Mini-Glossary

Abhyasa & Vairagya, practice and dispassion. The Gita’s two-word method for mastering the mind (6.35).

Advaita, non-duality; reality is ultimately one. The school of Adi Shankara.

Antahkarana, the “inner instrument”: manas, buddhi, chitta, ahamkara.

Ashramas, the four seasons of a designed life: brahmacharya (student), grihastha (householder), vanaprastha (forest/mentor), sannyasa (release).

Atman / Jivatma, the Self; the conscious witness, as embodied in a living being, the jivatma.

Brahman / Paramatma, the one ultimate reality; the Supreme Self.

Brahmanda, the “cosmic egg”; the universe with its fourteen lokas.

Chakras / Kundalini / Prana, the yoga shastra’s map of subtle energy centers, the coiled vital energy, and the life-force.

Dashavatara, the ten descents of Vishnu, an ascending staircase of forms from fish to perfected human.

Dharma, righteousness, duty; the order that upholds things.

Four Yogas, karma (work), bhakti (love), raja (meditation), jnana (knowledge), four paths, one summit.

Gotra, a family’s recorded line of descent from a founding rishi.

Gunas, sattva (clarity), rajas (restlessness), tamas (dullness), the three ‘weathers’ of mind and nature (Gita ch. 14).

Ishta-devata, the ‘chosen form’ of the divine suited to one’s own temperament, personalized worship within the One.

Jivanmukta, one liberated while still living. The tradition’s proof that the goal is an awakened life, not an escape from it.

Karma-kanda / Jnana-kanda, the Veda’s portion of action (worldly knowledge) / portion of knowledge (philosophy).

Kalpa / Manvantara / Mahayuga / Yuga, the nested units of cosmic time; a kalpa is a “day of Brahma.”

Loka, a level or world of existence; fourteen in the Puranic map.

Mahavakyas, the four “great sayings,” one per Veda, distilling Vedanta: Prajnanam Brahma, Aham Brahmasmi, Tat Tvam Asi, Ayam Atma Brahma.

Moksha, liberation; the highest of the four life-goals.

Murti, a sacred form used as a focus, a doorway, not the limit, of the divine.

Nadis (Ida, Pingala, Sushumna), the yoga shastra’s subtle channels of prana; sushumna is the central channel along the spine.

Pancha Maha Yagnas, the five daily debts: to rishis, devas, ancestors, creatures, and humans.

Pancha Pranas, the five functional divisions of the life-force: prana, apana, samana, udana, vyana.

Para / Apara vidya, higher (liberating) and lower (worldly) knowledge (Mundaka 1.1.4–5).

Prajapati, a “lord of progeny”; a progenitor in the creation account.

Pramana, a valid means of knowledge (perception, inference, testimony...), the tradition’s formal epistemology.

Prasthana-trayi, the three foundational texts: Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagavad Gita.

Purusharthas, the four valid goals: dharma, artha, kama, moksha.

Rishi / Saptarishi, a seer (“mantra-drashta”); the seven great seers of an era.

Samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Samskaras, the sixteen life-transition ceremonies, every threshold witnessed and blessed.

Sankalpa, the stated intention that begins every rite, the tradition’s built-in goal-setting.

Shravana-Manana-Nididhyasana, hearing, reasoning, and deep meditation, the three steps to knowledge.

Shreyas / Preyas, the good versus the pleasant, Nachiketa’s choice (Katha 1.2.2).

Sthitaprajna, the “one of steady wisdom”, the Gita’s portrait of the mastered mind (2.55–72).

Shruti / Smriti, revealed / remembered scripture (Shruti is the higher authority).

Svadharma, one’s own dharma, right action flowing from what one specifically is (Gita 3.35).

Tapas, disciplined austerity; the “heat” of sustained effort.

Tarpana, the offering of water to rishis and ancestors.

Turiya, ‘the fourth’, the witness of waking, dream, and deep sleep (Mandukya Upanishad).

Upaveda / Vedanga, the applied sciences attached to the Vedas / the six “limbs” of Vedic study.

Vada / Jalpa / Vitanda, debate for truth / for victory / for demolition, engage the first, decline the second, walk from the third.

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, ‘the whole earth is one family’ (Maha Upanishad 6.71–72).

Yagna, an offering; in daily life, an act of grateful giving-back.

Yoga, union/discipline: skill in action, evenness of mind; Patanjali’s eight limbs.