caitanya 
Consciousness

caitanya prakāśa 
Self-shining Consciousness

caitanyapratibimba
The reflected consciousness, the jīva

cakra (or kamala)
Wheel or lotus flower, name of subtle centers located in the human body

cakṣus
The sense of sight

caṇḍāla
Untouchables: categories of śūdra performing impure tasks in contact with blood and death

candra loka 
The worlds of the moon, the bhogaloka of those who have traveled the pitṛyāṇa

cāndrāyaṇa
Fasting in four stages of seven days: starting on the night of the full moon, the fasting gradually decreases the food until the complete fast in the new moon. Then, gradually, we return to normal.

cārvāka
Ancient Indian materialistic current

caramavṛtti 
Perceptions from the outside world

caturbhuja 
With four arms

caturtha
Synonym of Turīya (see)

catuṣṭaya 
Fourfold (see)

caitya
Object of consciousness

cetana 
A conscious being (see)

chāyāvāda
Doctrine of the shadow, a variant of abhāsavāda (see)

cidātman 
The conscious Self

cidrūpa 
Nature of Consciousness

cinmātra 
Consistent of pure Consciousness

cinmāyā
Consisting of pure Consciousness

cintāmaṇi 
Philosopher’s Stone

cintana
Synonym of upāsanā (see)

cintya 
Thought, meditated

ciraṅjīvan
Longevity, extension of bodily life until the end of time allowed to mankind

ciraṅjīvin
Eight mythical characters who have obtained the ciraṅjīvan, in order to carry out their missions

cit 
The feature of being conscious; an object endowed with consciousness

citta
1. Individual consciousness; 
2. The memory as a repository of remembrances

cittavṛtti 
Current of thoughts and mental images

codana 
Rule

codana tantra 
Scriptural rules

​​

dahara vākya 
Minor aphorisms, which teach the sciences of the non-Supreme

dahara vidyā
Meditation on the heart

daihika
Adjective of deha, bodily

daihika karma 
Body activity

daiva
Divine will, providence

dakṣināyaṇa
The journey of the sun to the south: the six months of pitṛyāṇa starting from the summer solstice

dama 
Vedāntic control of the senses

dāna 
Gift, offer

dhāraṇā 
The yogic concentration

darśana
1. Point of view or perspective; 
2. The six doctrinal points of view to examine reality; 
3. Vision of the Ātman

darśāntam
What one has to see, to know, to understand

dārṣṭāntika 
Use of the symbol or of the example taken as an evidence

dautya 
Mission, message

deha (or sthūla śarīra, v.)
The mortal body composed of the five elements

dehānta
End of body, death

dehin
An individual being coated with a gross body during earthly life

Deva
The Self-shining God

Deva loka
The different skies that are the steps on the devayāna and places of fruition for those who do not incorporate in Hiraṇyagarbha.

devatā
The gods, the deities

devayāna
The way of the gods, the posthumous path that leads the soul (jīvātman) of the yogi through the heavens until to be incorporated into Hiraṇyagarbha

dhana
The wealth, the properties

dhananjaya
That produces wealth

dhāraṇā
1. Mind concentration, sixth aṅga of the Yoga darśana; 
2. Stay fast to turn karmic responsibility on a certain person

dharma
1. The Universal Law; the Hindū Tradition; 
2. The set of ritualistic precepts in both external and initiatory field; 
3. Object, thing; 
4. essential quality, property, condition, peculiarity

dharmajñāna
The ritual science

dhārmika
Conformed to Dharma, the virtues

dharmin
1. Who follows the Dharma; 
2. Who is subject to some rules, states or conditions

dharmya
1. Who is in conformity with the Universal Order, the Just one; 
2. Attribute of Īśvara

dhātu
Body component, limb or organ

dhi
Pacification, contemplation

dhīkṣita
Anointed, consecrated; it is used for the sovereigns

dhyāna
Meditation or contemplation, seventh aṅga of yogadarśana. It is not necessarily attributed to the initiatory sphere

Dhyānayoga
Initiatory method based on meditation and contemplation of a god or os Īśvara; it belongs to the Bhakti yoga level; in Vedānta it is synonymous with Adhyātmayoga

dik 
Space direction

dīkṣākaraṇa
Initiation rite

dīkṣākarin
The one who gives the initiation, , guru o upaguru

dīkṣā
Initiation; the rite of initiation

dīkṣita
Who got initiation (dīkṣā, see) from a guru

divya
Bright, divine, heavenly

draṣṭṭa
Synonym for dṛṣṭṛ (see)

dravya 
Thing, substance, material

dṛg-dṛśya viveka 
Discrimination between the seer and the seen

dṛś
1. To see; 
2. Synonym for dṛṣṭṛ (see)

dṛśati
What is being seen; apparition, appearance, phenomenon

dṛṣṭa 
Visible

dṛṣṭāntam 
The things one sees, appearance, an example

dṛṣṭa phala 
Visible result of the action obtained during the life

dṛṣṭi 
Vision, point of view, observation point, angle of perspective

dṛṣṭividyā
The science of seeing correctly

dṛṣṭṛ 
The beholder, the observer, the seer, the viewer

dṛśya
One thing seen, observed; the spectacle

duḥkha
Pain, suffering

dvādaśāha
Twelve-day sacrifice. It has two modes of implementation: ahīna (see) and sattra (see)

dvaitavāda 
Doctrine holding that the Principle is dual

Dvaita Vedānta
Dualistic Vedānta founded by Madhva

dveṣa 
Repulsion

dvija
Twice born; those who have completed the upanayana rite of aggregation to the caste; synonym of ārya

​​

eka 
One, alone

ekāgratā
1. Reductio ad unum, unification, concentration on only one object; 
2. The goal of yoga (union)

ekatā
Unification, a typical term of Yoga darśana​

ekatva 
Uniqueness

gaṇa
1. Multitude, group; 2. A category of demigods

gandha
1. Perfume; 2. The tanmātra allowing to smell

gandharva
Demigods, heavenly musicians, inhabitants of the atmosphere

gandharva loka
The world of gandharvas, one of the subdivisions of candra loka

gārhasthya
Second stage of life for the hindū of caste, householder

gauṇam 
Descriptive, qualifying

gauṇam ekatvam 
Inseparable correlation

gāyatrī
Sāvitrī namesake

ghanatva  
Homogeneous, undifferentiated state

ghatākāśa
Limited space

ghrāṇa
The sense of smell

ghṛta (Or ghī)
clarified butter

gotra
Clan, tribe, group of families descended from the same ancestor

grāhāgrāhakbhāva
Relationship between subject and object (between who grabs and who is grasped)

grāhaka
Lit. “the grasping one”, the knowing subject, synonymous with pramātṛ (see)

grahana 
Understanding, cognition

grahaṇābhāva
Non-existence of understanding or non-understanding

gṛhapati
Home owner

gṛhastha
Householder, who is in the second stage of life

gṛhya
Belonging to the house, referred to the gṛhastha

guṇa
1. Quality, attribute; 
2. The three qualities of becoming contained in the Prakṛti of Sāṃkhya

guru
Lit. Ponderous, serious, important; master who gives initiation, and teaches the doctrine and the initiatory method

gurukula 
The school of a guru

guruśisyaparaṃparā 
Initiatory chain of masters and disciples

​​

haṃsa
1. Swan or wild goose, the name which defines the perfect humanity of satya yuga, the Gold Age; 
2. Penultimate spiritual level of saṃnyāsin, which restores the primordial human state; 
3. Anagram of so’ham; 
4. Inhalation and exhalation

