Advaita: Monism, the most famous being absolute monism of Sankara

 

Alvars: Medieval Mystical Vaishanava Poets of South India.

 

Ashrama: A hermitage where men noted for their ascetic piety and learning live, also one of the four stages of the ideal life.

 

Avidya: Original ignorance, the cause of illusion that the true self is different from the Supreme Being.

 

Bhagavad Gita: The discourse between Krishna and Arjuna on the field of battle, retold in Mahabharata.  Bhagavad Gita is the most popular religious scripture among the Hindus.

 

Bhagavata: Devotee of Vishnu.

 

Bhagavata Purana:  The Story of Vishnu’s incarnations, especially the incarnation as Lord Krishna.

 

Bhakti: Devotion, Fervent love of God

 

Dashara: Also called Durga Puja; The major autumn festival at which Sakti in one of her forms is worshipped.

 

Dharmo Shastra: Part of the sacred writings of Hinduism, dealing with rules of conduct, morality and social law.

 

Durga: Female goddess, the divine Sakti, in the form of a goddess; the divine mother.

 

Garuda: The vehicle of Vishnu (Sunbird).

 

Hanuman: The monkey “hero” who helped Rama recover Sita.

 

Ishvara: The personal God

 

Jagannatha: The image of Krishna in the temple at Puri

 

Jiva: The individual embodied soul

 

Jnana: Transcendent knowledge of the supreme Being.

 

Kali: Female goddess, Sakti, in the form of divine mother.

 

Kama: Love, erotic pleasure, enjoyment, one of the four ends of man.

 

Karma Yoga: Doctrine concerning liberation through disinterested action.

 

Kauravas: Descendents of Kuru, the one hundred sons of Dhrita-rashtra; cousins and opponents of the five Pandava Brothers in the Mahabharatha story.

 

Krishna: An avatara of Vishnu, sometimes worshipped as Vishnu himself.

 

Mantra: Holy spiritual formula of Hindus.

 

Manu: The patriarch who outlined the rules of conduct of Hinduism.

 

Maya: Illusion producing ignorance.

 

Moksha: Liberation or release, from the bondage of finite existence; one of the four ends of Hindus.

 

Pandit: A learned man, a scholar; also a title sometimes used for Brahmans.

 

Parvati: The daughter of the Himalayan Mountain, Wife of Siva.

 

Puja: Worship of an idol or image of any deity.

 

Puranas: Are pious (written) legends about deities and heroes.

 

Purusharthas: Plurality of selves in the universe.

 

Rama: Hero of the Epic Ramayana; worshipped as a god, the incarnation of Vishnu.

 

Ramayana: The epic telling the story of Vishnu’s incarnation as Rama

 

Rishi: Sage.

 

Rita: The natural and moral order in the universe; cosmic law

 

Sadhu: A general term applied to all Hindu holy men.

 

Saktism: One of the three sects in Hinduism worshippers of the divine mother.  The sakti cult is not so widely spread over India as are the other two cults of Vaishnavas and Saivas.

 

Soma: An intoxicating drink in the Vedic age.

 

Sutra: An aphorism; a thread of suggestive words or phrases.

 

Sutars: Are a number of systematic treatises on doctrinal matters.

 

Swami: An initiated member of a religious order, and one who has renounced the world.

 

Tantras: Esoteric beliefs and practices of the spiritual disciplines related to the worship of the female energy or divine mother, Sakti.

 

Vedanta: The “End of the Vedas”.  The philosophy of the Upanishadas was known hereafter as “Vendanta” i.e., the last and culminating doctrine of theVedic literature.

 

Yoga: Disciplined meditation of self-realisation literally, “Union” (with God) or path leading to that Union.