classes ::: Language,
children :::
branches ::: Sanskrit

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object:Sanskrit
class:Language

TERMS


Adhy
Adhyatmayoga
Agni
Ananda
Anapanasati

Brahman

guru ::: the direct suggestion, example and influence of the Teacher.

Ila

Karma

Lila

Loka ::: a way in which conscious being images itself, a world or plane of existence, including planes other than the material world, with which we may come into contact by an opening of our mind and life parts to a great range of subjective-objective experiences in which these planes present themselves no longer as extensions of subjective being and consciousness, but as worlds; for the experiences there are organised as they are in our own world, but on a different plan, with a ... different process and law of action and in a substance which belongs to a supraphysical Nature.

Prakriti (Prakrti) ::: "working out"; Nature; Nature-Force; Nature-Soul; executive or working force.
Purusha (Purusa) ::: Person; Conscious Being; Conscious--Soul; Soul; essential being supporting the play of prakrti; a Consciousness--or a Conscient--behind, that is the lord, witness, knower, enjoyer, upholder and source of sanction for Nature's works.

rasa

Samadhi
Sat
Satchitananda
Shakti

shastra ::: the knowledge of the truths, principles, power and processes that govern the realization

Tapaysa

trimarga - the Triple Path of Karma, Jnana and Bhakti Yoga.

utsaha - patient and persistent action on the lines laid down by this knowledge (Shastra), the force of our personal effort

Veda
Vidya

Vijnana - true Ideation

Yantra

Yoga - union with God and the path to that Union
  - Hatha Yoga
  - Raja Yoga
  - Karma Yoga
  - Jnana Yoga
  - Bhakti Yoga
  - Guru Yoga
  - Yoga Nidra



--- MISSING TERMS
Sadhana, Tara, Ekajati, Ishwara, Maya, Svar, Tantra,
Mana, Manu,


anisa ::: not-lord, subject.
Anisa ::: Not Lord; not master of but subject to, nature; impotent.
arya - an aspiring soul, one who rises to the noble aspiration and who does the great labour as an offering in order to arrive at the good and the bliss.
Aryaman - the Aspirer, a Vedic god, one of the Four who represent the working of the Truth in the human mind and temperament; he is the deity of the human journey who sums up in himself the whole aspiration and movement of man in a continual self-enlargement and . self-transcendence to his divine perfection, bringing to this movement a mighty strength and perfectly-guided happy inner upsurging.
Bhaga - the Enjoyer, a Vedic god, one of the Four who represent the working of the Truth in the human mind and temperament; he brings into the human consciousness the divine beatitude, the illimitable joy of the Truth, of the innity of our being.
Bhagavat - revelation of the Divine Love.

Isvara (Ishwara) ::: Lord, Master, the Divine, God.
Ishta Devata - By the Ishta Devata, the chosen deity, is meant, - not some inferior Power, but a name and form of the transcendent and universal Godhead.

Swaraja - self-rule
Samraja - outward empire
Vicara - intellectual reflection
Viveka - right discrimination
sadrsya - 1. likeness (to the Divine). 2. [one of the sadanga]: correspondence, truth of the form and its suggestion.
siddhi - essential and fundamental elements and requisites of perfection
Samata - perfect equality
Sraddha - the soul's belief in the Divine's existence, wisdom, power, love and grace.
Sruta - the Word, the thing heard.



--- FOOTER
see also ::: Yoga, Hinduism






see also ::: Hinduism, Yoga

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now begins generated list of local instances, definitions, quotes, instances in chapters, wordnet info if available and instances among weblinks


OBJECT INSTANCES [59] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

TOPICS
Abhijna
Adhy
Adhyatmayoga
Aditi
Agni
Ananda
Anapanasati
Atman
Avatar
Bhagavan
Brahman
Buddhi
Chit
Glossary_of_Sanskrit_Terms
Guna
Guru
Ila
Ishwara
Ista
Japa
Japam
Jiva
Jnana
Karma
Lila
Loka
Maya
Mudra
Nama
Om
Om_Namo_Bhagavate
Prakriti
Prema
Purusha
rasa
Sadhana
Sadhana
Samadhi
Sarva
Sat
Shakti
shastra
Smaran
Smrti
Soham
Tapasya
Tat_Sat
Trikal
Trikaladrsti
trimarga
Upadhi
utsaha
Vayu
Veda
Vidya
Vijnana
Yantra
Yoga
SEE ALSO

Hinduism
Yoga

AUTH

BOOKS
My_Burning_Heart
Patanjali_Yoga_Sutras
The_Lotus_Sutra
The_Yoga_Sutras
Vedic_and_Philological_Studies
Writings_In_Bengali_and_Sanskrit

IN CHAPTERS TITLE

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME
10.01_-_A_Dream
10.04_-_Lord_of_Time
10.06_-_Looking_around_with_Craziness
10.07_-_The_Demon
10.10_-_A_Poem
10.11_-_Savitri
10.12_-_Awake_Mother

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
0.00_-_INTRODUCTION
0.00_-_Publishers_Note_C
0.00_-_The_Book_of_Lies_Text
0.00_-_THE_GOSPEL_PREFACE
0.02_-_The_Three_Steps_of_Nature
01.03_-_Mystic_Poetry
0_1958-09-16_-_OM_NAMO_BHAGAVATEH
0_1958-11-04_-_Myths_are_True_and_Gods_exist_-_mental_formation_and_occult_faculties_-_exteriorization_-_work_in_dreams
0_1959-01-06
0_1959-01-14
0_1959-01-31
0_1959-06-03
0_1960-10-08
0_1960-11-15
0_1961-01-24
0_1961-04-12
0_1961-04-18
0_1961-10-30
0_1961-11-05
0_1962-05-31
0_1963-05-11
0_1963-06-26a
0_1964-01-04
0_1964-02-05
0_1965-06-26
0_1967-02-18
0_1967-05-10
0_1967-07-15
0_1968-11-06
02.05_-_Robert_Graves
02.13_-_On_Social_Reconstruction
03.04_-_The_Body_Human
03.09_-_Art_and_Katharsis
03.11_-_The_Language_Problem_and_India
03.12_-_TagorePoet_and_Seer
05.10_-_Knowledge_by_Identity
10.01_-_A_Dream
10.04_-_Lord_of_Time
10.06_-_Looking_around_with_Craziness
10.07_-_The_Demon
1.00c_-_INTRODUCTION
10.10_-_A_Poem
10.11_-_Savitri
10.12_-_Awake_Mother
1.013_-_Defence_Mechanisms_of_the_Mind
1.01_-_Foreward
1.01_-_MASTER_AND_DISCIPLE
1.01_-_Necessity_for_knowledge_of_the_whole_human_being_for_a_genuine_education.
1.01_-_Tara_the_Divine
1.01_-_THAT_ARE_THOU
1.02_-_Meditating_on_Tara
1.02_-_SADHANA_PADA
1.02_-_The_Eternal_Law
10.32_-_The_Mystery_of_the_Five_Elements
1.035_-_The_Recitation_of_Mantra
1.03_-_Bloodstream_Sermon
1.03_-_Meeting_the_Master_-_Meeting_with_others
1.03_-_Physical_Education
1.03_-_Tara,_Liberator_from_the_Eight_Dangers
1.03_-_The_End_of_the_Intellect
1.03_-_The_Sephiros
1.03_-_VISIT_TO_VIDYASAGAR
1.045_-_Piercing_the_Structure_of_the_Object
1.04_-_Homage_to_the_Twenty-one_Taras
1.04_-_The_Praise
1.05_-_Buddhism_and_Women
1.05_-_Consciousness
1.05_-_THE_MASTER_AND_KESHAB
1.06_-_Agni_and_the_Truth
1.06_-_Wealth_and_Government
1.06_-_Yun_Men's_Every_Day_is_a_Good_Day
1.07_-_Savitri
1.07_-_The_Farther_Reaches_of_Human_Nature
1.08_-_Attendants
1.08_-_Introduction_to_Patanjalis_Yoga_Aphorisms
1.08_-_RELIGION_AND_TEMPERAMENT
1.08_-_The_Depths_of_the_Divine
1.09_-_Saraswati_and_Her_Consorts
1.09_-_Taras_Ultimate_Nature
1.10_-_The_Image_of_the_Oceans_and_the_Rivers
1.10_-_The_Revolutionary_Yogi
1.11_-_The_Master_of_the_Work
1.1.2_-_Commentary
1.12_-_Delight_of_Existence_-_The_Solution
1.12_-_The_Divine_Work
1.12_-_The_Superconscient
1.12_-_TIME_AND_ETERNITY
1.16_-_Man,_A_Transitional_Being
1.16_-_The_Suprarational_Ultimate_of_Life
1.17_-_The_Transformation
1.200-1.224_Talks
1.20_-_RULES_FOR_HOUSEHOLDERS_AND_MONKS
1.2.1_-_Mental_Development_and_Sadhana
1.22_-_ADVICE_TO_AN_ACTOR
1.23_-_FESTIVAL_AT_SURENDRAS_HOUSE
1.240_-_Talks_2
1.24_-_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.25_-_ADVICE_TO_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.25_-_SPIRITUAL_EXERCISES
1.27_-_AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.300_-_1.400_Talks
13.04_-_A_Note_on_Supermind
1.400_-_1.450_Talks
1.4_-_Readings_in_the_Taittiriya_Upanishad
1.68_-_The_God-Letters
17.00_-_Translations
17.01_-_Hymn_to_Dawn
17.02_-_Hymn_to_the_Sun
17.03_-_Agni_and_the_Gods
17.04_-_Hymn_to_the_Purusha
17.05_-_Hymn_to_Hiranyagarbha
17.06_-_Hymn_of_the_Supreme_Goddess
17.07_-_Ode_to_Darkness
17.08_-_Last_Hymn
17.09_-_Victory_to_the_World_Master
17.10_-_A_Hymn
17.11_-_A_Prayer
1951-04-14_-_Surrender_and_sacrifice_-_Idea_of_sacrifice_-_Bahaism_-_martyrdom_-_Sleep-_forgetfulness,_exteriorisation,_etc_-_Dreams_and_visions-_explanations_-_Exteriorisation-_incidents_about_cats
1953-10-21
1954-09-08_-_Hostile_forces_-_Substance_-_Concentration_-_Changing_the_centre_of_thought_-_Peace
1955-10-26_-_The_Divine_and_the_universal_Teacher_-_The_power_of_the_Word_-_The_Creative_Word,_the_mantra_-_Sound,_music_in_other_worlds_-_The_domains_of_pure_form,_colour_and_ideas
1955-11-16_-_The_significance_of_numbers_-_Numbers,_astrology,_true_knowledge_-_Divines_Love_flowers_for_Kali_puja_-_Desire,_aspiration_and_progress_-_Determining_ones_approach_to_the_Divine_-_Liberation_is_obtained_through_austerities_-_...
1956-02-29_-_Sacrifice,_self-giving_-_Divine_Presence_in_the_heart_of_Matter_-_Divine_Oneness_-_Divine_Consciousness_-_All_is_One_-_Divine_in_the_inconscient_aspires_for_the_Divine
1956-04-25_-_God,_human_conception_and_the_true_Divine_-_Earthly_existence,_to_realise_the_Divine_-_Ananda,_divine_pleasure_-_Relations_with_the_divine_Presence_-_Asking_the_Divine_for_what_one_needs_-_Allowing_the_Divine_to_lead_one
1956-05-23_-_Yoga_and_religion_-_Story_of_two_clergymen_on_a_boat_-_The_Buddha_and_the_Supramental_-_Hieroglyphs_and_phonetic_alphabets_-_A_vision_of_ancient_Egypt_-_Memory_for_sounds
1957-04-17_-_Transformation_of_the_body
1964_02_05_-_98
1.jda_-_My_heart_values_his_vulgar_ways_(from_The_Gitagovinda)
1.jda_-_Raga_Gujri
1.jda_-_Raga_Maru
1.jda_-_When_he_quickens_all_things_(from_The_Gitagovinda)
1.jda_-_When_spring_came,_tender-limbed_Radha_wandered_(from_The_Gitagovinda)
1.jda_-_You_rest_on_the_circle_of_Sris_breast_(from_The_Gitagovinda)
1.snk_-_In_Praise_of_the_Goddess
1.ww_-_Stone_Gate_Temple_in_the_Blue_Field_Mountains
20.01_-_Charyapada_-_Old_Bengali_Mystic_Poems
2.01_-_On_Books
2.02_-_Brahman,_Purusha,_Ishwara_-_Maya,_Prakriti,_Shakti
2.02_-_Indra,_Giver_of_Light
2.02_-_The_Bhakta.s_Renunciation_results_from_Love
2.03_-_The_Purified_Understanding
2.04_-_Agni,_the_Illumined_Will
2.05_-_Apotheosis
2.05_-_VISIT_TO_THE_SINTHI_BRAMO_SAMAJ
2.08_-_ALICE_IN_WONDERLAND
2.08_-_On_Non-Violence
2.08_-_The_Sword
2.09_-_On_Sadhana
2.1.02_-_Classification_of_the_Parts_of_the_Being
21.02_-_Gods_and_Men
2.10_-_Conclusion
2.10_-_THE_MASTER_AND_NARENDRA
2.1.5.2_-_Languages
2.15_-_On_the_Gods_and_Asuras
2.17_-_December_1938
2.18_-_January_1939
2.19_-_Feb-May_1939
2.2.01_-_The_Problem_of_Consciousness
2.25_-_List_of_Topics_in_Each_Talk
2.26_-_The_Ascent_towards_Supermind
30.01_-_World-Literature
30.04_-_Intuition_and_Inspiration_in_Art
30.05_-_Rhythm_in_Poetry
30.09_-_Lines_of_Tantra_(Charyapada)
30.11_-_Modern_Poetry
30.16_-_Tagore_the_Unique
3.2.08_-_Bhakti_Yoga_and_Vaishnavism
3.2.1_-_Food
33.03_-_Muraripukur_-_I
33.11_-_Pondicherry_II
33.13_-_My_Professors
33.18_-_I_Bow_to_the_Mother
3.3.1_-_Agni,_the_Divine_Will-Force
37.02_-_The_Story_of_Jabala-Satyakama
3.7.1.01_-_Rebirth
3.7.1.07_-_Involution_and_Evolution
3.8.1.04_-_Different_Methods_of_Writing
3_-_Commentaries_and_Annotated_Translations
5.02_-_Perfection_of_the_Body
5.1.03_-_The_Hostile_Forces_and_Hostile_Beings
5.2.01_-_Word-Formation
5.2.02_-_Aryan_Origins_-_The_Elementary_Roots_of_Language
5.3.04_-_Roots_in_M
5.4.01_-_Notes_on_Root-Sounds
6.0_-_Conscious,_Unconscious,_and_Individuation
7.05_-_Patience_and_Perseverance
7.08_-_Sincerity
7.14_-_Modesty
9.99_-_Glossary
Big_Mind_(non-dual)
BOOK_II._--_PART_I._ANTHROPOGENESIS.
BOOK_II._--_PART_III._ADDENDA._SCIENCE_AND_THE_SECRET_DOCTRINE_CONTRASTED
BOOK_II._--_PART_II._THE_ARCHAIC_SYMBOLISM_OF_THE_WORLD-RELIGIONS
BOOK_I._--_PART_I._COSMIC_EVOLUTION
BOOK_I._--_PART_III._SCIENCE_AND_THE_SECRET_DOCTRINE_CONTRASTED
BOOK_I._--_PART_II._THE_EVOLUTION_OF_SYMBOLISM_IN_ITS_APPROXIMATE_ORDER
Conversations_with_Sri_Aurobindo
Diamond_Sutra_1
DS2
DS3
DS4
Liber_71_-_The_Voice_of_the_Silence_-_The_Two_Paths_-_The_Seven_Portals
r1912_12_06
r1914_09_26
Sayings_of_Sri_Ramakrishna_(text)
Talks_001-025
Talks_076-099
Talks_176-200
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_1
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_2
The_Act_of_Creation_text
The_Poems_of_Cold_Mountain
Verses_of_Vemana

PRIMARY CLASS

Language
SIMILAR TITLES
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms
Sanskrit
Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit

DEFINITIONS


TERMS STARTING WITH

Sanskrit Cross-References

Sanskrit [from Sanskrit saṃskṛta] The ancient sacred language of the Aryans, originally the sacred or secret language of the initiates of the fifth root-race. The Sanskrit language possesses voluminous and valuable works in prose and in verse, some of which, like the Vedas, date back, in the opinion of certain scholars, to the years 30,000 BC or even far beyond. Almost every phase of philosophic thought, expressed and studied in the West, is represented in one form or another in ancient Hindu literature. Besides this, these old Sanskrit writings are replete with recondite subjects dealing with the wondrous potentialities of the human spirit and mind, the building and destruction of worlds and universes, etc.

Sanskrit, on the other hand, “was really the sacred language of the Brahmanas and held more or less private or secret by them. The Sanskrit even in those ancient times was the vehicle for the archaic Wisdom-teachings of the Aryan peoples of India, such as the Vedas, and the Puranas, and the Upanishads, and the great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. But Pali was one of several other languages of culture in ancient India, all which were of so-called Prakrit character, although very little is known about these other literary languages. Pali has survived to the present time because . . . it became the linguistic vehicle in which were enshrined the teachings of Buddhism, i.e., of Southern Buddhism, much as Latin has survived because enshrining the teachings of early medieval Christianity. Just as there were in ancient Italy many other Italic tongues, each one having its literary or cultured form, and likewise its popular idiom, so was it in ancient India.

Sanskrit: The ancient language of India, language of the Vedas and other sacred and classical texts of Hinduism; the linguistic ancestor of the mode prakritas or vernaculars.

sanskritic ::: a. --> Sanskrit.

sanskritist ::: n. --> One versed in Sanskrit.

sanskrit ::: n. --> The ancient language of the Hindoos, long since obsolete in vernacular use, but preserved to the present day as the literary and sacred dialect of India. It is nearly allied to the Persian, and to the principal languages of Europe, classical and modern, and by its more perfect preservation of the roots and forms of the primitive language from which they are all descended, is a most important assistance in determining their history and relations. Cf. Prakrit, and Veda.


TERMS ANYWHERE

Abhasa: A Sanskrit term (literally meaning shining forth) for the cosmopsychological process which takes place as the One becomes the Many, as it is described by the philosophical system called Trika (q.v.).

Abhasvara (Sanskrit) Ābhāsvara [from ā near to, towards + the verbal root bhās to shine upon, illuminate] Brilliant, shining; a class of 64 devas or demigods representing a certain cycle of manifestation and the active phase of the evolutionary process set in motion by an act of will of Brahman, who remains transcendent while emanating forth the world.

Abhava (Sanskrit) Abhava [from a not + bhava being from the verbal root bhū to be, become] Nonbeing, destruction, end of the world. See also ABHĀVA; BHAVA

Abhava (Sanskrit) Abhāva [from a not + bhava being from the verbal root bhū to be, become] Nonexistence, nonentity, negation; applied to the material universe, noumenal substance, or subjectivity. In Kanada’s system of negation of individual beings or objects, abhava is classed as seventh in his categories. In Vedanta philosophy, first of the six pramanas (means of obtaining knowledge), and as such corresponds to the fifth pramana, abhava-pratyaksha, nonperception when applied to the physical, but more accurately apprehension of subjective or spiritual being.

Abhava: Sanskrit for non-being, non-existence. In Hindu philosophy, a means of correct knowledge defined as the deduction of the existence of one of two opposite things from the non-existence of the other.

Abhaya (Sanskrit) Abhaya [from a not + bhaya fear from the verbal root bhī to fear] Fearlessness, peace, mental serenity; a title of both Siva and Buddha; one of Dhritarashtra’s hundred sons; also reputedly a “son” of Dharma.

Abhayagiri (Sanskrit) Abhayagiri [from a not + bhaya fear + giri mountain, hill] Mount Fearless; a mountain in Sri Lanka. According to Fa-hien, the Chinese traveler, in 400 AD. Abhayagiri had an ancient Buddhist vihara (monastery) of some 5,000 priests and ascetics, whose studies comprised both the Mahayana and Hinayana systems, as well as Triyana (three paths), “the three successive degrees of Yoga. . . . Tradition says that owing to bigoted intolerance and persecution, they left Ceylon and passed beyond the Himalayas, where they have remained ever since” (TG 2-3).

Abhayagiri-vasinah (Sanskrit) Abhayagiri-vāsināḥ [from vas to dwell, inhabit] Dwellers on Mount Fearless; also a branch of Katyayana’s disciples (3rd century BC).

Abheda: A Sanskrit term (literally meaning indistinct) for identity, used especially in reference to any philosophy which denies the distinctness of spiritual and material, or divine and human principles.

Abhichara (Sanskrit) Abhicāra [from abhi toward + the verbal root car to go, often used derogatorily as to act wrongly toward another, charm, enchant, possess] Exorcising; employing a charm or spell, usually for malevolent purposes, causing death or disease; mesmeric powers used by sorcerers in India.

Abhidhamma (Sanskrit abhidharma) is defined by Buddhaghosha as “that higher law (dharma) which goes beyond (abhi) the popular or common law.”

Abhidhamma (Pali) Abhidhamma [from abhi towards, with intensified meaning + dhamma law, religion, duty from the verbal root dhr to hold fast, preserve, sustain] The supreme dhamma or law as expounded in the third and last portion of the Pali Tipitaka (Sanskrit Tripitaka) or “three baskets” of the canonical books of the Southern School of Buddhism. The Abhidhamma-pitaka, which deals with profound metaphysical themes, is believed to be the source from which the Mahayana and Hinayana got their fundamental doctrines.

Abhidina (Sanskrit) Abhiḍīna [from abhi towards + ḍīna flight from the verbal root ḍī to fly] One of the siddhis (occult powers) of a buddha; similar to khechara (skywalker, one who has the power of projecting his mayavi-rupa whither he will in the lower ranges of the cosmos), but on a more sublime scale. It is the power to transcend the limitations of the lower quaternary of the cosmos and to “fly” or ascend self-consciously into the spiritual planes of the universe and function there in full self-possession, with complete control of circumstances and time. One of the most mystical and least known teachings of esoteric Buddhism, it is closely connected with samma-sambodhi and nirvana.

Abhijit (Sanskrit) Abhijit [from abhi towards + the verbal root ji to conquer] Sometimes Abhijita. As a noun, a soma sacrifice, a lunar mansion, the principal star in the constellation Lyra, a name of Vishnu, etc. As an adjective, victorious, also referring to one born under the constellation Abhijit.

Abhijna (Sanskrit) Abhijñā [from abhi towards + the verbal root jñā to know, have special knowledge of, mastery over; Pali abhiñña] Inner perception; in Buddhism the five or six transcendental powers, faculties, or superknowledges attained on reaching buddhahood. Gautama Buddha is said to have acquired the six abhijnas the night he attained enlightenment. Generally enumerated as: 1) divyachakshus (divine eye) instantaneous perception of whatever one wills to see; 2) divyasrotra (divine ear) instantaneous comprehension of all sounds on every plane; 3) riddhisakshatkriya, power of becoming visibly manifest at will, intuitive perception; 4) purvanivasajnana (power to know former existences) also called purvanivasanu-smritijnana (recollection of former existences); and 5) parachittajnana (knowledge of others’ thoughts) understanding of their minds and hearts.

Abhimana (Sanskrit) Abhimāna [from abhi towards + the verbal root man to think; thinking towards oneself] Pride, arrogance, hence delusion. Covetousness manifesting in acquisitiveness, bringing about longing for what is thought about, in its turn inducing conceit. In Sankhya philosophy, a high or egotistic conception of oneself (usually therefore erroneous). It springs into action in the human constitution when awakened by the propulsive or impulsive energy of kama. Ahamkara, the human ego-function, is the prime motivator of abhimana.

Abhimanin, Abhimani (Sanskrit) Abhimānin, Abhimānī [from abhi towards + the verbal root man to think, reflect upon] Longing for, thinking upon; name of an Agni, eldest son of Brahma. By Svaha, Abhimanin had three sons of surpassing brilliancy: Pavaka, Pavamana, and Suchi, the personifications of the three fires that produced our earth and humanity (VP 1:10). Abhimanin, his three sons, and their 45 sons constitute the mystic 49 fires of the Puranas and the Esoteric Philosophy.

Abhimanyu (Sanskrit) Abhimanyu [from abhi towards + the verbal root man to think] Son of Arjuna by Subhadra, sister of Krishna. In the mystic interpretation of the Bhagavad-Gita, Abhimanyu represents high-mindedness, akin to dhyana (meditation). Abhimanyu killed Duryodhana’s son Lakshmana on the second day of the great battle of Kurukshetra, while he himself was slain on the thirteenth day. The Mahabharata tells of Abhimanyu’s previous birth as Varchas, son of Chandra, and the agreement entered into by Chandra with the devas to send his son to be born as the son of Arjuna in order to fight against the “wicked people.” Chandra imposed the condition, however, that Abhimanyu should be slain by the opposing forces so as to return to him in his sixteenth year.

Abhinivesa (Sanskrit) Abhiniveśa [from abhi towards + ni down + the verbal root viś to enter; to enter into completely] Application, intentness, devotion, tenacity, determination to effect a purpose or attain an object. In the Bhagavad-Gita, when used with manas (mind) and atman (self) it means to devote one’s attention to.

Abhrayanti (Sanskrit) Abhrayantī [from abhra cloud] Forming clouds, bringing rain; one of the seven Krittikas (Pleiades).

Abhutarajas (Sanskrit) Abhūtarajas [from a not + the verbal root bhū to be born, produced + rajas passion] Those not produced by or born with the quality of passion; a class of 14 gods or divinities belonging to the “fifth manvantara,” the fifth Manu of which was Raivata (cf VP 3:1). The abhutarajasas are a hierarchy of divine beings, similar to the kumaras and manasaputras, who have passed through the material worlds in previous evolutionary periods. Having risen above all passional attractions to the lower spheres, these three classes of deities are reckoned as exempt from passion — in the sense of suffering passively, one of passion’s original connotations. These divinities are masters of themselves, not passive subjects.

Abhyasa-yoga (Sanskrit) Abhyāsa-yoga [from abhi towards + the verbal root as to be, exist + yoga union from the verbal root yuj to join, yoke] Sometimes erroneously abhyasana. Repeated practice and application of yoga, meditation, or recollection; the effort of the mind to attain an unmodified condition of perfect serenity and quiet. One of the eight disciplines or requirements of yoga: persistent concentration of attention. When accompanied with physical postures, it is a form of hatha yoga, and practiced without the spiritual training of raja yoga, it has its dangers. As a system of mental concentration directed to impersonal, altruistic ends, it is beneficial. Krishna (BG 12:9-10) points out that abhyasa-yoga is not only useful for training in one life but, if performed for the sake of the Supreme, is likely to leave permanent helpful impulses in the soul which will aid it in future incarnations and lead it ultimately to union (yoga) with the divine.

Abjayoni (Sanskrit) Abjayoni [from abja lotus from ap water + the verbal root jan to be born, produced + yoni womb, spring, source] Lotus-born; applied to Brahma, said to have sprung at the time of creation from a lotus which arose from the navel of Vishnu.

Absolute ::: A term which unfortunately is much abused and often misused even in theosophical writings. It is aconvenient word in Occidental philosophy by which is described the utterly unconditioned; but it is apractice which violates both the etymology of the word and even the usage of some keen and carefulthinkers as, for instance, Sir William Hamilton in his Discussions (3rd edition, p.13n), who apparentlyuses the word absolute in the exactly correct sense in which theosophists should use it as meaning"finished," "perfected," "completed." As Hamilton observes: "The Absolute is diametrically opposed to,is contradictory of, the Infinite." This last statement is correct, and in careful theosophical writings theword Absolute should be used in Hamilton's sense, as meaning that which is freed, unloosed, perfected,completed.Absolute is from the Latin absolutum, meaning "freed," "unloosed," and is, therefore, an exact Englishparallel of the Sanskrit philosophical term moksha or mukti, and more mystically of the Sanskrit term socommonly found in Buddhist writings especially, nirvana -- an extremely profound and mysticalthought.Hence, to speak of parabrahman as being the Absolute may be a convenient usage for Occidentals whounderstand neither the significance of the term parabrahman nor the etymology, origin, and proper usageof the English word Absolute -- "proper" outside of a common and familiar employment.In strict accuracy, therefore, the student should use the word Absolute only when he means what theHindu philosopher means when he speaks of moksha or mukti or of a mukta -- i.e., one who has obtainedmukti or freedom, one who has arrived at the acme or summit of all evolution possible in any onehierarchy, although as compared with hierarchies still more sublime, such jivanmukta is but a merebeginner. The Silent Watcher in theosophical philosophy is an outstanding example of one who can besaid to be absolute in the fully accurate meaning of the word. It is obvious that the Silent Watcher is notparabrahman. (See also Moksha, Relativity)

Absolute [from Latin ab away + solvere to loosen, dissolve] Freed, released, absolved; parallel to the Sanskrit moksha, mukti (set free, released), also to the Buddhist nirvana (blown out), all three terms signifying one who has obtained freedom from the cycle of material existence.

Absolution also conveys the mystical significance of the Sanskrit moksha and mukti. When one’s whole being has been turned upwards and inwards to a more or less perfect union with the god within, one is absolved, released, or set free from the entanglements of the lower nature and, in this sense, one has absolution or freedom. See also ABSOLUTE.

Acacia (Greek) akakia [from a not + kakia, kakos evil] Innocence, harmlessness; equivalent to Sanskrit ahimsa.

Acarya: A Sanskrit word, meaning “spiritual teacher”; a title given to high-ranking adepts of esoteric science.

Achaitanya (Sanskrit) Acaitanya [from a not + the verbal root cit to be conscious of, understand] Void of intelligence and consciousness, lack of spirituality. An ancient Sanskrit verse runs: Achaitanyan na vidyate, Sarvan sarvatra sarvada (“A thing without intelligence or consciousness is not known. All is everywhere at all times”).

Achala (Sanskrit) Acala [from a not + the verbal root cal to be moved, agitated] Immovable, not moving. As a masculine noun, a mountain, rock; also the number seven. As a proper noun, a name of Siva. As a feminine noun, the earth; also one of the ten stages or degrees of a bodhisattva in his progress toward buddhahood. Used in the Bhagavad-Gita (2:24) to describe the self in contradistinction to the not-self: “He is eternal, all-pervading, unchanging and immovable (achala).” Also a heroic charioteer on the side of the Kurus slain by Arjuna.

Achara (Sanskrit) Ācāra [from ā towards + the verbal root car to approach, proceed, behave] Custom, behavior, practice; also an established rule of conduct, a precept, etc., often used in compound form for names of books dealing with the understanding and application of moral precepts.