Haṭhayoga
‘Yoga of the effort’, preparatory initiatory method consisting in control of the body and its vital breaths (see prāṇa)

hetu
Logic reasoning

hetuvidyā
Dialectical science

hetvābhāsa
Fallacious reasoning

Hiraṇyagarbha
The golden embryo of cosmic Egg, Brahmā as the principle manifesting the world and giving life, Anima mundi, jīva ghana (see)

hiraṇyagarbha
Ritual of admission to a caste

homa 
Oblatory sacrifice to the fire

hṛdayapura
Brahmā citadel located in the heart

icchā
Individual will

Iḍā
A subtle artery on the left side of the body

idam
Lit. “This”, external and internal objects, what is distinct from “That” (Tat, see), the Ātman

iha
Here, down here, our world

indrajāla
Indra’s network; show of magic or illusionism

indriya
Eleven individual faculties or powers: the five senses (jñānendriya), the five faculties of action (karmendriya) and the mind (manas) also called inner sense (antarindriya)

indriya anubhava
Sensory experience

indriyagocara
Perceivable by the senses

indriya golaka
The both external and internal bodily organ used as a tool of the corresponding sense faculties or vital breaths

indriya nigraha
Control of the senses

iṣṭi
Will, desire

iṣṭa
The desired thing

Īśvara
1.The Lord, the absolutely independent;
2. The Lord understood as sovereign and cause of the manifestation

Itihāsa
The two epic poems, Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa

jaḍa 
Dull, foolish, senseless

jaḍatva
senselessness

jaḍavastu 
Insentient, gross, inanimate object

jāgarita
The waking state

jāgarita sthāna
The stationing in the waking state, synonymous with jāgrat avasthā (see)

jagadaiśvarya 
Domain on the Cosmos

Jagadguru
Title of the successors to the four Maṭhas founded by Śaṃkara

jagat 
The world, especially that in waking

jāgrat avasthā
The waking state

jāgrat cetanā 
Consciousness of the waking state

jāgrat prapañca
The world of waking state

jāgrat puruṣa
 The person or knower subject in the waking state

janma 
birth

janus 
Genre, general, generality

jāpa
The repetition of the mantra

jāti 
Nature, kind of birth, genus, species, race, caste

jijñāsā
Desire of knowing the Absolute

jijñāsu
The seeker of the knowledge of the Absolute

jīva
1. The “I” living, the ego; The human individual submitted to transmigration; 
2. The apparent shape of Ātman

jīva bhava 
The individual condition

jīva anubhava (Or saṃsāri anubhava)
The intuition of existing as jīva

jīva ghana
Agglomerate of life, Hiraṇyagarbha as Anima Mundi, the universal Ego of the waking world

jīva jagatrūra
The binomial formed by “I” and the world

jīvan
Individual life, the state of existence of the beings subject to the limits produced by nāma-rūpa

jīvan mukta
The liberated during the life

jīvātman
1. The Ātman apparently subjected to living conditions; 
2. Jīva as an individual living soul

jīvātva 
Condition of existence as living individual

jñāna
Synthetic, direct, immediate knowledge without intermediaries; defining both the Intuition of the Absolute, that is, the supreme metaphysical Knowledge, and also any direct partial intuition, such as sensory perception

jñāna abhāva 
Absence of knowledge

jñānābhyāsa 
Repetition of the cognitive investigation

jñānaguru
Master of Knowledge, Spiritual Instructor

jñāna khaṇḍa (or jñāna kāṇḍa)
Section of the Veda dedicated to knowledge; the Upaniṣads

jñāna khaṇḍa śāstrīya vyavahāra 
Scriptural teaching about what is inscrutable to senses and mind

jñāna mārga
The path of Knowledge, the Advaita Vedānta

jñāna niṣṭhā
Conclusion of cognitive quest; fulfillment of the desire of knowledge (jijñāsā, see)

jñānaprakāśa 
Cognitive lighting

jñāna-śabda
Words or terms referring to Knowledge

jñāna vākya (Or nirguṇa vākya)
Aphorisms on Supreme Knowledge (v. mahāvākhya)

jñāna yoga
The method of Knowledge, Advaita Vedānta

jñāna yoga vyavahāra
Beginning of the Vedānta vicāra (see) in which the jñāni (see) investigates the illusory nature of the empirical world

jñānendriya
The faculties of knowledge (jñāna-indriya), the five senses

jñāni
Who is following the path of Knowledge jñāna mārga

jñapti
Effort or activity aimed at knowledge

jñātṛ (Or jñātā)
the knower

jñeya 
The knowable or known thing, the object of knowledge

jyoti 
Light

jyotir bhavati
The light that illuminates the dream state, light that comes from Ātman

kaivalya
1. State of solitude and total renunciation; 
2. Synonym of mukti

kāla
Time, becoming

Kāla
God of time, Death, hypostasis of Śiva

kalā
1. A part, a fraction; 
2. The sixteen lunar digits

kalpa
1. Idea, mental image;
2. A great time cycle including manvantaras, mahāyugas and yugas

kalpanā
The mental faculty of imagination

kalpita
Imagined, invented, artificial

kalpita saṃvṛti 
Incorrect imagination

kalpya
Ritualistic, belonging to karma khaṇḍa

kalpya prakriyā
Ritualistic method

kāma
Desire, desires for pleasure

Kāma 
God of Love

kāmaga
Who is prey to the passions

kāmakāra 
Producer of desires

kamala
Lotus-flower

kāmaśāstra
Science studying mental production of desires for enjoyments and related human behavior

kapha 
The phlegm of the tridoṣa (see)

Kāpila sāṃkhya
The Sāṃkhya darśana

kapūya caraṇa
Ignoble behaviours

kāra
The maker, the producer

kāraka 
Action tools

karaṇa
1. Tool; 
2. Instrumental case 

kāraṇa 
Cause

kāraṇa avasthā 
The false concept of a “causal state” attributed to suṣupti avasthā or Prājña. It sould contain indistinctly all objects manifesting themselves as its effects in waking and in dream state

kāraṇa-kārya saṃbhandha
Cause-effect relation

kāraṇa śarīra
The presumed causal body contained in kāraṇa avasthā (see)

kāraṇatvam
Causality 

kārikā
Aphorism, short doctrinal statement in verse

karma
Any action, especially the ritual one

karmabhūmi
Land where one can perform rituals

karma jāti
Birth that allows the performance of rituals

karma khaṇḍa 
Section of the Veda dedicated to rituals, including Saṃhitā, Brāhmaṇa e Āraṇyaka

karma khaṇḍa śāstrīya vyavahāra
Scriptural teaching concerning rituals

karma loka
World where ritual actions can be performed

karma mārga
Initiatic path based on ritual, also called as work or action path

karmāṅga
Composed of ritual actions

karmaphala
Synonym of kriyāphala (see)

karmavaśa
Subjected to action

karma yoga
1. The way of action: 
2. In Vedāntic language, any method used for the purification of the mind operating on a bodily, verbal or mental level as a preparation for the jñāna yoga

karma yoga vyavahāra
The individual modalities purification operating through bodily, verbal or mental karmas

karmendriya
The faculties of action: walking, grasping, word, generation and excretion, related to the five prāṇa

kartavyāntara 
Commitment, engagement

kartṛ (Or kartā)
who does the action, the agent

kartṛbhava 
The state of being an agent (kartṛ, see)

kartṛtva 
To be an agent

karuṇā 
Mercy, compassion

kārya 
Effect of a cause (kāraṇa)

