Benefit Of Yoga Dictionary

Krsna-dasya - service to Krsna; the dharma, or spiritual function of the jiva. In its perfectional state this refers to prema.

(See also: Krsna-dasya , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Apara-sakti - Sri Bhagavan’s inferior or material potency. Apauruseya - that which is not created by (purusa) man; divine; that which is transcendental in nature, emanating directly from Sri Bhagavan; the Vedas.

(See also: Apara-sakti , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Sadhya, susiddha, siddha and ari - These are four kinds of dosa (faults) calculated according to jyotisa-sastra concerning the nature of a sisya in accordance with his purva-karma. Some of them appear to be good qualities, but from the absolute perspective, anyone who takes a material birth has fault.

In this context sadhya indicates that the candidate has the adhikara to attain  prema-bhakti if he endeavors fully in this life. Susiddha has the adhikara to attain perfection with very little endeavor and siddha has somewhat less  adhikara than him. Ari indicates that the sisya has so many ari (inauspicious planets) in his chart that almost any endeavor he makes for bhaktiwill simply create further hindrances. However, when these four kinds of sisyas accept krsna-mantra from sad-guru all of their hindrances can be removed.

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

Dasa - a servant; a servant of Krsna.

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

Sankhya - the path of knowledge involving an analysis of spirit and matter. This philosophy is atheistic in nature. It was propagated by the sage Kapila, who is different from the avatara of the Lord known as Kapila, the son of Kardama and Devahuti. The sage Kapila, who was born in the dynasty of Agni, is referred to in the Mahabharata (Vana-parva 221.21): kapilam paramarsin ca yam prahur yataya sada agni sa kapilo nama sankhya-yoga pravartaka - "That person whom the renunciates proclaim as the founder of the sankhya-yoga system is the great sage Kapila who appeared in the dynasty of Agni.”

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

Rajas - (See rajo-guna).

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

Atma - the soul; it may also refer to the body, mind, intellect, or the Supreme Self. It usually refers to the jiva soul.

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

Kirtana - congregational singing of Krsna’s holy names, sometimes accompanied by music. This may also refer to loud individual chanting of the holy name, as well as oral descriptions of Bhagavan names, forms, qualities, associates, and pastimes. Kirtana is the most important of the nine angas of bhakti.

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

Siddhi - eight mystical perfections attained through yoga (see yogasiddhi).

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

Phalgu-vairagya - futile renunciation; renunciation which is unfavorable to bhakti. This is defined in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.256): "When people who desire liberation give up objects which are related to Krsna, considering them to be material, their renunciation is known as phalgu-vairagya.”

Srila Jiva Gosvami has explained in his commentary that this especially refers to giving up prasada, or remnants of food and other articles offered to Him. This giving up of prasada is of two types: never requesting Krsna’s prasada, and refusing it when it comes unsolicited. The second one in particular is considered to be an offense and therefore unfavorable to bhakti.

(See also: Phalgu-vairagya , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Sneha - affection. In chapter twenty-one two kinds of sneha are being described by Babaji Mahasaya. He says that sneha is related to sakhya-bhava, this does not mean in the intimate sense of relationship. That kind of sakhya-bhava comes under the category of sambandha-rupa.

Sakhya-bhava in this chapter means the ordinary type of sakhyam, which comes in the nine items of bhaktithat Prahlada Maharaja mentions in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Here sakhyam is in vaidhi-bhakti, and it means to serve Krsna with an ordinary sense of friendliness (sakhya-bhava) , and to know Krsna as a friend (sakha). Since this comes under the jurisdiction of vaidhi-bhakti, it is not part of raganuga-bhakti. The other kind of sneha comes in the category of prema (sneha, mana, pranaya, etc.) , and therefore cannot be performed in raganuga-sadhana, but it can come in ragatmika-bhakti. It cannot be followed. It can only develop in prema after vastu-siddhi, when the bhakta has taken birth in the womb of a vraja-gopi, and so it cannot be practiced in raganugasadhana- bhakti.

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

Vedanta - the end of Vedic knowledge. The Upanisads are the latter portion of the Vedas, and the Vedanta-sutra summarizes the philosophy of the Upanisads in concise statements. Therefore, the word Vedanta especially refers to the Vedanta-sutra (see uttaramimamsa). Srimad-Bhagavatam is considered to be the natural commentary on Vedanta-sutra by the same author, Vyasadeva. Therefore, in the opinion of the Vaisnavas, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the culmination or ripened fruit of the tree of all Vedic literature.

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

Guna -

(1) in relationship to Krsna this refers to His transcendental qualities which are heard, described, and meditated upon by bhaktas as part of the practice of  sadhana-bhakti.

(2) qualities of objects such as hardness and softness.

(3) qualities in general such as compassion, tolerance, and mercy.

(4) the three ropes (binding qualities) known as - sattva (goodness) , rajas (passion) , and tamas (ignorance).

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

Lobhamayi-sraddha - means that the bhakta wants to serve Krsna in one of the four rasas: dasya, sakhya, vatsalya or madhurya, following in the footsteps of the vraja-vasis. He should be greedy to attain this. That is called lobhamayi-sraddha.

