Amṛta-bindu Upaniṣad
Atharva Veda
Bhagavad-gītā
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
Brahma-saṁhitā
Brahma-sūtra
Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad
Bṛhad-viṣṇu-smṛti
Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Chāndogya Upaniṣad
Garga Upaniṣad
Gītā-māhātmya
Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad
Hari-bhakti-vilāsa
Īśopaniṣad
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
Kauṣītakī Upaniṣad
Kūrma Purāṇa
Mādhyandināyana-śruti
Mahābhārata
Mahā Upaniṣad
Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad
Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad
Nārada Pañcarātra
Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad
Nārāyaṇīya
Nirukti (dictionary)
Nṛsiṁha Purāṇa
Padma Purāṇa
Parāśara-smṛti
Praśna Upaniṣad
Puruṣa-bodhinī Upaniṣad
Ṛg Veda
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
Stotra-ratna
Subāla Upaniṣad
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
Taittirīya Upaniṣad
Upadeśāmṛta
Varāha Purāṇa
Vedānta-sūtra
Viṣṇu Purāṇa
Yoga-sūtra
Glossary
A
Ācārya – one who teaches by his own example; a spiritual master.
Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva – Lord Caitanya’s doctrine of the “inconceivable oneness and difference” of God and His energies.
Agni – the demigod of fire.
Agnihotra-yajña – the ceremonial fire sacrifice performed in Vedic rituals.
Ahaṅkāra – false ego, by which the soul misidentifies with the material body.
Ahiṁsā – nonviolence.
Akarma – “nonaction”; devotional activity, for which one suffers no reaction.
Ānanda – spiritual bliss.
Aparā-prakṛti – the inferior, material energy of the Lord (matter).
Arcana – the procedures followed for worshiping the arcā-vigraha.
Arcā-vigraha – the form of God manifested through material elements, as in a painting or statue of Kṛṣṇa worshiped in a home or temple. Present in this form, the Lord personally accepts worship from His devotees.
Āryan – a civilized follower of Vedic culture; one whose goal is spiritual advancement.
Āśramas – the four spiritual orders according to the Vedic social system: brahmacarya (student life), gṛhastha (householder life), vānaprastha (retirement) and sannyāsa (renunciation).
Aṣṭāṅga-yoga – the “eightfold path” consisting of yama and niyama (moral practices), āsana (bodily postures), prāṇāyāma (breath control), pratyāhāra (sensory withdrawal), dhāraṇā (steadying the mind), dhyāna (meditation) and samādhi (deep contemplation on Viṣṇu within the heart).
Asura – a person opposed to the service of the Lord.
Ātmā – the self. Ātmā may refer to the body, the mind, the intellect or the Supreme Self. Usually, however, it indicates the individual soul.
Avatāra – “one who descends”; a fully or partially empowered incarnation of God who descends from the spiritual realm for a particular mission.
Avidyā – ignorance.
В
Bhagavān – “He who possesses all opulences”; the Supreme Lord, who is the reservoir of all beauty, strength, fame, wealth, knowledge and renunciation.
Bhakta – a devotee.
Bhakti – devotional service to the Supreme Lord.
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu – a manual on devotional service written in Sanskrit in the sixteenth century by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
Bhakti-yoga – linking with the Supreme Lord through devotional service.
Bharata – an ancient king of India from whom the Pāṇḍavas descended.
Bhāva – ecstasy; the stage of bhakti just prior to pure love for God.
Bhīṣma – the noble general respected as the “grandfather” of the Kuru dynasty.
Brahmā – the first created being of the universe; directed by Lord Viṣṇu, he creates all life forms in the universe and rules the mode of passion.
Brahmacārī – a celibate student, according to the Vedic social system (see āśramas).
Brahma-jijñāsā – inquiry into spiritual knowledge.
Brahma-jyotir – the spiritual effulgence emanating from the transcendental body of Lord Kṛṣṇa and illuminating the spiritual world.
Brahmaloka – the abode of Lord Brahmā, the highest planet in this world.