Kārya Brahman 
The non-Supreme Brahman understood as an apparent effect of the Supreme

kārya dharma 
Production, produced thing

kāryakāraṇabhāva ālocana 
Reflection on the cause and effect relations

kārya-kāraṇa vicāra 
Discussion on cause and effect

kaumārakāya
1. Prolongation of the corporeal life maintaining a youthful appearance, generally of sixteen years; 
2. Who drank the liqueur of permanent youth

kāya
Body

kāyaka  
Bodily

kāyaka kriyā
Body action

kāya sādhana
Yogic and alchemical technique to obtain kaumārakāya (see)

ketana (Or liṅga, see)
symbol

kevala 
Alone, unique

kīrti
Glory

kośa
Casing; The five casings of Ātman; annamaya, prāṇomaya, manomaya, vijñānomaya, ānandamaya (see)

kṛ 
Doing, acting, producing

krama mukti 
Liberation by degrees

kratutantra
“Accomplished with effort of will,” so the sādhana of the aparavidyā is called, opposite of the vastutantra (see)

kṛcchara
A five-day expiatory fast in which one feeds only on the boiling water of various herbs and flowers.

kriyā
1. Describes any activity performed during the waking state; 
2. Implementation of ritual; 
3. Ritual technique

kriyākārakaphalabhāva
Relationship between action, agent of action and result of action

kriyāmana karman
The prārabdha (see) when it passes from potency to act and that in this way it gets exhausted

kṛtānta
Pulse coming from past karma, destiny

Kriyāyoga 
Initiatic method based on ritual actions towards external or symbolic objects on which to meditate, such as temples, sculptures, paintings, or more. It’s part of Karma yoga

krodha 
The rage

kṛtākṛtya 
What is how it should be and is not how it should not be; Complete, satisfied

kṣaṇa
Instant, moment; the smallest measure of time

kṣara
Transient, in becoming, perishable

kṣatriya
Belonging to the warrior or aristocratic caste

kṣetra 
The field, i.e. the anātman

kṣetrajñā 
The knower of the field, i.e. the Ātman

kṣobha
Agitation, frenzy

kula
1,Family;
2. Initiatic organization or sampradāya (see)

kumāra
1. Young boy; 
2. Prince

kuṇḍalinī
The ringed, the individual consciousness rolled up like a snake at the base of the spine

kuṭa 
Mountain, fortress, mighty tree

kutarka
Misleading logic, sophism; synonym for śuṣka tarka (see)

kūṭastha
Unshakable, stable, motionless like a mountain

lābha 
1. Obtainment, acquisition;
2. Spiritual realization

lajjā 
Decency, shame

lakṣana 
Charateristic

lakṣaṇā
Metaphorical description

lakṣya 
Object of concentration, aim or goal to reach through meditation

laukika daihika karma 
Profane activity accomplished with the body

laukika jñāna 
Profane knowledge, empirical science

laukika karma 
Worldly action

laukika mānasa karma 
The profane thought

laukika vācika karma 
The profane speech

laukika vyavahāra
1. The worldly and empirical dimension, which can be investigated through the senses and the mind; 
2. The profane domain

laya
1. The dissolution of the attention, the drowsiness that can capture those who are contemplating; 
2. Solution, dissolution, is mainly used at a microcosmic level; Corresponds to the solution of alchemists; 
3. What hides or make disappear

Layayoga
The dissolving method, used to dissolve the confidence in contingent appearances. It’s part of the Karma yoga

līlā (or krīḍā)
1. Game, fun; 
2. Activity performed without attachment

liṅga
1. Symbol; 
2. Subtle, psychic; 
3. Main aniconic mūrti of Śiva

liṅga śarīra
Subtle body, sum of the psychic components of the individual

loka (Lat. locus)
1. A world or a degree of existence; 
2. It can be used to determine parts of a single degree of existence (see tailokya) or even smaller regions belonging to a sector of the same world

lokāyata
Worldly, cārvāka (see)

madhu
Honey, symbol of soma and amṛta

madhu vidyā
The honey science, the science of immortality

madhyamādhikārin
Initiate with median qualifications

mahābhūta
1. According to Vedānta they are the subtle principles of the five gross bhūtas, what Sāṃkhya calls tanmātra (see); 
2. In Sāṃkhya, however, they are what Vedānta simply calls bhūtas

Mahān Ātman
The great Ātman, the cosmic Buddhi, i.e. Hiraṇyagarbha

mahānidrā
The great dream, the saṃsāra; The universe as a “dream” of Hiraṇyagarbha

mahāpralaya
Great dissolution, flood of fire and water ending a kalpa (see pratisarga) or, only theoretically, the whole universal manifestation (see prakṛtasarga)

mahāsupti 
The great sleep

mahātmā
Cosmic function of Universal Intelligence (Hiraṇyagarbha)

mahat 
Synonyms for buddhi (see)

mahāvākya 
Lit. “Greeat Saying”, four synthetic phrases containing the entire Vedānta teaching

mahāvīrya 
Great hero, exceptional character

malina
Impure, dirty, corrupt

mallayuddha 
Martial art

mama
What is “mine”, the property of “I”

mamaka
See mama

mamakāra 
Who extends his egoism on external objects

mamatā
1. The sense of “mine”; 
2. Idea of property as a desire for the aham expansion (see); 
3. greed

manana
The Vedāntic methodical reflection

manani śakti
Faculty of thinking

manas 
The mind supervising the faculties of sensation and action, registering the sensations of sukha, pleasure, and duḥkha, suffering, and reacting to them with rāga, attraction, and dveṣa, repulsion

mānasa kriyā (Or mānasa karma)
mental action; Concentration of mind in meditation

mānasa pratyakṣa
Lit. “Mental perception”, the mental intuition

manasarga 
Mental construction, creative imagination

mānasa vṛtti
Mental modification, thought

mānasika
Adjective of mind, mental

mānava dharma
The human dharma in harmony with the cosmic order

mānava loka
1. This world in which human beings manifest themselves in order to carry out actions;
2. The karma loka (see) par excellence

maṇḍala
1. Circle, circumference; 
2. Circular diagram containing a yantra used as meditation support;
3. Heavenly spheres that are part of the devalokas

maṅgala 
Propitious, auspicious

manogocara 
Conceivable by the mind

manomaya kośa
Casing of Ātman made of mind

Manonigraha yoga
The mind control path, synonymous with Adhyātma

manovijñāna
The sciences that study the functioning of the mind and feelings

mantra 
Formula or “enchantment” to pronounce, to whisper or think, that should be repeated during meditation

Mantrayoga (Or Sphoṭayoga)
Method to recognize that beyond the contingent world there is an absolute being. It’s part of Karma yoga

mantra, yantra, tantra 
The three instruments used as a method in the ways of non-supreme knowledge: “enchantment”, cosmography, theory

Manu
The thinker, the archetypal man, the first man, the human species, the primordial man

manuṣa
Man as thinking being, endowed with manas (see)

manuṣya
Human, belonging to man as thinking being

manuṣyajāti
Human birth

mānuṣaloka (Or bhūloka)
our degree of existence characterized by the presence of man

manuṣya rākṣasa
Human demons, initiates acting against dharma

manvantara
The era of a Manu, the cycle of existence of one Humanity

maraṇa-kāla 
The time of death

mārga
1. Footprints track, street, path; 
2. The Initiatic Way

maryādā
Rule of conduct

mastiṣka
The brain, the bodly organ used by the mind, intellect, and memory (antaḥkāraṇa, see)

maṭha
Hermitage, gathering place of sādhakas (see)

mātṛkā
1. Yardstick; 
2. Syllabic graphical sign of Sanskrit;
3. Mother

mauna
1. Silence, inexpressible; 
2. Initiate that concluded nididhyāsana; 
3. Muni degree which overtakes the magisterial function of guru and makes a vow of silence

