ÁTMÁ, ÁTMAN. Soul, consciousness, PURUŚA, pure cognition. The átman of the Cosmos is PARAMÁTMAN, and that of the unit is the jiivátman.
ATHARVAVEDA. The last Veda, composed approximately 3000 years ago, older than the Jain scriptures.
ANGIKA, AUṊGIKÁ. A language of the eastern demi-Mágadhii group (Bengali, Oriya, etc.) spoken in Bhagalpur, Purnia and some other areas of Bihar.
AUṊGADESH. Literally "Auṋga" means "part " of Mahábhárata kingdom which status was given to Karńa in order to elevate him from the humiliating position of illegitimate birth. A portion of North Bihar area where Auṋgiká is the people’s language.
ÁYURVEDA. The Vedic system of medicine.

BHOJPURI. A language of the western demi-Mágadhii group Magahii, Chattisgarhii, etc. spoken in Arrah, Sasaram, Chapra, etc., Districts of Bihar and in eastern Uttar Pradesh districts.
BRAHMA. Supreme Entity, comprising both Puruśa, or SHIVA, and PRAKRTI, or Shakti.
BUDDHA. One who has attained bodhi, intuition. Lord Buddha, the propounder of Buddhism, appeared approximately 2500 years ago.

DEVA. Mythologically, a god, a deity. Philosophically, any vibration, or expression, emanating from the Cosmic Nucleus.
DHARMA. Characteristic property; spirituality; the path of righteousness in social affairs.
DIGAMBAR JAIN DARSHAN. A Jain sect; ascetics believing in this sect preferred to remain "without cloth" (digambar).

GAUṊGOTTARII. The place where the River Ganges originates.
GUŃA. Binding factor or principle; attribute; quality.
GURU. Gu means "darkness", ru means "dispeller"; hence "dispeller of darkness"; spiritual master.

KAŃÁDA. Maharśi Kańáda brought about a great revolution in the world of thought. Apart from his famous cause and effect theory, he also invented the atomic theory. Thus he was both a philosopher and scientist.
He belonged to Gándhárbhúmi (present-day Afghanistan).
KAYASTHA. A high caste in India, a sub-group (along with Brahmans and Vaedyas) of the Vipra caste.
KIIRTANA. Collective singing of the name of the Lord, combined with instrumental music and with a dance that expresses the spirit of surrender.
KRŚŃA, SHRII KRŚŃA. Literally, "the entity which attracts everything of the universe towards its own self", Parama Puruśa. A great Tantric guru, the historical Krśńa of about 1500 BC; second Táraka Brahama or Mahásambhúti.
KŚATRIYA. Written as kśatriya, a person whose mentality is to dominate over matter, a member of the warrior social class; written as Kśatriya, a member of the second-highest caste in India.
KUŃD́ALINII, KULAKUŃD́ALINII. Literally, "coiled serpentine"; sleeping divinity; the force dormant in the kula (lowest vertebra) of the body, which, when awakened, rises up the spinal column to develop all one’s spiritual potentialities.
KURUKŚETRA. Literally a field always saying "Kuru, kuru", "Do something, do something;" hence the world, the entire universe; the place where the Mahábhárata war was fought; a town near Delhi.

MAHÁBHÁRATA. "Great India"; the name of a military campaign guided by Lord Krśńa around 1500 BCE to unify India; the epic poem written by Maharshi Vyasa about this campaign.
MAGADH. Literally, "land of anti-Vedics". An ancient land, along the northern bank of River Shone, which Aryans could not enter initially. Presently the Magadh area comprises of certain South Bihar districts such as Patna, Gaya and Aurangabad.
MÁGADHII PRÁKRTA. Spoken language of eastern India. It has two branches: Eastern Demi-Mágadhii with six daughter languages such as Bengali and Angika and western Demi-Mágadhii with four daughter languages such as Magahi and Bhojpuri.
MAHÁKAOLA. A Tantric guru who can raise not only his own kuńd́alinii, but those of others also; in Buddhist Tantra, Mahákaola is sometimes symbolic of PARAMA PURUŚA.
MAHARASTRIAN PRÁKRTA. Spoken language of southwestern India evolved from Sanskrit.
MANTRA. A sound or collection of sounds which, when meditated upon, will lead to spiritual liberation. A mantra is incantative, pulsative, and ideative.
MÁYÁ. Creative Principle, PRAKRTI in Her phase of creation. One aspect of Máyá is the power to cause the illusion that the finite created objects are the ultimate truth.
MITHILA. An ancient land established in the Vedic period named after King Mithi who ruled and sanctified this kingdom, presently comprising districts such as Saharsa and Darbhanga of North Bihar.
MUGHAL PERIOD. The period of Indian history from 1526 to 1707.

NÁGPURII. The language of the Western Demi-Mágadhii group spoken in Ranchi, Lohardaga, etc., of Jharkhand State.
NIRGUŃA BRAHMA. BRAHMA unaffected by the GUŃAS; Non-Qualified Brahma.