Acharya (Sanskrit) Ācārya [from ā towards + the verbal root car to proceed, practice, conduct oneself] One who proceeds or practices; a teacher, instructor, or guide. Usually applied to a spiritual teacher or guru, such as Sankaracharya.

Achetana (Sanskrit) Acetana [from a not + the verbal root cit to be conscious of, understand] Without consciousness, inanimate, insensible. See also ACHAITANYA

Achidrupa (Sanskrit) Acidrūpa [from a not + cit intelligence + rūpa form, body] A form or body without an intelligence; the negative or opposite of chidrupa, pure intelligence and consciousness, which is applied to the hierarch or supreme being of a hierarchy. Achidrupa signifies whatever entity or thing is not yet self-consciously cognizant of the chit (intelligence) within itself, i.e., without an atman or conscious self. Hence achidrupa could apply to the material spheres, or even to intelligences greatly inferior to the chidrupa. Like most Oriental philosophical terms, the meaning shifts in connection with the framework of thought in which it is used.

Achit (Sanskrit) Acit [from a not + the verbal root cit to perceive, understand] Unperceptive, unthinking; used as a noun and applied to the cosmos, absolute nonintelligence in contrast to chit, absolute intelligence. In theosophical writings, achit frequently stands for the unintelligent, material, or vehicular side of nature.

Achyuta (Sanskrit) Acyuta [from a not + the verbal root cyu to move to and fro, fall, fade] Unfalling, undecaying; the imperishable or indestructible, as applied to Brahman (BG 2:21, VP 1:2); also used as a title of Vishnu and Krishna.

Adbhitanya [possibly corruption of Sanskrit adbhutama or adbhutva from adbhuta marvelous, wonderful] In the Vishnu-Purana (3:2), adbhuta is the name of the Indra of the ninth manvantara. Commentary quoted by Blavatsky refers to the first continent once “inhabited by the Sons of Sveta-dwipa [the White Island], the blessed, and Adbhitanya, east and west, the first, the one and the pure . . .” (SD 2:319). Another name for this land or primevally inhabited part of the earth is Adi-varsha.

Adbhuta-Brahmana (Sanskrit) Adbhuta-brāhmaṇa [from adbhuta wonderful, marvelous + brāhmaṇa portion of the Vedas treating of ritual, prayer, sacrifices, and mantra] One of the eight Brahmanas belonging to the Sama-Veda, dealing with omens, auguries, and extraordinary wonders.

Adbhuta-dharma (Sanskrit) Adbhuta-dharma [from adbhuta wonderful, marvelous + dharma law, truth, religion] One of the nine angas (divisions of Buddhist texts) that treats of marvels and wonders.

Adharma (Sanskrit) Adharma [from a not + dharma law, justice, morality, truth from the verbal root dhṛ to bear, sustain, resolve] Untruth, unrighteousness, immorality; in the Bhagavad-Gita (4:7) Krishna says: “O Bharata, whenever there is in the world a decline of dharma and spread of adharma I reproduce myself.”

Adhibhautika (Sanskrit) Ādhibhautika [from adhi above + bhūta has been from the verbal root bhū to be, become] Belonging or relating to elementary beings, to what is produced or derived from primordial elements; elemental. When applied to pain (duhkha), it is the second of the three kinds of afflictions (klesa) classified in Hinduism as “that affliction proceeding from material objects or external things,” such as from human beings or animals (cf VP 5:23; 6:5).

Adhi (Sanskrit) Adhi Above, over; by extension supreme, paramount.

Adhi (Sanskrit) Ādhi [from ā near, towards + the verbal root dhi to hold] Place, foundation, site; a pledge or deposit.

Adhi (Sanskrit) Ādhī [from ā near, towards + the verbal root dhi to mind, care for] Mental anxiety, meditation, thought, concern.

Adhidaiva, Adhidaivata (Sanskrit) Adhidaiva, Adhidaivata [from adhi over, above, superior + deva god] The original or primordial deity; also the divine agent manifesting through beings and objects. A generalizing term applicable to the divine part of any being; hence to adhyatman or primordial atman (cf BG 7:29-30; 8:3).

Adhidaivika (Sanskrit) Ādhidaivika [from adhi above, over + deva god] Heavenly or shining one, relating to or proceeding from the devas; celestial or spiritual beings or gods, also divine influences. When combined with duhkha (pain) the third of the three kinds of klesa (afflictions) in Hinduism: that proceeding from “divine” agencies or from nature, such as wind, rain, or sunstrokes; also unexpected accidents such as the falling of houses (cf VP 6:5). See also ADHIBHAUTIKA; ADHYATMIKA

Adhikamasa, Adhimasa (Sanskrit) Adhikamāsa, Adhimāsa [from adhika additional, intercalated + māsa moon] An intercalated month.

Adhipa (Sanskrit) Adhipa, Adhipā [from adhi over, above, superior + the verbal root pat to rule, master] A chief ruler, governor, king, or sovereign.

Adhishthana (Sanskrit) Adhiṣṭhāna [from adhi over, upon + the verbal root sthā to stand upon] A basis, seat, or focus of action (cf BG 3:40, 18:14). Often applied to a principle or element which inheres in another principle; i.e., the active agent working in prakriti would be adhishthana. Also, precedent, rule, as when used as a name for one of the ten paramitas (rules of conduct).

Adhiyajna (Sanskrit) Adhiyajña [from adhi above, paramount + the verbal root yaj to consecrate, offer, sacrifice] Paramount sacrifice or sacrifice from above; synonymous with the cosmic Logos which, by coming into manifestation, “sacrifices” itself for the benefit of all sentient beings, thereby giving an opportunity to the waiting hosts of monads to undergo their own evolutionary course as they live and move and have their being within the Logos.

Adhyaropa (Sanskrit) Adhyāropa [from adhi above, over + āropa superimposition from ā-rup to confound, disturb] Usually, erroneous deduction. In Vedantic philosophy, a wrong attribution or misconception, e.g., to conceive of silver as being innate in mother-of-pearl, the sheen common to both being an adhyaropa. The mind in its absorption in the unreal (avidya, “ignorance”) superimposes a world of duality and plurality on the real — on Brahman — and as a result there is a multiplicity of confusing and often conflicting goals.

Adhyasa, Adhyasika (Sanskrit) Adhyāsa, Adhyāsika [from adhi above, over + the verbal root as to throw, cast; throwing over or casting upon] Misconception or erroneous attribution, the significance being that the mind casts upon facts, which are misunderstood, certain mistaken notions; hence false or erroneous attribution. Equivalent to adhyaropa.

Adhyatma: Sanskrit for Supreme Spirit.

Adhyatma-jnana (Sanskrit) Adhyātma-jñāna [from adhi over, superior + ātman self + jñāna knowledge from the verbal root jnā to know, understand] Knowledge of the supreme self, equivalent to adhyatma-vidya.

Adhyatman (Sanskrit) Adhyātman [from adhi over, above + ātman self] The supreme or original self, equivalent to paramatman (cf BG 7:29; 8:3).

Adhyatma-vidya (Sanskrit) Adhyātma-vidyā [from adhi over, above + ātman self + vidyā knowledge from the verbal root vid to know, perceive, learn] Knowledge of the supreme atman or self; used interchangeably with adhyatma-jnana.

Adhyatmika (Sanskrit) Ādhyātmika [from adhi above + ātman self] Relating to the supreme self or atman; more abstractly, pertaining to original atman.

Adhyatmika-duhkha (Sanskrit) Ādhyātmika-duḥkha [from adhi above + ātman self; duḥkha trouble, difficulty from dush to be defiled] The first of the three kinds of klesa (affliction) or worldly pain (cf VP 6:5). Those arising from oneself, generally classed as bodily ailments (headaches, fevers, diseases, etc.), but more properly those pains or troubles originating from mental and other inner causes such as weakness of will, vagrant and misleading emotions, and imperfect mentation, which lead to physical ailments. The other two klesas are adhibhautika and adhidaivika.

Adhyaya (Sanskrit) Adhyāya [from adhi over, above + the verbal root i to go, move] A chapter, division, or section of a book; the adhyayas or divisions of music are eight in number.

Adibhuta (Sanskrit) Ādibhūta [from ādi first, original + bhūta element from the verbal root bhū to be, become] The first, original, or primordial element in nature; the “primeval, uncreated cause of all worlds” (VP 4:1), sometimes called the Nameless in theosophical writings. Cause and source of the succeeding seven cosmic bhutas, it is the seed from which they emanate.

Adi (Sanskrit) Ādi First, beginning; used in compound words to signify original, prime, e.g., adi-buddhi, adi-sanat.

Adi-buddha (Sanskrit) Ādi-buddha [from ādi first, original + the verbal root budh to awaken, perceive, know] First or primeval buddha; the supreme being above all other buddhas and bodhisattvas in the later Mahayana Buddhism of Tibet, Nepal, Java, and Japan. In theosophical writings, the highest aspect or subentity of the supreme Wondrous Being of our universe, existing in the most exalted dharmakaya state.

Adi-buddhi (Sanskrit) Ādi-buddhi [from ādi first, original + buddhi from the verbal root budh to know, perceive, awaken] Original or primordial buddhi; the cosmic essence of divine intelligence imbodied in adi-buddha, the divine-spiritual head of the cosmic hierarchy of compassion, “the spiritual, omniscient and omnipotent root of divine intelligence” (SD 1:572). Adi-buddhi or dharmakaya is “the mystic, universally diffused essence . . . the all-pervading supreme and absolute intelligence with its periodically manifesting Divinity — ‘Avalokiteshvara’ . . . the aggregate intelligence of the universal intelligences including that of the Dhyan Chohans even of the highest order” (ML 90).

Adi-budha (Sanskrit) Ādi-budha [from ādi first + budh wisdom] Primordial wisdom; the first or nameless deity (SD 1:xix, 54n; 2:48)

Adikrit or Adikartri (Sanskrit) Ādikṛt, Ādikartṛ [from ādi first + kṛt doing (kartṛ doer, author, producer) from the verbal root kṛ to do, make, accomplish] The first produced or evolved, synonymous with adikara. In Hindu mythology, the creator; in the Puranas, the personified aspect of the formative or cosmically generative force, which in its root is eternal but periodic in its manifestations. During periods of manifestation adikrit is personified as Vishnu or Brahma (VP 6:4); during periods of rest it is represented as sleeping upon the ocean of space in the form of Vishnu. The term applies to any universe or hierarchy, great or small, whether a cluster of galaxies, a solar system, a planet, or a human being.

Adima (Sanskrit) Ādima In the Siva-Purana, the first man created by Siva, who with Heva is the ancestor of present humanity (IU 1:590, 579n).

Ad-i Name given by the Aryans to “the first speaking race of mankind” in the fourth round (SD 2:452). The root ad is prominent in many ancient words: Sanskrit adi (first, primeval); Hebrew ’Adon (lord), ’Adonim (angels or planetary lords) — “the first spiritual and ethereal sons of the earth” (ibid.). The Sons of Adi (sons of the first) are often called Sons of the Fire-Mist (TG 6).

Adinatha (Sanskrit) Ādinātha [from ādi primeval, first + nātha protector, lord from the verbal root nāth to seek aid] Primordial protector or lord; occasionally applied to adi-buddha and other cosmic hierarchs, such as Siva. Adinatha is also known as Rishabha, the first of the 24 Tirthankaras or Jain teachers.

Adinidana (Sanskrit) Ādinidāna [from ādi first + nidāna binding from ni down + dāna band, rope from the verbal root da to bind on, fasten] A binding, halter, fetter; the first and supreme causality or originating link in the succeeding chain of nidanas, called in Buddhist writings the twelve causes of manifested existence; otherwise a chain or concatenation of cause and effect throughout the range of manifested being.

Adinidana-svabhavat (Sanskrit) Ādinidāna-svabhavat [from ādi first, primordial + nidāna causation + svabhavat self-being, self-becoming from sva self + the verbal root bhū to be, become] Primordial causation of self-becoming; as in Buddhist thought nidana also signifies primal essence or substance and svabhavat is equated with the Father-Mother of manifestation, the term could be translated “primordial causality-essence Father-Mother.” It is the highest portion of the manifesting or Third Logos of our galaxy; and because the Third Logos of every solar system is a reflection of the galactic Third Logos, the adinidana-svabhavat of any solar system is in its reaches the adinidana-svabhavat of the galaxy.

Adisakti (Sanskrit) Ādiśakti [from ādi first + śakti power, energy] Primeval power; the divine force or direct energic emanation from mulaprakriti, hence the feminine aspect or clothing of any spiritually formative potency. Personified in the Hindu pantheon as the consort of a divinity, every divinity having its own sakti or formative power-substance. Also a name for maya, significant because illusion begins with manifestation (SD 1:10).

Adisanat (Sanskrit) Ādisanat [from ādi first + sanat from of old, always] The ever-primeval one, a name applied to Brahma. In the Stanzas of Dzyan, it expresses that which preceded svabhavat in cosmic evolution: first there was no-number; then adisanat, “the Number, for he is One”; then svabhavat, the numbers (SD 1:98). Comparable to the Qabbalistic ‘Attiqa’ de‘Attiqin (the Ancient of Ancients) of the Zohar; also to the Pythagorean cosmic monad which, born in and from the womb of the Ever-enduring or No-number, manifests itself as the source of the cosmos and retires into “silence and darkness,” retaining its own condition while acting as the ineffable source from which all manifestation hangs as a pendant in the spaces of space.

Adisesha (Sanskrit) Ādiśeṣa [from ādi first + śeṣa from the verbal root śiṣ to leave remainders] Primeval residue; the mythological thousand-headed serpent (naga) upon which Vishnu “sleeps” during the pralayas (intervals between manifestations); also represented as supporting the seven patalas (hells) with the seven regions above them and therefore the entire world (VP 2:5). More often called simply Sesha; or Ananta, infinite; or Ananta-sesha.

Aditattva (Sanskrit) Āditattva [from ādi first + tattva thatness, essence] Original principle; used in theosophical literature to denote the first or highest of seven tattvas or principles in the descending arc of nature’s structure; in the numeration of the kosmic principles aditattva corresponds to the First Logos.

Aditi (Sanskrit) Aditi [from a not + diti bound from the verbal root da to bind] Unbounded, free; as a noun, infinite and shoreless expanse. In the Vedas, Aditi is devamatri (mother of the gods) as from and in her cosmic matrix all the heavenly bodies were born. As the celestial virgin and mother of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is highest akasa. Aditi is identified in the Rig-Veda with Vach (mystic speech) and also with the mulaprakriti of the Vedanta. As the womb of space, she is a feminized form of Brahma. The line in the Rig-Veda: “Daksha sprang from Aditi and Aditi from Daksha” has reference to “the eternal cyclic re-birth of the same divine Essence” (SD 2:247n). In one of its most mystic aspects Aditi is divine wisdom.

Aditi-prakriti (Sanskrit) Aditi-prakṛti [from aditi unbounded + prakṛti nature from pra forth + the verbal root kṛ to do, make] Spiritual-physical nature; Father-Mother within before it appeared in space, the universal matrix of kosmos personified in the dual character of the universe or of man. Aditi signifies infinity personified as a goddess; prakriti, nature considered as the evolver or producer in its original condition.

Aditi: The name (Sanskrit for boundlessness) of a Vedic goddess, mother of the gods known as Adityas; she is identified at times with the earth, at times with the sky, and at other times is hailed as a cow.

Aditi-Vach (Sanskrit) Aditi-Vāc [from aditi unbounded + vāc speech, voice from the verbal root vac to speak, utter] The cosmic Logos considered in its feminine aspect as the veil surrounding the evolving cosmic monad. “These feminine Logoi are all correlations, in their noumenal aspect, of Lights, and Sound, and Ether . . . ” (SD 1:431).

Adityas (Sanskrit) Āditya-s [belonging to, issuing from aditi unbounded expanse] Sons of Aditi, space; in the Vedas a name for the sun; also referred to variously as five, seven, eight, and twelve in number. The eighth aditya (Marttanda) was rejected by Aditi, leaving seven son-suns, each manifesting a particular solar energy (cf RV 10, 72, 8-9). “ ‘The Seven allow the mortals to see their dwellings, but show themselves only to the Arhats,’ says an old proverb, ‘their dwellings’ standing here for planets” (SD 1:100).

Adivamsa (Sanskrit) Ādivaṃśa [from ādi primeval, first + vaṃśa lineage, race] The first race; used in the Mahabharata for the primeval race, the original family.

Adivarsha (Sanskrit) Ādivarṣa [from ādi primordial, first + varṣa a division of the earth from the verbal root vṛṣ to rain, pour forth] The first land; used for the “Eden of the first Races” of humanity (SD 2:201).

Ad or Adad, Hadad (Semitic) [from ’adad to be powerful, strong] Powerful, mighty; the primeval One, similar to the Sanskrit ad (first, primeval). In the Babylonian system, according to Blavatsky, Ad or Ad-ad is the great first cause “who is never named, but only acknowledged in thought as the Hindu Swayambhuva. From this he becomes manifest as Anu or Ana — the one above all — Monas” (IU 2:170). Ad or Adad is without attributes and therefore viewed as the source from which the Demiurge or world builder came into manifestation.

Adrishta (Sanskrit) Adṛṣṭa [from a not + the verbal root dṛṣ to see, learn, perceive with the mind or intuition] Unseen, unforeseen, invisible; an unforeseen danger. In philosophy, that which is beyond the reach or observation of the percipient consciousness. W. Q. Judge defines it as “the merit or demerit attaching to a man’s conduct in a former incarnation, and the corresponding (apparently arbitrary) punishment or reward in the present or a future incarnation” (WG 2). This is clearly seen in the compound term adrishta-phala (unseen fruit), karma not yet come into force. Hence the connotation of fate, luck (sometimes bad luck) that is attached to adrishta. (BCW 5:580 with Kanada as “unseen force”; 4:61 with Nyayas as invisible principle)

Advaita (Sanskrit) Advaita [from a not + dvaita dual from dvi two] Nondual; the Advaita or nondualistic form of Vedanta [from veda knowledge + anta end] expounded by Sankaracharya teaches the oneness of Brahman or the paramatman of the universe with the human spirit-soul or jivatman, and the identity of spirit and matter; also that the divine spirit of the universe is the all-efficient, all-productive cause of the periodic coming into being, continuance, and dissolutions of the universe; and that this divine cosmic spirit is the ultimate truth and sole reality — hence the term advaita (without a second). All else is maya, in proportion to its distance from the divine source.

Advaita: Sanskrit for non-dualism. The Vedantic doctrine of monism advocated by Samkara, which contends that only the Ultimate Principle (Brahman) has any actual existence, and that all phenomenal existence is an illusion (maya).

Advaitin (Sanskrit) Advaitin An adherent of the Advaita philosophy. Also written Advaitee or Advaita-Vedantist

Advaya (Sanskrit) Advaya [from a not + dvi two] Not two, without a second; unique. As a masculine noun, name of a buddha. As a neuter noun, nonduality, unity, identity — especially as applied to Brahman — with the universe, or of spirit and matter; hence ultimate truth.

Aeshma-Daeva (Avestan) Aēshma-Daēva Eesham-Diev, Hesham-Diev (Pahlavi) [from aēshma wrath, ill wish, anger from the verbal root ish desire, passion + daēvas evil spirits (originally gods); cf Sanskrit deva, Persian dievs] The fiend of the wounding spear in the Avesta. The Aryan gods or daevas having become anthropomorphic, they were denounced by the Aryan initiates who had settled in Airya-Vaeja (Eran or Iran). Zarathustra in the Gathas refers to Kavis and Karpans, the leaders of the ancient Aryan faith, as daevas because they had polluted the abstraction of Mazdean philosophy with ritualistic ceremonies.

Agama (Sanskrit) Āgama [from ā toward, near + the verbal root gam to come, go] Coming near, approaching. As a masculine noun, approach, appearance; studying, reading, acquisition of knowledge, science. In philosophy, traditional teaching handed down; likewise a collection of sacred doctrines such as the Brahmanas.

Agamin (Sanskrit) Āgāmin [from ā toward + the verbal root gam to come, go] Coming, approaching; when applied to karma, impending, future; when applied to auguries, casual, changeable, as opposed to sthira (fixed).

Agasti, Agastya (Sanskrit) Agasti, Agastya [from aga mountain + the verbal root as to throw, cast off] Mountain-thrower; a celebrated muni and the reputed author of a number of hymns in the Rig-Veda; he also appears in the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Agastya is said to have been born in a water jar, to have been of short stature, to have swallowed the ocean, and compelled the Vindhya Mountain to prostrate itself before him. Hence his name: mountain-thrower.

Aghora (Sanskrit) Aghora [from a not + the verbal root ghur to frighten] Nonterrifying; as a masculine noun, a title of Siva in the Mahabharata; also of a devotee of Siva and his consort Durga. As a feminine noun, the fourteenth day of the dark half of Bhadra (a rainy month in August-September) sacred to Siva.

Agneya (Sanskrit) Āgneya [from agni fire] Belonging to or consecrated to fire or the god of fire, Agni. A name of the god of war (Skanda, Karttikeya, etc.); also, the son of Agni.

Agneyastra (Sanskrit) Āgneyāstra [from āgneya fiery weapon from agni fire + astra missile weapon, arrow] Fiery weapon; one of the magic weapons used by some of the gods and heroes of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. The Vishnu-Purana (3:8) recounts that the agneyastra was given by the sage Aurva to his disciple King Sagara. A magic weapon said to have been “wielded by the adept-race (the fourth), the Atlanteans” (TG 9), and to have been built of “seven elements” (SD 2:629). It can signify a weapon of fiery character used in physical warfare, or on a cosmic scale can denote the employment of a force of nature by an intelligent being either for offensive or defensive purposes. In archaic thought fire, in its abstract sense, is almost equivalent to spirit, and permeates the sevenfold nature of the universe.

Agni Abhimanin (Sanskrit) Agni Abhimānin The oldest son of Brahma who had three sons, who in turn had 45 sons, and these with Brahma made the 49 fires or agnis (cf VP index).

Agnibahu (Sanskrit) Agnibāhu [from agni fire + bāhu arm from bahu much, abundant] Arm of fire, smoke; as a proper noun, a son of Svayambhuva, the first manu, called law-giver because he laid down the sacred laws that should govern the soul as well as rules for harmonious and orderly living. Agnibahu, who adopted the religious life, is also named as one of the ten sons of Svayambhuva’s son Priyavarta by Kamya (cf VP 2:1).

Agnibhu (Sanskrit) Agnibhū [from agni fire + the verbal root bhū to be, become] Fireborn; one of the names of Karttikeya or Skanda, god of war; applied to the Kshatriyas or warrior caste, whose ancestors were said to have sprung from fire (TG 10). Also a Vedic teacher.

Agni (Sanskrit) Agni [from the verbal root ag to move tortuously, wind] Fire; as god of fire, one of the most revered of Vedic deities. As mediator between gods and humans, from whose body issue “a thousand streams of glory and seven tongues of flame,” Agni represents the divine essence or celestial fire present in every atom of the universe. Often used synonymously with the adityas. The three chief gods of Vedas are Agni, Vayu, and Surya — fire, air, and the sun — whose elements respectively are earth, air, and sky. One of the four lokapalas or world-protectors, Agni is guardian of the southeast quarter, and in the Rig-Veda as Matarisvan, messenger of Vivasvat, the sun, Agni brought down the “hidden fire” for humankind. To “kindle a fire,” therefore, is synonymous to evoking one of the three great fire-powers or “to call on God” (SD 2:114).

Agnidagdha (Sanskrit) Agnidagdha [from agni fire + dagdha burnt from the verbal root dah to burn] Consumed by fire; a class of pitris (fathers, ancestors) who when living regularly maintained the household fires and offered oblations with fire. Those who refrained from doing so were called anagnidagdhas (not consumed by fire).

Agni Dhatu Samadhi (Sanskrit) Agni Dhātu Samādhi A type of yogic contemplation where kundalini is excited and “the infinitude appears as one sheet of fire.” (TG 10)

Agnidhra (Sanskrit) Agnīdhra [from agnīdh kindler from the verbal root agni fire + the verbal root indh to kindle, light] Fire kindler; eldest of the ten sons of Priyavarta, the eldest son of Svayambhuva Manu. Three of Priyavarta’s sons became mendicants, the other seven became kings famed for valor and wisdom. Priyavarta divided the earth into seven dvipas or continental islands, giving one of each of his king-sons to administer. Agnidhra ruled over Jambu-dvipa which he in turn apportioned among his nine sons (VP 2:1). Blavatsky correlates the Puranic allegory to the seven globes of a planetary chain, Jambu-dvipa being equivalent to globe D in the theosophical scheme.

Agnihotra (Sanskrit) Agnihotra [from agni fire + hotra oblation from the verbal root hu to sacrifice] Fire offering; an important Vedic sacrifice to Agni, consisting of milk, oil, and sour gruel, which the head of the family is expected to observe twice a day, before sunrise and after sunset. The priest who kindles the sacred fire is called agnihotri, also agnidhra.

Agniputra (Sanskrit) Agniputra [from agni fire + putra son, offspring] Son of Agni, fire; a name of the god of war, Skanda or Karttikeya (cf MB, skanda 9). While every individual of the numerous hierarchies which infill, and indeed are, space, is an offspring or “son” of the cosmic spirit or fire, Agniputra particularly designates one whose characteristic qualities make him an active instead of a passive or quasi-passive agent in the cosmic drama. Thus it is that the planet Mars and its influences — or Skanda, the god of war of the Mahabharata — because of their characteristic intense activity of a fiery type are referred to as Agniputra.

Agniratha (Sanskrit) Agniratha [from agni fire + ratha chariot from the verbal root ṛ to go] Fire-chariot; archaic flying vehicles, allegorized in the Ramayana and ancient works on magic. “This vibratory Force, which, when aimed at an army from an Agni Rath fixed on a flying vessel, . . . reduced to ashes 100,000 men and elephants, as easily as it would a dead rat” (SD 1:563).

Agnishtoma (Sanskrit) Agniṣṭoma [from agni fire + stoma praise, a hymn from the verbal root stu to praise, eulogize] Praise of Agni, fire; an ancient Vedic ceremony or sacrifice performed by a Brahmin desirous of obtaining svarga (heaven), who himself maintained the sacred fire. The offering to Indra and other deities was the soma. The ceremonies continued for five days, with 16 priests officiating. Although in later times it may have become merely a matter of form, originally the agnishtoma was connected with the initiation rites of the soma Mysteries.

Agnishvatta (Sanskrit) Agniṣvātta [from agni fire + the verbal root svad to sweeten, taste] Tasted or sweetened by fire; one of the higher of the seven classes of pitris or progenitors spoken of in the Puranas as those “devoid of fire.” They are thus popularly represented as grihasthas or householders who in previous births failed to keep up their domestic fires and to offer burnt sacrifices, etc. In contrast, the pitris “possessed” of fire are the barhishads, those who kept up their household fires (cf VP 1:10).

Agnishvatta(s) ::: (Sanskrit) ::: A compound of two words: agni, "fire"; shvatta, "tasted" or "sweetened," from svad, verb-rootmeaning "to taste" or "to sweeten." Therefore, literally one who has been delighted or sweetened by fire.A class of pitris: our solar ancestors as contrasted with the barhishads, our lunar ancestors.The kumaras, agnishvattas, and manasaputras are three groups or aspects of the same beings: thekumaras represent the aspect of original spiritual purity untouched by gross elements of matter. Theagnishvattas represent the aspect of their connection with the sun or solar spiritual fire. Having tasted orbeen "sweetened" by the spiritual fire -- the fire of intellectuality and spirituality -- they have beenpurified thereby. The manasaputras represent the aspect of intellectuality -- the functions of higherintellect.The agnishvattas and manasaputras are two names for the same class or host of beings, and set forth orsignify or represent two different aspects or activities of this one class of beings. Thus, for instance, aman may be said to be a kumara in his spiritual parts, an agnishvatta in his buddhic-manasic parts, and amanasaputra in his purely manasic aspect. Other beings could be called kumaras in their highest aspects,as for instance the beasts, but they are not imbodied agnishvattas or manasaputras.The agnishvattas are the solar spiritual-intellectual parts of us, and therefore are our inner teachers. Inpreceding manvantaras, they had completed their evolution in the realms of physical matter, and whenthe evolution of lower beings had brought these latter to the proper state, the agnishvattas came to therescue of these who had only the physical "creative fire," thus inspiring and enlightening these lowerlunar pitris with spiritual and intellectual energies or "fires."When this earth's planetary chain shall have reached the end of its seventh round, we, as then havingcompleted the evolutionary course for this planetary chain, will leave this planetary chain asdhyan-chohans, agnishvattas; but the others now trailing along behind us -- the present beasts -- will bethe lunar pitris of the next planetary chain to come.While it is correct to say that these three names appertain to the same class of beings, nevertheless eachname has its own significance in the occult teaching, which is why the three names are used with threedistinct meanings. Imagine an unconscious god-spark beginning its evolution in any one solar ormaha-manvantara. We may call it a kumara, a being of original spiritual purity, but with a destinythrough karmic evolution connected with the realms of matter.At the other end of the line, at the consummation of the evolution in this maha-manvantara, when theevolving entity has become a fully self-conscious god or divinity, its proper appellation then isagnishvatta, for it has been "sweetened" or purified by means of the working through it of the spiritualfires inherent in itself.Now then, when such an agnishvatta assumes the role of a bringer of mind or of intellectual light to alunar pitri which it overshadows and in which a ray from it incarnates, it then, although in its own realman agnishvatta, functions as a manasaputra or child of mind or mahat. A brief analysis of the compoundelements of these three names may be useful.Kumara is from ku meaning "with difficulty" and mara meaning "mortal." The significance of the wordtherefore can be paraphrased as "mortal with difficulty," and the meaning usually given to it by Sanskritscholars as "easily dying" is wholly exoteric and amusing, and doubtless arose from the fact that kumarais a word frequently used for child or boy, everybody knowing that young children "die easily." The ideatherefore is that purely spiritual beings, although ultimately destined by evolution to pass through therealms of matter, become mortal, i.e., material, only with difficulty.Agnishvatta has the meaning stated above, "delighted" or "pleased" or "sweetened," i.e., "purified" byfire -- which we may render in two ways: either as the fire of suffering and pain in material existenceproducing great fiber and strength of character, i.e., spirituality; or, perhaps still better from thestandpoint of occultism, as signifying an entity or entities who have become one in essence throughevolution with the aethery fire of spirit.Manasaputra is a compound of two words: manasa, "mental" or "intellectual," from the word manas,"mind," and putra, "son" or "child," therefore a child of the cosmic mind -- a "mind-born son" as H. P.Blavatsky phrases it. (See also Pitris, Lunar Pitris)

Agni-Vishnu-Surya (Sanskrit) Agni-Viṣṇu-Sūrya [from agni fire + viṣṇu from the verbal root viś or the verbal root viṣ to pervade + sūrya sun] Fire-pervader-solar deity; this triad of gods is probably a permutation of the original Vedic triad Agni-Indra-Surya, having their influence and place respectively on earth, in the atmosphere, and in the sky. Agni-Vishnu-Surya has been called the “synthesis and head, or the focus whence emanated in physics as in metaphysics, from the Spiritual as from the physical Sun, the Seven Rays, the seven fiery tongues, the seven planets or gods” (SD 2:608).

