Essence of Bhagavad Gita Decoded🔗

Advaita: non-duality; the space of experiencing oneness, infinity with Cosmos, where everything is 'you' and 'you' are everything.

Abhyāsa yoga: practise of yoga of holding the mind in a state of union with divinity

Aṣṭāṅga Yoga: eight fold path to enlightenment prescribed by Patañjali, the founding father of yoga, in his Yoga Sūtra

Āgāmya karma: karma we accumulate in the present birth

Aham: me, the idea of 'me'.

Ahaṁkāra: Outer image, the identity or image you project to others and the world

Ahiṁsā: non-violence

Ājñā cakra: sixth energy center between the eyebrows. Means 'command' or 'will' in Saṁskṛit.

Ākāśa: space, sky; subtlest form of Cosmic energy.

Akṣaram: imperishable

Amṛtatva: immortality

Anitya: transient, temporary

Annadāna: enriching sharing of food

Anubhūti: inner experience

Anyakāra: Others' image, the image or expectation that others carry about you

Aparigraha: non-possessiveness

Āsana: physical posture

Āsurī sampat: demonic nature

Aśvatta: banyan tree

Ātma jñāna: Self realization

Ātma śakti: (or ātma siddhi) the power of living; ability to live and radiate the powers of thoughts, words and feeling; awakened by tattva of enriching.

Avyakta: unseen or unmanifest

Avatār: Incarnation, Supreme Divine; formless energy, Super-conscious energy that manifests in human or living form

Bhagavān: lit. God who holds fortune, divinity; the blessed one; an incarnation, Supreme God or embodiment of Absolute Truth

Bhakti: devotion, sacred sentiments

Brahmān: refers to the Supreme Self, Consciousness

Brahmāṇḍa: cosmos, macrocosm (also see Piṇḍāṇḍa)

Brahmavidyā: the science of the spiritual knowledge of Absolute Universal reality. Another name to define Bhagavad Gītā

Bhīṣma: (or Devavrata) great grandfather of the Kaurava & Pāṇḍava; one of the greatest warriors on earth; son of Gaṅgā.

Bīja: seed; bīja-mantra refers to the single syllable mantras

Brahmavidyā: the science of the spiritual knowledge of the Absolute Universal reality; highest ideal of knowledge to be known in Sanatana dharma. Another name to define Bhagavad Gītā

Brāhmaṇa: individuals engaged in attaining the highest spiritual knowledge; community involved in learning, spreading knowledge

Brahmāṇḍa: cosmos, macrocosm (also see Piṇḍāṇḍa)

Cakṣu: energy behind the power of sight; the divine eye or third eye

Cidākāśa : the space in the surrounding (e.g. in a room). The other two being ghaṭākāśa and mahākāśa.

Daivī saṁpat: divine nature

Dāna: sharing or imparting. A sacred sacrifice to enrich others.

Darśan: vision; usually referred to seeing divinity

Devatas: Divine beings, gods

Dharma: righteousness, the eternal path of living in righteousness or Truth; the cosmic law

Dharmakṣetra: holy land of dharma, Kurukṣetra.

Dhanañjaya: the winner or conqueror of wealth; a name of Arjuna called by Kṛṣṇa in Mahābhārat.

Dhāraṇa: collection/concentration of mind (with retention of breath)

Dhyāna: meditation

Divya cakṣu: divine eye. Also called divya netra

Dṛṣṭi: sight, seeing with mental eye

Drupada: king of Pāñcāla, a great warrior, father of Draupadī

Droṇa : a great archer and teacher of both Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas

Dhṛtarāṣṭra: the blind king, who was administering kingdom of Hastināpur, father of the Kauravas. Gītā begins with his questions to his charioteer, Sañjaya; embodiment of self-doubt, blinding ignorance.

Duḥkha: pain, sorrow

Duryodhana: son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; the Kaurava Prince King, main war opponent, who refused to give even a needle tip of land to his cousins, the Pāṇḍavas.

Dvaita: (lit. duality) school of thought that says the individual self is separate from existence

Energy darśan: the blessing or transmission of energy given by enlightened Master or an Incarnation imparting the cosmic energy to the recipient.

Gaṅgā: the most celebrated, holiest river in India, life-enriching Mother for all Hindus.

Ghaṭākāśa: the space enclosed by our physical body

Ghee: clarified butter

Guṇa: three human behavioural characteristics or predispositions; satva, rajas and tamas.

