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HINDUISM  GLOSSARY
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ADVAITA VEDANTA
Shankara’s monist view of atman being the same
as Brahman.
AHIMSA
BRAHMIN
The highest varna or priestly caste.
In
Sanskrit,
literally,
"non-injury."
In
Jainism, this restriction includes all living
creatures. Practiced by Gandhi.
DEVA, DEVI
ANATTA-ANICCA
DHARMA
For advaitists, the real nature of ‘beings’ and
‘egos’ as illusory and impermanent.
ASANAS
Yogic postures such as the Lotus.
ASAT-ATTA
‘Beings’ and ‘egos’ under the spell of maya.
ATARAXIA
A state of complete numbness or indifference to
all things that characterizes nirvana.
ATMAN
The real individual soul or self that must be
freed from maya, avidya, klesas and samsara.
AVATAR
An earthly manifestation of a god in human or
animal form. Vishnu as Krishna or Rama.
AVIDYA
"Ignorance" For Shankara and Advaita Vedanta,
it is the delusion of duality.
BHAGAVAD-GITA
The section of the Mahabharata in which Krishna
reveals himself to Arjuna in a long theological
discussion about karma yoga.
BHAKTI YOGA
A type of yoga in which a person worships a
devi-deva by showing love and reverence.
BRAHMA
The aspect of Brahman that creates the world.
Associated with Vishnu (sustainer) and Shiva
(destroyer).
Hindu terms for god and goddess.
Cosmic order and laws, harmony, duty, fate. It
applies to the law of karma or to the varnas.
DIWALI
The autumn festival of lights celebrating the
victory of good over evil, Vishnu over Bali,
Rama over Ravana, Krishna over Naraka, moksha
over samsara, atman over maya…
DVAITA
Duality atman-brahman. Also
opposed to Advaita Vedanta.
the
Vedic
school
GURU
A preceptor giving personal religious
instruction.
HATHA YOGA
A form of raja yoga for bodily control. In the
West, what is called "yoga."
HENOTHEISM
The worship of many gods but the belief in one
divine principle as supreme.
HOLI
The spring
myths.
festival
centered
on
Krishna’s
JAINISM
A blend of Hinduism and Buddhism founded by
Mahavira in the 6th century BCE. It rejects
Brahminism and advocates ahimsa.
JNANA YOGA
The discipline in which one meditates upon the
true nature of things.
KARMA
The ABBA ‘power’ or Ultimate Reality.
"Action" The law of cause and effect applied to
the samsara cycle. One's actions determine
one’s fate in the next life.
BRAHMANAS
KARMA YOGA
Part of the Shruti collection.
Vedic commentaries about Hindu rituals.
A
discipline
of
selfless
through service and duties.
BRAHMAN
work
especially
RAMAYANA
KLESAS
The ‘poisons’ or afflictions of ignorance,
craving (upadana-clinging) and aversion that
explain avidya, dukka, bad karma and samsara.
Part of the Smriti collection.
story about Rama and Sita.
A
long
epic
KRISHNA
An avatar of Vishnu. The hero of the Bhagavad
Gita who explains to Arjuna the basics of
dharma, karma, yoga, samsara or moksha.
MAHABHARATA
Part of the Smriti collection. The secondcentury bce epic about Krishna and the Pandara
wars. It contains the famous Bhagavad Gita.
MANDALA
A sacred sand painting ‘circle’. It represents
the impermanent cosmos and it’s making is
accompanied
by
meditation
and
prayers
of
blessing and healing.
MANTRA
A sequence of sounds used as a focus of
meditation. The most famous mantra consists of
the three creative and cosmic sounds "aa",
"oo", "mm".
MAYA
The great "illusion" about the reality of the
material and psychological realms. It is only
the gods’ cyclical dreams and it explains our
avidya, dukka, karma and samsara.
MOKSHA
RISHIS
The ‘seers’ and anonymous sources of the Vedas.
SAMSARA
The karmic cycle of transmigration of an
individual soul to a new body after death.
Reincarnation or metempsychosis.
SAMSKARAS
The rituals of a Hindu’s life cycle, from birth
to death.
SHRUTI
The ‘revealed’ Hindu scriptures. The oldest and
most sacred texts of Hinduism, they include the
Vedas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads.
SIKHISM
A blend of Hinduism and Islam founded by guru
Nanak and his 9 reincarnations, in Pakistan
during the 15th century. It is henotheistic and
professes moksha, karma and samsara. The five
sacred K’s must be worn by its members.
SMRITI
The ‘remembered’ Hindu scriptures. The most
popular texts of Hinduism, they include the
Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Sutras, the
Tantras and the Purunas.
Liberation from samsara.
MUDRAS
Yogic hand gestures.
SUTRAS
NIRVANA
Part of the Smriti collection. They are sayings
on Vedic doctrine.
‘Blowing off’ The state of oneness and ataraxia
resulting from moksha.
Part of the Smriti collection. They
Medieval yogic and ritualistic Hindu texts.
OM-AUM
The original creative sound or Word. The most
famous mantra in ‘Om mane padme om.’
are
UNTOUCHABLES
The ‘group’ of people who are below the fourth
varna, the outcastes.
PRAKRITI
The elemental or natural world under the spell
of maya.
PUJA
An personal loving offering (flowers,
adoration, music, etc.) to a devi-deva.
TANTRAS
food,
PURANAS
A popular group of Smriti writings about the
adventures of Hindu deities.
RAJA YOGA
A
discipline
of
psycho-physical
exercises
designed to control the basic functions and
activities of body and mind.
UPANISHADS
Part of the Shruti collection They are stories,
discussions,
and
philosophical
instructions
about Atman and Brahman.
VARNAS
The Castes that reflect the divisions of the
body and provide the major divisions of the
Hindu society. They are karmic, hereditary and
segregated.
There
are
four
major
castes:
Brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, and shudra. Each
Varna can be divided into a number of jatis.
VEDAS
Part
of
the
Shruti
collection.
They
include
four samhitas and the best-known Rig-Veda. They
were ‘revealed’ to the rishis and written down
between 1500 and 1000 bce.
YOGA
An organized form of ‘discipline’ or exercises
that unites with the divine. There are four
types of yoga: karma, jnana, raja, and bhakti.
It includes asanas, mudras, mantras or pujas.