pie

From Hindi पाई (pāī, “low-denomination coin”), from Sanskrit पादिका (pādikā, “foot, shoe”), from पाद (pāda, “foot, base, quarter”) + -इक (-ika, “-ic: forming adjectives”).

bor

I gave him all the money in my possession, Rs.9.8.5. – nine rupees, eight annas, and five pie – for I always keep small change as bakshish when I am in camp.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes”, in The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, Folio Society, published 2005, page 117:

(historical) A former low-denomination coin of northern India.


avatar

→ Japanese: アバター

Avatar (Hinduism)
Chip Morningstar
LucasArts
Neal Stephenson
Randy Farmer
Shadowrun
Snow Crash
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
pen and paper

First use appears c. 1784, in The Hindu Wife; or, The Enchanted Fruit, by William Jones. Borrowed from Hindustani अवतार / اوتار (avtār), from Sanskrit अवतार (avatāra, “descent of a deity from a heaven”), a compound of अव (ava, “off, away, down”) and the vṛddhi-stem of the root √तॄ (√tṝ, “to cross”). In the computing sense, some use appeared in video games in the 1980s, such as the online roleplaying game Habitat (1985) by Lucasfilm Games (today LucasArts), by Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer, later versions of the Ultima series (following religious use in Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (1985)), and the pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun (1989). Also popularized by the novel Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson.

أَفَاتَار

digital representation of a person or being

(Hinduism) An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.

অৱতাৰ

earthly incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu


om

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit ओम् (om) (symbol ॐ (oṃ)). The former (om) is used in both Buddhist and Hindu settings, while the latter (aum) is usually used only in Jain and Hindu settings.

lbor

In fact it sounded exactly like the voice of Livia, her vanished sister, and, like her, it was intoning the Aum just as she used once to do at the beginning of her yoga sessions.

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 800:

Om is pronounced "a-a-o-o-u-u-m-m" and is repeated slowly for as long as possible.

2001 October 20, Hazel Curry, The Guardian:

(Hinduism, Buddhism) A sacred, mystical syllable used in prayer and meditation.


NPR

National Population Register
w:National Population Register

(Indian politics) Initialism of National Population Register.


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


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.

(Hinduism) One's obligation in respect to one's position in society, or the universe; one's duty, societally or cosmically.

(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.


varna

From Sanskrit वर्ण (várṇa, “colour, tint, dye, pigment, appearance, aspect”), from verbal root वृणोति (vṛṇoti, “to choose, select”).

uder

(Hinduism) any of the four original castes in Hinduism, or the system of such castes


baba

As one of the first utterances many babies are able to say, baba (like mama, papa, and dada) has come to be used in many languages as a term for various family members:
* father: Albanian, Arabic, Western Armenian, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Greek, Marathi, Mingrelian, Nepali, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, Yoruba, Shona, Zulu
* grandmother: many Slavic languages (such as Bulgarian, Russian, Czech and Polish), Romanian, Yiddish, Japanese
* grandfather: Azerbaijani, Zulu (father, grandfather)
* baby: Afrikaans, Sinhala, Hungarian
These terms often continue to be used by English speakers whose families came from one of these cultures. In some cases, they may become more widely used in localities that have been heavily influenced by an immigrant community. Some senses were extensions of one of these family terms in the original languages ("old woman" from "grandmother", "holy man" from "father"). The "cake" sense comes through French, from Polish baba (“old woman”). The Middle Eastern word baba (as in Ali Baba) is rather a term of endearment, and is ultimately derived from Persian بابا (bābā, “father”) (from Old Persian pāpa; as opposed to the Arabic words أَبُو (ʔabū) and أَب (ʔab); see also Papak), and is linguistically related to the common European word papa and the word pope, having the same Indo-European origin. The Chinese word "baba", meaning father comes from 爸爸.

While I was in Port Alberni, three babas came to Canada to raise money ...

1995, Hugh J.M. Johnston, Tara Singh Bains, The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life-Journey of an Emigrant Sikh:

But according to Ray, 'all the babas my uncle knew were genuine. None of them was exposed. They were fairly humble people, not show-offs like the Maharishi ...

2004, Andrew Robinson, Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker:

Most babas had little contact with written culture and are not therefore named in books and treatises.

2006, Suraiya Faroqhi, Subjects Of The Sultan: Culture And Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire:

(Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.


Sinhala

Borrowed from Sinhalese සිංහල (siṁhala), itself borrowed from Sanskrit सिंहल (siṃhala, literally “lionlike”), from सिंह (siṃhá, “lion”) + -ल (-la), recorded as the name of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from about the 10th to 12th century, but presumably older, as it is also the source of the name Ceylon in western geographic tradition.
The name is sometimes glossed as "abode of lions", referring to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island ( The Asiatic Journal 20 (1836), p. 30). Doublet of Ceylon and Elu.


Sinhala

(Mahabharata) The kingdom in the island of Sri Lanka mentioned in the Mahabharata.


panda

Borrowed from Hindi पंडा (paṇḍā) and Punjabi ਪਾਂਡਾ (pāṇḍā), both from Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita, “learned, wise; learned man, pundit, scholar, teacher; Hindu Brahmin who has memorized a substantial proportion of the Vedas”). Doublet of pundit.

There are therefore in this district no Varna or degraded Brahmans nor are those at all disgraced who officiate in any temple as Pandas.

1811–1812, Francis Buchanan, “Religion and Sects”, in J[ohn] F[rancis] W[illiam] J[ames], editor, An Account of the Districts of Bihar and Patna in 1811–1812 […], Patna, Bihar: Published by the Bihar and Orissa Research Society and printed by the Calcutta Oriental Press […], published [1926], →OCLC, book II (Of the People), section II (Of the Hindus), page 380:

PANDA: PUNDA. Hind[i] and Beng[ali]. The proprietary or presiding priest of a Hindoo temple of Siva usually though not invariably a Brahman. The office is hereditary, and in some places, as at Benares, the Panda officiates only on particular occasions, the duties of daily worship being performed by inferior priests or Pujaris in his employ. The term is also applied to a priest who is stationary at any particular place or shrine.

[1862, “PANDA: PUNDA”, in Edward Balfour, editor, The Second Supplement, with Index, to the Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, […], Madras, Tamil Nadu: Printed for the editor at the Athenæum Press, Adelphi Press and Union Press, by Messrs. Pharaoh and Co., Gantz Brothers, and Cookson and Co., →OCLC, page 83:

The pilgrims are required first to bathe in the Marnikarnika Kund (or tank) near the ghât of that name, taking with them flowers and uncooked rice. [...] [T]hey must make presents to the pandas, who are certain privileged hereditary Brahmins. Whilst the pilgrim is in the water, the pandas repeat some Sanscrit verses; [...]

1879, Mrs. J. C. Murray Aynsley [i.e., Harriet Georgiana Maria Murray Aynsley], chapter XI, in Our Visit to Hindostán, Kashmir, and Ladakh, London: W[illia]m H. Allen & Co., […] publishers to the India Office, →OCLC, page 155:

Whenever there is a death in the family, someone will go to Hardwar to immerse the ashes of the departed. There our family has its own panda, as these priests are called, who at his death is succeeded by his son. He maintains the family records in long, old-fashioned Indian ledgers, covered in red cloth, in which he writes down the length of the page. [...] When I first visited Hardwar I only had to say I was a Tandon from Gujrat, and from a crowd of pandas our priest came forward and reeled off our whole family tree for several generations.

1961, Prakash Tandon, chapter 1, in Punjabi Century: 1857–1947, London: Chatto and Windus, →OCLC; republished Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, 1973, →ISBN, page 9:

'The mafia-like activities' and 'growing internal competition' of the contemporary panda community are the consequence of an almost complete breakdown of the old configuration. Durable long-term relations between priests and their patrons have been replaced by 'the emergence of a totally impersonal religious market' [...], a controlled trickle of elite donors by a torrent of hoi polloi pilgrims, and the relationship between panda and pilgrim has been replaced by that between panda and agent as the pivot of the system.

1994, Jonathan P. Parry, “Shares and Chicanery”, in Death in Banaras (Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures; 1988), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, part II (Death as a Living), page 108:

Many a time, the temple received unkind ravishments from the non-Hindu attackers. [...] The frightened pandas of Puri considered Lord Jagannatha to be the living and loving god, the caretaker of their beings and their country. They had no other option but to hide the Lord from the clutches of the javanas. It is learnt from history and the contemporary literature that the pandas used to carry the Lord to distant hills and mountainous ranges.

1998, Salabega, “Where Do You Take My Lord”, in Niranjan Mohanty, transl., White Whispers: (Selected Poems of Salabega): Translated from the Oriya Original, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, →ISBN, page 50:

I may be man of commerce in your eyes, Miss—and in this age of evil, who is not?—but are you aware that eleven generations of my ancestors have been pandas at one of Nabadwip's most famous temples?

2009, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, London: John Murray, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Picador, 2009, →ISBN, page 135:

As at most Hindu pilgrimage sites, Hardwar has a group of local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. The most respectful name for them is tirtha purohit (a tirtha "priest'), but the more common name is panda, a short form of pandita ("a learned man"). Pandas arrange for their clients' material and ritual needs, and they also officiate at certain life-cycle ceremonies (samskaras). In return, their clients give them fees and gifts.

2010, James G. Lochtefeld, “The Hardwar Pandas”, in God’s Gateway: Identity and Meaning in a Hindu Pilgrimage Place, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 124:

Trouble broke out at Kalighat temple on Monday morning after police barred pandas from near the sanctum sanctorum. Angry pandas, some armed with sticks, allegedly assaulted members of the temple committee. [...] Temple sources said the cop crackdown was a knee-jerk reaction to a complaint filed by an NRI [non-resident Indian] woman on Sunday against the pandas.

2010 March 9, Rith Basu, “Panda-monium at Kalighat temple”, in The Telegraph, Kolkata, West Bengal: ABP Pvt. Ltd., →OCLC:

(Hinduism) A brahmin who acts as the hereditary superintendent of a particular ghat or temple, and is regarded as knowledgeable in matters of genealogy and ritual.


vehicle

Borrowed from French véhicule, from Latin vehiculum (“a carriage, conveyance”), from vehere (“to carry”).

uder

(Hinduism) An animal or (rarely) a plant on which a Hindu deity rides or sits.

