Dictionary

Upanishads religion Hinduism language Sanskrit The Upanishads (उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy. They are the most recent part of the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness, and ontological knowledge; earlier parts of the Vedas deal with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices. While among the most important literature in the history of Indian religions and culture, the Upanishads document a wide variety of “rites, incarnations, and esoteric knowledge” departing from Vedic ritualism and interpreted in various ways in the later commentarial traditions....

Uparati Uparati, is a Sanskrit word and it literally means “cessation, quietism, stopping worldly action”. It is an important concept in Advaita Vedanta pursuit of moksha and refers to the ability to achieve “dispassion”, and “discontinuation of religious ceremonies”. According to Adi Shankara Uparati or Uparama is the strict observance of one’s own Dharma. Sama is the restraining of the outgoing mental propensities i.e. the curbing of the mind from all objects other than hearing etc....

Upasana Upasana (Sanskrit: उपासना ) literally means “worship” and “sitting near, attend to”. The term also refers to one of three (खण्ड, parts) of Vedas, one that focuses on worship. The other two parts of Vedas are called Aranyakas and Upanishads, sometimes identified as ’ (कर्म खण्ड, ritualistic sacrifice section) and ’ (ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge, spirituality section). Vedic literature, including Upasana Karunakar, is however, neither homogeneous in content nor in structure....

Utsāha Utsāha is an essential factor in matters governing human thoughts and actions, and directs all human achievements because primarily it is the strength of will, firmness of resolve, energy and power, endurance and perseverance, and the joy and elation resulting from achievement of pre-determined objectives. Meaning Utsāha (Sanskrit: उत्साह) means – ’enthusiasm’, ‘zeal’, ’energy’, ‘strength’, ‘power’, ‘fortitude’, ‘strength of will’, ‘resolution’, ‘firmness’, ’effort’, ’endurance’, ‘perseverance’, cheerfulness’, ‘joy’, ‘happiness’; it also means ‘initiative’ or ‘drive’....

Uvaṭa Uvaṭa was a commentator of the Vedas. He wrote commentaries of the prātiśākhyas, notably on the Rigveda-pratishakhya of Shaunaka. According to Bhimasena’s Sudhasagara-tika, he was a brother of Kaiyata, the author of Mahabhaṣyapradipa, and of Rajanka Mammata, and lived at the court of Bhoja, in the mid eleventh century. See also Sayana Mahidhara

Vāchaspati Misra name Vāchaspati Miśra religion Hinduism birth_date 9th/10th century CE birth_place Mithila) (modern-day Bihar, India) death_date unknown, 9th/10th century CE philosophy Advaita Vedanta, Hinduism spouse Bhamati Vachaspati Mishra was a ninth or tenth century Indian Hindu philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, who wrote bhashya (commentaries) on key texts of almost every 9th-century school of Hindu philosophy. He also wrote an independent treatise on grammar, Tattvabindu, or Drop of Truth, which focuses on Mīmāṃsā theories of sentence meaning....

Vadavagni !Kama_Shiva Vadavagni (वाडवाग्नि), also referred to as Vadavanala (वडवानल) refers to a submarine fire embodied in the form of a destructive being in Hindu mythology. It is described to be a being that manifested with the head of a mare, but a body of blazing flame. The Vadavagni is regarded to wander the seabed and consume its waters, awaiting the moment it could emerge and destroy the earth during the Pralaya, the dissolution of the earth at the end of an age....

Vaijayanti type Hindu venerated_in Vaishnavism texts Vishnu Purana !Guimet Vasudeva 05|||The Vaijayanti, Karnataka The Vaijayanti (वैजयन्ति) is a mythological garland or elemental necklace, primarily associated with Vishnu. Employed in its worship as a garland, this object is also called the Vaijayantimala, or the Vanamala. In Sri Vaishnava tradition, the poet-saint Thondaradippodi Alvar is regarded to be a manifestation of the Vanamala. Literature Vaijayanti finds a mention in Vishnu Sahasranama, a stotram dedicated to Vishnu in the Mahabharata, as vanamali (forest flowers)....