(See also: Lobhamayi-sraddha , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Rasa -

(1) the spiritual transformation of the heart which takes place when the perfectional state of love for Krsna, known as rati, is converted into liquid emotions by combination with various types of transcendental ecstasies. In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (2.1.5) bhakti-rasa  is defined: "When the sthayibhava, or the permanent emotion of the heart in one of the five primary relationships of neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental affection, or conjugal love, mixes with vibhava, anubhava, sattvika-bhava, and vyabhicaribhava, thus producing an extraordinary taste in the heart of the bhakta, it is called bhakti-rasa.”

The explanation of bhakti as rasa is the unique contribution of Srila Rupa Gosvami. The common view is that rasa applies to the emotional experience of poetry or drama. This theory of rasa originated from the natya-sastra of Bharata Muni, a famous work on Sanskrit poetics and drama. Rupa Gosvami’s explanation of how rasa is generated is exactly in accordance with Bharata Muni’s definition; yet he has explained the experience of rasa in terms of bhakti, or love for Krsna. Thus, there is both a transcendental and secular conception of rasa.

(2) the state of aesthetic consciousness.

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

Tattva - truth, reality, philosophical principle; the essence or substance of anything.

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

Ganga - the holy river, Ganga, also known as the Ganges

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

Sakti -

(1) power or potency.

(2) the wife of Lord Siva, also known as Durga, who presides over the material energy; one of the five deities worshiped by the pancopasakas.

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

Samvit - this refers to svarupa-sakti which is predominated by samvit (see svarupa-sakti). Samvit is the potency which relates to the cit, or cognizant, aspect of Sri Bhagavan. Although Bhagavan is the embodiment of knowledge, samvit is the potency by which He knows Himself and causes others to know Him. When the samvit potency is prominent in visuddha-sattva, it is known as atma-vidya, knowledge of the individual self and Bhagavan.

This atma-vidya has two faculties:

(1) jnana, knowledge itself; and

(2) jnana-pravartaka, one who or that which promotes knowledge. The worshiper’s knowledge is manifest by these two faculties. Knowledge of absolute reality is possible only with the help of atma-vidya.

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

Baddha-jiva - the conditioned soul who is bound by matter. With regard to the origin of the baddha-jiva this passage states that Bhagavan’s eternal associates in the spiritual world do not have any contact with and are completely unaffected by the material energy. Only some of the jivas that emanate from Maha-Visnu come into the material world. The original Bengali is as follows:

goloka-vrndavanastha evam paravyoma-stha baladeva o sankarsanaprakatita nitya-parsada jiva-sakala ananta; tanhara upasya-sevaya rasika; sarvada svarupartha-visista; upasya-sukhanvesi upasyera prati sarvada unmukha jiva saktite cit-saktite bala labha kariya tanhara sarvada balavan; mayara sahita tahandera kona sambandha nai; mayasakti baliya kona sakti achena, tahao tanhara avagata nana; ye hetu tanhara cit-mansala-madhyavarti evam maya tanhadera nikata haite aneka dure; tanhara sarvadai upasya-seva-sukhe magna; dukha, jasa-sukha o nija-sukha ity adi kakhani janena na. tanhara nitya-mukta premai tanhadera jivana; soka, marana au bhaya ye ki vastu, taha tanhara janena na.

karanabdha-sayi-maha-visnura mayara prati iksana-rupa kiranagata anu-caitanya-gana o ananta; tanhara maya-parsva-sthita baliya mayara vicitrata tanhadera darsana-patharusa-purve ye jivasadharanera laksana baliyachi, se samasta laksana tanhadera ache, tathapi atyanta anu-svabhava-prayukta sarvada tatastha-bhave citjagatera dike evam maya-jagatera dike drstipata karite thakena. e avasthaya jiva atyanta durbala, kenana, - justa va sevye-vastura krpalabha karatah cid-bala labha karena nai. inhadera madhye ye saba jiva maya-bhoga vasana karena, tanhara mayika-visaye abhinivista haiya mayate nitya-baddha. yanhara sevya-vastur cidanusilana karena, tanhara sevya-tattvena krpara sahita cid-bala labha karatah cid-dhame nita hana; baba! amara durbhaga, krsnera nityadasya bhuliya mayabhinivesa dvara mayabadha achi; ataeva svarupartha-hina haiyai amadera e durdasa.

(See also: Baddha-jiva , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Folklore - (in reference to chapter seventeen) , there is a saying: "To make money by counting the waves.” The explanation is as follows. In ancient times, there was a rich vaisya, who became famous all over the country as someone who could make money in any circumstances. Some envious people poisoned the ears of the local King, and managed to convince him to send the businessman far away, where he would have no opportunity to make any money. The King decided to send him to a lonely place near the sea. But this vaisya, true to his character, sat on the beach counting the waves! Whenever a vessel passed across the sea, he would stop it by waving his arms, and then say, "You are not allowed to cross. The King has appointed me to count the waves here, and your vessel is disturbing them.” He would argue back and forth, and only relent when he had extracted a bribe. In this way, he became a rich man again.

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

Sandhya-vandana - the chanting of Vedic mantras such as brahma-gayatri at dawn, noon and sunset.

(See also: Sandhya-vandana , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)