Māyā
The illusion, the power of Brahman to produce the manifestation, synonymous with śakti and prakṛti

Māyāvin 
The illusionist

māyika 
Produced by Māyā; illusory

megha
Monsoon rainy cloud

mīmāṃsā
Survey; the term applies both to Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta or Uttara Mīmāṃsā

mīmāṃsaka
An adjective that refers to Pūrva Mīmāṃsā

mithyā
Synonym with bhrama (see)

mithyā abhimāna
False identification

moha
Illusion, deception, synonymous with Māyā (see)

mohana
 Illusory, deceitful

mokṣa (Or mukti)
The Liberation from the ignorance and the round of the rebirths in saṃsara

mṛg
Following the footsteps of a fair, following the teaching and experience of the guru

mṛga
Wild animal, a fair, an antelope

mṛtyor mṛtyuḥ
Death that kills death, initiatic death

mudrā
1. Symbolic gestures of hands; 
2. Parched grain, one of the Tantric pañcamakāras (see)

mukha 
Mouth, head, top

mukhya ekatvam
Main uniqueness

mukhya kaivalya 
The highest loneliness, Liberation

mukhya mukti 
The supreme Liberation

mukhyatvat
Preeminence, superiority

mukta
The liberated

mukta jīvātman
The liberated soul, which obtained the relative Liberation (āpekṣika mukti, see), i.e. the association of individual jīva with Hiraṇyagarbha

mukti 
Synonymous with mokṣa (see)

mūlabhāṣya 
Basic commentary

mūlāvidyā 
The supposedly eternal and substantial root-ignorance

mūlāvidyāvāda
Vedānta‘s deviated doctrine supporting the existence of an eternal and substantial root-ignorance

mūlāvidyāvādin 
Supporter of the mūlāvidyā theory

mumukṣā
Burning desire to get mokṣa

mumukṣu
Those who aspire to Liberation, mokṣa

mumukṣutva 
The inner situation of those who want to get mokṣa

muni 
Initiate keeping the silence vote (see mauna)

mūṣaka 
Mouse, the Gaṇeśa mount

nāda 
Sound

nāḍī
Rivers, channels, subtle arteries located in the body. The main ones are: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, Suṣumṇā

nāga
1. A cobra, a snake; 
2. A category of demigods

niḥśreyasa 
The incomparable happiness

naisarga
Innate, natural

naiśkarmya 
Without karma

naiyāyika
Logician, follower of Nyāya darśana (see)

nāma
1. The name as an individual qualifier; 
2. A Divine name as mantra

nāma-rūpa
1. The “name” and “form” binomial meant as projections of efficient and substantial causes within the manifestation; 
2. Illusionistic instruments of Māyā

nāmarūpavat
Formal, individual

nāra
The human being, from the bodly point of view, corresponding to Viraṭ in the Macrocosm

nāstika
Who denies the existence of Brahman-Ātman

Navīna Nyāya
The new Nyāya (see) of medieval era, more speculative and sophistical then ancient logic

naraka
Hell, the lowest part of the pitṛloka (see), where damned souls spend the rest of their individual existence before trasmigrating

nārya jāti
The human species

naśa 
Distruction, remuoval

nāstikavāda
Doctrine that denies the existence of an absolute Principle, sometimes incorrectly translated with “heterodoxy” or “heresy”

neti neti
“Neither this nor this” (BU IV. 2. 4), a formula used to discriminate (viveka, vijñāna) Ātman from anātman

nidrā
1. Drowsiness, mental twilight state between waking and dreaming; 
2. The mistake of falling asleep during contemplation; 
3. According to Yoga it is the state of relaxation and absence of thoughts experienced during the practice of saṃyama (see) as an experience of emptiness (tamas, śūnya, see) of the internal organ; 
4. In Vedānta, nidrā with dreams is svāpna, nidrā dreamless is suṣupti

nididhyāsana (or adhyātma yoga)
contemplation, contemplative attention, deep meditation, one of the means to attain Liberation from ignorance and to recognize his own identity with Brahman

nimitta kāraṇa 
Efficient cause

nirākāra 
Without shape, without form

nirapekṣa 
Without relationships

nirguṇa
Devoid of qualities and attributes

nirguṇatā
Absence of qualities

nirodha 
Destruction, removal

nirṛti
Primordial chaos, ignorance, Prakṛti of Sāṃkhya

nirupādhika 
Devoid of upādhi  (see)

nirvāṇa 
Lit. shutdown; exhaustion, overcoming the individuality

nirvikalpa samādhi
Union without difference; for Yoga darśana the yogic “fusion” between yogi and Īśvara

nirvikāra 
Immutable

nirviśeṣa 
Free of characteristics or distinctions, undifferentiated

niścaya 
Resolution, decision, certainty

niśedha 
Prohibition, interdiction

niśkala 
Indivisible

niṣkāma
Free from desire

niṣkāraṇa 
Without reason, without cause

niśprapañca
World-free Reality

nitya 
1. Immutable, eternal, synonymous with anādi;
2. In certain contexts it means permanent

nityajaḍa 
Perpetually insentient

nityamaya
Object of perennial or permanent nature

nityamukta 
Eternally free

nityānitya
The eternal and the changing things

nityaśas śuddha
Eternally pure

nitya, śuddha, buddha, mukta sambhava 
Eternal, pure, conscious, free existence 

nivṛtti
1. Removal, correction of a mistake; 
2. Life of renunciation or contemplation

niyama
Restriction, second “member” of Yoga darśana; set of rules to control the faculties of action

niyoga
Necessary, indispensable, mandatory

niyukta
Mandatory

Nyāya
Lit. “the Rule”; The darśana of logic

nyāyasambaddha
Concerning the logic

Oṃkāra upāsana
Meditation on the sacred monosyllable Oṃ

pāda
Foot, fourth, the four pāda of Ātman are three avasthās and Turīya (see)

pada 
Word

padārtha 
Object that can be described with a word

pākṣapāta
Free of prejudices

pāna 
Drink, liquid

pañcāgni vidyā 
The knowledge of the five fires, upaniṣadic initiatic science teaching how to obtain a better rebirth with sacrificial means and to start up at Liberation

pañcakośa vicāra
Vedāntic discussion on the non-reality of the five kośas

pañcamakāra
The five “M”, Ritual actions of the Tantrism of “the left hand”, forbidden by the Vedic tradition: madya, drinking alcohol, māṃsa, eating meat, matsya, eating fish, mudrā, eating parched grain, maithuna, intercourse. Tantrism of the “right hand” interprets pañcamakāras in symbolic form

pañcaprakriyā 
Five applications of the adhyāropāpavāda method

pañcaratnam 
Five jewels

paṇḍita
1. Learned in a branch of traditional knowledge; 
2. Who teaches the doctrine by proxy of the guru; 
3. The saṃnyāsin who has realized pāṇḍitya (see)

pāṇḍitya
1. The teaching function; 
2. Phase of instruction received by a guru, corresponding to śrāvaṇa

pāṇḍitya-bālya-mauna 
The three phases of education, reflection and contemplation of the saṃnyāsin

panth
1. Proceed;
2. The initiation journey

pāntha (Or pānthin) 
who is traveling on the initiation path

pāpa 
Guilty, reprehensible act

pāparahitatva 
Absence of guilt

Parabrahman 
The Supreme Brahman, the Absolute, sometimes called Brahman nirguṇa, devoid of qualities, or Kāraṇa Brahman, the cause (of Kārya Brahman) when compared to the apparent reality of the non-Supreme

