Nitya Dictionary

nitya-baddha

eternally conditioned.

(See also: nitya-baddha , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Nitya-karma - daily obligatory religious duties.

(See also: Nitya-karma , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Nitya-dharma - the eternal characteristic function of a thing, or that which relates to its eternal constitutional function.

(See also: Nitya-dharma , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Nitya-tattva - eternal truth, reality or philosophical principle.

(See also: Nitya-tattva , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Nitya-sukrti - pious deeds which bear eternal results; pious deeds which foster the eternal function of bhakti, such as the association of bhaktas and contact with acts of devotion.

(See also: Nitya-sukrti , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

tirthayatra: (Sanskrit) "Journeying to a holy place." Pilgrimage.

One of the five sacred duties (pancha nitya karmas) of the Hindu is to journey periodically to one of the innumerable holy spots in India or other countries. Preceded by fasting and continence, it is a time of austerity and purification, when all worldly concerns are set aside and God becomes one's singular focus. Streams of devout pilgrims are received daily at the many ancient holy sites (tirthas) in India, and tens of thousands at festival times.

See: pancha nitya karma, pancha shraddha.

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

Nitya Pralaya (Sanskrit). Lit., "perpetual" Pralaya or dissolution. It is the constant and imperceptible changes undergone by the atoms which last as long as a Mahamanvantara, a whole age of Brahma, which takes fifteen figures to sum up. A stage of chronic change and dissolution, the stages of growth and decay. It is the duration of "Seven Eternities". (See Secret Doctrine I. 371, II. 69, 310.) There are four kinds of Pralayas, or states of changelessness. The Naimittika, when Brahma slumbers; the Prakritika, a partial Pralaya of anything during Manvantara; Atyantika, when man has identified himself with the One Absolute synonym of Nirvana; and Nitya, for physical things especially, as a state of profound and dreamless sleep.

(See also: Nitya Pralaya , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

nitya-lila

the eternal pastimes of the Lord or His devotees in the spiritual world.

(See also: nitya-lila , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

nitya-karma

Regular, obligatory ritual duties.

(See also: nitya-karma , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

pancha nitya karma (karmas): (Sanskrit) "Five constant duties." A traditional regimen of religious practice for Hindus:

1)   dharma (virtuous living),

2)    upasana (worship),

3)    utsava (holy days),

4)    tirthayatra (pilgrimage) and

5)    samskaras (sacraments.)

See: dharma, festival, samskara, tirthayatra.

(See also: Pancha nitya karma (karmas): , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

The external objects are continuously acting upon the brain. The sense-impressions reach the brain through sense-avenues and produce mental stimuli. Now you are conscious of the external objects. Consciousness may be caused by an awakening either by external stimulus, i.e., stimulus from a sense-impression or an internal stimulus through memory.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Mind: How to Steady the Mind

Nitya-sarga (Sanskrit) [from nitya continuous + sarga from the verbal root srij to emanate, flow forth, create]

The endless productive or generative activity of the universe; and within any universe, the continuous creation or productive activity, from within outwards, of the emanative force of the cosmic hierarchy or cosmic monad. The opposite of nitya pralaya.

(See also: Nitya-sarga , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Nitya-parivritti nitya-parivrtti (Sanskrit) [from nitya constant, continuous + pari around + the verbal root vrit to turn, revolve, whirl]

Continuously or constantly whirling, revolving, or wandering around in the spheres of manifestation, and sinking constantly lower and farther from the light of spirit. Mystically, a continuous descent towards extinction.

The farther from the sun of spirit a monad or jiva wanders or is whirled, the less of the light of spirit shines through it, so that the monad is lost or extinguished in the whirlpools of material existence. The idea is identical with that of the Hebrew gilgulim (whirlings) of the Qabbalah.

(See also: Nitya-parivritti, nitya-parivrtti , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

utsava: (Sanskrit) "Festival."

Religious celebrations or holy days and their observance in the home and temple. Utsava is one of the five constant duties, pancha nitya karmas.

See: festival.

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

A Theosophical definition of Pralaya :

Pralaya

(Sanskrit) A compound word, formed of laya, from the root li, and the prefix pra. Li means "to dissolve," "to melt away," "to liquefy," as when one pours water upon a cube of salt or of sugar. The cube of salt or of sugar vanishes in the water  - it dissolves, changes its form  - and this may be taken as a figure, imperfect as it is, or as a symbol, of what pralaya is: a crumbling away, a vanishing away, of matter into something else which is yet in it, and surrounds it, and interpenetrates it.

