Yoga Vashista - GLOSSARY

 

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INTRODUCTION

GLOSSARY

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Agnihoma — an ancient Vedic ceremony performed by a brahmin desirous of obtaining heaven. The ceremonies continue for five days with sixteen priests officiating.

Akshauhini — an ancient battle formation of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 cavalry, and 109,350 infantry.

Agastya — considered a Tamil/Vedic sage is one of the Seven Sages (Saptarishi). He is credited with many mantras of the Rig Veda, and is also the author of Agastya Samhita (Agastya Collection). Once a clan of demons hid in the Cosmic Ocean so the gods could not defeat them. The gods appealed to Agastya who drank the entire ocean and held it within until the demons were destroyed.

Amalaki — (Emblica Officinalis) Indian gooseberry, a small tree whose fruit, in Ayurvedic healing tradition, is considered the most powerful rejuvenating medicine.

Amaravati — the heavenly city of Indra, King of the Gods.

Apsara — beautiful, supernatural women; nymphs. They are youthful and elegant, and proficient in the art of dancing. They are the wives of the gandharvas, the court servants of Indra, the Lord of the Gods. They dance to the music made by their husbands, usually in the palaces of the gods, and entertain gods and fallen heroes.

Arghya — an offering of water as a token of respect.

Aruna — the god who serves as the charioteer of the Sun.

Arundhati — The wife of Vasishta.

Asura — power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic.

Ativahika — In the Upanishads, refers to those who are deployed to carry the dead to the other world. Here, the meaning is the everlasting spiritual body.

Ayodhya — the capital of Kosala, the kingdom ruled by Dasharata.

Bael — the bael (bel, bilva, wood apple) tree is considered sacred to Shiva. Its fruit, as large as a grapefruit, has a smooth, woody shell so hard it must be cracked with a hammer. The fibrous yellow pulp inside is very aromatic.

Bali — (Mahabali, Great Bali) an asura demon, was the son of Devamba and Virochana. He grew up under the tutelage of his grandfather, Prahlada, who instilled in him a strong sense of righteousness and devotion. Bali would eventually succeed his grandfather as the king of the asuras, and his reign was characterized by peace and prosperity. He would later expand his realm and bring the entire world under his benevolent rule. He was even able to conquer the underworld and heaven, which he wrested from Indra and the gods.

Bhairava — fierce, destructive manifestations of Shiva.

Bharadwaja — a sage, one of the even rishis, the leading student of Valmiki, and considered the ancestor of all brahmins.

Bharata — (“Emperor”) legendary ruler of India after whom India and Indians are named.

Brahma — God the Creator, also the father of Vasishta.

Brahma rishi — the highest class of rishis (sages), one who has understood the meaning of Brahman, the highest divine knowledge.

Brahmaloka — the heavenly world where Brahma resides.

Brahman — the indescribable One.

Brahmin (fem. brahmani) — members of the priestly caste.

Brihaspati — Sage and guru to the gods; identified with the planet Jupiter.

chandala — a man born of the illegal union of a low caste shudra man with a woman of one of the three higher castes. They were regarded as the vilest and most abject of the men.

chandrayana — a penance, including fasting, according to the lunar cycle.

Charvaka — a system of Indian philosophy that dates back to the 7th C. BCE, around the same time as Buddhism and Jainism became popular. It assumes skepticism and religious indifference and is characterized as a materialistic and atheistic school. Charvakas believe only what the physical senses tangibly perceive.

chataka — a kind of cuckoo (Cuculus Melanoleucus). Indian traditions suppose that it drinks only the water of the clouds, and their poets usually introduce allusions to this bird in connection with cloudy or rainy weather.

chauri — a female hybrid of yak and hill cattle.

Chitragupta — the god assigned to the task of keeping complete records of actions of human beings.

daivam — fate, providence, god.

dakini — in Indian tradition, female demons, vampires, and blood-drinkers feeding on human flesh. In tantric practice, she is a female embodiment of enlightened energy.

dakshinayana — The sun’s yearly movement is divided into two parts, uttarayana and dakshinayana. Uttarayana starts with the winter solstice and dakshinayana starts with the summer solstice.