Guru: Master; lit. one who leads from gu (darkness) to ru (light)

Guḍākeśā: one who has transcended sleep by conquering his incompletions; refers to a name of Arjuna, called in Gītā.

Hiraṇyagarbha: lit. 'the golden womb' where gold or space of completion exists. Upaniṣads calls it the source of creation of the manifested Cosmos.

Hṛṣīkeśa: controller of the senses; superconscious, refers to Lord Kṛṣṇa

Indra: god of all divine beings

Indraprastha: (lit: city of Indra) 'the land of creation.' The capital kindgom of Pāṇḍavas in Mahābhārat. Was a barron un-inhabited land, which Pāṇḍavas turned into a prosperous city by grace of Lord Indra and Kṛṣṇa; built by divine architect, Viśvakarma.

Īśvara: Lord of the Universe

Īśvaratva: space of leadership consciousness awakened by tattva of responsibility.

Intranalyze: (intra-analyze) analyzing for the sake of internalizing the Truth, and not for rejecting it. The term gifted by Paramahamsa Nithyananda.

Jagat: Universe

Jagat guru: Master of the whole Universe

Janaka: a noble and benevolent king who ruled Mithila; father of princess Sītā (ref. Rāmāyaṇa).

Janārdana: another name for Lord Kṛṣṇa

Japa: repetition of mantras, sacred sounds either silently or loudly

Jīvātman: the ordinary soul

Jīvan Mukti: the science of living enlightenment, living a liberated life while in the body

Jīvan Mukti Vijñāna: the science of Living Enlightenment

Jñānendriya: organs of knowledge

Kapila Muni: founder of Sāṅkhya philosophy in Sanatana dharma; the founding father of Mahānirvaṇi Pīṭha;

Kalpa: According to Vedic cosmology, one cycle of 4 Yugas is 4.32 million years. Brahma's 1 day is equal to 1,000 cycles of 4 yugas, called 1 Kalpa. (see Yuga)

Kāma: sensory pleasures, also means lust

Karma: spiritual laws of cause and effect, driven by root patterns.

Karmendriya: organs of action

Karmī: one driven by his lowest possibility.

Karṇa: son of Kuntī, also is a step brother to the Pāṇḍavas; renowned for his generosity

Kaurava: one of the two principal clans in Mahābhārat, sons of Dhṛitarāṣṭra.

Keśava: another name for Lord Kṛṣṇa

Kṛṣṇārjuna Saṃvād: the divine talk between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna; another name for Bhagavad Gītā Kṛpācārya: a great general who fought in Kurukṣetra battle on the side of the Kauravas

Kriya: technique or practice within a yoga discipline meant to achieve a specific result.

Kṣaṇa: moment in time; refers to time between two thoughts

Kṣatriya: warrior class

Kurukṣetra: the sacred land where the great world war of Mahābharat was fought between Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas in the Haryana state

Lakṣmī: goddess of wealth and fortune; divine consort of Śrī Viṣṇu

Līlā: divine play; acts of the Divine

Līlā Dhyāna: act of meditating on the Divine plays of Lord or Guru.

Mahābhārat: Great Hindu epic; Itihās-5ᵗʰ Veda; whose central characters are 5 Pāṇḍava princes with their wife Draupadī, their hundred Kaurava cousins; with Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa; ascribed by Bhagavān Veda Vyāsa. Mahābhārat is personification of Bhagāvad Gītā.

Muni: realized, awakened being

Mula vāsana: root thought pattern; the behaviorial kārmic imprints

Māyā: that which is not reality, but gives the illusion that it is real—‘yā mā iti māya’; all life is māyā according to Advaita

Mādhava: another name for Lord Kṛṣṇa; means ‘husband of Goddess of fortune.

Madhusūdana: another name for Kṛṣṇa, slayer of the demon madhu

Mahākaśa: the whole cosmos

Mahānirvaṇi Pīṭha: the most ancient apex official body of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). It traces its recorded roots to 8ᵗʰ century A.D revived by Ādī Śaṇkara.

Mahāvīra: Varthamana Mahāvira was the 24ᵗʰ and last tīrthaṅkara or enlightened one.

Mamakāra: inner image you carry about yourself.

Manana: contemplating or intranalyzing

Mano śakti: (or manosiddhi) the power of thinking.

Mantra: sacred sound or chants to worship and invoke the Divine

Mokṣa: liberation; same as nirvāṇa, samādhi.

