"A yoga Life is an awareful life" - Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Key Sanskrit Terms
A
Akarma – Inaction
Akṣara - Imperishable, eternal, unchanging; that which is God {see ch 8}
Ahaṃkāra - I-maker; ego; sense of me/mine that is separate or individualized {part of the anta-karana}
Anta-karaṇa - Inner Instrument {what we called mind, which is made of four parts}
- manas - emotions; likes and dislikes
- buddhi - intellect; discernment
- citi - memory
- ahamkāra - I-maker; ego; sense of a separate "me"
Avatāra – descended star, Incarnation of God
Apara Brahma - Imminent God {that aspect of God that is the manifestation}
B
Bhagavān - God
Bhāva - state, condition {see BGE chapter 8}
Buddhi - discernment capacity of the mind; intellect
Brahma - The Big; God; Creator
C
Citi - memory {part of anta-karana; aspect of the mind}
D
Daiva - Deity, a God / Goddess; names for aspects of cosmic order {see ch 8 of BG Essentials}
Deha - That which is given
Dharma - rightness; natural law; morality; that which is in alignment with nature; God manifest as natural law {see ch 3 of BG Essentials}
- Svadharma - Individual dharma; one's own purpose {which will also always align with svadharma}
- Sāmānya dharma - Universal dharma; that which causes no unnecessary harm; golden rule
Dṛg Dṛśya Viveka - discerning between the seer and the seen {subject and object} {see ch 2 of BG Essentials}
- Dṛg - the seer; the Self; the Subject
- Dṛśya - object; that which is observable / seeable
- Viveka - discernment
J
Jnana - Wisdom; knowledge
Karma – action; includes cause + effect; ritual
- Sancita Karma – accumulated past actions; the balance of karma yet to fructify
- Āgama Karma - current actions taking place that will have results in the future; karma created (or yet to be created in this life}
- Prarabdha Karma - the karma that will fructify in the present life that is; the effects of past actions that will come in this life
I
Iśvara - God, lord
K
Krṣṇa - An incarnation of the lord Vishnu, who's role is to restore dharma; the dear friend and teacher of Arjuna; the one who distills the teachings of Vedānta {see class 1 of BG Essentials}
Kṣara - perishable, changeable, the nature of the world {see ch 8}
L
Loka - abode {see ch 8 of BG Essentials}
M
Manas - emotional capacity of mind; measurer; likes and dislikes
Mithyā - Part of the satya-mithya equation, mithya is dependent truth {in the cup-clay metaphor, the cup is mithya and the clay is satya; both are real, but the reality of the cup is dependent on the reality of the clay} {see class 2 of BG Essentials}
Mumukshu - One who is committed to seeking moksha {liberation} {see class 6 of BG Essentials}
N
Nirguṇa - without qualities
P
Para Brahma - Transcendent God {that aspect of God that is more than or beyond and unaffected by manifestation}
Parama - supreme
Paramparā - lineage
Pramāna - a means of knowledge; Vedānta is a pramāna to come to know the truth of the Self
Prasāda Buddhi - the inner attitude that all is given; the inner understanding that all is a gift from God; one of the key inner attitudes of karma yoga
Puruṣartha - Four pursuits of human life
- Artha - Security
- Kāma - Pleasure
- Dharma - Alignment with natural law; morality
- Mokṣa - Freedom; space; liberation
S
Saguṇa - with qualities
Sannyāsa - renunciation {see class 5 of BG Essentials}
Satya - Part of the satya-mithya equation, satya is independent truth {in the cup-clay metaphor, the cup is mithya and the clay is satya; both are real, but the reality of the cup is dependent on the reality of the clay whereas the clay remains the same unchangeable clay}. {see class 2 of BG Essentials}
Ś
Śraddhā - Commitment; faith {see class 4 of BG Essentials}
Śreyas - Unbreakable happiness which doesn't come and go {see class 2 of BG Essentials}
Samskāra - Deep Impression from repetition of past action and thought {see class 6 of BG Essentials}
T
Triguṇa – Three threads of manifestation
- Sattva - consciousness; knowing; illuminating
- Rajas - manifesting; moving; dynamism; friction
- Tamas - inertia; ignorance; veiling; deluding; sleeping
V
Vairāgya – not attaching the wrong value to objects of the world; recognition that no object can solve your fundamental problem of inadequacy or dissatisfaction; non-coloring {see class 4 + 5 of BG Essentials}
Vikarma – wrong action
Y
Yajna - Ritual; ritual sacrifice {see ch 8 as well as ch 4}
In gratitude.
The teachers with whom I have studied Bhagavād Gīta and other Vedānta texts, and which were profoundly utilized in this course. |
The translations and commentaries that I refer to again and again, which were greatly appreciated in my preparation for this course.
Gīta Home Study Course, Swami Dayananda Saraswati more here
Srimad Bhagavād Gīta, Swami Dayananda Saraswati more here
The Teaching of the Bhagavād Gīta, Swami Dayananda Saraswati more here
The Bhagavād Gīta, Victory Over Gratitude, A.K. Arun more here
Patanjali Yoga Sūtras, In the Light of Vedānta, A.K. Arun more here
The Value of the Values, Swami Dayananda more here
Srimad Bhagavād Gīta, Swami Dayananda Saraswati more here
The Teaching of the Bhagavād Gīta, Swami Dayananda Saraswati more here
The Bhagavād Gīta, Victory Over Gratitude, A.K. Arun more here
Patanjali Yoga Sūtras, In the Light of Vedānta, A.K. Arun more here
The Value of the Values, Swami Dayananda more here