वाहन

Hinduism: animal or plant on which a Hindu deity sits


reincarnation

en-noun

reincarnation (countable and uncountable, plural reincarnations)

/ˌɹiːɪŋkɑː(ɹ)ˈneɪʃən/

a reincarnation of an old video game


deva

Transliteration of Sanskrit देव (deva, “deity, god”). Doublet of daeva.

translit

Coordinate term: devi

A god in Vedic mythology, Hinduism and Buddhism.


aarti

en-noun

aarti (countable and uncountable, plural aartis)

Borrowed from Hindi आरती (ārtī), from Sanskrit आरात्रिक (ārātrika).

The kings of Mewar always visited the Brindabani Temple, did arati, touched the Blue One's feet, ate prasad, and distributed largesse amongst the subjects of Chittor on Janmashtami.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 165:

(Hinduism) A particular Hindu prayer ritual, involving candles made from clarified butter.


lingam

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit लिङ्गम् (liṅgam, nominative singular of लिङ्ग (liṅga, “sign, mark”)).

lbor

nominative singular of <i class="Deva mention" lang="sa">लिङ्ग</i> (liṅga, “sign, mark”)

Then we have the very numerous lingams (conventional representations of the male organ) to be seen, scores and scores of them, in the arcades and cloisters of the Hindu Temples - to which women of all classes, especially those who wish to become mothers, resort, anointing them copiously with oil, and signalizing their respect and devotion to them in a very practical way.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 182:

(Shaivism) The aniconic phallic representation traditionally worshipped as a symbol of or in connection with Shiva.


pundit

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-
Proto-Indo-European *pró
Proto-Indo-European *pro-
Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-
Sanskrit प्र- (pra-)
Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-
Sanskrit ज्ञा (jñā)
Sanskrit प्रज्ञा (prajñā)
Prakrit 𑀧𑀡𑁆𑀡𑀸 (paṇṇā)bor.?
Sanskrit पण्डा (paṇḍā)
Sanskrit -इत (-ita)
Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita)bor.
Hindi पंडित (paṇḍit)bor.
English pundit
Borrowed from Hindi पंडित (paṇḍit) / Urdu پنڈت (panḍit), from Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita, “scholar, learned man, teacher, philosopher”). Doublet of pandit.

bor

Pundits in black gowns, with spectacles on their noses and undigested wisdom in their insides; bearded headmen of the wards; [...] all these people and more also you might find in the white room.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘On the City Wall’, In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 430:

A learned person in India; someone with knowledge of Sanskrit, philosophy, religion and law; a Hindu scholar.


anna

From Hindi अन्न (ann, “food, grain”), आना (ānā), from Sanskrit अन्न (anna).


kama

The place of kāma or the pursuit of love and pleasure in the balanced Hindu scheme of life derives from the importance attached to the life of the married householder (grhastha).

1958, V. Raghavan, “Chapter XII: Kāma, The Third End of Man”, in Stephen N Hay, William Theodore De Bary, editors, Sources of Indian Tradition, volume 2, page 258:

Ancient Indian thought divides the principal aims of human existence into dharma (religion, morality, social obligations), artha (economics, politics, power), and kāma (erotic pleasure, sexual interaction, sexual gratification).

2006, “Indian Erotology”, in Alan Soble, editor, Sex from Plato to Paglia: A Philosophical Encyclopedia, Volume 1: A-L, page 493:

(Hinduism) The act or process of wishing; longing, desire (with or without sexual connotations); one of the goals of life in Hindu tradition.


Ravana

(Hinduism) The king of the asuras, ruler of Lanka and killed by Rama in Ramayana.


Hanuman

A Hindu demi-god who was a devotee of Lord Rama. He was born to Anjana and Vayu, plays the role of a god’s servant in Ramayana, and is also known as the "monkey god". He represents loyalty to the Lord and Master.


prana

en-noun

prana (countable and uncountable, plural pranas)

From Sanskrit प्राण (prāṇa, “breath; life”).

He it is who sends the (in-coming) Prana (life-breath) upward and throws the (out-going) breath downward.

1919, Swami Paramananda, transl., The Upanishads:

He who knows Aditi, who rises with Prana (the Life Principle), existent in all the Devas.

May my limbs, speech, Prana (life-force), sight, hearing, strength and all my senses, gain in vigor.

(Hinduism, yoga) Respiration, breathing, seen as a life principle or life force.


caste

Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), of uncertain origin.
* The OED derives it from Portuguese casto (“chaste”), from Latin castus (“chaste"; "chastity”).
* Coromines (1987) argues instead for a hypothetical Gothic form *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (*kasts, “group, collection of animals”), cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ǵ-es-.

unc

uncertain

Pakistan is a conservative, religious state. The Edhi Foundation is unusual in its ignoring of caste, creed, religion and sect. This strict stance has led to some criticism from religious groups.

2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian:

Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.


mantra

Borrowed from Sanskrit मन्त्र (mantra, literally “instrument of thought”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *mántram, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mántram, from Proto-Indo-European *mén-tro-m, from *men- (“to think”). Doublet of mind.

bor

This mantra is also known as Guru Mantra or Savitri Mantra. The mention of Gayatri Mantra is found in all the four Vedas where its essence has been explained repeatedly. The Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedic scriptures, has mentioned about […]

2001, Gautam Chatterjee, Sacred Hindu Symbols, Abhinav Publications, →ISBN, page 36:

(Hinduism) The hymn portions of the Vedas; any passage of these used as a prayer.

However, the five-syllable mantra is unique, for according to Kukai, it unleashes the power of emptiness already impregnated in each letter as a primeval episode of the Dharmakaya's cosmic meditation in which he created all sorts of mantras […]

1999, Ryûichi Abé, The Weaving of Mantra: Kûkai and the Construction of Esoteric Buddhist Discourse, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 300:

(originally Hinduism) A phrase repeated to assist concentration during meditation.

真言

a phrase repeated to assist concentration during meditation


guru

From Hindi गुरु (guru) / Punjabi ਗੁਰੂ (gurū), from Sanskrit गुरु (guru, “venerable, respectable”), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve and, more distantly, brute. Doublet of grave. A traditional, though flawed etymology based on the Advayataraka Upanishad (line 16) describes the syllables gu as “darkness” and ru as “destroyer”, thus ascribing the meaning of “one who destroys/dispels darkness” to the word.

der

When the gooroo arrives at the house of a disciple, the whole family prostrate themselves at his feet, and the spiritual guide puts his right foot on the heads of the prostrate family.

1817, William Ward, History, Literature and Religion of the Hindoos, volume II:

The Baiga magicians derive from the old guru who succeeded Nanga Baiga. There is very great confusion about the original guru, and how he was actually related to Nanga Baiga, but there is general agreement that there were originally four great Baiga guru—Daugun, Nindhan, Danantar and Madhakawar, all four brothers.

1939, Verrier Elwin, “The Magician and His Control of the Natural World”, in The Baiga, London: John Murray, […], section II (The Magician’s Heritage), page 342:

These guru, third, were responsible for insuring that the populace would not be tempted to support heterodox world renouncers and their counter-patrimonial ideas. In contrast to the pre-classical Brahmin scholars, who serviced only their own and certain ruler and elite religion-social interests, the guru were the patronal guides of the masses, offering prebendal control of the deities through charismatic but morally expounded magic and psychological compensation as personal confessors, in return for popular willingness to conform to the dharmic rules, as interpreted by guru to be sure.

1989, Norman Jacobs, “The Classical Indian Society”, in Patrimonial Interpretation of Indian Society: Contemporary Structure and Historical Foundations, Delhi: Chanakya Publications, →ISBN, page 66:

Many of the deities and beliefs recorded by the guru are in fact unknown to the common people, and some represent the esoteric knowledge of only a few guru.

1994, Simon Rae, “Kiniteken Si Pemena: The Original Belief”, in Breath Becomes the Wind: Old and New in Karo Religion, Dunedin: University of Otago Press, →ISBN, part I (The Karo World), page 19:

Traditionally, a guru is a spiritual teacher who guides a student on the road to Enlightenment, or finding God.

2010 May 10, “Madonna is my guru”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-09-24:

In Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.

(India) Any general teacher (as a term of respect).

OPCA gurus are modern legal alchemists. They promise gold, but their methods are principally intended to impress the gullible, or those who wish to use this drivel to abuse the court system. Any lack of legal success by the OPCA litigant is, of course, portrayed as a consequence of the customer’s failure to properly understand and apply the guru's special knowledge.

2012, John D. Rooke (Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta), “Meads v. Meads, 2012 ABQB 571”, in CanLII:

(derogatory) A fraudster or conman relying on a projected air of confidence in an obscure field.


Satnami

From Sat (truth) + Nami (named by follower), "follower of truth".


swami

Borrowed from Hindi स्वामी (svāmī), from Sanskrit स्वामिन् (svāmín).

(often used as a title) A Hindu ascetic or religious teacher.


soma

Transliteration of Sanskrit सोम (soma). Doublet of haoma.

Once he had drunk the intoxicating soma, he experienced an ascent to the gods without having to die a violent death, as in the old ritual.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 82:

(Vedic religion) A ritual drink in ancient Vedic culture, obtained by pressing the Soma plant.


mohur

(historical) A gold coin of British India, worth from twelve to fifteen rupees.


Varuna

(Hinduism) A god of the sky, of rain and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld.

(astronomy) A Kuiper belt object, once thought to be possibly a dwarf planet.


Krishna

en-prop

Krishna (countable and uncountable, plural Krishnas)

(Hinduism) A deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism.


Hinduism

en-proper noun

Hinduism (countable and uncountable, plural Hinduisms)

Mordin: Wheel of life. Popular salarian concept. Similar to human Hinduism in focus on reincarnation.
Mordin: Appealing to see life as endless. Fix mistakes in next life. Learn, adapt, improve.
Mordin: Refuse to believe life ends here. Too wasteful. Have much more to offer. Mistakes to fix. Cannot end here. Could do so much more.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tuchanka:

A religion, philosophy and culture native to India, characterized by the belief in reincarnation and a supreme oneness personified in many forms and natures.


sulla

Borrowed from Punjabi ਸੁੱਲ (sulla), a mispronunciation of Punjabi ਮੁੱਲਾ (mullā, “mullah, Islamic religious leader”), derived from Classical Persian ملا (mullā), from Arabic مُلَّا (mullā).

der

(South Asia, religious slur, ethnic slur) A Muslim man; especially one from Pakistan.


householder

From Middle English housholdere, equivalent to household + -er. The Buddhist sense is a semantic loan from Pali gahapati (literally “house-master”).

semantic loan

(Buddhism, Hinduism) A layperson, lay devotee, gahapati, grihastha.