PATHAN PERIOD. The period of Indian history from 1193 to 1526.
PANDAVAS. The five sons of king Pandu, the dharmic forces in the Mahábhárata war.
PARAMA PURUŚA. Supreme Consciousness.
PARAMÁTMÁ, PARAMÁTMAN. Supreme Consciousness in the role of witness of His own macropsychic conation. Paramátman comprises: (1) Puruśttama, the Macrocosmic Nucleus; (2) Puruśottama’s association with all creation in His extroversial movement (prota yoga); and (3) Puruśottama’s association with each unit creation individually (ota yoga) and (4) with all collectively (prota yoga) in His introversial movement.
PÁRVATII. The colloquial version of "Parvata Kanyá" – "Daughter of the Mountains"; one of the three wives of Sadáshiva.
PRAKRTI, PARAMÁ PRAKRTI. Cosmic Operative Principle. The Cosmic Operative Principle is composed of sattvaguńa, the sentient principle; rajoguńa, the mutative principle; and tamoguńa, the static principle.
PRÁKRTA. Seven spoken languages that developed from Sanskrit.
PRATISAIṊCARA. In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step introversion and subtilization of consciousness from the state of solid matter to the Nucleus Consciousness. (Prati means "counter" and saiṋcara means "movement".)
PRATYAGÁTMÁ. PARAMA PURUŚA in the sense "That which takes a stance opposite to the jiivátmá and witnesses the jiivátmá".
purana, PURÁŃA. Mythological story with a moral import; educative fiction.
PURANIC AGE. The medieval period, about 500-1300 CE, when Hinduism was dominated by the PURÁŃAS.

QUINQUELEMENTAL. Composed of the ethereal, aerial, luminous, liquid and solid factors, or elements.

RAJAH, RAJOGUŃA. See PRAKRTI.
RÁŕH. The territory, mostly in West Bengal, stretching from the west bank of the Bhagirathi River to the Parasnath Hills.
RÁMÁYAŃA. An epic poem of India. It is the story of King Rama, or Ramchandra.

SADHANA. Literally, "sustained effort"; spiritual practice; meditation.
SAIṊCARA. In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step extroversion and crudification of consciousness from the Nucleus Consciousness to the state of solid matter. (Saiṋcara literally means "movement".)
SÁḿKHYA. The oldest school of philosophy, first propounded by Maharshi Kapila. The word sáḿkhya means "that which is related to saḿkhyá, or numerals".
SAḿSKÁRA. Mental reactive momentum, potential mental reaction.
SANSKRIT. SAḿSKRTA. The classical language of India. It first emerged during the Post-Shiva period, and as a spoken language it began to be supplanted by Prákrta prior to the Krśńa period. Although not a spoken language today except in very limited circumstances, it is still important for its vast literature, especially spiritual literature. Sanskrit and English are the languages of the world that have the richest vocabularies. Sanskrit pronunciation was perfected by non-Aryan Tantics in such a way that each of the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet constitutes one acoustic root of Tantra.
SATTVAGUŃA. See PRAKRTI.
SATYALOKA. Literally, "Abode of Truth"; highest layer of mind; supramental state of witess-ship.
SHAKTI. PRAKRTI; energy; a deification of Prakrti.
SHÁKTA. Worshpper of Shakti cult.
SHANKARACARYA. One of the greatest philosopher of India 1300 years ago, born at Kaladi of South India. He is famous for his commentaries on the classical Upanishads, the Bhagvat Giita and the Brahma Sútra of Badaryan on which he based the doctrine of pure monism.
shashanka, shashauṋka. King of Gaoŕa, i.e., Bengal, before 606 CE. He formed Gaoŕa into a vast kingdom.
SHVETÁMBARA JAENa DARSHANA. A Jain sect who prefer to remain in white dress.
SHIVA. A great Tantric guru of 5000 BCE who guided society while His mind was absorbed in Consciousness; hence, Infinite Consciousness, PURUŚA.
SHAEVA. Shaivite; pertaining to the Shiva Cult or Religion.
SHÚDRA. Written as shúdra, a person with a mentality of physical enjoyment only, a member of the labourer social class; written as "Shúdra", a member of the lowest caste in India.
SUŚUMNÁ. The Psycho-spiritual channel within the spinal column through which the kulakuŃD́alinIi rises during meditation.

TANTRA. A spiritual tradition which originated in India in prehistoric times and was first systematized by Shiva. It emphasizes the development of human vigour, both through meditation and through confrontation of difficult external situations, to overcome all fears and weaknesses. Also, a scripture expounding that tradition.
TAMOGUŃA. See PRAKRTI.
TATTVA. A category of existence; a reality; the existence of the essential root entity hidden within every entity.

UPANISHAD, UPANIŚAD. Literally, "that which brings one near"; certain philosophical sections of the Vedas.

VAEŚŃAVA. Vaishnavitei; Pertaining to the Viśńu Cult or Religion.
VEDA. Literally, "knowledge"; hence, a composition imparting spiritual knowledge. Also, a religious or philosophical school which originated among the Aryans and was brought by them to India. It is based on the Vedas and emphasizes the use of ritual to gain the intervention of the gods.
VIŚŃU. Literally, "entity which pervades each and every thing;" All-Pervading Entity; Preserving Entity; a mythological god.