Goddess: Female representation or manifestation of Divinity; Shakti or Devi.

Goddess can refer to a female perception or depiction of a causal-plane being (Mahadeva) in its natural state, which is genderless, or it can refer to an astral-plane being residing in a female astral body.

To show the Divine's transcendence of sexuality, sometimes God is shown as having qualities of both sexes, e.g., Ardhanarishvara, "Half-woman God;" or Lord Nataraja, who wears a feminine earring in one ear and a masculine one in the other.

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

This is a sitemap for topic pages related to Hinduism. Click on a link and you will find multiple articles related to the topic:

Hinduism Dictionary - G

Gaja, Galactic, Gana, Ganachara, Ganapati, Ganapati Upanishad, Gandharvaveda, Ganesha, Ganesha Chaturthi, Ganesha Visarjana, Ganges, Gangetic Plain, Garbha, Garbhadhana, Garbhagriha, Gargya, Gautama, Gay, Gayatri, Gayatri, Gayatri Mantra, Germinate, Ghanta, Ghee, Gheranda Samhita, Gloom, Go, God Realization, Goddess, Godhead, Gods, God's power, Gopura, Gorakshanatha, Gorakshanatha Saivism, Gorakshapantha, Gorakshashataka, Gotra, Grace, Grandeur, Grantha, Granthavidya, Grihastha, Grihastha ashrama, Grihastha dharma , Grihastha dharma, Griheshvara and grihini, Grihya Sutras, Gross plane, Guha, Guhavasi Siddha, Guheshvara, Gujarat, Guna, Gurkha, Guru, Guru bhakti, Guru Gita, Guru Jayanti, Guru parampara, Guru Purnima, Gurudeva, Gurukula, Guru-shishya system, Gush,

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garbhadhana: (Sanskrit) "Womb-placing." The rite of conception.

See: reincarnation, samskaras of birth.

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

Gods: Mahadevas, "great beings of light."

In Dancing with Siva, the plural form of God refers to extremely advanced beings existing in their self-effulgent soul bodies in the causal plane.

The meaning of Gods is best seen in the phrase, "God and the Gods," referring to the Supreme God- Siva- and the Mahadevas who are His creation.

See: Mahadeva.

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

guru-shishya system: (Sanskrit) "Master-disciple" system. An important education system of Hinduism whereby the teacher conveys his knowledge and tradition to a student.

Such knowledge, whether it be Vedic- Agamic art, architecture or spirituality, is imparted through the developing relationship between guru and disciple.

The principle of this system is that knowledge, especially subtle or advanced knowledge, is best conveyed through a strong human relationship based on ideals of the student's respect, commitment, devotion and obedience, and on personal instruction by which the student eventually masters the knowledge the guru embodies.

See: guru, guru bhakti, satguru.

(See also: Guru-shishya system , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

grace: "Benevolence, love, giving," from the Latin gratia, "favor, goodwill."

God's power of revealment, anugraha shakti ("kindness, showing favor"), by which souls are awakened to their true, Divine nature.

Grace in the unripe stages of the spiritual journey is experienced by the devotee as receiving gifts or boons, often unbidden, from God. The mature soul finds himself surrounded by grace. He sees all of God's actions as grace, whether they be seemingly pleasant and helpful or not. For him, his very love of God, the power to meditate or worship, and the spiritual urge which drives his life are entirely and obviously God's grace, a divine endowment, an intercession, unrelated to any deed or action he did or could perform.

In Saiva Siddhanta, it is grace that awakens the love of God within the devotee, softens the intellect and inaugurates the quest for Self Realization. It descends when the soul has reached a certain level of maturity, and often comes in the form of a spiritual initiation, called shaktipata, from a satguru.

Grace is not only the force of illumination or revealment. It also includes Siva's other four powers - creation, preservation, destruction and concealment - through which He provides the world of experience and limits the soul's consciousness so that it may evolve.

More broadly, grace is God's ever-flowing love and compassion, karuna, also known as kripa ("tenderness, compassion") and prasada (literally, "clearness, purity").

To whom is God's grace given? Can it be earned? Two famous analogies, that of the monkey (markata) and that of the cat (marjara) express two classical viewpoints on salvation and grace.

• The markata school, perhaps represented more fully by the Vedas, asserts that the soul must cling to God like a monkey clings to its mother and thus participate in its "salvation."
• The marjara school, which better reflects the position of the Agamas, says that the soul must be like a young kitten, totally dependent on its mother's will, picked up in her mouth by the scruff of the neck and carried here and there. This crucial state of loving surrender is called prapatti.

See: anugraha shakti, prapatti, shaktipata, tirodhana shakti.

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

Gayatri Mantra: (Sanskrit)

1) Famous Vedic mantra used in puja and personal chanting. Om (bhur bhuvah svah) tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. "(O Divine Beings of all three worlds,) we meditate upon the glorious splendor of the Vivifier divine. May He illumine our minds." (Rig Veda 3.62.10 VE). This sacred verse is also called the Savitri Mantra, being addressed to Savitri, the Sun as Creator, and is considered a universal mystic formula so significant that it is called Vedamatri, "mother of the Vedas."