Agnoia or Anoia (Greek) [cf Sanskrit jna; Latin gnosco, nosco; English know, etc.] Mindlessness, folly; the opposite of nous. In Plato the soul (psyche) attaches itself either to nous or to anoia, which is analogous to the theosophical teaching regarding buddhi-manas and kama-manas.

Agrasamdhani (Sanskrit) Agrasaṃdhānī [from agra foremost, beginning + sam together, with + the verbal root dhā to fasten, unite] That which is fastened or strung together from the beginning; the register of human actions kept by Yama, Hindu god of the dead; linked with Chitragupta, scribe of Yama, who records in the Agrasamdhani the deeds and thoughts of every human being (cf MB 13). See also LIPIKA

Aguna (Sanskrit) Aguṇa [from a not + guṇa quality] Devoid of qualities or attributes (gunas); applied particularly to the supreme divinity — nirguna (without qualifying attributes). As a noun, a fault — devoid of good qualities.

Aham-atma (Sanskrit) Aham ātmā [from aham I + ātman self] I am self; meaning that every self is but a manifestation of the essential self or atman; in the case of mankind, a reflection of the Logos within. As man progresses in evolution his human self will become united with his atman, the spiritual source of his composite constitution. In the Bhagavad-Gita (10:20) Krishna says: ahamatma gudakesa sarvabhutasayasthitah (I am the atman, O Gudakesa, living in the heart of all beings).

Aham brahma asmi: Sanskrit for “I am brahman,” the formula of the Upanishad, denoting the full coincidence of the human and divine, arrived at not so much by a spontaneous mystic insight as by logical deduction from the nature of world and self.

Aham (Sanskrit) Aham Ego, I, conception of one’s individuality; the basis and psychologically the magic agent which is the root of ahamkara, the organ or faculty which produces in human beings the sense of egoity or individuality on whatever plane. While this faculty is perhaps the most powerful agent in the forward drive of evolutionary unfoldment, it is, nevertheless, but an illusory manifestation within the individual of paramatman, the supreme self of the hierarchy. The individuality, which is a characteristic of the monad, is not likewise merely maya, any more than human egoity manifesting is the full expression of the cosmic paramatman. The first cosmic Logos or paramatman is as creative of multitudes of children monads as is a human being, or indeed any other entity on its own plane. Every such child-monad is identic in substance, intelligence, and consciousness with parabrahman, and yet each is an eternal individual. As the Buddhist metaphor suggests, the sea of cosmic life is divided into incomputable hosts of drops of spirit called monads, each of which is predestined to undertake through long eons its cosmic pilgrimage in evolutionary unfoldment, finally to return and merge into the cosmic sea which gave it birth — “the dew-drop slips into the shining Sea” (Light of Asia).

Aham Eva Parabrahma (Sanskrit) Aham eva parabrahma [from aham I + eva indeed, verily + para beyond + brahma creative deity from the verbal root bṛh to expand] Also aham asmi parabrahma. I am verily parabrahma, the Boundless; imbodies the teaching that above and within every entity whatsoever is everything that is in universal space or boundless infinitude, so that each person is fundamentally one with all that is because the same divine consciousness flows through every point in space, in that all worlds, gods, human beings, and atoms are each one derived from the same original source.

Ahamkara: A Sanskrit term (literally meaning I-maker) used to designate the principle which generates man’s consciousness of his own ego or personal identity.

Ahamkara (Sanskrit) Ahaṃkāra [from aham ego, I + kāra maker, doer from the verbal root kṛ to do] I-maker; conception of egoity or I-am-I-ness. In its lower aspect, the egoistical and mayavi principle, born of avidya (ignorance), which produces the notion of the personal ego as being different from the universal self. In Sankhya philosophy ahamkara is the third emanation: from prakriti (primal nature or substance) issues mahat (the great), standing for universal mind, which in turn produces ahamkara, selfhood, individuality; from ahamkara come forth the five tanmatras, the subtle forms of the elements or principles and “the two series of sense organs” (Samkhya-Sutra 1:61).

Ahammana (Sanskrit) Ahaṃmāna [from aham ego + māna from the verbal root man to think, reflect upon] Egoism, self-illusion; hence spiritual ignorance, the maya produced by reflecting upon or imagining one’s “I” as of primary importance. “When soul is associated with prakriti, it is vitiated by egotism [ahammana] and the rest, and assumes the qualities of grosser nature, although essentially distinct from them, and incorruptible [avyaya]” (VP 6:7).

Ahamsa (Sanskrit) Ahaṃsa [from aham ego + sa (sah) he] A mystic anagram used as a title of Brahman, the first or unmanifest kosmic Logos, to suggest the identity of man’s essence with the essence of kosmic divinity: “I am he,” “I am Brahman” (cf SD 2:465). See also HAMSA; KALAHAMSA

Ahan (Sanskrit) Ahan Day (ahan, ahas are base forms of some of the grammatical cases of ahan). In the Vishnu-Purana (1:5), one of the four bodies of Brahma: “Jyotsna (dawn), Ratri (night), Ahan (day), and Sandhya (evening)” which are “invested by the three qualities” (triguna). Esoterically this has “a direct bearing upon the seven principles of the manifested Brahma, or universe, in the same order as man. Exoterically, it is only four principles” (SD 2:58n). Hence only four bodies of Brahma are mentioned in the Puranas.

Ahankara(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word: aham, "I"; kara, "maker" or "doer," from the verb-root kri, "to do," "tomake"; egoism, personality. The egoistical and mayavi principle in man, born of the ignorance or avidyawhich produces the notion of the "I" as being different from the universal One-Self.

Ahanta: A Sanskrit term (literally meaning I-hood or selfness) for the state of being an Ego.

’Ahath (Hebrew) ’Aḥath The femine form of the cardinal numberal one, signifying at times single, alone, sole; applied to the feminine aspect of the Logos or head of a hierarchy. In Hebrew occultism ’ahath or achath represents, together with the masculine form achod (’ehad) “the collective aggregate, or totality, of the principal Creators or Architects of this visible universe” (SD 1:129). Incorrectly applied to the Sephiroth-’elohim as Sephiroth, since these last are only vehicles or manifestations of the Logos. Achath-Achod (’ahath-’ehad) corresponds to the Sanskrit adi (first, primeval) or eka (One), meaning crown or hyparxis, and therefore the originant or cosmic hierarch, which divides into the many when its spiritual and substantial energies stream downwards into the planes of illusion and matter — which indeed these energies themselves compose. See also ’AHATH-RUAH-’ELOHIM-HAYYIM; ’EHAD

Ahi (Sanskrit) Ahi [from the verbal root aṃh to press together, strangle] A serpent; in the Rig-Veda, the serpent of the sky, also called Vritra, mythologically referred to as the demon of darkness and drought who absorbed the cosmic waters. Indra, god of the sky and rainmaker, battles with Ahi and finally slays him, releasing the waters across the land.

Ahimsa (Sanskrit) Ahiṃsā [from a not + the verbal root hiṃs to injure, kill, destroy] Harmlessness; one of the cardinal virtues. The sanctity of life is imbodied in the teachings of the Buddhists and Jains, as well as of many Hindu schools. Asoka, the first Buddhist emperor, particularly espoused ahimsa as part of the practice of dharma. According to Manu (4:148), one may acquire the faculty of “remembering former births” by the observance of ahimsa.

Ahimsa: Sanskrit for non-injuring, not killing. The Hindu doctrine of the oneness and sacredness of all life, human and animal.

Ahu (Avestan) [from the verbal root ah consciousness of life; cf Sanskrit asu] Sometimes Ahum, Akhum. The most aware and therefore best prepared to rule in the physical world. Fravashi, on the other hand, is least aware of the material world and yet is the source of awareness and closest to the source of absolute Being. According to later Pahlavi writings Ahu’s task is to establish order in the human physical body; therefore it can be considered the ruler in the physical world.

Ahu (Sanskrit) Ahu [probably from paro’ṃhu beyond the range of sight] Invisible, unknown, secret, mysterious; Blavatsky equates it with the Sanskrit eka (one) and Hebrew echod, that which begins an emanation-series from the Unknowable (SD 1:113).

Ahura (Avestan) [from the verbal root ahu conscious life; cf Sanskrit asura] The lord of life, the one life from whom all proceed; as daevas who were originally gods of the Aryans changed to demons among the Iranian branch of the Aryans, asura also changed to demons among the Indians. In the earlier Vedas, asura is especially used for Varuna, the ruler of the heavenly sphere. “The Mazdean Scriptures of the Zend Avesta, the Vendidad and others correct and expose the later cunning shuffling of the gods in the Hindu Pantheon, and restore through Ahura the Asuras to their legitimate place in Theogony . . .” (SD 2:60-1).

Aindri (Sanskrit) Aindrī [feminine adjective of indra probably from the verbal root ind to drop] Pertaining to the god Indra; as a feminine proper noun, the consort of Indra; also called Aindri-sakti, Indrani, and Aindriya. Aindri (masculine) means a descendant of Indra, occasionally referring to Arjuna, son of Indra by Kunti.

Aindriyaka (Sanskrit) Aindriyaka [from indriya sense, power; belonging to Indra] In the Puranas, the creations of Brahma are variously enumerated as six, seven, and nine. Aindriyaka represents the organic creation involving the evolution or unfolding of the senses (cf VP 1:5).

Airavata (Sanskrit) Airāvata [from irāvat moisture-possessing from irā drink, food] Son of Iravati; a vast elephant produced at the churning of the ocean and appropriated by the god Indra. When seated upon Airavata, Indra blesses the earth with rain, i.e., with the water that is drawn up by Airavata from the underworld. According to the Matangalila, Airavata was born when Brahma sang over the halves of the shell from which Garuda hatched, followed by seven more male and eight female elephants.

Akasa(Sanskrit) ::: The word means "brilliant," "shining," "luminous." The fifth kosmic element, the fifth essenceor "quintessence," called Aether by the ancient Stoics; but it is not the ether of science. The ether ofscience is merely one of its lower elements. In the Brahmanical scriptures akasa is used for what thenorthern Buddhists call svabhavat, more mystically Adi-buddhi -- "primeval buddhi''; it is alsomulaprakriti, the kosmical spirit-substance, the reservoir of Being and of beings. The Hebrew OldTestament refers to it as the kosmic "waters." It is universal substantial space; also mystically Alaya.(See also Mulaprakriti, Alaya)

Aksara: Sanskrit for imperishable; a descriptive synonym for brahman (q.v.), the Absolute, in the Upanishads; it has also the meaning of “syllable.”

Alaya(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word: a, "not"; laya, from the verb-root li, "to dissolve"; hence "theindissoluble." The universal soul; the basis or root or fountain of all beings and things -- the universe,gods, monads, atoms, etc. Mystically identical with akasa in the latter's highest elements, and withmulaprakriti in the latter's essence as "root-producer" or "root-nature." (See also Akasa, Buddhi,Mulaprakriti)[NOTE: The Secret Doctrine (1:49) mentions Alaya in the Yogachara system, most probably referring toalaya-vijnana, but adds that with the "Esoteric 'Buddhists' . . . 'Alaya' has a double and even a triplemeaning." -- PUBLISHER]

Amen: A Hebrew word, used nowadays in the meaning “verily,” but considered by occultists to have originally been a mystic word, related to the Sanskrit om. In theosophical and related esoteric parlance, amen means “the concealed.”

ana [Greek and Sanskrit] ::: a term used in October 1920 for three levels encompassing much of what was formerly called logistic ideality; applied more specifically to the highest of these levels, also termed highest representative ideality, which corresponds to full revelatory ideality and "has to deal with three movements": actualities, potentialities and the "imperatives of the infinite".

Ananda: Sanskrit for joy, happiness, bliss.

Anastikaya: A Sanskrit term meaning not body-like, unextended. (Cf. astikaya.)

Annakaya: Sanskrit for physical body.

Antahkarana: A Sanskrit term, literally meaning internal sense organ. In occult philosophy, the term is used to indicate the bridge between the higher and the lower aspect of the manas.

Antaskarana(Sanskrit) ::: Perhaps better spelled as antahkarana. A compound word: antar, "interior," "within"; karana,sense organ. Occultists explain this word as the bridge between the higher and lower manas or betweenthe spiritual ego and personal soul of man. Such is H. P. Blavatsky's definition. As a matter of fact thereare several antahkaranas in the human septenary constitution -- one for every path or bridge between anytwo of the several monadic centers in man. Man is a microcosm, therefore a unified composite, a unity indiversity; and the antahkaranas are the links of vibrating consciousness-substance uniting these variouscenters.

Anugraham: Sanskrit for grace.

anushtubh (anushtup) ::: [the name of a class of Sanskrit metres all of which have eight syllables in each pada], the ordinary epic metre.

Arupa(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word meaning "formless," but this word formless is not to be taken so strictly asto mean that there is no form of any kind whatsoever; it merely means that the forms in the spiritualworlds (the arupa-lokas) are of a spiritual type or character, and of course far more ethereal than are theforms of the rupa-lokas.Thus in the arupa-lokas, or the spiritual worlds or spheres or planes, the vehicle or body of an entity is tobe conceived of rather as an enclosing sheath of energic substance. We can conceive of an entity whoseform or body is entirely of electrical substance -- as indeed our own bodies are in the last analysis ofmodern science. But such an entity with an electrical body, although distinctly belonging to the rupaworlds, and to one of the lowest rupa worlds, would merely, by comparison with our own gross physicalbodies, seem to us to be bodiless or formless. (See also Rupa, Loka)

Asana(Sanskrit) ::: A word derived from the verbal root as, signifying "to sit quietly." Asana, therefore,technically signifies one of the peculiar postures adopted by Hindu ascetics, mostly of the hatha yogaschool. Five of these postures are usually enumerated, but nearly ninety have been noted by students ofthe subject. A great deal of quasi-magical and mystical literature may be found devoted to these variouspostures and collateral topics, and their supposed or actual psychological value when assumed bydevotees; but, as a matter of fact, a great deal of this writing is superficial and has very little indeed to dowith the actual occult and esoteric training of genuine occultists. One is instinctively reminded of otherquasi-mystical practices, as, for instance, certain genuflections or postures followed in the worship of theChristian Church, to which particular values are sometimes ascribed by fanatic devotees.Providing that the position of the body be comfortable so that the mind is least distracted, genuinemeditation and spiritual and actual introspection can be readily and successfully attained by any earneststudent without the slightest attention being paid to these various postures. A man sitting quietly in hisarmchair, or lying in his bed at night, or sitting or lying on the grass in a forest, can more readily enterthe inner worlds than by adopting and following any one or more of these various asanas, which at thebest are physiological aids of relatively small value. (See also Samadhi)

Asana: Sanskrit for sitting, posture; one of the stages of the practice of Yoga.

Asat(Sanskrit) ::: A term meaning the "unreal" or the manifested universe; in contrast with sat , the real. Inanother and even more mystical sense, asat means even beyond or higher than sat, and therefore asat -"not sat." In this significance, which is profoundly occult and deeply mystical, asat really signifies theunevolved or rather unmanifested nature of parabrahman -- far higher than sat, which is the reality ofmanifested existence.

Aseka: Sanskrit for adept (q.v.)

Asmita: A Sanskrit term meaning “I-am-ness.” The view which presumes lower states of mind to be the Self (purusha).

Asrama(Sanskrit) ::: A word derived from the root sram, signifying "to make efforts," "to strive"; with the particlea, which in this case gives force to the verbal root sram. Asrama has at least two main significations. Thefirst is that of a college or school or a hermitage, an abode of ascetics, etc.; whereas the second meaningsignifies a period of effort or striving in the religious life or career of a Brahmana of olden days. Theseperiods of life in ancient times in Hindustan were four in number: the first, that of the student orbrahmacharin; second, the period of life called that of the grihastha or householder -- the period ofmarried existence when the Brahmana took his due part in the affairs of men, etc.; third, the vanaprastha,or period of monastic seclusion, usually passed in a vana, or wood or forest, for purposes of innerrecollection and spiritual meditation; and fourth, that of the bhikshu or religious mendicant, meaning onewho has completely renounced the distractions of worldly life and has turned his attention wholly tospiritual affairs.Brahmasrama. In modern esoteric or occult literature, the compound term Brahmasrama is occasionallyused to signify an initiation chamber or secret room or adytum where the initiant or neophyte is strivingor making efforts to attain union with Brahman or the inner god.

Astika: A Sanskrit term, denoting an individual who acknowledges the authority of the Veda (q.v.).

Astikaya: A Sanskrit term for bodily or extended substance. In Jaina philosophy, only time is unlike a body (anastikaya), hence unextended.

Asvattha(Sanskrit) ::: The mystical tree of knowledge, the mystical tree of kosmical life and being, represented asgrowing in a reversed position: the branches extending downwards and the roots upwards. The branchestypify the visible kosmical universe, the roots the invisible world of spirit.The universe among the ancients of many nations was portrayed or figurated under the symbol of a tree,of which the roots sprang from the divine heart of things, and the trunk and the branches and thebranchlets and the leaves were the various planes and worlds and spheres of the kosmos. The fruit of thiskosmic tree contained the seeds of future "trees," being the entities which had attained through evolutionthe end of their evolutionary journey, such as men and the gods -- themselves universes in the small, anddestined in the future to become kosmic entities when the cycling wheel of time shall have turnedthrough long aeons on its majestic round. In fact, every living thing, and so-called inanimate things also,are trees of life, with their roots above in the spiritual realms, with their trunks passing through theintermediate spheres, and their branches manifesting in the physical realms.

Aswattha: The Sanskrit name of the Tree of Knowledge, conceived of as the tree of cosmic life and existence; its roots, extending upward, symbolize the invisible spiritual world, and its branches, spreading downward, symbolize the visible, tangible, material universe.

Atma; atman: Sanskrit for Spirit. In occultism, the Universal Spirit or World Soul.

Atman(Sanskrit) ::: The root of atman is hardly known; its origin is uncertain, but the general meaning is that of"self." The highest part of man -- self, pure consciousness per se. The essential and radical power orfaculty in man which gives to him, and indeed to every other entity or thing, its knowledge or sentientconsciousness of selfhood. This is not the ego.This principle (atman) is a universal one; but during incarnations its lowest parts take on attributes,because it is linked with the buddhi, as the buddhi is linked with the manas, as the manas is linked to thekama, and so on down the scale.Atman is also sometimes used of the universal self or spirit which is called in the Sanskrit writingsBrahman (neuter), and the Brahman or universal spirit is also called the paramatman.Man is rooted in the kosmos surrounding him by three principles, which can hardly be said to be abovethe first or atman, but are, so to say, that same atman's highest and most glorious parts.The inmost link with the Unutterable was called in ancient India by the term ``self,'' which has often beenmistranslated "soul." The Sanskrit word is atman and applies, in psychology, to the human entity. Theupper end of the link, so to speak, was called paramatman, or the ``self beyond,'' i.e., the permanentSELF -- words which describe neatly and clearly to those who have studied this wonderful philosophy,somewhat of the nature and essence of the being which man is, and the source from which, inbeginningless and endless duration, he sprang. Child of earth and child of heaven, he contains both inhimself.We say that the atman is universal, and so it is. It is the universal selfhood, that feeling or consciousnessof selfhood which is the same in every human being, and even in all the inferior beings of the hierarchy,even in those of the beast kingdom under us, and dimly perceptible in the plant world, and which is latenteven in the minerals. This is the pure cognition, the abstract idea, of self. It differs not at all throughoutthe hierarchy, except in degree of self-recognition. Though universal, it belongs (so far as we areconcerned in our present stage of evolution) to the fourth kosmic plane, though it is our seventh principlecounting upwards.

Atmaswarupa: The Sanskrit term used by Hindu mystic philosophers for the universe. (Literally: manifestation of the Spirit.)

Aupapaduka(Sanskrit) ::: A compound term meaning "self-produced," "spontaneously generated." It is a term applied inBuddhism to a class of celestial beings called dhyani-buddhas; and because these dhyani-buddhas areconceived of as issuing forth from the bosom of Adi-buddhi or the kosmic mahat without intermediaryagency, are they mystically said to be, as H. P. Blavatsky puts it, "parentless" or "self-existing," i.e., bornwithout any parents or progenitors. They are therefore the originants or root from which the hierarchy ofbuddhas of various grades flows forth in mystical procession or emanation or evolution.There are variants of this word in Sanskrit literature, but they all have the same meaning. The termaupapaduka is actually a key word, opening a doctrine which is extremely difficult to set forth; but thedoctrine itself is inexpressibly sublime. Indeed, not only are there aupapaduka divinities of the solarsystem, but also of every organic entity, because the core of the core of any organic entity is such anaupapaduka divinity. It is, in fact, a very mystical way of stating the doctrine of the "inner god."[NOTE: Later research shows that anupapadaka, as found in Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-EnglishDictionary, is a misreading of aupapaduka. Cf. Franklin Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammarand Dictionary, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1953, 2:162. -- PUBLISHER]

Avalokitesvara(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word: avalokita, "perceived," "seen"; Isvara, "lord"; hence "the Lord who isperceived or cognized," i.e., the spiritual entity, whether in the kosmos or in the human being, whoseinfluence is perceived and felt; the higher self. This is a term commonly employed in Buddhism, andconcerning which a number of intricate and not easily understood teachings exist. The esoteric or occultinterpretation, however, sees in Avalokitesvara what Occidental philosophy calls the Third Logos, bothcelestial and human. In the solar system it is the Third Logos thereof; and in the human being it is thehigher self, a direct and active ray of the divine monad. Technically Avalokitesvara is thedhyani-bodhisattva of Amitabha-Buddha -- Amitabha-Buddha is the kosmic divine monad of which thedhyani-bodhisattva is the individualized spiritual ray, and of this latter again the manushya-buddha orhuman buddha is a ray or offspring.

Avatar: A Sanskrit term, which in Hindu terminology is used properly in the meaning of “an incarnation of Vishnu.” Theosophists and other believers in occultism and esotericism use it in the general meaning of any divine incarnation. The word is frequently used also to denote one spiritually highly developed through many incarnations on the material plane of existence. (This is the meaning of the term in Rosicrucianism, in particular.)

Avatara(Sanskrit) ::: The noun-form derived from a compound of two words: ava, prepositional prefix meaning"down," and tri, verb-root meaning to "cross over," to "pass"; thus, avatri -- to "pass down," or to"descend." Hence the word signifies the passing down of a celestial energy or of an individualizedcomplex of celestial energies, which is equivalent to saying a celestial being, in order to overshadow andilluminate some human being -- but a human being who, at the time of such connection of "heaven withearth," of divinity with matter, possesses no karmically intermediate or connecting link between theovershadowing entity and the physical body: in other words, no human soul karmically destined to be theinner master of the body thus born.The intermediate link necessary, so that the human being-to-be may have the human intermediate orpsychological apparatus fit to express the invisible splendor of this celestial descent, is supplied by thedeliberate and voluntary entrance into the unborn child -- and coincidently with the overshadowing of thecelestial power -- of the psychological or intermediate principle of one of the Greater Ones, who thus"completes" what is to be the pure and lofty human channel through which the "descending" divinitymay manifest, this divinity finding in this high psychological principle a sufficiently evolved linkenabling it to express itself in human form upon earth.Hence an avatara is one who has a combination of three elements in his being: an inspiring divinity; ahighly evolved intermediate nature or soul, which is loaned to him and is the channel of that inspiringdivinity; and a pure, clean, physical body.

Avichi(Sanskrit) ::: A word, the general meaning of which is "waveless," having no waves or movement,suggesting the stagnation of life and being in immobility; it also means "without happiness" or "withoutrepose." A generalized term for places of evil realizations, but not of punishment in the Christian sense;where the will for evil, and the unsatisfied evil longings for pure selfishness, find their chance forexpansion -- and final extinction of the entity itself. Avichi has many degrees or grades. Nature has allthings in her; if she has heavens where good and true men find rest and peace and bliss, so has she otherspheres and states where gravitate those who must find an outlet for the evil passions burning within.They, at the end of their avichi, go to pieces and are ground over and over, and vanish away finally like ashadow before the sunlight in the air -- ground over in nature's laboratory. (See also Eighth Sphere)

Avidya: A Sanskrit term for ignorance. Unawareness of true reality.

Avidya(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word: a, "not"; vidya, "knowledge"; hence nonknowledge, ignorance -- perhaps abetter translation would be nescience -- ignorance or rather lack of knowledge of reality, produced byillusion or maya.

Avyakta: Sanskrit for unmanifested, undifferentiated; the uncaused cause of material or phenomenal existence.

Ayam atma brahma: Sanskrit for “this self is brahman.” A famous quotation from the Upanishads, alluding to the central theme of the Upanishads—the identity of the human and divine or cosmic.

azymous ::: a. --> Unleavened; unfermented. B () is the second letter of the English alphabet. (See Guide to Pronunciation, // 196, 220.) It is etymologically related to p, v, f, w and m , letters representing sounds having a close organic affinity to its own sound; as in Eng. bursar and purser; Eng. bear and Lat. ferre; Eng. silver and Ger. silber; Lat. cubitum and It. gomito; Eng. seven, Anglo-Saxon seofon, Ger. sieben, Lat. septem, Gr."epta`, Sanskrit saptan. The form of letter B is Roman, from Greek B (Beta), of Semitic

bahuvrihi ::: [in Sanskrit grammar: attributive compound].

Be-ness: In theosophist terminology, the equivalent of the Sanskrit word sat (q.v.).

Bhagavad Gita: Sanskrit for Song of the Divine One. The title of a celebrated philosophic epic poem, inserted in the Mahabharata (q.v.), containing a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, which clearly indicates the relationship between morality and absolute ethical values in the Hindu philosophy of action (Karma Yoga); it is considered to be one of the most influential philosophical poems of Sanskrit literature; the exact date of origin is unknown.

Bhagavan: Sanskrit for God; the word is used also for a few Sages considered to have achieved absolute one-ness with God.

Bhakta: Sanskrit for devotee.

Bhakti: Sanskrit for devotion. Worship, faith, religious devotion as a way of spiritual attainment.

Bhakti-marga: Sanskrit for path of devotion. The approach to spiritual perfection through loving devotion to God. (See: Bhakti yoga.)

Bhakti Yoga(Sanskrit) ::: A word derived from the verbal root bhaj. In connection with yoga and as being one of therecognized forms of it, the general signification of bhakti yoga is devotion, affectionate attachment. (Seealso Yoga)

Bhuta(s)(Sanskrit) ::: The past participle of the verb-root bhu, meaning "to be," or "to become"; hence bhutasliterally means "has beens" -- entities that have lived and passed on. The bhutas are "shells" from whichall that is spiritual and intellectual has fled: all that was the real entity has fled from this shell, and naughtis left but a decaying astral corpse. The bhutas are the spooks, ghosts, simulacra, reliquiae, of dead men;in other words, the astral dregs and remnants of human beings. They are the "shades" of the ancients, thepale and ghostly phantoms living in the astral world, or the astral copies of the men that were; and thedistinction between the bhuta and the kama-rupa is very slight.Bereft of all that pertains to the real entity, the genuine man, the bhuta is as much a corpse in the astralrealms as is the decaying physical body left behind at physical death; and consequently, astral orpsychical intercourse of any kind with these shells is productive only of evil. The bhutas, althoughbelonging in the astral world, are magnetically attracted to physical localities similar in type to theremnants of impulses still inhering in them. The bhuta of a drunkard is attracted to wine cellars andtaverns; the bhuta of one who has lived a lewd life is attracted to localities sympathetic to it; the thin andtenuous bhuta of a good man is similarly attracted to less obnoxious and evil places. All over the ancientworld and throughout most of even the modern world these eidola or "images" of dead men have beenfeared and dreaded, and relations of any kind with them have been consistently and universally avoided.(See also Eidolon)

Bija (sometimes Vija)(Sanskrit) ::: This word signifies "seed" or "life-germ," whether of animals or of plants. But esoterically itssignification is far wider and incomparably more abstruse, and therefore difficult to understand withoutproper study. The term is used in esotericism to designate the original or causal source and vahana or"vehicle" of the mystic impulse or urge of life, or of lives, to express itself or themselves when the timefor such self-expression arrives after a pralaya, or after an obscuration, or again, indeed, duringmanvantara. Whether it be a kosmos or universe, or the reappearance of god, deva, man, animal, plant,mineral, or elemental, the seed or life-germ from and out of which any one of these arises is technicallycalled bija, and the reference here is almost as much to the life-germ or vehicle itself as it is to theself-urge for manifestation working through the seed or life-germ. Mystically and psychologically, theappearance of an avatara, for instance, is due to an impulse arising in Maha-Siva, or in Maha-Vishnu(according to circumstances), to manifest a portion of the divine essence, in either case, when theappropriate world period arrives for the appearance of an avatara. Or again, when from the chela is bornthe initiate during the dread trials of initiation, the newly-arisen Master is said to have been born from themystic bija or seed within his own being. The doctrine connected with this word bija in its occult andesoteric aspects is far too profound to receive more than a cursory and superficial treatment.

biliteral ::: a. --> Consisting of two letters; as, a biliteral root of a Sanskrit verb. ::: n. --> A word, syllable, or root, consisting of two letters.

Bodhi(Sanskrit) ::: This word comes from the root budh, meaning "to awaken." It is the state when man has soemptied his mind that it is filled only with the self itself, with the selfless selfhood of the eternal. Then herealizes the ineffable visions of reality, of pure truth. The man who reaches this state is called a buddha,and the organ in and by which it is manifested, is termed buddhi.

Bodhisattva(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word: literally "he whose essence (sattva) has become intelligence (bodhi)." Asexplained exoterically, a bodhisattva means one who in another incarnation or in a few more incarnationswill become a buddha. A bodhisattva from the standpoint of the occult teachings is more than that. Whena man, a human being, has reached the state where his ego becomes conscious, fully so, of its innerdivinity, becomes clothed with the buddhic ray -- where, so to say, the personal man has put on thegarments of inner immortality in actuality, on this earth, here and now -- that man is a bodhisattva. Hishigher principles have nearly reached nirvana. When they do so finally, such a man is a buddha, a humanbuddha, a manushya-buddha. Obviously, if such a bodhisattva were to reincarnate, in the next incarnationor in a very few future incarnations thereafter, he would be a manushya-buddha. A buddha, in theesoteric teaching, is one whose higher principles can learn nothing more. They have reached nirvana andremain there; but the spiritually awakened personal man, the bodhisattva, the person made semi-divine touse popular language, instead of choosing his reward in the nirvana of a less degree, remains on earth outof pity and compassion for inferior beings, and becomes what is called a nirmanakaya. In a very mysticalpart of the esoteric philosophy, a bodhisattva is the representative on earth of a dhyani-buddha orcelestial buddha -- in other words, one who has become an incarnation or expression of his own divinemonad.