Parabrahma vidyā (Or simply Brahma vidyā)
the knowledge of the Supreme, the Advaita Vedānta

paralaukika 
Ultramundane

paraloka 
A higher world, the other world

parama bhoga loka
The highest heaven, the Brahmaloka

paramadeśa
The Supreme Land

paramaguru
The master of the guru, the penultimate in the parampara (see);
2. A great master

paramahaṃsa
1. The supreme swan or the supreme wild goose; 
2. The highest order of saṃnyāsin; 
3. The jīvanmukta

paramāṇukāraṇa vāda 
Theory of atomistic cosmogony

parama puruṣārtha
The Supreme End of Man, mokṣa

paramārtha 
Metaphysics, the Absolute

pāramārthika 
Aggravation of paramārtha, metaphysical, belonging to absolute domain

pāramārtika sattā 
Metaphysical reality

pāramārtika siddhānta
Metaphysical doctrine

pāramārtika vidyā
Metaphysical knowledge

Paramaśiva 
The Supreme Śiva, the Brahman

paramaśreya 
The supreme Bliss

Paramātman
The Supreme Ātman, identical to Brahman

parameṣṭhi guru
Guru of the paramaguru (see)

​Parameśvara 
The Supreme Lord, the Brahman

paramparā 
Spiritual transmission, initiatic chain continuously transmitted by gurus to disciples over the centuries

paramsiddhānta 
The Supreme doctrine, the Brahma Vidyā

parāṇi 
Guide, conductor

paranātha satya 
Absolutely and metaphysically real

paranirvāna
The ultimate shutdown, the final liberation from the cycle of transmigration, the obtaining of the mokṣa

pararahasya 
The great Mystery, the upaniṣadic Doctrine

Parasyām Devatām
The Supreme Divinity, Īśvara

paratantra 
Dependent on something, opposite of svatantra (see)

paratantrābhi saṃvṛti 
Theory that depends on a wrong assumption

paryāvartaya upāsana
Constantly repeated meditation

paravidyā 
The Supreme Knowledge, synonymous with Parabrahma vidyā (see)

paricchinna 
Divided, limited, interrupted

pariṇāma 
Mutation, transformation, change, alteration

pariṇāmi 
Subject to change

paripūrṇa 
Completely full, complete, replete, perfect

parīta
1. Wrapped, forced, possessed; 
2. Possessed by anger

pārṣada
Accompanying, assistant, minor hypostasis

paryanka vidyā
Meditation on the throne of Brahma

paryāśābda 
Synonymous

paryāvartaya 
Methodical repetition of mantras or thoughts, objects of meditation

pāśa
Bond, noose, leash

paśu
1. Bound beings, kept on leash or with a noose around his neck, all the beings not released; 
2. Domesticated animals; 
3. Sacrificial ictims, never wild beasts (mṛga, see); 
4. In Tantric language, the profane

pātāla 
Underworlds, located below our human world, abode of titans or anti-gods (asura, see), such as nāgas, daityas, dānavas and others

Pātañjala yoga
Yoga darśana founded by Patañjali

pātañjala yogi
Sādhakas followers of Yoga darśana

pathin (Or paṅth in hiṅdī)
Path, initiatic way, synonymous with mārga

phala
1. Lit. fruit; 
2. Risult, effect

pīḍā kāla
The eclipse time

piṇḍa
1. Seed; 
2. Rice balls offered as food to the deceased

piṇḍa avasthā 
Seminal condition, prenatal existence in an inactive form before the assumption of a body

Piṅgalā
A subtle artery on the right side of the body

piśāca
Larva, soul in pain, who didn’t receive a regular funeral and therefore cannot reach the stage of preta and then of pitṛ

pīṭha
Seat, chair, center of an initiatory organization

pitṛ 
The ancestor, the deceased

pitṛ avasthā
Posthumous existence in which one passively enjoys of the positive or negative results of karma accomplished in life

pitṛloka
The world of the dead, Yama’s kingdom, located immediately under the Moon heavens

pitṛyāṇa 
The path of the ancestors, the posthumous journey leading the devoid of knowledge sādhakas to theheavens of the Moon

pitta 
The bile of  tridoṣa

prabhu
Powerful, Lord, attribute of Īśvara

Prācīna Nyāya 
The oldest Nyaya (see); the logic most faithful to sacred texts

pradakṣiṇa
Sacred clockwise circumambulation

Pradhāna
1. Lett. “the First” (tattva), synonym of prakṛti (see.); 
2. Fundamental

prāgabhāva 
Absence of a being or object before its manifestation

prajā
1. The subject of a Rājan; 
2. A manifested being

Prajāpati
The Lord of the manifested beings, the Lord of the subjects, personification of Hiraṇyagarbha

Prājña 
1. Consciousness, as Ātman is called in deep sleep; 
2. The Sāṣkin

prājñakriyā
Intellectual act, intellection

prajñāna 
Consciousness-Knowledge

prajñānaghanam 
Homogeneous consciousness, undifferentiated cluster of consciousness, as suṣupti avasthā appears to the ignorant during his ordinary nocturnal experience

prājñānam Brahma
The Mahāvākya: “Brahman is Consciousness-Knowledge” (AiU III.3)

Prājña-suṣupta 
Undifferentiated agglomeration of Consciousness, the Sākṣin

prakaraṇa 
Product, discussion, treaty

prakāśi anubhāva
Enlightening Intuition, Illumination

prakāśita
The enlightened, synonymous with viduṣām and sambodhya

prakriyā
Operative initiatic method, methodical technique

Prakṛti (or Pradhāna)
1. For Sāṃkhya it is the universal, unconscious and chaotic substance that manifests the tattvas; 
2. For Advaitavāda it is synonymous with śakti and Māyā

prakṛtabandha
Limitations, bonds produced by prakṛti

prakṛtasarga
In smṛti it is the dissolution of the whole universal manifestation comprising the entire chain of the worlds, which falls into its substantial cause, prakṛti

pralaya
Dissolution of the Universe; The reabsorption of prapāñcas in Brahman at the end of a cosmic cycle (see saṃhāra)

pramā
What has been proved by means of pramāṇas (see)

pramāṇa
Recognized instruments or means of valid knowledge, namely: pratyakṣa, sensory perception; anumāna, deduction or inference; upamāna, the comparison; arthāpatti, supposition or hypothesis; anupalabdhi, the finding of the absence of an object; śabda, the word of the master or the Upaniṣads

pramāṇa tarka
Logic adhering to the experimented reality that uses the pramāṇas, therefore considered reliable

prāmāṇika
One thing known, proven by pramāṇas

prāmāṇya 
Proven, ascertained, authoritative

parampuruṣārtha 
The ultimate goal of man, the mukti

pramātṛ (Or pramātā)
who does a search based on pramāṇas; A subject knower of objects

prāmatṛtva 
Empirical knowledge, cognitive action

pramātṛ viṣayin
Subject investigator

prameya
What is knowable through the pramāṇas

prāṇa (Or vāyu)
1. Breath, wind; the breath animating the gross body; what connects the psyche (antaḥkāraṇa, the inner instrument, see) with the body in order to act; 
2. The five modifications of the prāṇa or the function of bodily agents; 
3. The air that breathes

prāṇa, apāna, vyaṇa, udāna, samāna 
The five vital airs, the modifications of the unique prāṇa  (prāṇa , see)

