Sanskrit Glossary of Yoga Tantra Terms – 2

Definitions found on this page are from book “Babaji: Lightning Standing Still” by Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath, whose subject matter is mostly Kriya-Yoga and mystical experiences.

WARNING: In reference to Advaita (non-duality) — the language and interpretations of Tantric terms on this page are dualistic in nature as the philosophy itself is dualistic. However we still decided to include this Glossary of terms, for those still pursuing forms of Yoga (Patanjali, Kriya, Kundalini, etc).

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Abhaya: fearless.
Abhimana: pride.
Abhinav Gupta: a medieval saint and scholar who wrote the famous book Tantra Alok.
Abhinivesh: the lust for life.
Abrahama: a name of Abraham, the Father of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian races, connected with father of creation, Brahma.
Adharas: the supports (the six chakras)
Adi Shakti: the primordial goddess energy.
Adi Shesha: The first serpent, signifying one of the seven cycles of infinity.
Aditi: the name of the goddess signifying space and the wife of the rishi Kashyap.
Aditya: born of Aditi. One of the names of our sun.
Advaita: ‘nonduality’, the truth and teaching that there is only One Reality called Atman or Brahman, especially as found in the Upanishads', see also Vedanta.
Advaita Vedanta: culmination of the Vedas in monism.
Agastya: ancient rishi, son of Mithra.
Agni: presiding deity of the element of fire.
Agni Abhimanin: name of ancient fire god married to Svaha from who there are three fires, Pavak, Pavaman and Shuchi.
Agni Vamsha: ancient rishi, son of Mithra.
Agni Yogi: he who practices the fire yoga, which is also called Kriya Yoga, sacred fire rite of the yogi.
Agnisar: abdominal movement to raise kundalini fire.
Agni Shvatha Rishis: Sages of the Fire Mist.
Agya Chakra: ‘command center’, a yogic appellation for the third eye center; center of Divine Presence located at the midpoint between the eyebrows.
Ahamkara: ‘I-maker’, the individuation principle, or ego. which must be transcended; see also asinita, buddhi, nianas.
Ahirbudnya: ‘Unfathomable. Inconceivable and Ineffable Serpent of the Deep’, epithet of Lord Shiva. This word refers to the infinite Shiva in the scripture. Ahirbudnya Samhita.
Aja: ‘the unborn’, a term used for the primordial Divine as well as its universal energy' called Kundalini.
Aja Ek Pad: ‘The Unborn Standing on One Foot’, it is an epithet given to Lord Shiva, giving us to know his awesome infinity. It is mentioned in the scripture, the Ahirbudnya Samhita.
Aja Purusha: the Supreme Man who was never born and can never die.
Ajapa Japa: Also called Ajapa Gayatri, not chanted but observed with the silent mantra of the Hamsa-Soham.
Ajmer: a city in Northwest India.
Akarma: ‘actionless action’, karmaless action.
Akasha: ‘Pather Aether” (father space), the first of the five cosmic elements of which the physical universe is composed; also used to designate inner-space, that is, the space of Consciousness (cid-akasha).
Akashic Records: the thoughts imprinted in the homogenous radiant ether of the cosmic mind.
Akula: ‘nonflock', an epithet of Lord Shiva.
Alakh: the Lighltess Light; a name for God.
Alakhnanda: name of a river flowing from the Himalayas joining with other rivers to become the holy Ganges.
Alkapuri: legendary city in the Northeastern Himalayas.
Allah: A name for God.
Alumbusha: One of the five sub-Pranas.
Amaroli: a tantric technique of auto-urine therapy.
Amba: ‘Great Deep’, appellation for an aspect of the Divine Mother. The waters of the unfathomable deep. Also known as the goddess Bal Tripura Sundari.
Amla: the Indian wild gooseberry.
Amrita: the nectar of immortality that flows from the psycho-energetic center at the crown of the head {sahasrara-chakra) when it is activated by yogic means, transforming the physical body into a divine body (divya-deha).
Amrita Anubhava: amrita means nectar and anubhava means experience. This is a scripture written by Saint Jnaneswar.
Anahada Nada: means the unstruck sound, usually heard in the heart/Anahata chakra.
Anahata Chakra: ‘wheel of the unstruck sound’, the twelve-petal lotus of the heart. The heart has since ancient times been viewed as the secret seat of Vasudeva and the location where the immortal sound Om can be heard. Its seed syllable (bija mantra) is yam pertaining to the element of wind.
Ananda: ‘bliss’, the condition of utter joy, which is an essential quality of the ultimate reality (tattva) described as sat-chit-ananda.
Anandmayi Ma: the joy permeated mother; she was a 20 th century saint/avatar.
Annamayee Kosh: the intuitional body of bliss; ‘sheath composed of food’, the lowest of the five ‘envelopes’ (kosha) covering the Self; the physical body.
Angiras: one of the seven rishis who holds an office in one of the planets of the Great Bear/Dipper constellation.
Anuloma Viloma: pranayama of alternate nostril breathing.
Anumeena Pranayama: A yogic technique of internal pranayama.
Anusandhan: an inner connection of mind with deity.
Apana: the downward flowing life-force energy in the spine. In Kriya Yoga it is used for dissolving karma.
Apanic: the downward flowing current as opposed to upward flowing pranic current.
Aradhya Kalam: one of the spiritual gurus of Gautama the Buddha.
Archangel Gabriel: the Archangel next in command to the Archangel Michael.
Archangel Michael: the first Archangel of the face of God.
Ardhnarishvar: half-Shiva and half-Shakti, akin to the later Greek god, Hermaphrodite, half-male, half-female respectively.
Arjuna: ‘fair’, one of the five Pandava princes who fought in the Mahabharata War; disciple of the Avatar Krsna whose teachings can be found in the Bhagavad-Gita.
Artha: money or finance (ref the four efforts-kama/desire, artha/money, dharma/religion, moksha/salvation).
Arundhati: the wife of the great rishi Vashista who is the penultimate rishi of the Great Bear/Dipper.
Aryabhat: a famous Indian astronomer and mathematician who discovered the numerical zero.
Aryan Root Race: is the noble race from the country of Aryavarla, presently called India.
Aryasangh: the great Medieval alchemist and philosopher of advocatingthe Taraka Raja Yoga system of Maitreya-Krishna.
Aryavarta: an ancient name for the land known as India. He wrote the book Arya Siddhant.
Asaniprajnata Samadhi: the yogic ecstasy of expanded consciousness equivalent to the vedantic ecstasy of nirvikalpa Samadhi.
Asana: seat’, a physical posture (see also anga, niudra); the third limb (anga) of Patanjali s eightfold path (asthanga-yoga); originally this meant only meditation posture, but subsequently, in Hatha Yoga, this aspect of the yogic path was developed further; also the seat upon which a yogi sits dumg meditation.
Ashram: ‘where work or effort is made’, a hermitage; also a stage of life, such as brahmacharya, householder, forest dweller, and complete renunciate (saninyasin).
Ashivagandha: Indian ginseng, an ayurvedic herb used for stress relief and various other remedies.
Ashwatthama: Son of the rishi Dronacharya, one of the eight Chiranjeev’s (immortals also including Kripa, Hanuman, Vyasa, Vibhishana, Parusharama, Mahabali, Markandeya); he was present during the time of the great Mahabahrata war, about 3 102 BCE.
Ashwini Kumaras: the twin surgeons of the gods.
Asmita: delusion of maya, which makes you forget that you are the soul and not the body.
Assam: a state on the northeast of India famous for its tea.
Asso Pat: a sacred plant similar to basil given by lord Dattareya to Queen Pingala, the wife of king Bhartari.
Asta Bhuja: name for the goddess Durga with eight arms.
Astral Body: inherent in the astral body is the emotional body and also the higher celestial body of which the subtler human being is composed.
Astral Chakras; the chakras corresponding to the astral body.
Atmadarsani: one who gives soul enlightenment or divine spiritual insight self-knower).
Atma Monads: a whole unit of consciousness containing the mind, the soul and its Spirit/atma-buddhi-manas.
Atman: ‘self’, the true Self, the individual spirit or soul, which is eternal and super-conscious; our true nature or identity; sometimes a distinction is made between the atman as the individual self and the parama-atman as the transcendental Self; see also purusha. Brahman.
Atmaswaroop: of the form of the soul.
Atri: the second of the great rishis of the Sapta Rishi (Great Bear/Dipper Constellation).
Aulia: a mendicant; a God-intoxicated yogi.
Aum: the birthing hum of creation from the beginning of time, containing the far limits of the mind and matter of the universe.
Aunsh Avatar: Apartial avatara that manifests only the degree of Divinity necessary to fulfill a specific mission.
Aura: the astral/celestial radiance round the body of a meditating yogi and a saint, the nimbus/halo predominantly emits from around the head area.
Autobiography of a Yogi: a spiritual classic written by Paramahansa Yogananda in the 20,h century.
Avasta: ‘condition’, the super-conscious states of Yoga distinguished according to the level of refinement of God Realization.
Avatara: ‘descent’, the descent of the Divine into a terrestrial light-body for spiritual work and the salvation of the world; identified outwardly by specific signs, such as the tendency of the avatara to cast no shadow..
Avesh: the entry of the spiritual essence into a human being, which makes him a partial avatar for that lifetime (example Parshurain).
Avidya: ‘ignorance’, the root cause of suffering (dukha); also called ajnana; cf. vidya.
Ardhnarishwar: Ardhnarishwar means Shiva and Shakti depicted as half-man, half-woman in one body, showing to us that the balance of the universe is rooted in reciprocity.
Ayama: the cessation, ceasing to be (example: pranayama).