Bodhisattva: Sanskrit for existence in wisdom. In Buddhist terminology, one who has gone through the ten stages (dasa-bhumi —q.v.) to spiritual perfection and is qualified to enter Nirvana and become a Buddha, but prefers to remain a Buddha-to-be in order to work for the salvation and deification of all beings.

Brahma(Sanskrit) ::: A word of which the root, brih, means "expansion." It stands for the spiritualenergy-consciousness side of our solar universe, i.e., our solar system, and the Egg of Brahma is thatsolar system.A Day of Brahma or a maha-manvantara is composed of seven rounds, a period of 4,320,000,000terrestrial years; this period is also called a kalpa. A Night of Brahma, the planetary rest period, which isalso called the parinirvanic period, is of equal length.Seven Days of Brahma make one solar kalpa; or, in other words, seven planetary cycles, each cycleconsisting of seven rounds (or seven planetary manvantaras), form one solar manvantara.One Year of Brahma consists of 360 Divine Days, each day being the duration of a planet's life, i.e., of aplanetary chain of seven globes. The Life of Brahma (or the life of the universal system) consists of onehundred Divine Years, i.e., 4,320,000,000 years times 36,000 x 2.The Life of Brahma is half ended: that is, fifty of his years are gone -- a period of 155,520,000,000,000of our years have passed away since our solar system, with its sun, first began its manvantaric course.There remain, therefore, fifty more such Years of Brahma before the system sinks into rest or pralaya. Asonly half of the evolutionary journey is accomplished, we are, therefore, at the bottom of the kosmiccycle, i.e., on the lowest plane.

Brahmana(Sanskrit) ::: A word having several meanings in Hindu sacred literature. Brahmana is both noun andadjective, as noun signifying a member of the first of the four Vedic classes, and as adjective signifyingwhat belongs to a Brahmana or what is Brahmanical. Secondly, it signifies one of the portions of theVedic literature, containing rules for the proper usage of the mantras or hymns at sacrifices, explanationsin detail of what these sacrifices are, illustrated by legends and old stories.Another adjective with closely similar meaning is Brahma. An old-fashioned English way of spellingBrahmana is Brahmin.

Brahman(Sanskrit) ::: A word of which the root, brih, means "expansion." It is that part of the celestial being whichfirst initiates manifestation through the various Brahmas, the expansion of the one into the many. It iswhat is called the unmanifest Logos. It may also be called the impersonal and uncognizable principle ofthe universe, and must be sharply distinguished from the masculine Brahma of which there are many in auniverse.Note: In early theosophical literature, as well as in translations of the Hindu writings, Brahman issometimes spelled Brahma or even Brahm; but this should not be confused with Brahma. (See alsoParabrahman, Brahma)

Bruno, Giordano: (1548-1600) A Dominican monk, eventually burned at the stake because of his opinions, he was converted from Christianity to a naturalistic and mystical pantheism by the Renaissance and particularly by the new Copernican astronomy. For him God and the universe were two names for one and the same Reality considered now as the creative essence of all things, now as the manifold of realized possibilities in which that essence manifests itself. As God, natura naturans, the Real is the whole, the one transcendent and ineffable. As the Real is the infinity of worlds and objects and events into which the whole divides itself and in which the one displays the infinite potentialities latent within it. The world-process is an ever-lasting going forth from itself and return into itself of the divine nature. The culmination of the outgoing creative activity is reached in the human mind, whose rational, philosophic search for the one in the many, simplicity in variety, and the changeless and eternal in the changing and temporal, marks also the reverse movement of the divine nature re-entering itself and regaining its primordial unity, homogeneity, and changelessness. The human soul, being as it were a kind of boomerang partaking of the ingrowing as well as the outgrowing process, may hope at death, not to be dissolved with the body, which is borne wholly upon the outgoing stream, but to return to God whence it came and to be reabsorbed in him. Cf. Rand, Modern Classical Philosophers, selection from Bruno's On Cause, The Principle and the One. G. Bruno: De l'infinito, universo e mundo, 1584; Spaccio della bestia trionfante, 1584; La cena delta ceneri, 1584; Deglieroici furori, 1585; De Monade, 1591. Cf. R. Honigswald, Giordano Bruno; G. Gentile, Bruno nella storia della cultura, 1907. -- B.A.G.F. Brunschvicg, Leon: (1869-) Professor of Philosophy at the Ecole Normale in Paris. Dismissed by the Nazis (1941). His philosophy is an idealistic synthesis of Spinoza, Kant and Schelling with special stress on the creative role of thought in cultural history as well as in sciences. Main works: Les etapes de la philosophie mathematique, 1913; L'experience humaine et la causalite physique, 1921; De la connaissance de soi, 1931. Buddhism: The multifarious forms, philosophic, religious, ethical and sociological, which the teachings of Gautama Buddha (q.v.) have produced. They centre around the main doctrine of the catvari arya-satyani(q.v.), the four noble truths, the last of which enables one in eight stages to reach nirvana (q.v.): Right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. In the absence of contemporary records of Buddha and Buddhistic teachings, much value was formerly attached to the palm leaf manuscripts in Pali, a Sanskrit dialect; but recently a good deal of weight has been given also the Buddhist tradition in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. Buddhism split into Mahayanism and Hinayanism (q.v.), each of which, but particularly the former, blossomed into a variety of teachings and practices. The main philosophic schools are the Madhyamaka or Sunyavada, Yogacara, Sautrantika, and Vaibhasika (q.v.). The basic assumptions in philosophy are a causal nexus in nature and man, of which the law of karma (q.v.) is but a specific application; the impermanence of things, and the illusory notion of substance and soul. Man is viewed realistically as a conglomeration of bodily forms (rupa), sensations (vedana), ideas (sanjna), latent karma (sanskaras), and consciousness (vijnana). The basic assumptions in ethics are the universality of suffering and the belief in a remedy. There is no god; each one may become a Buddha, an enlightened one. Also in art and esthetics Buddhism has contributed much throughout the Far East. -- K.F.L.

Sanskrit: The ancient language of India, language of the Vedas and other sacred and classical texts of Hinduism; the linguistic ancestor of the mode prakritas or vernaculars.

Buddha(Sanskrit) ::: The past participle of the root budh, meaning "to perceive," "to become cognizant of," also "toawaken," and "to recover consciousness." It signifies one who is spiritually awakened, no longer living"the living death" of ordinary men, but awakened to the spiritual influence from within or from "above."When man has awakened from the living death in which ordinary mortals live, when he has cast off thetoils of both mind and flesh and, to use the old Christian term, has put on the garments of eternity, thenhe has awakened, he is a buddha. He has become one with -- not "absorbed" as is constantly translatedbut has become one with -- the Self of selves, with the paramatman, the Supreme Self. (See also Bodhi,Buddhi)A buddha in the esoteric teaching is one whose higher principles can learn nothing more in thismanvantara; they have reached nirvana and remain there. This does not mean, however, that the lowercenters of consciousness of a buddha are in nirvana, for the contrary is true; and it is this fact that enablesa Buddha of Compassion to remain in the lower realms of being as mankind's supreme guide andinstructor, living usually as a nirmanakaya.

Buddhi: A Sanskrit word meaning Universal Mind.

Buddhi(Sanskrit) ::: Buddhi comes from a Sanskrit root budh, commonly translated "to enlighten," but a bettertranslation is "to perceive," "to cognize," "to recover consciousness," hence "to awaken," and therefore"to understand." The second counting downwards, or the sixth counting upwards, of the seven principlesof man. Buddhi is the principle or organ in man which gives to him spiritual consciousness, and is thevehicle of the most high part of man -- the atman -- the faculty which manifests as understanding,judgment, discrimination, an inseparable veil or garment of the atman.From another point of view, buddhi may truly be said to be both the seed and the fruit of manas.Man's ordinary consciousness in life in his present stage of evolution is almost wholly in the lower orintermediate duad (manas-kama) of his constitution; when he raises his consciousness through personaleffort to become permanently one with the higher duad (atma-buddhi), he becomes a mahatma, a master.At the death of the human being, this higher duad carries away with it all the spiritual essence, all thespiritual and intellectual aroma, of the lower or intermediate duad. Maha-buddhi is one of the namesgiven to the kosmic principle mahat. (See also Alaya)

Buddhi-Taijasi: Sanskrit for radiant soul or mind. In occultism, it means the human soul or mind illuminated by the radiance of the Divine Spirit.

Caitanya: Sanskrit for consciousness or intelligence; the universal intelligence or spirit; a quality near the in-it-self aspect of the Absolute Spirit, and hence sometimes a synonym for it.

Chakra(Cakra, Sanskrit) ::: A word signifying in general a "wheel," and from this simple original meaning therewere often taken for occult and esoteric purposes a great many subordinate, very interesting, and in somecases highly mystical and profound derivatives. Chakra also means a cycle, a period of duration, inwhich the wheel of time turns once. It also means the horizon, as being circular or of a wheel-form. Itlikewise means certain centers or pranic spherical loci of the body in which are supposed to collectstreams of pranic energy of differing qualities, or pranic energies of different kinds. These physiologicalchakras, which are actually connected with the pranic circulations and ganglia of the auric egg, andtherefore function in the physical body through the intermediary of the linga-sarira or astral model-body,are located in different parts of the physical frame, reaching from the parts about the top of the skull tothe parts about the pubis. It would be highly improper, having at heart the best interests of humanity, togive the occult or esoteric teaching concerning the exact location, functions, and means of controlling thephysiological chakras of the human body; for it is a foregone conclusion that were this mysticalknowledge broadcast, it would be sadly misused, leading not only in many cases to death or insanity, butto the violation of every moral instinct. Alone the high initiates, who as a matter of fact have risen abovethe need of employing the physiological chakras, can use them at will, and for holy purposes -- which infact is something that they rarely, if indeed they ever do.

Chat: Sanskrit for physical body.

Chela: Sanskrit for disciple. (Cf. accepted chela.)

Chhaya(Chaya, Sanskrit) ::: Literally a "shade," "simulacrum," or "copy." In the esoteric philosophy, the wordsignifies the astral image of a person, and with this idea are bound up some of the most intricate andrecondite teachings of human evolution. The Secret Doctrine of H. P. Blavatsky contains manyinvaluable hints as to the part played by the chhayas of the pitris in human development.It is a word also which is applied with similar meaning to kosmical matters, for the esoteric studentshould never forget the ancient maxim of Hermes: "What is above is the same as what is below; what isbelow is the same as what is above."Briefly, then, and so far as human evolution is concerned, the chhaya may be called the astral body orimage.

Chit: Sanskrit for consciousness; intelligence.

Daiviprakriti(Sanskrit) ::: A compound signifying "divine" or "original evolver," or "original source," of the universe orof any self-contained or hierarchical portion of such universe, such as a solar system. Briefly, therefore,daiviprakriti may be called "divine matter," matter here being used in its original sense of "divinemother-evolver" or "divine original substance."Now, as original substance manifests itself in the kosmic spaces as primordial kosmic light -- light inoccult esoteric theosophical philosophy being a form of original matter or substance -- many mysticshave referred to daiviprakriti under the phrase "the Light of the Logos." Daiviprakriti is, in fact, the firstveil or sheath or ethereal body surrounding the Logos, as pradhana or prakriti surrounds Purusha orBrahman in the Sankhya philosophy, and as, on a scale incomparably more vast, mulaprakriti surroundsparabrahman. As daiviprakriti, therefore, is elemental matter, or matter in its sixth and seventh stagescounting from physical matter upwards or, what comes to the same thing, matter in its first and secondstages of its evolution from above, we may accurately enough speak of those filmy ethereal wisps of lightseen in the midnight skies as a physical manifestation of daiviprakriti, because when they are not actuallyresolvable nebulae, they are worlds, or rather systems of worlds, in the making.When daiviprakriti has reached a certain state or condition of evolutionary manifestation, we mayproperly speak of it under the term fohat. Fohat, in H. P. Blavatsky's words, is"The essence of cosmic electricity. An occult Tibetan term for Daivi-prakriti, primordiallight: and in the universe of manifestation the ever-present electrical energy and ceaselessdestructive and formative power. Esoterically, it is the same, Fohat being the universalpropelling Vital Force, at once the propeller and the resultant." -- Theosophical Glossary, p.121All this is extremely well put, but it must be remembered that although fohat is the energizing powerworking in and upon manifested daiviprakriti, or primordial substance, as the rider rides the steed, it isthe kosmic intelligence, or kosmic monad as Pythagoras would say, working through both daiviprakritiand its differentiated energy called fohat, which is the guiding and controlling principle, not only in thekosmos but in every one of the subordinate elements and beings of the hosts of multitudes of theminfilling the kosmos. The heart or essence of the sun is daiviprakriti working as itself, and also in itsmanifestation called fohat, but through the daiviprakriti and the fohatic aspect of it runs the all-permeantand directive intelligence of the solar divinity. The student should never make the mistake, however, ofdivorcing this guiding solar intelligence from its veils or vehicles, one of the highest of which isdaiviprakriti-fohat.

Darshan: Sanskrit for sight. When a Hindu spiritual leader allows his disciples to enjoy the gift of his presence, he is said to “give them darshan.” The word is used also in the meaning philosophical system or doctrine.

Dasa-bhumi: Sanskrit for ten stages. In Buddhist terminology, the ten stages of the spiritual development of a Bodhisattva (q.v.) toward Buddhahood. Each school of Buddhism has its own dasa-bhumi, but the most widely accepted set in Mahayana Buddhism is that set forth in the Dasa-bhumi Sastra, viz.: (1) The Stage of Joy, in which the Bodhisattva develops his holy nature and discards wrong views; (2) the Stage of Purity, in which he attains the Perfection of Morality; (3) the Stage of Illumination, in which he attains the Perfection of Patience or Humility, and also the deepest introspective insight; (4) the Stage of Flaming Wisdom, in which he achieves the Perfection of Meditation and realizes the harmony of the Worldly Truth and the Supreme Truth; (5) the Stage of Presence, in which he achieves the Perfection of Wisdom; (7) the Stage of Far-going, in which he attains the Perfection of Expediency by going afar and to save all beings; (8) the Stage of Immovability, in which he attains the Perfection of Vow and realizes the principle that all specific characters of elements (dharmas) are unreal; (9) the Stage of Good Wisdom, in which he achieves the Perfection of Effort, attains the Ten Holy Powers, and preaches both to the redeemable and the unredeemable; (10) the Stage of the Cloud of the Law, in which he attains mastery of Perfect Knowledge and preaches the Law to save all creatures, “like the cloud drops rain over all.”

devabhasa ::: [the language of the gods, applied to the Sanskrit language].

Deva: Sanskrit for radiant being. In the Vedic mythology and occult terminology, a celestial being, a god, a malignant supernatural entity or an indifferent supernatural being. The general designation for God in Hinduism. In Zoroastrianism, the name of the evil spirits opposed to Ahura Mazda. In Buddhism, a hero or demigod.

Devachan: A Sanskrit term for the intermediate state between two subsequent incarnations.

Devachan[Tibetan, bde-ba-can, pronounced de-wa-chen] ::: A translation of the Sanskrit sukhavati, the "happy place"or god-land. It is the state between earth-lives into which the human entity, the human monad, enters andthere rests in bliss and repose.When the second death after that of the physical body takes place -- and there are many deaths, that is tosay many changes of the vehicles of the ego -- the higher part of the human entity withdraws into itselfall that aspires towards it, and takes that "all" with it into the devachan; and the atman, with the buddhiand with the higher part of the manas, become thereupon the spiritual monad of man. Devachan as a stateapplies not to the highest or heavenly or divine monad, but only to the middle principles of man, to thepersonal ego or the personal soul in man, overshadowed by atma-buddhi. There are many degrees indevachan: the highest, the intermediate, and the lowest. Yet devachan is not a locality, it is a state, a stateof the beings in that spiritual condition.Devachan is the fulfilling of all the unfulfilled spiritual hopes of the past incarnation, and anefflorescence of all the spiritual and intellectual yearnings of the past incarnation which in that pastincarnation have not had an opportunity for fulfillment. It is a period of unspeakable bliss and peace forthe human soul, until it has finished its rest time and stage of recuperation of its own energies.In the devachanic state, the reincarnating ego remains in the bosom of the monad (or of the monadicessence) in a state of the most perfect and utter bliss and peace, reviewing and constantly reviewing, andimproving upon in its own blissful imagination, all the unfulfilled spiritual and intellectual possibilitiesof the life just closed that its naturally creative faculties automatically suggest to the devachanic entity.Man here is no longer a quaternary of substance-principles (for the second death has taken place), but isnow reduced to the monad with the reincarnating ego sleeping in its bosom, and is therefore a spiritualtriad. (See also Death, Reincarnating Ego)

Devadatta: Sanskrit for god-given; in Yoga, that one of the five vital airs (vayu) of the body which performs the function of yawning.

Devanagari: Literally, the letters of the gods; the characters of the Sanskrit script.

devanagari ::: n. --> The character in which Sanskrit is written.

devanagari ::: [the name of the script (the one used in this glossary) in which Sanskrit is usually written].

Deva(s)(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning celestial being, of which there are various classes. This has been a greatpuzzle for most of our Occidental Orientalists. They cannot understand the distinctions that thewonderful old philosophers of the Orient make as regards the various classes of the devas. They say, insubstance: "What funny contradictions there are in these teachings, which in many respects are profoundand seem wonderful. Some of these devas or divine beings are said to be less than man; some of thesewritings even say that a good man is nobler than any god. And yet other parts of these teachings declarethat there are gods higher even than the devas, and yet are called devas. What does this mean?"The devas or celestial beings, one class of them, are the unself-conscious sparks of divinity, cyclingdown into matter in order to bring out from within themselves and to unfold or evolve self-consciousness,the svabhava of divinity within. They then begin their reascent always on the luminous arc, which neverends, in a sense; and they are gods, self-conscious gods, henceforth taking a definite and divine part inthe "great work," as the mystics have said, of being builders, evolvers, leaders of hierarchies. In otherwords, they are monads which have become their own innermost selves, which have passed thering-pass-not separating the spiritual from the divine.

Dhanamjaya: A Sanskrit term, literally meaning prize-winner; in Yoga, that one of the five vital airs (vayu) of the outer body which performs the function of hiccuping.

Dharana(Sanskrit) ::: A state in the practice of yoga as taught in Hindustan when the mind or percipient intelligenceis held with inflexible firmness, with fortitude of soul, and with indomitable resolution upon the object ofinvestigation to be attained through this form of yoga practice. (See also Samadhi)

Dharma(Sanskrit) ::: A noun derived from the verbal root dhri. The meaning is right religion, right philosophy, rightscience, and the right union of these three; hence the Law per se. It also means equity, justice, conduct,duty, and similar things. It has also a secondary meaning of an essential or characteristic quality orpeculiarity; and here its significance approaches closely to that of svabhava. The duty of a man, forinstance, is his dharma, that which is set or prescribed or natural to him to do.

Dharma: Sanskrit for law; when used in the metaphysical or esoteric sense, it means those universal laws of Nature that sustain the operation of the Universe and the manifestations of all things; when applied to the individual, it has reference to that code of conduct that sustains the soul, and produces virtue, morality, or religious merit leading toward the development of man.

Dharmakaya(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound of two words meaning the "continuance body," sometimes translatedequally well (or ill) the "body of the Law" -- both very inadequate expressions, for the difficulty intranslating these extremely mystical terms is very great. A mere correct dictionary-translation oftenmisses the esoteric meaning entirely, and just here is where Occidental scholars make such ludicrouserrors at times.The first word comes from the root dhri, meaning "to support," "to sustain," "to carry," "to bear," hence"to continue"; also human laws are the agencies supposed to carry, support, sustain, civilization; thesecond element, kaya, means "body." The noun thus formed may be rendered the "body of the Law," butthis phrase does not give the idea at all. It is that spiritual body or state of a high spiritual being in whichthe restricted sense of soulship and egoity has vanished into a universal (hierarchical) sense, and remainsonly in the seed, latent -- if even so much. It is pure consciousness, pure bliss, pure intelligence, freedfrom all personalizing thought.In the Buddhism of Central Asia, the dharmakaya is the third and highest of the trikaya. The trikayaconsists of (1) nirmanakaya, (2) sambhogakaya, and (3) dharmakaya. We may look upon these threestates, all of them lofty and sublime, as being three vestures in which the consciousness of the entityclothes itself. In the dharmakaya vesture the initiate is already on the threshold of nirvana, if not indeedalready in the nirvanic state. (See also Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya)

dhatu ::: Sanskrit verbal root. dhatu

Dhyana(Sanskrit) ::: A term signifying profound spiritualintellectual contemplation with utter detachment from allobjects of a sensuous and lower mental character. In Buddhism it is one of the six paramitas ofperfection. One who is adept or expert in the practice of dhyana, which by the way is a wonderfulspiritual exercise if the proper idea of it be grasped, is carried in thought entirely out of all relations withthe material and merely psychological spheres of being and of consciousness, and into lofty spiritualplanes. Instead of dhyana being a subtraction from the elements of consciousness, it is rather a throwingoff or casting aside of the crippling sheaths of ethereal matter which surround the consciousness, thusallowing the dhyanin, or practicer of this form of true yoga, to enter into the highest parts of his ownconstitution and temporarily to become at one with and, therefore, to commune with the gods. It is atemporary becoming at one with the upper triad of man considered as a septenary, in other words, withhis monadic essence. Man's consciousness in this state or condition becomes purely buddhi, or ratherbuddhic, with the highest parts of the manas acting as upadhi or vehicle for the retention of what theconsciousness therein experiences. From this term is drawn the phrase dhyani-chohans ordhyani-buddhas -- words so frequently used in theosophical literature and so frequently misconceived asto their real meaning. (See also Samadhi)

Dhyana: Sanskrit for meditation or the full accord of thinker and thought without interference and without being merged as yet; the seventh of the eight stages of Yoga.

Dravya: Sanskrit for substance, which is the foundation of the universe and is resolved into nine Eternal Realities, viz. (1) Earth (Prthivi), (2) Water (Apas), (3) Fire (Tejas), (4) Air (Vayu), (5) Ether (Akasha), (6) Time (Kala), (7) Space (Dik), (8) Soul (Atman), (9) Mind (Manas).

Dvaita: Sanskrit for dualism; that school of Hindu philosophy which denies that the Ultimate Principle (Brahman) is the cause of the world, and contends that the soul is a separate principle having an independent existence of its own, and is only associated with the Ultimate Principle.

dvandva (Dwandwa) ::: 1. a pair (of contraries). ::: 2. [Sanskrit grammar: the dual compound].

Dwapara yuga: Sanskrit name of the third age (yuga) of a manvantara; a fourth less righteous than the preceding one, and lasting 864,000 of our years (two-tenths of the entire manvantara ).

Ekagrata or Ekagratva(Sanskrit) ::: A term signifying "onepointedness" or "absolute intentness" in the mental contemplation of anobject of meditation. The perfect concentration of the percipient mind on a single point of thought, andthe holding of it there.

Ekam adwaitam: Sanskrit for the One without a second; the famous definition of God in the Chandogya Upanishad.

Etheric double: In occult terminology, the invisible vehicle of the soul, the manifestation of physical vitality; it is constant and does not change throughout the cycles of life and death, but it is not eternal, for it is eventually re-absorbed into the elements of which it is composed. It is considered the invisible part of the physical body, extending slightly beyond the latter and able to combine with other subtle substance. Also called vital body or, in Sanskrit, lingasharira.

Evolution ::: As the word is used in theosophy it means the "unwrapping," "unfolding," "rolling out" of latent powersand faculties native to and inherent in the entity itself, its own essential characteristics, or more generallyspeaking, the powers and faculties of its own character: the Sanskrit word for this last conception issvabhava. Evolution, therefore, does not mean merely that brick is added to brick, or experience merelytopped by another experience, or that variation is superadded on other variations -- not at all; for thiswould make of man and of other entities mere aggregates of incoherent and unwelded parts, without anessential unity or indeed any unifying principle.In theosophy evolution means that man has in him (as indeed have all other evolving entities) everythingthat the cosmos has because he is an inseparable part of it. He is its child; one cannot separate man fromthe universe. Everything that is in the universe is in him, latent or active, and evolution is the bringingforth of what is within; and, furthermore, what we call the surrounding milieu, circumstances -- nature, touse the popular word -- is merely the field of action on and in which these inherent qualities function,upon which they act and from which they receive the corresponding reaction, which action and reactioninvariably become a stimulus or spur to further manifestations of energy on the part of the evolvingentity.There are no limits in any direction where evolution can be said to begin, or where we can conceive of itas ending; for evolution in the theosophical conception is but the process followed by the centers ofconsciousness or monads as they pass from eternity to eternity, so to say, in a beginningless and endlesscourse of unceasing growth.Growth is the key to the real meaning of the theosophical teaching of evolution, for growth is but theexpression in detail of the general process of the unfolding of faculty and organ, which the usual wordevolution includes. The only difference between evolution and growth is that the former is a generalterm, and the latter is a specific and particular phase of this procedure of nature.Evolution is one of the oldest concepts and teachings of the archaic wisdom, although in ancient days theconcept was usually expressed by the word emanation. There is indeed a distinction, and an importantone, to be drawn between these two words, but it is a distinction arising rather in viewpoint than in anyactual fundamental difference. Emanation is a distinctly more accurate and descriptive word fortheosophists to use than evolution is, but unfortunately emanation is so ill-understood in the Occident,that perforce the accepted term is used to describe the process of interior growth expanding into andmanifesting itself in the varying phases of the developing entity. Theosophists, therefore, are, strictlyspeaking, rather emanationists than evolutionists; and from this remark it becomes immediately obviousthat the theosophist is not a Darwinist, although admitting that in certain secondary or tertiary senses anddetails there is a modicum of truth in Charles Darwin's theory adopted and adapted from the FrenchmanLamarck. The key to the meaning of evolution, therefore, in theosophy is the following: the core of everyorganic entity is a divine monad or spirit, expressing its faculties and powers through the ages in variousvehicles which change by improving as the ages pass. These vehicles are not physical bodies alone, butalso the interior sheaths of consciousness which together form man's entire constitution extending fromthe divine monad through the intermediate ranges of consciousness to the physical body. The evolvingentity can become or show itself to be only what it already essentially is in itself -- therefore evolution isa bringing out or unfolding of what already preexists, active or latent, within. (See also Involution)

Fohat ::: An extremely mystical term used in the occultism of Tibet for what in Sanskrit is called daiviprakriti,which means "divine nature" or "primordial nature," and which also can be called "primordial light." Inone sense of the word fohat may be considered as almost identical with the old mystical Greek eros, butfohat as a technical term contains within itself a far wider range of ideas than does the Greek term.Fohat may be considered as the essence of kosmic electricity, provided, however, that in this definitionwe endow the term electricity with the attribute of consciousness; or, to put it more accurately, providedthat we understand that the essence of electricity is indeed consciousness. It is ever-present and activefrom the primordial beginnings of a manvantara to its last end, nor does it then actually pass out ofexistence, but becomes quiescent or latent as it were, sleeping or dormant during the kosmic pralaya. Inone sense of the word it may be called kosmic will, for the analogy with the conscious will in humanbeings is exceedingly close. It is the incessantly active, ever-moving, impelling or urging force in nature,from the beginning of the evolution of a universe or of a solar system to its end.H. P. Blavatsky, quoting one of the ancient mystically occult works, says in substance: "Fohat is thesteed and thought is the rider." If, however, we liken fohat to what the conscious will is in the humanbeing, we must then think only of the lower or substantial parts -- the pranic activities -- of the humanwill, for behind the substantial parts stands always the directing and guiding consciousness. Fohat beingincessantly active is therefore both formative and destructive, because it is through the ceaseless workingof fohat that unending change continues -- the passing of one phase of manifested existence to anotherphase, whether this manifested existence be a solar system or a planetary chain or a globe or humanbeing or, indeed, any entity.Fohat is as active among the electrons of an atom and among the atoms themselves as it is among thesuns. In one sense it may be called the vital force of the universe, corresponding from this viewpoint tothe pranic activity on all the seven planes of the human constitution.

From time immemorial (some scholars say 8000 years before the Christian era) India has been the land of spiritual knowledge and practice, of the discovery of the Supreme Reality and union with it. It is the country that has practised concentration most and best. The methods, called Yoga in Sanskrit, that are taught and used in this country are countless. Some are merely material, others purely intellectual, others religious and devotional; lastly, some of them combine these various processes in order to achieve a more integral result.

Garbha: Sanskrit for seed. The creative power that lies at the bottom of the world, hypostatized in or symbolized by the germ or seed. In cosmologico-metaphysical conception it is allied to such termini technici as hiranyagarbha (golden germ), bija (seed), retas (semen), yoni (womb), anda (egg, world-egg), jan (to give birth to), srj (to pour out), etc., descriptive of psycho-cosmogony from the earliest days of Indian philosophy.

gayatri mantra. ::: a sacred Sanskrit mantra or hymn from the Rigveda invoking the solar powers of evolution and enlightenment, recited daily by hindus of the three upper castes for the unfoldment of the intellectual powers leading to enlightenment

Gayatri or Savitri(Sanskrit) ::: A verse of the Rig-Veda (iii.62.10) which from immemorial time in India has been surroundedwith the attributes of quasi-divinity. The Sanskrit words of this verse are: Tat savitur varenyam bhargodevasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. Every orthodox Brahmana is supposed to repeat this archaichymn, at least mentally, at both his morning and evening religious exercises or devotions. A translationin explanatory paraphrase, giving the essential esoteric meaning of the Gayatri or Savitri, is thefollowing: "Oh thou golden sun of most excellent splendor, illumine our hearts and fill our minds, so thatwe, recognizing our oneness with the Divinity which is the heart of the universe, may see the pathwaybefore our feet, and tread it to those distant goals of perfection, stimulated by thine own radiant light."

gayatri. :::the name for a Sanskrit poetical meter that contains three lines of eight syllables each

gita &

Glossary of Sanskrit Terms in Integral Yoga Literature ::: http://www.miraura.org/lit/skgl.html

guna ::: 1. quality, character, property. ::: 2. the three gunas: the three modes of nature: sattva, rajas, tamas. ::: 3. [in Sanskrit grammar]: vowel modification.

