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)

Gayatri: The Vedic Gayatri Mantra personified as a Goddess, mother of the four Vedas.

(See also: Gayatri, 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)

germinate: To sprout. To begin to develop.

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

ghanta: (Sanskrit) "Bell." Akin to ghant, "to speak." An important implement in Hindu worship (puja), used to chase away asuras and summon devas and Gods.

See: puja.

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

ghee: (Sanskrit) Hindi for clarified butter; ghrita in Sanskrit. Butter that has been boiled and strained. An important sacred substance used in temple lamps and offered in fire ceremony, yajna. It is also used as a food with many ayurvedic virtues.

See: yajna.

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

Gheranda Samhita: i (Sanskrit) A Vaishnava manual on hatha yoga (ca 1675), still influential today, presented as a dialog between Sage Gheranda and a disciple.

See: hatha yoga.

(See also: Gheranda Samhita, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

gloom: Darkness. Deep sadness or despair.

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

go: (Sanskrit) The cow, considered especially sacred for its unbounded generosity and usefulness to humans. It is a symbol of the earth as the abundant provider. For the Hindu, the cow is a representative of all living species, each of which is to be revered and cared for.

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

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)

Godhead: God; Divinity.

A term describing the essence or highest aspect of the Supreme Being.

(See also: Godhead, 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)

God's power:

See: Shakti.

(See also: God's power, 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)

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)

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)

Gorakshapantha: (Sanskrit) "Path of GorakshanŒtha." A synonym for Siddha Siddhanta.

See: Saivism (six schools), Siddha Siddhanta.

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

Gorakshashataka: (Sanskrit) A text by Gorakshanatha, which along with Siddha Siddhanta Pradipika, extols the path of "Siva yoga," which is hatha-kundalini yoga emphasizing control over body and mind, awakening of higher chakras and nadi nerve system with the intent of realizing the Absolute, Parasamvid, and residing in the sahasrara chakra in perfect identity with Siva.

See: Gorakshanatha, Siddha Siddhanta.

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

gotra: (Sanskrit) "Cowshed." Family lineage or subcaste stemming from a rishi or satguru and bearing his name. Originally described as several joint families sharing a common cowshed.

See: caste, jati, varna dharma.

(See also: Gotra, 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)

grandeur: Greatness, magnificence; of lofty character; noble.

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