Brahman – (1) the individual soul; (2) the impersonal, all-pervasive aspect of the Supreme; (3) the Supreme Personality of Godhead; (4) the mahat-tattva, or total material substance.
Brāhmaṇa – a member of the most intelligent class of men, according to the four Vedic occupational divisions of society.
Brahma-saṁhitā – a very ancient text recording prayers offered by Lord Brahmā to Lord Kṛṣṇa; discovered by Caitanya Mahāprabhu in South India.
Buddhi-yoga – another term for bhakti-yoga (devotional service to Kṛṣṇa), indicating that it represents the highest use of intelligence (buddhi).
C
Caitanya-caritāmṛta – the biography of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu composed in Bengali in the late sixteenth century by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu – Lord Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation in the Age of Kali. He appeared in Navadvīpa, West Bengal, in the late fifteenth century and inaugurated the yuga-dharma (prime religious dispensation for the age) – the congregational chanting of the divine names of God.
Caṇḍāla – a dog-eater; an outcaste.
Candra – the presiding demigod of the moon (Candraloka).
Cāturmāsya – the four months of the rainy season in India, during which devotees of Viṣṇu observe special austerities.
D
Deva – a demigod or godly person.
Dharma – (1) religious principles; (2) one’s eternal, natural occupation (i.e., devotional service to the Lord).
Dhyāna – meditation.
Dvāpara-yuga – See: Yugas.
G
Gandharvas – the celestial singers and musicians among the demigods.
Garbhodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu – See: Puruṣa-avatāras.
Garuḍa – the bird carrier of Lord Viṣṇu.
Goloka – Kṛṣṇaloka, the eternal abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Gosvāmī – a svāmī, one fully able to control his senses.
Gṛhastha – a married man living according to the Vedic social system.
Guṇas – the three “modes,” or qualities, of the material world: goodness, passion and ignorance.
Guru – a spiritual master.
I
Indra – the chief sovereign of heaven and presiding deity of rain.
J
Jīva (Jīvātmā) – the eternal individual soul.
Jñāna – transcendental knowledge.
Jñāna-yoga – the path of spiritual realization through a speculative philosophical search for truth.
Jñānī – one adhering to the path of jñāna-yoga.
K
Kāla – time.
Kali-yuga – the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, which began five thousand years ago and lasts a total of 432,000 years. See also: Yugas.
Karma – material activities, for which one incurs subsequent reactions.
Karma-yoga – the path of God realization through dedicating the fruits of one’s work to God.
Karmī – one engaged in karma (fruitive activity); a materialist.
Kṛṣṇaloka – the supreme abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Kṣīrodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu – See: Puruṣa-avatāras.
Kurus – the descendants of Kuru, in particular the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra who opposed the Pāṇḍavas.
L
Līlā – a transcendental “pastime,” or activity, performed by the Supreme Lord.
Loka – a planet.
M
Mahā-mantra – the “great” mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
Mahātmā – a “great soul”; a liberated person who is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Mahat-tattva – the total material energy.
Mantra – a transcendental sound or Vedic hymn.
Manu – the demigod who is the father of mankind.
Māyā – illusion; the energy of the Supreme Lord that deludes living entities into forgetfulness of their spiritual nature and of God.
Māyāvādī – an impersonalist.
Mukti – liberation from material existence.
Muni – a sage.
N
Naiṣkarmya – another term for akarma.
Nārāyaṇa – the four-armed form of Lord Kṛṣṇa who presides over the Vaikuṇṭha planets; Lord Viṣṇu.
Nirguṇa – without attributes or qualities. In reference to the Supreme Lord, the term signifies that He is beyond material qualities.
Nirvāṇa – freedom from material existence.
O
Oṁ (Oṁ-kāra) – the sacred syllable that represents the Absolute Truth.
P
Pāṇḍavas – the five sons of King Pāṇḍu: Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.
Pāṇḍu – the brother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and father of the Pāṇḍava brothers.