Sati

(Hinduism) One of the daughters of Prasuti and Daksha; killed herself by self-immolation on a fire


mandala

Borrowed from Sanskrit मण्डल (máṇḍala). Doublet of mandal.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) A graphic depiction of the spiritual universe and its myriad realms and deities.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) Any ritualistic geometric design, symbolic of the Universe, used as an aid to meditation.


sutra

Borrowed from Sanskrit सूत्र (sū́tra, “thread, yarn, string; rule”). Doublet of sutta; more distantly related to sew and suture.

bor

Shepard: This Code of the Justicar seems central to your life.
Samara: It is five thousand sutras, and covers every situation one can encounter. I have memorized every word. There is only the Code.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:

(Buddhism, Hinduism) A scriptural narrative, especially a discourse of the Buddha.


chakra

/ˈt͡ʃɑː.kɹə/

From Hindi चक्र (cakra) and directly from Sanskrit चक्र (cakra, “wheel, disc, cycle”). As a synonym for hackery, either a correction or hypercorrection of that term based on one of its proposed etymologies. Doublet of chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, cyclus, and wheel.

dbt

In the etheric body of a yogini in meditation, the polarity is, therefore, not between the brain and the genitals, the second and sixth chakras, but between the inner sexuality of the womb and the heart.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 19:

(Hinduism, Ayurveda) Any of (at least) seven centres of spiritual energy in or near the body, according to Ayurveda philosophy.


karma

en-noun

karma (countable and uncountable, plural karmas)

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

‘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


gotra

(Hinduism) The lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth.


Rama

en:Rama (disambiguation)
en:Rendezvous with Rama

Borrowed from Sanskrit रमा (ramā).
* (Oumuamua): The nickname derives from the similarity of Oumuamua to the fictional object "Rama" in the story Rendezvous with Rama, where that fictional object is named for the goddess.

(Hinduism) A name of the goddess Lakshmi.

A female given name from Sanskrit mainly used in India.

Alternative form of Rāma (“an incarnation of the god Vishnu in Hinduism”).


British East India Company

the British East India Company (canonical)

(historical) A seventeenth-century joint-stock company founded to trade with India to Britain's advantage.


Hindu

Derived from Classical Persian هِنْدُو (hindū, “Indian, Hindu”), from Middle Persian hndwk' (Hindūg, “Indian”), from hnd (Hind, “India”), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢 (hiⁿdu-, “India”), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream; Indus”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš (“river”).

der

Of, or relating to Hinduism, or to Hindus and their culture.

هِنْدُوسِيّ

of or relating to Hindus and their culture


Hindu

A person adhering to the Hindu religion (Hinduism).

(dated) Any native inhabitant of Hindustan.


playback singer

en-noun

playback singer (plural playback singers)

(singing, cinematography) A singer whose songs are pre-recorded for use in films, especially Bollywood musicals, where actors lip-sync them.

নেপথ্য গায়ক

singer whose songs are lip-synced by an actor


peaceful

Derived from the derogatory term religion of peace, which is used against Islam itself for its association with violent attacks by Islamic extremists, and alleged support and lack of condemnation against them by certain Muslim communities.

They only have to use a bit of code to name those people; nowadays they call them “peacefuls”. A smirking euphemism is all it takes to sail through Twitter’s filter, and keep the hate-speech flowing.

(India, Islam, Islamophobic, Internet slang, offensive) a Muslim; especially a violent member of a radical Islamist group.


pandit

From Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita). Doublet of pundit.

(India, Nepal) An honorary title for a learned man or scholar.


JD

(Indian politics) Initialism of Janata Dal (former Indian political party)


Devi

Borrowed from Sanskrit देवी (devī́, “goddess, female deity”).

bor+

(Hinduism) Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents consciousness or discrimination, remains impotent and void.

A title put at the end of any female deity's name within Hinduism (e.g. Lakshmi Devi, Saraswati Devi, Kali Devi).


Lava

(Hinduism) One of the twin children of the Lord Rāma and his wife Sita in the Ramayana.


Kama

Fundamentally, the doctrine and technique of Kāma go back to primitive antiquity.

1956, Heinrich Robert Zimmer, Philosophies of India, page 145:

In Indian mythology, Kāma is the counterpart of Cupid.

1969, Allie M. Frazier, Readings in Eastern Religious Thought: Hinduism, page 35:

On seeing Kāma annihilated there, the Devas and the groups of celestial damsels became frightened.

2001, Jagdish Lal Shastri, Arnold Kunst, G. P. Bhatt, Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology, volume 63, page 429:

However, when Śiva saw the proud Kāma getting ready to let another arrow fly, he got angry.

2006, Catherine Benton, God of Desire: Tales of Kamadeva in Sanskrit Story Literature, page 52:

(religion, Hinduism) The Hindu god of love, Kamadeva


Kali

From Sanskrit काली (kālī) or कालिका (kālikā).

Kālī is Śiva's "other" wife, as it were, provoking him and encouraging him in his mad, antisocial, often disruptive habits. It is never Kālī who tames Śiva but Śiva who must becalm Kālī.

1986, David R. Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition, published 1988, page 122:

To many Hindu Bengalis, Kālī is the most important divinity. Identified with the great Goddess, Devi Bhagavati, she subsumes all other goddesses.

2000, Sanjukta Gupta, “27: The Worship of Kālī According to the Toḑala Tantra”, in David Gordon White, editor, Tantra in Practice, published 2001, page 463:

A popular form of Kali worshiped in Calcutta is Adya Shakti Kali, or Kali as primordial power. Adya Shakti Kali is also present in some tantras, especially the Mahanirvana Tantra. Because she devours Kala or Time, she is Kali, the original form of all things, and because she is the origin and devourer of all things, she is called Adya Kali.

2011, June McDaniel, “2: Kali: Goddess of Life, Death, and Transcendence”, in Patricia Monaghan, editor, Goddesses in World Culture, volume 1, page 26:

(Hinduism) A goddess in Hinduism, one of the most significant figures within that religion, who destroys evil forces and bestows liberation.

A female given name from Sanskrit used especially in India.


Kali

(Hinduism) A male demon, lord of Kali Yuga and the nemesis of Kalki, tenth avatar of Vishnu.


Manu

Transliteration of Sanskrit मनु (manu, “man, mankind”). Doublet of man.

translit

Agni is the one who is introduced by Manu, who is kindled by Manu; one requests him to rule at the present sacrifice, as he had done it for Manu, when he "offered the first oblation, with kindled fire, with his (attentive) heart and soul, along with the seven priests" to the gods (X, 63, 7).

1988, Hermann Oldenberg, Shridhar B. Shrotri, The Religion of the Veda, page 138:

(Hinduism) A title accorded to the progenitor of mankind, first king to rule this earth, who saves mankind from the universal flood.


Sadh

From Hindi साध (sādh, “member of the Sadh sect; Sadh”), from Sanskrit साधु (sādhu).

bor

A person who belongs to a monotheistic sect of Hinduism, having beliefs similar to those of Quakers.


Soma

(Hinduism) The soma juice, capitalized usually when mentioned in personified, deified form.


Yoga

(Hinduism) One of the six schools of Hindu philosophy.


Veda

Borrowed from Sanskrit वेद (veda, “knowledge”).

(Hinduism) Any of a large body of texts originating in Ancient India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism.


adharmic

en-adj

adharmic (comparative more adharmic, superlative most adharmic)

more adharmic (comparative)
most adharmic (superlative)

Anything that represents itself as a method of liberation, and yet promotes that which leads to the opposite of liberation is adharmic.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) unrighteous; contrary to universal law


M

en-noun

M (countable and uncountable, plural Ms)

Coordinate term: H (“Hindu”)

(India, Islam, Internet slang) Initialism of Muslim; mostly used by Hindutva netizens primarily towards Islamist supporters and Muslim militants.


H

Coordinate term: M (“Muslim”)

(India, Hinduism, Internet slang) Abbreviation of Hindu; mostly used by Indian Muslim netizens primarily towards Hindutva supporters.


AAP

(Indian politics) Initialism of Aam Aadmi Party, a political party.


NRC

Coordinate term: NPR (“National Population Register”)

National Register of Citizens
w:National Register of Citizens

(Indian politics) Initialism of National Register of Citizens.


NCP

Nationalist Congress Party
w:Nationalist Congress Party

(Indian politics) Initialism of Nationalist Congress Party.


Upanishad

Borrowed from Sanskrit उपनिषद् (upaniṣad).

Any of a set of authorless Hindu religious and philosophical texts considered to be an early source of the religion, found mostly as the concluding part of the Brahmanas and in the Aranyakas.


fakir

Borrowed from Arabic فَقِير (faqīr, “poor man”).

The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(Hinduism, more loosely) An ascetic mendicant, especially one who performs feats of endurance or apparent magic.


JP

(Indian politics) Initialism of Janata Party.

Justice Party (India)
w:Justice Party (India)

(Indian politics) Initialism of Justice Party (India).


UC

UC (countable and uncountable, plural UCs)

(India, Hinduism) Initialism of upper caste.


KP

KP (countable and uncountable, plural KPs)

(countable, India, Hinduism) Initialism of Kashmiri Pandit.


SAD

Shiromani Akali Dal
w:Shiromani Akali Dal

(Indian politics) Initialism of Shiromani Akali Dal (Indian political party)


RSS

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
w:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

(Indian politics, Hindutva) Initialism of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (“Indian nationalist volunteer organization”).


Vishnu

Transliteration of Sanskrit विष्णु (viṣṇu).

translit

(Hinduism) One of the Trimurti (trinity) in Hindu mythology, and the most venerated god in Hinduism.

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Aghori

From Sanskrit अघोर (aghora, “fearless”).

A tribe of Hindu ascetics who are or were thought to eat the flesh of corpses.


