dharma

en-noun

dharma (countable and uncountable, plural dharmas)

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit धर्म (dhárma, “that which upholds or supports”). The definitions pertaining to Buddhism are influenced by dhamma, a loan word from Pali. Doublet of dhamma and firm.

lbor

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The natural order of the universe; natural law, cosmic order.

(Buddhism) The teachings of the Buddha as one's personal path to enlightenment.

(Buddhism) The teachings of the Buddha as a practice to be promulgated and taught.

Unsupported titles/`lsqb`w:Ethics of Jainism


tapas

From Sanskrit तप् (tap, “heat; to be hot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tep- (“to be warm or hot”). Related to tepid.

der

(Hinduism, Jainism) (The practice of) asceticism and self-discipline.

তপস

(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline


rope

en-noun

rope (countable and uncountable, plural ropes)

→ Irish: rópa

Tok Pisin: rop

From Middle English rop, rope, from Old English rāp (“rope, cord, cable”), from Proto-West Germanic *raip, from Proto-Germanic *raipaz, *raipą (“rope, cord, band, ringlet”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁roypnós (“strap, band, rope”), from *h₁reyp- (“to peel off, tear; border, edge, strip”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots rape, raip (“rope”), Saterland Frisian Roop (“rope”), West Frisian reap (“rope, cord”), Dutch roop, reep (“rope, cord, ring, strip, bar”), German Low German Reep (“rope”), Swedish rep (“rope”), Danish reb (“rope”), Icelandic reipi (“rope”), Albanian rrip (“belt, rope”).

der

give him enough rope and he'll hang himself

you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope

The central strip of the loka, the Middle World, represents its smallest area, being only one rope wide and one hundred thousand leagues high, […]

2001, “Review of Metaphysical Teaching”, in Nagendra Kr. Singh, editor, Encyclopaedia of Jainism, →ISBN, page 7522:

(Jainism) A unit of distance equivalent to the distance covered in six months by a god flying at ten million miles per second.


arhat

Transliteration of Sanskrit अर्हत् (arhat, “worthy of worship”), used as a title for sanctified Buddhists. Doublet of arahant.

translit

(Jainism) One of the stages of the ascetic's spiritual evolution, when all passions (anger, ego, deception, greed, attachment, hatred and ignorance) are destroyed; arhanta.


merit

en-noun

merit (countable and uncountable, plural merits)

The noun is derived from Middle English merit, merite (“quality of person’s character or conduct deserving of reward or punishment; such reward or punishment; excellence, worthiness; benefit; right to be rewarded for spiritual service; retribution at doomsday; virtue through which Jesus Christ brings about salvation; virtue possessed by a holy person; power of a pagan deity”), from Anglo-Norman merit, merite, Old French merite (“moral worth, reward; merit”) (modern French mérite), from Latin meritum (“that which one deserves, deserts; benefit, reward, merit; service; kindness; importance, value, worth; blame, demerit, fault; grounds, reason”), neuter of meritus (“deserved, earned, obtained; due, proper, right; deserving, meritorious”), perfect passive participle of mereō (“to deserve, earn, obtain, merit; to earn a living”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot, assign”). The English word is probably cognate with Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “component, part; portion, share; destiny, fate, lot”) and cognate with Old Occitan merit.
The verb is derived from Middle French meriter, Old French meriter (“to deserve, merit”) (modern French mériter), from merite: see further above. The word is cognate with Italian meritare (“to deserve, merit; to be worth; to earn”), Latin meritāre (“to earn regularly; to serve as a soldier”), Spanish meritar (“to deserve, merit; to earn”).

cog

to acquire or make merit

It is no small tax upon the people to support their [Buddhist] priests, but they do it with a willing heart. When I was once at the old capital, I saw a woman, from her own stock, feed more than fifty priests, who came to her in his turn, and received his portion. [...] If I had asked her why she thus spent so much of her living, her answer would have been, 'To make merit.'

1855 October, “Siamese Merit-making”, in The Church Missionary Gleaner, volume V (New Series), London: Seeley, Jackson and Halliday […], →OCLC, page 118:

At funerals, acts of sharing religious merit are central and relatives of the deceased make merit in order to ensure that the departed family member will have a favourable rebirth.

