Dictionary

Abhyāsa, in Hinduism, is a spiritual practice which is regularly and constantly practised over a long period of time It has been prescribed by the great sage Patanjali Maharishi in his Yoga Sutras, and by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as an essential means to control the mind, together with Vairāgya Sutra 1:12 “Both practice (abhyāsa) and non-reaction (vairāgya) are required to still the patterning of consciousness “Sutra 1:13 “Practice is the sustained effort to rest in that stillness...

In Indian religions and society, an acharya (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ācārya; Pali: ācariya) is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject An Acharya is a highly learned person with a title affixed to the names of learned subject The designation has different meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism and secular contexts Acharya is sometimes used to address a expert teacher or a scholar in any discipline....

Ādesha or Ādeśa (Sanskrit: आदेश) means ‘an order’, ‘command’ or ‘advice’, ‘instruction’, ‘precept’, ‘rule’

Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of dharma It means “that which is not in accord with the dharma” Connotations include betrayal, discord, disharmony, unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, unrighteousness, wickedness, and vice

Aditi Sanskrit: अदिति, lit ‘boundless’ or ’limitless’ or ‘innocence’) is singlehandedly the most influential and important Vedic goddess in Hinduism She is the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos She is the goddess of the earth, sky, unconsciousness, the past, the future and fertility She is the mother of the celestial deities the Adityas, and is referred to as the mother of many gods As celestial mother of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is associated with space (akasa) and with mystic speech (Vāc)...

Surya (;Sanskrit: सूर्य, IAST: Sūrya) is the sun: 399–401 and the solar deity in Hinduism,: 343 particularly in the Saura tradition found in Indian states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha Surya is one of the major five deities in Hinduism, considered as equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja and means to realize Brahman in the Smarta Tradition : 113 Synonyms of Surya in ancient Indian literature include Aditya, Arka, Bhanu, Savitr, Pushan, Ravi, Martanda, Mitra, Bhaskara, Prabhakara, Kathiravan, and Vivasvan...

Advaita Vedanta (; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त, IAST: Advaita Vedānta, originally known as Puruṣavāda and as Māyāvāda) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of textual exegesis and spiritual discipline and experience The tradition uses concepts such as Brahman, Ātman, Māyā, Avidyā, meditation and others that are found in major Indian religious traditions, but interprets them in its own way for its theories of moksha (liberation from suffering and rebirth) In Advaita (literally “non-secondness”, usually rendered as “nondualism”, and often equated with monism) moksha is attained through disidentification from the body-mind complex and the notion of ‘doership’, and acquiring vidyā (knowledge) of one’s true identity as Atman-Brahman, self-luminous (svayam prakāśa) awareness or Witness-consciousness...

Advaita Vedanta (Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त, IAST: Advaita Vedānta, originally known as Puruṣavāda and as Māyāvāda) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of textual exegesis and spiritual discipline and experience The tradition uses concepts such as Brahman, Ātman, Māyā, Avidyā, meditation and others that are found in major Indian religious traditions, but interprets them in its own way for its theories of moksha (liberation from suffering and rebirth) In Advaita (literally “non-secondness”, usually rendered as “nondualism”, and often equated with monism) moksha is attained through disidentification from the body-mind complex and the notion of ‘doership’, and acquiring vidyā (knowledge) of one’s true identity as Atman-Brahman, self-luminous (svayam prakāśa) awareness or Witness-consciousness...

Agni (English: AG-nee, Sanskrit: अग्नि, romanized: Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the fire god of Hinduism He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples In the classical cosmology of the Indian religions, Agni as fire is one of the five inert impermanent elements (pañcabhūtá) along with space (ākāśa), water (ap), air (vāyu) and earth (pṛthvī), the five combining to form the empirically perceived material existence (Prakriti)...

Aham, a concept of Kashmir Shaivism, is defined as the supreme heart (hṛdayam), transcendent Self, supreme I awareness or infinite consciousness. The space of Aham is where khecarī mudrā (free movement in the space of the heart) is realised. Khecarī mudrā is considered the supreme state of spiritual evolution.

Ahaṁkāra (Sanskrit: अहंकार), ‘I-making’, is a Sanskrit term in Saṃkhyā philosophy that refers to the identification of Self or Being with ’nature’ or any impermanent ’thing’ Ahaṁkāra is one of the four parts of the antahkarana (inner organ) described in Vedanta, while the other three parts are Buddhi, Citta and Manas In the Uttara Mimamsa or vedanta branch of Hindu philosophy, even though it is not discussed in great detail in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that Ahaṁkāra must be removed - in other words, it should be subordinated to the lord...

Ahimsa (Sanskrit: अहिंसा, IAST: ahiṃsā, lit ’nonviolence’; Pali pronunciation: [avihiṃsā]), less commonly spelled ahinsa, is an ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings It is a key virtue in the Dhārmic religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues of Jainism, where it is first of the Pancha Mahavrata It is also the first of the five precepts of Buddhism Ahimsa is a multidimensional concept, inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself...

Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ākāśa आकाश) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian languages the corresponding word (often rendered Akash) retains a generic meaning of “sky”

Akrodha (Sanskrit: अक्रोध) literally means “free from anger” It’s considered an important virtue in Indian philosophy and Hindu ethics

Ālambana (Sanskrit:आलम्बन), is a Sanskrit term which variously means – support, foundation, supporting, base, sustaining, cause, reason, basis, or the five attributes of things, or the silent repetition of a prayer, or the natural and necessary connection of a sensation with the cause which excites it, or the mental exercise practiced by the yogis in endeavouring to realize the gross form of the Eternal