CPM

Communist Party of India (Marxist)
w:Communist Party of India (Marxist)

(Indian politics) Initialism of Communist Party of India (Marxist), a political party.


chela

In fact, Gilgamesh's instructions are still-valid directions from the guru to the chela.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 184:

The guru had insight. He understood his chela. The relationship between a guru and his chela was as a father to a son, as a whole person to a whole person, individual and unique.

1987, Phirozshah Dorabji Mehta, The Heart of Religion, page 36:

The guru-chela relationship was a theme in many of Nicholas's paintings. In Pearl of Searching, the guru is looking thoughtfully at a pearl necklace with his chela. This symbolizes the "pearl of great price" that gives purpose to life.

2002, Warrior of Light: The Life of Nicholas Roerich: Artist, Himalayan Explorer, and Visionary, page 52:

This, of course, is done by the guru as the result of a long process in which his consciousness must merge with that of the chela and wherein the chela is absorbed essentially into the guru.

2007, Michael Bertiaux, The Voudon Gnostic Workbook: Expanded Edition, page 455:

A pupil or disciple, especially in Hinduism. [from 19th c.]


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.


PFI

Popular Front of India
w:Popular Front of India

(Indian politics) Initialism of Popular Front of India, a banned organization in India.


gaja

Audio (US)

Transliteration of Sanskrit गज (gaja, “elephant; gaja”).

translit

(Hinduism) The sacred name for the elephant


Ganesha

(Hinduism) A Hindu god of intellect, wisdom, gates, and beginnings, son of Parvati and Shiva.


maya

Shankara prescribed meditative reflection, through which each individual could pierce the veil of maya and come to recognize the identity between his or her essence and the universal spirit.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 58:

(Hinduism, Buddhism) The power by which the universe is made to appear; the illusion of the phenomenal world, as opposed to its true or spiritual reality.


nationalist

en-adj

nationalist (comparative more nationalist, superlative most nationalist)

more nationalist (comparative)
most nationalist (superlative)

The anti-German riots which erupted simultaneously in many countries in response to the torpedoing of the Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 reflected shifts in the status of minorities in multi-ethnic societies at a time of escalating nationalist emotions.

2013 November 9, Tilman Dedering, “‘Avenge the Lusitania’: The Anti-German Riots in South Africa in 1915”, in Immigrants & Minorities, volume 31, number 3, →DOI, pages 256–288:


nationalist

You are either a globalist or a nationalist; one cannot be both.

The dilemma arose from what nationalists perceived as an intolerable disjuncture between the broad geographical extent of Serbdom—the imagined community of Serbs—and the Serbian state as a territorial homeland.

2011, Gerard Toal, Carl T Dahlman, Bosnia Remade, page 53:


ISF

Indian Secular Front
w:Indian Secular Front

(Indian politics) Initialism of Indian Secular Front, a political party.


suttee

en-noun

suttee (countable and uncountable, plural suttees)

From Sanskrit सती (satī́, “good and virtuous or faithful wife”), from सत् (sát, “true, good, right etc.”). In English usage since 1786. Doublet of sin.

uder

(historical, Hinduism) The traditional custom of a Hindu woman giving herself up to be cremated on her husband’s funeral pyre as a sign of her devotion.


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 /不杀生

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.


Vedic

Of or relating to the Sanskrit language of the Vedas


Brahman

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मन् (bráhman).

(Hinduism) The unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools.


Brahma

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मा (brahmā).

(Hinduism) Hindu god (deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva.


rupia

(historical) The former currencies of Italian Somaliland and Portuguese India.


Shiva

From Sanskrit शिव (śivá, “the auspicious one”).

(Hinduism) The god of destruction and transformation, and together with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Within Shaivism he is viewed as the Supreme deity, whereas in other branches of Hinduism such as the Smarta tradition he is worshipped as one of the six manifestations of the Divine.

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


pralaya

(Indian mythology) destruction, apocalypse


ashram

The entire ashram was excited.

In our broken culture those who have experienced the training of the yogic ashram are often woefully ignorant in the ways of the university, and vice versa.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 219:

(Hinduism) A secluded religious hermitage inhabited by gurus, or the population of such a hermitage.

Aschram

a secluded religious hermitage inhabited by gurus


sadhu

From Sanskrit साधु (sādhú, “good; good man, holy man”).

der

Then again these figures take no account of the thousands of beggars who travel free in India. Many of these are religious "Sadhus", dressed often in nothing but a loin-cloth, or even less, and their bodies smeared with ashes. A large number of these men are nothing but impostors, but the Hindu railway staff usually are afraid to interfere with them.

1953 November, 'Erca', “Ticket Frauds in the East”, in Railway Magazine, page 778:

It was clad in white in the manner of an Indian sadu or holy man, and it was walking barefoot on the grubby pavements.

1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Qutet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 994:

So for the meanwhile I continued with my ritualised observances, obsessively counting the number of steps it took me to walk to any given location, carefully avoiding the cracks in the pavement for fear that the bears of the id might get me, and attending to my bodily functions with the pure metrical devotion of a sadhu.

(Hinduism) An ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (enjoyment), artha (practical objectives) and even dharma (duty).


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


yantra

Borrowed from Sanskrit यन्त्र (yantra, “instrument”).

(religion, Hinduism) Any object used as a meditation aid in tantric worship.


samadhi

en-noun

samadhi (countable and uncountable, plural samadhis)

From Sanskrit समाधि (samādhi, “placing together”), from सम (sama, “together”) + आ (ā) prefix + धा (dhā, “to place”).

uder

The tomb of a holy person or saint in India.


tilak

I wore these spots of shine and silver like tilaks, the marks of colour that we Hindus wear on our foreheads as symbols of the divine.

He dressed in a dhoti, had a wispy white beard that trailed down to his waist, and regularly smeared across his forehead a tilaka, a pitchfork-shaped design that signifies enlightenment.

2012 April 30, Jake Halpern, “The Secret of the Temple”, in The New Yorker:

A mark or symbol worn on the forehead by Hindus, ornamentally or as an indication of status.


mala

Transliteration of Sanskrit माला (mālā, “wreath, garland, crown”).

translit

His words were like beads on the string of a mala, escaping his lips in small puffs of air.

2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 413:

(Hinduism, Sikhism) A bead or a set of beads commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists for keeping count while reciting, chanting, or mentally repeating a mantra or the name or names of a deity.


Diwali

Borrowed from Hindi दिवाली (divālī), from Sanskrit दीपावलि (dīpāvali, literally “row of lights”), from दीप (dīpa, “light”) + आवलि (āvali, “series, line, row”). Doublet of Deepavali.

der

(Hinduism) An annual festival of light, observed during several days in October and November.

Deepawali

more often used in Malaysia and Singapore

Kali Puja

more often used in Bangladesh, Bengal, and Odisha


kori

The monetary unit of Kutch prior to 1947, divided into 24 dokdas.


BJD

(Indian politics) Initialism of Biju Janata Dal, a political party.


marga

en-noun

marga (countable and uncountable, plural margas)

Borrowed from Sanskrit मार्ग (mārga). Doublet of marg.

(Hinduism, yoga) Any of various paths or courses seen as leading to enlightenment.


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?


puja

puja (countable and uncountable, plural pujas)

From Sanskrit पूजा (pūjā, “reverence or worship”).

uder

The Grunth, the holy book of the Sikhs, seems to be becoming an object of idolatrous worship. They do puja to it, and carry it in procession daily.

1879, Frances Maria Milman, Memoir of the Right Rev. Robert Milman, page 79:

‘Godbole's pujah did it,’ cried the Englishman.

1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 122:

The priest had performed the puja and tied a string around his father's silk purse to make sure that the Rana didn't spend even a copper coin while he was a guest of Merta.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 43:

Deeming the tank ‘polluted’ and its water unfit for consumption, a puja ceremony was performed by Brahmin men to ‘purify’ the reservoir.

2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 18:

A religious ritual performed in South Asia as an act of worship.


Pandu

Transliteration of Sanskrit पाण्डु (pāṇḍu).

translit

A mytho-historical figure from India, best known as the father of another group of figures, the Pandavas in Mahabharata.


Pandavas

Derived from Pandu, the mytho-historical figure represented as the father of the members of this group.

A mytho-historical group of archetypes of perfection, the five acknowledged sons of Pandu, according to the Indian epic Mahabharata.


siddhi

en-noun

siddhi (countable and uncountable, plural siddhis)

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit सिद्धि (siddhi).

lbor

(Hinduism, tantric Buddhism) spiritual power or psychic ability


vote bank

(India, politics) A section of an electorate that will vote for a particular party or formation, come what may.

base

group of voters who almost always support a single party's candidates


lila

Transliteration of Sanskrit लीला (līlā).

His face shone with joy when he read good books, thought new thoughts, heard news about the country's welfare, or when God's lila filled his mind.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 11

(Hinduism) The play of god’s spirit manifested in the universe; divine play, creative spiritual energy.


Arjuna

en-proper noun

Arjuna (countable and uncountable, plural Arjunas)

Transliteration of Sanskrit अर्जुन (arjuna).

translit

A major character of the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic.


kshatriya

From Sanskrit क्षत्रिय (kṣatriya, “(the warrior or military caste or a member of this caste”), from क्षत्र (kṣatra, “rule, dominion, authority”). Akin to satrap.

bor

The kshatriya could only hope to become a monk in his next life, but given the nature of his daily karma, it seemed unlikely that he could achieve even this limited goal.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 307:

"Bṛhannaḍā said, 'It is not the habit of a kṣatriya to flee like this; death in battle is preferable to flight in fear.'" (Mahābhārata: "Virāṭa Parva")

A member of the second-highest of the four castes or varnas in traditional Hindu society: the warrior or military caste.


Advaita

(Hinduism) A Sanskrit philosophical term that may be literally rendered in English as nonduality: denoting that though differences and variegation appear in the human condition they are unreal or illusory and are not ultimately true.

adwajta

Hindu doctrine holding that differences in the human condition are illusory


ashramite

(Hinduism) A person who stays at an ashram


antinational

Calling Tamil Nadu a “shelter” for anti-nationals, BJP national president J P Nadda said the state administration and the DMK were giving shelter to people working against the interests of the nation.