Guna: A Sanskrit term denoting a quality or basic attribute of the Cosmic Substance (prakriti). The three gunas of prakriti are: sattva, rajas and tamas (q.v.).

guna ::: n. --> In Sanskrit grammar, a lengthening of the simple vowels a, i, e, by prefixing an a element. The term is sometimes used to denote the same vowel change in other languages.

Gunas or Trigunas(Sanskrit) ::: Differentiated matter is considered to possess or to have in occult philosophy three essentialqualities or characteristics inherent in it, and their Sanskrit names are sattva, rajas, and tamas. These threeare the gunas or trigunas.

Gupta Vidya: Sanskrit for esoteric knowledge.

Guru(Sanskrit) ::: Sometimes gurudeva, "master divine." The word used in the old Sanskrit scriptures forteacher, preceptor. According to the beautiful teachings of the ancient wisdom, the guru acts as themidwife bringing to birth, helping to bring into the active life of the chela, the spiritual and intellectualparts of the disciple -- the soul of the man. Thus the relationship between teacher and disciple is anextremely sacred one, because it is a tie which binds closely heart to heart, mind to mind. The idea is,again, that the latent spiritual potencies in the mind and heart of the learner shall receive such assistancein their development as the teacher can karmically give; but it does not mean that the teacher shall do thework that the disciple himself or herself must do. The learner or disciple must tread his own path, and theteacher cannot tread it for him. The teacher points the way, guides and aids, and the disciple follows thepath.

Guru-parampara(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound formed of guru, meaning "teacher," and a subordinate compoundparam-para, the latter compound meaning "a row or uninterrupted series or succession." Henceguru-parampara signifies an uninterrupted series or succession of teachers. Every Mystery school oresoteric college of ancient times had its regular and uninterrupted series or succession of teachersucceeding teacher, each one passing on to his successor the mystical authority and headship he himselfhad received from his predecessor.Like everything else of an esoteric character in the ancient world, the guru-parampara or succession ofteachers faithfully copied what actually exists or takes place in nature herself, where a hierarchy with itssummit or head is immediately linked on to a superior hierarchy as well as to an inferior one; and it is inthis manner that the mystical circulations of the kosmos, and the transmission of life or vital currentsthroughout the fabric or web of being is assured.From this ancient fact and teaching of the Mystery schools came the greatly distorted ApostolicSuccession of the Christian Church, a pale and feeble reflection in merely ecclesiastical government of afundamental spiritual and mystical reality. The great Brotherhood of the sages and seers of the world,which in fact is the association of the Masters of Wisdom and Compassion headed by the Maha-chohan,is the purest and most absolute form or example of the guru-parampara existing on our earth today. (Seealso Hermetic Chain)

Guru: The Sanskrit term for spiritual leader or teacher.

hindi ::: n. --> The name given by Europeans to that form of the Hindustani language which is chiefly spoken by native Hindoos. In employs the Devanagari character, in which Sanskrit is written.

Hiranyagarbha: Sanskrit for golden germ. The Cosmic Intelligence or Soul of the Universe. (See: World Soul.)

Hotar: Sanskrit for caller. Priest-magicians who invoke the gods by reciting ritual formulas and improvised chants.

Indian Aesthetics: Art in India is one of the most diversified subjects. Sanskrit silpa included all crafts, fine art, architecture and ornament, dancing, acting, music and even coquetry. Behind all these endeavors is a deeprooted sense of absolute values derived from Indian philosophy (q.v.) which teaches the incarnation of the divine (Krsna, Shiva, Buddha), the transitoriness of life (cf. samsara), the symbolism and conditional nature of the phenomenal (cf. maya). Love of splendour and exaggerated greatness, dating back to Vedic (q.v.) times mingled with a grand simplicity in the conception of ultimate being and a keen perception and nature observation. The latter is illustrated in examples of verisimilous execution in sculpture and painting, the detailed description in a wealth of drama and story material, and the universal love of simile. With an urge for expression associated itself the metaphysical in its practical and seemingly other-worldly aspects and, aided perhaps by the exigencies of climate, yielded the grotesque as illustrated by the cave temples of Ellora and Elephanta, the apparent barbarism of female ornament covering up all organic beauty, the exaggerated, symbol-laden representations of divine and thereanthropic beings, a music with minute subdivisions of scale, and the like. As Indian philosophy is dominated by a monistic, Vedantic (q.v.) outlook, so in Indian esthetics we can notice the prevalence of an introvert unitary, soul-centric, self-integrating tendency that treats the empirical suggestively and by way of simile, trying to stylize the natural in form, behavior, and expression. The popular belief in the immanence as well as transcendence of the Absolute precludes thus the possibility of a complete naturalism or imitation. The whole range of Indian art therefore demands a sharing and re-creation of absolute values glimpsed by the artist and professedly communicated imperfectly. Rules and discussions of the various aspects of art may be found in the Silpa-sastras, while theoretical treatments are available in such works as the Dasarupa in dramatics, the Nrtya-sastras in dancing, the Sukranitisara in the relation of art to state craft, etc. Periods and influences of Indian art, such as the Buddhist, Kushan, Gupta, etc., may be consulted in any history of Indian art. -- K.F.L.

Indian Philosophy: General name designating a plethora of more or less systematic thinking born and cultivated in the geographic region of India among the Hindus who represent an amalgamation of adventitious and indigenous peoples, but confined at first exclusively to the caste-conscious Indo-germanic conquerors of the lands of the Indus and Ganges. Its beginnings are lost in the dim past, while a distinct emergence in tangible form is demonstrable from about 1000 B.C. Hindu idiosyncrasies are responsible for our inability to date with any degree of accuracy many of the systems, schools, and philosophers, or in some cases even to refer to the latter by name. Inasmuch as memory, not writing, has been universally favored in India, an aphoristic form (cf. sutra), subtended by copious commentaries, give Indian Philosophy its distinctive appearance. The medium is Sanskrit and the dialects derived from it. There are translations in all major Asiatic and European languages. The West became familiar with it when philologists discovered during last century the importance of Sanskrit. As a type of thinking employing unfamiliar conceptions and a terminology fluctuating in meaning (cf., e.g., rasa), it is distinct from Western speculations. Several peaks have been reached in the past, yet Indian Philosophy does not cease to act fructifyingly upon the present mind in India as elsewhere. Various factions advance conflicting claims as to the value of Indian speculation, because interpretations have not as yet become standardized. Textual criticism is now making strides, but with varying successes. Among larger histories of Indian Philosophy may be mentioned those of Deussen, Das Gupta, Bel-valkar and Ranade, and Radhakrishnan.

indo-germanic ::: a. --> Same as Aryan, and Indo-European.
Pertaining to or denoting the Teutonic family of languages as related to the Sanskrit, or derived from the ancient Aryan language.


Initiates ::: Those who have passed at least one initiation and therefore those who understand the mystery-teachingsand who are ready to receive them at some future time in even larger measure. Please note the distinctionbetween initiant and initiate. An initiant is one who is beginning or preparing for an initiation. An initiateis one who has successfully passed at least one initiation. It is obvious therefore that an initiate is alwaysan initiant when he prepares for a still higher initiation.The mystery-teachings were held as the most sacred treasure or possession that men could transmit totheir descendants who were worthy postulants. The revelation of these mystery-doctrines under the sealof initiation, and under proper conditions to worthy depositaries, worked marvelous changes in the livesof those who underwent successfully the initiatory trials. It made men different from what they werebefore they received this spiritual and intellectual revelation. The facts are found in all the old religionsand philosophies, if these are studied honestly. Initiation was always spoken of under the metaphor orfigure of speech of "a new birth," a "birth into truth," for it was a spiritual and intellectual rebirth of thepowers of the human spirit-soul, and could be called in all truth a birth of the soul into a loftier andnobler self-consciousness. When this happened, such men were called "initiates" or the reborn. In India,such reborn men were anciently called dvija, a Sanskrit word meaning "twice-born." In Egypt suchinitiates or reborn men were called "Sons of the Sun." In other countries they were called by other names.

instrumental ::: a. --> Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business.
Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, esp. a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music.
Applied to a case expressing means or agency; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit as a separate case, but in


intuition ::: direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process. intuition"s, intuitions, half-intuition.

Sri Aurobindo: "Intuition is a power of consciousness nearer and more intimate to the original knowledge by identity; for it is always something that leaps out direct from a concealed identity. It is when the consciousness of the subject meets with the consciousness in the object, penetrates it and sees, feels or vibrates with the truth of what it contacts, that the intuition leaps out like a spark or lightning-flash from the shock of the meeting; or when the consciousness, even without any such meeting, looks into itself and feels directly and intimately the truth or the truths that are there or so contacts the hidden forces behind appearances, then also there is the outbreak of an intuitive light; or, again, when the consciousness meets the Supreme Reality or the spiritual reality of things and beings and has a contactual union with it, then the spark, the flash or the blaze of intimate truth-perception is lit in its depths. This close perception is more than sight, more than conception: it is the result of a penetrating and revealing touch which carries in it sight and conception as part of itself or as its natural consequence. A concealed or slumbering identity, not yet recovering itself, still remembers or conveys by the intuition its own contents and the intimacy of its self-feeling and self-vision of things, its light of truth, its overwhelming and automatic certitude.” *The Life Divine

   "Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light; it is in us a projecting blade, edge or point of a far-off supermind light entering into and modified by some intermediate truth-mind substance above us and, so modified, again entering into and very much blinded by our ordinary or ignorant mind-substance; but on that higher level to which it is native its light is unmixed and therefore entirely and purely veridical, and its rays are not separated but connected or massed together in a play of waves of what might almost be called in the Sanskrit poetic figure a sea or mass of ``stable lightnings"". When this original or native Intuition begins to descend into us in answer to an ascension of our consciousness to its level or as a result of our finding of a clear way of communication with it, it may continue to come as a play of lightning-flashes, isolated or in constant action; but at this stage the judgment of reason becomes quite inapplicable, it can only act as an observer or registrar understanding or recording the more luminous intimations, judgments and discriminations of the higher power. To complete or verify an isolated intuition or discriminate its nature, its application, its limitations, the receiving consciousness must rely on another completing intuition or be able to call down a massed intuition capable of putting all in place. For once the process of the change has begun, a complete transmutation of the stuff and activities of the mind into the substance, form and power of Intuition is imperative; until then, so long as the process of consciousness depends upon the lower intelligence serving or helping out or using the intuition, the result can only be a survival of the mixed Knowledge-Ignorance uplifted or relieved by a higher light and force acting in its parts of Knowledge.” *The Life Divine

  "I use the word ‘intuition" for want of a better. In truth, it is a makeshift and inadequate to the connotation demanded of it. The same has to be said of the word ‘consciousness" and many others which our poverty compels us to extend illegitimately in their significance.” *The Life Divine - Sri Aurobindo"s footnote.

"For intuition is an edge of light thrust out by the secret Supermind. . . .” The Life Divine

". . . intuition is born of a direct awareness while intellect is an indirect action of a knowledge which constructs itself with difficulty out of the unknown from signs and indications and gathered data.” The Life Divine

"Intuition is above illumined Mind which is simply higher Mind raised to a great luminosity and more open to modified forms of intuition and inspiration.” Letters on Yoga

"Intuition sees the truth of things by a direct inner contact, not like the ordinary mental intelligence by seeking and reaching out for indirect contacts through the senses etc. But the limitation of the Intuition as compared with the supermind is that it sees things by flashes, point by point, not as a whole. Also in coming into the mind it gets mixed with the mental movement and forms a kind of intuitive mind activity which is not the pure truth, but something in between the higher Truth and the mental seeking. It can lead the consciousness through a sort of transitional stage and that is practically its function.” Letters on Yoga


“Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light; it is in us a projecting blade, edge or point of a far-off supermind light entering into and modified by some intermediate truth-mind substance above us and, so modified, again entering into and very much blinded by our ordinary or ignorant mind-substance; but on that higher level to which it is native its light is unmixed and therefore entirely and purely veridical, and its rays are not separated but connected or massed together in a play of waves of what might almost be called in the Sanskrit poetic figure a sea or mass of ``stable lightnings’’. When this original or native Intuition begins to descend into us in answer to an ascension of our consciousness to its level or as a result of our finding of a clear way of communication with it, it may continue to come as a play of lightning-flashes, isolated or in constant action; but at this stage the judgment of reason becomes quite inapplicable, it can only act as an observer or registrar understanding or recording the more luminous intimations, judgments and discriminations of the higher power. To complete or verify an isolated intuition or discriminate its nature, its application, its limitations, the receiving consciousness must rely on another completing intuition or be able to call down a massed intuition capable of putting all in place. For once the process of the change has begun, a complete transmutation of the stuff and activities of the mind into the substance, form and power of Intuition is imperative; until then, so long as the process of consciousness depends upon the lower intelligence serving or helping out or using the intuition, the result can only be a survival of the mixed Knowledge-Ignorance uplifted or relieved by a higher light and force acting in its parts of Knowledge.” The Life Divine

Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light; it is in us a projecting blade, edge or point of a far-off supermind light entering into andmodified by some intermediate truth-mind substance above us and, so modified, again entering into and very much blinded by our ordinary or ignorant mind substance; but on that higher level to which it is native its light is unmixed and th
   refore entirely and purely veridical, and its rays are not separated but connected or massed together in a play of waves of what might almost be called in the Sanskrit poetic figure a sea or mass of stable lightnings.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 983


Involution ::: The reverse process or procedure of evolution. As evolution means the unfolding, the unwrapping, therolling forth, of what already exists and is latent, so involution means the inwrapping, the infolding, theingoing of what previously exists or has been unfolded, etc. Involution and evolution never in anycircumstances can be even conceived of properly as operative the one apart from the other: every act ofevolution is an act of involution, and vice versa. To illustrate, as spirit and matter are fundamentally oneand yet eternally coactive and interactive, so involution and evolution are two names for two phases ofthe same procedure of growth, and are eternally coactive and interactive. As an example, the so-calleddescent of the monads into matter means an involution or involving or infolding of spiritual potenciesinto material vehicles which coincidently and contemporaneously, through the compelling urge of theinfolding energies, unfold their own latent capacities, unwrap them, roll them forth; and this is theevolution of matter. Thus what is the involution of spirit is contemporaneously and pari passu theevolution of matter. Contrariwise, on the ascending or luminous arc when the involved monadic essencesbegin to rise towards their primordial spiritual source they begin to unfold or unwrap themselves aspreviously on the descending arc they had infolded or inwrapped themselves. But this process ofunfolding or evolution of the monadic essences is contemporaneous with and pari passu with theinfolding and inwrapping, the involution, of the material energies and powers.Human birth and death are outstanding illustrations or examples of the same thing. The child is born, andas it grows to its full efflorescence of power it evolves or rolls forth certain inherent characteristics orenergies or faculties, all derived from the human being's svabhava or ego. Contrariwise, when the declineof human life begins, there is a slow infolding or inwrapping of these same facilities which thus seemgradually to diminish. These facilities and energies thus evolved forth in earth-life are the working of theinnate spiritual and intellectual and psychical characteristics impelling and compelling the vehicular orbody sides of the human constitution to express themselves as organs becoming more and more perfectas the child grows to maturity.After death the process is exactly the reverse. The material or vehicular side of the being grows less andless strong and powerful, more and more involved, and becoming with every step in the process moredormant. But contemporaneously and coincidently the distinctly spiritual and intellectual powers andfaculties themselves become released from the vehicles and begin to expand into ever largerefflorescence, attaining their maximum in the devachan. It is only the usual carelessness in accuratethinking that induces the idea that evolution is one distinct process acting alone, and that involution -about which by the way very little is heard -- is another process acting alone. The two, as said above, arethe two phases of activity of the evolving monads, and these phases exist contemporaneously at anymoment, each of the two phases continually acting and interacting with the other phase. They areinseparable.Just so with spirit and matter. Spirit is not something radically distinct from and utterly separate frommatter. The two are fundamentally one, and the two are eternally coactive and interactive.There are several terms in Sanskrit which correspond to what the theosophist means by evolution, butperhaps the best general term is pravritti, meaning to "revolve" or to "roll forwards," to unroll or tounwrap. Again, the reverse procedure or involution can probably best be expressed in Sanskrit by theterm nivritti, meaning "rolling backwards" or "inwrapping" or "infolding." A term which is frequentlyinterchangeable with evolution is emanation. (See also Evolution)

Ishwara: Sanskrit for independent being. The personalized God, first stage in the manifestation of Brahman. Ishwara manifests himself in three aspects: Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer.

Isvara(Sanskrit) ::: Isvara means "lord," and is a term which is frequently applied in Hindu mythology not only tokosmic divinities, but to the expression of the cosmic spirit in the human being. Consequently, whenreference is had to the individual human being, Isvara is the divine individualized spirit in man -- man'sown personal god. It may be otherwise described as the divine ego, the child of the divine monad in aman, and in view of this fact also could be used with reference to the dhyani-buddha or to the immanentChrist in a man. In India it is a title frequently given to Siva and other gods of the Hindu pantheon.

Jaggannath: Sanskrit for lord of the world. A variant name of Vishnu, the Preserver, under which he is worshipped in Puri. The most notable feature of his worship is the “car festival,” in which a great car bearing a huge image of Jaggannath is hauled by thousands of worshippers from his temple to the Garden House, some four miles away. In former days, many worshipers would hurl themselves under the huge wheels, to be crushed to death. (Also called Juggernaut.)

Jagrat(Sanskrit) ::: The state of consciousness when awake, as opposed to svapna, the dreaming-sleeping state ofconsciousness, and different again from sushupti when the human consciousness is plunged intoprofound self-oblivion. The highest of all the states into which the consciousness may cast itself, or becast, is the turiya ("fourth"), which is the highest state of samadhi, and is almost a nirvanic condition.All these states or conditions of the consciousness are affections or phases of the constitution of man, andof beings constructed similarly to man. The waking state, or jagrat, is the state or condition ofconsciousness normal to the imbodied human being when not asleep. Svapna is the state ofconsciousness more or less freed from the sheath of the body and partially awake in the astral realms,higher or lower as the case may be. Sushupti is the state of self-oblivion into which the human being isplunged when the percipient consciousness enters into the purely manasic condition, which isself-oblivion for the relatively impotent brain-mind; whereas the turiya state, which is a practicalannihilation of the ordinary human consciousness, is an attainment of union with atma-buddhiovershadowing or working through the higher manas. Actually, therefore, it is becoming at one with themonadic essence.

Japa: Sanskrit for invocation.

Jiva: A Sanskrit term for the principle of life, the individual soul as distinguished from the Universal Soul (purusha).

Jiva(Sanskrit) ::: This is a word meaning essentially a living being per se, apart from any attributes or qualitiesthat such living being may have or possess. It therefore is the exactly proper equivalent of thetheosophical term monad. In one sense, therefore, jiva could be also used for a life-atom, provided thatthe emphasis be laid on the word life, or rather life-entity -- not an "atom of life," but a being whoseessence is pure living individuality. Monad in its divine-spiritual essence, and life-atom in itspranic-astral-physical being -- such is a jiva; and between these two extremes are the numerous planes orsheaths on and in which the individualized consciousness works.

Jivanmukta: A Sanskrit term, denoting one who has attained salvation while in this present life: all but a remainder of prarabdha karma has been neutralized and no new karma is accumulated in virtue of the person’s having gained insight, jnana (q.v.).

Jivanmukta(Sanskrit) ::: A highly mystical and philosophical word which means "a freed jiva," signifying a humanbeing, or an entity equivalent in evolutionary development to a human being, who has attained freedomor release as an individualized monad from the enthralling chains and attractions of the material spheres.A jivanmukta is not necessarily without body; and, as a matter of fact, the term is very frequentlyemployed to signify the loftiest class of initiates or Adepts who through evolution have risen above thebinding attractions or magnetism of the material spheres. The term is frequently used for a mahatma,whether imbodied or disimbodied, and also occasionally as a descriptive term for a nirvani -- one whohas reached nirvana during life. Were the nirvani "without body," the mystical and technical meaning ofjivanmukta would hardly apply. Consequently, jivanmukta may briefly be said to be a human being wholives in the highest portions of his constitution in full consciousness and power even during earth-life.

Jivatman(Sanskrit) ::: An expressive word having much the same significance as jiva, but with emphasis laid uponthe last element of the compound, atman, "self." Jivatman is perhaps a better term for monad even thanjiva is, because it carries the clear idea of the monad in which the individual self is predominant over allother monadic attributes. One may perhaps describe it by a paraphrase as "the essential self orindividuality of the monad."Jivatman is also a term sometimes used for the universal life; but this definition, while correct in a way,is rather confusing because suggesting similarity if not identity with paramatman. Paramatman is theBrahman or universal spirit of a solar system, for instance; and paramatman is therefore the convergingpoint of a kosmic consciousness in which all the hosts of jivatmans unite as in their hierarchical head.The jivatmans of any hierarchy are like the rays from the paramatman, their divine-spiritual sun. Thejivatman, therefore, in the case of the human being, or indeed of any other evolving entity, is the spiritualmonad, or better perhaps the spiritual ego of that monad.

Jnana: Sanskrit for knowledge or spiritual enlightenment.

Jnana-marga: Sanskrit for path of knowledge. The approach to spiritual perfection through spiritual knowledge and understanding.

Jnanendriya: A Sanskrit term for one of the five indriyas (q.v.) of knowledge, the cognitive senses or powers of hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting.

Jnani: Sanskrit for savant—said of a man who has acquired full spiritual enlightenment.

Kadambari ::: name of a Sanskrit prose romance by Ban.a (7th century A.D.)..Kailasa

Kalpa(Sanskrit) ::: This word comes from a verb-root klrip, meaning "to be in order"; hence a "period of time," ora "cycle of time." Sometimes a kalpa is called the period of a mahamanvantara -- or "great manvantara"-- after which the globes of a planetary chain no longer go into obscuration or repose, as they periodicallydo, but die utterly. A kalpa is also called a Day of Brahma, and its length is 4,320,000,000 years. Sevenrounds form a Day of Brahma, or a planetary manvantara. (See also Brahma, Manvantara)Seven planetary manvantaras (or planetary cycles, each cycle consisting of seven rounds) form one solarkalpa (or solar manvantara), or seven Days of Brahma -- a week of Brahma.The difficulty that many Western students have had in understanding this word lies in the fact that it isunavoidably a "blind," because it does not apply with exclusive meaning to the length of one time periodalone. Like the English word age, or the English phrase time period, the word kalpa may be used forseveral different cycles. There is likewise the maha-kalpa or "great kalpa," which frequently is the namegiven to the vast time period contained in a complete solar manvantara or complete solar pralaya.

Kama(Sanskrit) ::: "Desire"; the fourth substance-principle of which man's constitution is composed. Kama is thedriving or impelling force in the human constitution; per se it is colorless, neither good nor bad, and isonly such as the mind and soul direct its use. It is the seat of the living electric impulses, desires,aspirations, considered in their energic aspect. Usually however, although there is a divine kama as wellas an infernal one, this word is restricted, and wrongly so, to evil desire almost exclusively.

Kama-Loka(Sanskrit) ::: A compound which can be translated as "desire world," which is accurate enough, but onlyslightly descriptive. It is a semi-material plane or rather world or realm, subjective and invisible tohuman beings as a rule, which surrounds and also encloses our physical globe. It is the habitat ordwelling-place of the astral forms of dead men and other dead beings -- the realm of the kama-rupas ordesire-bodies of defunct humans. "It is the Hades," as H. P. Blavatsky says, "of the ancient Greeks, andthe Amenti of the Egyptians, the land of Silent Shadows."It is in the kama-loka that the second death takes place, after which the freed upper duad of the humanbeing that was enters the devachan. The highest regions of the kama-loka blend insensibly into the lowestregions or realms of the devachan; and, conversely, the grossest and lowest regions of the kama-lokablend insensibly into the highest regions of the avichi.When the physical body breaks up at death, the astral elements of the excarnate entity remain in thekama-loka or "shadow world," with the same vital centers as in physical life clinging within them, stillvitalizing them; and here certain processes take place. The lower human soul that is befouled withearth-thought and the lower instincts cannot easily rise out of the kama-loka, because it is foul, it isheavy; and its tendency is consequently downwards. It is in the kama-loka that the processes ofseparation of the monad from the kama-rupic spook or phantom take place; and when this separation iscomplete, which is the second death above spoken of, then the monad receives the reincarnating egowithin its bosom, wherein it enjoys its long rest of bliss and recuperation. If, contrariwise, the entity inthe kama-loka is so heavy with evil and is so strongly attracted to earth spheres that the influence of themonad cannot withdraw the reincarnating ego from the kama-rupa, then the latter with its befouled soulsinks lower and lower and may even enter the avichi. If the influence of the monad succeeds, as it usuallydoes, in bringing about the second death, then the kama-rupa becomes a mere phantom or kama-rupicspook, and begins instantly to decay and finally vanishes away, its component life-atoms pursuing eachone the road whither its attractions draw it.

Kama-loka: The Sanskrit name of the semi-material plane which is the dwelling place of the Kama Rupa (q.v.).

Kama Rupa: A Sanskrit term used in metaphysics and esoteric philosophy to designate a subjective, astral form which lives on after the death of the physical body; an eidolon. The Kama Rupa is believed to fade away and disintegrate gradually, although necromantic practices and ardent wishes of surviving kin may draw it back into the terrestrial sphere and extend its existence, causing it to become a vampire which feeds on the life force of those who called it back.

Kama-Rupa(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word signifying "desire body." It is that part of man's inner constitution in whichdwell or inhere the various desires, affections, hates, loves -- in short, the various mental and psychicalenergies. After death it becomes the vehicle in the astral worlds of the higher principles of the man thatwas. But these higher principles are nevertheless scarcely conscious of the fact, because the rupture ofthe golden cord of life at the moment of the physical death plunges the cognizing personal entity into amerciful stupor of unconsciousness, in which stupor it remains a longer or shorter period depending uponits qualities of spirituality or materiality. The more spiritual the man was the longer the period ofmerciful unconsciousness lasts, and vice versa.After death, as has been frequently stated elsewhere, there occurs what is called the second death, whichis the separation of the immortal part of the second or intermediate duad from the lower portions of thisduad, which lower portions remain as the kama-rupa in the etheric or higher astral spheres which areintermediate between the devachanic and the earthly spheres. In time this kama-rupa gradually fades outin its turn, its life-atoms at such dissolution passing on to their various and unceasing peregrinations.It is this kama-rupa which legend and story in the various ancient world religions or philosophies speakof as the shade, and which it has been customary in the Occident to call the spook or ghost. It is, in short,all the mortal elements of the human soul that was. The kama-rupa is an exact astral duplicate, inappearance and mannerism, of the man who died; it is his eidolon or "image." (See also Second Death)

Karana-Sarira(Sanskrit) ::: A compound signifying "cause body" or "causal body," the instrument or principle or causalelement in man's constitution, and inferentially in the constitution of any other reimbodying entity, whichbrings about not merely the reproduction in imbodied form of such entity, but likewise its evolutionduring a manvantara through an unending series of reimbodiments. (See also Karanopadhi)

Karanopadhi(Sanskrit) ::: A compound meaning the "causal instrument" or "instrumental cause" in the long series ofreimbodiments to which human and other reimbodying entities are subject. Upadhi, the second elementof this compound, is often translated as "vehicle"; but while this definition is accurate enough for popularpurposes, it fails to set forth the essential meaning of the word which is rather "disguise," or certainnatural properties or constitutional characteristics supposed to be the disguises or clothings or masks inand through which the spiritual monad of man works, bringing about the repetitive manifestations uponearth of certain functions and powers of this monad, and, indeed, upon the other globes of the planetarychain; and, furthermore, intimately connected with the peregrinations of the monad through the variousspheres and realms of the solar kosmos. In one sense of the word, therefore, karanopadhi is almostinterchangeable with the thoughts set forth under the term maya, or the illusory disguises through whichspirit works, or rather through which spiritual monadic entities work and manifest themselves.Karanopadhi, as briefly explained under the term "causal body," is dual in meaning. The first and moreeasily understood meaning of this term shows that the cause bringing about reimbodiment is avidya,nescience rather than ignorance; because when a reimbodying entity through repeated reimbodiments inthe spheres of matter has freed itself from the entangling chains of the latter, and has risen intoself-conscious recognition of its own divine powers, it thereby shakes off the chains or disguises of mayaand becomes what is called a jivanmukta. It is only imperfect souls, or rather monadic souls, speaking ina general way, which are obliged by nature's cyclic operations and laws to undergo the repetitivereimbodiments on earth and elsewhere in order that the lessons of self-conquest and mastery over all theplanes of nature may be achieved. As the entity advances in wisdom and knowledge, and in the acquiringof self-conscious sympathy for all that is, in other words, as it grows more and more like unto itsdivine-spiritual counterpart, the less is it subject to avidya. It is, in a sense, the seeds of kama-manas leftin the fabric or being of the reincarnating entity, which act as the karana or reproducing cause, orinstrumental cause, of such entity's reincarnations on earth.The higher karanopadhi, however, although in operation similar to the lower karanopadhi, orkarana-sarira just described, nevertheless belongs to the spiritual-intellectual part of man's constitution,and is the reproductive energy inherent in the spiritual monad bringing about its re-emergence after thesolar pralaya into the new activities and new series of imbodiments which open with the dawn of thesolar manvantara following upon the solar pralaya just ended. This latter karanopadhi or karana-sarira,therefore, is directly related to the element-principle in man's constitution called buddhi -- a veil, as itwere, drawn over the face or around the being of the monadic essence, much as prakriti surroundsPurusha, or pradhana surrounds Brahman, or mulaprakriti surrounds and is the veil or disguise or sakti ofparabrahman. Hence, in the case of man, this karanopadhi or causal disguise or vehicle corresponds in ageneral way to the buddhi-manas, or spiritual soul, in which the spiritual monad works and manifestsitself.It should be said in passing that the doctrine concerning the functions and operations of buddhi in thehuman constitution is extremely recondite, because in buddhi lie the causal impulses or urges bringingabout the building of the constitution of man, and which, when the latter is completed, and when formingman as a septenary entity, express themselves as the various strata or qualities of the auric egg.Finally, the karana-sarira, the karanopadhi or causal body, is the vehicular instrumental form orinstrumental body-form, produced by the working of what is perhaps the most mysterious principle orelement, mystically speaking, in the constitution not only of man, but of the universe -- the verymysterious spiritual bija.The karanopadhi, the karana-sarira or causal body, is explained with minor differences of meaning invarious works of Hindu philosophy; but all such works must be studied with the light thrown upon themby the great wisdom-teaching of the archaic ages, esoteric theosophy. The student otherwise runs everyrisk of being led astray.I might add that the sushupti state or condition, which is that of deep dreamless sleep, involving entireinsensibility of the human consciousness to all exterior impressions, is a phase of consciousness throughwhich the adept must pass, although consciously pass in his case, before reaching the highest state ofsamadhi, which is the turiya state. According to the Vedanta philosophy, the turiya (meaning "fourth") isthe fourth state of consciousness into which the full adept can self-consciously enter and wherein hebecomes one with the kosmic Brahman. The Vedantists likewise speak of the anandamaya-kosa, whichthey describe as being the innermost disguise or frame or vehicle surrounding the atmic consciousness.Thus we see that the anandamaya-kosa and the karana-sarira, or karanopadhi, and the buddhi inconjunction with the manasic ego, are virtually identical.The author has been at some pains to set forth and briefly to develop the various phases of occult andesoteric theosophical thought given in this article, because of the many and various misunderstandingsand misconceptions concerning the nature, characteristics, and functions of the karana-sarira or causalbody.

