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Sanskrit Terms
Sanskrit Glossary Terms - Online PSM Teacher Training
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Gyana | Yoga of understanding / knowledge / science / self-reflection |
Bhakti | Yoga of love and devotion |
Karma | Yoga of action / selfless service |
Raja | Yoga of techniques / meditation / royal path |
Three Gunas | That which binds / fundamental quality or property |
Sattva | Creation / purity / goodness |
Rajas | Maintenance / transformation / active / excited |
Tamas | Dissolution / resistance / heavy / dull |
Yama | Rules of social behavior |
Niyama | Rules of personal behavior |
Asana | Seat or position / physical postures / yogic postures |
Pranayama | Mastering the life force / breath exercises |
Pratyahara | Directing the senses inward to become aware of the subtle senses |
Dharana | Mastery of attention and intention |
Dhyana | Development of witnessing awareness |
Samadhi | The state of being settled in pure, unbounded awareness |
Ahimsa | Non-violence |
Satya | Truthfulness |
Brahmacharya | Appropriate sexual control |
Asteya | Honesty |
Aparigraha | Non-attachment |
Shoucha | Purity |
Santosha | Contentment |
Tapas | Discipline |
Svadhyaya | Spiritual exploration |
Ishwara-Pranidhana | Surrender to the divine |
Chakras | Junction points between consciousness and the body / Energy wheel or center |
Muladhara | Root chakra |
Svadhisthana | Creativity chakra |
Manipura | Energy chakra |
Anahata | Heart chakra |
Vishuddha | Expression chakra |
Ajna | Intuition chakra |
Sahasrara | Consciousness chakra |
Mahavakyas | Great sayings or pronouncement. Spoken by a Guru, to create a shift in consciousness of the student |
Aham Brahmasmi | I am Brahman (Who I really am is absolute reality) |
Ayam Atma Brahm | Atman and Brahman are the same (the individual Self is one and the same with the absolute) |
Prajnanam Brahm | Brahman is the supreme knowledge (knowing the absolute reality is the supreme knowledge) |
Tat Tvam Asi | That is what you are (that absolute reality is the essence of what you really are) |
Nadi | Subtle channel through which energy flows to all areas of the body. According to Ayurveda, we each have 72,000 nadis of which there are three main ones |
Sushumna Nadi | Runs through center of spine, channel through which Kundalini rises |
Pingala (Surya) Nadi | Sun channel, lies to the right of the Sushumna, carries the vital force |
Ida (Chandra) Nadi | Moon channel, lies to the left of the Sushumna, carries the mental force |
Annamaya Kosha | Layer of illusion derived from food |
Pranamaya Kosha | Layer of illusion of biological energy |
Manomaya Kosha | Layer of illusion of the mind |
Buddhimaya Kosha | Layer of illusion of the intellect |
Ahankara | Ego |
Brahman | Divine Spirit / pure consciousness / beyond space and time without beginning or without end |
Jagrat | Waking |
Swapn | Dreaming |
Sushupti | Deep sleep |
Turiya | Transcendental |
Turiyatit | Cosmic Consciousness |
Bhagavad | Divine Consciousness |
Brahmananda | Unified Consciousness |
Karma | Action, consequences of previous actions |
Sanskara | Seeds of memory, impressions of tendencies stored from past actions |
Vasana | Seeds of desire |
Nistraigunyo bhavarjuna | "Go beyond the three gunas, Arjuna" |
Sat Chit Ananda | Purity Consciousness Bliss |
Om Tat Sat | That alone is Real |
Yogastha Kuru Karmani | "Established in Being, perform action" - this is the essence of the teachings in the Bhagavad Gita |
Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha | "Yoga is quieting the fluctuations or the mind" |
Advaita | Non-dualism |
Adi | First |
Adi Shankara | Great saint from the 7th century, commentator of Vedanta. Led revival of Hinduism and established the Shankaracharya monasteries |
Agni | Fire, digestive fire, one of the ancient Vedic deities |
Amma | Mother, mother goddess |
Amrit | Nectar of immortality |
Ananda | Bliss |
Ashram | Retreat center, hermitage |
Atman | Soul |
Aura | Luminous radiation, field of subtle energy surrounding the physical body |
Avatar | Direct incarnation of God |
Ayurveda | Science of life, mind-body health systems |
Bandha | To hold, lock or embrace |
Bhagavad Gita | Epic poem of eighteen chapters |
Bhajan | Devotional hymn |
Bija | Seed |
Bindu | Spot, symbol for the universe in its unmanifest form |
Brahma | The Creator of the Universe |
Brahman | The Absolute, totality, all there is |
Brahmin | Highest of the Indian castes |
Chaitanya | Consciousness |
Deva / Devi | God / Goddess |
Dharma | Purpose in life |
Darshan | To see or be in the presence of a holy person or deity |