Mula vichāra dhārā: (or mūla vāsana) Saṃskṛit word for ‘root thought pattern’

Nārāyaṇa: another name for Lord Viṣṇu

Nārāyaṇī Senā: most powerful divine army of Lord Nārāyaṇa as Śrī Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa gave His army to Duryodhana in Mahābhārat war

Nara: man; depicts human aspect of lord Viṣṇu; reflection of Nārāyaṇa

Nididhyāsana: powerfully living and radiating the Truth.

Nirguṇa: formless energy

Nirguṇa brahman: consciousness that cannot be limited to a form

Nirvāṇa : liberation; same as mokṣa, samādhi

Nityānanda: (Nithyānanda) eternal (nitya) bliss (ānanda); name and state of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

Niyama: moral discipline, second of eight paths of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.

Pāṇḍu: father of Pāṇḍavas, husband of Kuntī

Pāṇḍavas: five brothers in Mahābharata, also sons of Pāṇḍu

Pañca bhūta: five elemental energies that sustain us, namely, earth, water, fire, air and ether

Pañca indriya: five senses

Pāñcajanya: Lord Kṛṣṇa's conch

Pārtha: (lit: son of Prithā or Kuntī); name of Arjuna called lovingly by Kṛṣṇa

Parantapa: another name of Arjuna; means the destroyer of enemies

Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa: Kṛṣṇa as the cosmic energy, the Supreme God

Parāśakti: Supreme cosmic energy; Ādi Śakti, source of existence

Paramahamsa: (lit. ‘supreme swan’); Enlightened being; title for enlightened spiritual Masters, in the state of non-duality, Advaita.

Patañjali: father, founder of Yoga; author of yoga treatise called Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras

Piṇḍāṇḍa: individual microcosm or micro-universe; space enclosed in form

Prāṇāyāma: lit: ‘extension of life-energy force’ through breath modulation and control; the fourth limb of the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.

Prārabdha karma: karmas based on which this life has been assumed

Prakṛti: Nature

Pratyāhāra: fifth limb of Patañjali’s Aṣṭaṅga Yoga referring to turning

Pravṛitti: looking outward (worldly life), ‘path of incompletion leading to more incompletion.’

Prema śakti: (or prema siddhi) the power of feeling.

Puṇya: merit, beneficence

Purāṇa: the great historical happenings and narrations that depict the glory of Divine and Its sacred plays, līlās

Puruṣa: the personification of the Supreme energy

Puruṣottama: Supreme Being amongst all beings

Pūrṇāvatār: complete, absolute Incarnation of God.

Pūrṇa: literally ‘complete’

Pūrnatva: the space or state of ‘completion’ that signifies the Truth that from completion (whole) comes the Whole.

Rāga: attachment

Rājarṣi: king who is also a sage Rājasūya yāga: a great sacrifice performed to celebrate victory of a king who is declared as an emporer over many kingdoms.

Rajas, rajasic: the second characteristic of the three human guṇa or behaviour modes, referring to passionate action

Rāma: Supreme God, 7^th main Incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu who appeared in Treta Yuga to re-establish dharma.

Ramaṇa Maharshi: Enlightened Master, Incarnation from Tiruvannamalai

Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa: Enlightenend Master, Incarnation from Dakṣiṇeśvar, West Bengal, India.

Rāvaṇa: adhārmic (unrighteous) emperor of Lanka with demonic qualitiies, who abducted Devi Sītā, consort of Lord Rāma (ref. Rāmāyaṇa).

Rāsa līlā: divine dance of the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa’s devotees

Ṛṣi: a sage who is the seer of Truth

Rudra: another name for Lord Śiva

Sādhu: literally a ‘good person’; refers to an ascetic; same as sannyāsī

Saguṇa: with form

Saguṇa brahman: the formless in form

Sakha bhāva: relationship of friendship between Master-disciple

Śakti: energy; Parāśakti refers to universal energy, divinity.

Samādhi: state of no-mind, no-thoughts; literally, becoming one’s original state; liberated, enlightened state.

Saṁśaya: doubt

Saṁskāra: Root thought patterns; the embedded past memories of unfulfilled desires.

Saṁsāra Sāgara: ocean of wordly life-death.

Sanātana dharma: eternal path of righteous living (later called Hinduism), Ultimate Truths with the possibility to evolve.

Sañcita karma: our complete bank of unfulfilled karmas

Sañjaya: the narrator who tells blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra the progress of the Mahābhārat war from day to day.

Śakti: energy; also name of Devi as primal energy of Cosmos

Sāṅkhya philosophy: one of the six schools of Indian philosophy expounded by Kapila Muni.