Karma: Sanskrit for action or deed. In Hinduism and occult philosophy, the dynamic manifestation of mental and physical energy in deeds, speech or thought which inevitably produces a good, evil or indifferent effect, according as the action is good, evil or indifferent, and the effect itself becomes the cause of further effects. Thus karma is the law of physical causation or cause and effect, the unmitigated law of retribution, working with equal precision in good and evil thoughts and deeds, thus determining the nature and circumstances of man’s future incarnation. Thus karma is (1) action-energy, past or present, latent or manifest, actual or potential; (2) a self-operating law of cause and effect and retribution; (3) the entity of the individual or of the universe carried along in the series of the Wheel of Life (samsara ).

karmadharaya ::: [in Sanskrit grammar: the appositional compound].

Karma(Karman, Sanskrit) ::: This is a noun-form coming from the root kri meaning "to do," "to make." Literallykarma means "doing," "making," action. But when used in a philosophical sense, it has a technicalmeaning, and this technical meaning can best be translated into English by the word consequence. Theidea is this: When an entity acts, he acts from within; he acts through an expenditure in greater or lessdegree of his own native energy. This expenditure of energy, this outflowing of energy, as it impactsupon the surrounding milieu, the nature around us, brings forth from the latter perhaps an instantaneousor perhaps a delayed reaction or rebound. Nature, in other words, reacts against the impact; and thecombination of these two -- of energy acting upon nature and nature reacting against the impact of thatenergy -- is what is called karma, being a combination of the two factors. Karma is, in other words,essentially a chain of causation, stretching back into the infinity of the past and therefore necessarilydestined to stretch into the infinity of the future. It is unescapable, because it is in universal nature, whichis infinite and therefore everywhere and timeless; and sooner or later the reaction will inevitably be feltby the entity which aroused it.It is a very old doctrine, known to all religions and philosophies, and since the renascence of scientificstudy in the Occident has become one of the fundamental postulates of modern coordinated knowledge.If you toss a pebble into a pool, it causes ripples in the water, and these ripples spread and finally impactupon the bank surrounding the pool; and, so modern science tells us, the ripples are translated intovibrations, which are carried outward into infinity. But at every step of this natural process there is acorresponding reaction from every one and from all of the myriads of atomic particles affected by thespreading energy.Karma is in no sense of the word fatalism on the one hand, nor what is popularly known as chance, onthe other hand. It is essentially a doctrine of free will, for naturally the entity which initiates a movementor action -- spiritual, mental, psychological, physical, or other -- is responsible thereafter in the shape ofconsequences and effects that flow therefrom, and sooner or later recoil upon the actor or prime mover.Since everything is interlocked and interlinked and interblended with everything else, and no thing andno being can live unto itself alone, other entities are of necessity, in smaller or larger degree, affected bythe causes or motions initiated by any individual entity; but such effects or consequences on entities,other than the prime mover, are only indirectly a morally compelling power, in the true sense of the wordmoral.An example of this is seen in what the theosophist means when he speaks of family karma as contrastedwith one's own individual karma; or national karma, the series of consequences pertaining to the nationof which he is an individual; or again, the racial karma pertaining to the race of which the individual is anintegral member. Karma cannot be said either to punish or to reward in the ordinary meaning of theseterms. Its action is unerringly just, for being a part of nature's own operations, all karmic actionultimately can be traced back to the kosmic heart of harmony which is the same thing as saying pureconsciousness-spirit. The doctrine is extremely comforting to human minds, inasmuch as man may carvehis own destiny and indeed must do so. He can form it or deform it, shape it or misshape it, as he wills;and by acting with nature's own great and underlying energies, he puts himself in unison or harmonytherewith and therefore becomes a co-worker with nature as the gods are.

Karma-marga: Sanskrit for path of action. The term applied in Hindu philosophy to the approach to God and spiritual perfection through selfless and harmonious actions (cf. Karma; karma yoga).

kavi ::: seer; poet (in classical Sanskrit the word is applied to any maker of verse or even of prose, but in the Veda it meant the poet-seer who saw and found the inspired word of his vision). ::: kavayah [plural] ::: kavibhih [instrumental plural]

Kevala: Sanskrit for alone. A predicate or synonym of the Absolute in its unitary, free, autonomous, all-inclusive and universal aspect. The condition or state of being absolute and independent is kevalatva; one who meditates or has attained personal experience of it, is a kevalin.

Khe-Chara(Khecara, Sanskrit) ::: "Ether-goer" or sometimes rendered as "sky-walker." The name used in the mysticaland philosophical literature of Hindustan to signify one of the siddhis or psychospiritual powers thatbelong to yogis of advanced grade, or to initiates. It is, in fact, nothing more than what in Tibet is calledhpho-wa, the projection of the mayavi-rupa to any part of the earth's surface or, indeed, farther than that,and the doing of this at will.

Kosa: Sanskrit for sheath. One of the envelopes of the soul or self concealing its real nature, which is pure consciousness. The Vedanta knows three: the anandamaya, vijnanamaya, and annamaya kosas, i.e., the sheaths of pleasure, intellect, and food, composing respectively the karana, suksma, and sthula sharira, meaning the causal, subtle, and gross frame or body.

Kshatriya(Sanskrit) ::: The warrior, the administrator, the king, the prince, in short, the world of officialdom, etc.; thesecond of the four grades or classes, social and political, of the early civilizations of Hindustan in theVedic Period. (See also Brahmana, Vaisya, Sudra)

kumara (kumara) ::: a youth, young man; prince; (on page 399, referkumara ring to a sortilege consisting of the title Dasakumaracaritam, "The Adventures of the Ten Princes", a Sanskrit work by Dan.d.in) interpreted to mean purus.a in the sense of an evolutionary type.

Kumbhaka(Sanskrit) ::: An extremely dangerous practice belonging to the hatha yoga system. It consists in retainingthe breath by shutting the mouth and holding the nostrils closed with the fingers of the right hand. Allthese breathing exercises of whatever kind are attended with the utmost physiological danger to thosewho attempt to practice them, unless under the skilled guidance of a genuine Adept; and their practice isvirtually forbidden, at least in the first few degrees, to all chelas of genuinely occult or esoteric schools.Indeed, except in rare instances, and for extraordinary reasons, the chela of a true Master of Wisdom willhave no need to practice these hatha yoga exercises, for the whole purpose of esoteric training is toevolve forth the faculties and powers of the inner divinity, and not to gain minor and often misleadingpowers of small range which are occasionally acquired by following the hatha yoga physiologic andphysical practices.

Kundalini or Kundalini-Sakti(Sanskrit) ::: A term whose essential meaning is "circular" or "winding" or "spiral" or "coiling" action, orrather energy, and signifies a recondite power in the human constitution. Kundalini-sakti is derivative ofone of the elemental forces of nature. It works in and through, in the case of man, his auric egg, andexpresses itself in continuous action in many of the most familiar phenomena of existence even whenman himself is unconscious of it. In its higher aspect Kundalini is a power or force following winding orcircular pathways carrying or conveying thought and force originating in the higher triad. Abstractly, inthe case of man it is of course one of the fundamental energies or qualities of the pranas. Unskilled orunwise attempts to interfere with its normal working in the human body may readily result in insanity ormalignant or enfeebling disease.

Laya-Center ::: A "point of disappearance" -- which is the Sanskrit meaning. Laya is from the Sanskrit root li, meaning"to dissolve," "to disintegrate," or "to vanish away." A laya-center is the mystical point where a thingdisappears from one plane and passes onwards to reappear on another plane. It is that point or spot -- anypoint or spot -- in space, which, owing to karmic law, suddenly becomes the center of active life, first ona higher plane and later descending into manifestation through and by the laya-centers of the lowerplanes. In one sense a laya-center may be conceived of as a canal, a channel, through which the vitalityof the superior spheres pours down into, and inspires, inbreathes into, the lower planes or states ofmatter, or rather of substance. But behind all this vitality there is a directive and driving force. There aremechanics in the universe, mechanics of many degrees of consciousness and power. But behind the puremechanic stands the spiritual-intellectual mechanician.Finally, a laya-center is the point where substance rebecomes homogeneous. Any laya-center, therefore,of necessity exists in and on the critical line or stage dividing one plane from another. Any hierarchy,therefore, contains within itself a number of laya-centers. (See also Hierarchy)

Linga-Sarira(Sanskrit) ::: Linga is a word which means "characteristic mark," hence "model," "pattern." Sarira, "form,"from a verb-root sri, meaning "to molder" or "to waste away," the word thus signifying "impermanence."The sixth substance-principle, counting downwards, of which man's constitution is composed. Themodel-body, popularly called astral body, because it is but slightly more ethereal than the physical body,and is in fact the model or framework around which the physical body is builded, and from which, in asense, the physical body flows or develops as growth proceeds.At death the linga-sarira or model-body remains in the astral realms and finally fades out, dissolving paripassu, atom by atom, with the atoms of the physical corpse. These astral realms are not one single plane,but a series of planes growing gradually more ethereal or spiritual as they approach the inward spheres ofnature's constitution or structure. The linga-sarira is formed before the body is formed, and thus serves asa model or pattern around which the physical body is molded and grows to maturity; it is as mortal as isthe physical body, and disappears with the physical body.

Lingasharira: Sanskrit name of the etheric double (q.v.).

Lipika(s)(Sanskrit) ::: This word comes from the verb-root lip, meaning "to write"; hence the word lipikas means the"scribes." Mystically, they are the celestial recorders, and are intimately connected with the working ofkarma, of which they are the agents. They are the karmic "Recorders or Annalists, who impress on the (tous) invisible tablets of the Astral Light, 'the great picture-gallery of eternity,' a faithful record of everyact, and even thought, of man [and indeed of all other entities and things], of all that was, is, or ever willbe, in the phenomenal Universe" (The Secret Doctrine 1:104).Their action although governed strictly by kosmic consciousness is nevertheless rigidly automatic, fortheir work is as automatic as is the action of karma itself. They are entities as a matter of fact, but entitieswhich work and act with the rigid automatism of the kosmic machinery, rather than like the engineer whosupervises and changes the running of his engines. In one sense they may perhaps better be called kosmicenergies -- a most difficult matter to describe.

. . logos (drashta logos) [Sanskrit and Greek] ::: a term used in 1920, equivalent to the seer logistis of the previous year; same as revelatory logistis or full revelatory ideality.

Loka(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "place" or "locality" or, as much more frequently used in theosophy, a"world" or "sphere" or "plane."The lokas are divided into rupa-lokas and arupa-lokas -- "material worlds" and "spiritual spheres." Thereis a wide range of teaching connected with the lokas and talas which belongs to the deeper reaches of theesoteric philosophy. (See also Arupa, Rupa, Tala)

Lunar Pitri(s) ::: Lunar of course means "belonging to the moon," while pitri is a Sanskrit word meaning "father." It is aterm used in theosophy to signify the seven or ten grades of evolving entities which at the end of thelunar manvantara pass into a nirvanic state, to leave it aeons later as the seven or tenfold hierarchy ofbeings which inform the planetary chain of earth. In a general sense lunar pitris means all entities whichoriginally came from the moon-chain to the earth-chain; but in a more particular and restricted sense itrefers to those elements of the human constitution beneath the evolutionary standing of the agnishvattas.Another term for lunar pitris is lunar ancestors or barhishads. These lunar ancestors are usually given asof seven classes, three being arupa, incorporeal, and four being rupa or corporeal. There is a vast body ofteaching connected with the lunar pitris, of which the best modern exposition thus far given is to befound in H. P. Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine. Briefly, the earth-chain including our own globe Terrawas populated from the moon-chain, because all entities now on earth, whatever their grade in evolution,came from the chain of the moon. (See also Pitris, Agnishvattas)

Magha ::: the name of a classical Sanskrit author, writer of the epic Magha Śisupalavadha.

Mahat(Sanskrit) ::: This word means "great." Mahat is a technical term in the Brahmanic system, and is the"father-mother" of manas; it is the "mother" of the manasaputras or sons of mind, or that element fromwhich they spring, that element which they breathe and of which they are the children. In the Sankhyaphilosophy -- one of the six darsanas or "visions," i.e., systems of philosophical visioning of ancientIndia -- mahat is a term that corresponds to kosmic buddhi, but more accurately perhaps to maha-buddhi.

Mahatma: Sanskrit for great soul. An adept of occult sciences and arts who has attained the highest degree of esoteric knowledge. In theosophical terminology, the name is applied to a class of great ones, “elder brothers,” “masters of wisdom and compassion,” living in India and Tibet, who, because of their sympathy for mankind, have renounced the privilege of continuing further their spiritual evolution, to help others who are less advanced than they themselves.

Mahatma(Mahatman, Sanskrit) ::: "Great soul" or "great self" is the meaning of this compound word (maha, "great";atman, "self"). The mahatmas are perfected men, relatively speaking, known in theosophical literature asteachers, elder brothers, masters, sages, seers, and by other names. They are indeed the "elder brothers"of mankind. They are men, not spirits -- men who have evolved through self-devised efforts in individualevolution, always advancing forwards and upwards until they have now attained the lofty spiritual andintellectual human supremacy that now they hold. They were not so created by any extra-cosmic Deity,but they are men who have become what they are by means of inward spiritual striving, by spiritual andintellectual yearning, by aspiration to be greater and better, nobler and higher, just as every good man inhis own way so aspires. They are farther advanced along the path of evolution than the majority of menare. They possess knowledge of nature's secret processes, and of hid mysteries, which to the average manmay seem to be little short of the marvelous -- yet, after all, this mere fact is of relatively smallimportance in comparison with the far greater and more profoundly moving aspects of their nature andlifework.Especially are they called teachers because they are occupied in the noble duty of instructing mankind, ininspiring elevating thoughts, and in instilling impulses of forgetfulness of self into the hearts of men.Also are they sometimes called the guardians, because they are, in very truth, the guardians of the raceand of the records -- natural, racial, national -- of past ages, portions of which they give out from time totime as fragments of a now long-forgotten wisdom, when the world is ready to listen to them; and theydo this in order to advance the cause of truth and of genuine civilization founded on wisdom andbrotherhood.Never -- such is the teaching -- since the human race first attained self-consciousness has this order orassociation or society or brotherhood of exalted men been without its representatives on our earth.It was the mahatmas who founded the modern Theosophical Society through their envoy or messenger,H. P. Blavatsky, in New York in 1875.

Mahat: Short for mahatattva, meaning in Sanskrit great principle. The Cosmic Intelligence, the first motion that arises in the supreme ideal universe, the first departure from the original condition, the first product of the Cosmic Substance (prakriti).

Mahayana Buddhism: "Great Vehicle Buddhism", the Northern, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese form of Buddhism (q.v.), extending as far as Korea and Japan, whose central theme is that Buddhahood means devotion to the salvation of others and thus manifests itself in the worship of Buddha and Bodhisattvas (q.v.). Apart from absorbing beliefs of a more primitive strain, it has also evolved metaphysical and epistemological systems, such as the Sunya-vada (q.v.) and Vijnana-vada (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Mahayana Buddhism: “Great Vehicle Buddhism,” the Northern, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese form of Buddhism (q.v.), extending as far as Korea and Japan, whose central theme is that Buddhahood means devotion to the salvation of others and thus manifests itself in the worship of Buddha and Bodhisattvas (q.v.). Apart from absorbing beliefs of a more primitive strain, it has also evolved metaphysical and epistemological systems, such as the Sunya-vada (q.v.) and Vijnana-vada (q.v.).

Mahayuga: Sanskrit for great age; the manvantara (q.v.).

mahratta ::: n. --> One of a numerous people inhabiting the southwestern part of India. Also, the language of the Mahrattas; Mahrati. It is closely allied to Sanskrit. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to the Mahrattas.

Manasaputra(s)(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound word: manas, "mind," putra, "son" -- "sons of mind." The teaching is thatthere exists a Hierarchy of Compassion, which H. P. Blavatsky sometimes called the Hierarchy of Mercyor of Pity. This is the light side of nature as contrasted with its matter side or shadow side, its night side.It is from this Hierarchy of Compassion that came those semi-divine entities at about the middle periodof the third root-race of this round, who incarnated in the semi-conscious, quasi-senseless men of thatperiod. These advanced entities are otherwise known as the solar lhas as the Tibetans call them, the solarspirits, who were the men of a former kalpa, and who during the third root-race thus sacrificedthemselves in order to give us intellectual light -- incarnating in those senseless psychophysical shells inorder to awaken the divine flame of egoity and self-consciousness in the sleeping egos which we thenwere. They are ourselves because belonging to the same spiritray that we do; yet we, more strictlyspeaking, were those halfunconscious, half-awakened egos whom they touched with the divine fire oftheir own being. This, our "awakening," was called by H. P. Blavatsky, the incarnation of themanasaputras, or the sons of mind or light. Had that incarnation not taken place, we indeed should havecontinued our evolution by merely "natural" causes, but it would have been slow almost beyondcomprehension, almost interminable; but that act of self-sacrifice, through their immense pity, theirimmense love, though, indeed, acting under karmic impulse, awakened the divine fire in our own selves,gave us light and comprehension and understanding. From that time we ourselves became "sons of thegods," the faculty of self-consciousness in us was awakened, our eyes were opened, responsibilitybecame ours; and our feet were set then definitely upon the path, that inner path, quiet, wonderful,leading us inwards back to our spiritual home.The manasaputras are our higher natures and, paradoxical as it is, are more largely evolved beings thanwe are. They were the spiritual entities who "quickened" our personal egos, which were thus evolved intoself-consciousness, relatively small though that yet be. One, and yet many! As you can light an infinitenumber of candles from one lighted candle, so from a spark of consciousness can you quicken andenliven innumerable other consciousnesses, lying, so to speak, in sleep or latent in the life-atoms.These manasaputras, children of mahat, are said to have quickened and enlightened in us themanas-manas of our manas septenary, because they themselves are typically manasic in their essentialcharacteristic or svabhava. Their own essential or manasic vibrations, so to say, could cause that essenceof manas in ourselves to vibrate in sympathy, much as the sounding of a musical note will causesympathetic response in something like it, a similar note in other things. (See also Agnishvattas)

Manas: Sanskrit for mind or mentality. The reasoning faculty, intelligence, understanding, the individual mind, the power of attention, selection and rejection.

Manas(Sanskrit) ::: The root of this word means "to think," "to cogitate," "to reflect" -- mental activity, in short.The center of the ego-consciousness in man and in any other quasi-self-conscious entity. The thirdsubstance-principle, counting downwards, of which man's constitution is composed.Manas springs forth from buddhi (the second principle) as the fruit from the flower; but manas itself ismortal, goes to pieces at death -- insofar as its lower parts are concerned. All of it that lives after death isonly what is spiritual in it and that can be squeezed out of it, so to say -- the "aroma" of the manas;somewhat as the chemist takes from the rose the attar or essence of roses. The monad or atma-buddhithereupon takes that "all" with it into the devachan, after the second death has taken place. Atman, withbuddhi and with the higher part of manas, becomes thereupon the spiritual monad of man. Strictlyspeaking, this is the divine monad within its vehicle -- atman and buddhi -- combined with the humanego in its higher manasic element; but they are joined into one after death, and are hence spoken of as thespiritual monad.The three principles forming the upper triad exist each on its own plane in consciousness and power; andas human beings we continuously feel their influence despite the enshrouding veils of a psychical andastral-physical character. We know of each principle only what we have so far evolved forth of it. All weknow, for instance, of the third principle (counting from the top), the manas, is what we have so farassimilated of it in this fourth round. The manas will not be fully developed in us until the end of the nextround. What we now call our manas is a generalizing term for the reincarnating ego, the higher manas.

Mantra: A Sanskrit term meaning an incantation consisting of a sacred formula, usually a quotation from the Vedas. The word has come, especially in occult usage, to mean a spell or charm. In Shaktism and elsewhere, the holy syllables to which, as manifestations of the eternal word or sound, great mystic significance and power is ascribed.

Mantradhyana: A Sanskrit term for spiritual awareness produced or reinforced by incantations.

Manu: A Sanskrit name for the progenitor of the human race; also, any person regarded as the potential archetype for his fellowmen. In occult philosophy, an Elder Brother (q.v.), one of the three leaders of the Great White Lodge (q.v.), who, in his various incarnations at various periods of history, is the head of each root race (q.v.) and directs its racial characteristics and evolution.

Manvantara: Sanskrit for cycle in cosmic history. The current manvantara of Hindu mystic philosophy embraces the Satya Yuga, the Golden Age (the first four-tenths of the cycle), followed by the Dwapara Yuga, the Second Age (three-tenths of the cycle), the Tretya Yuga, the Third Age (two-tenths of the cycle), and the current Kali Yuga, the Dark Age (one-tenth of the duration of the entire cycle), in which we are living now.

Manvantara(Sanskrit) ::: This word is a compound, and means nothing more than "between two manus"; more literally,"manu-within or -between." A manu, as said, is the entities collectively which appear first at thebeginning of manifestation; the spiritual tree of life of any planetary chain of manifested being. Thesecond verbal element of "manvantara," or antara, is a prepositional suffix signifying "within" or"between"; hence the compound paraphrased means "within a manu," or "between manus." Amanvantara is the period of activity between any two manus, on any plane, since in any such period thereis a root-manu at the beginning of evolution, and a seed-manu at its close, preceding a pralaya.There are many kinds of manvantaras: prakritika manvantara -- universal manvantara; sauryamanvantara -- the manvantara of the solar system; bhaumika manvantara -- the terrestrial manvantara, ormanvantara of earth; paurusha manvantara -- the manvantara, or period of activity, of man.A round-manvantara is the time required for one round: that is, the cycle from globe A to the last globeof the seven, and starting from the root-manu or collective "humanity" of globe A and ending with theseed-manu or collective "humanity" of Globe G.A planetary manvantara -- also called a maha-manvantara or a kalpa -- is the period of the lifetime of aplanet during its seven rounds. It is also called a Day of Brahma, and its length is 4,320,000,000 years.

maran.a ::: hitting, striking (as in the related Bengali and Hindi verbs, marana not in the normal Sanskrit sense of "killing").

Marga: Sanskrit for path; used in the sense of method or approach in the endeavor to attain spiritual enlightenment. (See bhakti-marga, jnana-marga, karma-marga.)

Maya: A Sanskrit term, approximately meaning illusion. In Hinduism and other occult and esoteric philosophies, the cosmic force which produces the phenomena of material existence and permits them to be perceived. All that is finite and subject to change and decay, all that is not eternal and unchangeable, is considered as maya. There is but one reality, Brahman-atman, the Universal Spirit.

Maya(Sanskrit) ::: The word comes from the root ma, meaning "to measure," and by a figure of speech it alsocomes to mean "to effect," "to form," and hence "to limit." There is an English word mete, meaning "tomeasure out," from the same IndoEuropean root. It is found in the Anglo-Saxon as the root met, in theGreek as med, and it is found in the Latin also in the same form.Ages ago in the wonderful Brahmanical philosophy maya was understood very differently from what it isnow usually understood to be. As a technical term, maya has come to mean the fabrication by man's mindof ideas derived from interior and exterior impressions, hence the illusory aspect of man's thoughts as heconsiders and tries to interpret and understand life and his surroundings; and thence was derived thesense which it technically bears, "illusion." It does not mean that the exterior world is nonexistent; if itwere, it obviously could not be illusory. It exists, but is not. It is "measured out" or is "limited," or itstands out to the human spirit as a mirage. In other words, we do not see clearly and plainly and in theirreality the vision and the visions which our mind and senses present to the inner life and eye.The familiar illustrations of maya in the Vedanta, which is the highest form that the Brahmanicalteachings have taken and which is so near to our own teaching in many respects, were such as follows: Aman at eventide sees a coiled rope on the ground, and springs aside, thinking it a serpent. The rope isthere, but no serpent. The second illustration is what is called the "horns of the hare." The animal calledthe hare has no horns, but when it also is seen at eventide, its long ears seem to project from its head insuch fashion that it appears even to the seeing eye as being a creature with horns. The hare has no horns,but there is then in the mind an illusory belief that an animal with horns exists there.That is what maya means: not that a thing seen does not exist, but that we are blinded and our mindperverted by our own thoughts and our own imperfections, and do not as yet arrive at the realinterpretation and meaning of the world or of the universe around us. By ascending inwardly, by risingup, by inner aspiration, by an elevation of soul, we can reach upwards or rather inwards towards thatplane where truth abides in fullness.H. P. Blavatsky says on page 631 of the first volume of The Secret Doctrine:Esoteric philosophy, teaching an objective Idealism -- though it regards the objectiveUniverse and all in it as Maya, temporary illusion -- draws a practical distinction betweencollective illusion, Mahamaya, from the purely metaphysical standpoint, and the objectiverelations in it between various conscious Egos so long as this illusion lasts.The teaching is that maya is thus called from the action of mulaprakriti or root-nature, the coordinateprinciple of that other line of coactive consciousness which we call parabrahman. From the momentwhen manifestation begins, it acts dualistically, that is to say that everything in nature from that pointonwards is crossed by pairs of opposites, such as long and short, high and low, night and day, good andevil, consciousness and nonconsciousness, etc., and that all these things are essentially mayic or illusory-- real while they last, but the lasting is not eternal. It is through and by these pairs of opposites that theself-conscious soul learns truth. It might be said, in conclusion, that another and very convenient way ofconsidering maya is to understand it to mean "limitation," "restriction," and therefore imperfect cognitionand recognition of reality. The imperfect mind does not see perfect truth. It labors under an illusioncorresponding with its own imperfections, under a maya, a limitation. Magical practices are frequentlycalled maya in the ancient Hindu books.

Mayavi-Rupa(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound of two words: mayavi, the adjectival form of the word maya, hence"illusory"; rupa, "form"; the mayavi-rupa or thought-body, or illusory-body, a higher astral-mental form.The mayavi can assume all forms or any form, at the will of an Adept. A synonymous philosophical termis protean soul. In Germany medieval mystics called it the doppelganger. There is a very mystical factconnected with the mayavi-rupa: the Adept is enabled to project his consciousness in the mayavi-rupa towhat would seem to the uninitiated incredible distances, while the physical body is left, as it were,intranced. In Tibet this power of projecting the mayavi-rupa is called hpho-wa.

Mimaṁsa (Ananda Mimansa) ::: "inquiry into the nature of bliss", a Sanskrit work. anandam ananda ṁ j ñanam anam anantam anantaṁ sarvam

Mitra ::: the Lord of love and harmony [Ved.]; the name also means "friend" and is the ordinary Sanskrit word for friend.

Moha: A Sanskrit term, meaning distraction, perplexity, delusion, beclouding of the mind, rendering it unfit to perceive the truth, generally explained as attachment to the phenomenal; in Buddhism, ignorance, as a source of vice.

Moksha(Sanskrit) ::: This word comes from moksh, meaning "to release," "to set free," and is probably adesiderative of the root much, from which the word mukti also comes. The meaning of this word is thatwhen a spirit, a monad, or a spiritual radical, has so grown in evolution that it has first become a man,and is set free interiorly, inwardly, and from a man has become a planetary spirit or dhyan-chohan or lordof meditation, and has gone still higher, to become interiorly a Brahman, and from a Brahman theParabrahman for its hierarchy, then it is absolutely perfected, relatively speaking, free, released -perfected for that great period of time which to us seems almost an eternity so long is it, virtuallyincomputable by the human intellect. Now this also is the real meaning of the much abused wordAbsolute (q.v.), limited in comparison with things still more immense, still more sublime; but so far aswe can think of it, released or freed from the chains or bonds of material existence. One who is thusreleased or freed is called a jivanmukta. (See also Nirvana)

Mudra(Sanskrit) ::: A general name for certain intertwinings or positions of the fingers of the two hands, usedalone or together, in devotional yoga or exoteric religious worship, and these mudras or digital positionsare held by many Oriental mystics to have particular esoteric significance. They are found both in theBuddhist statues of northern Asia, especially those belonging to the Yogachara school, and also in Indiawhere they are perhaps particularly affected by the Hindu tantrikas. There is doubtless a good deal of hidefficacy in holding the fingers in proper position during meditation, but to the genuine occult student thesymbolic meaning of such mudras or digital positions is by far more useful and interesting. The subject istoo intricate, and of importance too small, to call for much detail of explanation here, or even to attempt afull exposition of the subject.

Mukti: Sanskrit for liberation. The final release from worldly existence; final beatitude.

Mulaprakriti(Sanskrit) ::: A compound containing mula, "root," prakriti, "nature," root-matter or root-nature.Corresponding to it as the other or active pole is parabrahman, from which Brahman (neuter), the first orunmanifest Logos, proceeds. Mulaprakriti, therefore, as the kosmic veil of parabrahman, may be calledhomogeneous or undifferentiated primordial substance. It is the fountain or root of akasa. (See alsoPrakriti)

Muni: Sanskrit for sage. A seer, ascetic, monk, devotee.

Nama-rupa: Sanskrit for name (and) form. The phenomenal world, or its conceptual and material aspects.

Nimesha: A Sanskrit word for “extinction of the universe,” synonymous with pralaya (q.v.).

Nirguna: Sanskrit for “devoid of qualities” (guna), predicated as early as the Upanishads (q.v.) of the Absolute as its in-itself aspect (cf. saguna). The highest reality is conceived to be of such fullness, such transcendence that it has no part in the manifold of the phenomenal which is mere maya (q.v.) in Sankara’s philosophy in so far as it is esoteric.