2015, Monica Lindberg Falk, “Communication across Boundaries”, in Post-Tsunami Recovery in Thailand: Socio-cultural Responses (The Modern Anthropology of Southeast Asia), Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 90:

(uncountable, Buddhism, Jainism) The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.

ကုသိုလ်

(Buddhism, Jainism) sum of all the good deeds that a person does


karma

en-noun

karma (countable and uncountable, plural karmas)

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”), first attested in English in 1785 in a translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Charles Wilkins.

bor

‘We are all part of a circle of karma. We will be rewarded for the good deeds of our forefathers, and pay the price for their sins.’

2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, pages 59-60:

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.

كَارْمَا

the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of his existence


vrata

Transliteration of Sanskrit व्रत (vratá). Related to the group word, verb, and verve, from the same Proto-Indo-European root, *werh₁- (“to speak, say”).

transliteration

(Hinduism, Jainism) A pious observance such as fasting and pilgrimage.


ahimsa

Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were moving towards the ideal of ahimsa ("harmlessness") that would become the indispensable virtue of the Indian Axial Age.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 79:

This, in essence, is the Jain doctrine of ahimsa – a direct inversion of Vedic beliefs about the sustaining powers of animal sacrifice.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 9:

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them.

不殺生

doctrine of non-violence in Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism


dana

Transliteration of Sanskrit दान (dāna) or Pali dāna.

The virtue of generosity or giving, a form of alms, in Indian philosophy.


wheel of life

(Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism) A mandala, representing the continuous cycle of birth, life and death.

roue de l’existence karmique

mandala representing the continuous cycle of birth, life and death


naga

From an Australian Aboriginal language; cf. Wulna nākā (“dress, covering”)

Boys and many of the men wear the naga, akin to bathing trunks […]

1926 October 30, The Sydney Morning Herald:

[…] a young lubra wearing nothing but a naga of paper-bark rose and came forward shyly.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter II, in Capricornia, page 22:

PAUL RUNDLE: Backstage, they were just asking us, "Where are you from," and all that. And they were touching us and all that there, and I was just there with my little naga and, yeah. And plus we had no ochre, so we had to use sunscreen.

2006, Message Stick, ABC1, Friday, 30 June, 2006

2008, Derrick Tomlinson, "Too white to be regarded as Aborigines: An historical analysis of policies for the protection of Aborigines and the assimilation of Aborigines of mixed descent, and the role of Chief Protectors of Aborigines in the formulation and implementation of those policies, in Western Australia from 1898 to 1940" (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). University of Notre Dame Australia.
They doesn’t dress like people doing the Law this time, walking in shirt and tie, they used to have naga and really truly paint up, real tribal way, you know?


muni

Disguising himself, he ventured into the countryside, where he spied a muni meditating beneath a plane tree.

1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter XVII, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 158:

(Jainism, Buddhism) A holy man; a sage or ascetic.


atman

From Sanskrit आत्मन् (ātmán, “soul; self; ego; essence”). Doublet of edder (“blood vessel”) and cognate with Old English ǣþm (“breath”).

bor

However, we have been led beyond this to a threefold analysis which in its western version is body-soul-spirit and in its eastern version body-mind-atman.

1994, John Hick, Death and Eternal Life, page 450:

Atman is the manifestation of brahman in the human body. The central theme of the Upanishads is that in the liberated state the atman is identical with brahman.[…]The word atman is generally translated as soul, self or spirit. However, in view of the Western definition of the soul, atman and soul are not the same.[…]In the Western view, the soul is created by God. In the Hindu view, the atman, being eternal, is not created by God. It is a part of God.

2005, Bansi Pandit, Explore Hinduism, page 63:

The human being in Hindu thought comprises Atman (or Punisha) and Maya (or Prakriti). The Hindu doctrine of Atman concerns one's deepest identity.

2006, Donald Goergen, Fire of Love: Encountering the Holy Spirit, page 151:

The priests who were immersed in the ritual science of the Brahmanas began to speculate on the nature of the self, and gradually the word "atman" came to refer to the essential and eternal core of the human person, which made him or her unique.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 84:

The Brahmanic tradition that Buddhism is both connected to and a reaction against was, according to almost every scholar, over the top as regards atman. So, not only were individuals possessed of an immutable, indestructible atman. Some, perhaps many Brahmins were asserting that they were ATMAN.