Baba: revered father; a generic term.
Babaji: ‘revered father’.
Bal Tripura Sundari: an epithet of the divine feminine energy as the beauty of the three worlds.
Balrama: the elder brother of Krishna.
Banaras: the sacred city
Bandha: a yogic lock (mulabandh. uddiayanbandh or jalandarbandh).
Basti: hatha yogic technique of sucking water through the rectum, then abdominal churning and finally throwing it out.
Bela-Shailush: wood apple, a fruit loved by Lord Shiva.
Bhagvad Gita: ‘Lord’s Song’, the most popular book on the science of Yoga, embedded in the epic Mahabharata and containing the teachings of Karma Yoga (the path of self-transcending action), Jnana Yoga (the path of wisdom), Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion), and Raja Yoga (the supreme path of meditation) as given by the Avatara Krishna to Prince Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurushetra.
Bhadon: the rainy monsoon season.
Bhairav: the masculine classical melody; the first raga created by Lord Shiva.
Bhairavi: the feminine classical melody, consort of the raga Bhairav.
Bhajan: rom the root bhaj ‘to divide’, devotional song whence the devotee is separate from Deity and does not fuse with God as does the yogi in samadhi.
Bhakti: ‘devotion’ or ‘love’, the love of the bhakta toward the Divine or the Guru as a manifestation of the Divine.
Bhakti Sutra: ‘Aphorism of Devotion’, an aphoristic work on devotional Yoga authored by Sage Narada.
Bhakti Yoga: ‘Yoga of devotion’, a major branch of the Yoga tradition utilizing the feeling capacity to connect with the ultimate reality conceived of as a personal Divinity.
Bharat: the land whose people are wedded to the light of the Soul; the land of India.
Bharatvarsh(a): Present-day India – the land whose people are wedded to the Divine light.
Bhaskar: one of the splendid names of the sun god.
Bhava: an emotion, or Bhakti, devotion.
Bhavani: the feminine aspect of Shiva dwelling in the seven heavens (bhavanas) of Bhur, Bhuva, Svaha, Maha. Jana, Tapah, and Satya (seventh heaven).
Bhavishya Purana: an ancient text prophesying future events.
Bhima: second of the Pandava brothers.
Bhisma: the great grandsire.
Bhrigu: one of the seven rishis of the Great Bear, ancestor of the Bhargava race and the father of rishi Markandeya and Shukra, the informing spirit of the planet Venus.
Bhrukuti: the third eye called Kuthastha Chaitanya.
Bhumi: Mother Earth.
Bhur: this is a dimension of the terrestrial sphere as Bhuvar is the astral sphere and Swaha, the heavenly sphere.
Bhuta: ‘to become’, the material elements, also called pancha bhuta, or five elements of earth (prithvi), water (apas), fire (agni), air (vata), and space (akasha).
Bhuta Sbuddhi: ‘purification of the elements’, transformation of the gross physical body into a Divine body, by dissolving the five elements.
Bindu: ‘seed-point’, the creative potency of anything where all energies are focused; the red dot worn on the forehead as indicative of the third eye. Bindu means focal point or dot, the sound of Omkar, the energy, which bursts forth as the Naada, the cosmic birthing hum of creation. Goraksha on the conservation.
Bindu Rahasaya: a treatise written by Shiva Goraksha on conservation of vital energy and its subsequent transformation into divine energy by a yogic process.
Bo Yang: His original name was Bhog Yang who went from Benares to China to teach the people science of Yin Yang Yoga (Shiva-Shakti Yoga). Later came to be known as the celebrated Lao-Tzu who also wrote the Tao Te Ching.
Bodhisattva: ‘enlightened being’, the Chiranjeev immortals and avadhoots who's bodhi-chitta (buddhi) are purfied to such degree of compassion that they spurn Nirvana (moksha) to serve humanity.
Brahma: ‘he who has grown expansive', the creator of the universe, the first principle (tattva) to emerge out of the ultimate reality (brahman).
Brahma — The Creator, also called Vidhata, the God of the destinies of all nations and humanities.
Brahma Astra: a lethal weapon composed of mantric vibrations, which is infused into a missile and then used against the enemy. Eg: Varuna Astra (water missile) and Agni Astra (fire missile).
Brahma Dvar: the door at the crown of one's head, sahasrara chakra.
Brahma Granthi: a psycho-generic plexus located at the base of the spine.
Brahma Nadi: the subtlest psychic nerve. Eg: sushumna, vajra, chitrini and brahma nadis.
Brahma Nirvana: merging in the transcendental core beyond the universe and being everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Highest state of enlightenment.
Brahmacharya: the discipline of chastity for the channelisation of vital energy (prana) and transformation into ojas and tejas by the practice of Shiva-Shakti Kriya Yoga and Mahamudra.
Brahman: ‘that which has grown expansive’, the Ultimate Reality of : atman, purusha.
Brahmanaspati: an ancient name for the informing spirit of Jupiter (Zeus).
Brahmanda Parana: one of the ancient texts of the universe
Brihaspati: refer to Brahmanaspati.
Buddha: ‘awakened’, a designation of the person who has attained enlightenment (bodhi) and therefore inner freedom; term designating Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who lived in the 6th century BCE.
Buddhi: ‘that which is conscious, awake’, the higher mind, which is the seat of wisdom (jnana); manas.
Buddhism: after Gautam Buddha, a Hindu prince who attained enlightenment and his followers who were called Buddhist. Buddha was not a Buddhist but followed the traditional Hindu/Indian lifestyle.

