A spiritual dictionary from J-R of the most common spiritual words in Hinduism. Also see these links: Hinduism, Spirituality, Enlightenment, Spiritual Dictionary and Hinduism Dictionary.

Ravana: (Sanskrit) Villain of the Ramayana epic. A legendary king of Sri Lanka, adversary of Rama, eventually defeated by Rama and his armies.

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

reaction: A response to an action.

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

reaffirmation: A new affirming or a declaration about a thing as being true or still pertinent.

See: affirmation.

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

reality:

See: Absolute Reality, relative reality.

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

realm: A kingdom, region or area.

See: loka.

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

reap: To cut for harvest. To gain as a result of actions or effort.

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

rebellious: Resisting authority or any form of control.

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

rebound: To bounce back.

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

Rama: (Sanskrit) Venerated hero of the Ramayana epic, and one of the two most popular incarnations of Vishnu, along with Krishna. His worship is almost universal among Vaishnavas, and extensive among Smartas and other liberal Hindus. He was a great worshiper of Siva, and a Siva temple, called Rameshvaram, was built in his name at the southern tip of India.

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

Ramakrishna: (Sanskrit) (1836-1886) One of the great saints and mystics of modern Hinduism, a champion and exemplar of monistic theism- fervent devotee of Mother Kali and staunch monist who taught oneness and the pursuit of nirvikalpa samadhi, realization of the Absolute. He was guru to the great Swami Vivekananda (18631902), who internationalized Hindu thought and philosophy.

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

Ramanuja: (Sanskrit) Philosopher (1017-1137), saint, great bhakta, founder of one of five major Vaishnava schools, and considered the greatest critic of advaita. In his famous Sri Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras, he countered Shankara's absolute monism point-by-point with his qualified monism, called Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.

See: shad darshana, Vedanta.

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

Ramaraja: (Sanskrit) (1478-1565). The last king of South India's Vijayanagara empire.

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

Ramayana: (Sanskrit) "Vehicle of Rama."

One of India's two grand epics (Itihasa) along with the Mahabharata. It is Valmiki's tragic love story of Rama and Sita, whose exemplary lives have helped set high standards of dignity and nobility as an integral part of Hindu dharma. Astronomical data in the story puts Rama's reign at about 2015 bce.

See: Rama.

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

Ramprasad: (Sanskrit) Great Bengali devotional saintpoet (1718-1775) who wrote hymns to Shakti.

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

rasatala: (Sanskrit) "Subterranean region." The fifth chakra below the muladhara, centered in the ankles. Corresponds to the fifth astral netherworld beneath the earth's surface, called Rijisha ("expelled") or Rasatala. Region of selfishness, self-centeredness and possessiveness. Rasa means "earth, soil; moisture."

See: chakra, chakras, loka, Naraka.

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

rationalize: To excuse through reason. To make plausible explanations for.

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

race: Technically speaking, each of the five races of man (Caucasoid, Congoid, Mongoloid, Australoid and Capoid) is a Homo sapiens subspecies.

A subspecies is a branch showing slight but significant differences from another branch living in a different area. Few traits are unique to any one race. It is the combination of several traits that indicate racial identity. Accurate race determination can be made by blood analysis or by measuring and comparing certain body dimensions. Ninety-eight percent of all Hindus belong to the Caucasoid race. There are also large numbers of Hindu Mongoloids in Nepal and Assam and some Australoids, such as the Gond and Bhil tribes of India.

North and South Indians are among Earth's 2.5 billion Caucasoids, whose traits include straight to wavy hair, thin lips, small to medium teeth, blue to dark brown eyes and a high incident of A2-Rh and Gm blood genes. Skin color, often erroneously attached to the idea of race, is now known to be adaptation to climate: over generations, people in northern climates have developed lighter complexions than their southern brothers.

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