2020 August 25, Shanmughasundaram J, “Tamil Nadu is shelter for anti-nationals, says J P Nadda”, in Times of India:

(Indian politics, Hindutva, derogatory, accusatory) One who is opposed to India, usually suggesting pro-Pakistan or leftist associations, hostility against the Hindu religion, or opposition to Hindu nationalism.


Lakshmi

From Sanskrit लक्ष्मी (lakṣmī, “mark, sign”).

The Hindu goddess of wealth, the consort of Vishnu and married to Rama (in her incarnation as Sita) and Krishna (as Radha and Rukmini).


Dhanalaxmi

On the following day, the woman-folk worship Goddess Dhanalaxmi for prosperity.

1980, T. Vedantam, J. K. Barthakur, Census of India, 1971: Series 2: Andhra Pradesh, India Office of the Registrar General, page 138:

2004, http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov112004/deep2.asp
Goddess Dhanalaxmi is propitiated on the Amavasya night in Hindu homes. Goddess Laxmi is said to have emerged from the ocean during the 'samudra manthan'. Her birth is celebrated with pujas, illuminations and crackers and festivity in every Hindu home.

(Hinduism) A Hindu goddess, one of the eight forms of Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity.


maharishi

From Sanskrit महर्षि (maharṣi, “great seer”) from महा (mahā, “great”) + ऋषि (ṛṣi, “saint, seer”).

His lineage of teachers and masters included several famous maharishis.

2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 66:


filmi

(India, music) Music written especially for Bollywood films.


Festival of Lights

From the importance of candles or light during the celebrations.

2000, Meenal Pandya, Here Comes Diwali: The Festival of Lights:

Invite a practicing Hindu from your community to speak about the Festival of Lights.

2001, Elizabeth A. Raum., Every Day a Holiday:

2008, Dianne M. MacMillan, Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights:


toolkit

The culture of Ice Age humanity expresses a steady growth in the complexity of the tool kit, and a steady growth in complexity of artistic development.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 119:

A set of tools kept together, especially comprising all the tools suitable for some particular type of work.


Radha

(Hinduism) Hindu goddess of love and devotion, Grand Consort of god Krishna, Avatar of Lakshmi.

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Shamsher Jang

From the Hindi शमशेर जंग (śamśer jaṅg, “sword of war”), from Classical Persian شمشیر جنگ (šamšēr jang). It was part of the full title of the Maharaja of Travancore.

uder

(Hinduism) A Hindu princely title, Sword of War.


sloka meter

(poetry, Hinduism) A Sanskrit meter consisting of two lines of sixteen syllables each.


jodi

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *yewg-
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *yugtós
Sanskrit युक्त (yukta)
Prakrit 𑀚𑀼𑀢𑁆𑀢 (jutta)
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
Sanskrit -अयति (-ayati)
Prakrit -𑀏𑀇 (-ei)
Prakrit 𑀚𑁄𑀟𑁂𑀇 (joḍei)
Prakrit 𑀚𑁄𑀟 (joḍa)
Hindi जोड़ी (joṛī)bor.
English jodi
Borrowed from Hindi जोड़ी (joṛī) or Marathi जोडी (joḍī); possibly through Bollywood.

etymon

Just over five years after coming together at the top of the Indian lineup, they already boast among the greatest-ever numbers for an opening partnership in the format. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, to many, in particular in India, are the ‘Jodi No. 1’ of the 2010s...

2019 January 30, “‘Jodi No. 1’: Dhawan’s Special Post for ‘Partner in Crime’ Rohit”, in The Quint:

For the last seven years, they have been projected as India’s political jodi number one.

2021 May 6, Rajdeep Sardesai, “A political and policy blow to the Centre”, in Hindustan Times :


UDF

United Democratic Front (Kerala)
w:United Democratic Front (Kerala)

(Indian politics) Initialism of United Democratic Front (Kerala)


BSP

Bahujan Samaj Party
w:Bahujan Samaj Party

(Indian politics) Initialism of Bahujan Samaj Party, a political party.


yuga

From Sanskrit युग (yuga). Doublet of yoke.

To Biardeau the linear nature of the declining dharma and the cyclical nature of the yugas make an unhappy marriage, and she ultimately rejects the idea of a true correspondence or rapport between the appearance of Vișņu as avatāra and the yuga cycle.

1991, Deborah A. Soifer, The Myths of Narasimha and Vamana: Two Avatars in Cosmological Perspective, page 147:

There is, you will note, a pattern of decreased duration in the yugas. Moving from the Krta Yuga, the yuga closest to primordial perfection, each progressive yuga grows shorter and shorter, as chaos and decrepitude increase in prominence.

1998, Sean M. O'Shea, Meryl A. Walker, The Millennium Myth: The Ever-Ending Story, page 39:

To explain further, there are four ages or millenniums called yugas. The duration of Satya-yuga is 1,728,000 years. The duration of Treta-yuga is 1,296,000 years. The duration of Dvapara-yuga is 864,000 years. The duration of Kali-yuga, the present age, is 432,000 years, and began around 5,000 years ago. These four yugas make one cycle, and one thousand cycles equal one day of Brahma, after which there is a partial annihilation of the universe during Brahma's night. Lord Brahma lives for 100 years, 360 days in each year.

2005, Stephen Knapp, The Heart of Hinduism: The Eastern Path to Freedom, Empowerment and Illumination, pages 386, 489:

(Hinduism) In Hindu theology, a period of a few hundred or thousand years, or an epoch or era within a cycle of four ages: the Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga), the Dvapara Yuga, the Treta Yuga and finally the Kali Yuga, with lengths ranging from 432,000 to 1,728,000 years.


CPI

Communist Party of India
w:Communist Party of India

(Indian politics) Initialism of Communist Party of India, a political party.


jnana

en-noun

jnana (countable and uncountable, plural jnanas)

/dʒəˈnɑː.nə/

From Sanskrit ज्ञान (jñāna, “knowledge”).

1969, Swami Rāmānandasarasvatī, The Hindu Ideal, Sri Ramananda Centenary Memorial Committee, page 291,
The dualists, Sri Vaishnavas in particular, seem to entertain a strong opinion that Bhakti alone is the cause of Moksha, and that Jnana is but a step towards Bhakti.

1986, The Vedanta Kesari, Ramakrishna Math, page 316,
The knower of Atman realizes Him by Jnana Yoga (the path of knowledge).

Jnana is a direct knowing of things as they really are.

2004, M. G. Chitkara, Vedic Religious Tradition, APH Publishing Corporation, page 375:

(Hinduism) The knowledge, acquired through meditation, that one's self (atman) is identical with Ultimate Reality (Brahman).


raita

From the Hindi idiom रायता फैलाना (rāytā phailānā), which means to "spill the raita" or "make a mess".

(India, derogatory, politics, online slang) A Hindu who does not support Hindutva, a liberal Hindu, especially (highly derogatory) as considered a traitor to India or race traitor towards Indians.


kalpa

From Sanskrit कल्प (kalpa, literally “formation”).

bor

(Hinduism, Buddhism) A period of 4.32 billion years (1000 chatur-yugas or cycles of the four yugas).


Purana

Borrowed from Sanskrit पुराण (purāṇá, literally “old, ancient”).

(Hinduism) A text that is part of an ancient Indian genre of Hindu or Jain written literature, concerning various topics, including cosmogony and mythology.


sampradaya

Borrowed from Sanskrit सम्प्रदाय (sampradāya).

bor+

(Hinduism) Any of several Hindu sects or denominations


mudra

The Kechari Mudra is accomplished by thrusting the tongue into the gullet, by turning it over itself, and keeping the eyesight in the middle.

1915 [14th century], Pancham Sinh., Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translation of original by Swami Swatmarama:

(Hinduism) Any of the formal body positions and postures used in yoga and meditation.


sanskara

From Sanskrit संस्कार (saṃskāra, “impression”).

uder

(Hinduism) The imprints left on the mind by past experiences (often in past lives) that then condition future responses and behavior


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.


Macaulayism

From Macaulay + -ism, from the name of Thomas Babington Macaulay, who was instrumental in introducing English as a medium of instruction for higher education in India.

(India, derogatory) The act of westernization of upper class Indians using educational reform.


bija

(Hinduism, Buddhism) The origin or cause of things.


Maitreya

Transliteration of Sanskrit मैत्रेय (maitreya, “friendly, benevolent”).


Govinda

From Sanskrit गोविन्द (Govinda, “finder of cows”).


Ganga

Transliteration of Hindi गंगा (gaṅgā) or Sanskrit गङ्गा (gaṅgā). Doublet of Ganges.

The river Ganges, especially as a deity.


seva

Giving loving service to God and human beings is known as seva. According to Hindu scriptures it is the highest form of dharma. Some seva can produce good karma, which enables the atman to proceed towards moksha where it will be united with God. There are many ways Hindus can perform seva—for example, by worshipping regularly or by giving time and money to noble causes.

2002, Lynne Gibson, Hinduism, Heinemann, →ISBN, page 56:

(Hinduism, Sikhism) Selfless service that is performed without any expectation of reward for performing it.


Srimati

From Sanskrit श्रीमत् (śrīmat, “beautiful, charming, lovely, pleasant, splendid, glorious”).


upanayana

/uːpəˈnɑːjənə/

An Aryan boy had to undergo the upanayana that initiated him into the study of the Veda and the sacrificial procedure, or he would never be able to build a fully realized atman.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 83:

(Hinduism) An initiation ceremony undergone by Hindu boys over the age of seven belonging to the highest three castes, marking the start of their formal education.


Shani

(Hinduism) The Hindu god associated with the planet Saturn


Asura

Transliteration of Sanskrit असुर (asura). Doublet of Ahura. Compare English Æsir.

translit

(Hinduism) Power-seeking deities involved in constant conflict with the more benevolent Devas.


Vasuki

(Hinduism) The goddess of snakes in Hindu mythology.


Vayu

(Hinduism) The god of wind in Hindu and Vedic religion. A primary deity, father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman.


Mahabharata

/mə.ɦɑːˈbʱɑː.ɾə.t̪ə/

Transliteration of Sanskrit महाभारत (mahābhārata).

(Hinduism, mythology) An ancient Sanskrit epic concerning some text of the Bhagavad Gita, including elaborations on theology and morality.


Balarama

Borrowed from Sanskrit बलराम (balarāma).

