Kshatriya (Hindi: क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit kṣatra, “rule, authority”) is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy The Sanskrit term kṣatriyaḥ is used in the context of Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra
Kumārila Bhaṭṭa (fl roughly 700) was a Hindu philosopher and a scholar of Mimamsa school of philosophy from early medieval India He is famous for many of his various theses on Mimamsa, such as Mimamsaslokavarttika Bhaṭṭa was a staunch believer in the supreme validity of Vedic injunction, a champion of Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā and a confirmed ritualist The Varttika is mainly written as a subcommentary of Sabara’s commentary on Jaimini’s Purva Mimamsa Sutras...
Kurma (Sanskrit: कूर्म; Kurma, ‘Turtle’, ‘Tortoise’), is an Avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu Originating in Vedic literature such as the YajurVeda as being synonymous with the Saptarishi called Kasyapa, Kurma is most commonly associated in post-Vedic literature such as the Puranas with the legend of the churning of the Ocean of Milk, referred to as the Samudra Manthan Also synonymous with Akupara, the World-Turtle supporting the Earth, Kurma is listed as the second Dashavatara, which are the ten principal incarnations of Vishnu
Shyama Charan Lahiri (30 September 1828 – 26 September 1895), best known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was an Indian yogi, guru and a disciple of the Kriya Yoga master Mahavatar Babaji In 1861, he was chosen by his guru to revive the yogic science of Kriya Yoga to the public after centuries of its guarding by masters He was unusual among Indian holy people in that he was a householder: marrying, raising a family, and working as a government accountant, he lived with his family in Varanasi rather than in a temple or monastery...
Nyāya (Sanskrit: न्याय, nyā-yá), literally meaning “justice”, “rules”, “method” or “judgment”, is one of the six astika schools of Indian philosophy This school’s most significant contributions to Indian philosophy were systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, and its treatises on epistemology Ancient Mithila University was famous for Nyaya Shastra teaching Nyaya school’s epistemology accepts four out of six Pramanas as reliable means of gaining knowledge – Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference), Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy) and Śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts)...
Lakshmi (; Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी, romanized: Lakṣmī, lit ‘she who leads to one’s goal’), also known as Shri (Sanskrit: श्री, romanized: Śrī, lit ‘Noble’), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty and prosperity, and associated with Maya (“Illusion”) Along with Parvati and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi of Hindu goddesses Within the Goddess-oriented Shaktism, Lakshmi is venerated as a principle aspect of the Mother goddess...
Shiva (; Sanskrit: शिव, romanized: Śiva, lit ‘The Auspicious One’ [ɕɪʋɐ]), also known as Mahadeva (; Sanskrit: महादेव:, romanized: Mahādevaḥ, lit ‘The Great God’ [mɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ]), is one of the principal deities of Hinduism Lord Shiva is said to be the deity of death and time In Sanskrit language, kālá means time He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism Shiva has pre-Vedic tribal roots, and the figure of Shiva as we know him today is an amalgamation of various older non-Vedic and Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra who may also have non-Vedic origins, into a single major deity...
Lalita Sahasranama (IAST: lalitāsahasranāma; Sanskrit: ललिता सहस्रनाम) is a Hindu text from the Brahmanda Purana The Lalita Sahasranama is the thousand names of the Hindu mother goddess Lalita It is a sacred text for the Hindu worshippers of the Goddess Lalita Devi, who considered to be a manifestation of the Divine Mother (Shakti), and the text is therefore used in the worship of Durga, Lakshmi, Parvati, Kali, Bhagavati, etc as well...
Lila (Sanskrit: लीला līlā) or leela (/ˈliːlə, ˈlaɪlə/) can be loosely translated as “divine play”. The concept of lila is common to both non-dualist and dualist philosophical schools of Indian philosophy, but has a markedly different significance in each. Within non-dualism, lila is a way of describing all reality, including the cosmos, as the outcome of creative play by the divine absolute (Brahman). In the dualistic schools of Vaishnavism, lila refers to the activities of God and his devotee, as well as the macrocosmic actions of the manifest universe, as seen in the Vaishnava scripture Srimad Bhagavatam, verse 3....
The Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, lit ‘Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma’) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras It is the main scripture on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established It is also influential for other East Asian Buddhist schools, such as Zen According to the British Buddhologist Paul Williams, “For many Buddhists in East Asia since early times, the Lotus Sūtra contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha—complete and sufficient for salvation...
Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava In every month of the luni-solar Hindu calendar, there is a Shivaratri – “night of Shiva” – on the day before new moon But once a year, in late winter and before the arrival of Summer (February/March), this night is called “Maha Shivaratri” – “the Great Night of Shiva”...
The Mahābhārata ( mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-; Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, Mahābhāratam, pronounced [mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm]) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four “goals of life” or puruṣārtha (12...
Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit; Tibetan: ཕྱག་ཆེན་, Wylie: phyag chen, THL: chag-chen, contraction of Tibetan: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་, Wylie: phyag rgya chen po, THL: chag-gya chen-po) literally means “great seal” or “great imprint” and refers to the fact that “all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable” Mahāmudrā is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism which “also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism...
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a “great ruler”, “great king” or “high king” A few ruled mighty states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, and Chandragupta Maurya ‘Title inflation’ soon led to most being rather mediocre or even petty in real power, which led to compound titles (among other efforts) being used in an attempt to distinguish some among their ranks...
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a “great ruler”, “great king” or “high king” A few ruled mighty states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, and Chandragupta Maurya ‘Title inflation’ soon led to most being rather mediocre or even petty in real power, which led to compound titles (among other efforts) being used in an attempt to distinguish some among their ranks...