2011, Owen Flanagan, The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized, page 124:

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Vedanta) The true self of an individual beyond identification with worldly phenomena, the essence of an individual, an infinitesimal part of Brahman.


ajiva

en-noun

ajiva (countable and uncountable, plural ajivas)


jiva

Borrowed from Sanskrit जीव (jīva). Doublet of quick.

1886, Nandalal Dhole (translator), Mādhava [Mādhavācharya], A Hand Book of Hindu Pantheism: The Panchadasi, Heeralal Dhole, page 209,
Though in the Panchadasi, Vidyarana Swami mentions Jiva to be a reflection in the internal organ, and as that internal organ is not present in the profound slumbering condition, consequently, then, there should be no Jiva also; but as Prajna, almost ignorant—a form of Jiva—continues in dramless profound slumber, therefore what the Swami purports to mean is, the particle of ignorance modified or changed into the form of internal organ, and intelligence reflected therein is called Jiva, and that ignorance is never wanting in prfound slumber, consequently Prajna also is not wanting then.

Some followers of Vācaspati Miśra consider jīva to be limited by the inner sense organ. Being limited, jīva is in this case, distinct from the substratum consciousness of objects which is the all-pervasive consciousness sākṣī. According to this view, jīva is not the material cause of the universe either.

2006, Sanjukta Gupta, Advaita Vedanta and Vāiṣṇavism: The Philosophy of Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, Routledge, page 50:

(Jainism, Hinduism) All living beings; the essence or soul of such beings.


rakshasa

A race of one-eyed beings / All feared and shunned / Rakshasa demon

2006, Mastodon (lyrics and music), “Circle of Cysquatch”:

(Hinduism) A member of a race of mythical fanged demons that eat human flesh and blood, somewhat like vampires.


anekantavada

/ˌɑːneɪkɑːntəˈvɑːdə/

Borrowed from Sanskrit अनेकान्तवाद (an-ekānta-vāda, “scepticism, non-absolutism”), a compound literally meaning "doctrine of non-exclusivity".

bor

And, ultimately, anekantavada was not a doctrine of relativism: the blind men were, in the end, arguing over the same elephant.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 13:

(Jainism) The doctrine of many-sidedness, specifically that reality and truth have multiple aspects and demand diverse points of view.


samana

/sɑːˌmɑːnɑː/

From Pali samaṇa. Doublet of sramana and shaman in some contexts.

(Buddhism) An ascetic monk, a Buddhist hermit.

شامانيّ؛ سامانيّ؛ شامان؛ سامان؛ عرّاف، ناسِك شامانيّ


kashaya

Borrowed from Sanskrit कषाय (kaṣāya, “astringent; dull; yellowish red; dirt; passion”), from Proto-Indo-European *kars-. Cognates include Sanskrit कष्ट (kaṣṭa) and English harsh.

bor+

(Jainism) Passion; strong feelings produced by a person's soul out of worldly attachments.


Buddha-dharma

The teachings, practices and states of consciousness transmitted by the former Prince Siddhartha, the Shakyamuni Buddha.


Naraka

(Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism) The underworld or Hell according to Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, where souls are sent for the expiation of their sins.


yaksha

Suvarnabhumi International Airport
yaksha

(Hindu mythology) A kind of supernatural being; can be a malevolent demon or a beneficent tutelary deity.

(Southeast Asia mythology) A kind of supernatural being, often depicted as having supernatural power, great strength, and frightening appearance; can be a malevolent demon or a beneficent tutelary deity.


Tirthankara

Transliteration of Sanskrit तीर्थंकर (tīrthaṃkara, “ford-maker”), from तीर्थम् (tīrtham, “ford”) + कर (kara, “maker”), where "ford" refers to the crossing across the material world.

translit

(Jainism) A person who achieves enlightenment through asceticism and who then becomes a role-model teacher for those seeking spiritual guidance.


Ramayana

Transliteration of Sanskrit रामायण (rāmāyaṇa). Doublet of Ramin.

(Hinduism, Jainism, mythology) An ancient Sanskrit epic of Indian mythology about the legendary king Rāma.


Bhadrapada

(Hinduism, Jainism) The sixth month in the lunar calendar.