Such is pralaya, usually translated as the state of latency, state of rest, state of repose, between two manvantaras or life cycles. If we remember distinctly the meaning of the Sanskrit word, our minds take a new bent in direction, follow a new thought. We get new ideas; we penetrate into the arcanum of the thing that takes place. Pralaya, therefore, is dissolution, death.

There are many kinds of pralayas. There is the universal pralaya, called prakritika, because it is the pralaya or vanishing away, melting away, of prakriti or nature. Then there is the solar pralaya. Sun in Sanskrit is surya, and the adjective from this is saurya: hence, the saurya pralaya or the pralaya of the solar system. Then, thirdly, there is the terrestrial or planetary pralaya. One Sanskrit word for earth is bhumi, and the adjective corresponding to this is bhaumika: hence, the bhaumika pralaya. Then there is the pralaya or death of the individual man. Man is purusha; the corresponding adjective is paurusha: hence, the paurusha pralaya or death of man. These adjectives apply equally well to the several kinds of manvantaras or life cycles.

There is another kind of pralaya which is called nitya. In its general sense, it means "constant" or "continuous," and can be exemplified by the constant or continuous change  - life and death  - of the cells of our bodies. It is a state in which the indwelling and dominating entity remains, but its different principles and rupas undergo continuous and incessant change. Hence it is called nitya, signifying continuous. It applies to the body of man, to the outer sphere of earth, to the earth itself, to the solar system, and indeed to all nature. It is the unceasing and chronic changing of things that are  - the passing from phase to phase, meaning the pralaya or death of one phase, to be followed by the rebirth of its succeeding phase. There are other kinds of pralayas than those herein enumerated.

See also: Pralaya , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

pancha shraddha: (Sanskrit) "Five faiths."

A concise summary of Hindu belief exactly correlated to the "five constant practices," pancha nitya karmas. The pancha shraddha are 1) sarva Brahman: God is All in all, soul is divine; 2) mandira: belief in temples and divine beings; 3) karma: cosmic justice; 4) samsaramoksha: rebirth brings enlightenment and liberation; 5) Vedas and satguru: the necessity of scripture and preceptor.

See: pancha nitya karma.

(See also: Pancha shraddha , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

ethics: The code or system of morals of a nation, people, religion, etc.

See: dharma, pancha nitya karmas, punya, purity-impurity.

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

Nityanarakikas (Sanskrit) [from nitya continual, perpetual + narakika an inhabitant of hell]

Perpetual hellions, a class of people said by the Madhvas to be predestined to go to perdition, a doctrine rejected by the main Hindu philosophical schools.

(See also: Nityanarakikas , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

japa: (Sanskrit) "Incantation."

Practice of concentrated repetition of a mantra, often while counting the repetitions on a mala or strand of beads. It may be done silently or aloud. Sometimes known as mantra yoga.

A major sadhana in Hindu spiritual practice, from the simple utterance of a few names of God to extraordinary feats of repeating sacred syllables millions of times for years on end. It is recommended as a cure for pride and arrogance, anger and jealousy, fear and confusion. It harmonizes the doshas and quiets the vrittis. Filling the mind with divine syllables, awakening the divine essence of spiritual energies in the physical body, japa brings forth the amrita. For Saivites, Namah Sivaya in its various forms is the most treasured mantra used in japa. The mantra Hare- Rama-Hare-Krishna is among the foremost Vaishnava mantras.

Japa yoga is said to be of 14 kinds:

• daily (nitya),
• circumstantial (naimittika),
• the japa of desired results (kamya), f
• orbidden (nishiddha),
• penitential (prayashchitta),
• unmoving (achala),
• moving (chala),
• voiced (vachika),
• whispered (upanshu),
• bee, or murmured (bhramara),
• mental (manasa),
• uninterrupted (akhanda),
• nonuttered (ajapa) and
• circumambulatory (pradakshina).

See: amrita, mantra, yama-niyama, yoga.

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

Atyantiki laghu gopis - are yuthesvaris and also nitya-sakhis. Sakhis such as Kusumika can be called atyantika-laghus, because they are gentle in all respects and they are insignificant in comparision with the other sakhis.

