Aranyaka Dictionary

Aranyaka (Sanskrit) (from aranya forest-like from aranya wilderness, forest)

Forest-born; a hermit or holy man who dwells in the forest during the process of becoming a genuine spiritual yogi. Aranyakas (plural) are a class of Vedic treatises of a mystical nature attached to the Brahmanas and closely associated with the Upanishads. They were called such either because they were written in the solitude of the wilderness or because they were intended for study and contemplation by those who had retired from the world to lead the life of spiritual recluses. The Aranyakas are ritualistic, treating of special ceremonies either omitted or dealt with only in part in the Brahmanas, and hence are considered to be supplemental to the latter.

Only four Aranyakas are presently known to exist: the Aitareya (Rig-vedic) forming part of the Aitareya-Brahmana; the Kausitaki (Rig-vedic) whose third and final chapter is the Kanusitaki Upanishad; the Taittiriya, of ten books, belonging to the Yajur-Veda; and the Brihad (Yajur-Veda) which forms a part of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad attached to the Satapatha-Brahmana.

(See also: Aranyaka , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Aranyaka: the third section of each of the four Vedas that includes the explanations of the symbolism of the rituals and mental exercises for the contemplative life of the retiree (vanaprastha ashrama) to prepare him for the fourth stage of life (sannyasa ashrama).

(See also: Aranyaka , Hinduism, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

aranyaka vedic:

forest texts or writings

(See also: aranyaka vedic , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yoga (Sanskrit).

(1) One of the six Darshanas or schools of India; a school of philosophy founded by Patanjali, though the real Yoga doctrine, the one that is said to have helped to prepare the world for the preaching of Buddha, is attributed with good reasons to the more ancient sage Yajnawalkya, the writer of the Shatapatha Brahmana, of Yajur Veda, the Brihad Aranyaka, and other famous works.

(2) The practice of meditation as a means of leading to spiritual liberation. Psycho-spiritual powers are obtained thereby, and induced ecstatic states lead to the clear and correct perception of the eternal truths, in both the visible and invisible universe.

(See also: Yoga , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Aitareya (Sanskrit). The name of an Aranyaka (Brahmana) and a Upanishad of the Rig Veda. Some of its portions are purely Vedantic.

(See also: Aitareya , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Aitareya Upanishad: (Sanskrit) Three chapters of the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rig Veda expounding the esoterics of ritual, revealing the means of preparing oneself for the deepest spiritual attainments.

(See also: Aitareya Upanishad , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Veda: (Sanskrit) "Wisdom." Sagely revelations which

comprise Hinduism's most authoritative scripture. They, along with the Agamas, are shruti, "that which is heard."

The Vedas are a body of dozens of holy texts known

collectively as the Veda, or as the four Vedas: Rig, Yajur,

Sama and Atharva. In all they include over 100,000

verses, as well as additional prose. The knowledge

imparted by the Vedas is highly mystical or

superconscious rather than intellectual. Each Veda has

four sections: Samhitas (hymn collections), Brahmanas

(priestly manuals), Aranyakas (forest treatises) and

Upanishads (enlightened discourses). The Samhitas and

Brahmanas (together known as the karmakanda, "ritual

section") detail a transcendent-immanent Supreme-Being

cosmology and a system of worship through fire ceremony

and chanting to establish communication with the Gods.

The Aranyakas and Upanishads (the jnanakanda,

"knowledge section") outline the soul's evolutionary

journey, providing yogic-philosophic training and

propounding a lofty, nondual realization as the destiny of

all souls. The oldest portions of the Vedas are thought to

date back as far as 6,000 bce, written down in Sanskrit in

the last few millennia, making them the world's most

ancient scriptures.

See: Aranyaka, Brahmana, shruti,

Upanishad, Vedanga.

(See also: Veda , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Veda (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root vid to know]

Knowledge; the most ancient and sacred Sanskrit works of the Hindus. Almost every hymn or division of a Veda is ascribed to various authors. It is generally believed that these subdivisions were revealed orally to the rishis or sages whose respective names they bear; hence the body of the Veda is known as sruti (what was heard) or divine revelation. The very names of these Vedic sages, such as Vasishtha, Visvamitra, and Narada, all of which belong to men born in far distant ages, shows that millennia must have elapsed between the different dates of their composition.

Krishna Sastri Godbole proves by astronomical data and mathematics that the Vedas must have been taught at least 25,000 years ago (cf Theosophist 2:238). Hindus claim that the Veda was taught orally for thousands of years, and then finally compiled by Veda-Vyasa 3,200 years ago, on the shores of the sacred lake Manasa-sarovara beyond the Himalayas in what is now Tibet (TG 362). Though compiled at that date their previous antiquity is sufficiently proved by the fact that they are written in an ancient form of Sanskrit, different from the Sanskrit of known later writings.

There are four Vedas: the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, and Atharva-Veda, this last commonly supposed to be of later date than the former three. The Laws of Manu always speaks of the three Vedas. The Rig-Veda is the original work, the Yajur-Veda and Sama-Veda in their mantric portions are different arrangements of its hymns for special purposes. The Vedas are divided into two parts, the Mantra and Brahmana.

