Vedic Glossary

A

Adhama - The lowest or bad

Adhimas - Lunar leap months which occur every once in a while in order to adjust the lunar calendar.

Agamas Shaivite - scriptures

Agni Vedic - sacred fire

Aranyaka Vedic - forest texts

Artha - pursuit of wealth

Aryan - people of spiritual values

Asanas - yogic postures

Ashram - state or stage of life

Atharva Veda - fourth Veda

Atman - the Divine Self

Avatar - incarnation of God

Ayurveda - Vedic Medicine

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B

Bhagavad Gita - scripture of the avatar Krishna

Bhakti Yoga - Yoga of Devotion

Bhuktis - planetary time periods, minor

Brahmacharya - control of sexual energy; state of life of learning and purity

Brahma - form of the Hindu trinity governing creation

Brahman - the Absolute or ultimate reality

Brahmanas - Vedic ritualistic texts

Brahmins - people of spiritual values

Brihaspati - Vedic God of the ritual, the planet Jupiter

Buddha - ninth avatar of Vishnu

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C

Chakra - spinning circle

Chalitchakra - chart of houses as opposed to the rasi chakra which is the chart of signs

Chamara - A white or light gray fluffy whisk fan made out of a yak tail

Chandala - This is the name of one of the lowest rungs of human society

Chandra -  the Moon

Chandrashtama - This is when the Moon transits in the eighth sign from a person's rising sign and is not considered good at all

Chandrodaya - moonrise

Chara dasha - dasha system propounded by Sage Jaimini

Chara - This means movable and is often used in combination with rasi to indicate the movable signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

Chatur - Four.

Chaturdasi - This is the fourteenth tithi or lunar day.

Chaturmas - Literally means the four months of winter. During this period many yogis and devotees practice more strict austerities to help them in their spiritual advancement.

Chaturtamsha - Literally means four parts and refers to the four-part divisional or varga chart. The chaturtamsha chart fills in more information than the fourth house about one's home, happiness and matters relating to the fourth house.

Chaturthi - This is a combination of the two words chatur and tithi and therefore refers to the fourth lunar day of both the dark and bright halves of the lunar month.

Chatuspada - a four-footed animal such as a cow or a horse

Chaya graha - chaya means shadow and graha means planet; referring to Rahu and Ketu,

Cheshta - Motion; chesta bala refers to motional strength.

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D

Dashas - planetary time periods, major

Dharana - yogic concentration or attention

Dharma - teaching or religion; honor or status

Dhatus - bodily tissues in Ayurvedic Medicine

Dhyana - meditation

Doshas - biological humors of Ayurvedic medicine

Durga - the Goddess as the destroyer of demons

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E

Ekadashi - The eleventh tithi or lunar day.

Ekadhipatya - This refers to a planet which owns two signs.

Ephemeris - A book wherein you can find the positions of the planets.

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G

Ganesh - elephant faced God who destroys all obstacles

Gayatri - Vedic chant for awakening the soul

Grihastha - householder stage of life

Gunas - prime qualities of nature

Guru - spiritual teacher

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H

Hanuman - the monkey God

Hatha Yoga - Yoga of the physical body

Hinduism - modern name for the Vedic teaching

Homa - Vedic worship, Fire offerings

Hum - great mantra of Agni and Shiva

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I 

Indra - Vedic God of being or life

Ishwara - the cosmic Creator

Itihasas - Hindu epics

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J

Jainism - non-orthodox form of Vedic/Aryan teaching emphasizing non-violence

Jnana Yoga - Yoga of Knowledge

Jyotish - Vedic Astrology

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K

Kailas - the world mountain

Kali - the dark form of the Goddess

Kali Yuga - dark or iron age

Kalki - tenth avatar of Vishnu

Kama - pursuit of desire

Kapha - biological water humor

Kapila - great Hindu sage, founder of the Sankhya system of philosophy

Karakas - planetary significators

Karma - Law of Cause and Effect

Karma Yoga - Yoga of Work or Service

Kashmiri Shaivism - Shaivite philosophy of medieval Kashmir

Ketu - south node of the Moon, dragon's tail

Krishna - eighth avatar of Vishnu

Kriya Yoga - yoga of technique

Kshatriya - people of political values

Kundalini - serpent power, power of subtle body

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L

Lakshmi - Goddess of prosperity and beauty; consort of Vishnu

Lalita - Goddess of bliss

Laya Yoga - Yoga of absorption into the sound-current (nada)