Nirmanakaya(Sanskrit) ::: A compound of two words: nirmana, a participle meaning "forming," "creating"; kaya, a wordmeaning "body," "robe," "vehicle"; thus, nirmanakaya means "formed-body." A nirmanakaya, however,is really a state assumed by or entered into by a bodhisattva -- an individual man made semi-divine who,to use popular language, instead of choosing his reward in the nirvana of a less degree, remains on earthout of pity and compassion for inferior beings, clothing himself in a nirmanakayic vesture. When thatstate is ended the nirmanakaya ends.A nirmanakaya is a complete man possessing all the principles of his constitution except the linga-sariraand its accompanying physical body. He is one who lives on the plane of being next superior to thephysical plane, and his purpose in so doing is to save men from themselves by being with them, and bycontinuously instilling thoughts of self-sacrifice, of self-forgetfulness, of spiritual and moral beauty, ofmutual help, of compassion, and of pity.Nirmanakaya is the third or lowest, exoterically speaking, of what is called in Sanskrit trikaya or "threebodies." The highest is the dharmakaya, in which state are the nirvanis and full pratyeka buddhas, etc.;the second state is the sambhogakaya, intermediate between the former and, thirdly, the nirmanakaya.The nirmanakaya vesture or condition enables one entering it to live in touch and sympathy with theworld of men. The sambhogakaya enables one in that state to be conscious indeed to a certain extent ofthe world of men and its griefs and sorrows, but with little power or impulse to render aid. Thedharmakaya vesture is so pure and holy, and indeed so high, that the one possessing the dharmakaya orwho is in it, is virtually out of all touch with anything inferior to himself. It is, therefore, in thenirmanakaya vesture if not in physical form that live and work the Buddhas of Compassion, the greatestsages and seers, and all the superholy men who through striving through ages of evolution bring forthinto manifestation and power and function the divinity within. The doctrine of the nirmanakayas is one ofthe most suggestive, profound, and beautiful teachings of the esoteric philosophy. (See also Dharmakaya,Sambhogakaya)

nirukta ::: etymology; philology, part of sahitya: the study of the origins and development of language, especially with reference to Sanskrit, with the aim of creating "a science which can trace the origins, growth & structure of the Sanscrit language, discover its primary, secondary & tertiary forms & the laws by which they develop from each other, trace intelligently the descent of every meaning of a word in Sanscrit from its original root sense, account for all similarities & identities of sense, discover the reason of unexpected divergences, trace the deviations which separated Greek & Latin from the Indian dialect, discover & define the connection of all three with the Dravidian forms of speech".

Nirvana(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound: nir, "out," and vana, the past participle passive of the root va, "to blow,"literallly meaning "blown out." So badly has the significance of the ancient Indian thought (and even its language, the Sanskrit) been understood, that for many years erudite European scholars were discussingwhether being "blown out" meant actual entitative annihilation or not. But the being blown out refersonly to the lower principles in man.Nirvana is a very different thing from the "heavens." Nirvana is a state of utter bliss and complete,untrammeled consciousness, a state of absorption in pure kosmic Being, and is the wondrous destiny ofthose who have reached superhuman knowledge and purity and spiritual illumination. It really ispersonal-individual absorption into or rather identification with the Self -- the highest SELF. It is also thestate of the monadic entities in the period that intervenes between minor manvantaras or rounds of aplanetary chain; and more fully so between each seven-round period or Day of Brahma, and thesucceeding day or new kalpa of a planetary chain. At these last times, starting forth from the seventhsphere in the seventh round, the monadic entities will have progressed far beyond even the highest stateof devachan. Too pure and too far advanced even for such a condition as the devachanic felicity, they goto their appropriate sphere and condition, which latter is the nirvana following the end of the seventhround.Devachan and nirvana are not localities. They are states, states of the beings in those respective spiritualconditions. Devachan is the intermediate state; nirvana is the superspiritual state; and avichi, popularlycalled the lowest of the hells, is the nether pole of the spiritual condition. These three are states of beingshaving habitat in the lokas or talas, in the worlds of the kosmic egg.So far as the individual human being is concerned, the nirvanic state or condition may be attained to bygreat spiritual seers and sages, such as Gautama the Buddha, and even by men less progressed than he;because in these cases of the attaining of the nirvana even during a man's life on earth, the meaning isthat one so attaining has through evolution progressed so far along the path that all the lower personalpart of him is become thoroughly impersonalized, the personal has put on the garment of impersonality,and such a man thereafter lives in the nirvanic condition of the spiritual monad.As a concluding thought, it must be pointed out that nirvana, while the ultima thule of the perfection tobe attained by any human being, nevertheless stands less high in the estimate of mystics than thecondition of the bodhisattva. For the bodhisattva, although standing on the threshold of nirvana andseeing and understanding its ineffable glory and peace and rest, nevertheless retains his consciousness inthe worlds of men, in order to consecrate his vast faculties and powers to the service of all that is. Thebuddhas in their higher parts enter the nirvana, in other words, assume the dharmakaya state or vesture,whereas the bodhisattva assumes the nirmanakaya vesture, thereafter to become an ever-active andcompassionate and beneficent influence in the world. The buddha indeed may be said to act indirectlyand by long distance control, thus indeed helping the world diffusively or by diffusion; but thebodhisattva acts directly and positively and with a directing will in works of compassion, both for theworld and for individuals.

Niyama: Sanskrit for restraint or self-culture; the second prerequisite in the study and practice of Yoga. The classic text Ha-thayogapradipika lists ten rules of inner control (niyamas), viz., penance, contentment, belief in God, charity, adoration of God, hearing discourses on the principles of religion, modesty, intellect, meditation, and sacrifice. (Cf. yama.)

Ojas(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "energy," "vigor," "power." It is often used for the principle of vital heatpermeating the human constitution. From this fact, it sometimes is employed to signify virility or thegenerative faculty. Its use is extremely uncommon in modern occult literature.

Om: A Sanskrit word, variously interpreted and explained, believed to possess magical powers and held especially sacred by Hindus and occultists.

pali ::: n. --> pl. of Palus.
A dialect descended from Sanskrit, and like that, a dead language, except when used as the sacred language of the Buddhist religion in Farther India, etc. ::: pl. --> of Palus


pancharatra. ::: the Vaishnava Sanskrit texts dedicated to worship of Narayana and which form part of the Agamas

Paraaatman: A Sanskrit term for the Supreme or Universal Spirit.

Parabrahman(Sanskrit) ::: Para is a word meaning "beyond." Brahman (neuter) is sometimes used as the universal self orspirit; also called paramatman. Beyond Brahman is the para-Brahman. Note the deep philosophicalmeaning of this -- there is no attempt here to limit the illimitable, the ineffable, by adjectives. In theSanskrit Vedas and in the works deriving therefrom and belonging to the Vedic literary cycle, this"beyond" is called tat, "THAT," as this world of manifestations is called idam, "This."Parabrahman is intimately connected with mulaprakriti. Their interaction and intermingling cause thefirst nebulous thrilling, if the words will pass, of the universal life when spiritual desire first arose in it inthe beginnings of things. Parabrahman, therefore, literally means "beyond Brahman"; and strictlyspeaking it is Brahman to which the Occidental term Absolute should be applied. Parabrahman is noentity, is no individual or individualized being. It is a convenient technical word with conveniently vaguephilosophical significancy, implying whatever is beyond the Absolute or Brahman of any hierarchy. Justas Brahman is the summit of a kosmic hierarchy, so, following the same line of thought, the parabrahmanis "whatever is beyond Brahman."

Parabrahm: Sanskrit for beyond Brahma. The impersonal, absolute, supreme Principle.

Paramahamsa: A Sanskrit word, denoting a high adept or master of esoteric science, or an ascetic who has subdued all his physical senses by abstract meditation.

Paramatman(Sanskrit) ::: The "primordial self" or the "self beyond," the permanent SELF, the Brahman or universalspirit-soul. A compound term meaning the highest or universal atman. Parama, "primordial," "supreme,"etc.; the root of atman is hardly known -- its origin is uncertain, but the general meaning is that of "self."Paramatman consequently means the "supreme self," or the summit or flower of a hierarchy, theroot-base or source of that kosmic self.Selflessness is the attribute of the paramatman, the universal self, where all personality vanishes.The universal self is the heart of the universe, for these two phrases are but two manners of expressingthe same thing; it is the source of our being; it is also the goal whither we are all marching, we and thehierarchies above us as well as the hierarchies and the entities which compose them inferior to us. Allcome from the same ineffable source, the heart of Being, the universal self, pass at one period of theirevolutionary journey through the stage of humanity, gaining thereby self-consciousness or the ego-self,the "I am I," and they find it, as they advance along this evolutionary path, expanding gradually intouniversal consciousness -- an expansion which never has an end, because the universal consciousness isendless, limitless, boundless.The paramatman is spiritually practically identical with what the theosophist has in mind when he speaksof the Absolute; and consequently paramatman, though possessing a wide range of meanings, is virtuallyidentical with Brahman. Of course when the human mind or consciousness ascends in meditation up therungs of the endless ladder of life and realizes that the paramatman of one hierarchy or kosmos is but oneof a multitude of other paramatmans of other kosmic hierarchies, the realization comes that even thevague term parabrahman may at certain moments of philosophical introspection be found to be thefrontierless paramatman of boundless space; but in this last usage of paramatman the word obviouslybecomes a sheer generalizing expression for boundless life, boundless consciousness, boundlesssubstance. This last use of the word, while correct enough, is hardly to be recommended because apt tointroduce confusion, especially in Occidental minds with our extraordinary tendency to takegeneralizations for concrete realities.

Paranirvana: Sanskrit for beyond Nirvana. The ultimate Nirvana (q.v.) of the Vedantic philosophers. In occult philosophy, absolute non-being, yet equivalent to absolute sat (q.v.).

Pitri(s)(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "father." There are seven (or ten) classes of pitris. They are called "fathers"because they are more particularly the actual progenitors of our lower principles; whereas thedhyani-chohans are actually, in one most important sense, our own selves. We were born from them; wewere the monads, we were the atoms, the souls, projected, sent forth, emanated, by the dhyanis.The pitris, for easy understanding, may be divided into two great groups, the solar and lunar. The lunarpitris or barhishads, as the name implies, came from the moon-chain; while the solar pitris whom we maygroup under the expressive name agnishvatta-pitris are those dhyan-chohans which have not the physical"creative fire," because they belong to a much superior sphere of being, but they have all the fires of thespiritual-intellectual realms active or latent within them as the case may be. In preceding manvantarasthey had finished their evolution so far as the realms of astral and physical matter were concerned, andwhen the proper time came in the cycling ages, the agnishvatta-pitris came to the rescue of those whohad only the physical creative fire, or barhishad-pitris, the lunar pitris, inspiring and enlightening theselower pitris with the spiritual and intellectual energies or "fires."In other words, the lunar pitris may briefly be said to be those consciousness-centers in the humanconstitution which feel humanly, which feel instinctually, and which possess the brain-mind mentality.The agnishvatta-pitris are those monadic centers of the human constitution which are of a purely spiritualtype. (See also Agnishvatas, Lunar Pitris)

Pradhana: Sanskrit for primary matter; the primordial substance or primeval cosmic substance.

Prajapati(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "governor" or "lord" or "master" of "progeny." The word is applied to severalof the Vedic gods, but in particular to Brahma -- that is to say the second step from parabrahman -- theevolver-creator, the first and most recondite figure of the Hindu triad, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, andSiva. Brahma is the emanator or evolver, Vishnu the sustainer or preserver, and Siva, a name which maybe translated euphemistically perhaps as "beneficent," the regenerator. Prajapati is a name which is oftenused in the plural, and refers to seven and also to ten different beings. They are the producers and giversof life of all on earth and, indeed, on the earth's planetary chain.

Prajapati: Sanskrit for lord of creatures. A term originally applied to various Vedic gods; it assumed, as early as the Rig Veda, the importance of a first philosophical principle of creation, and later of time as suggestive of gestation and productive periodicity.

Prajna: A Sanskrit term denoting realization, insight into the true and abiding nature of the self, atman, purusha, etc.

Prajnana: Sanskrit for intelligence.

Prakriti(Sanskrit) ::: A compound consisting of the prepositional prefix pra, meaning "forwards" or "progression,"and kriti, a noun-form from the verbal root kri, "to make" or "to do." Therefore prakriti means literally"production" or "bringing forth," "originating," and by an extension of meaning it also signifies theprimordial or original state or condition or form of anything: primary, original substance. The root orparent of prakriti is mula-prakriti or root of prakriti. Prakriti is to be considered with vikriti -- vikritisignifying change or an alteration of some kind, or a production or evolution from the prakriti whichprecedes it.As an illustration, the chemical elements hydrogen and oxygen combine in the proportion H2O,producing thus a substance known in its most common form as water; but this same H2O can appear asice as well as vapor-gas; hence the vapor, the water, and the ice may be called the vikritis of the originalprakriti which is the originating hydrogen and oxygen. The illustration is perhaps not a very good one butis suggestive.In common usage prakriti may be called nature in general, as the great producer of entities or things, andthrough this nature acts the ever-active Brahma or Purusha. Purusha, therefore, is spirit, and prakriti is itsproductive veil or sheath. Essentially or fundamentally the two are one, and whatever prakriti throughand by the influence of Purusha produces is the multitudinous and multiform vikritis which make theimmense variety and diversity in the universe around us.In one or more of the Hindu philosophies, prakriti is the same as sakti, and therefore prakriti and sakti arevirtually interchangeable with maya or maha-maya or so-called illusion. Prakriti is often spoken of asmatter, but this is inexact although a very common usage; matter is rather the "productions" or phasesthat prakriti brings about, the vikritis. In the Indian Sankhya philosophy pradhana is virtually identicalwith prakriti, and both are often used to signify the producing element from and out of which all illusorymaterial manifestations or appearances are evolved.

Prakriti; prakrti: Sanskrit for Substance (as opposed to or contrasted with Spirit). The cosmic substance which is the primary source of all things, uncaused cause of phenomenal existence, eternal, all-pervasive, indestructible, emanated from the Absolute.

prakrit ::: n. --> Any one of the popular dialects descended from, or akin to, Sanskrit; -- in distinction from the Sanskrit, which was used as a literary and learned language when no longer spoken by the people. Pali is one of the Prakrit dialects.

Prakrta (Prakrit) ::: [a name given to any of the popular dialects derived from or otherwise cognate with Sanskrit]

Pralaya(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word, formed of laya, from the root li, and the prefix pra. Li means "to dissolve,""to melt away," "to liquefy," as when one pours water upon a cube of salt or of sugar. The cube of salt orof sugar vanishes in the water -- it dissolves, changes its form -- and this may be taken as a figure,imperfect as it is, or as a symbol, of what pralaya is: a crumbling away, a vanishing away, of matter intosomething else which is yet in it, and surrounds it, and interpenetrates it. Such is pralaya, usuallytranslated as the state of latency, state of rest, state of repose, between two manvantaras or life cycles. Ifwe remember distinctly the meaning of the Sanskrit word, our minds take a new bent in direction, followa new thought. We get new ideas; we penetrate into the arcanum of the thing that takes place. Pralaya,therefore, is dissolution, death.There are many kinds of pralayas. There is the universal pralaya, called prakritika, because it is thepralaya or vanishing away, melting away, of prakriti or nature. Then there is the solar pralaya. Sun inSanskrit is surya, and the adjective from this is saurya: hence, the saurya pralaya or the pralaya of thesolar system. Then, thirdly, there is the terrestrial or planetary pralaya. One Sanskrit word for earth isbhumi, and the adjective corresponding to this is bhaumika: hence, the bhaumika pralaya. Then there isthe pralaya or death of the individual man. Man is purusha; the corresponding adjective is paurusha:hence, the paurusha pralaya or death of man. These adjectives apply equally well to the several kinds ofmanvantaras or life cycles.There is another kind of pralaya which is called nitya. In its general sense, it means "constant" or"continuous," and can be exemplified by the constant or continuous change -- life and death -- of the cellsof our bodies. It is a state in which the indwelling and dominating entity remains, but its differentprinciples and rupas undergo continuous and incessant change. Hence it is called nitya, signifyingcontinuous. It applies to the body of man, to the outer sphere of earth, to the earth itself, to the solarsystem, and indeed to all nature. It is the unceasing and chronic changing of things that are -- the passingfrom phase to phase, meaning the pralaya or death of one phase, to be followed by the rebirth of itssucceeding phase. There are other kinds of pralayas than those herein enumerated.

Pramana: A Sanskrit term for “means of acquiring right knowledge.”

Prana: Sanskrit for breath. In mystic and occult philosophy, the vital air, the Life Principle.

Prana(Sanskrit) ::: The word is derived from pra, prepositional prefix meaning "before"; and an, verb meaning"to breathe," "to blow," "to live." Usually translated "life," but rather the psychoelectrical veil orpsychoelectrical field manifesting in the individual as vitality. Commonly called "life principle." ThisSanskrit word is used by modern theosophists in a general sense, although in the Sanskrit it has a ratherspecific and restricted meaning, because there are, as a matter of fact, a number of life currents, vitalfluids. They have each one its own name. One system gives the number as three; another as five, which isthe commonly accepted number; another enumeration is seven; another again is twelve, as is found insome Upanishads; and one old writer even gives them as thirteen.The life-atoms of the prana, or psychoelectrical field, fly instantly back at the moment of physicaldissolution to the natural pranic reservoirs of the planet.

Pranayama: Sanskrit for breath-control. In Yoga practice, a breath exercise considered necessary for proper mental function and development.

Pranayama: Sanskrit for holding the breath; breath control by means of inhalation, suspension, and exhalation. One of the stages in the practice of Yoga.

Prapatti marga: A Sanskrit term for the way of salvation by a complete and utter surrender to God.

Pratyabhijna: Sanskrit for recognition; particularly the rediscovery or realization that the divine and ultimate reality is within the human soul or self. One phase of the philosophy of the Trika (q.v.).

Pratyahara: The Sanskrit term for the withdrawal of the senses from external objects; one of the stages in the practice of Yoga.

Pratyaksha: A Sanskrit term denoting perception by the spirit.

Pratyeka Buddha(Sanskrit) ::: Pratyeka is a compound of two words: prati, prepositional prefix meaning "towards" or "for";eka, the numeral "one"; thus we can translate the compound by the paraphrase "each one for himself."The Pratyeka Buddha, he who achieves buddhahood for himself, instead of feeling the call of almightylove to return and help those who have gone less far, goes ahead into the supernal light -- passes onwardsand enters the unspeakable bliss of nirvana -- and leaves mankind behind. Though exalted, neverthelesshe does not rank with the unutterable sublimity of the Buddha of Compassion.The Pratyeka Buddha concentrates his energies on the one objective -- spiritual self-advancement: heraises himself to the spiritual realm of his own inner being, enwraps himself therein and, so to speak,goes to sleep. The Buddha of Compassion raises himself, as does the Pratyeka Buddha, to the spiritualrealms of his own inner being, but does not stop there, because he expands continuously, becomes onewith All, or tries to, and in fact does so in time. When the Pratyeka Buddha in due course emerges fromthe nirvanic state in order to take up his evolutionary journey again, he will find himself far in the rear ofthe Buddha of Compassion.

pundit ::: n. --> A learned man; a teacher; esp., a Brahman versed in the Sanskrit language, and in the science, laws, and religion of the Hindoos; in Cashmere, any clerk or native official.

purana ::: legend and apologue; the Puranas: [a class of sacred writings written in an easy form of Sanskrit (more modem than that of the Veda and Vedanta) composed of legends, apologues, etc.].

purana ::: n. --> One of a class of sacred Hindoo poetical works in the Sanskrit language which treat of the creation, destruction, and renovation of worlds, the genealogy and achievements of gods and heroes, the reigns of the Manus, and the transactions of their descendants. The principal Puranas are eighteen in number, and there are the same number of supplementary books called Upa Puranas.

Puranas(Sanskrit) ::: A word which literally means "ancient," "belonging to olden times." In India the word isespecially used as a term comprehending certain well-known sacred scriptures, which popular and evenscholarly authorities ascribe to the poet Vyasa. The Puranas contain the entire body of ancient Indianmythology. They are usually considered to be eighteen in number, and each Purana, to be complete, issupposed to consist of five topics or themes. These five topics or themes are commonly enumerated asfollows: (1) the beginnings or "creation" of the universe; (2) its renewals and destructions, ormanvantaras and pralayas; (3) the genealogies of the gods, other divine beings, heroes, and patriarchs; (4)the reigns of the various manus; and (5) a resume of the history of the solar and lunar races. Practicallynone of the Puranas as they stand in modern versions contains all these five topics, except perhaps theVishnu-Purana, probably the most complete in this sense of the word; and even the Vishnu-Puranacontains a great deal of matter not directly to be classed under these five topics. All the Puranas alsocontain a great deal of symbolical and allegorical writing.

Purna: Sanskrit for filled, satisfied, used occasionally as a synonym for the Absolute, brahman.

Purnatva: Sanskrit for fullness, used as descriptive of reality.

Purusha(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "man," the Ideal Man, like the Qabbalistic Adam Qadmon, the primordialentity of space, containing with and in prakriti or nature all the septenary (or denary) scales of manifestedbeing. More mystically Purusha has a number of different significancies. In addition to meaning theHeavenly Man or Ideal Man, it is frequently used for the spiritual man in each individual human beingor, indeed, in every self-conscious entity -- therefore a term for the spiritual self. Purusha also sometimesstands as an interchangeable term with Brahma, the evolver or "creator."Probably the simplest and most inclusive significance of Purusha as properly used in the esotericphilosophy is expressed in the paraphrase "the entitative, individual, everlasting divine-spiritual self," thespiritual monad, whether of a universe or of a solar system, or of an individual entity in manifested life,such as man.

Purusha: Sanskrit for Spirit, as opposed to or compared with Substance. The Cosmic Spirit; the ultimate principle that regulates, guides, and directs the process of cosmic evolution, the efficient cause of the universe that gives the appearance of consciousness to all manifestations of matter; it is pure spirit, eternal, indestructible, and all-pervasive; it is without activity and attribute, without parts and form; it is the unevolved which does not evolve, the uncaused which is not the cause of any new mode of being.

raghuvansa ::: n. --> A celebrated Sanskrit poem having for its subject the Raghu dynasty.

Rajas(Sanskrit) ::: One of the three gunas or "qualities" in the correlations of force and matter, the other twobeing respectively sattva and tamas. Rajas is the guna or the "quality" of longing, passion, activity, one ofthe three divisions of nature. In a sense it is the result or consequence of the elementary urge in natureproducing change and the longing therefor.

Rakahasa: A Sanskrit term for demon “that flourishes in the dark.”

ramayana ::: n. --> The more ancient of the two great epic poems in Sanskrit. The hero and heroine are Rama and his wife Sita.

Rebirth ::: In former times the doctrine used to pass in Europe under the grotesque name of transmigration which brought with it to theWestern mind the humorous image of the soul of Pythagoras migrating, a haphazard bird of passage, from the human form divine into the body of a guinea-pig or an ass. The philosophical appreciation of the theory expressed itself in the admirable but rather unmanageable Greek word, metempsychosis, which means the insouling of a new body by the same psychic individual. The Greek tongue is always happy in its marriage of thought and word and a better expression could not be found; but forced into English speech the word becomes merely long and pedantic without any memory of its subtle Greek sense and has to be abandoned. Reincarnation is the now popular term, but the idea in the word leans to the gross or external view of the fact and begs many questions. I
   refer "rebirth", for it renders the sense of the wide, colourless, but sufficient Sanskrit term, punarjanma, "again-birth", and commits us to nothing but the fundamental idea which is the essence and life of the doctrine.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 13, Page: 259


Rechaka(Recaka, Sanskrit) ::: One of the practices used in the hatha yoga system for the regulation of the breath.The breath is expelled or expired from one of the nostrils while the other nostril is held closed with thefinger, and then the operation isrepeated with the other nostril. These operations, as observed under Kumbhaka, are extremely dangerousto health and mental balance, and cannot be encouraged. Indeed, they should be unequivocallydiscouraged.

Reincarnation ::: Reincarnation is the now popular term, but the idea in the word leans to the gross or external view of the fact and begs many questions. I
   refer "rebirth", for it renders the sense of the wide, colourless, but sufficient Sanskrit term, punarjanma, "again-birth", and commits us to nothing but the fundamental idea which is the essence and life of the doctrine.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 13, Page: 259


Right-hand Path ::: From time immemorial, in all countries of the earth, among all races of men, there have been existenttwo opposing and antagonistic schools of occult or esoteric training, the one often technically called thePath of Light, and the other the Path of Darkness or of the Shadows. These two paths likewise are muchmore commonly called the right-hand path and the left-hand path, and although these are technical namesin the rather shaky occultism of the Occident, the very same expressions have prevailed all over theworld, and are especially known in the mystical and esoteric literature of Hindustan. The right-hand pathis known in Sanskrit writings by the name dakshina-marga, and those who practice the rules of conductand follow the manner of life enjoined upon those who follow the right-hand path are technically knownas dakshinacharins, and their course of life is known as dakshinachara. Conversely, those who followthe left-hand path, often called Brothers of the Shadow, or by some similar epithet, are calledvamacharins, and their school or course of life is known as vamachara. An alternative expression forvamachara is savyachara. The white magicians or Brothers of Light are therefore dakshinacharins, andthe black magicians or Brothers of the Shadow, or workers of spiritual and intellectual and psychical evil,are therefore vamacharins.To speak in the mystical language of ancient Greece, the dakshinacharins or Brothers of Light pursue thewinding ascent to Olympus, whereas the vamacharins or Brothers of the Left-hand follow the easy butfearfully perilous path leading downwards into ever more confusing, horrifying stages of matter andspiritual obscuration. The latter is the faciles descensus averno (Aeneid, 6.126) of the Latin poet Virgil.Woe be to him who, refusing to raise his soul to the sublime and cleansing rays of the spiritual sun withinhim, places his feet upon the path which leads downwards. The warnings given to students of occultismabout this matter have always been solemn and urgent, and no esotericist should at any moment considerhimself safe or beyond the possibilities of taking the downward way until he has become at one with thedivine monitor within his own breast, his own inner god.

Rishi: Sanskrit for seer; a sage.

Rupa(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning "form," "image," "similitude," but this word is employed technically, andonly rarely in the popular sense in which it is commonly used in English. It signifies rather an atomic ormonadic aggregation about the central and indwelling consciousness, forming a vehicle or body thereof.Thus the rupa-lokas are lokas or worlds where the body-form or vehicle is very definitely outlined inmatter; whereas the arupa-lokas are worlds where the body-forms or "images" are outlined in a mannerwhich to us humans is much less definite. It should be noted that the word rupa applies with equal forceto the bodies or vehicles even of the gods, although these latter to us are purely subjective or arupa. (Seealso Loka)

Rupa: Sanskrit for form. (Cf. nama-rupa.)

Sabda-Brahman(Sanskrit) ::: A phrase literally signifying "WordBrahman" -- a curious analogy with the archaic Greekmystical teaching concerning the Logos. SabdaBrahman, therefore, may be rendered as the activeunmanifest Logos of the solar system, and hence as the soul of Brahman expressing itself through itsakasic veils as the divine Logos, or Word or Sound. This term is closely connected in meaning with theteaching concerning daiviprakriti. H. P. Blavatsky in her posthumous Glossary speaks of theSabda-Brahman as "Ethereal Vibrations diffused throughout Space."

Sadhaka: A Sanskrit term meaning a spiritual seeker of truth and enlightenment,

Sadhana: A Sanskrit term for spiritual effort or quest of enlightenment. In Tantric Buddhism, a ceremony by the performance of which the worshipper can render visible any god he desires and is enabled to obtain control of the deity. In Hinduism, the means through which the Hindu student of esoteric sciences attains to samadhi (q.v.).

Sadhu: A Sanskrit term for a man who has dedicated himself to the quest for spiritual enlightenment, renouncing all worldly goods and comfort.

Saguna: Sanskrit for “possessed of qualities”; predicated of the Absolute from the exoteric point of view of the worshipper, in the philosophy of Sankara. (Cf. nirguna.)

Sakti(Sanskrit) ::: A term which may be briefly defined to mean one of what in modern Occultism are called theseven forces of nature, of which six are manifest and the seventh unmanifest, or only partly manifest.Sakti in general may be described as universal energy, and is, as it were, the feminine aspect of fohat. Inpopular Hinduism the various saktis are the wives or consorts of the gods, in other words, the energies oractive powers of the deities represented as feminine influences or energies.These anthropomorphic definitions are unfortunate, because misleading. The saktis of nature are reallythe veils, or sheaths, or vehicular carriers, through which work the inner and ever-active energies. Assubstance and energy, or force and matter, are fundamentally one, as modern science in its researches hasbegun to discover, it becomes apparent that even these saktis or sheaths or veils are themselves energic tolower spheres or realms through which they themselves work.The crown of the astral light, as H. P. Blavatsky puts it, is the generalized sakti of universal nature in so far as our solar system is concerned.

Sakya Muni; Sakyamuni: Sanskrit for Great Sage. A name of Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism.

Samadhi(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word formed of sam, meaning "with" or "together"; a, meaning "towards"; andthe verbal root dha, signifying "to place," or "to bring"; hence samadhi, meaning "to direct towards,"generally signifies to combine the faculties of the mind with a direction towards an object. Hence, intensecontemplation or profound meditation, with the consciousness directed to the spiritual. It is the highestform of self-possession, in the sense of collecting all the faculties of the constitution towards reachingunion or quasi-union, long or short in time as the case may be, with the divine-spiritual. One whopossesses and is accustomed to use this power has complete, absolute control over all his faculties, andis, therefore, said to be "completely self- possessed." It is the highest state of yoga or "union."Samadhi, therefore, is a word of exceedingly mystical and profound significance implying the completeabstraction of the percipient consciousness from all worldly or exterior or even mental concerns orattributes, and its absorption into or, perhaps better, its becoming the pure unadulterate, undilutesuperconsciousness of the god within. In other words, samadhi is self-conscious union with the spiritualmonad of the human constitution. Samadhi is the eighth or final stage of genuine occult yoga, and can beattained at any time by the initiate without conscious recourse to the other phases or practices of yogaenumerated in Oriental works, and which other and inferior practices are often misleading, in some casesdistinctly injurious, and at the best mere props or aids in the attaining of complete mental abstractionfrom worldly concerns.The eight stages of yoga usually enumerated are the following: (1) yama, signifying "restraint" or"forbearance"; (2) niyama, religious observances of various kinds, such as watchings or fastings,prayings, penances, etc.; (3) asana (q.v.), postures of various kinds; (4) pranayama, various methods ofregulating the breath; (5) pratyahara, a word signifying "withdrawal," but technically and esoterically the"withdrawal" of the consciousness from sensual or sensuous concerns, or from external objects; (6)dharana (q.v.), firmness or steadiness or resolution in holding the mind set or concentrated on a topic orobject of thought, mental concentration; (7) dhyana (q.v.), abstract contemplation or meditation whenfreed from exterior distractions; and finally, (8) samadhi, complete collection of the consciousness and ofits faculties into oneness or union with the monadic essence.It may be observed, and should be carefully taken note of by the student, that when the initiate hasattained samadhi he becomes practically omniscient for the solar universe in which he dwells, becausehis consciousness is functioning at the time in the spiritual-causal worlds. All knowledge is then to himlike an open page because he is self-consciously conscious, to use a rather awkward phrase, of nature'sinner and spiritual realms, the reason being that his consciousness has become kosmic in its reaches.

