hindu terms
Terms
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- agni
- hindu god of fire
- ahimsa
- In Sanskrit, literally, "noninjury.
- ajiva
- All the material, non-spiritual aspects of the cosmos
- Ashram
- A place where devotees live, often the house of a guru
- Artha
- Artha literally means "success." It is one of the four main religious goals of Hinduism
- Aryans
- A group of people who emigrated from the west into the upper Indus Valley and the nearby territory around 1500 bce
- Ascetic
- A general term for a person who denies themselves some of the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, and shelter
- Atman
- An individual's soul or self. The ultimate goal in Hinduism is to achieve moksha through the realization that one's Atman and Brahman are the same thing
- Avatar
- A manifestion of a god in an earthly form, usually that of a human or animal
- Avidya
- Avidya literally means "ignorance," and is the opposite of Vidya
- Bhagavad-Gita
- The section of the Mahabharata in which Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna and in a long theological discussion describes the main components of karma yoga.
- bhakta
- A worshipper. One who shows devotion to a god or goddess
- bhakti
- Practices of worship or devotion to a Hindu god or goddess.
- bhakti yoga
- A type of yoga in which a person worships a god or goddess
- Brahma
- Brahma is the manifestation of Brahman into the world of maya.
- Brahman
- The power behind and within the cosmos that makes it function and live. Can also be seen as the Ultimate Reality
- Brahmanas
- Early, Vedic commentaries about Hindu ritual
- Brahmin
- The highest of the four main Hindu castes or Varnas. It is the priestly caste
- Caste
- The western term for varna. Castes provide the major divisions of Hindu society
- deva, devi
- Hindu terms for god and goddess
- Dharma
- In Hinduism, Dharma means virtue
- Dravidians
- The oldest known inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent
- Durga
- One of the wives of Shiva. She is the goddess of retribution and justice
- Ganesha/ Ganesa
- The god of good fortune. He takes away obstacles and brings success
- gopi
- A milk-maid or the daughter or wife of a cowherder
- Guru
- A holy teacher. Occasionally, a Brahmin who teaches
- Hatha yoga
- The form of yoga devoted only to bodily control
- Householder
- The second of the four stages of human life. This is when one takes on the responsibilities of adult life
- Ishvara
- Ishvara literally means "Lord of the Universe."
- japam
- A form of worship or meditation in which the name of a deity or a mantra is repeated
- jati
- The Hindu term for sub-caste. A varna is made up of many jatis
- jiva
- The soul of a person, essentially the same as Atman. It is made of spiritual or divine matter
- jnana
- The Sanskrit term for "knowledge."
- jnana yoga
- The discipline in which one learns the true nature of the cosmos and then uses that knowledge to connect oneself with the Atman
- Kali
- A goddess who is one of the wives of Shiva. She represents the wild, destructive character
- Kama
- Pleasure, one of the four encouraged goals of life in Hinduism.
- Karma
- an individual's karma-this store of the results of actions-determines whether one is reborn in a higher or lower status.
- karma yoga
- The goal is to achieve moksha through the elimination of one's karma through work, that is, involvement in life and business
- Krishna/Krsna
- A god who is one of the avatars of Vishnu
- kshatriya
- The second of the four main Hindu castes, or Varnas. This is the caste of warriors, leaders, and administrators.
- Lakshmi
- The goddess of prosperity. She and her consort Vishnu are discussed further in the discussion of the Cosmos
- lila
- The Hindu term for play, drama, and sport.
- linga
- An oblong, upright stone that serves as a symbol of Shiva
- Mahabharata
- The second-century bce epic about Krishna and the five royal Pandu brothers who must battle their Kuru cousins
- Mantra
- A sequence of sounds used as a focus of meditation
- maya
- The true nature of the cosmos we can see
- moksha
- Liberation or release from the cyle of death and rebirth, or samsara
- om
- The most famous mantra, used as a meditational device in many forms of yoga
- Parvati
- One of Shiva's wives. She represents erotic and sensual love, the love of courtship and wooing
- puja
- An offering (usually flowers, food, adoration, music, etc.) to a god or goddess
- Puranas
- A group of writings about the adventures and activities of Hinduism's gods and goddesses
- raja yoga
- A disipline that uses psycho-physical means--i.e., meditation--to achieve moksha
- Rama
- A popular hero god who is an avatar of Vishnu. His wife is Sita
- Ramayana
- The long epic that tells the story of Rama and his love for Sita
- Reincarnation
- The cycle of death and rebirth
- Retirement
- This is the third of the four stages of human life. contemplates their life and attempts to formulate an understanding of "what it's all about."
- Sadhu
- This is a person who renounces life and everything that goes with it (religion, caste, family, etc.) and essentially becomes a wandering hermit seeking moksha
- sakti/shakti
- Literally, "power." Usually, the worship of the goddesses, who all represent some form of power
- samadhi
- The eighth and final stage of meditation in raja yoga in which a person's mind realizes the Ultimate Reality
- samsara
- The cycle of death and rebirth in both Hinduism and Buddhism
- Sanatana Dharma
- What Hindus call Hinduism.
- sannyasin
- The fourth stage of the Hindu understanding of the human life cycle
- Sanskrit
- The language in which the Vedas and other Hindu sacred texts are written
- Shaivism
- The worship of Shiva, including beliefs and rituals
- Shiva/Siva
- One of the two main gods of Hinduism. He is associated with a number of goddesses, the main four are Parvati, Umma, Durga, and Kali. See sakti
- shudra
- The fourth and lowest Hindu caste. It literally means "slave."
- Sita
- The wife of Rama. Often seen as the epitome of faithfulness
- Student
- The first of the four stages of human life. This is the time from adolescence to about age 20 when one learns and studies
- Transmigration
- This is the notion that after death, a person's soul is born-again into another individual (human, animal, etc.)
- Twice-born
- The upper three castes whose males go through a "re-birth" ceremony when they come-of-age at around 12.
- Umma
- One of Shiva's wives. She represents motherhood, nuturing, and family
- Untouchables
- The Untouchables are the fifth caste. They are outcaste. Westerners would be put into this caste
- Upanishads
- The latest of the writings to be considered part of the Vedas, written between the eighth and third centuries bce
- vaishya
- The third Hindu caste, that of the merchants, traders, farmers and craftsmen
- Vaishnavism
- The worship of Vishnu, often in the form of one of his avatars, Rama and Krishna
- varna
- The Hindu term for caste, a social division into which a person is born
- Vedas
- The oldest collection of Hindu sacred texts
- Vedic
- An adjective refering to the Vedas, the people who originally created and used the Vedas
- Vidya
- both to intellectual knowledge acquired through study and to spiritual knowledge acquired through spiritual activity and leading to enlightenment.
- Vishnu
- One of two main gods in Hinduism. He is usually worshiped in the form of one of his avatars, Krishna and Rama
- yoga
- organized form of discipline that leads to a goal. This discipline usually involves practices of meditation, mental concentration, exercises of the body including both ones of control and asceticism
- yogi
- A person who practices some form of yoga. Male-yogin, female-yogini.