Sannyāsa: completion with worldly life; living for enriching others;

Śāstra: sacred texts

Satori: high state of consciousness

Satsang: spiritual gatherings; lit. ‘association (sanga) of Truth (sat)’

Satva, satvic: highest attribute or guṇa of spiritual calmness

Siddhi: extraordinary powers attained through spiritual practice

Siṁha svapna: nightmare

Śiṣya: disciple

Śiva: rejuvenator in the trinity; or Mahādev. Śiva means ‘causeless auspiciousness, maṅgalatva’.

Smṛti: (lit: ‘that which is remembered’); refers to Hindu works which are rules, regulations, laws, lifestyle, such as Manu’s works, Purāṇas etc.

Śraddhā: tattva of authenticity; trust, courageous faith.

Śravaṇa: authentic listening. One of the three concepts in Hinduism (Vedānta)—Śravaṇa, Manana, Nididhyāsana.

Śruti: (lit: that which is heard) ancient revealed scriptures of Vedas, Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā; retained by Sages just by one listening.

Sloka: a saṁskṛit verse stanza made of a group of pada and sllyables chanted in a meter rhythm style or chanda

Stotras: devotional verses, to be recited or sung

Śūdra: community that contributes by physical work, sharing their time

Sūtra: (lit: ‘thread’) refers to epigrams, short verses that impart precise spiritual techniques

Sūtradhāra: controller and director of the technique

Svānyakāra: the Life image—the image and expectation you carry about life.

Svajanam: means 'my people, my relatives'. Term used by Arjuna in Arjunaviṣāda Yoga to state his untold grief in killing 'his people'

Svadharmam: means 'my dharma.' Term uttered by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to teach the true path of self-righteousness.

Svapūrṇatva: lit. means 'self-completion' in Saṃskṛit.

Swāmiji: address of respect to one's Guru, Master

Tamas, tamasic: guṇa or attribute of laziness, or inaction

Tathāstu: lit. So be it or let it happen; a blessing

Tapas: severe spiritual penance done voluntarily for inner purification

Tattva: philosophy or realm

Tattva satya: the existential reality; the truth of philosophy

Taittreya Upaniṣad: One of the main/Mukhya Upaniṣads associated with Taittriya school of Yajur Veda; intrumental in spreading Vedānta

Triguṇa rahita: beyond the three guṇas of rajas, tamas and satva

Tripuṭi: the triad of knower, known and knowledge

Tyāga: renunciation

Uttarāyaṇam: six months that the sun travels in the north

Upaniṣads: (lit. sitting with Guru) revealed scriptures that form the essence of Vedic text, showing the direct path to Divine.

Vairāgya: beyond attachment and detachment

Vaiśyas: business community involved in business, merchandize

Vāk śakti: (or vāk siddhi) the power of words; Varṇa dharma: duty of one's community based on one's natural attributes and not as per birth

Vāsanā: mental set up

Vāsudeva: father of Lord Kṛṣṇa

Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa: Kṛṣṇa, the mortal being, the son of Vāsudeva

Veda Vyāsa : author of Mahābhārat, Brahma Sūtras; grandfather to the Pāṇḍavas; lord of Enlightened Masters; compiler of Vedas.

Vedānta: (lit: 'essence or end of Vedas'); describes a group of philosophical traditions concerned with science of Self-realization

Vidyādāna: giving education to meet someone's mental growth

Virāṭa rupa: true universal form of Kṛṣṇa

Viṣṇu: supreme god in Vaiśnavite tradition of Sanatana Dharma; He is the energy that pervades and sustains the Universe; also 'Nārāyaṇa'

Viśāda: grief, dilemma, deep sorrow

Viśiṣṭādvaita: school of thought that says the individual self is a part of existence with its own attributes

Vivekānanda: primary disciple of Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa, Founder of the Rāmakṛṣṇa Order. 19th century Enlightened Master.

Vyakta: seen or manifest

Yādava: the birth clan of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Yādava (moon) dynasty

Yogabhraṣṭha: one who has fallen away from the path of Yoga

Yoga: to unite or to become 'one' with Divine.

Yogī: practitioner of yoga

Yudhiṣṭra: eldest of Pāṇḍavas, renowned for his unflinching adherence to truth, which earned him the title 'Dharmarāja—king of Dharma'

Yuga: time period that spans millions of human years; in Vedic period, there are four yuga namely—Satya Yuga (Nithya Yuga), Treta Yoga, Dwāpar Yuga and Kali Yuga.