Chaitanya Prana: means Soul Life Force.
Chakra: ‘pranic wheel’, the psycho-energetic centers of the subtle body (sukshnia-sharir). Classically seven of such centers are given: muladhara chakra at the perineum, svadhishthana chakra at the base of the spine, manipura chakra at the navel, anahata chakra at the heart, vishuddhi chakra at the throat, ajna chakra in the middle of the head, and sahasrara
chakra at the top of the head.
Chalan: an exercise of the tongue done during practice of khechari mudra.
Chanakya: a partial avatar of Vishnu, 350 BCE, called Kautilya, wrote the Niti Darpan. He assisted Chandra Gupta Morya to become the first emperor of India.
Chandogya Upanishad: one of the oldest scriptures written in 200 BCE; it’s contents elaborate on the nature of Om and prana.
Chandra Nadi: the lifeforce energy flowing through the left nostril.
Chandrasoma: moon nectar.
Chandravat: a clan of the ancient moon dynasty.
Charan Paduka: charan means, the holy feet and paduka means sandals.
Chatrasal: the Medieval king who assisted the King Shivaji with King Govinsing to regain the lost Indian Empire.
Chatur: means four or it could also mean clever.
Chauhan: Chauhan means Lord, as Nath means Lord. The Chauhans are a clan from the Rajput dynasties, and are called Agni- Vamashas, meaning families who descend from the source of the fire god, c/Sisodias (Surya-Vamashas) descending from the source of the sun god, cf. the Yadhavas (Soma- Vamashas), who descend from the source of the moon god.
Cherubim: these are the divine child angels and the other name is Seraphin.
Chinna-masta: the name of a tantric goddess.
Chiranjeev(a): There are eight immortal Beings of a particular world cycle. They are Hanuman, Ashwatama, Parusharama, Mahabali, Sage Vyasa, Kripacharya, Vibhishana. and Markandeya. There have been many more Yogis prior to and later than these classical eight who have become immortals. These are the souls who live continuously for one world cycle.
Chitrini Nadi: the third of the four psychic nerves.
Chitta Shuddhi: mind purification (by meditation, mantras and chanting).
Cittars: originally pronounced as Siddhas, perfected beings of the fifth degree initiation.
Chola: an ancient dynasty in Tamilnadu of the lineage of the fire descendants.
Christ: the 7th degree initiate; the World Teacher; an avatar such as Kalki Avatar, Maitreya, Matsyendra Nath, Avalokiteshwara, Vithoba (the man crucified in space).
Chola: is here referred to the physical, apparent body of a Yogi, which he can change at his own sweet will, when his former body garment becomes decrepit and old. This may be done by the process of entering another’s body or by the process of Kayakalpa (body rejuvenation). Or he may choose to maintain the body in perfect health by the Sanjeevani (rejuvenating) process of Kundalini Kriya Yoga.
Chyvan Prash: a tonic in India made of wild gooseberries (amla).
Cit: ‘consciousness’, the super-conscious ultimate reality (see Atman, Brahman, Chaitanya).
Citi: “shakti”, kinetic energy; see kundalini.
Citta: ‘mind-substance', ordinary consciousness, the mind, as opposed to cit.
Cittargiri: a place in southern India also known as the hill of the Siddhas.
Count St. Germain: a Hungarian ascended masters who controls tantra and the beneficial rays of the moon. Ref. Racokzy.

Dabisthana: an ancient book on mysticism written by a Kashmiri scholar Moshan Fani.
Daks ha Prajapati: an ancient sage known as the first and the last. He is also the father of Parvati. When Shiva was not invited to his fire ceremony, he upset the cosmic law and the result was a war in which his Yadnya was foiled and his head cut off. This refers to a mystic type of initiation.
Dakshinamurti: a name for Lord Shiva, facing the South. It is said that this Sage was a youth and taught his disciples in silence.
Damru: the drum of Shiva in the shape of an hourglass, depicting both Sound and Time Eternal of Creation, Preservation and Dissolution.
Darshan: ‘vision’ or ‘sight’, divine vision in the literal and spiritual sense; the seeing and receiving of blessings from a Divine Guru or spiritual Being; of a system of philosophy, such as the yoga-darshana of Patanjali. In a general sense, blessings pouring out from the eyes of the master to the disciple. .
Dasha Bhuja: ten-armed.
Datta: a short epithet for the Dattatreya.
Deha Shuddhi: body purification.
Deodata: one pranic life forces.
Deva: ‘shining one’, a male deity, such as Shiva, Vishnu, or Brahma, either in the sense of the ultimate reality {Maha Deva) or a high angelic being.
Devaki: the mother of Lord Krishna.
Devbhakta: devotee of God.
Devdatta: granted by God.
Deva Rishi: third in the hierarchical order of Rishis.
Devi: ‘shining one', the feminine aspect of deva; a goddess or feminine angelic being such as Parvati, Lakshmi, or Saraswati.
Dhaba: a place of roadside fast-food in India.
Dham: place of rest, also meaning a sacred place of worship; home.
Dhananjay: a victor over wealth and materialism, one of the five sub-pranas.
Dharana: ‘holding', concentration, the sixth limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eight-limbed (ashtanga) system of Yoga.
Dharma: ‘bearer', law or lawfulness, also correct action, conduct and righteousness and vitue.
Dhuni: a sacred fire lit by the yogis to demarcate their power centers of meditation (dhuna).
Digamber: the naked one; the one bereft of inhibitions; and the soul that has realized itself to be the cosmic consciousness regarding the sky to be his clothes.
Dilip: King of the Solar Dynasty, 16 th descendent from the sun. The son of King Ikshavaku.
Diptimana: the one who is shining and illuminated.
Dhyana: meditation; the seventh limb (anga) of Patanjali's eight-limbed Yoga brought about naturally as a result of correct concentration (dharana), called cha'an by the Chinese and rendered later by the Japanese as zen.
Drishtanta: spiritual vision.
Dronacharya: a Devarishi in the period of Mahabarata and the guru of kauravas and pandavars. Father of Ashvatama.
Dronagiri: a sacred mountain which is in the Kumar range of the Himalayas.
Durga: the white evolutionary energy; name for the goddess mother.
Dvaipayan: a sage who held the office of Veda Vyas at the time of the Mahabaratta (Krishna Dyvaipayan).
Dvapara Yuga: the second of the four yugas (Kali, Davapra, Tretta and Kritta/Satya).
Dwar: door/passage.
Dvesh: repulsion.

Elohim: a name of God in the Hebrew tradition; also the heavenly host of gods and angels in the Hebrew tradition.
El Morya: 400BC first emperor of India, who also incarnated as the legendary' king, Vikramaditya, 57BC. Then as King Arthur in 600 CE and then the righteous king. Shiva, then as Gyan Avatar Shri Yukteshwar. It is this being who is destined to be the future Manu Savarni of our 6th root race.
Everest: This was the name of a western traveler who measured the height of the mountain called Gauri-Shankar after which he changed the beautiful name of the mountain and inconsiderately orchestrated the naming of the mountain after his own name, Everest.

Fire God: See Agni.
Fire Mist: This is the mixture of fire and mist, which arose at the dawn of creation of our present world cycle. A certain class of pure Sages of the Fire Mist arose form the night of prehistory. These were the great founders and teachers of humanity who did guide and evolve our humanity to its present state. Also see Sages of the Fire Mist.

Gayatri: a Vedic mantra recited to enlighten the intellect and give liberation (moksha) chanted at the junctions of sunrise and sunset (sandhikal).
Gajar: elephant.
Galava: ancient rishi after whom the city of Gwailor was named.
Gandharvas: heavenly songsters (Devas).
Gandiva: arrow given by Shiva to Lord Parashurama.
Gauri Shankar: the original name of Mount Everest.
Ghagra-Chunari: a style of Rajasthani dress and Northern India including a tunic, top, and shawl.
Granthi: ‘knot’, any one of three common blockages in the central pathway (sushumna-nadi) preventing the full ascent of the serpent power (kundalini-shakti); the three knots arc known as Brahma granthi (at the muladhara chakra; the Vishnu granthi (at the heart), and the Rudra granthi (at the third-eye center).
Gudadal: rectal passage.
Guna: ‘quality’, refers to any of the three primary ‘qualities’ or constituents of nature (prakriti): tamas (the principle of inertia), rajas (the dynamic principle), and saltva (the principle of lucidity)
Gupta Vidya: secret wisdom
Guru: ‘one with gravity’, a teacher who cultivates the spiritual knowledge of a disciple.
Guru Darbar: conclave of spiritual monarchs.
Guru Granth Sahib: a sacred book of the Sikhs worshipping the Guru, Rama, Krishna and rightful living.
Guru Kripa: guru's grace
Gurutva Akarshan: gravitational attraction, also the magnetism of the master's knowledge
Gyan Swaroop: embodiment of wisdom.
Gyana: see jnana.
Gyana Yoga: yoga of wisdom
Gyanavatar: divine incarnation of wisdom

