Havan: a fire ritual accompanied by the chanting of the sacred Vedic mantras for a communal or common purpose. In the Vedic age, Havans were performed to give offerings of ghee, milk or grain to please the deities. With the later philosophical development of Hinduism, their purpose evolved into a method of practicing renunciation.

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

japa: repetition, usually mentally, of a mantra to exclude all other thoughts and to build the power of concentration of the mind.

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

jnana: knowledge; wisdom of the absolute Reality.

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

karma [kr = to do]: action, work, deed; the sum of the effects of past actions producing results in the life of the world. According to the context, karma can be translated as destiny (the results of past actions) or duty (actions intended to produce good results in the future). In the Vedas, karma means only the action of performing the prescribed rituals.

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

Kedarnath: one of the four great Himalayas pilgrimage centers.

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

Kerala: the Indian state established after Independence in 1951, composed of the small kingdoms on the Malabar coast of the Arabian Sea in which Malayalam was spoken, including Travancore, Calicut and Cochin.

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

kovalam: geometric or floral designs made by the south Indians in front of their homes each morning. Traditionally, kovalams were made with rice powder to feed the birds and tiny crawling creatures. Now, they just use a white chalky powder for the kovalam, which is created anew daily.

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

laksharchana [lak = one thousand]: worship by chanting the one thousand name of a god or goddess.

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

Lalita: an epithet of Parvathi, wife of Lord Shiva.

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

lila: divine play, particularly of the gods.

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

Madrasi: resident of Madras. During the British Empire the Madras Presidency included the sourthern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mysore and Andhra Pradesh.

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

Nilgiris: the Blue Mountains, a long chain of mountains in southern India. They are mostly in Tamil Nadu, but part of them are in Karnataka and Kerala.

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

nimbu: India lime, which is more like a cross between a lime and a lemon.

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

OM (aum): a mystic syllable that represents the higher Reality, Brahman. It begins all the sacred scriptures and all prayers. Its significance is expounded in the Mandukya Upanishad.

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

Panchadasi [fifteen]: Vedantic text of fifteen chapters written by Swami Vidyaranya. It is an advanced introductory text (prakarana grantha) intended to unfold all the subject of Vedanta necessary for enlightenment, or to serve as a foundation for further study of Vedanta.

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

parampara: a line of teachers established by the handing down of the Eternal Truth from teacher to student.

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

pranam: a prostration; often used as a salutation to show respect to a holy man.

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

prasadam: food, usually sweets, offered to the gods during a ritual. Afterwards, it is distributed among the participants as a consecrated offering along with ash, sandalwood paste or other items used in the worship.

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

mauna: silence, the practice of maintaining silence to prevent the dissipation of energy to exercise discipline over the sense organs.

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

Moghul: a dynasty established in India in the 16th century by Babur, a Mongolian/Turk; also a civilian of this dynasty.

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

monsoon: seasonal rain-bearing winds that inundate most India with rains from June 10 to September 10 each year, except the southeast coast, which has rains from late November through January.

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

lunghi: Malayalam word for a wrap-around cloth worn as a skirt by both men and women in Kerala (dhoti in Hindi). The mundu is the top cloth worn over the shoulder.

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