(Hinduism) Balarama, son of Vasudeva, and Rohini, brother of Subhadra, and Krishna, who uses a plough as his weapon.


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.


chamcha

Borrowed from Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”).

bor

1989. Stuart Auerbach. Washington Post. (Mar. 26) “Nehru and His Nation”
M J Akbar has been called a chamcha to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Chamcha Sycophant (lit. ‘spoon’). 1997. Ghulam Nabi Azad. India Today (June 23) p. 13: I have my own standing in the party. I cannot be anybody’s chamcha (stooge).

1994. William Dalrymple City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi (Dec. 1) “Glossary” p. 340

1997. Sudhir Vaishnav. Times of India. (Aug. 24) “A very political exercise”
Several hangers-on. They are available aplenty everywhere in the country and are often known in the local market as Chamcha.

No doubt, the United Kingdom also had their sycophants—toadys, bachhas, jholichuks and hukkabardars—but chamchas of the modern vintage they had none. Chamchas are a breed apart.

1998 January 17, “In Praise of Chamchagiri”, in P.S. Sharma Times of India:

Leaders’ chamchas get lucky”: All three have pulled strings in their respective parties to get Assembly poll tickets for their puppets and close confidants, better known in political parlance as chamchas.

2004. Krishnakumar. Midday (Mumbai, India) (Sept. 21)

(India, colloquial) A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey.


amrita

From Sanskrit अमृत (amṛta, “immortal, immortality”). Compare also Ancient Greek ἀμβροσία (ambrosía, “ambrosia”).

cog

(Hinduism) The water of life; the drink of the Hindu gods.


Kama Sutra

Little is known about the Kama Sutra’s author, Vatsyayana, who claimed to be a celibate monk who had compiled all of the accumulated sexual knowledge from several previous authors as a form of his own meditation and contemplation of the deity.

2018, Scott Christianson, Colin Salter, 100 Books that Changed the World, Batsford Books, →ISBN:

A Sanskrit treatise (sutra) setting forth rules for sensuous and sensual pleasure, love, and marriage in accordance with Hindu law.


Narayana

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Agni

(Hinduism) A Hindu and Vedic deity of fire.


Nyepi

A Hindu Balinese day of silence, fasting, and meditation that falls on Bali's Lunar New Year.


buddhi

(Hinduism) A transpersonal faculty of mind higher than the rational mind that might be translated as ‘intuitive intelligence’ or simply ‘higher mind’. It is ‘that which knows’, ie. able to discern truth from falsehood.


Sarasvati

The Hindu goddess of knowledge and the arts.

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Parvati

(Hinduism) A Hindu goddess, the goddess of love, devotion and power; nominally the second consort of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and rejuvenation.


Indra

Transliteration of Sanskrit इन्द्र (índra).

translit

(Hinduism, Vedic religion) The god of war and weather; also the King of the Gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hinduism.


Mara

From Sanskrit मर (mara), from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to die”). Doublet of mortality.

(Hinduism) The Hindu god of death; opposite of Kama.


Vritra

(Hinduism) An Asura and also a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi ("snake"), and he is said to have had three heads.


Bhaga

(Hinduism) One of the Adityas, a god of wealth and marriage in Hinduism. In the Rigveda Bhaga is the god who supervises the distribution of goods and destiny to each man corresponding to his merits.


Aditya

(Hinduism) Any of a group of solar deities, the sons of Aditi and Kashyapa.


Aditya

A male given name from Sanskrit mainly used in India and Nepal.


Nataraja

From Sanskrit नटराज (naṭarāja), from नर्त (narta, “dancing”) + राजन् (rājan, “king”).

(Hinduism) The dancing posture of the Hindu god Shiva, who performs his divine dance as a part of his activities of creation and destruction.


Yama

Borrowed from Sanskrit यम (yamá). Doublet of Enma.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) The Hindu lord of death, who rides a buffalo.

যম

the Hindu lord of death, who rides a buffalo


dhyana

en-noun

dhyana (countable and uncountable, plural dhyanas)

From Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, literally “meditation”). Doublet of Zen and Chan.

bor

Thus the Kaivalyopanisad accords equal importance to Sraddha (faith-regard), devotion (bhakti) and meditation (dhyana) for the attainment of the highest knowledge.

The beginning must be made with pathawi-kasina, and then the dhyánas, &c., must be taken alternately, as from the first dhyána to the third, then to ákásánancháyatana, and so on to the end.

1860, Robert Spence Hardy, Eastern monachism, page 262:

Each of the three planes may be experienced through developing the dhyānas in meditation - so here we have yet another way of describing higher states of consciousness.

1997, Meditation: The Buddhist Way of Tranquillity and Insight, page 86:

(Hinduism, Buddhism) A type of profound meditation.


shakha

From Sanskrit शाखा (śā́khā, “a branch; arm etc.”).

uder

It is held that the ancient Rishis or saints, like the Jewish patriarchs, lived far beyond the ordinary span of existence, and hence had time to learn all the Vedas and their commentaries. But this was impossible for their short-lived descendants, and hence each Veda has been divided into a number of Shākhas or branches, and the ordinary Brāhman only learns one Shākha of one Veda.

1916, R. V. Russell, The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India, page 360:

(Hinduism) Either a school of the Vedas, or the traditional texts followed by a school.


Ushas

From Sanskrit उषस् (uṣás, “dawn”). Doublet of Aurora and Eos.

Of the goddesses there are only two who have any marked individuality, viz., Ushas, the dawn, and Sarasvati, the goddess of the river of that name, and afterwards the goddess of speech.

1999, Shyam Singh Shashi, Encyclopaedia Indica, page 16:

(Vedic religion, Hinduism) Vedic and Hindu female deity, personifying the dawn, usually mentioned in plural. She is portrayed as welcoming birds and warding off evil spirits, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a golden chariot on her path across the sky.


Dyaus Pita

From Sanskrit द्यौष्पितृ (dyauṣ-pitṛ). Doublet of Jupiter.

Thus in the early Vedas we find records of Dyaus-Pita, or “Father-Heaven,” accompanied by Prithvi or “Mother-Earth”; also Ushas or “Dawn-Goddess”; Surya, or the “Sun-God”; Vayu or the “Wind-God”; and Agni, the “Fire-god”.

1998, Yogi Ramacharaka Ramacharaka, The Philosophies and Religions of India, Kessinger Publishing, page 250:

(Hinduism) In the Vedic religion, the Sky Father, husband of Prithvi and father of Agni and Indra.


Ashvamedha

Borrowed from Sanskrit अश्वमेध (áśva-medhá, “horse-sacrifice”), an oxytonic tatpuruṣa compound of अश्व (áśva, “horse”) and मेध (médha, “animal sacrifice”).

bor

A peculiar verse in the Yajurvedic Ashvamedha tells us that in the sacrifices that were performed by the devas, Agni was the horse, and he conquered the earth (23/17). The idea of using the Ashvamedha horse for extending the rule to the neighbouring territories arose from this.

1996, Jayant Gadkari, Society and Religion: From Rugveda to Puranas, page 32:

(Hinduism) One of the most important Vedic sacrificial rituals related to kings, and name of the Rigvedic hymns 1.162-163 which deal with horse sacrifice.


Sapta Sindhu

From सप्त (sapta, “seven”) + सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream”). This expression in English incorporates a grammatical error: Sindhu is the nominative singular; used with "seven", the noun should, of course, be in the plural: Sindhava:/Sindhavas, सप्तसिंधव: (saptasiṃdhava:, “seven rivers”), which is the term used in Sanskrit.

The settlers in Sapta Sindhu composed the Rig Veda, the first of the Vedas, the ancient sacred writings of the Hindu religion.

2006, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, World and Its Peoples, page 316:

(Hinduism, India) The seven sacred rivers in Indian mythology, often referred to in Rigveda and in Zend Avesta. They are often located in the Punjab region in northwestern India / northern Pakistan.


jivanmukta

Borrowed from Sanskrit जीवन्मुक्ति (jīvanmukti, “emancipation while still alive”).

bor+

(Hinduism) A person who, in the Advaita philosophy of Hinduism, has attained nirvikalpa samadhi — the realization of the Self, Parasiva — and is liberated from rebirth while living in a human body.

(Hinduism) A liberated being (not necessarily paramukta).


devadasi

From the Sanskrit देवदासी (devá-dāsī, “female servant of a deity”), from देव (devá, “deity, god”) and दासी (dāsī, “a female servant or slave”).

bor

It would be a century before the daughter of another devadasi mesmerized audiences around the world.

2017, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, page 372:

(Hinduism, historical) A girl who underwent the Hindu religious practice of being "married" to a deity. In addition to taking care of the temple, she learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts, and enjoyed high social status.


Samkhya

From Sanskrit सांख्य (sāṃkhya, “enumerating, reckoning up”).

uder

(Hinduism) One of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy.


Nyaya

From Sanskrit न्याय (ny-āyá, “syllogism, inference”).

(Hinduism) One of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy — specifically the school of logic.


nastika

Borrowed from Sanskrit नास्तिक (nāstika, “heterodox”), from नस्ति (nasti, “to not exist”), negative of अस्ति (asti, “exists”).

(Hinduism) Not astika, see there for more.


astika

From Sanskrit आस्तिक (āstika, “orthodox, believing, pious, faithful”), from अस्ति (asti, “to be, exist”) + -क (-ka).

bor

(Hinduism) A philosophical school or individual accepting certain tenets fundamental to Hinduism, by various definitions:

The existence of atman (roughly "soul").

The existence of ishvara (a supreme deity).


Shakti

From Sanskrit शक्ति (śákti, “power, energy”).

In yoga the feminine principle is Shakti, the Great Goddess experienced by all initiates of the Tantric process of transformation.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 115:

(Hinduism) The Hindu concept or personification of the divine feminine aspect, sometimes referred to as 'The Divine Mother'. Shakti represents the active, dynamic principles of feminine power.


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.


Savitr

From Sanskrit सवितृ (savitṛ, “stimulator, rouser, vivifier”).

However, Savitṛ represents, as has been rightly pointed out by Sāyaṇa, the natural phenomenon of the setting and rising sun, whereas Sūrya represents the sun after it is risen and before it approaches the setting frame.