The Mantra part is composed of suktas (hymns in verse); the Brahmana part consists of liturgical, ritualistic, exegetical, and mystic treatises in prose. The Mantra or verse portion is considered more ancient than the prose works; and the books in which the hymns are collected are called sanhitas (collections). More or less closely connected with the Brahmanans (and in a few exceptional cases with the Mantra part) are two classes of treatises in prose and verse called Aranyaka and Upanishad. The Vedic writings are again divided into two great divisions, exoteric and esoteric, the former called the karma-kanda (the section of works) and the latter the jnana-kanda (section of wisdom).

Subba Row in "Brahmanism on the Sevenfold Principles in Man" (Theosophist 3:93) says: "The Vedas were perhaps compiled mainly for the use of the priests assisting at public ceremonies, but the grandest conclusions of our real secret doctrine are therein mentioned. I am informed by persons competent to judge of the matter, that the Vedas have a distinct dual meaning -- one expressed by the literal sense of the words, the other indicated by the metre and the swara (intonation), which are, as it were, the life of the Vedas . . . the mysterious connection between swara and light is one of its most profound secrets."

(See also: Veda , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Upanishad:

Upanishad ("sitting near"): a type of scripture representing the concluding portion of the revealed literature of Hinduism, hence the designation Vedanta for the teachings of these sacred works; cf. Aranyaka, Brahmana, Veda

(See also: Upanishad ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Vedas: the most ancient sacred literature of the Hindus. Most ancient texts revealed to the sages and saints of India which explain and regulate every aspect of life from supreme reality to worldly affairs. Four in number: Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharava which are further divided into Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishads.

(See also: Vedas , Hinduism, Yoga, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Brihadaranyaka (Sanskrit) The name of a Upanishad. One of the sacred and secret books of the Brahmins; an Aranyaka is a treatise appended to the Vedas, and considered a subject of special study by those who have retired to the jungle (forest) for purposes of religious meditation.

(See also: Brihadaranyaka , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

neti neti

“Not this, not this.” A phrase from the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad indicating the process of elimination by which one philosophically distinguishes between matter and spirit.

(See also: neti neti , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Aranyaka (Sanskrit). Holy hermits, sages who dwelt in ancient India in forests. Also a portion of the Vedas containing Upanishads, etc.

(See also: Aranyaka , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Mahavakya - principal statements or utterances of the Upanisads. Pranava (om) is the true mahavakya of the Vedas as established in Chapter Twelve. However, Sri Sankaracarya has widely broadcast four aphorisms as mahavakyas. Therefore, the word mahavakya has come to be associated with these expressions: aham brahmasmi, "I am brahma,” (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad, 1.4.10) ; tat tvam asi svetaketo, "O Svetaketo, you are that” (Chandogya Upanisad, 6.8.7) ; prajnanam brahma, "The supreme knowledge is brahma,” (Aitareya Upanisad, 1.5.3) ; and sarvam khalv idam brahma, "All the universe is brahma.” (Chandogya Upanisad, 3.14.1.)

(See also: Mahavakya , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

vanaprastha ashrama: the third stage of a Hindu's life. As a forest-dweller, he lives in semi-retirement at the edge of the family estate where he is separate from the family, but available in an advisory capacity as his sons take over his former duties. He passes the day in contemplation and study of the Aranyaka section of the Vedas.

(See also: vanaprastha ashrama , Hinduism, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Vedas: the four principal books of sacred knowledge: Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. Each Veda is divined into four sections to guide the four ashramas (stages) of life.

The first, or Samhita, section contains the many mantras, which are hymns, prayers and formulas to be used in the various rituals during the grahastha ashrama.

The second, or Brahmana, section is commentary on the meaning of the mantras with directions for their use in various rituals to produce results in worldly endeavors.

The third section consists of treatises for contemplation and study including the symbolic meanings of the elements of the rituals. These mental exercises are meant to be used by those of the vanaprastha ashrama. This section is therefore named the Aranyaka or forest treatises.

The fourth section contains the philosophical treatises, the Upanishads, intended for the final realization by those in the sannyasa ashrama

(See also: Vedas , Hinduism, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

BRIHADARANYAKA: Name of an Upanishad.

(See also: BRIHADARANYAKA ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Aranyaka: (Sanskrit) "Forest treatise." Third section of each of the four Vedas. Texts containing esoteric, mystical knowledge, largely on the inner meanings and functions of the Vedic yajna, or fire ceremonies. See: Vedas.

(See also: Aranyaka , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Aranyaka: (Sanskrit) "Forest treatise." Third section of each of the four Vedas. Texts containing esoteric, mystical knowledge, largely on the inner meanings and functions of the Vedic yajna, or fire ceremonies. See: Vedas.

(See also: Aranyaka , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Brhad-aranyaka. See BRIHAD-ARANYAKA

(See also: Brhad-aranyaka , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)