight in number; the eight siddhis are (1) the ability to make oneself tiny, (2) the ability to make oneself huge, (3) the ability to become extremely light, (4) the ability to become extremely heavy, (5) the ability to achieve anything and travel anywhere, (6) possession of irresistable will power, (7) mastery over all creatures, (8) having the godlike powers to create and destroy
Sita: Wife of Rama; form of the earth goddess
smashana: Burning ghat
smriti: Vedic truth in a modern setting; collective name for the Puranas
Sonitapura: Bhanda’s Capital city
Souryas: Worshippers of Surya, the sun god
spanda: Initial throb of creation; vibration
sraddha: Faith
sri: Auspiciousness or prosperity; also a name for Lakshmi
Sri Chakra: Supreme yantra of the goddess
srimad: Excellent; venerated
Srimati Jahnavi: Ganga
Srinagar: Name of Lalitha’s city
Sripura: Sanctum sanctorum of Lalitha
sruti: Revealed truth; collective name for the Vedas
stambhana: Ability to induce paralysis
sthuti: Praise
stotram: Hymn
Sudama: Friend of Krishna in Gokula
Sudarshana Chakra: Vishnu’s weapon; the wheel of time
Sugriva: Monkey king who helped Rama; also the name of a demon who was Shumbha’s minister
Sumeru: Mountain where Mahisha practiced tapas
sunyata: Void
Suratha: King mentioned in the Devi Mahatmyam
Suryamandala: The sun and its aura
surya nadi: Another name for the pingala nadi
Surya Narayana: Spiritual field of the sun; spiritual aura of the sun god
sushumna: nadi that rises up through the spinal column, extending from the muladhara chakra at the bottom of the spine to the brahmarandra orifice at the crown of the head
Suta: One who recites the scriptures
Swadha: Wife of the manes
swadhistana chakra: Chakra at the root of the reproductive organs
Swar: One of the astral worlds (lokas); the heavenly region or the world of light; a pure psychic state
swarga-sopana-sharani: “Ladder to heaven”; refers to the Ganga
swayambhuva lingam: Representation of the lingam of Shiva found in the muladhara chakra
tadrupata: Attaining the same form (as the deity)
tamas: One of the three gunas, meaning darkness, ignorance, and inertia
tamasic: Having tamas, meaning inert, dark, ignorant, sluggish
tanmatras: Five subtle elements: touch, taste, odor, form, and sound
tanmayata: Melting of the devotee’s personality into that of the deity
tanoti: Expansion
Tantra: System of worshipping the divine as Shakti or divine energy
Tantric: Pertaining to Tantra
Tantrist: One who practices Tantra
tapas: Meditation; austerity
tapasvin: Male who practices austerities
tapasvini: Female who practices austerities
tapasya: Spiritual force acquired by the practice of austerities, including meditation, for gaining spiritual and material powers
Tapo: One of the astral worlds (lokas); world of infinite will; also spelled Tapa
tarpana: Offering of water to the manes and to the sun god
tattva: Element; there are twenty-five tattvas, which include the five bhutas
tattva shuddhi: Purification of the elements that make up our material body
thandava: Vigorous, violent dance that precedes creation and destruction; dance of Shiva
thirtha: Holy waters
Thirtharaja: King of all thirthas; refers to Prayaga
ti: Denotes tamas in pra-kri-ti
trailokya mohana chakra: “Enchanter of the three worlds”; part of the Sri Chakra
trayati: Liberation
Treta Yuga: Second age or cycle of evolution
trikona: Triangle
Trimurtis: Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva
Trisati: Hymn to the goddess Lalitha
tulasi: The holy basil; also the name of a goddess
turiya: Fourth state of consciousness that underlies all the other states; samadhi state
ucchatana: Ability to force a person to stop whatever he or she is doing
udana vayu: Vital breath that directs currents upward; aids spiritual development
Upa Puranas: The eighteen secondary Puranas
Uttama Purusha: The supreme person; Krishna
vac: Power of sound or speech; also a name for Saraswati
Vaikunta: Transcendental abode of Vishnu
Vaishnava: Pertaining to Vishnu
Vaishnavism: Sect that considers Vishnu to be the supreme reality
Vaishnavite: Follower of Vaishnavism
vaisya: Merchant caste
Vaitarini: Name of the Ganga as it circles the city of Yama, god of death, in the netherworld; also refers to the sacrifice of a cow at the time of death
Vaivasvata: Present manvantara
vajra nadi: Nadi inside the sushumna nadi
Valmiki: Author of the Ramayana
vam: Bija mantra of the element of water
Vama Marga: Left-hand path of Tantra
vamsa: Lineage
vanamala: Garland of wildflowers; Vishnu and his avataras always wear one
Varanasi: Famous temple town of northern India; special to Shiva
varna: Color; one of the fifty articulate sounds; caste
vasana: Inherited or acquired tendencies of the mind
Vasishta: Famous sage; guru of Rama
vatsalya bhava: Love of the parent for a child; one of the modes of approach to God
vayu: Wind
Vedanta: Collective name for the Upanishads
Veda Vyasa: Another name for Vyasa, the sage who compiled the Vedas
Vedic: Pertaining to the Vedas
veena: Indian lute
Videha: Birthplace of Sita
vidya: Knowledge
vidya maya: Power of the goddess to dispel illusion through knowledge
Vidyapati: Midfourteenth- to midfifteenth-century poet who was a devotee of Krishna
vidyarambham: Ceremony to denote the begining of studies for a child
Vijayadasami: Day of victory; last day of the nine-day festival of worship of the Divine Mother
vikritis: Modifications of Prakriti, giving rise to the different emotions that appear in the mind, such as happiness, sorrow, fear, and anger
vilva: Tree whose leaves are used in the worship of Shiva
vimarsha: Seed desire; quality of Maha Devi
Vindhya: Mountains of central India
Vindhyachala: Famous temple town dedicated to the goddess
vira: Heroic; rajasic practitioner of Tantra
viraha dukkha: Poignant sorrow of separation
Virini: One of the wives of Daksha
visarga: Secondary creation
Vishnu granthi: Knot of Vishnu, formed by the junction of the sushumna, ida, and pingala nadis at the manipura chakra
Vishnupadi: Another name for the Ganga; “coming from the feet of Vishnu”
vishuddha chakra: Chakra located at the throat
vishwarupa: Cosmic form of a deity
Vraja: Village where Krishna grew up
Vrindavana: Forest where Krishna played with the gopis and gopalas
Vrishabhanu: Radha’s father
Vrishadvaja: Tulasi’s father
vyana vayu: Life breath that governs circulation
Vyasa: Famous sage; compiler of the Vedas and author of the Puranas
Yadava: Krishna’s clan
yajna: Fire sacrifice
yajna kund: Pit where yajna is conducted
yajnashala: Hall where yajna is held
yakshas: Class of celestial beings that control wealth
yam: Bija mantra for the element of wind
Yamuna: Name of the river on whose banks Krishna sported with the gopis
yantra: Mystical mathematical figure
Yasoda: Foster mother of Krishna
yoga: Path for discovering the truth underlying the phenomenal world as well as the truth of one’s own self; a path that leads to union with the divine
yoga nidra: Spiritual sleep; also the name of the goddess who embodies this state
yogi: Man who practices yoga; saint
yogini: Woman who practices yoga
yoni: Vulva
Yudhistira: Arjuna’s eldest brother
yuga: An age; an epoch