prāṇomaya kośa
The casing of Ātman made of vital breath

prāṇaśakti 
The different animating functions of the five vital breaths (prāṇa, apāna etc., see)

praṇava 
The monosyllable Oṃ

prāṇavṛtti (Or prāṇabheda)
Modifications of the vital breath (prāṇa, see)

prāṇāyāma 
The fourth “member” of Yoga darśana; The control of prāṇa

prapāñca
The world made up of five components; term designating both the waking world and the dream world

prapañcopaśama
Unaffected by the world

prāpti 
Goal

prārabdha karma 
Results of karma proceeding from previous existences conditioning the present birth and development of this life

prasaṃkhyāna 
Inner recollection, internal concentration

prasaṃkhyānavāda
Deviated vedāntic doctrine supporting the meditative method

prasaṃkhyānavādin
Followers of prasaṃkhyānavāda (see)

prasaṅgin
Secondary, contingent, relative

prasiddhānubhāva
Intuition or experience of existing and being conscious

prasthāna 
Doctrinal current

Prasthāna Traya
The “three sources”, the three fundamental texts of Vedānta: Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā e Brahma Sūtras

prasthāva 
Introduction

pratibhā 
Symbol

prātibhāsika satya 
Apparent reality

pratibimbavāda
Doctrine of reflection, synonymous with abhāsavāda (see)

pratīka 
Symbol

prātipathika
Transient, provisional, fatuous

pratisarga
In smṛti it is the dissolution of a cosmic cycle through a famine followed by a flood of fire, then switched off by a deluge of water

pratithi 
Appearance

pratyagātman 
Concerning Ātman

pratyāhāra
Fifth “member” of Yoga darśana that consists in detaching and portraying the mind from the desire for external objects

pratyakṣa
Sensory perception; one of the means recognized as valid for knowledge (pramāṇa, see)

pratyakṣānubhava 
Sensory intuition

prayatna 
Effort, commitment

pratyaya 
Thought, idea, conception

pratyaya anubhava 
Cognitive experience, intellectual intuition

pravaha nitya
Continuous time flow, perpetuity, permanence

pravartaka 
Exhortative, inciting

pravhanna māyāvādin 
Crypto-Buddhist

pravilaya 
Dissolution, destruction

pravṛtti 
Worldly active life

prayatna 
Continuous effort

preta
The “traveler”, condition of the soul of the deceased before becoming an ancestor or pitṛ

preyas
What is more pleasant, the worldly satisfactions

pṛthivī
1. Our earth or the divinity ruling it; 2. The gross earth element

punarbhāva
New existence; Transmigration in the flow of becoming

punarjanma
Rebirth to a new state of being; Rebirth by transmigration into saṃsāra

punarjīvātu 
The next lives

punarmṛtyu
The new death in the end of next life

puṇya 
Result of a meritorious, virtuous act

purā
Citadel, fortress

purāṇa
1. Ancient; 
2. A kind of holy smṛti text

pūrṇa 
Brimful, full, complete, perfect

pūrṇa paramatattva 
Fullness of the Supreme Principle

puruṣa
Lit. “Resident of Citadel” (pura); 
1. The Self dwelling in the heart; 
2. Human being in his totality; 
3. The person who appears in the form of a human individual

Puruṣa
1. The Brahmanātman;
2. In Sāṃkhya‘s dualism, the essential principle of the manifestation associated with the Prakṛti, the substance

puruṣamedha
Puruṣa‘s primordial sacrifice, sacrifice of individuality, symbolically called ‘human sacrifice’

puruṣārtha 
The aims of the human life, kāma, artha, dharma e mokṣa:

Puruṣottama
The Supreme Puruṣa, the supreme Being, Paramātmā

Pūrva Mīmāṃsā
Lit. “First Exam”; darśana based on the ritual section (karma khaṇḍa) of the Vedas in order to reach the mokṣa in a next existence; Initiatic science of Vedic sacrificial ritual

pūrvapakṣin 
One who makes the first objection to an assertion, an opponent

rāga 
Attraction

rajas
1. Guṇa of Prakṛti indicating a tendency towards horizontal expansion, activity and frenzy; 
2. Red, blood

rājasa
belonging to rajas

rājasūya
1. The royal consecration ritual; 
2. The royal initiation

Rājayoga 
Initiatic method  based on the meditation of internalized ritual actions. It belongs to the level of Bhakti yoga

rājya
Regality

rakṣa
Watchman, guardian

rākṣasa
Lit. Vigilant; 1. Demonic category of yakṣa; 
2. Devils that populate the infernal cavities of our earth; 
3. Demons in human form, subjects of Rāvaṇa, who fight against dharma and who tried to conquer the three worlds

rākṣasa-avatāra
Incarnate demons, counter-initiation representatives

rākṣasa dharma
Counter-tradition

rākṣasa sādhanā
Counter-initiation

rakta
Red, blood, synonyms of rajas (see)

ramaṇīya caraṇa
Rituals performed with the desire for a better rebirth

rasa līlā
The divine play of Kṛṣṇa with the cowgirls

rasanā
The sense of taste

rasāsvāda
The error of self-complacency during the practice of contemplation

rasavidyā
Indian alchemy

ratha
War Chariot

rathin
Auriga, coachman

ṛṣi
Seers who can “hear” the primordial sound vibrations, transmitting their teaching in the form of the Veda

ṛta 
Sacred, sacred action, rite

ṛtu
Sacred Order of the Cosmos

ṛtukāla
The right time, the due moment, the fullness of the times

ṛtvij –
A ritual priest who accompanies the yajamāna in the performation of the sacrifice

rūḍhi 
Conventional, of common use

rūpa
1. It is the illusory instrument of Māyā along with nāma ; 
2. Shape as a limit separing the individuals among them; 
3. Situation or condition; 
4. The sense of sight

rūpavadbhāva
Formal, individual existence

śabda
The most authoritative among the pramāṇas, that is, the Vedas. For Vedānta they are the Upaniṣads

śabdabrahman
The Divine Word, the Brahman considered as primordial vibration; 2. The Veda

śabdavidyā
The science of correct articulation of words 

śābdika
Adjective of śabda; oral, verbal 

saccidānanda
Three words summarizing the three essential qualities of Īśvara, that is, sat, being, cit, consciousness, ānanda, bliss

saccidānanda svarūpa 
What belongs to the nature of sat, cit and ānanda, that is, being, consciousness and bliss

sācīkṛta 
Prejudice

sadasadvilakṣaṇa
Different from reality and from non-reality

Sadāśiva 
Name of Śiva meaning ‘always benevolent’

sadguru
1. The true teacher, the inner guru, the Ātman; 
2. A realized guru really identified with the inner guru

sādhaka
Initiated (dīkṣita, see) who is proceeding on the sādhanā (see)

sādhana
1. Initiatic method; 
2. The practice of the method and of various techniques enjoined or taught by a guru;
3. The inner way on which one proceeds

sādhanā
Female synonymous with sādhana (see)

sādhana catuṣṭaya
The fourfold method, synonymous with sādhana saṃpat (see)

sādhana mārgā 
The initiatic way

sādhana pradhāna
The method making use of meditation on symbols, i.e.  manifested objects

sādhana saṃpat
The Vedānta “perfect” method

sādhu
1. Who has completed the sādhanā;
2. Holy man, ascetic known for advancing in the practice of the sādhana;
3. Generic term to define a renouncer

sādhubhāṣā
Symbolic language, jargon used among initiates

sādhukṛtya
Internalized rituals

sadrūpa 
The real nature

sadyomukti 
Immediate release

saguṇa
Qualified, with attributes

sahaja
1. Generated by the own true nature, spontaneous;
2. Realization that emerges spontaneously without any personal effort

sāhajikatva
The own true nature

sahopalambha niyama
A presumed “Law on Timelessness of Cognitive Action” supported by some members of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā

śaiva
Śaivite, follower of Śiva

śaka 
Schythian

sakala 
Divisible

sākāra
Provided with shape, formal

sakaṣāya (Or kaṣāya)
the mistake of dullness caused by boredom during the contemplation

śākha
Sect, schism, apostasy, heresy

śākhā
Vedic streamss, branches of the Vedas with a deviant tendency

sākṣa
Witness

sākṣānubhava
Experience of the Sākṣin (see)

sākṣātkāra 
Direct realization

sākṣāt sādhana
The method of direct witness; The method of Vedānta

sākṣimat
1. The object of witness;
2. That which the Sakṣin (see) witnesses

Sakṣin
Lit. “Eyewitness”; 
1. Direct Witness, the Brahmātman as observer of the three states without being involved; 
2. Our true nature, svarūpa, corresponding to suṣupti

sākṣivedya 
What is known or witnessed by the Sakṣin

śākta
1. Follower of the Goddess; 
2. Initiate of a śākta path

śakti
1. Power, potency; 
2. The Goddess related to God Shiva

śaktimārga
Tantric Initiatic way utilizing methodically the potency of the Goddess

śaktipāta
In Tantric language the spiritual influence transmitted through initiation

śaktipatha 
1. A temporary transfer of power (siddhi), or access to a vision or revelation (darśana, uddyota, see) given by an initiate to a profane; 
2. A special case of āveśa (v.)

śālagrāma
Fossil Ammonite, gross form of Viṣṇu’s cakra

sālambana 
belonging to or connected with a particular mental exercise or technique

sālokya
 To lie in the same loka

śama 
Pacification, tranquility, mind control

samādhāna 
Mental equilibrium; reply to a question with the purpose of puting ideas in due order

samādhi
Lit. conjunction of two beings; 
1. Trance or ecstasy, waking state where individual consciousness is absent; 
2. The highest degree of Yoga darśana; 
3. Depending on the context, in Vedānta it may mean: a) buddhi; b) the Self; c) the identity of the Self and Brahman

samakāla 
Instantaneous, simultaneous

sāmānya 
Universal

sāmānya-viśeṣa sambandha 
Relationship between particular and universal

sāmānya-viśeṣa vicāra 
Discussion on the reabsorption of the particular into the universal

samaṣṭa sattā
The Total Being

samaṣṭi 
1. The Universal;
2. The Macrocosm

Sāma Veda
Vedic mantras sung during sacrifices

samavāyin 
Aggregate, integrated

sambandha
Relationship or correlation between two or more things of the same nature

saṃbhava
Co-existence, association, cohabitation of two or more things of a different nature, synonymous with saṃsarga (see)

Śambhu 
Name of Śiva meaning ‘Who delivers happiness’

sambodhya
The enlightened, synonymous withviduṣāmandprakāśita

saṃcita karma 
Accumulated actions, the set of all the actions carried out during the previous lives

saṃdhi
Union, point of junction and separation between two different domains

saṃdhyā
Junction and separation

saṃhāra (Or pralaya)
reabsorption or dissolution of the manifested world

Saṃhitā
Vedic mantras or hymns sung, declaimed, or recited during sacrifices

saṃjīvan
1. Resurrection; 
2. Spiritual rebirth after initiatic death

śaṃkha 
Wind instrument sacred to Viṣṇu taken from a shell

śaṃkā (Or sandeha)
The doubt

saṃkalpa 
Will, express intention to address a saṃkalpa ritual. Decision, purpose

Sāṃkhya
Lit. “Numbering”; dualist darśana focused on the process of manifestation;

Sāṃkhya yoga
In Bhagavad Gītā it represents the Vedānta‘s method

saṃnyāsa
1. The renunciation to the dual world; 2. Condition of saṃnyāsin (see)

saṃnyāsin
1. Renunciant, who entered the fourth phase of the brāhmaṇa life; 
2. In Vedānta he is the one who has left all duality. In this case he no longer belongs to the fourth phase of the brāhmaṇa life, being considered ativarṇāśrami (see) i.e. beyond the social order of castes and phases of life

sampad
1. Harmony, concord; 
2. Meditation on the symbol in which one strives to grasp its meaning

sampat 
Complete, perfect, rich

sampatti
Realization, fulfillment

sampradāya 
Initiatic organization

samprasāda 
State of perfect quiet

saṃsāra
1. The manifested world as place of transmigration; 2. The continuous rebirths and re-deaths

saṃsāradharma 
Saṃsāric feature

saṃsarga
Coexistence, association, cohabitation between two or more unrelated things of a different nature

saṃsāri
A transmigrant soul

saṃsāri anubhava 
Synonym of jīva anubhava (see)

sāṃsārika upadhi
Limitations produced by saṃsāra

saṃsāṛtva 
Transmigratory condition

saṃśaya 
Doubt

saṃskāra
Lit. improvement; 
1. Obligatory rituals that mark the life steps of the āryas from conception to death; 
2. The effects of past karma imprinted in the living individuals marking their distinctive features

saṃvṛti
1. Covering, overlapping, hiding, synonymous with adhyāsa (see); 
2. False assumption

samyaga 
Correct, certain

samyag darśana 
Real, unitary vision

saṃyaj jñāna
Proper knowledge or perception

saṃyama
1. Meditative concentration; 
2. Yogadarśana‘s meditation including dhāraṇa, dhyāna and samādhi

saṃyoga
The stage where the unification of two things or two beings occurs

saṃyukta 
United, associate

Sanātana Dharma
1. Permanent Tradition or Law; 
2. Hinduism or Hindū Dharma

saṅga
Assembly, meeting of brāhmaṇas

sānnidhyavāda
Theory of Sāṃkhya according to which the essence causes modifications of the substance for proximity or contiguity

śānta
Pacified

Śāntātman
The pacified Ātman, that is to say, immutable

śānti
1. Inner Peace; 
2. Rite of pacification and welcome for a brāhmaṇa or sādhu asking hospitality

śāpa 
Curse

saprapañca
Affected by the world

sāra 
Proof, eternal essence, unquestionable fixed point, unshakable certainty

sarva 
All, the whole

sarvagatatva 
All-pervading state

sarvajña 
Omniscience

sarvakāraṇa aviṣayatva
Beyond all perception

sarvakāraṇatva 
Universal causality

sarva loka prātyakṣika anubhava
The natural intuition shared by everyone of existing and being conscious

sarvaloka prasiddhānubhava
Homolog of sarva loka prātyakṣika anubhava (see)

sarvāmaratva
Real Immortality, Liberation

sarvānubhāva
Universal Intuition of All as the non-dual One

sarvaśakta 
Almighty

sarvasiddha 
Total existence

sarvasūkṣma
The subtle manifestation considered as universal, that is, without the divisions produced by name and form. Synonym of sūkṣmāvasthā and of sūkṣmantara (see)

sarvātmabhāva 
The state of totalization

sarvātman 
The universal Ātman, of all beings

sarvātmatva 
Totalization of the Being

sārvatrika 
Universal

sārvatrika anubhava 
Universal intuitive experience shared by all

sarva vyavahāra atiṣṭhā
Who transcends the whole vyavahāra, the enlightened

saśarīratva 
Corporeality

Śāstra
Lit. “recitation”; 
1. Every Sacred Text;
2. For Vedānta, the Upaniṣads

śāstravihita 
What is supported by the scriptures

śāstrīya daihika karma 
Sacred ritual performed with the body

śāstrīya jñāna 
Knowledge derived from sacred texts

śāstrīya karma 
Sacred action

śāstrīya mānasa karma 
The sacred thougth

śāstrīya vācika karma 
The sacred speech

śāstrīya vidhi 
Injunctions imposed by the texts

śāstrīya vyavahāra
The sacred view  the of empirical domain obtained through śāstra; synonym of vaidika vyavahāra (see)