Ha Ha and Hu Hu: the gandharva twins, the songsters of heaven
Hamsa: ‘swan’, the Soul, the individuated Consciousness (jiva); also refers to the life-breath (prana) as it moves within the body; the lateral ventricles in the human brain in the shape of a swan in flight, with its wings thrust toward the forehead and its posterior ventricle pointed to the back, like a swan flying back to the future, faster than light; see jiva-atman.
Hamsa Yoga: ‘swan yoga’; ancient text in the form of a conversation between Sanat Kumar, and his pupil Gautama; this is Kundalini Kriya Yoga, giving the levels of manifestions of the resonance of Omkar.
Haradwar: the entrance to the abode of Lord Shiva a place of pilgrimage at the foothills of the Himalayas
Hastajivhava: a subordinate prana
Hatha Yoga: ‘Forceful Yoga’, a major branch of Yoga, developed 1000CE, emphasizing the physical aspects of the transformative path, notably postures (asana) and cleansing techniques (shodhana; but chiefly breath control (pranayama).
Himalayas: snow mountains
Hinduanity: humanity living in peaceful coexisting. Also is a quin to Christianity and dwith deeper dimentions of existencial realism.
Hinduism: humanity living in peaceful coexisting
Hingalaaja: an ancient goddess shrine, now in Pakistan, dedicated to the goddess Durga.
Hiranyaloka : ‘golden world', the highest astral heaven of luminosity to which some yogis ascend, to practice higher forms of Yoga under the guidance of Divine Teachers (Divya Gurus) such as Shri Yukteshwar.
Hridaya: the heart

Ida Nadi: ‘pale conduit’, the prana current or arc ascending on the left side of the central channel (sushumna-nadi) associated with the parasympathetic nervous system and having a cooling or calming effect on the mind when activated; cf. pingala-nadi.
Indra: the king of the Gods (Zeus)
Indrayani: the w'ife of Indra
Indu: the feminine energy of the moon
Ishwar Pranidhana: ‘the Lord as priority’, total surrender to the Lord; in Patanjali’s eight-limbed Yoga one of the practices of self-restraint (niyama).
Ishta Devata: your personal beloved deity
Ishwara: ‘ruler', the Lord; an epithet or reference to God such as the Creator (Brahma) on in Patanjali’s Yoga-Darshana, to a special transcendental Self (purusha)

Jaal: the web of delusion; a net
Jagadamba: the mother of the world
Jageshwar: a holy pilgrimage of Ardhinareshwar in the Kumar regions
Jain: spiritual values followed by Mahavir which later became a religion Jainism
Jal: water
Jalandarbandh: the chin lock compression to hold the prana
Jalebi: a round and round and round sweet. Then stop. At the stop, the maximum syrup is attained. Shape of the coiled kundalini, lying in three- and-a-half coils.
Japa: ‘recitation’, the repeated recitation of mantras to focus and clarify one’s mind for meditation.
Jati: a great Siddha yogi and greater
Jiva: ‘individual self, the individuated consciousness, as opposed to the ultimate Self (param atman)\ also jivatman
Jivanmukta: an adept who, while still embodied, has attained liberation (moksha) from his material condtion (samsara).
Jivatman: see Jiva
Jnana: ‘knowledge’ or ‘wisdom’, both worldly knowledge or world-transcending wisdom, depending on the context; also gyan; see also vidya.
Jnana Yoga: ‘Yoga of wisdom’, the path to liberation based on wisdom, or the direct intuition of the transcendental Self (atman) through the steady application of discernment between the real and the unreal, the Self and the not-self and renunciation of what has been identified as unreal or inconsequential to the achievement of liberation.
Judaism: the religion of the Jews/Yahudins, the father of whom is Abraham
Jyoti Mudra: also known as Yoni Mudra in tantric parlance called Shanmukh-Mudra: yogic practice.
Jyoti Swaroop: form of the flame
Jyotsna: the moonbeam

Kaal Chakra: ‘wheel of time’
Kaaba: the sacred place of worship for Islam
Kabir: a medieval saint of India.
Kacchha: avatara of Vishnu
Kacchya: tortoise (sea turtle)
Kailasha: the sacred mountain where the spirit of Lord Shiva is said to dwell
Kaivalya: ‘isolation’, the state of absolute freedom from conditioned existence, as explained in Ashtanga Yoga; in the non-dualistic (advaita) traditions of India, this is usually called moksha or mukti, ‘release’ from the fetters of ignorance (avidya).
Kaivalya Darshanam: a book written by Shri Yukteshwar
Kala: ‘Time’, the duration between one event and another.
Kali: a Goddess embodying the fierce (dissolving) aspect of the Divine
Kali Yuga: from kali ‘the losing throw of a die’, in the Hindu astralogical system, the dark age of spiritual and moral decline; the current age of the word in the universal cycle, not to be confused with the shorter equinoctial cycle expounded by Sri Yukteswar.
Kalki: the coming avatar of Lord Vishnu, 10th in order.
Kalki Purana: an ancient treatise about the coming of the Kalki Avatar/Maitreya who shall restore spirituality on this earth, and reinstate the Solar Dynasty.
Kalpa: the lifespan assigned to our planetary system.
Kalyuga: see Kali Yuga
Kama: ‘desire’, the appetite for sensual pleasure blocking one’s path to liberation (moksha).
Kama Deh: the body of desire
Kamalasana: lotus posture, also known as padmasana
Kamandalu: a brass vessel to cany water/food
Kamrupa: a tantric pilgrimage of the goddess Sati
Kapila: the sage founder of the Scunkhya tradition and composer of the Samkhya Sutra.
Kanda: bulb or root
Kanishka: a dynasty; one of its emperors was Harshavartan
Kanya: girl below the age of 12
Kapha: phlegm; one of the three humors
Karan Sharir: the causal body
Karma: ‘action’, activity of any kind, including ritual acts; the law of cause and effect, of balance and justice, binding one to material condition; destiny; the condition of an individual birth.
Karma Shrinkala: the chain of events which binds the soul to the cycle of reincarnation
Karma Yoga: ‘Yoga of action’, the liberating path of self-transcending action involving virtuous deeds (puny a), holy ritual (puja) y and astrologically prescribed methods.
Kama: eldest son of Queen Kunti born of immaculate conception by the inception of the Son God
Kartikeya: the son of Lord Shiva
Kaurava: one of the opposing families of the pandavers
Kaya Kalpa: an ancient yogic/ayurvedic process form of rejuvenation
Kevali Samadhi: ‘condition of aloneness’, he who has ‘become alone’ and is established in seeing the Self.
Khappar: a bowl made from the human skull
Khechari: the sky walking mudra (technique)
Khechari Mudra: ‘space-walking seal’; facilitates astral travel. The yogic practice of ‘swallowing the tongue in order to seal the life energy (prana) to be given by a bonified Guru; the seal of the tongue beyond the ulvula, stimulating the pituitary gland to drink of amrit).
Kosha: ‘casing’, any one of five ‘envelopes’ surrounding the transcendental Self (atman) and blocking its realization of its Divine nature: annamayakosha ‘envelope made of food,’ the physical body, pranamayakosha ‘envelope made of life force,’ manoinaya-kosha ‘envelope made of mind,’ vijnanamaya-kosha ‘envelope made of consciousness,’ and anandamayakosha ‘envelope made of bliss?
Krikara: triple sound of creation, preservation and dissolution. A. U. M
Krkara: a sub-prana
Krishna: an incarnation (avatar) of the God Vishnu, the Puma Avatar whose teachings can be found in the Bhagavad-Gita and the Bhagavata-Purana,
Kriya Yoga: ‘Yoga of doing’
Kuhus: a sub-prana
Kul Achara: carrying out the behaviors and traditions of the family
Kul Dharma: the behaviors and traditions of the family Kula: dynasty
Kula Kundalini: the kundalini power that prevails through human existence for many ages, many generations and many dynastys.
Kulaugama: (kuloguma) the seed from which a dynasty sprouts
Kumaon: the foothill regions of the Himalayas.
Kumaras: a youthful man from the age of 16 to 21
Kumarika: a youthful woman from the age of 13 to 18
Kumbh: earthen pot, usually in a rounded shape to hold water or any form of liquid
Kumbhaka: ‘potlike’, in the science of Yoga, the retention of and constriction of the locks (bandas) to usher vital energy (prana) into the spinal cord (sushumna nadi) for the awakening of kundalini; see also puraka, recaka
Kunda: pond
Kundal: earring worn by men
Kundalini: ‘coiled serpant of the fire-kundh', electro-magnetic pranic energy centralized in the spine; Kundalini is the lady of the cinders whom, when fanned by the alchemical fire of Shiva-Shakti pranayam, ignites and blazes up the chimney of the spine to unite with the immortal Lord Shiva in the crown chakra (sahasrara) to enlighten the yogi.
Kundalini Kriya Yoga: Kriya Yoga; when the Kriya Yoga pranayam is performed, the pranic life-force in one’s spinal chord (sushumna) builds up to generate a great spiritual magnetism and voltage. By the ceaseless movement of the Shiva-Shakti Kriya, life-force (prana), breath, vital fluid, and mind become one to form the evolutionary life-force energy called Kundalini.
Kunti: the mother of the Pandavas
Kurma: turtle (the one on land)
Kushan Dynasty: also known as the Kushvahn Dynasty, which is the progeny of Lord Rama’s second son Kusha
Kuthumi: “that which I am”