2003, Malati J. Shendge, The Civilized Demons: The Harappans in Rigveda, Abhinav Publications, →ISBN, page 319:

(Hinduism) A solar deity (Deva) and one of the Adityas. He is sometimes identified with, and at other times distinguished from, the chief Sun deity Surya.


Surya

From Sanskrit सूर्य (sū́rya, “the sun or its deity”). Doublet of sun.

(Hinduism) The chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives Aditi, of Indra, or of Dyaus Pita (depending by the versions). Portrayed with golden arms and hair, Surya drives through the heaven in his triumphal chariot harnessed by seven horses or one horse with seven heads, which represent the seven colours of the rainbow or the seven chakras.


Rāhu

Transliteration of Sanskrit राहु (rāhu).

(Hinduism, Buddhism) The ascending lunar node. An asura and god of the solar eclipse.

(Tibetan Buddhism) A supernatural being in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, particularly the Nyingma lineage. Usually depicted as dark blue in colour and having nine heads one of which is that of a raven. He has a face in his belly the mouth of which swallows up the moon or sun during eclipses. He is master of the nine planets and the god of solar and lunar eclipses.


Ketu

(Hinduism) The descending lunar node. In Hindu mythology, Ketu is generally referred to as a "shadow" planet, believed to have a tremendous impact on human lives and also the whole creation.


bhakti

en-noun

bhakti (countable and uncountable, plural bhaktis)

It should be obvious by now that bhakti is not merely pious thoughts of "love" but rather fearless action. Nārada asks nothing less of the bhakta than complete surrender and complete dedication unto the will of Bhagavān. But if at any point one feels himself unable to reach the ideals taught by Nārada, he is not condemned. Lord Kṛṣṇa also says that if we cannot achieve the topmost surrender, then we should do what we can and try to progress gradually.

1991, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Nārada-bhakti-sūtra, The Secrets of Transcendental Love, page 114:

The offering of Bhakti is a specific activity, either mental or physical, through which a devotee can finally attain the knowledge of the Supreme Reality. So, Karma and Jñāna are not antagonistic to the Bhakti Mārga, rather, they are indispensable parts of it.

2004, Muhammad Sirajul Islam, Sufism and Bhakti, A Comparative Study, page 78:


Kamadeva

Borrowed from Sanskrit कामदेव (kā́ma-deva).

bor+

(Hinduism) The Hindu deity of love, son of the goddess Sri and the incarnation of Pradyumna, Krishna's son.


Vasu

Borrowed from Sanskrit वसु (vásu, “dwelling, dweller”).

bor

(Hinduism) Any of the attendant deities of Indra, and later Vishnu. They are eight elemental gods representing aspects of nature.


Sutratman

From Sanskrit sutra (“thread”) and atman (“self”).

(Hinduism) The "String Soul" or "Thread-Self": the cosmic soul, one aspect of the cosmic supreme being.


yajna

en-noun

yajna (countable and uncountable, plural yajnas)

The visit to Pushkar is, however, a little more than the obligatory obeisance done at the site where Brahma carelessly dropped a lotus blossom as he was wondering where to perform a yagnya.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 501:

(Hinduism) A ritual of sacrifice to the Devas.


Brahmana

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brā́hmaṇa). Doublet of brahmin.

(Hinduism) Any of several ancient Hindu religious prose texts that explain the relationship of the Vedas to the sacrificial ceremonies.


Shudra

Borrowed from Sanskrit शूद्र (śūdra), a variant of क्षुद्र (kṣudra, “small, diminutive”).

A Sudra knows that his lot in life has been cast by divine fiat, and he does not expect the perquisites of a Brahmin.

1951 October, Helen Mayer Hacker, “Women as Minority Group”, in Howard W. Odum, Katherine Jocher, editors, Social Forces, volume 30, number 1, Williams & Wilkins, →DOI, page 60:

A member of the Hindu varna (caste) of workers.


Holi

Borrowed from Hindi होली (holī), from Sanskrit होली (holī).

A Hindu festival, held in the spring, in which people throw coloured powders at each other during noisy street celebrations.


Lanka

(mythology, Hinduism) The island city of Ravana in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana.


NDA

National Democratic Alliance
w:National Democratic Alliance

(Indian politics) Initialism of National Democratic Alliance, a political alliance.


Tinseltown

(slang, by extension) The film industry of the United States of America

Bollywood is also very commonly known as both tinsel town and B-town, neither of which is listed in the dictionaries.

2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes, page 302:

(India, slang) The Bollywood movie industry.

(India, slang) The Tollywood movie industry

(India, informal, by restriction) A nickname for Film Nagar.; A neighbourhood of Hyderabad, Telangana, India


Bhumi

(uncountable, Hinduism) The earth element in the Hindu elemental tradition.


IUML

Indian Union Muslim League
w:Indian Union Muslim League

(Indian politics) Initialism of Indian Union Muslim League, a political party.


Smriti

(Hinduism) A specific body of Hindu religious scripture.


Smriti

(Hinduism) Any individual text from the Smriti body of Hindu religious scripture.


Vaisnavara

(Hinduism) A name of the fire-god Agni, in his function as a benevolent power.


mahant

Borrowed from Hindi महान्त (mahānt), from Sanskrit महान् (mahān, “great”).

(Hinduism) A head or chief of a monastery.


jivanmukti

Borrowed from Sanskrit जीवन्मुक्ति (jīvanmukti, “emancipation while still alive”).

(Hinduism) In Hinduism, the process of achieving complete self-realisation, attaining moksha during one's own life.


paramukta

Borrowed from Sanskrit परमुक्त (para-mukti, “supremely free”).

bor

(Hinduism) supremely liberated being; being liberated beyond the state of a jivanmukta


mahurat

From Hindi [Term?], from Sanskrit [Term?].

‘The mahurat, Your Highness, is at nine seventeen in the morning.’

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 265:

(India, Hinduism) A time or moment considered lucky for beginning some project; an inauguration, now especially the start of a film production.


Swaminarayan

(Hinduism) A deity worshiped in the Swaminarayan faith of Hinduism.


pujari

/puːˈdʒɑːɹi/

The pujari at the Kalika Mata temple lightly tolls the bell and then in a voice that is as clear and crystalline as the sky this morning sings the Surya Stotra.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 48:

The pujari saw the headman's anger and said to Hiranbai, 'God bless you, child, for your good work for all these God's creatures.'

2000, Bhagwan Gidwani, Return of the Aryans:

(Hinduism) Someone who performs a puja, especially a priest in a Hindu temple.


mandir

Transliteration of Hindi मंदिर (mandir).

On the contrary, in the afternoon, he said, “It was good that I went to the mandir. Even physically, I feel well.”

1960, The Visva-Bharati quarterly: Volumes 26-27, Shantiniketan, West Bengal, page 58:

The word mandir derives from the Sanskrit mandira, meaning a dwelling place. A mandir is a home to God as represented by the deity singled out for honour within the building's inner sanctum.

2003 September 30, Jerome Monahan, Places of worship, week 4: a mandir:

"The stories and carvings include diverse portions of India's geography and Hindu belief systems. This would include Mahabharata and Ramayana as well as the Puranas and regional histories. In fact, this mandir will be uniquely identified by its intricate mandovar facade which will share many traditional tales from across India as well as unique designs from the Gulf," he said.

2020 November 10, 25,000 Cubic Feet Of Stone Carved In India For Abu Dhabi's First Hindu Temple:


samana

/sɑːˌmɑːnɑː/

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

(religion) An ascetic, (especially) an ascetic monk who ignores the Vedas in Buddhist and Indian contexts.


maulana

Ultimately from Arabic مَوْلَانَا (mawlānā).
The Indian slang usage of the term for any Muslim person was derived from a stereotype, especially towards Muslims who look stereotypical (beard, robes, and skullcap).

At the end of his long and cantankerous life the maulana had gone against all his high principles. He had gone to a Boston hospital to look for health; he had at the very end entrusted himself to the skill and science of the civilization he had tried to shield his followers from.

1981, V. S. Naipaul, Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey, page 168:

(Islam) A religious scholar, especially in Central and South Asia.

(India, Islam, Internet slang, religious slur) A Muslim person in general, especially an extreme conservative.


xeraphim

From Portuguese xarafin, from Arabic اَشْرَاف (ašrāf), plural form of شَرِيف (šarīf, “highborn”).

(obsolete) An old monetary unit of Bombay, equal to three fifths of a rupee.


sadhana

en-noun

sadhana (usually uncountable, plural sadhanas)

Transliteration of Sanskrit साधना (sādhanā).

translit

(religion) A spiritual practice or discipline leading to a goal.


pinda

(Hinduism) A ball of cooked rice mixed with ghee and black sesame seeds offered to ancestors during Hindu funeral rites and ancestor worship rituals.


UPA

United Progressive Alliance
w:United Progressive Alliance

(Indian politics) Initialism of United Progressive Alliance, a political alliance.


Shaktism

A branch of Hinduism that focuses on the worship of Shakti as a supreme goddess.


Saiva

(Hinduism) A worshiper of Shiva or practicer of Shaivism.


Shaivism

From Sanskrit शैव (śaiva, “relating, belonging or sacred to the god Shiva”) + -ism.

uder

A sect comprising the worshippers of the god Shiva.

xivaisme

a branch of Hinduism focusing on the worship of Shiva


Salagrama

/ʃaːlaːɡɹaːmə/

From Sanskrit शालग्राम (śālagrāma, “a village in ancient India; a sacred stone”).

(Hinduism) A fossil ammonite held by the Hindus to be representative of Vishnu.


Kamala

en-prop

Kamala (countable and uncountable, plural Kamalas)

Transliteration of Sanskrit कमला (kamalā). Doublet of Kamal.

translit

(Hinduism) An epithet of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.

কমলা

Hinduism: an epithet of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi


truti

At every moment of time — i.e., in every Truti — there are millions of Trutis — perfect organisms — in space. This may require some explanation. The units of time and space are the same — a Truti. Take any one Truti of time. It is well known […]

1897, Rāma Prasāda, The Science of Breath and the Philosophy of the Tattvas, page 80:

The Surya-Siddhanta (1.10-21) differentiates kala (time) primarily in two forms (i) murtakala (real time) and (ii) umurtakula (unreal time), taking prdna (4 seconds) and truti (atom) as the smallest units respectively, whereas Bhaskara II in his […]

1988, Kapila Vatsyayan, Bettina Bäumer, Kalātattvakośa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts, Motilal Banarsidass Publishe, →ISBN, page 219:

(2 1-3),, we have 1 atom (truti ?) of time =6 paramanukalas (atom times) But from table (2.1-7), we have 1 truti =18 paramanukalas (atoms times), and 1 trasarenu =6 paramankalas (atoms times) Therefore it appears that an atom (truti ?) of time […]

(Hinduism) A unit of time equal to about 30 microseconds.


