| Word |
Description |
| Rahu |
north node of the Moon; dragon's head |
| Raja Yoga |
integral or royal yoga path of Patanjali |
| Raja |
a tribal chieftain, local ruler or monarch |
| Rajas |
one of the three gunas or qualities in existence, associated with the creator God Brahma and representing the active energy or agitation in the universe |
| Rakhi |
a band symbolizing protection which is tied round the wrists of males by girls at the festival of Raksha Bandhan |
| Raksha Bandhan |
Hindu festival of tying Rakhi or band around wrists |
| Ram Navami |
Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Lord Rama |
| Rama |
seventh avatar of Vishnu and hero of the epic The Ramayana |
| Ramayana |
Hindu epic scripture dealing with the heroic exploits of Lord Rama |
| Rasayana |
Ayurvedic rejuvenation methods |
| Rig Veda/Rg Veda |
'Royal Knowledge', Veda of chant, one of the four Vedas, the major and oldest Aryan Hindu scripture |
| Rishis |
ancient Vedic seers, enlightened men who composed Vedic hymns and Upanishads |
| Rta |
the Vedic cosmic norm which regulated all existence and to which all had to conform |
| Rudra |
terrible or wrathful form of Shiva |
| Sadharana Dharma |
what is right in terms of the common duties and obligations to one's fellow human beings |
| Saguna |
manifest, referring to manifest aspects of Brahman |
| Saivites |
devotees of the deity Shiva |
| Sakara |
'with form', referring to the manifest aspects of Brahman |
| Sakti |
the female active energy in the universe |
| Sama Veda |
'Knowledge of Chants', one of the four Vedas |
| Samadhi |
absorption, bliss, trance |
| Samsara |
worldly life or reincarnation |
| Samskaras |
rituals and rites in one's life cycle |
| Sanatana Dharma |
what is right for the universe; it is also synonymous with Hinduism |
| Sankhya |
Vedic philosophy of cosmic principles |
| Sannyasin/Sannyasa |
person at the last of the four stages of life, the stage of the wandering ascetic, stage of life of renunciation and liberation |
| Sanskrit |
Vedic and mantric language |
| Santana Dharma |
the eternal teaching; traditional name for the Hindu religion |
| Santosi Ma |
a modern Hindu goddess of prosperity and wish-fulfilment |
| Saptapadi |
the seven steps taken by a couple during their marriage ceremony symbolizing seven different wishes for the future |
| Saraswati |
Goddess of speech, learning, knowledge and wisdom |
| Sari |
traditional dress for women consisting of a piece of material of five or six metres long which is draped around the body |
| Sat |
the Being, Truth and Reality associated with Brahman as opposed to the non-being (asat) of the phenomenal world |
| Sati |
consort of the God Shiva, also called Uma |
| Sati |
voluntary burning of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre |
| Sattva |
quality of truth or light; one of the three gunas or qualities in existence, associated with the preserving God Vishnu and representing light and spiritual evolution |
| Sautrantika |
Buddhist philosophy of the momentariness of all things |
| Savitar |
Vedic Sun god as the guide of Yoga |
| Savitr |
Vedic solar deity |
| Shakti |
the power of consciousness and spiritual evolution |
| Shankara |
the great philsopher of non-dualistic Vedanta |
| Shiva |
form of the Hindu trinity governing destruction and transcendence |
| Shiva |
one of the three trinities in Hinduism, the god of Destruction |
| Shudras |
people of sensate values |
| Shunyavada |
Buddhist philosophy that everything is void |
| Sita |
the wife of Rama in the Hindu epic the Ramayana and an avatar of the Goddess Lakshmi |
| Skanda |
the God of war |
| Smrti |
literally 'memory' or 'remembered': a category of sacred scriptures which contains much popular and devotional literature |
| So'ham |
natural mantric sound of the breath |
| Soma |
Vedic God of bliss or equated also with a potent hallucinogenic drink |
| Sraddha |
ceremonies for the deceased in the twelve days following cremation |
| Srauta |
official sacrificial ritual of the Vedic period |
| Sri |
the Goddess Lakshmi, consort of Lord Vishnu |
| Srotas |
channel systems used in Ayurvedic medicine |
| Sruti |
category of sacred scriptures which are 'heard' or cognized by the ancient seers |
| Sudra |
the fourth of the Hindu four classes, traditionally the servant class |
| Surya |
Vedic Sun God or god of the enlightened mind |
| Svadharma |
what is right for an individual |
| Tamas |
one of the three gunas or qualities in existence, associated with the dissolver God Shiva and representing the quality of darkness and inertia in existence |
| Tantra |
medieval yogic and ritualistic Indian texts; esoteric, mystical teachings |
| Tara |
the Goddess in her role as savior |
| Tat Tvam Asi |
'That art thou', the equating of the atman and every being in total identity with That, which is Brahman |
| Theism |
belief in a personal god, goddess, gods or goddesses |
| Tilak |
the mark (usually vertical) placed on the forehead of a devotee during ritual worship |
| Trimurti |
literally 'three-form',the Hindu trinity of three deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer, respectively |
| Ugadi |
Hindu festival |
| Uma |
consort of the male deity Shiva |
| Upanayama |
ceremony of the sacred thread undertaken by the top three classes of the Hindu society |
| Upangas |
literature concerned with ritual and logical thought |
| Upanishads |
Vedic philosophical texts or scriptures occuring at the end of the Vedas characterised by mystical and philosophical speculation on the nature of the self and ultimate Reality |
| Upavedas |
additions to the Vedic scriptures |
| Ushas |
Vedic goddess of dawn |
| Vaishnavites |
devotees of the deity Vishnu |
| Vaishyas |
person belonging to the third of the four Hindu classes of society, traditionally an artisan or skilled labourer, people of commercial values |
| Vak |
Divine Word, the Goddess |
| Vanaprastha |
person at the third of the four stages of life, hermitage or forest-dweller stage of life |
| Varna |
literally 'colour', the word for the four social values or class system in Hinduism, |
| Varnasramadharma |
what is right for class and stage of life |
| Varuna |
Vedic deity of cosmic order |
| Vata |
biological air humor |
| Veda |
knowledge |
| Vedangas |
rules on ritual, astronomy, morals, grammar and phonetics |
| Vedanta |
Vedic philosophy of Self-knowledge |
| Vedas |
the four Vedic ancient scriptures of India, namely the Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharva |
| Vedic Science |
integral spiritual science of the Vedas |
| Vidya |
knowledge |
| Vijnana |
intelligence |
| Vijnanavada |
Buddhist philosophy that consciousness alone exists |
| Vishnu |
God or form of the Hindu trinity governing preservation |
| Yajna |
sacrifice, sacred ritual |
| Yajur Veda |
'Knowledge of Sacrificial Ritual', one of the four Vedas |
| Yama |
God of Death; ruler of the realm of the dead the 'Land of the Fathers': he was the first man to die and therefore the welcomer of others to his realm |
| Yamas |
yogic attitudes |
| Yantra |
geometrical meditation designs |
| Yatra |
pilgrimage |
| Yoga Sutras |
classical text of Patanjali on Yoga |
| Yoga |
techniques of developing and integrating energy; discipline or 'yoking' of the senses and the ego more... |
| Yogi |
practitioner of yoga |
| Yugas |
world-ages |