Danava — a race of asuras, demigods.

Dasharata — King of Kosala ruling from its capital of Ayodhya, and father of Rama.

dvijas — the three higher castes: brahmins (priests), kshatriyas (rulers and warriors) and vaishyas (traders and landowners). The second birth relates to assuming their roles in society.

eight elements — the eight basic elements are earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and identity. The first five elements are the gross aspects of matter, and the last three are the subtle aspects of matter.

five elements — earth, water, fire, air, space (akasha).

fourteen worlds — lokas or dimensions. The seven higher (heavens) lokas are: the three planes in which the gods live: satya (truth, the highest); tapas (spiritual austerities; meditation in samadhi); and jnana (creative, knowledge); mahar (spiritual masters), svar (heaven of Indra); bhuvar (demigods); and bhu (material world, the earth). The lower ones (the “seven underworlds” orpatalas) are atala, vitala, sutala, rasaataala, talatala, mahaatala, paatala.

gandharva — male nature spirits, husbands of the apsaras. Some are part animal, usually a bird or horse. They have superb musical skills and made beautiful music for the gods in their palaces.

garima — one of the siddhis (powers) acquired through yoga in which the yogi swallows and compresses great draughts of air.

garuda — a lesser deity, part man and part eagle, known as the eternal sworn enemy of the naaga serpent race. His image is often used as the charm to protect the bearer from snake attack and poison, and the garudi vidya is a mantra to remove snake poison and all other kinds of evil.

Gauri — “Golden”, a name of Goddess Parvati, considered the spouse of God Shiva.

gunas — Three primary gunas are the fundamental qualities or operating principles in creation: sattvas (purity, balance, preservation), rajas (action, creation, power) and tamas (lethargy, passivity, destruction).

Hara — name of Shiva meaning Destroyer (i.e., the destroyer of illusion).

Hari — name of Vishnu meaning Tawny (yellowish-brown) or Remover.

hatha yoga — has the meaning of forceful yoga. It is a system of physical exercises to promote health and prepare the body for long meditation. It is what most people in the West association with the word yoga.

ichor — fragrant secretion from a rutting elephant’s temples.

Indra — King of the gods; his vehicle is Airavat, the eight trunked elephant.

jagat — “all that moves”, the created universe.

Janaka — Self realized King of Videha and father of Sita, the wife of Rama.

jiva — the individual soul. The root meaning of jiva is to breathe, which implies movement. The Latin vivus (alive) shares the same Indo-European origin.

kaivalya — Absolute oneness, aloneness; perfect detachment, freedom. Kaivalya is the term used in the yoga tradition to name the goal and fulfillment of yoga, the state of complete detachment from rebirth.

kalpa — 4,320,000,000 years. Two kalpas are a day and night of Brahma.

kalpa tree — mythical wish-fulfilling tree.

Kama — the god of love, as in lust.

Kapali — “Skull-bearer”, a name of Goddess and a reference to sadhus (ascetics, holy men) who worship God in this form.

kinnara — the paradigm of a lover, a celestial musician, half-human and half-horse.

Kirata — the Kirat are indigenous ethnic groups of the mid-hills of the Himalayas, extending eastward from Nepal into India, Burma and beyond. Kirata is a general reference to peoples of the Himalayan foothills in India, i.e., Mongol-type peoples.

Kosala — the kingdom ruled by Dasharata.

kshetrajna — a compound of kshetra (body) and -jna (knower). Because what one knows encompasses the field of one’s sphere of action, it could be translated as field-knower, or witness consciousness.

kumbhaka breathing — an advanced practice of breath control (pranayama) to regulate the mind and increase concentration.

kusa (kusha) grass — a long, sharp edged grass considered sacred and used to cover a meditation seat.

Lakshman — Rama’s brother.

