Download Siddhartha Key Vocabulary and Terms Directions: Study these terms

Siddhartha Key Vocabulary and Terms
Directions: Study these terms and keep this chart in your book for reference while reading and studying the novel.
Character, word
Definition
or phrase
Siddhartha
(Sanskrit) He who is on the right road.
It was the given name of the historical Gotama (or Gautama) Buddha of the sixth century B.C.,
who founded Buddhism. Although the hero of Hesse's novel has the same name and follows a
somewhat parallel course, he is a fictional character. (Hesse never explained why he chose the
Buddha's name for his hero.)
Govinda
(Sanskrit) keeper of cows (as cows are sacred in Hinduism, suggests religious calling)
Samanas
Gotama Buddha
wandering ascetics, members of a sect that believes in achieving liberation from the self through
extreme self-denial. They live as wandering beggars without shelter, all but naked indifferent to
rain, cold, or hunger, and given to long periods of sitting immobile in meditation.
The founder of Buddhism. His teaching calls for freeing oneself from all attachments and desires
in order to escape from the sufferings of life.
Kamala
Name derived from “Kama,” the Hindu god of physical love/desire; denotes material, sensual
world
Kamaswami
Name derived from “Swami”=master; “kama”=material—master of the material world
Vasudeva
Name that means “one who abides in all things and in whom all things abide.”
Brahmin
an individual belonging to the Hindu priest, artists, teachers, technicians class (varna or pillar of
the society) and also to an individual belonging to the Brahmin tribe/caste into which an
individual is born
Ablutions
The act of washing one’s self as ritual purification
Sacrifices
an act of surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure.
Meditation
a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to
realize some benefit or as an end in itself
Om
a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra. It appears at the beginning and end of
most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts.
Atman
the spiritual life principle of the universe, esp. when regarded as inherent in the real self of the
individual.
Brahman
Brahman refers to the Supreme Self. refers to the creative aspect of the universal consciousness
or God
Nirvana
a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and
the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth.
It represents the final goal of Buddhism.
Salvation
Deliverance from the power and effects of sin. Liberation from ignorance or illusion.
Atonement
reparation for a wrong or injury, to make right a wrong or sin, forgiveness
Rig-Veda
Rig = praise verse Veda = knowledge
an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is counted among the
four canonical sacred texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas
Discontent
Dissatisfaction, displeasure
Wisdom
the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of
being wise.
Soul
the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
Supplication
the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humble
The Upanishads
ach of a series of Hindu sacred treatises written in Sanskrit c. 800–200 BC,
expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical and monistic terms.
Ascetic
characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention
from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons
Bliss
Perfect happiness, contentment, great joy
Disillusionment
a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as
good as one believed it to be
The Eightfold
Path
he path to nirvana, comprising eight aspects in which an aspirant must become
practiced: right views, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and
concentration.
Mara and Maya
the supernatural power wielded by gods and demons to produce illusions
Samsara
the cycle of death and rebirth to which life in the material world is bound.