Lakh: hundred thousand rupees
Lakshmi: Goddess of Prosperity and Light
Lakulish: ‘the staff-holder’, ‘He who holds the lightning-staff of evolution', a representation of Lord Shiva.
Lalita Vistara: the teachings of Gautam the Buddha, which were formulated during the time of Jesus and King Shalivihan
Lifetron: a subatomic particle composed of pranic lifeforce energy
Lila: the play of the divine mother as Maya
Linga: ‘mark’, the pillar or penis as the creative principle; a symbol and popular icon of Lord Shiva; a symbol for the universe cf. yoni
Linga Puran: one of the ancient texts of the episodes relating to Lord Shiva. The linga is an oval sphere, which represents Shiva. It symbolizes Him to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Shiva has his center everywhere and circumference nowhere. In tantric aspects it is also used as the symbol of rejeneration and procreation.
Lobha: greed

Maan: pride
Madh Maheswar: one of the five sacred shrines of Shiva representing his naval
Madhyama Vak: sound made a little over a whisper; mumbling
Maghayanti: one of the seven sisters of the Pleiades
Maha Yoga: Nirvana Moksha
Maha Yuga: one complete cycle of all of the four yugas, name sattya, dwapar, tretta, kali
Mahabharata: ‘Great Bharata’, one of two of India's ancient and famous epics during the lime of Lord Krishna, telling of the great war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas and serving as a repository' for many spiritual and moral teachings.
Mahakaala: ‘The Great Beyond Time' epithet of Lord Shiva in whose presence, causation/light, space and time stands still and subdued and this is the end of relativity and the beginning of supreme consciousness.
Mahamudra: the posture of the great liberation
Maharaja: Great (maha) King (raja)
Maharath Manjari: a sacred mystical treatise
Manas: mind; the lower mind, which is bound to the senses and yields information (vijnana) rather than wisdom (jnana. vidya), cf. buddhi
Manavantara: a reign of one manu
Mandakini: our nearest galaxy called Andromeda
Mangal: Mars (auspicious)
Manipur Chakra: the naval chakra with four petals
Mano-Buddhi-Ahamkar: mind, intellect and ego
Manomayee Kosh: the body of emotions
Mantra: from the root man ‘to think’, a sacred sound or phrase, such as om, hum. or om namah shivaya. that has a transformative effect on the mind of the individual reciting it; to be ultimately effective, a mantra needs to be given in an initiation by a Master.
Mantra Yoga: the yogic path utilizing mantras as the primary' means of liberation.
Manu: the primordial father of the human race.
Manu Savarni: El Morya Vikramaditya who is to succeed Spiritual King Vaivasvat Manu.
Manu Smriti: the memoirs of Lord Vaivaswat Manu
Manu Vivasvat: the victorious sun
Manu Vaivasvat: the father of our fifth root race
Marici: one of the rishis of the Supta Rishi (Great Bear Constellation)
Markandeya Purana: the Purana written by the rishi Markandeya
Matsar: a tingling jealousy
Malsya: a fish
Maya: ‘measure’, the deluding or illusive power of the world binding one to mortality; illusion by which the world is seen as separate from the Divine; ignorance, specifically in the form of duality.
Mayavi: of the nature of mayic illusion
Mayavi rupa: illusive form
Merkabah: the fire chariot throne upon which sits the our Sun, driven by seven splendid white horses, each representing an important planet of our solar system. The Sun rides this fire chariot-thron through the twelve signs of the zodiac, dispensing justice and propelling evolution to human and celestials alike. The four wheels represent the four gods Yama for earth-death, Varuna for water-regeneration, Kubcra for fire-life and Indra for aerial life force (prana).
Moha: attachment to the objects of the senses
Mohan: the celestial charmer of all souls (Krishna)
Moksha: ‘release', the condition of freedom from ignorance (avidya) & and the binding effect of karma; also called mnkti, kaivalya
Morchal: a fan made of peacock feathers used by the Guru for cleansing one's astral body and driving away negative forces.
Morya: Chandra Gupta Moiya/El Morya; the first emperor of India destined to be the future World King of the inner government of the world, the Manu Savemi of the sixth root race
Mrityunjaya: the conqueror of death, epithet of Lord Shiva
Mukti: a step lower than moksha; a release from any lower condition state to a higher more unconditioned state of awareness
Mula Bandha: rectal lock
Muladhara Chakra: located at the base of the spine at the perineum
Mudra: ‘seal’, a hand gesture (such as chin mudra) or whole-body gesture (such as Mahamudra) performed for the flow of subtle energies.

Nabhi Kriya: see Nabho kriya
Nabho Kriya: a yogic technique to join pranapana at naval (manipur chakra) and get steadiness of mind
Nada: ‘sound’, the inner sound of Om, as it can be heard through the practice of Nada Yoga; see also Hamsa Yoga.
Nada Brahma: the unheard sound of the Omkar during the Oinkar Kriya
Nadi Shuddhi: the purification of the psychic nerves
Nada Yoga: Yoga of the inner sound; the Yogic practice or process of producing and intently listening to the inner sound as a means of concentration and ecstatic self-transcendence.
Nadi: ‘conduit’, one of 72000 subtle-astral channels along or through which the life force (prana) circulates; the three most prominent being the ida nadi 3 pingala nadi, and sitshumna nadi.
Nadi Shodhan: ‘channel cleansing’, the practice of purifying the conduits for higher evolutionary states of Yoga, especially by means of breath control (pranayama).
Naga: serpent beings who act as agents of weather phenomenon
Nagna Satya: the naked truth which remains after the whole of creation is dissolved and time, space and light are also non-existent (also called the Naked Singularity)
Nanak: a great medieval saint and master and founder of Sikh religion.
Nandi: the bull, a vehicle of Lord Shiva and a symbol of the sound of Om
Narada: a Deva Rishi and devotee of Shiva who taught him divine music at Rudraprayag. He is the author of the Bhakti-Sutras as given by Lord Shiva.
Narada Bhakti Sutras: see Bhakti Sutra
Nath: ‘Lord'.
Neelkanta: the blue throated epithet for Lord Shiva
Neophyte: a newly initiate pupil on the path; as he treads the path he is called a tenderfoot
Nirakara: without form
Niranjana: a term used by Yogis for the highest state of consciousness (samadhi).
Niranjana Nirvana: the final salvation; a state of God Realization
Nirbija Samadhi: consciousness without seed; the highest form of samadhi before the final dissolution of dharma megha samadhi.
Nirvana: cessation of all desire, synonymous with enlightenment; see also kaivalya.
Nirvana Moksha: see Brahma Nirvana
Nirvani: fully enlightened being
Niyama: self-restraint’, the second limb of Patanjali’s eightfold path, which consists of purity (shaucha), contentment (samtosha), austerity (tapas), study (svadhyaya), and surrender to the Lord (ishvara-pranidhana)

Ojas: ‘vitality’, the subtle energy produced through practice, especially the discipline of chastity (brahmacharya).
Om: the primordial sound and birthing hum of creation heard by the yogi in meditation and harnessed to evolve himself to evermore refined spheres of consciousness. Before creation began. Om was smaller than the nucleus of the atom, within which infinitely compressed the far limits of the mind and matter of the universe…
Omkar: At the beginning of time, the light-sound explosion of the instant Creation, reverberating throughout eternity as the birthing hum of existence. This fundamental vibration of creation contains in it the Sattva Raja Tama Gunas, it contains the limits of the mind and matter of the universe.
Omkar Kriya: This is a special technique in Kriya yoga with which all Kriya meditations begin. It consists of listening and experiencing the triple divine quality of light sound creation.