Lakshmi — goddess of abundance, wealth; considered the spouse of God Vishnu.

linga deha — the subtle or astral body.

loka — world, dimension, environment. Variously numbered three or fourteen.

Lokaloka — world and no world, a magnificent belt of mountains girdling the outermost of the seven seas and dividing the visible world from the region of darkness.

Mahadeva — “Great God”, a name of Shiva.

Mandakini — a sacred river that flows from near Kedarnath in the Himalayas into the Ganges. The celestial Mandakini River is the Milky Way.

mandara (flower) — Datura stramonium, a flower considered sacred to the gods and often planted by temples.

Mandara Mountain — mythical mountain used by the gods and demons to churn the milky sea and separate the nectar of immortality from the poison.

manvantara — an age of Manu, the first man in Indian cosmology. Fourteen such lifetimes make a kalpa, a day of Brahma.

Meru (Sumeru) — mythical mountain considered to be the center of the universe, around which the sun, moon, planets and stars revolve.

moksha — release from the cyclical flow of birth, life, death and rebirth.

muni — an ancient rishi.

nag, naag — a divine snake or cobra; races of such beings.

Nandana — garden of paradise.

Narada — an ancient sage devoted to Vishnu. Narada is the guru of Valmiki.

Narasimha — the half-man, half-lion major avatar of Vishnu. He was created to destroy the demon Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, that Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by a human, a god, or an animal. Narasimha’s nature is that of divine anger.

Narayana — God Vishnu resting on waters, or on the coiled form of Sesa-naaga, the endless serpent. Narayana is associated with Brahma the Creator as well as Vishnu the Sustainer.

nirvikalpa samadhi — formless samadhi in which there is no longer any sense of individual identity and no thought; the ultimate Self realization.

pisacha — the fading remnant of a human being, considered to be a malevolent astral being.

prana — vital energy (literally, airs), the subtle life force that circulates in the channels (nadis) of the astral (subtle) body and associated with the breath but more subtle. Comparable to Chinese chi (qi).

pranava yoga — the controller of life force (prana, vital breath) is the sound Om (sometimes spelled Aum) the most sacred word in yoga. Meditation on the sound of Om is pranava yoga.

pranayama — the science of breath (life force, prana) control.

Puranas — a genre of important Indian religious texts, myths and histories, from c. 200-1500 AD.

pushkaravarta — (from pushkara, water, and vrita, to have place in, i.e., a watery cloud) a name for the flood clouds of the world-destroying deluge.

Raghava, Raghu — the dynasty of King Dasharata and Rama.

raja yoga — the king of yoga because its practices focus on controlling the mind, which controls the individual ego. It consists of a series of practices that culminates in meditation without form focused between the eyebrows.

rajas — the quality of action or force; one of the three gunas.

rajasuya — a sacrifice performed by the ancient kings of India who considered themselves powerful enough to be an emperor. Rajasuya would occur after the king’s generals returned from a successful military campaign. The ceremony was religious and political because it implied that he who instituted the sacrifice was a supreme lord, a king over kings, and his tributary princes were required to be present at the rite.

rakshasa (fem. rakshasi) — supernatural humanoids, some good and others malicious. They are powerful warriors, expert magicians, illusionists and shape-changers.

Rama — A major incarnation (avatar) of God Vishnu. He was born, in part, because of a curse by Anaranya, Rama’s ancestor, against Ravana. When Ravana subjugated Anaranya, the dying Anaranya cursed Ravana to die at the hands of his great-grandson (Rama) in later generations.

Ramayana — the epic story, some 24,000 verses (slokas), of the life of Rama attributed to sage Valmiki. With the Mahabharata, it forms the two great epic stories of Hindu culture. Ramayana can also refer to the Yoga Vasishta as its full title is the Yoga Vasishta Maharamayana.

Rati — one of the two wives of Kama, the god of love.

Ravana — the ten-headed rakshasa demon King of Lanka and antagonist of Rama. He was born of a brahmin father and a daitya rakshasa mother. Ravana performed tapas to God Brahma, chopping off his own head ten times to appease the god. He became an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva.

rishi — one who speaks the truth; an ancient sage.