(See also: Atyantiki laghu gopis , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Pralaya (Sanskrit) [from pra away + the verbal root li to dissolve]

Dissolving away, death, dissolution, as when one pours water upon a cube of salt or sugar: the cube of salt or sugar vanishes in the water, dissolves, and changes its form. So during a pralaya, matter crumbles or vanishes away into something else which is yet in it, surrounds it, and interpenetrates it. Pralaya is often defined as the state of latency or rest between two manvantaras of great life cycles. During pralaya, everything differentiated, every unit, disappears from the phenomenal universe and is transferred into the noumenal essence which periodically throughout eternity gives birth to all the phenomena of nature. Pralaya is dissolution of the visible into the invisible, the heterogeneous into the homogeneous, relatively or absolutely -- the objective universe returns into its one primal and eternally productive Cause, to reappear at the following cosmic dawn. To our finite minds, pralaya is like a state of nonbeing -- and so it is for all existences and beings on the lower material planes.

A mahapralaya (great pralaya) is an absolute pralaya of a solar system or kosmos; a minor pralaya is a partial dissolution of some part of the solar system or cosmos, such as a planetary chain or a globe. After an absolute pralaya, when the preexisting manifested material consists of but one element, and breath "is everywhere," the creation process acts from without inwardly; but after a minor pralaya, which involves the destruction of the corporeal vehicles of things, the inner vital essences remaining untouched, the celestial bodies begin at the first flutter of manvantara their resurrection to manifested cosmic life from within outwardly.

A pralaya is not the same as an obscuration, because an obscuration means the passage of a life-wave from a globe or equivalent celestial body to a globe on another plane. During such an obscuration the globe thus abandoned by the life-wave remains in statu quo -- in a refrigerated condition, so to say -- awaiting the influx of the succeeding life-wave. In the case of obscuration the vehicle remains dormant; yet this does not signify that the body is without movement, vital or psychic, of any kind. A person, for instance, when asleep is in obscuration, and it is obvious that his physical body is still alive and active after the manner of sleeping organisms.

"It is not the physical organisms that remain in statu quo, least of all their psychical principles, during the great Cosmic or even Solar pralayas, but only their Akasic or astral 'photographs.' But during the minor pralayas, once over-taken by 'Night,' the planets remain intact, though dead, as a huge animal, caught and embedded in the polar ice, remains the same for ages" (SD 1:18n).

Theosophy divides the pralayas into several kinds: the paurusha pralaya (dissolution or death of an individual person); the atyantika pralaya (nirvana of a jivanmukta); the obscuration or individual pralaya of each globe, as a life-wave passes on to the next globe; the round-obscurations or minor pralayas of the planetary chain after each round; the bhaumika pralaya (planetary pralaya) which occurs when the seven rounds of our earth-chain are completed, also called the naimittika pralaya (dissolution during the Night of Brahma); the saurya pralaya (solar pralaya) when the whole solar system is at an end; the universal mahapralaya or Brahma pralaya, usually called the prakritika pralaya or dissolution of the cosmos at the close of an Age or Life of Brahma; and the nitya pralaya or constant, incessant evolutionary changes that take place throughout the universe and therefore affect all its parts.

"When the great period of the universal kosmic pralaya occurs, and the universe is indrawn (following the Oriental metaphor) into the bosom of Parabrahman, what then happens? The spiritual entities then enter into their paranirvana, which means exactly for them what is meant for us when we speak of the death of the human being. They are drawn by their spiritual gravitational attractions into still higher hierarchies of being, into still higher spiritual realms, therein still higher rising and growing and learning and living; while the lower elements of the kosmos, the body of the universe (even as does our physical body when the change called death comes . . .), follow their own particular gravitational attractions: the physical body to dust; the vital breath to the vital breath of the kosmos; dust to dust, breath to breath. So with the other kosmic principles, as with man's principles at his decease: the kama of our nature to the universal reservoir of the kamic organism; our manas into its dhyan-chohanic rest; our monads into their own higher life. Then when the clock of eternity points once again for the kosmos to the hour of 'coming forth into light' -- which is 'death' for the spiritual being, as death for us is life for the inner man -- when the manvantara of material life comes around again (the period of spiritual death for the kosmos is the material life of manifestation), then in the distant abysms of space and time the kosmic life-centers are aroused into activity once more . . ." (Fund 183).

(See also: Pralaya , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)