Hinduism Vocab

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Arjuna

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Arjuna: one of the 5 Pāṇḍavas, hero and martial artist of the Mahābhārata, friend of Krishna

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ātman

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ātman: the soul of the individual, what reincarnates from one life to the next

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avatāra

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avatāra: human incarnations of the gods, especially noted in the case of Vishnu

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Bhagavad-Gītā:

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Bhagavad-Gītā: the Song of God, the counsel given to the warrior Arjuna by Kṛishṇa

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brahman

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brahman: impersonal absolute, absolute sound of the Vedic mantras (verses); god above gods

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caste (varṇa):

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caste (varṇa): division into brahmin (priest), kshatriya (warrior), vaishya (commoner) & shūdra (laborer)

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four goals

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four goals: four purposes of life—Dharma (religion), artha (power/money), kāma (sex) and moksha

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grihya

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grihya: domestic rituals of passage, still performed today—birth, initiation, marriage, death, etc.

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guru

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guru: Sanskrit for “teacher,” now always meaning a religious instructor

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Indo-europeans

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Indo-europeans: those bringing the Vedic culture and language from Central Asia to India

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jāti

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jāti: “birth group”—the several thousand local groups that form the caste system in practice

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karma

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karma: moral action and its necessary consequences throughout reincarnation

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Krishna

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Krishna: an incarnation of Vishnu—baby, cowherd, prince—instructor of Arjuna in the Gītā

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Mahābhārata

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Mahābhārata: great epic of India, battle between the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas

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māyā

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māyā: illusion, the world as seen from the perspective of Vedānta

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moksha

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moksha: liberation from saṃsāra sought by shramana ascetics, yogins and samnyāsins

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outcaste

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outcaste: those outside and below the four varṇas of the caste system

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prakriti

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prakriti : “cosmic substance” the matter/energy directed by purusha

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purāṇas

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purāṇas: non-tantric literature of India that sets the mythological background for the tantras

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purusha

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purusha: the inactive actor in the Sāmkhya system that directs prakriti

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Rāma

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Rāma: incarnation of Vishṇu, the hero of the epic Rāmāyana, the ideal husband and prince

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Rishi

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Rishi: the Vedic sages who heard the text of the shruti resounding in the cosmos

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Sāṃkhya

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Sāṃkhya: dualist system of Indian thought, derived from old shramana religion

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saṃsāra

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saṃsāra: the world of transmigration, where karma and reincarnation operate

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shrāddha

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shrāddha: rites to the departed ancestors that sustain their lives in the afterlife

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shramana

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shramana: ascetics who renounce family/career for painful practices to gain moksha

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shruti

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shruti: that which is heard—the Vedas, i.e., the Samhita, ritual, forest texts and Upanishads

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Sītā

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Sītā: Rāma’s wife in the Rāmāyana, captured by Rāvaṇa and saved by Hanuman the monkey god

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smriti

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smriti: that which is remembered—epic, legal, purāṇic, tantric, and other Sanskrit texts

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stages of life (āshrama):

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stages of life (āshrama): the four stages of student, householder, retiree, and saṃnyāsin

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twice-born

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twice-born: the three higher castes whose males are initiated (reborn) as adolescents

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three debts

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three debts: brahmins’ debts to the gods (sacrifice), rishi (memorizing a Veda) and ancestors (children)

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upanayana

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upanayana: “second birth” initiation of young boys of the twice-born castes

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Upanishad

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Upanishad: the mystical literature espousing the idea of brahman as an impersonal absolute

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Varṇāshrama Dharma

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Varṇāshrama Dharma: one self-definition of Hinduism—“religion of caste and stages of life”

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Vedānta

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Vedānta: the school of the Upanishads—brahman is reality, the world is māyā

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Vedas

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Vedas: the four ancient texts of Hinduism—Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva

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Vishnu

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Vishnu : god who preserves the universe, maintaining the caste system via 10 major incarnations

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yoga

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yoga : union or discipline involving mental, emotional, or physical control

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saṃnyāsin

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saṃnyāsin: the fourth stage of life, the orthoprax appropriation of the shramana system