śāśvata
Stable, permanent

sat
1. What has absolute reality, whose presence is evident;
2. Sometimes used instead of bhava in the distinction between bhava and abhava (see)

Sat
1. The Being, the Personal God; 
2. The quality of “being” in the triad saccidānanda

satasat
1. Real and unreal at the same time; 
2. An object present and absent

satkarma 
The correct ritual action

satkārya vāda 
Theory of pre-existence of the effect in the cause

satsaṅga
 True assembly, indicates a concentration of sādhus and their common spiritual influence

sattā (Or satya)
existing reality

sattra
Sacrifice of the twelve days or dvādaśāha (see). In this rite the donors, all of caste brāhmaṇica, are the same celebrants

sattva
Prakṛti‘s guṇa, which indicates a tendency upward, towards purity and knowledge

sāttva
Belonging to sattva

satya
see satya

Satya
The true Reality, the Brahman

Satyaloka
Synonym of Brahmaloka (see)

satyam jñānam anantam Brahma
The Mahāvākya: “Brahman is reality, knowledge and infinite” (TaiU II.1.1)

satyānṛte mithunīkṛtya 
Confusing the Real with the unreal

satyasaṃkalpa
Righteous intent

satya svarūpa
Our true nature of Being

satyatva buddhi
An only theoretical reality, an ens rationis

savikalpa samādhi
For Yoga darśana is the samādhi with distinction between contemplator and contemplate

śāya 
Supine position

śayāna 
Pacified

sāyujya
Identification

śeṣa
1. Rest of a sacrifice or remnant of a past world;
2. Residual ash of the cosmic conflagration that destroyed a world

Śeṣa
Multi headed cobra floating on the primordial Ocean. Viṣṇu-Narayaṇa rests on it and representing the saṃsāra continuity. Mystical personification of śeṣa (see)

seva 
Who serves the guru or God 

sevaka 
Service to the guru or to God

siddha
Perfect; In the Vedānta he corresponds to mukta (see)

siddhānta
1. The doctrine; 
2. A treatise of doctrine

siddhānta pradhāna
Preliminary doctrine to knowledge

siddhi
1. Being as a goal;
2. Powers obtained with the practice of a yoga sādhana

siddhyā anugraha
Spiritual Influence conferred by the dīkṣā

śikhā
Tuft of hair that brāhmaṇas carry on their shaved heads

śikṣā
The science of correct pronunciation

śiṣya
The disciple of a guru

śiva 
Favorable, propitious

Śiva
1. Ultimate Reality, “Īśvara, the Lord; 
2. Benevolent, Lord’s Name; 
3. The Transformer God of Trimūrti

Śivatva 
The state of identification with the Ultimate Reality

Śivoham 
I am Śiva

śloka
A verse of a text in poetry

smaraṇa 
Memory

smarta 
Belonging to smṛti

smṛti
1. Memory; 
2. Category of sacred texts conveying the memory of ancient teachings referred to śruti (see), less authoritative then the latter, i.e. Sūtras, Purāṇas and Itihāsas; 
3. In the vedāntic language smṛtis are mainly Bhagavad Gītā and Brahma Sūtras

śoka
Suffering; frustration

so’ham
‘That is me’ (ĪU 16), whose anagram is haṃsa (see)

Soma
1. Juice obtained by pressing from a plant also called soma, used for oblation;
2. One of the names of the moon

sparśa
The sense of touch

Sphoṭayoga
Yoga based on sound or mantrayoga (see)

śrāddha
Rite of food supply to ancestors; Not to be confused with śraddhā

śraddhā
1. Interior Certainty;
2. Firm intention;
3. Energy or power produced by the initiatic influence comparable with the enthusiasmos (ἐνθουσιασμός) of the ancient Greek Mysteries

śraddhā vedāntin
Aspirants to Vedanta

śrauta 
Belonging to śruti

śrauta tarka
Logic based on the śruti (see), the śabda pramāṇa (see)

śrāvaṇa
Listening to the teaching of a Vedānta master, the first contemplative instrument for the attainment of the Liberation from ignorance and for recognizing themselves as identical to Brahmātman

śreyas 
The highest good, the mokṣa

Śrī Vidyā
The knowledge of the Goddess, the most intellectual among the initiatory śākta schools, closely connected with Advaita Vedānta

śrotra
The sense of hearing

śrotṛ (Or śrotā)
the hearer

sṛṣṭi
Production, manifestation of the world

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-saṃhāra vicāra 
Discussion on manifestation, mantainance and dissolution of the world

śruti
Hearing, listening, the Veda composed of saṃhitās, brāhmaṇas, āraṇyakas, upaniṣads

sthāna
1. Placing in a state, avasthā; 
2. State or transitory experience

sthānatraya
The first three states or pāda of Ātman

sthasya
1. Identification with a state, avasthā; 
2. State or permanent experience; 
3. In Vedānta it is synonymous with mokṣa

sthiti 
The conservation or mantainance of the manifested world

sthūla dṛṣṭi 
Gross viewpoint

sthūla śarīra (Or deha)
the gross, heavy body

śubha karma
Virtuous actions producing puṇya (see)

śuddha caitanya
Pure Consciousness, the Ātman

śuddhadhī
Purification of the mind, of the intellect

śūdra
Those who belong to the lower caste

sukalpa
Qualified, expert

sukha
The pleasure

sūkṣma śarīra (Or liṅga śarīra)
the subtle body, all the subtle or psychic individual components

sūkṣmantara
More subtle than subtle; beyond name and form, synonymous with sarvasūkṣma (see)

sūkṣmāvasthā 
The dream state, the whole subtle manifestation

sumara
Good death, natural death at the end of a long life

śūnya
1. Emptiness, void, nothingness for the Buddhist śūnyavāda school; 
2. Mathematical zero

śūnyavāda
Buddhist school maintaining that beyond illusion there is the void, the nothingness

sūpādhika
Endowed with upādhi (see)

sūrya
The sun, the God of the sun

sūryadvāra
The solar gate through which you continue along the devayāna overcoming the skies of the moon

śuṣ
To dry, to drain

śuṣka tarka
Dry logic, the abstract syllogistic logic, sophistic reasoning

suṣumṇā
The main subtle artery running through the spine up to the top of the head

suṣuptapuruṣa 
The puruṣa of deep sleep, the Sākṣin

suṣupti
The deep sleep

suṣupti avasthā
The deep sleep state or Prājña

sūtrakāra
Author of Sūtra: par excellence Bādarāyaṇa, author of the Brahma Sūtras

sūtrātman
Hiraṇyagarbha connecting the different loka in his world

svabhāva 
The one’s existence

svadharma
1. The castal duty; 
2. The dharma of each individual

Svāmī 
My Lord, a title addressed to a saṃnyāsin, to a God, to a King

svapna
The dream

svāpna avasthā
The dream state

svāpna prapañca
The world of dream state

svāpna puruṣa
The person of dream state

svāpna sthāna
The stay in the dream, synonym for svāpna avasthā (see) 

svaprakāśa 
Self-bright

svāpramāṇa 
The Ātman Self-knower