- Maha Shivaratri
- Literally, the “Great Night of Shiva” is celebrated every year on the new moon night in the month of Phalguna, this Hindu festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
- Karana Chitta
- karana chitta (Sanskrit) "Causal mind." The intuitive-superconscious mind of the soul. It corresponds to the anandamaya kosha, bliss sheath, also called karana sharira, causal body.
- tala
- "Timemeasure." In Indian music, the organization of time into meter andrhythmic pulse with sometimes complex subdivisions. Tala issimilar to "time signature" in Western notation except thattala includes the unique emotional or mystical mood.
- rasatala
- rasatala (Sanskrit: "Subterranean region.") — the fifth chakra below the muladhara, centered in the ankles. Corresponds to the fifth astral netherworld beneath the earth's surface, called rijisha ("expelled") or rasatala. Region of selfishness, self-centeredness and possessiveness. Rasa means "earth, soil; moisture." See: chakra, loka, naraka.
- siddhi
- siddhi or siddhiḥ (Sanskrit:सिद्धि; "perfection", "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success") — extraordinary powers of the atma (Self), developed through consistent meditation and deliberate, grueling, often uncomfortable tapas, or awakened naturally through spiritual maturity and yogic sadhana. Through the repeated experience of Self Realization, siddhis naturally unfold according to the needs of the individual. Before Self Realization, the use or development of siddhis is among the greatest obstacles on the path because it cultivates ahankara, I-ness, and militates against the attainment of prapatti, complete submission to the will of God, Gods and guru. The mastery of specific Siddhis is taught to be attained through the right kind of Samyama. There are eight primary siddhis, and ten secondary siddhis and five siddhi's specific for concentration in yoga.
- rajas
- rajas (Sanskrit: "passion, activity, restlessness, aggressiveness;"). rajasic — adjective form of rajas, passionate, emotional. Associated with color red. See guna.
- sukshma sharira
- sukshma sharira (Sanskrit: sukshma, "subtle, unmanifest, dormant") — is the energy body, the subtle body, the light body of form consists of manas (mind), buddhi (intelligence) and ahankara (ego). The atma (the Self) functions in the sukshmaloka (astral plane), the inner world also called antarloka. The suksmah sharira includes pranamaya-kosha (the pranic sheath), manomaya-kosha (the instinctive-intellectual sheath), and vijnanamaya-kosha (the cognitive sheath) kosha) — with the pranic sheath dropping off at the death of the sthula-sharira (physical body). The subtle body is the vehicle of consciousness with which one passes from life to life and to accompany us even after the death of the physical body. See: kosha, atma.
- krodha
- krodha or krodh (Sanskrit: , "wrath, anger or rage") — One of the arishadvarga (six passions of mind) or enemies of desire, the others being kama (lust), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).
- adharma
- adharma (Sanskrit: ) — the opposite of dharma that denotes unrighteousness; disorder; evil; immorality; impiety, non-performance of duty; what is not right or natural; or not in accordance to śāstras. Thoughts, words or deeds that transgress divine law in any of the human expressions. It brings the accumulation of demerit, called papa, while dharma brings merit, called punya.
- Çhandas Vedanga
- Çhandas Vedanga (Sanskrit: "meter") — auxiliary Vedic texts on the metrical rules of poetic writing. Çhanda is among four linguistic skills taught for mastery of the Vedas and the rites of yagna. Çhandas means "desire; will; metrical science." The most important text on Çhandas is the Çhanda Shastra, ascribed to Pingala. Its knowledge is most essential for the correct pronunciation of the Vedic mantras.
- panchamahābhūtas
- panchamahābhūtas (Sanskrit: ) from pancha (five) + maha (great) + bhuta (element), means "five great elements", which are prthivi (earth), apa (water), agni (fire), vayu (air or wind), and akasha (aether).
- siddha
- siddha (Tamil: சித்தா, "one who is accomplished") — refers to perfected masters who according to Hindus have transcended the ahańkāra (ego or I-maker), have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies composed mainly of dense Rajo-tama gunas into a different kind of bodies dominated by sattva. This is usually accomplished only by persistent meditation over many lifetimes.
- Svarloka
- Svarloka (Sanskrit: "Celestial or bright plane."). The third of the seven upper worlds, the midastral region (equated in some texts with Svarga), realm of manipura chakra. See: loka.
- Sivaloka
- Sivaloka (Sanskrit: "Realm of Siva.") See: loka.
- raga
- raga, craving; attraction and attachment to experiences and objects of the material world; exterior attachments; passion; desire, emotions/feelings; one of the panchakleshas (five “hindrances” to spiritual growth).
- triloka
- triloka (Sanskrit: "three worlds"). The ‘triple world’ of saṃsāra or rebirth. The three worlds of existence, triloka, are the primary hierarchical divisions of the cosmos. 1) bhuloka: "Earth world," the physical plane. 2) antarloka: "Inner or in-between world," the subtle or astral plane. 3) Sivaloka: "World of Siva," and of the Gods and highly evolved souls; the causal plane, also called Karanaloka.
- adhyatma vikasa
- adhyatma vikasa (Sanskrit: "Spiritual unfoldment" — he blossoming of inner or higher (adhi), atma (the Self) qualities as a result of religious striving, sadhana. Vikasa means, "becoming visible, shining forth, manifestation opening," as a flower unfolds its petals, or the chakras unfold theirs as a result of kundalini awakening. See: spiritual unfoldment.
- Absolute
- Absolute: Lower case "absolute", real, not dependent on anything else, not relative. Upper case "Absolute", Ultimate Reality, the unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent Parabrahm — utterly non-relational to even the most subtle level of consciousness.