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M

Mahabharata - epic story of Krishna

Mahavakyas - great sayings of Vedantic knowledge

Mahayana - great vehicle, northern school of Buddhism

Manas - mind or emotion

Mantra - spiritual or empowered speech

Manu - Vedic original man, founder of human culture

Marmas - sensitive bodily points used in Ayurvedic treatment

Maya - illusion

Mayavada - doctrine that the world is unreal

Meru - the world mountain

Mimamsa - ritualistic form of Vedic philosophy

Moksha - pursuit of liberation

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N

Nada - the sound current of the subtle body

Nadis - nerves of the subtle body

Nataraj - Shiva as lord of the cosmic dance

Nirvana - liberation, the state of peace

Niyamas - yogic observances

Nyaya and Vaisheshika - Hindu philosophies; two of the six systems

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O

Om - The mantra of the Divine

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P

Pancha Karma - five Ayurvedic purification methods

Parashurama - sixth avatar of Vishnu

Parvati - the consort of Shiva

Patanjali - main teacher of classical Yoga system

Pitta - biological fire humor

Prakriti - great Nature, matter

Prana - breath or life-force

Prana Yoga - Yoga of the life-force

Pranayama - yogic control of the breath

Pratyahara - yogic control of mind and senses

Puja - Hindu worship, flower offerings

Puranas - Hindu mythological texts

Purusha - pure consciousness, spirit

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R

Radha - consort of Krishna

Rahu - north node of the Moon; dragon's head

Rajas - quality of energy or agitation

Raja Yoga - integral or royal yoga path of Patanjali

Rama - seventh avatar of Vishnu

Ramayana - epic story of Rama

Rasayana - Ayurvedic rejuvenation methods

Rig Veda - oldest Hindu scripture; Veda of chant

Rishis - ancient Vedic seers

Rudra - terrible or wrathful form of Shiva

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S

Sama Veda - Veda of song

Samadhi - absorption, bliss

Sankhya - Vedic philosophy of cosmic principles

Sanskrit - Vedic and mantric language

Sannyasa - stage of life of renunciation and liberation

Santana Dharma - the eternal teaching; traditional name for the Hindu religion

Saraswati - Goddess of speech, learning, knowledge and wisdom

Sat - being

Sattva - quality of truth or light

Sautrantika - Buddhist philosophy of the momentariness of all things

Savitar - Vedic Sun god as the guide of Yoga

Shakti - the power of consciousness and spiritual evolution

Shankara - the great philsopher of non-dualistic Vedanta

Shiva - form of the Hindu trinity governing destruction and transcendence

Shudras - people of sensate values

Shunyavada - Buddhist philosophy that everything is void  

Sita - consort of Rama

Skanda - the war God

So'ham - natural mantric sound of the breath

Soma - Vedic God of bliss

Srotas - channel systems used in Ayurvedic medicine

Surya - Vedic Sun God or god of the enlightened mind

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T

Tamas - quality of darkness and inertia

Tantra - medieval yogic and ritualistic Indian texts

Tara - the Goddess in her role as savior

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U

Upanishads - Vedic philosophical texts

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V

Vaishyas - people of commercial values

Vak - Divine Word, the Goddess

Vanaprastha - hermitage stage of life

Varna - Social Value or Class

Vata - biological air humor

Vedas - ancient scriptures of India

Vedanta - Vedic philosophy of Self-knowledge

Vedic Science - integral spiritual science of the Vedas

Vijnana - intelligence

Vijnanavada - Buddhist philosophy that consciousness alone exists

Vishnu - form of the Hindu trinity governing preservation

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Y

Yajna - sacrifice, sacred ritual

Yajur Veda - Veda of ritual or sacrifice

Yamas - yogic attitudes

Yantra - geometrical meditation designs

Yoga - techniques of developing and integrating energy

Yoga Sutras - classical text of Patanjali on Yoga

Yogi - practitioner of yoga

Yugas - world-ages

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