Rudra — an ancient name of Shiva. The Rudras are forms and followers of Rudra-Shiva, eleven in number. The Rudras are described as the loyal companions or messengers of Shiva, often fearful in nature.

sacred thread — symbolizes coming of age. It is usually made of three cotton strands, variously symbolizing the debts owed to God (or guru), ancestors and sages, or purity of mind, word and deed.

saligrama — a stone found at the Gantaki River in Nepal, sacred with the presence of God in the form of Vishnu.

samadhi — various higher states of consciousness in which the mind has become still.

Samkhya — one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy and is regarded as one of the oldest philosophical systems in India. Samkhya denies the existence of any external God and is strongly dualist. It regards the universe as consisting of two realities: purusha (consciousness) and prakriti (phenomenal realm of matter). Samkhya, is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy that recognize Vedic authority.

samsara — the continuous flow of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation.

Sanatkumara — one of the four mind-born sons of Brahma.

Saraswati — the goddess of learning and the arts; traditionally considered the spouse of God Brahma the Creator.

sattva — purity, the most subtle of the three gunas qualities.

Seven Rishis (saptarishi) — the list of seven varies somewhat depending upon the tradition, but they are associated with the Pleides or the seven stars of the constellation Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and include Vasishta.

sharabha — a mythical creature, whether eight-legged deer-like or goat-like, able to kill lions and elephants.

Shastras — scriptures.

Shesha — king of all naagas (snakes), one of the primal beings of creation. He is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. As Anantha Shesha (endless Shesha) or Adishesha (first Shesha), when he uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place. When he coils back, the universe ceases to exist. “Shesha” also means remainder, that which remains when all else ceases to exist.

Shiva — God the Destroyer (of illusion); God in the form of a yogi. Also called Mahadeva (Great God), Hara (Destroyer) and Rudra.

shradh — derived from shraddha which means faith or respect to someone. It refers to a two week period in autumn considered particularly auspicious for offerings to the souls of dead ancestors.

shudra — the lowest of the four castes; workers.

Shuka (Shukadeva) — Sage, son of sage Vyasa. Dispassionate as a boy, his father sent him to King Janaka for training and enlightenment.

Shukra — the name the son of Bhrigu. He is the guru of the demigods and asuras (demons), and is identified with the planet Venus. He is also referred to as Bhargava because he is a descendant of Bhrigu.

siddha — adept, spiritual master.

Sruti (Shruti) — sacred Indian texts.

Subramanyan — Son of God Shiva, also known as Kartikeya, Skanda and Murigan. His vehicle is the peacock.

Sumeru — Mount Meru; the prefix “su” gives the meaning “excellent Meru” or “wonderful Meru.”

suras — minor, benevolent deities.

swaha — an interjection, approximately “hail!” indicating the end of a mantra. Whenever fire sacrifices are made, swaha is chanted with each offering at the end of each repetition of a mantra.

tamas — darkness, dullness, passivity; the lowest of the three gunas (qualities).

tapas (penance) — spiritual austerity; meditation in samadhi. Upon successful completion of tapas, god manifests and grants whatever boon the tapasvin (person who does tapas) desires.

ten directions (dikh) — four cardinal (north, south, east, west), four intermediate (northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest) and zenith and nadir (up and down).

three-fold — creation, preservation, and destruction; waking, sleeping, and dreaming; and supernatural, natural, and material. Also, rajas, tamas and sattva.

three worlds — the physical world of desire (kama loka), the mental world of form (rupa loka), and the spiritual world without form (arupa loka). Alternatively, bhutakasha, element-space;chittakasha, mind-space; and chidakasha, consciousness-space. Living beings within the world of desire have desire, greed and lust. Living beings within the world of form do not have such heavy desire. However, they still have form and appearance. The third plane of existence, the spiritual world, is considered the abode of the gods and other shining beings who received various forms and states according to their acts and desires.