Padma Matrika: the cosmic womb; the universal lotus mother from which the later word, matrix evolved. Padma Matrika was also later called the transcendental matrix, which contains the farthermost limits of the mind and matter of the universe
Pancha Klesha: five afflictions of delusion (avidya/ignorance, asmit/thinking oneself to be a body and not the divine soul, raga/attraction, dvesh/repulsion, abhinivesh/clinging on to bodily existence and its temptation)
Panchanan: a name for the five headed Shiva
Panchashika: one of the highest kumars; a Sage of the Fire Mist
Para Prakriti: superior subtle nature.
Paramahamsa: ‘supreme swan’, the 4th level of initiation of a yogi; an honorific title given to great adepts, such as Ramakrishna and Yogananda
Paramartha: science of the study of the true self (Atma Vidya)
Paramatma: ‘supreme self’, the transcendental Self, which is singular, as opposed to the individuated self (jiva-atman) that exists in countless numbers in the form of living beings.
Parampara: tradition handed down
Paras-mani: ‘mercury gem’; consolidated mercury
Parjanya: the water element
Parkaya Pravesha: the entry of a yogi into another body whether alive or dead
Parmars: a Rajput clan descended from the fire gods, Agnivamshas.
Pashayanti Vak: the sound vibration which is mental (Chintan)
Patala: the Netherlands, one of the lower nether regions
Patanjali: the Master of Yoga w ho authored the Yoga-Sutras.
Pavaka: one of the names of the Sacred Fire
Pavamana: another sacred name for fire
Philosopher’s Gem: consolidated mercury
Pingala Nadi: ‘reddish conduit’, the prana current ascending on the right side of the central channel (sushuma-nadi) and associated with the sympathetic nervous system and having an energizing effect on the mind when activated; see also ida nadi
Pitris: our lunar ancestors from whom humanity is thought to have descended and ascended until they evolved out of the lunar cycle.
Pitta: bile
Praiaya: partial or total delusion through cataclysms and/or holocausts
Prana: the upward flowing life- force energy in the spine; also the universal life energy animating the whole of creation, the breath of the Cosmic Purusha in Kriya Yoga it is used for the evolution of human consciousness.
Prana Apana Anusandhana: name for Kriya Yoga, connecting inhaled with exhaled lifeforce
Prana Patishtha: to infuse lifeforce energy into a deity or a shivaling and make it responsive to your prayer and yogic necessities.
Pranamayee Kosh: the sheath or body composed of prana
Pranava: another name for the sound of Omkar
Prasava: breathing forth also known as faulty breathing.
Pranayama: ‘life-breath extension’, breath control and expansion, the fourth limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eightfold path, consisting of conscious inhalation (puraka), retention (kumbhaka), and exhalation (rechaka)\ at an advanced state, breath retention occurs spontaneously and for prolonged periods of time.
Prasada: ‘grace/clarity', divine grace, mental clarity; food consecrated by the Guru or a deity.
Prateyaka Rudras: High Rishis of the Fire Mist of the eigth degree
Pratiprasava: the inward withdrawal of the mind and matter of creation; the centripetal movement into the vortex of dissolution.
Pratishthaan: an ancient name for the present state of Maharastra in India
Pratyahara: ‘withdrawal’, sensory inhibition, the fifth limb (anga) of
Patanjali’s eightfold path.
Prayag: the confluence of two rivers
Prem: love
Prithvi: a name for the rotating earth
Puja: ‘worship', prescribed rituals usually accompanied by the recitation of mantras or shlokas, an important aspect of many forms of Yoga, notably Karma and Bhakti Yoga
Pujari: The priest who performs the temple rituals and prayers.
Pulaha: one of the Seven Rishis of The Great Bear
Pulastya: another of the Seven Rishis of the The Great Bear
Puraka: ‘filling in’, inhalation, an aspect of breath control (pranayama)
Puran Bhagat: complete devotee;
Purana: ‘Ancient’, often refering to the ancient spiritual literature of India dealing with royal genealogy, cosmology, philosophy, and ritual; there are eighteen major and many minor works of this nature.
Purandara: the name of the present Indra
Puranic: of the Puranas, an ancient text
Puranwala: a well in the name of Puran Bhagat
Purna Avatara: a full, enlightened avatar of the 8 th degree
Purusharth: ‘human purpose’ the four efforts for which people are responsible to pursued. These are arth (material welfare), kama (physical comfort), dharma (moral way of life) and moksha, (liberation).

Raga: passion or attachment.
Raghu: Name of one of the Kings of the Solar Dynasty
Rahasayam: mystery
Raj Hansa: the king’s swan
Raja: king
Raja Yoga: ‘Royal Yoga', a late medieval designation of Patanjali's eightfold yoga-darshana, also known as Classical Yoga
Rajas: one of the three gunas: sattva (luminosity), tamas (inertia) and rajas (activity)
Rajput: a princely clan of Rajastan
Raksha: protection
Rama: an avatar of Vishnu preceding Krsna; the principal hero of the Ramayana.
Rechaka: ‘expulsion' exhalation, an aspect of breath control (pranayama).
Regina Mundi: a Latin name meaning World Mother
Reincarnation: ‘PunarJanma the individual Soul rotating in the repeated cycle of birth, death (the kola chakra) owing to bondage creating karma.
Renuka: an aspect of Divine Mother
Ribu: one of the Seven Sages of the Fire Mist
Rishi: ‘seer’, the Lord of Irradiant Splendor the Lord of radiant Splendor; the Sages of Fire Mist; a category of Vedic sage; an honorific title of certain venerated masters and Cosmic Beings.
Romaka-Pura: a city in the western part of Shamballah where the great astronomer Asurya Maya lived
Roop: beautiful form
Rudra Granthi: situated pranic plexus situated in the third eye
Rudra Kumar: a name for the Sages of the Fire Mist
Rudraksha: the seed of a tree, sacred to Shiva (sacred bead)

