Govinda (also known as Govind and Gobind) are the names of Vishnu The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Lord Vishnu in Vishnu Sahasranama Lord Vishnu or his complete incarnation Krishna are regarded as the Supreme God in the Vaishnava tradition and also by much of the pan-Hindu tradition The name is also popularly addressed to Krishna, referring to his youthful activity as a cowherd boy...
Guṇa (Sanskrit: गुण) is a concept in Hinduism and Sikhism, which can be translated as “quality, peculiarity, attribute, property” The concept is originally notable as a feature of Samkhya philosophy The gunas are now a key concept in nearly all schools of Hindu philosophy There are three gunas, according to this worldview, that have always been and continue to be present in all things and beings in the world These three gunas are called: sattva (goodness, calmness, harmonious), rajas (passion, activity, movement), and tamas (ignorance, inertia, laziness)...
Guru (, UK also ; Sanskrit: गुरु, IAST: guru; Pali: garu) is a Sanskrit term for a “mentor, guide, expert, or master” of certain knowledge or field In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (or shisya in Sanskrit, literally seeker [of knowledge or truth]) or student, with the guru serving as a “counselor, who helps mold values, shares experiential knowledge as much as literal knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student”...
The Guru Gita (Song of the Guru) is a Hindu scripture that is said to have been authored by the sage Vyasa The verses of this scripture may also be chanted The text is part of the larger Skanda Purana There are several versions of the Guru Gita, varying from around 100 to over 400 verses Another view is that Guru Gita is part of Viswasara Tantra In the Siddha Yoga tradition, the Guru Gita is considered to be an “indispensable text”; few other traditions also share that view...
The Guru Granth Sahib (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, pronounced [ɡʊɾuː ɡɾəntʰᵊ saːhɪb]) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion The Adi Granth (Punjabi: ਆਦਿ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ), its first rendition, was compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan (1564–1606) Its compilation was completed on 29 August 1604 and first installed inside Golden Temple in Amritsar on 1 September 1604...
Gurū Nānak (Punjabi pronunciation: [gʊɾuː naːnəkᵊ], pronunciation; born as Nānak on 15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539), also referred to as Bābā Nānak (‘father Nānak’), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi (‘full-moon of Kattak’), i e October–November Nanak is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of ik onkar (ੴ, ‘one God’), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth...
Guru Purnima (Poornima) is a tradition dedicated to all the spiritual and academic Gurus, who are evolved or enlightened humans, ready to share their wisdom, based on Karma Yoga It is celebrated as a festival in India, Nepal and Bhutan by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists This festival is traditionally observed to honour one’s chosen spiritual teachers or leaders It is observed on the Full Moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Ashadha (June–July) as it is known in the Hindu Calendar...
In Vajrayana, guru yoga (Tib: bla ma’i rnal ‘byor) is a tantric devotional practice in which the practitioner unites their mindstream with the mindstream of the body, speech, and mind of their guru Guru yoga is akin to deity yoga since the guru (who can be a Buddha, a historical figure like Padmasambhava, or a living person) is visualized in the same manner as with a meditational deity The process of guru yoga may entail visualization of a refuge tree as an invocation of the lineage, with the ‘root guru’ channeling the blessings of the entire lineage to the practitioner...
Guru (, UK also ; Sanskrit: गुरु, IAST: guru; Pali: garu) is a Sanskrit term for a “mentor, guide, expert, or master” of certain knowledge or field In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (or shisya in Sanskrit, literally seeker [of knowledge or truth]) or student, with the guru serving as a “counselor, who helps mold values, shares experiential knowledge as much as literal knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student”...
A gurukula or gurukulam (Sanskrit: गुरुकुल, romanized: gurukula) is a type of education system in ancient India with shishya (‘students’ or ‘disciples’) living near or with the guru, in the same house The guru-shishya tradition is a sacred one in Hinduism and possibly appears in other dharmas in India, such as Jainism and Buddhism (In the Sikh tradition by contrast, the word Guru has a very restricted use and not generally applied to individual teachers, while the institution of Gurdwara has a major social role instead of a monastic one...
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda (or Swami Chidvilasananda), born Malti Shetty on 24 June 1955, is the current guru or spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path, with ashrams in India at Ganeshpuri and the Western world, with the headquarters of the SYDA foundation in South Fallsburg, New York She was spiritually initiated (shaktipat) by her guru, Muktananda, when she was 14, at which time he designated her and her brother Swami Nityananda as his successors...
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda (or Swami Chidvilasananda), born Malti Shetty on 24 June 1955, is the current guru or spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path, with ashrams in India at Ganeshpuri and the Western world, with the headquarters of the SYDA foundation in South Fallsburg, New York She was spiritually initiated (shaktipat) by her guru, Muktananda, when she was 14, at which time he designated her and her brother Swami Nityananda as his successors...
Hanuman (; Sanskrit: हनुमान्, IAST: Hanumān) is a Hindu god and divine vanara (monkey) companion of the god Rama Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana He is an ardent devotee of Rama and one of the chiranjivis Hanuman is also son of the wind-god Vayu, who in several stories played a direct role in Hanuman’s birth Hanuman is mentioned in several other texts, such as the epic Mahabharata and the various Puranas...
The Hanuman Chalisa (Hindi pronunciation: [ɦənʊmaːn tʃaːliːsaː]; Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is a Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) in praise of Hanuman It was authored by Tulsidas in the Awadhi language, and is his best known text apart from the Ramcharitmanas Apart from Awadhi, the Hanuman Chalisa is also available in various languages including Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, and Gujarati The word “chālīsā” is derived from “chālīs”, which means the number forty in Hindi, as the Hanuman Chalisa has 40 verses (excluding the couplets at the beginning and at the end)...
Hanuman Jayanti is a Hindu religious festival that celebrates the birth of Hindu God Hanuman, who is immensely venerated throughout India and Nepal This festival is celebrated on different days in different parts of India In most states of India, the festival is observed either in Chaitra (usually on the day of Chaitra Pournimaa) or In Karnataka, Hanuman Janmotsav is observed on Shukla Paksha Trayodashi during Margashirsha month The day is popularly known as Hanuman Vratam or in Vaishakha, while in a few states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it is celebrated in Dhanu (called Margazhi in Tamil)...