Vaikuntha Kamalaja !Vishnou Népal Guimet 21107 Vaikuntha-Kamalaja (or Lakshmi-Narayana) is a composite androgynous form of the Hindu god Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. Though inspired by the much more popular Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva and Parvati, Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is a rare form, mostly restricted to Nepal and the Kashmir region of India. Like Ardhanarishvara, Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle. The right half is the male Vishnu, illustrating his traditional attributes....

Vairagya !Shiva meditating Rishikesh Vairāgya (वैराग्य) is a Sanskrit term used in Hindu as well as Eastern philosophy that roughly translates as dispassion, detachment, or renunciation, in particular renunciation from the pains and pleasures in the temporary material world. The Hindu philosophers who advocated vairāgya told their followers that it is a means to achieve moksha. True vairāgya refers to an internal state of mind rather than to external lifestyle and can be practiced equally well by one engaged in family life and career as it can be by a renunciate....

Vaishnava Upanishads !Tirumamam at Ashta Laxmi Devalayam The Vaishnava Upanishads are minor Upanishads of Hinduism, related to Vishnu theology (Vaishnavism). There are 14 Vaishnava Upanishads in the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads. They, along with other minor Upanishads, are generally classified separate from the thirteen major Principal Upanishads considered to be more ancient and from the Vedic tradition. The Vaishnava Upanishads also contrast from other groups of minor Upanishads, such as the Samanya Upanishads, which are of a generic nature, the Sannyasa Upanishads, which focus on the Hindu renunciation and monastic practice, the Yoga Upanishads related to Yoga, the Shaiva Upanishads, which highlight aspects of Shaivism, and the Shakta Upanishads, which highlight Shaktism....

Vaishvanara In Hinduism, Vaishvanara (वैश्वानर, pronounced ), meaning “of or related to Visvanara” is an abstract concept. It is related to the soul atman), the (universal) Self or self-existent essence of human beings. Etymologically (the study of the history of words), Vaishvanara is a derivative of the conjoined word Vishvanara i.e. Vishva (Universe) + Narah (Man) i.e. the ‘Universal or Cosmic Man’. In the Rig Veda, Vaishvanara is an epithet of the fire god deity Agni....

Vajrasuchi Upanishad devanagari वज्रसूची sanskrit_transliteration Vajrasūcī meaning diamond-pointed needle chapters 1 verses 9 veda Samaveda type Samanya philosophy Vedanta The Vajrasuchi Upanishad (वज्रसूची उपनिषत्, IAST: Vajrasūcī Upaniṣad) is an important Sanskrit text and an Upanishad of Hinduism. It is classified as one of the 22 Samanya (general) Upanishads, and identified as a Vedanta text. It is attached to the Samaveda. The text discusses the four varnas). It is notable for being a sustained philosophical attack against the division of human beings, and for asserting that any human being can achieve the highest spiritual state of existence....

Vakya Vritti Vakya Vritti is a Vedantic textbook, a small treatise, that concerns itself with the detailed and elaborate explanation of two Mahāvākyas – aham brahmāsmi and tat tvam asi which great Sruti sentences are intended to give a direct perception of Brahman. In his Laghu vakya vritti Adi Shankara deals with the former vakya only. Vakya Vritti is a text of fifty-two Sanskrit slokas written by Adi Shankara and is in the form of a dialogue between an eager student and an enlightened teacher....

Valmiki works Ramayana religion Hinduism movement Dharmic movement called Valmikism is based on Valmiki’s teachings father Pracheta honors Adi Kavi, , Maharishi Valmiki (Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, Vālmīki ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic Ramayana, dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as Ādi Kavi, the first poet, author of Ramayana, the first epic poem....