Key terms

Question 1

acharya

Answer 1

teaching monk, honorific title

Question 2

adhyasa

Answer 2

superimposition-the false identification of that which is with that which is not

Question 3

Advaita Vedanta

Answer 3

non-dual Vedenta, which teaches that atman and brahman are identical

Question 4

Agni

Answer 4

sacrificial fire, deified as the god of fire in later Vedic religion

Question 5

ahimsa

Answer 5

non-violence to any living thing-a key part of Gandhi’s thought, originating in Jainism

Question 6

Aksharbrahma

Answer 6

abode of God in Swaminarayan theology, either personal as the prime devotee or impersonal as a heavenly abode

Question 7

amrit

Answer 7

divine nectar, source of immortality

Question 8

anirvacaniya

Answer 8

Advaitin term to describe the nature of avidya:’incomprehensible’

Question 9

apophatic

Answer 9

Western philosophical term meaning to describe through negatives-usually applied to God. The idea is that any positive terms applied will, by the transcendent nature of God, be inherently wrong, thus God can only be described in negatives.

Question 10

apotropaic

Answer 10

Western term meaning ‘averting evil’. An apotropaic action is one undertaken to ward off evil influences.

Question 11

arta

Answer 11

first aim in life: the acquisition of wealth

Question 12

Aryans

Answer 12

invaders or migrants who entered northern India in about 1500BC, establishing or developing Vedic religious ideas

Question 13

ashram

Answer 13

religious community

Question 14

ashramas

Answer 14

stages in life

Question 15

asteya

Answer 15

not stealing

Question 16

atman

Answer 16

individual, microcosmic spirit within every living being

Question 17

avatar

Answer 17

‘descent’-the belief that individual gods may come down to Earth for the benefit of mankind

Question 18

avidya

Answer 18

ignorance

Question 19

Bhagvad Gita

Answer 19

‘the song of the blessed Lord’-part of the key texts for Vaishnavites, and the most popular scripture of Hinduism

Question 20

bhakti magra

Answer 20

way of loving devotion, lifestyle of those who dedicate themselves to knowing the divine through one particular god

Question 21

Bharat Ma

Answer 21

‘Mother India’-the deified nation of India, worshipped as a goddess

Question 22

Braham

Answer 22

creator God

Question 23

brahmacharya

Answer 23

the student ashrama-marked by devotion to one’s guru and celibacy

Question 24

brahman

Answer 24

universal,macrocosmic, impersonal spirit

Question 25

brahmana

Answer 25

priest, the topmost varna

Question 26

Buddha

Answer 26

ninth avatar of vishnu

Question 27

Dalits

Answer 27

the oppressed, those outside the varna system

Question 28

darshan

Answer 28

to look into the eyes of a murti and make contact with the divine

Question 29

devas

Answer 29

the gods

Question 30

dev rin

Answer 30

one of the three obligations of the brahmacharya stage-to look after one's society

Question 31

dharma

Answer 31

understood as either cosmic-'the way things should be', or personal-an individual's duty. Also, the third of the three aims of life

Question 32

Divali

Answer 32

festival of light, celebrating new year and the return of Rama to Ayodhya

Question 33

Dvaita Vedenta

Answer 33

dual Vedanta, which teaches that atman and brahman, while of the same nature, are distinct and seperate

Question 34

enstasy

Answer 34

the loss of conscious awareness of the self, caused by going within rather than by external, divine influence

Question 35

gopis

Answer 35

milkmaids who play/dance with krishna

Question 36

guru

Answer 36

literally 'teacher'-one who teaches religious knowledge, but also used to denote a person recognised as having attained great spirituality

Question 37

ishvara

Answer 37

personal god/supreme soul, is synonymous with Shiva in Shaivism ect

Question 38

janeu

Answer 38

sacred thread ceremony-initiation into the brahmacharya stage

Question 39

jatakarma

Answer 39

samskara celebrating birth

Question 40

jati

Answer 40

social hierarchy based upon am

Question 41

jiva

Answer 41

individual personal spirit

Question 42

jhana

Answer 42

experiential knowledge of brahman

Question 43

jnana magra

Answer 43

way of knowledge, the lifestyle of renouncers who live outside society and seek jhana

Question 44

kama

Answer 44

second aim in life, the enjoyment of sensual pleasures

Question 45

karma

Answer 45

'action and the fruits of action'; the idea that every action is repaid by the universe

Question 46

karma marga

Answer 46

way of action; lifestyle of those who live within society and obey the rules

Question 47

Kirtana

Answer 47

congregational singing of mantra

Question 48

kshatriya

Answer 48

warrior/ruler varna

Question 49

lingam

Answer 49

Shiva's most common, aniconic, representation the phallic symbol

Question 50

mansa puja

Answer 50

mental puja; visualisation of worship in the devotee's mind

Question 51

mantra

Answer 51

'powerful utterance'; a short phrase, usually in Sanskrit, which the worshipper can chant in order to attain spiritual benefit

Question 52

maya

Answer 52

illusion; the physical world and anything that makes you think you are not

Question 53

medha

Answer 53

'sacrificial substance'; the spiritual component which offered in a yajna

Question 54

moksha

Answer 54

liberation from the cycle of samsara: fourth aim in life

Question 55

munis

Answer 55

naked, matted-haired ascetics mentioned in the Vedas

Question 56

murti

Answer 56

image (of a divine being) used for worship

Question 57

nirguna

Answer 57

without qualities

Question 58

Om

Answer 58

primary divine syllable; literally god as a sound

Question 59

panchayatana-puja

Answer 59

worship of five deities

Question 60

pandit

Answer 60

temple preist

Question 61

pitri rin

Answer 61

one of the three obligations of the brahmacharya: to look after one's parents and ancestors

Question 62

prana

Answer 62

breath or spiritual energy

Question 63

prana pratishta

Answer 63

ceremony to infuse the breath of the divine into the murti

Question 64

prashad

Answer 64

consuming food offered to God, as a means of receiving blessing

Question 65

puja

Answer 65

act of worship

Question 66

purushamedha

Answer 66

human sacrifice

Question 67

rajas

Answer 67

passion

Question 68

reality, mundane/empirical

Answer 68

reality that can be appreciated through the senses, that is subject to measurement, and is described by science