ភទ្របទ

phŏəttrĕəʼbɑɑt


jivadaya

(Hinduism, Jainism) kindness to animals (or to all living things)


tirtha

(Hinduism, Jainism) A site of pilgrimage.


matha

(Hinduism, Jainism) A monastic or similar religious establishment in Hinduism and Jainism, usually more formal and hierarchical than an ashram.


chhatra

A gift of land is held to be complete in all its parts, when accompanied by a couch shell, a seat of honor, a chhatra, a good horse and a good carriage.

1838, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 7, part 2:

All the emblems of sovereignty including the chhatra were in place on Father's elephant and war was resumed.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 583:

Originally mounted on a circular drum was the dome or the hemispherical super structure crowned by a railed harmika and a chhatra.

2008, A Satish Babu, Tourism Development in India, page 89:


aparigraha

Borrowed from Sanskrit अपरिग्रह (aparigraha).

(Jainism) The Jainist principle of greedlessness, or not having unnecessary possessions.


abhayamudra

From Sanskrit अभय (abhaya, “fearlessness”) + मुद्रा (mudrā, “sign, hand gesture”).

A Buddhist gesture of reassurance and safety, in which the right hand is held upright, and the palm is facing outwards.


sallekhana

(Jainism) The religious practice of facing death voluntarily at the end of one's life, with fasting and meditation.


kinnara

Transliteration of Sanskrit किन्नर (kinnara).

(Indian mythology) A celestial lover and musician, half-human and either half-horse or half-bird.


sokushinbutsu

From Japanese 即身仏 (そくしんぶつ, sokushinbutsu, literally “Buddha immediately [turning into] his body”).

bor

Buddha immediately 􂀿turning into􂁀 his body

(historical) A Buddhist monk observing austerity to the point of death and mummification.


adharma

en-noun

adharma (countable and uncountable, plural adharmas)

That which is not in accord with dharma, i.e. wrong, immorality, and wickedness.


siddha

(Hinduism, Jainism) One who has achieved a high degree of physical and spiritual development.


garbhagriha

Transliteration of Sanskrit गर्भगृह (garbhagṛha).

transliteration

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The innermost sanctum of a temple, where the murti of the primary deity is found.


sadhaka

(Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism) A person who follows a particular sadhana, or goal-directed spiritual practice.


Dharmic

en-adj

Dharmic (comparative more Dharmic, superlative most Dharmic)

more Dharmic (comparative)
most Dharmic (superlative)

From Dharma + -ic, influenced by Sanskrit धार्मिक (dhārmika).


Dharmism

(rare, theology) A belief system, historically originating in South Asia, based on the core concept of dharma.


pudgala

From Sanskrit पुद्गल (pudgala, “body, soul”).

(Jainism) matter (that the world is made of)


Ambika

From Sanskrit अम्बिका (ambikā, “mother, good woman”).

der

(Jainism) One of the female domestic deities.


dharmachakra

Transliteration of Sanskrit धर्मचक्र (dharmacakra).

translit

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The wheel of dharma (natural law; cosmic order), a motif in dharmic religions.


manusya

Transliteration of Sanskrit मनुष्य (manuṣyà).

If not a devata – let's try to become at least worth a manusya, what we look in appearance. For us to become a manusya, we must take care that we don't take anything from anyone more than what is due to us. As a manusya we cannot and should not cheat others.

2005, Dr. Harish Chandra, Ph. D., As Simple As It Gets, Hyderabad: Center for Inner Sciences, →ISBN, page 69, →ISBN:

Three classes of Prajapati's progeny—Devas (gods), Manusyas (men) and Asuras (demons)—lived a life of discipline under their father, Prajapati […]

2006, Mahendra Kulasrestha, Culture India: a compendium of Indian philosophy, religion, arts, literature and society, New Delhi: Lotus Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 74, →ISBN:

The Manusyas or men are placed next to gods, Gandharvas and Apsarâs were inferior gods who ruled over forests and rivers.