2) Any of a class of special tantric mantras called Gayatri. Each addresses a particular Deity. The Siva Gayatri Mantra is: Tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam, urvarukamiva bandhanan mrtyormukshiya mamrtat. "We adore the fragrant three-eyed one who promotes prosperity. May we be freed from the bondage of death as a cucumber from its stalk, but not from immortality." This is a famous verse of the Yajur Veda (from Rudranamaka, or Sri Rudram), considered an essential mantra of Siva worship used in all Siva rites.

(See also: Gayatri Mantra , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Ganges (Ganga): (Sanskrit)

India's most sacred river, 1,557 miles long, arising in the Himalayas above Hardwar under the name Bhagiratha, and named Ganga after joining the Alakanada (where the Sarasvati is said to join them underground). It flows southeast across the densely populated Gangetic plain, joining its sister Yamuna (or Jumna) at Prayaga (Allahabad) and ending at the Bay of Bengal.

See: Gangetic Plain.

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

God Realization: Direct and personal experience of the Divine within oneself.

It can refer to either

1)    savikalpa samadhi ("enstasy with form") in its various levels, from the experience of inner light to the realization of Satchidananda, the pure consciousness or primal substance flowing through all form, or

2)    nirvikalpa samadhi ("enstasy without form"), union with the transcendent Absolute, Parasiva, the Self God, beyond time, form and space. In Dancing with Siva, the expression God Realization is used to name both of the above samadhis, whereas Self Realization refers only to nirvikalpa samadhi.

See: raja yoga, samadhi, Self Realization.

(See also: God Realization , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Gorakshanatha: (Sanskrit) Profound siddha yoga master of the Adinatha Sampradaya (ca 950). Expounder and foremost guru of Siddha Siddhanta Saivism. He traveled and extolled the greatness of Siva throughout North India and Nepal where he and his guru, Matsyendranatha, are still highly revered.

See: hatha yoga, Siddha Siddhanta, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati.

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

guna: (Sanskrit) "Strand; quality." The three constituent principles of prakriti, primal nature. The three gunas are as follows.

• sattva: Quiescent, rarified, translucent, pervasive, reflecting the light of Pure Consciousness.
• rajas: "Passion," inherent in energy, movement, action, emotion, life. -
• tamas: "Darkness," inertia, density, the force of contraction, resistance and dissolution. The gunas are integral to Hindu thought, as all things are composed of the combination of these qualities of nature, including ayurveda, arts, environments and personalities.

See: ayurveda, prakriti, tattva.

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

guru parampara: (Sanskrit) "Preceptorial succession" (literally, "from one teacher to another"). A line of spiritual gurus in authentic succession of initiation; the chain of mystical power and authorized continuity, passed from guru to guru.

Cf: sampradaya.

(See also: Guru parampara , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

gayatri: (Sanskrit) According with the gayatri verse form, an ancient meter of 24 syllables, generally as a triplet (tercet) with eight syllables each. From gaya, "song." -

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

grantha: (Sanskrit) Literally, "knot," a common name for book.

A term thought to refer to the knot on the cord that bound ancient palm-leaf or birch-bark manuscripts. Books are afforded deep respect in Hinduism, always carefully treated, never placed directly on the floor.

Special books are not uncommonly objects of worship. Grantha also names an ancient literary script developed in South India.

See: olai.

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

Ganesha Visarjana: (Sanskrit) "Ganesha departure."

A parade usually occurring on the 11th day after Ganesha Chaturthi, in which the Ganesha murtis made for the occasion are taken in procession to a body of water and ceremoniously immersed and left to dissolve. This represents Ganesha's merging with the ocean of consciousness.

See: Ganesha.

(See also: Ganesha Visarjana , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Gorakshanatha Saivism: (Sanskrit) One of the six schools of Saivism, also called Siddha SiddhŒnta.

See: Siddha Siddhanta, siddha yoga.

(See also: Gorakshanatha Saivism , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

grihastha: (Sanskrit) "Householder."

Family man or woman. Family of a married couple and other relatives. Pertaining to family life. The purely masculine form of the word is grihasthi. The feminine form is grihasthin.

Grihasthi also names the home itself.

See: ashrama dharma, extended family, grihastha dharma, joint family.

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

gopura: (Sanskrit) South Indian temple entrance tower, often quite tall with ornate carvings.

See: balipitha, temple.

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

Grihya Sutras: (Sanskrit) "Household maxims or codes." An important division of classical smriti literature, designating rules and customs for domestic life, including rites of passage and other home ceremonies, which are widely followed to this day.

The Grihya Sutras (or Shastras) are part of the Kalpa Sutras, "procedural maxims" (or Kalpa Vedanga), which also include the Shrauta and Shulba Shastras, on public Vedic rites, and the Dharma Shastras (or Sutras), on domestic-social law. Among the best known Grihya Sutras are Ashvalayana's Grihya Sutras attached to the Rig Veda, Gobhila's Sutras of the Sama Veda, and the Sutras of Paraskara and Baudhayana of the Yajur Veda.

See: Kalpa Vedanga, Vedanga.

(See also: Grihya Sutras , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)