Bhagavān (Sanskrit: भगवान्, Bhagavān; Pali: Bhagavā), also spelt as Bhagwan, (sometimes translated in English as “Lord”) is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship In Hinduism it is used to signify a deity or Avatar , particularly for Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu in Vaishnavism and for Shiva in Shaivism in India In Jainism the term refers to the Tirthankaras, particularly Mahavira and in Buddhism to the Buddha...
Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any of the languages from the Indian subcontinent The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means reverence and originates from the root word bhaj (Sanskrit: भज्), which means to revere, as in ‘Bhaja Govindam’ (Revere Govinda) The term bhajana also means sharing The term ‘bhajan’ is also commonly used to refer a group event, with one or more lead singers, accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing...
Bhakti (Sanskrit: भक्ति) literally means “attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity” It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to devotion and love for a personal god or a representational god by a devotee In ancient texts such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the term simply means participation, devotion and love for any endeavor, while in the Bhagavad Gita, it connotes one of the possible paths of spirituality and towards moksha, as in bhakti marga...
Bhakti yoga, also called Bhakti marga (literally the path of Bhakti), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards any personal deity. It is one of the three classical paths in Hinduism which lead to Moksha, the other paths being Jnana yoga and Karma yoga.
Bharata (representing either Sanskrit: भरत bharata or भारत bhārata, and occasionally rendered as Bharat or Bharatha in informal contexts) may refer to: Bharata (tribe), mentioned in the Rig Veda Bharata, an occasional epithet for the Vedic deity Agni Bharata (Mahabharata), a legendary king Bharata (Ramayana), a Hindu deity Bharata chakravartin, a figure in Jain mythology Bharata Muni, an ancient Indian theatrologist and musicologist Bhārata, a term for descendants of any of the figures listed above Bhārata, a name for India
Bharatanatyam is a major hindu form of Indian classical dance that originated in the modern-day region of Tamil Nadu The Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni and Abhinaya Darpana (Mirror of Gesture) by Nandikeshvara are considered to be the original sources one of Bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance form) The dance form is also briefly mentioned in Kannada text Manasolalla written by Someshwara III It has flourished in the temples and courts of southern India since ancient times...
The Sanskrit word bhava (भव) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin, but also habitual or emotional tendencies In Buddhism, bhava is the tenth of the twelve links of Pratītyasamutpāda It is the link between the defilements, and repeated birth, that is, reincarnation In Thai Buddhism, bhava is also interpreted as habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon
Bhāvanā (Pali; Sanskrit, also bhāvana) literally means “development” or “cultivating” or “producing” in the sense of “calling into existence” It is an important concept in Buddhist practice (Patipatti) The word bhavana normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as citta-bhavana (the development or cultivation of the heart/mind) or metta-bhavana (the development/cultivation of lovingkindness) When used on its own, bhavana signifies contemplation and ‘spiritual cultivation’ generally
Bhaya is a moribund and possibly extinct Indo-Aryan language spoken in the lower Sindh province According to Ethnologue, it belongs to the Western Hindi subgroup, and possesses considerable lexical and morphemic similarities with neighbouring languages An unwritten language, it has often been subject to erroneous, arbitrary, or politically motivated designation as a dialect
Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्म, IAST: Bhīṣma, lit ’terrible’), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra and Devavrata He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata He was the one who witnessed the Mahābhārata completely from the beginning since the reign of king Shantanu of Kuru kingdom Bhisma was the elder brother of grandfather of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas and statesman of Kuru Kingdom...
Sannyasa (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: Saṃnyāsa) is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as Ashramas, with the first three being Brahmacharya (bachelor student), Grihastha (householder) and Vanaprastha (forest dweller, retired) Sannyasa is traditionally conceptualized for men or women in late years of their life, but young brahmacharis have had the choice to skip the householder and retirement stages, renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits...
Bhumi may refer to: Bhūmi, Hindu goddess of the earth also, earth as a classical element in Hindu tradition Bhūmi (Buddhism), the ten stages a Bodhisattva advances through in the path to become a Buddha BHUMI (organisation), a Chennai-based youth volunteer non-profit organization Bangabhumi, a separatist movement to create a Hindu country using southwestern Bangladesh, envisioned by Banga Sena
The brahmavihārās (sublime attitudes, lit “abodes of brahma”) are a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them They are also known as the four immeasurables (Sanskrit: apramāṇa, Pāli: appamaññā) or four infinite minds (Chinese: 四無量心) The Brahma-viharas are: loving-kindness or benevolence (maitrī/mettā) compassion (karuṇā) empathetic joy (muditā) equanimity (upekṣā/upekkhā)According to the Metta Sutta, cultivation of the four immeasurables has the power to cause the practitioner to be reborn into a “Brahma realm” (Pāli: Brahmaloka)
Bindi (decoration), a forehead decoration
Bindu (Sanskrit: बिंदु) is a term meaning “point” or “dot”