Saakahatkanu: seeing the spiritual being in a materialized body of rainbow-light
Sabeeja Samadhi: an ectasy of expanded consciousness with seed/desire; as opposed to Nirbeeja Samadhi, without the seed of desire
Sada-Shiva: ever present Shiva
Sadhak: a spiritual practioner
Sadhna: ‘accomplishing*, spiritual discipline leading to ‘perfection’ or ‘accomplishment' (niddhi).
Sadhu: a holy many who does sadhana
Sages of the Fire Mist: were born at the dawn of creation of our greater world cycle (the Kalp). The Sages were self-born essences who manifested through the fire mist and were the hierophants and celestial teachers of our humanity and are responsible for (he evolution of our humanities and races to this present day. They are the Manu Swyambhu and Sanat Kumar, the lord of our world, to name a few.
Sahaja Samadhi: ‘together-born’, natural enlightenment; the fact that the transcendental reality and the empirical reality are not truly separate but coexist, or with the latter being an aspect or misperception of the former; often rendered as ‘spontaneous’ or ‘spontaneity’; the sahaja state is the natural condition, that is, enlightenment or realization.
Sahasrara Chakra: thousand petaled lotus; crown chakra
Saivism: the religious path followed by worshippers of Lord Shiva
Sama: balanced
Samadhi: ‘putting together’, the ecstatic or unitive state in which the meditator becomes one with the object of meditation; the eighth and final limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eightfold path; there are many types of samadhi. The most significant distinction being between samprajnata (super-conscious) and asamprajnata (supra-conscious) ecstasy; only the latter leads to the dissolution of the karmic factors deep within the mind; beyond both types of ecstasy is enlightenment, which is also sometimes called sahaja-samadhi or the condition of ‘natural’ or ‘spontaneous’ ecstasy, where there is perfect continuity of supra-conscious throughout waking, dreaming and sleeping.
Samana: a prana of a green hue connected with digestion
Samasara: the world of maya (illusion) driven by karma (the law of action and reaction), leading to punanjarma (rebirth) or moksha (liberation).
Samayama: a state of samadhi where the subject and the object become one
Sambalpur: often mispronounced Shamballah or Shangri-La; the place from where the kalki avatar is to emerge.
Sambandhar: a great south Indian avatar and worshipper of Lord Shiva
Samkhya: ‘number’, one of the main philosophies of Yoga, which is concerned with the classification of the principles (tattva) of existence and their proper discernment in order to distinguish between Spirit (Purusha) and the various aspects of nature (prakriti)\ this influential system grew out of the ancient (pre-Buddhist) Samkhya Yoga tradition and was codified in the Samkhya-Karika of Ishvara Krishna 3500 BCE.
Samsara: ‘confluence’, the finite world of change, as opposed to the ultimate reality (brahman or nirvana).
Samskara: ‘activator’, the subconscious impression left behind by each act of volition, which, in turn, leads to renewed psychomental activity; the countless samskaras hidden in the depth of the mind are ultimately eliminated only in asamprajnata-samadhi (see samadhi).
Samkhya Karika: the author of the book is Ishwar Krishna.
Sanatana: the eternal
Sanatana Dharma: the eternal religion
Sanchit Karma: those karmas stored in the collective unconscious of the individual
Sangh: a collective body of like-minded people
Sanjecvan Samadhi: immortal state of samadhi
Sanjeevani Vidya: the yogic process of bringing others back to life, resurrecting their physical body, for specific spiritual work.
Santatii: offspring
Sapta-Sapti: one of the secret names of the coming kalki avatar
Saraswati: the goddess of learning; she is the informing spirit of the mystic word of learning called Vach; therefore, she is called Vach Saraswati
Sanyasa: ‘casting off, the state of renunciation, which is the fourth and final stage of life (see ashram) and consisting primarily in an inner turning away from what is understood to be finite and secondarily in an external letting go of finite things.
Sapta Rishi: the Seven Primordial Sages, corresponding to the seven stars of the Great Bear.
Sat: ‘truth’, the ultimate reality (Atman or Brahman).
Satanic: of the quality of satin; he slips you into devious ways without you knowing it.
Sat-Nama: the true name, usually referred to as Omkar
Satguru: ‘one with gravity', a Master who brings to light the Spiritual knowledge inherent in man; an enlightened aspect of the Divine
Sattvic Ahar: a diet which is pure and predominantly of sattva gunas
Saturn-Kronos: the planet connected with time
Savikalpa Samadhi: state of ecstasy with attributes of human perception
Seetali: form of yogic pranayama where you breathe through the tubular shape of the longue
Sbaastras: science
Shabda Yoga: mantra yoga
Shad Ripu: the six subtle sheaths connects with the physical spiritual being
Shad-chakra Bhedan: science of the penetration of the six chakras
Shakti: ‘power', the kinetic aspect of the potential Shiva (God-realization), the power to transform and evolve aspirants to this enlightened slate; see also kundalini shakti.
Shakti Chalan: making a vacuum of the stomach and moving it in and out
Shakti Pithas: power center
Shaktipat: ‘descent of shakti', one of the three blessings (shivapat, shaktipat, and pranapat)
Shambala: see Shambalpur
Shambalpur: also known as Shambala, where Brahmā reigns as Spiritual King until the world cycle is over; its higher center is in the Aurora Borealis of the Northern Lights.
Shambhavey Mudra: outward gaze with inward attention
Shataka: a century' or a hundred
Shiva: ‘the Benevolent One', the Consciousness of the universe. The great destroyer of delusion and spiritual rejenerator of mankind. He is the divine potential aspect of his own kinetic shakti energy; also called Mahadeva ‘Great God.’
Shiva Bhakti Sutras: originally given by Lord Shiva
Shivaji: the Medieval Marattha King who repelled the Mogul forces and restored India, saving it from total invasion and returning it to its Hindu glory
Shivanetra: the third-eye chakra; also the third eye of Shiva, the location of the Hamsa swan seen visually in meditation.
Shivapat: ‘Shiva's grace', the Sat-Guru, as Consciousness, awares himself into the mind-disciple, transforming that mind into his own Consciousness to the degree of the disciple's receptivity to his Consciousness; see also pranapat, shaktipat.
Shravan Bhadrapad: the monsoon rainy season
Shuddhi: ‘purification/purity’, the state of purity; see also shodhana
Shukra: the planet Venus, symbolizes life and also the vital fluid
Shvetdeep: ‘White Island', see Shambalpur, Shweta Varaha Kalpa: ‘World-Cyle of the White Boar.’
Shyama: the dark one; a name of the goddess
Siddha: ‘accomplished', a perfected Master or adept
Siddhi: ‘accomplishinent/perfection’, spiritual perfection, the attainment of flawless identity with the ultimate reality (atman or brahman), paranormal ability, of which the Yoga tradition knows many kinds.
Simhasta-Kumbha: the great Leo-Aquarius fair that occurs every twelve years in India, which over 40 million pilgrims attend, undoubtedly (the greatest show on earth).
Singaidweep: another name for Sri Lanka
Soma: the elixir which is God, from the practice of Khechari Mudra in yogic practices; it is also taken from plants and connected with the moon; anti-aging ambrosia may be extracted from moon plants
Soul-Star: the Kutastha Chaitanya seen in the third eye; one's individual star-gate, penetrating which, One enters from savikalpa samadhi to the nirvikalpa samadhi state
Sphurti Vada: inspired conversation
Sthul Deh: gross or coarse, the outer most aspect of something.
Suchi: a form of fire along with Pavaka and Pavamana
Sukhavati Heaven: of Lord Varuna as Amravati Heaven is of Lord Indra
Surya Nadi: the life-force flowing through the right nostril
Surya Putra: son of the sun; Lord Vaivaswat Manu is son of the Sun Lord Vivaswat Manu .
Sushmuna Nadi: ‘very gracious channel’, the central prana current in or along which the serpent power (kundalini shakti) must ascend toward the psycho-energetic center {chakra) at the crown of the head in order to attain liberation (moksha).
Svaha: the wife of Agni Abhimani, father of the three sub-fires (pavaka, pavamana, shuchi)
Svaroop Samadhi: also called samadhi with form and sanjeevan samadhi.
Svayambhu: self-bom and eternal.
Swadhishtan Chakra: the genital center chakra, located at the sacral tailbone
Swadhyaya: ‘one’s own going into’, self-study, important to the yogic path, listed among the practices of self-restraint (niyama) in Patanjali's eightfold Yoga; the recitation of mantras*, see also japa.
Swaha: going to the fire; also a name of the wife of the Fire God, Agni Abhimani.
Swami: ‘owner’ or ‘lord’, title of respect for a spiritual personage.
Swaroop: (svaroop) embodiment of one’s true Self; the essential nature of a thing.
Swayambhu: ‘great unborn’, the self-manifestation and personal aspect ot Lord Shiva. The cosmic being will not incarnate from age to age, but is perpetually present until the world cycle (mahakalpa) is over. He broods over humanity, his children, from eternity to eternity and is thus known as “the Great sacrifice”. His work is far beyond the comprehension of mortals; see also aja.

