Āśraya (Sanskrit: आश्रय) variously means – base, source, assistance, shelter, protection, refuge, dependence, having recourse to or depending on

In terms of Hindu philosophy, the living entity or Jiva is āśraya, and Brahman or the Supreme Being, the Godhead, is viśaya, the supreme objective, the goal of life Bhagavata Purana But, this word - āśraya conveying the primary meaning – ‘refuge’, immediately relates with the deity which is worshipped rather than with the abstract Brahman, the substratum of all that exists