Paramātmā – the Supersoul; the localized aspect of the Supreme Lord; the indwelling witness and guide who accompanies every conditioned soul.
Paramparā – a disciplic succession.
Prakṛti – energy or nature.
Prāṇāyāma – breath control, as a means of advancement in yoga.
Prasādam – sanctified food; food offered in devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Pratyāhāra – sensory withdrawal, as a means of advancement in yoga.
Prema – pure, spontaneous devotional love for God.
Pṛthā – Kuntī, the wife of King Pāṇḍu and mother of the Pāṇḍavas.
Purāṇas – the eighteen historical supplements to the Vedas.
Puruṣa – “the enjoyer”; the individual soul or the Supreme Lord.
Puruṣa-avatāras – the primary expansions of Lord Viṣṇu who effect the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material universes. Kāraṇodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu (Mahā-viṣṇu) lies within the Causal Ocean and breathes out innumerable universes; Garbhodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu enters each universe and creates diversity; Kṣīrodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu (the Supersoul) enters into the heart of every created being and into every atom.
R
Rajo-guṇa – the mode of passion.
Rākṣasas – a race of man-eating demons.
Rāma – (1) a name of Lord Kṛṣṇa meaning “the source of all pleasure”; (2) Lord Rāmacandra, an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa as a perfect righteous king.
Rūpa Gosvāmī – the leader of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, principal followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
S
Sac-cid-ānanda – eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.
Sādhu – a saint or Kṛṣṇa conscious person.
Saguṇa – “possessing attributes or qualities.” In reference to the Supreme Lord, the term signifies that He has spiritual, transcendental qualities.
Samādhi – trance; complete absorption in God consciousness.
Saṁsāra – the cycle of repeated birth and death in the material world.
Sanātana-dharma – the eternal religion: devotional service.
Śaṅkara (Śaṅkarācārya) – the great philosopher who established the doctrine of advaita (nondualism), stressing the nonpersonal nature of God and the identity of all souls with the undifferentiated Brahman.
Sāṅkhya – (1) analytical discrimination between spirit and matter; (2) the path of devotional service as described by Lord Kapila, the son of Devahūti.
Saṅkīrtana – congregational glorification of God, especially through chanting of His holy name.
Sannyāsa – the renounced order of life for spiritual culture.
Sannyāsī – a person in the renounced order.
Śāstra – revealed scripture; Vedic literature.
Sattva-guṇa – the mode of goodness.
Satya-yuga – See: Yugas.
Śiva – the demigod who supervises the material mode of ignorance (tamo-guṇa) and who annihilates the material cosmos.
Smaraṇam – devotional remembrance (of Lord Kṛṣṇa); one of the nine basic forms of bhakti-yoga.
Smṛti – revealed scriptures supplementary to the Vedas, such as the Purāṇas.
Soma-rasa – a celestial beverage imbibed by the demigods.
Śravaṇam – hearing about the Lord; one of the nine basic forms of devotional service.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam – the Purāṇa, or history, written by Vyāsadeva specifically to give a deep understanding of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Śruti – the Vedas.
Śūdra – a member of the laborer class of men, according to the four Vedic occupational divisions of society.
Svāmī – one fully able to control his senses; a person in the renounced order.
Svargaloka – the heavenly material planets, the abodes of the demigods.
Svarūpa – the original spiritual form, or constitutional position, of the soul.
T
Tamo-guṇa – the mode of ignorance.
Tretā-yuga – See: Yugas.
U
Upaniṣads – 108 philosophical treatises that appear within the Vedas.
V
Vaikuṇṭhas – the eternal planets of the spiritual world.
Vaiṣṇava – a devotee of the Supreme Lord.
Vaiśya – a member of the mercantile and agricultural class, according to the four Vedic occupational divisions of society.
Vānaprastha – a man who has retired from householder life to cultivate greater renunciation, according to the Vedic social system.
Varṇāśrama-dharma – the Vedic social system, which organizes society into four occupational and four spiritual divisions (varṇas and āśramas).
Vasudeva