Tabernacle: a tent and a portable dwelling place for the divine.
Takshaka Naga: one of the species of cobras
Tanmatras: ‘fine matter’, the subtle aspect of the material elements (bhuta) which may be seen in the form of light during yoni-mudra (also jyoti-mudra), the potentials of sound (shabda), form (rupa), touch (sparsha), taste (rasa), and smell (gandha).
Tantra: ‘warp’, the tradition of Tantrism and practice of tantric rights by which the laws of nature are manipulated and overcome; the esoteric and arcane practices of sadhus in India by which the sadhak may attain spiritual powers (siddhis) by means of tantric practice and tapa.
Tantra Aloka: Abhinav Gupta’s magnum opus, which discusses in great depth the metaphysics and spiritual practice of Tantrism from the viewpoint of Kashmir Shaivism.
Tantra Yoga: a form of yoga, c.f. Raj Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Dyana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga.. etc.
Tao Te Ching: a treatise written by Lao-Tzu, specifically to do with the taming of the bull of one’s own passions and the practice of Indian yoga, such as the pranic Kriya Yoga
Tapa: ‘glow’ or ‘heat’, austerity or endurance of extremes, an element of all yogic approaches, since they all involve renunciation and transcendence; in yogic meditation, the act of stewing in one’s own pranic energies thereby channelising and storing them.
Tara: a form of the goddess
Taraka Raj Yoga: system of yoga, founded by the Medieval chemist Aryasangh
Taranhara: the messiah or soul savior; also a name for avatar, the downward crossing
Tathastu: means “So Be It’’ just as we say “Amen”
Tattva: Thatness’, a fact or reality; a particular category of existence such as the ahamkara, buddhi, manas; the ultimate reality; see also atman, Brahman,
Tejas: yogic brilliance along with ojas and prana
Tirthankar: the bridge builders in Jain religion
Trataka: one of the six kriyas of concentrating on a flame
Trilochana: one with the third-eye; an epithet of Lord Shiva
Trimuti: three faces of three faced sculpture of Trinity
Trishul: trident
Tushita Heaven: a heavenly sphere where the kalki avatar is preparing for his second advent; therefore, it is connected to Shamballah from where the kalki is to appear

Uccatan: a tantric technique to return the evil forces sent by another being
Udana: metabolic prana, concerned with the lymphatic and metabolic systems; one of the five main life forces namely Prana, Apana, Sapan, Udana and Vyena
Uddiyana Bandha: the abdominal lock
Ujjain: the city of the victorious one
Unmani Avasta: a clear-mind ecstasy of thoughtless awareness.
Utopia: a spiritual land, which we in India call Shambala, also called Shangri La in which an egalitarian and a happy society live in peaceful co-existance. Shambala, the land from where the Kalki avatar is expected to come as the second advent.
Uttar Pradesh: It is a province lying in the northern regions of India
Uttara Khand: This is a province lying in the northern Himalayan regions of India

Vaidhatra: Tightening holder’, unborn manifestation of the Creator; Master of destiny; holder of the Cosmic Kundalini
Vaikhari Vak: the grossest sound pattern emanating from Vak Saraswati
Vairagya: ‘dispassion’, the attitude of inner renunciation, the counterpole to abhyasa
Vajra Nadi: the second of the psychic nerves. First is sushumna, second is vajra, third is chittra and fourth is Brahma
Vajrayana: the Lightning Path of which the Shiva-Shakti Kriya is the crest jewel
Vajroli: a tantric technique of the transformation of sexual into spiritual energy
Vaak: also Vac ‘speech', divine speech the power of manifestation; there are four vak, vaikhari (loud sound), madhyama (murmuring sound), pashyanti (mental sound), para (meditative unheard sound); a name of Sarasvati, Vak Sarasvati.
Vamana: the fifth dwarf avatar of a series of the ten avatars of Vishnu
Varaha: the third boar-faced avatar of a series the ten avatars of Vishnu
Varaha Mihir: one of the greatest astronomers and mathematicians who is said to be a direct incarnation of the even greater rishi Parashara, who is the Indian Hermes (Mercury)
Varkaris: a sect of Bhagvat devotees who worship Lord Krishna in the form of Lord Vitthal or Lord Pandhurang
Varuna: the deity presiding over the element of water and the oceans.
Vanin Astra: a mantric hydro-missile used for elimination of negative forces
Varuna Rishi: see Varuna
Vasikaran: conquest by mind power
Vastushpati: the planet Sirius; the hunter (Vyad) who slays the deer (Mrugnakshatra, the constellation Orion). From this originated the science of Vastu Gyan “geomancy.”
Vayu: the Hindu deity presiding over the element of wind.
Veda: ‘knowledge’, the body of sacred wisdom found in the four Vedic hymnodes that form the source of Hinduism: Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, and Atharva-Veda; also the collective name for these hymnodies; see also Vedanta.
Vedanta: ‘Veda’s end’, the teachings forming the doctrinal conclusion of the revealed literature (shruti) of Sanatana Dharma; see also Upanishad; cf. Aranyaka, Brahmana, Veda
Vidhata: a name for Brahma the creator, who holds the destinies of humanities, the nations and creation.
Vidmahe: may we know
Vidya: inner wisdom
Vidy ut: electricity
Vijnanmayee Kosh: the mental sheath or the mental body of man
Viraj: the masculine aspect of light-sound, whose feminine aspect is Vak Saraswati
Viraj-Vach: ‘light-sound’, (Brahma-Sarasvati)
Vishaya Vasana: attachment to material desires
Vishnu: ‘pervader’, the preserver; worshipped by Vaishnavas and who has had nine incarnations, including Rama and Krsna, with the tenth incarnation (avatara) Kalki coming at the start of the Aquarian age.
Vishnu Granthi: the heart plexus chakra where this Vishnu knot is located, which has to be loosened and penetrated like the Brahma and Rudra Granthis
Vishnu Purana: ancient text according to the Vaishnava philosophy
Vishuddha Chakra: the lotus located in the spine, behind the throat
Vritti: ‘whirl’, in Patanjali’s Yoga-Darshana, specifically the five types of mental activity: valid cognition (pramana\ misconception (yiparyaya), imagination (yikalpa), sleep (nidra), and memory (smriti)
Vyana: the breath driven prana; one of the five
Vyasa: ‘arranger’, the name of several great sages, but specifically referring to Veda Vyasa, who arranged the Vedic hymns in their current form and who also is attributed with the compilation of the Puranas, the Mahabharata, and other wwks, including the commentary on the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali, the Yoga-Bhashya.

Yajna: ‘sacrifice’, ritual fire sacrifice involving the chanting of mantras and shtokas. Yoga also knows of an inner sacrifice of kindling the internal flame of kundalini
Yama: ‘discipline’, the first limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eightfold path, comprising moral precepts that have universal validity (such as non-harming and truthfulness); the name of the gatekeeper of the netherworld, Yama *The First Mortal*.
Yashasvini: one of the sub-pranas in the body
Yoga: ‘union’, the spiritual tradition and practice of uniting the individual soul (Jiva) with the Supreme Spirit (Shi va) originating in India; the unitive discipline by which inner freedom is sought; spiritual practice, as practiced in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and transcending the entrapment of religious identification.
Yogacharya: an adept of Yoga capable of teaching others.
Yogi: a male practitioner of Yoga
Yogini: a female practitioner of Yoga
Yogiraj: ‘King of Yogis’, a title of exaltation and praise granted to a spiritual Master.
Yoni: the female genitalia; also a symbol for the the supreme Goddess and source of the universe, the primordial deep; see also linga
Yoni Mudra: also known as jyoti inudra and shan-mukhi-mudra, the blocking of one’s ears, eyes, and nostrils with one’s fingers where the inner sound, anahata-nada (omkar) is heard and the soul is seen as a spot of light at the third eye.
Yuga: ‘age’, a division of time; as expounded by Swami Shri Yukteshwar, the four ages of ascending and descending arcs (12,000 years in length), forming one Mahayuga of 24,000 years.

Sanskrit Glossary of Yoga Tantra Terms – 2

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