- kāma
- kāma or kām, (Sanskrit: काम, "self-indulgence; sensual gratification; pleasure; lust") — the passionate desire for all sensual and material pleasures such as for riches, property, honor, status, fame, children etc. and abnormal desire which includes drugs, alcoholic drinks, tobacco, or foods eaten only for taste. It is the principle of sickness and degradation in the Kali Yuga. kāma is regarded as one of the four purusharthas (goals of life), the others are artha (worldly status), dharma (duty) and moksha (liberation). It is also one of the arishadvarga (six passions of mind) or enemies of desire, the others being krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).
- sūtras
- sūtra (Sanskrit: सूत्र, "a rope or thread that holds things together") metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or large a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual — is a distinct type of literary composition, based on short aphoristic statements, generally using various technical terms. The literary form of the sutra was designed for concision, as the texts were intended to be memorized by students in some of the formal methods of svādhyāya (scriptural and scientific study). Since each line is highly condensed, another literary form arose in which bhāṣya (commentaries) on the sūtras were added, to clarify and explain them.
- rishi
- rishi (Sanskrit: "seer; one who sees") — is a word that simply means a sage or a divine seer in general. the great sages of ancient India who, in deep states of meditation (communion with the cosmos), and through spiritual experimentation, discovered the underlying, fundamental truths of the Universe, and whose teachings formed the basis for the spiritual culture of the ancient Vedic civilization. In more specific usage the rishis are divine beings distinct from devas (Gods), asuras (demons) and men who “heard” the Vedic hymns and passed them on down to mankind.
- panchanga
- The name for the Hindu calendar is a panchanga. In Sanskrit the word panchanga is made of two parts: pancha and anga. Pancha means five and anga means a part. The panchanga is, therefore, something made of five parts. As a calendar, these five parts are the lunar day (tithi), day of the week (vara), lunar mansion (naksatra), luni-solar day (yoga) and half lunar day (karana). Along with other information, a panchanga especially records the movements of the sun and the moon. Traditionally no religious festival, family event, or even a civic affair is performed without first consulting a panchanga to know the favorable movements of these celestial bodies.
- vanaprastha ashrama
- vanaprastha ashrama or "samskaras of later life". Age 48 marks the entrance into the elder advisor stage, celebrated in some communities by special ceremony. — sannyasa ashrama vrata: The advent of withdrawal from social duties and responsibilities at age 72 is sometimes ritually acknowledged (different from sannyasa diksha). See: sannyasa dharma. — antyeshti: (Sanskrit) The various funeral rites performed to guide the soul in its transition to inner worlds, including preparation of the body, cremation, bone-gathering, dispersal of ashes, home purification. See: pinda, shraddha, samskara, shashtyabda purti.
- Kundalini
- Kundalini (Sanskrit: "a coiled female serpent") from kundala, "coil of a rope" meaning either coiled up or coiling like a snake — is the divine cosmic energy. It is a term in yoga, referring to a reservoir of psychic energy at the base of the spine. Kundalini is curled up in the back part of the root chakra in three and one-half turns. This force or energy is symbolized as a coiled and sleeping serpent lying dormant in the lowest nerve centre at the base of the spinal column, the Muladhara-chakra. This latent energy has to be aroused and made to ascend the main spinal channel, the Susumna piercing the chakras right up to the Sahasrara, the thousand-petalled lotus in the head. Then the Yogi is in union with the Brahman (Supreme Universal Soul).
- dharana
- dharana (Sanskrit: "immovable concentration of the mind; that which gives stability") from the root Dhar, which means to “bind together”, “to make stable” — the willful act of concentration of the mind; the sixth of Patanjali’s “eight limbs of yoga”. The essential idea is to hold the concentration or focus of attention in one direction. This is not the forced concentration of, for example, solving a difficult mathematics problem; rather dharana is a form of closer to the state of mind, which could be called receptive concentration. See: Ashtanga Yoga
- moksha
- moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष mokṣa, "liberation") or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति, "release") is liberation from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation and all of the suffering and limitation of worldly existence. It is a state of absolute freedom, peace and bliss, attained through Self-Realization. This is the supreme goal of human endeavor, the other three being, dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth and power) and kama (sense-pleasure). It is seen as a transcendence of phenomenal being, a state of higher consciousness, in which matter, energy, time, space, karma (causation) and the other features of empirical reality are understood as maya.
- Vyākaraṇa Vedanga
- Vyākaraṇa Vedanga or Vyākaraṇa Shastra (Sanskrit: "grammar") — auxiliary Vedic texts on Sanskrit grammar. Vyakarana is among four linguistic skills taught for mastery of the Vedas and the rites of yagna. The term literally means "separation, or explanation." The most celebrated Vyakarana work is Panini's 4,000-sutra Ashtadhyayi, which set the linguistic standards for classical Sanskrit.
- saṃsāra
- saṃsāra (Sanskrit: संसार; "flow") — refers to the phenomenal world. Transmigratory existence, fraught with impermanence, change and cycle of reincarnation or rebirth. The cycle of birth, death and rebirth; the total pattern of successive earthly lives experienced by atman (the Self). According to the Vedas the atman is bound in a "cycle", the cycle of life and death. Endlessly the atman transcends from possessing one form to the next, this is the concept of saṃsāra (reincarnation). So the logical inference is that the aim is to break free! Freedom. Freedom from every constraint, this is the aim of life, the aim of all the Hindu teachings.
- agni
- agni (Sanskrit: "fire") — 1) One of the five elements, panchabhuta. 2) Agnideva, God of the element fire, invoked through Vedic ritual known as yagna, agnikaraka, homa and havana. The Agnideva is the divine messenger who receives prayers and oblations and conveys them to the heavenly spheres.
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