Tumburu — the best among the gandharvas or celestial musicians. The best of singers, he performs in the courts of the gods and leads the gandharvas in their singing.

twice-born — (dvija) those of the three higher castes, brahmins, kshatriyas, and vaishyas, who take a second “birth” by wearing a sacred thread.

two holes — The whole sphere of air is thought to teem with individual souls and spirits that rove freely until they are made to enter and pass out of the body by two unknown holes, possibly the nostrils, eye sockets or opening of the windpipe.

Uchchaihshravas — the seven-headed flying horse obtained during the churning of the milk ocean. It is considered the best of horses, prototype and king of horses. He is often described as the vehicle of Indra and is said to be snow white in color.

uttarayana — The sun’s yearly movement is divided into two parts, uttarayana and dakshinayana. Uttarayana starts with the winter solstice and dakshinayana starts with the summer solstice.

Vaikuntha — the heavenly world where Vishnu resides.

Vaishnava — a devotee of Vishnu or any of Vishnu’s many incarnations.

Valmiki — The Uttara Khanda tells the story of Valmiki’s early life, a highway robber named Valya Koli who used to rob people after killing them. Once, the robber tried to rob the divine sage Narada for the benefit of his family. Narada asked him if his family would share the sin he was incurring due to the robbery. The robber replied positively, but Narada told him to confirm this with his family. The robber asked his family, but none agreed to bear the burden of sin. Dejected, the robber finally understood the truth of life and asked for Narada’s forgiveness. Narada taught the robber to worship God. The robber meditated for many years, so much so that ant-hills grew around his body. Finally, a divine voice declared his penance successful, bestowing him with the name Valmiki, “one born out of ant-hills.”

vasana — the impressions stored in the mind: memories, attitudes, habits, etc.

Vasishta — ancient sage and one of the Seven Rishis (saptarishi) associated with the seven stars of the constellation Big Dipper (Ursa Major).

Vasudeva — The name of Krishna’s father and also a patronymic name for Lord Krishna himself.

Vedanta — Indian philosophy based on the Vedas and Upanishads; also synonymous with Upanishads.

Vedas — a large body of ancient Indian scriptures consisting of the hymns, formulas and incantations of the Rig Veda (the oldest, dating to c. 1700–1100 BC), Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda. The Vedic period ends c. 500 BC.

vetala — a ghost-like being that inhabits corpses and cemeteries; analogous to a vampire.

vidyadhara — (vidhya = wisdom, dhara = bearing, feminine vidyadhari) a type of supernatural being possessing magical powers and dwelling in the Himalayas. They also attend God Shiva, who lives in the Himalayas. They are considered semi-gods.

Vijnanavada — a school of Buddhist philosophy that consciousness (vijnana) is real, but its objects are constructions and unreal.

Vishnu — God the Sustainer, along with Brahma the Creator and Shiva the Destroyer, one of the three primary manifestations of God. Also known as Hari and Narayana.

Vishwamitra — a valiant warrior and king in ancient India. As king, he quarreled with the sage Vasishta who used his spiritual powers attained through tapas to destroy his army. This made Vishwamitra undertake tapas for a thousand years. He is also called Kausika (“the descendant of Kusha”) and the son of Gadhi. To Vishwamitra is attributed the Gayatri Manta.

vital airs — see prana.

Vyasa — A rishi, also called Krishna Dvaipayana, referring to his complexion and birthplace.

yaksha — a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots.

Yama — god of the underworld. His vehicle is the buffalo.

yogini — female yogi.

yuga — There are four yugas in a cycle of divine time: Satya Yuga (Golden Age) of 1,728,000 years, Treta Yuga (Age of Silver) of 1,296,000, Dvapara Yuga (Bronze Age) of 864,000 years, and Kali Yuga (Iron Age) of 432,000 years, for a total of 4,320,000 years. A thousand yuga cycles is a kalpa which is 4,320,000,000 years. Two kalpas are a day and night of Brahma.