1880, Mahadev Moreshwar Kunte, The Vicissitudes of Âryan Civilization in India: An Essay, which Treats of the History of the Vedic and Buddhistic Polities, Explaining Their Origin, Prosperity, and Decline, Bombay: Printed at the Oriental Print. Press, →OCLC, page 215:

In the Anguttara Nikaya, He said: ‘I am not indeed a deva, nor a gandharva, nor a yaksa, nor a manusya. Know ye that I am the Buddha.’ After Enlightenment, the Buddha could no longer be classified even as a ‘manusya’ or an ordinary human being.

2013 August 31, “Was Buddha an Incarnation of God?”, in Tsem Rinpoche, archived from the original on 2020-08-12:

(rare outside of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and related philosophy) man, human being

rare outside of Hinduism; Jainism and related philosophy; rare outside of Hinduism; Jainism and related philosophy


jivatma

From Sanskrit जीव (jīva) + Sanskrit आत्मन् (ātman).


mahoraga

Transliteration of Pali mahoraga or Sanskrit महोरग (mahoraga).

(Indian mythology) A type of serpentine deity in Indian mythology, most notably Buddhism and Jainism.


dharma talk

I'd never given a dharma talk before, much less in the local Lao dialect, to hundreds of people. I just got up there, and he said, "Tell them what you know of the dharma, go to it."

2011, Jack Kornfield, Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are:

It is important to note that a dharma talk is not a lecture, although it has a didactic purpose. Such a talk is given usually as an accompaniment to a period of meditation.

2014 February 19, Charles R. Strain, The Prophet and the Boddhisattva: Daniel Berrigan, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Ethics of Peace and Justice, Wipf and Stock Publishers:

(Buddhism) A public discourse by a Buddhist teacher, similar to a sermon or homily, and distinguished from a lecture by being shorter and less formal.


Mahavir

From Sanskrit महावीर (mahāvīra, “a great hero”).


dravya

en-noun

dravya (countable and uncountable, plural dravyas)


kevalin

(Jainism) One who has attained a state of complete understanding or supreme wisdom.


Sanatana Dharma

Borrowed from Sanskrit सनातन धर्म (sanātana dharma, “the eternal way, the eternal law”).

bor

(India, Hinduism) Orthodox and traditionalist Hinduism.


Lokapala

intercardinal direction
intercardinal direction

(Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism) Any of a number of gods associated with specific cardinal and intercardinal directions.


Akash

(Hinduism, Jainism) The sky and the cosmos.

Now when the vital principle aſſumes to itſelf a body of fire, air, and akaſh, it becomes what we call ſpirit or ſoul, and is endued with perception and the activity of thought in its motions.

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 13:

(Hinduism, Jainism) One of the five Hindu elements: a primordial, imperceptible substance pervading the sky, cosmos, and open spaces.


sramana

A misannotated form of Sanskrit श्रमण (śramaṇa). Doublet of samana and shaman in some contexts.

(religion, inexact, sometimes proscribed) Synonym of samana (“Indian ascetic, particularly in Hindu and Jain contexts”).


tapasya

(Hinduism, Jainism) Alternative form of tapas (“asceticism, self-discipline”)


shankha

Transliteration of Sanskrit शङ्ख (śaṅkha).

etymon

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The conch-shell, considered sacred and of ritual importance.


rajju

(Jainism) Synonym of rope (“a unit of distance equivalent to the distance covered in six months by a god flying at ten million miles per second”)


chatra

From Sanskrit छत्र (chatra), variant of छत्त्र (chattra, “umbrella, parasol, chatra”). Doublet of chador and chatta.

The so-called Chatra coins of the Guptas seem in all probability, to have been the issue of Chandragupta I to begin with... This variety apart from the noticeable distinction in the figure of the monarch and the umbrella bearer contains the obverse legend Chandragupta merely, with the reverse legend Vikramaditya.

1926, S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, “Studies in Gupta History”, in Journal of Indian History: University Supplement, page 9:

CHATRA (UMBRELLA)
In the Gupta period, Brahmins used a Chatra.

1982, Anantray Jatashanker Rawal, Indian Society, Religion, and Mythology..., p. 98: #*:

Chatra (I)—the seven worlds, white in colour, are one above the other umbrella-like...
 Chatra (II)—the white umbrella as insignia of royalty given to Kāmaśvara by Viṣṇu...

2003, V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, The Puraṇa Index, volume I, page 617:

(India) Synonym of umbrella or parasol, particularly ritual or ceremonial forms.