Guru | Dispeller of darkness, great teacher |
Jai | Salutation, glory or victory to. Proceeds the name of the person being honored |
Japa | Repetition of a mantra for a specific number of times |
Ji | Suffix, added to the end of the name of a person being honored or respected |
Jiva | Personal soul, the embodied soul which identifies itself with the mind and body |
Jyoti | Light |
Jyotish | Vedic science of astrology |
Kundalini | Spiritual energy lying dormant at the base of the spine which, when awakened, rises to the crown chakra |
Lingam | Elliptical shape, symbol of the unmanifest form of Lord Shiva |
Loka | Planes or worlds of existence vibrating at different frequencies |
Maha | Great |
Mahabhutas | Great elements |
Mala | String of beads |
Mantra | Instrument or vehicle of the mind, sound which protects and liberates |
Maya | Illusion of the senses |
Moksha | Freedom, liberation |
Mudras | Positions of the eyes, hands, or body |
Nada | Sound, energy manifested as sound |
Nakshatra | Lunar constellations |
Nama | Name |
Namaha | Represents the self, curving back within itself to the unmanifest |
Namaste | I bow to you - or - the divine light in me honors the divine light in you |
Om (AUM) | Primordial sound from which all other sounds and mantras have emanated |
Pada | Quadrant of the Nakshatra |
Para | Beyond, the transcendental beyond which there is no other |
Patanjali | Great saint, founder of the Yoga Philosophy which contains the Eight Limbs of Yoga |
Prana | Life force of vital energy |
Pranava | Primordial Sound |
Prem | Love |
Puja | Sacred ceremony |
Pundit | Vedic Scholar / Vedic Priest |
Purusha | Inner Self in the sense of personhood, Cosmic Person or the universe as a single Being |
Rishi | Seer, one who sees the Truth, highly evolved person |
Rudraksha | Seeds used for malas, sacred to Shiva |
Sadhana | Performance of spiritual disciplines to take the practitioner towards an intended goal, usually enlightenment |
Samsara | Cycle of birth and death |
Sanskrit | The ancient sacred language of the Vedas |
Satsang | Gathering of people seeking truth |
Seva | Selfless service |
Shakti | Dynamic creative principle, Primal Energy, envisioned as feminine |
Shanti | Peace |
Shiva | Unmanifest pure potentiality, the destructive and creative force behind the Universe. The first yogi |
Siddhi | Yogic powers |
Sutras | Threads or stitches, collection of statements with inner meanings |
Swami | Title of respect for a learned or holy person |
Tulsi | Indian Holy Basil tree. The wood is made into mala beads sacred to Vishnu, Rama and Krishna |
Upanishads | Collection of 108 Vedic texts exploring higher states of consciousness |
Vastu | Vedic science of architecture and interior design |
Vedanta | The culmination of Vedic Wisdom |
Vedas | The four holy books which are the foundation of Vedic understanding. Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda |
Vedasya | Of the Vedas |
Vishnu | Maintainer and harmonizing force of the Universe |
Yagna (Yagya) | Ritual fire ceremony intended to evoke specific archetypal energies |
Yantra | Geometric shape / a visual form of a mantra |
Yatra | Pilgrimage |
Yoga | Union of the environment, body, mind, soul, and spirit |
Yuga | Four periods of time: Sat (golden), Treta, Dwapara, Kali (least evolved and present period) |
Ama | Toxic residue which accumulates in the mind and body |
Abhyanga | Oil massage |
Dosha | Mind body constitution |
Vata | Dosha responsible for movement (elements - space and air) |
Pitta | Dosha responsible for metabolism, transformation (elements - fire and water) |
Kapha | Dosha responsible for structure (elements - earth and water) |
Prakruti | Nature or original doshic proportions |
Vrikruti | Doshic imbalance |
Dhatu | Bodily tissues |
Mahabhutas | Great elements |
Akasha | Space |
Vayu | Air |
Jala | Water |
Prithivi | Earth |
Marma | Junction points between consciousness and matter on the body |
Panchakarma | The five purifying therapies |
Ojas | Subtlest life essence, which exists at the junction of consciousness and matter, giving strength and vitality |
Madhura | Sweet |
Amla | Sour |
Lavana | Salty |
Tikta | Bitter |
Kashya | Astringent |
Katu | Pungent |
Srota | Channel of circulation in the body |
Tanmatras | Subtle elements, sense perceptions |
Shabda | Sound |
Sparsha | Touch |
Rupa | Sight |
Rasa | Taste |
Gandha | Smell |
Five Kleshas | Veils or coverings |
Avidya | Mistaking the unreal for the real or ignorance |
Asmita | Holding tightly to the concept of "I" |
Raga | Attraction to pleasure |
Dvesha | Aversion to pain |
Abhinevesha | Fear of ending |
Atman Darshan | Glimpsing the soul |