Valli

(Hinduism) One of the two consorts of Murugan, the god of war.


CMM

Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha
w:Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha

(Indian politics) Initialism of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha.


yatra

Thousands of activists and vehicles therefore diffused quietly out of Delhi in the following days to reassemble in a yatra that now swelled to 40–50,000 people.

1999, Thomas Blom Hansen, The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 261:

By calling this little stroll a yatra I am making a mild joke to myself, because in India a yatra can be a grueling expedition such as a hike to the top of Mount Kailas in the Himalayas.

2002, John Ittner, Lighting the Lamp of Wisdom: a Week Inside a Yoga Ashram, SkyLight Paths Publishing, →ISBN, page 80:

At the inauguration of this temple a yatra for her was performed attracting again a big part of Chatamput's mostly female inhabitants, who all claimed that Kondamakalamma now is the "real" goddess of the village.

2005, Christian Strümpell, “Forts and Camps in Tribal Orissa: Kshatriyaization and Industrialization Compared”, in Georg Pfeffer, editor, Contemporary Society: Identity, Intervention and Ideology in Tribal India and Beyond, volume 7, Concept Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 71:

I thus wonder whether the yatra was not primarily "efficient" for the upper middle classes who - physically removed from direct participation - enjoyed the BJP going on a yatra, presenting them with ready-made edutainment about nationality, easy to digest, without much physical and mental effort.

2006, Ritual and Identity: Performative Practices as Effective Transformations of Social Reality, volume 8, LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, →ISBN, page 287:


kattar

en-adj

kattar (comparative more kattar, superlative most kattar)

more kattar (comparative)
most kattar (superlative)

From Hindi कट्टर (kaṭṭar, “strict, rigid”).

"And even the announcement of Delhi’s own Board of Education came with one of the avowed aims being making students “kattar deshbhakt” (staunch patriots)."

(India, religion, Hinduism) strict, rigid, fundamentalist, especially in terms of religious belief

sanghi

used towards traditionalist Hindus with nationalist views


brahmana

Anglicized/transliterated from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brā́hmaṇa).

The brahmin varna in Hinduism. (Plural: brahmana.)


Sita

Borrowed from Sanskrit सीता (sītā, “furrow”).

(Hinduism) A goddess, the consort of Rāma.

It is only this late in the day, and possibly only in Willesden, that you can find best friends Sita and Sharon, constantly mistaken for each other because Sita is white (her mother liked the name) and Sharon is Pakistani (her mother thought it best — less trouble).

2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, pages 282–283:

A female given name from Sanskrit mainly used in India.


Krishnology

From Krishna + -ology. As a nonce word (attested 1929) used for illustrating the parallels between Christology and the theology of Krishnaism. Since the late 2000s also used by ISKCON authors in a more general sense.

Whether it be questions of Science or Philosophy, or of Christology or Krishnology (1929)http://books.google.com/books?id=HwgaAAAAMAAJ&q=Krishnology+-%22Webster%27s+Quotations%22&dq=Krishnology+-%22Webster%27s+Quotations%22&hl=en&ei=W5x3TJfMAp-g4Qbdm5zSBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCkQ6AEwATgK

Christology and Krishnology: a critical study of the concept of Avatora from the Christian standpoint (1952, title)http://books.google.com/books?id=YsEcHAAACAAJ&dq=Krishnology+-%22Webster%27s+Quotations%22&hl=en&ei=rJx3TJCeHpuP4gafyJy7Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA

The position of Krishna in Krishnaism viewed as a parallel of that of Christ in Christianity.


Sunda

Indonesian Pasundan (“former Sunda Kingdom area such as West Java, Banten and western Central Java”)

uder

Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the western part of the Malay archipelago

Sunda Strait, the strait between Java and Sumatra

Sundaland, a biogeographical region of Southeastern Asia


bhajan

"No, there was never a school," said the child; "but the patwaris bibi lets us come to her of a morning, and teaches us bhajans and our letters, and when we learn well she sometimes gives us fruit."

Did I detenct Father's deep and rumbling baritone in the chorus which accompanied my wife's first bhajan of the evening?

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 396:

(music) A type of Indian devotional song.


Durga

A female given name from Sanskrit, common in India. Another name of Parvati


Saci

(Hinduism, mythology) The goddess of wrath and jealousy in Hindu mythology.


Buddha-dharma

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


kumari

Borrowed from Sanskrit कुमारी (kumārī, “princess; young girl”).

bor

Shakya […] reached puberty and 'retired' as a royal kumari, as the young Nepalese goddesses are known.

2011 February 14, Mark Magnier, “Living goddess' fall back to earth”, in Los Angeles Times, page 1:

(Hinduism, chiefly Nepal) A living goddess; a prepubescent girl worshipped as a manifestation of divine female energy.


anatman

(Hinduism) That which is other than the atman (self), such as the body.


darshan

en-noun

darshan (countable and uncountable, plural darshans)

From Sanskrit दर्शन (darśana, “vision”), from a root दृश् (dṛś, “to see”).

A common sight in India is a crowd of people gathered in the courtyard of a temple or at the doorway of a streetside shrine for the darshan of the deity.

2002, S. Brent Plate, Religion, Art, and Visual Culture: A Cross-Cultural Reader, →ISBN, page 171:

Hindus take darshan of a holy person, object, or place, believing that its mere presence, particularly the sight of it, conveys blessings.

2006, Linda Hess, chapter 8, in The Life of Hinduism, page 183:

When approaching a soul who is known to give darshan, be in the same area of the superconscious mind that you feel he must be in.

2007, Editors of Hinduism Today, What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures Into a Profound Global Faith, page 151:

(Hinduism, Buddhism) Hierophany, theophany; being in the presence of the divine or holy (as a person or object).


Lotus Sutra

From a calque of Sanskrit सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र (Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra).

cal

सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र

(Hinduism, Buddhism) "Sūtra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra", a popular Sanskrit treatise which forms the basis of many forms of Buddhism.


Hindian

From Hind + -ian, or a conflation of Hindi or Hindu and Indian. The term seems to have been coined several times independently.

(Indian independence movement) A native Indian (plural often same as singular)

Dravida Kazhagam was started by E. V. Ramaswany in 1944 to protect Dravida Nadu, comprising the southern regions of the Indian subcontinent, from northern domination (more specifically Hindian domination) by establishing an independent Dravidian Nation. [...] Hindian domination of Tamil Nadu culturally, continued Hindi imposition, transfer of billions of Rupees from Tamil Nadu to Hindi states during the past five decades and the total impotence of Tamil Nadu politicians to do anything about it have convinced Tamil nationalists that Tamil national rights cannot be protected within India and the liberation of Tamil Nadu from Indian rule is the only solution. [parentheticals removed]

2006, Shankarlal C. Bhatt, Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories, volume 25, Tamil Nadu: Gyan Publishing House, page 139:

(Dravidianism) A Hindustani in the sense of an Indian from north of the Deccan, a Hindustani-speaker or a bearer of that culture

(Hindutva) A native Indian of whatever religion, as a person of Hindu culture

In the end surely the Hindians must triumph. The peninsula's too small and they're just too powerful.

1989, Rajiva Wijesinha, Days of Despair, page 120:

the misunderstandings and differences between Dutch and Hindians—the terminological shifts between Dutch and Europeans, on the one hand, and between Hindians and Javanese on the other

2004, Hendrik M. J. Maier, We are Playing Relatives: A Survey of Malay Writing:


Hindian

en-adjective

Hindian (comparative more Hindian, superlative most Hindian)

more Hindian (comparative)
most Hindian (superlative)

It was for this reason that it made very good sense to continue to cultivate Agni, who had been critical of the Hindian offensive while also making clear his opposition to the methods the Tigers had adopted […] it was patently absurd to talk of a concerted Hindian foreign policy.

1989, Rajiva Wijesinha, Days of Despair, page 130,164:

The Hindian boy was consequently marched into Sister Baseball's private office and whacked solidly for an hour

2020, Marcia Macguire, Too Late to Barter, page 11:


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.


asur

(India, Hinduism) Alternative spelling of Asura.


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.


Yajurveda

(Hinduism) The third of the four Vedas, or canonical texts of Hinduism, containing the liturgy (mantras) needed to perform the sacrifices of the religion of the Vedic period.


Uma

(Hinduism) One of the names of Hindu goddess Parvati.


dokda

An old monetary unit of Kutch, worth one 24th of a kori.


churel

As a churel she now prowls about the neighbourhood with her child in her arms.

1895, William Crooke, North Indian Notes and Queries, page 39:

The Churel, or woman dying in chold-birth, has been mentioned elsewhere.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 32:

He talked in whispers, and with the utmost respect, of the churel that might be listening overhead.

1953, The Virginia Quarterly Review, volume 29, page 410:

In Hindu folklore, the ghost of a woman who died during childbirth, pregnancy; or a witch.


NPP

National People's Party (India)
w:National People's Party (India)

(Indian politics) Initialism of National People's Party (India).


Vaishnavism

From Sanskrit वैष्णव (vaiṣṇava, “related to Vishnu”) + -ism.

suffix

A branch of Hinduism focusing on the worship of Vishnu.

বৈষ্ণব

a branch of Hinduism focusing on the worship of Vishnu


Vedanta

Borrowed from Sanskrit वेदान्त (vedānta).

A Hindu system of philosophy concerned with the self-realisation by which one comes to understand the ultimate nature of reality, or Brahman.


bhakta

Transliteration of Sanskrit भक्त (bhakta).

translit

But the Goswami seems to have got her drift and instead of bristling at her snub, he realized that here was an enlightened bhakta who had grasped the essence of the Lord.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 395:

(Hinduism) Someone who practises bhakti; a person who is devoted to God; a devotee; a worshipper.


Vaishnava

(Hinduism) A worshipper of the god Vishnu in any of his incarnations.