Samadhi: Sanskrit for putting together. Profound meditation, absorption in the spirit. The final stage in the practice of Yoga, in which the individual becomes one with the object of meditation, thus attaining a condition of superconsciousness and unqualified blissfulness, which is called moksha.

Sambhala(Sanskrit) ::: A place-name of highly mystical significance. Many learned occidental Orientalists haveendeavored to identify this mystical and unknown locality with some well-known modern district ortown, but unsuccessfully. The name is mentioned in the Puranas and elsewhere, and it is stated that out ofSambhala will appear in due course of time the Kalki-Avatara of the future. The Kalki-Avatara is one ofthe manifestations or avataras of Vishnu. Among the Buddhists it is also stated that out of Sambhala willcome in due course of time the Maitreya-Buddha or next buddha.Sambhala, however, although no erudite Orientalist has yet succeeded in locating it geographically, is anactual land or district, the seat of the greatest brotherhood of spiritual adepts and their chiefs on earthtoday. From Sambhala at certain times in the history of the world, or more accurately of our own fifthroot-race, come forth the messengers or envoys for spiritual and intellectual work among men.This Great Brotherhood has branches in various parts of the world, but Sambhala is the center or chieflodge. We may tentatively locate it in a little-known and remote district of the high tablelands of centralAsia, more particularly in Tibet. A multitude of airplanes might fly over the place without "seeing" it, forits frontiers are very carefully guarded and protected against invasion, and will continue to be so until thekarmic destiny of our present fifth root-race brings about a change of location to some other spot on theearth, which then in its turn will be as carefully guarded as Sambhala now is.

Sambhogakaya(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound of two words meaning "enjoyment-body," or rather "participation-body";sambhoga meaning "enjoyment together," or "delightful participation," etc.; and kaya, meaning "body."This is the second of the glorious vestures, the other two being dharmakaya, the highest, andnirmanakaya, the lowest. The buddha in the sambhogakaya state still participates in, still retains more orless, his self-consciousness as an individual, his egoship and his individual soul-sense, though he is toofar above material or personal concerns to care about or to meddle with them. In consequence, a buddhain the sambhogakaya state would be virtually powerless here on our material earth.

Samskara: Sanskrit for putting together. Mental impression, memory. Also the effects of Karma (q.v.) as shaping one’s life.

sandhi ::: joint, lock; [in Sanskrit grammar]: the principle of euphonic combination.

Sanga: Sanskrit for attachment, especially to material things, or entanglement in earthly cares, considered an impediment to spiritual attainment or moksha (q.v.).

Sannyasin: A Sanskrit term for a holy man, an ascetic, who has dedicated himself completely to the quest for moksha.

Sannyasin(Sanskrit) ::: One who renounces (a renouncer); from sannyasa, "renunciation," abandonment of worldlybonds and attractions. Resignation to the service of the spiritual nature.

sanscrit ::: n. --> See Sanskrit.

sanskritic ::: a. --> Sanskrit.

sanskritist ::: n. --> One versed in Sanskrit.

sanskrit ::: n. --> The ancient language of the Hindoos, long since obsolete in vernacular use, but preserved to the present day as the literary and sacred dialect of India. It is nearly allied to the Persian, and to the principal languages of Europe, classical and modern, and by its more perfect preservation of the roots and forms of the primitive language from which they are all descended, is a most important assistance in determining their history and relations. Cf. Prakrit, and Veda.

sarga ::: creation; [a section or chapter of some Sanskrit works such as the Mahabharata].

Sarira(Sanskrit) ::: From a root which can best be translated by saying that it means what is easily dissolved,easily worn away; the idea being something transitory, foam-like, full of holes, as it were. Note themeaning hid in this -- it is very important. A term which is of common usage in the philosophy ofHindustan, and of very frequent usage in modern theosophical philosophy. A general meaning is acomposite body or vehicle of impermanent character in and through which an ethereal entity lives andworks. (See also Linga-Sarira; Sthula-Sarira)

Sarvakartrtva: Sanskrit for all-makingness. Descriptive of the principle of all-powerfulness as the ultimate principle in the universe, conceived dynamically.

Sastra: (Skr.) A Sanskrit textbook. -- K.F.L.

Sat(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning the real, the enduring fundamental essence of the world. In the ancientBrahmanical teachings the terms sat, chit, ananda, were used to signify the state of what one may call theAbsolute: sat meaning "pure being"; chit, "pure thought"; ananda, "bliss," and these three words werecompounded as sachchidananda. (See also Asat)

Sat: Sanskrit for Pure Being. The active emanation of the transcendental aspect of the Ultimate Principle.

Satchitananda: A Sanskrit term (literally being-consciousnessbliss) for the Divine State in which pure bliss is attained by knowledge and being the Self.

Sattva: Sanskrit for being, existence, reality, true essence; one of the three constituents of the Cosmic Substance (prakriti), viz. the illuminating aspect of Nature that reveals all manifestations; in Yoga, the quality of purity or goodness.

Sattva(Sanskrit) ::: One of the trigunas or "three qualities," the other two being rajas and tamas. Sattva is thequality of truth, goodness, reality, purity. These three gunas or qualities run all through the web or fabricof nature like threads inextricably mingled, for, indeed, each of these three qualities participates likewiseof the nature of the other two, yet each one possessing its predominant (which is its own svabhava) orintrinsic characteristic. One who desires to gain some genuine understanding of the manner in which thearchaic wisdom looks upon these three phases of human intellectual and spiritual activity must rememberthat not one of these three can be considered apart from the other two. The three are fundamentally threeoperations of the human consciousness, and essentially are that consciousness itself.

Satya yuga: Sanskrit for age of truth; the first age (yuga) of the manvantara. The golden age, which lasted 1,728,000 of our years (the first four-tenths of the entire manvantara).

Shabda: Sanskrit for sound. As a philosophical term, it denotes a metaphysical concept: The Cosmic or Divine Word, a verbal testimony, a valid source of knowledge.

Shakti: A Sanskrit word, meaning power, strength, might, of feminine gender; in Tantric (see Tantra) literature the female generative power of energy in the universe, worshipped by the religious as the wife of some deity or other, e.g., as Durga, wife of Shiva. (See Shaktism.) In occult terminology, Shakti or Sakti is the crown of the astral light (q.v.).

Shivasvarupa: Sanskrit for form of Shiva. The universe as merely a form assumed by Shiva (q.v.).

Siddhi: Sanskrit for supernatural power. Specifically, the superhuman physical powers attained through Yoga.

Sishta(s)(Sista, Sanskrit) ::: This is a word meaning "remainders," or "remains," or "residuals" -- anything that is leftor remains behind. In the especial application in which this word is used in the ancient wisdom, thesishtas are those superior classes -- each of its own kind and kingdom -- left behind on a planet when itgoes into obscuration, in order to serve as the seeds of life for the inflow of the next incoming life-wavewhen the dawn of the new manvantara takes place on that planet.When each kingdom passes on to its next globe, each one leaves behind its sishtas, its lives representingthe very highest point of evolution arrived at by that kingdom in that round, but leaves them sleeping as itwere: dormant, relatively motionless, including life-atoms among them. Not without life, however, foreverything is as much alive as ever, and there is no "dead" matter anywhere; but the sishtas consideredaggregatively as the remnants or residuals of the life-wave which has passed on are sleeping, dormant,resting. These sishtas await the incoming of the life-waves on the next round, and then they re-awaken toa new cycle of activity as the seeds of the new kingdom or kingdoms -- be it the three elementalkingdoms or the mineral or vegetable or the beast or the next humanity.In a more restricted and still more specific sense, the sishtas are the great elect, or sages, left behind afterevery obscuration.

Skandha(s)(Sanskrit) ::: Literally "bundles," or groups of attributes, to use H. P. Blavatsky's definition. When deathcomes to a man in any one life, the seeds of those causes previously sown by him and which have not yetcome forth into blossom and full-blown flower and fruit, remain in his interior and invisible parts asimpulses lying latent and sleeping: lying latent like sleeping seeds for future flowerings into action in thenext and succeeding lives. They are psychological impulse-seeds lying asleep until their appropriatestage for awakening into action arrives at some time in the future.In the case of the cosmic bodies, every solar or planetary body upon entering into its pralaya, itsprakritika-pralaya -- the dissolution of its lower principles -- at the end of its long life cycle, exists inspace in the higher activity of its spiritual principles, and in the dispersion of its lowest principles, whichlatter latently exist in space as skandhas in a laya-condition.When a laya-center is fired into action by the touch of wills and consciousnesses on their downward way,becoming the imbodying life of a solar system, or of a planet of a solar system, the center manifests firston its highest plane, and later on its lower plane. The skandhas are awakened into life one after another:first the highest ones, next the intermediate ones, and lastly the inferior ones, cosmically and qualitativelyspeaking.The term skandhas in theosophical philosophy has the general significance of bundles or groups ofattributes, which together form or compose the entire set of material and also mental, emotional, andmoral qualities. Exoterically the skandhas are "bundles" of attributes five in number, but esoterically theyare seven. These unite at the birth of man and constitute his personality. After the death of the body theskandhas are separated and so remain until the reincarnating ego on its downward path into physicalincarnation gathers them together again around itself, and thus reforms the human constitutionconsidered as a unity.In brief, the skandhas can be said to be the aggregate of the groups of attributes or qualities which makeeach individual man the personality that he is; but this must be sharply distinguished from theindividuality.

sloka. ::: a stanza in Sanskrit poetry

Sloka(Sanskrit) ::: "The Sanskrit epic meter formed of thirty-two syllables: verses in four half lines of eight, or intwo lines of sixteen syllables each" (H. P. Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary).

Sometimes aether is used in translating the Sanskrit akasa, which has the same etymological and philosophical meaning. Here it is an element or principle coming after manas and kama and before the astral light and ether. Again, it is a high aspect of akasa, having itself also seven subordinate aspects. There are in kosmic space at least seven aethers or prakritis, which exist one within the other in a rising scale of spirituality. Collectively they may be called spirit-aether or akasa.

soul ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The word ‘soul", as also the word ‘psychic", is used very vaguely and in many different senses in the English language. More often than not, in ordinary parlance, no clear distinction is made between mind and soul and often there is an even more serious confusion, for the vital being of desire — the false soul or desire-soul — is intended by the words ‘soul" and ‘psychic" and not the true soul, the psychic being.” *Letters on Yoga

  "The word soul is very vaguely used in English — as it often refers to the whole non-physical consciousness including even the vital with all its desires and passions. That was why the word psychic being has to be used so as to distinguish this divine portion from the instrumental parts of the nature.” *Letters on Yoga

  "The word soul has various meanings according to the context; it may mean the Purusha supporting the formation of Prakriti, which we call a being, though the proper word would be rather a becoming; it may mean, on the other hand, specifically the psychic being in an evolutionary creature like man; it may mean the spark of the Divine which has been put into Matter by the descent of the Divine into the material world and which upholds all evolving formations here.” *Letters on Yoga

  "A distinction has to be made between the soul in its essence and the psychic being. Behind each and all there is the soul which is the spark of the Divine — none could exist without that. But it is quite possible to have a vital and physical being supported by such a soul essence but without a clearly evolved psychic being behind it.” *Letters on Yoga

  "The soul and the psychic being are practically the same, except that even in things which have not developed a psychic being, there is still a spark of the Divine which can be called the soul. The psychic being is called in Sanskrit the Purusha in the heart or the Chaitya Purusha. (The psychic being is the soul developing in the evolution.)” *Letters on Yoga

  "The soul or spark is there before the development of an organised vital and mind. The soul is something of the Divine that descends into the evolution as a divine Principle within it to support the evolution of the individual out of the Ignorance into the Light. It develops in the course of the evolution a psychic individual or soul individuality which grows from life to life, using the evolving mind, vital and body as its instruments. It is the soul that is immortal while the rest disintegrates; it passes from life to life carrying its experience in essence and the continuity of the evolution of the individual.” *Letters on Yoga

  ". . . for the soul is seated within and impervious to the shocks of external events. . . .” *Essays on the Gita

  ". . . the soul is at first but a spark and then a little flame of godhead burning in the midst of a great darkness; for the most part it is veiled in its inner sanctum and to reveal itself it has to call on the mind, the life-force and the physical consciousness and persuade them, as best they can, to express it; ordinarily, it succeeds at most in suffusing their outwardness with its inner light and modifying with its purifying fineness their dark obscurities or their coarser mixture. Even when there is a formed psychic being able to express itself with some directness in life, it is still in all but a few a smaller portion of the being — ‘no bigger in the mass of the body than the thumb of a man" was the image used by the ancient seers — and it is not always able to prevail against the obscurity or ignorant smallness of the physical consciousness, the mistaken surenesses of the mind or the arrogance and vehemence of the vital nature.” *The Synthesis of Yoga

". . . the soul is an eternal portion of the Supreme and not a fraction of Nature.” The Life Divine

"The true soul secret in us, — subliminal, we have said, but the word is misleading, for this presence is not situated below the threshold of waking mind, but rather burns in the temple of the inmost heart behind the thick screen of an ignorant mind, life and body, not subliminal but behind the veil, — this veiled psychic entity is the flame of the Godhead always alight within us, inextinguishable even by that dense unconsciousness of any spiritual self within which obscures our outward nature. It is a flame born out of the Divine and, luminous inhabitant of the Ignorance, grows in it till it is able to turn it towards the Knowledge. It is the concealed Witness and Control, the hidden Guide, the Daemon of Socrates, the inner light or inner voice of the mystic. It is that which endures and is imperishable in us from birth to birth, untouched by death, decay or corruption, an indestructible spark of the Divine.” The Life Divine

*Soul, soul"s, Soul"s, souls, soulless, soul-bridals, soul-change, soul-force, Soul-Forces, soul-ground, soul-joy, soul-nature, soul-range, soul-ray, soul-scapes, soul-scene, soul-sense, soul-severance, soul-sight, soul-slaying, soul-space,, soul-spaces, soul-strength, soul-stuff, soul-truth, soul-vision, soul-wings, world-soul, World-Soul.



Spiritual self: In occult philosophy, an English term for the Sanskrit purusha (q.v.).

Sthula-Sarira(Sanskrit) ::: Sthula means "coarse," "gross," not refined, heavy, bulky, fat in the sense of bigness,therefore, conditioned and differentiated matter; sarira, "form," generally speaking. The lowestsubstance-principle of which man is composed, usually classified as the seventh in order -- the physicalbody.The sthula-sarira or physical hierarchy of the human body is builded up of cosmic elements, themselvesformed of living atomic entities which, although subject individually to bewilderingly rapid changes andreimbodiments, nevertheless are incomparably more enduring in themselves as expressions of themonadic rays than is the transitory physical body which they temporarily compose.The physical body is composed mostly of porosity, if the expression be pardoned; the most unreal thingwe know, full of holes, foamy as it were. At death the physical body follows the course of natural decay,and its various hosts of life-atoms proceed individually and collectively whither their natural attractionscall them.Strictly speaking, the physical body is not a principle at all; it is merely a house, man's carrier in anothersense, and no more is an essential part of him -- except that he has excreted it, thrown it out from himself-- than are the clothes in which his body is garmented. Man really is a complete human being without thesthula-sarira; and yet this statement while accurate must be taken not too literally, because even thephysical body is the expression of man's constitution on the physical plane. The meaning is that thehuman constitution can be a complete human entity even when the physical body is discarded, but thesthula-sarira is needed for evolution and active work on this subplane of the solar kosmos.

Sthula sharira: Sanskrit for physical body (q.v.)., conceived as consisting of five elements; the gross body which perishes after physical death.

Sudra(Sanskrit) ::: In ancient India a man of the servile or fourth or lowest caste, social and political, of the earlycivilizations of Hindustan in the Vedic and post-Vedic periods. The other three grades or classes arerespectively the Brahmana or priestphilosopher; the Kshatriya, the administrator -- king, noble -- andsoldier; and third, the Vaisya, the trader and agriculturist.

Sunya; sunyata: Sanskrit for void, nothingness. In occult terminology, the objective universe seen as an illusion. (See: sunya-vada).

Sunya-vada: Sanskrit for void-theory. A Buddhist theory (vada) holding the world to be void (sunya) or unreal. According to it, the phenomenal world has no reality; yet the world underlying it defies description, also because of our inability to grasp the thing-in-itself (svabhava). All we know is its dependence on some other condition, its so-called “dependent origination.” Thus, nothing definite being able to be said about the real, it is, like the apparent, as nothing, in other words, sunya, void.

Sutratman(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word meaning "thread-self," the golden thread of individuality -- the stream ofself-consciousness -- on which all the substance-principles of man's constitution are strung, so to say, likepearls on a golden chain. The sutratman is the stream of consciousness-life running through all thevarious substance-principles of the constitution of the human entity -- or indeed of any other entity. Eachsuch pearl on the golden chain is one of the countless personalities which man uses during the course ofhis manvantara-long evolutionary progress. The sutratman, therefore, may be briefly said to be theimmortal or spiritual monadic ego, the individuality which incarnates in life after life, and therefore isrightly called the thread-self or fundamental self.It is this sutratman, this thread-self, this consciousness-stream, or rather stream of consciousness-life,which is the fundamental and individual selfhood of every entity, and which, reflected in and through theseveral intermediate vehicles or veils or sheaths or garments of the invisible constitution of man, or ofany other being in which a monad enshrouds itself, produces the egoic centers of self-consciousexistence. The sutratman, therefore, is rooted in the monad, the monadic essence.

Svabhava(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word derived from the verb-root bhu, meaning "to become" -- not so much "tobe" in the passive sense, but rather "to become," to "grow into" something. The quasi-pronominal prefixsva, means "self"; hence the noun means "self-becoming," "self-generation," "self-growing" intosomething. Yet the essential or fundamental or integral Self, although following continuously its ownlofty line of evolution, cannot be said to suffer the changes or phases that its vehicles undergo. Like themonads, like the One, thus the Self fundamental -- which, after all, is virtually the same as the onemonadic essence -- sends down a ray from itself into every organic entity, much as the sun sends a rayfrom itself into the surrounding "darkness" of the solar universe.Svabhava has two general philosophical meanings: first, self-begetting, self-generation, self-becoming,the general idea being that there is no merely mechanical or soulless activity of nature in bringing us intobeing, for we brought ourselves forth, in and through and by nature, of which we are a part of theconscious forces, and therefore are our own children. The second meaning is that each and every entitythat exists is the result of what he actually is spiritually in his own higher nature: he brings forth thatwhich he is in himself interiorly, nothing else. A particular race, for instance, remains and is that race aslong as the particular race-svabhava remains in the racial seed and manifests thus. Likewise is the casethe same with a man, a tree, a star, a god -- what not!What makes a rose bring forth a rose always and not thistles or daisies or pansies? The answer is verysimple; very profound, however. It is because of its svabhava, the essential nature in and of the seed. Itssvabhava can bring forth only that which itself is, its essential characteristic, its own inner nature.Svabhava, in short, may be called the essential individuality of any monad, expressing its owncharacteristics, qualities, and type, by self-urged evolution.The seed can produce nothing but what it itself is, what is in it; and this is the heart and essence of thedoctrine of svabhava. The philosophical, scientific, and religious reach of this doctrine is simplyimmense; and it is of the first importance. Consequently, each individual svabhava brings forth andexpresses as its own particular vehicles its various svarupas, signifying characteristic bodies or images orforms. The svabhava of a dog, for instance, brings forth the dog body. The svabhava of a rose bringsforth the rose flower; the svabhava of a man brings forth man's shape or image; and the svabhava of adivinity or god brings forth its own svarupa or characteristic vehicle.

Svabhava: Sanskrit for innate disposition, essence, inherent or innate nature. In the view of some Indian philosophers, the principle governing the universe through the spontaneity and individual character of the various substances. Other occultists regard it as the world-substance or its essence.

Svabhavat(Sanskrit) ::: The neuter present participle of a compound word derived from the verb-root bhu, meaning "tobecome," from which is derived a secondary meaning "to be," in the sense of growth.Svabhavat is a state or condition of cosmic consciousnesssubstance, where spirit and matter, which arefundamentally one, no longer are dual as in manifestation, but one: that which is neither manifestedmatter nor manifested spirit alone, but both are the primeval unity -- spiritual akasa -- where mattermerges into spirit, and both now being really one, are called "Father-Mother," spirit-substance.Svabhavat never descends from its own state or condition, or from its own plane, but is the cosmicreservoir of being, as well as of beings, therefore of consciousness, of intellectual light, of life; and it isthe ultimate source of what science, in our day, so quaintly calls the energies of nature universal.The northern Buddhists call svabhavat by a more mystical term, Adi-buddhi, "primeval buddhi"; theBrahmanical scriptures call it akasa; and the Hebrew Old Testament refers to it as the cosmic "waters."The difference in meaning between svabhavat and svabhava is very great and is not generallyunderstood; the two words often have been confused. Svabhava is the characteristic nature, thetype-essence, the individuality, of svabhavat -- of any svabhavat, each such svabhavat having its ownsvabhava. Svabhavat, therefore, is really the world-substance or stuff, or still more accurately that whichis causal of the world-substance, and this causal principle or element is the spirit and essence of cosmicsubstance. It is the plastic essence of matter, both manifest and unmanifest. (See also Akasa)

Swami: A Sanskrit word meaning spiritual preceptor, teacher, learned or holy man; used as an honorary title with proper names.

Tala(Sanskrit) ::: A word which is largely used in the metaphysical systems of India, both in contrast and at thesame time in conjunction with loka. As the general meaning of loka is "place" or rather "world," so thegeneral meaning of tala is "inferior world." Every loka has as its twin or counterpart a corresponding tala.Wherever there is a loka there is an exactly correspondential tala, and in fact the tala is the nether pole ofits corresponding loka. Lokas and talas, therefore, in a way of speaking, may be considered to be thespiritual and the material aspects or substance-principles of the different worlds which compose and infact are the kosmic universe. It is impossible to separate a tala from its corresponding loka -- quite asimpossible as it would be to separate the two poles of electricity.The number of talas as generally outlined in the exoteric philosophies of Hindustan is usually given asseven, there being thus seven lokas and seven talas; but, as a matter of fact, this number varies. If we mayspeak of a loka as the spiritual pole, we may likewise call it the principle of any world; andcorrespondentially when we speak of the tala as being the negative or inferior pole, it is quite proper alsoto refer to it as the element of its corresponding loka or principle. Hence, the lokas of a hierarchy may becalled the principles of a hierarchy, and the talas, in exactly the same way, may be called the elements orsubstantial or material aspects of the hierarchy.It should likewise be remembered that all the seven lokas and all the seven talas are continuously andinextricably interblended and interworking; and that the lokas and the talas working together form theuniverse and its various subordinate hierarchies that encompass us around. The higher lokas with thehigher talas are the forces or energies and substantial parts of the spiritual and ethereal worlds; the lowestlokas and their corresponding talas form the forces or energies and substantial parts of the physical worldsurrounding us; and the intermediate lokas with their corresponding talas form the respective energiesand substantial parts of the intermediate or ethereal realms.Briefly, therefore, we may speak of a tala as the material aspect of the world where it predominates, justas when speaking of a loka we may consider it to be the spiritual aspect of the world where itpredominates. Every loka, it should be always remembered, is coexistent with and cannot be separatedfrom its corresponding tala on the same plane.As an important deduction from the preceding observations, be it carefully noted that man's ownconstitution as an individual from the highest to the lowest is a hierarchy of its own kind, and thereforeman himself as such a subordinate hierarchy is a composite entity formed of lokas and talas inextricablyinterworking and intermingled. In this subordinate hierarchy called man live and evolve vast armies,hosts, multitudes, of living entities, monads in this inferior stage of their long evolutionary peregrination,and which for convenience and brevity of expression we may class under the general term of life-atoms.

Tamas(Sanskrit) ::: One of the three gunas or qualities or essential attributes of manifested beings and things.Tamas is the quality of darkness, illusion, ignorance; it also means, in a quite different sense, quiescence,passivity, repose, rest, inertia. It becomes immediately obvious from the distinctions that these two seriesof words show, that there is both a good and an evil side to tamas, just as indeed there is a good and evilside to rajas, and even to sattva. The condition of manifested existence in the state of cosmic pralaya is inone sense of the word the tamasic condition, signifying quiescence or rest. When the universe is in thestage of active manvantaric manifestation, we may in a generalizing sense say that the universe is in therajasic state or condition; and that aspect of the universe which we may call the divine-spiritual, whetherin the universe itself or in the manvantara or in the pralaya of a globe, can be spoken of as the sattvicstate or condition. From these observations it should be evident that the three gunas -- sattva, rajas, tamas-- not only can exist contemporaneously and coincidently, but actually do so exist, and that in fact thethree are inextricably interblended. They are really three phases or conditions of imbodiedconsciousnesses, and each has its noble and each its "evil" side.

Tanmatras: A Sanskrit term for the “subtle elements.” There are five tanmatras, each tanmatra being the essence of one of the five basic elements (air, fire, earth, water and ether), viz. the essence of sound (sabda), touch (sparsa), form (rupa), flavor (rasa), and odor (gandha); they are the subtle objects of the sense powers (indriyas), the subtlest form of actual matter, without magnitude, supersensible, and perceived mediately only through gross objects.

Tantra(s)(Sanskrit) ::: A word literally meaning a "loom" or the warp or threads in a loom, and, by extension ofmeaning, signifying a rule or ritual for ceremonial rites. The Hindu Tantras are numerous works orreligious treatises teaching mystical and magical formulae or formularies for the attainment of magical orquasi-magical powers, and for the worship of the gods. They are mostly composed in the form of dialogsbetween Siva and his divine consort Durga, these two divinities being the peculiar objects of theadoration of the Tantrins.In many parts of India the authority of the Tantras seems almost to have superseded the clean andpoetical hymns of the Vedas.Most tantric works are supposed to contain five different subjects: (1) the manifestation or evolution ofthe universe; (2) its destruction; (3) the worship or adoration of the divinities; (4) the achievement orattainment of desired objects and especially of six superhuman faculties; (5) modes or methods of union,usually enumerated as four, with the supreme divinity of the kosmos by means of contemplativemeditation.Unfortunately, while there is much of interest in the tantric works, their tendency for long ages has beendistinctly towards what in occultism is known as sorcery or black magic. Some of the rites or ceremoniespracticed have to do with revolting details connected with sex.Durga, the consort of Siva, his sakti or energy, is worshiped by the Tantrins as a distinct personifiedfemale power.The origin of the Tantras unquestionably goes back to a very remote antiquity, and there seems to belittle doubt that these works, or their originals, were heirlooms handed down from originally debased ordegenerate Atlantean racial offshoots. There is, of course, a certain amount of profoundly philosophicaland mystical thought running through the more important tantric works, but the tantric worship in manycases is highly licentious and immoral.

Tantrik or Tantrika(Sanskrit) ::: The adjective corresponding to tantra. This adjective, however, is sometimes employed tosignify one who is deeply versed in some study -- a scholar; but more particularly the adjective concernsthe Tantras and the doctrines contained in them.

Tapas: Sanskrit for austerity, penance, meditation, intense application of Yoga.

Tat(Sanskrit) ::: A pronominal neuter particle which is often used as a noun having the signification THAT. Bythis word the Vedic sages and archaic scriptural writers of India described the unutterable principle fromwhich all in a single kosmic universe sprang, contrasting it with the pronominal particle idam, meaning"this" and signifying the manifested universe. (See also Parabrahman)

Tattva: A Sanskrit term, literally meaning thatness or whatness; one of the principles ranging from abstract factors of conscious life to relations and laws governing natural facts. The Trika (q.v.) knows 36 tattvas which come into play when the universe “unfolds,” i.e., is created by Shiva in an act variously symbolized by the awakening of his mind, or a “shining forth” (see abhasa).

Tat tvam asi: Sanskrit for that art thou, the sum and substance of the instruction which Svetaketu received from his father according to the Chandogya Upanishad. The phrase is an allusion to the identity of the self with the essence of the world as the real.

Tattvas(Sanskrit) ::: A word the meaning of which is the elementary principles or elements of original substance, orrather the different principles or elements in universal, intelligent, conscious nature when consideredfrom the standpoint of occultism. The word tattva perhaps may be literally translated or rendered as"thatness," reminding one of the "quiddity" of the European Scholastics.The number of tattvas or nature's elemental principles varies according to different systems ofphilosophy. The Sankhya, for instance, enumerates twenty-five tattvas. The system of the Mahesvaras orworshipers of Siva with his consort Durga, reckons five principles, which are simply the five elements ofnature found in all ancient literatures. Occultism, of course, recognizes seven tattvas, and, indeed, tenfundamental element-principles or element-substances or tattvas in universal nature, and each one ofthese tattvas is represented in the human constitution and active therein. Otherwise, the humanconstitution could not cohere as an organic entity.

“The soul and the psychic being are practically the same, except that even in things which have not developed a psychic being, there is still a spark of the Divine which can be called the soul. The psychic being is called in Sanskrit the Purusha in the heart or the Chaitya Purusha. (The psychic being is the soul developing in the evolution). Letters on Yoga

  "The Vedas are the oldest holy books of India, perhaps the oldest of such works in the world. They are the foundation of the Hindu religion. The hymns they contain, written in an old form of Sanskrit, are said to have been ‘revealed" to the Rishis and subsequently were transmitted orally from generation to generation. They continued to be so handed down even after they had been collected and arranged by Krishna Dwaipayana (Veda Vyasa). It is not known when they were committed to writing. The Vedas are four in number: Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva. In reality the Rig-Veda is the Veda; many of its hymns occur with a different arrangement in the other three Vedas. According to some scholars, each Veda is divided into four parts: Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka, and Upanisad. But generally the term ‘Veda" is reserved for the Samhita, the metrical hymns. (Dow)” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works

“The Vedas are the oldest holy books of India, perhaps the oldest of such works in the world. They are the foundation of the Hindu religion. The hymns they contain, written in an old form of Sanskrit, are said to have been ‘revealed’ to the Rishis and subsequently were transmitted orally from generation to generation. They continued to be so handed down even after they had been collected and arranged by Krishna Dwaipayana (Veda Vyasa). It is not known when they were committed to writing. The Vedas are four in number: Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva. In reality the Rig-Veda is the Veda; many of its hymns occur with a different arrangement in the other three Vedas. According to somescholars, each Veda is divided into four parts: Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka, and Upanisad. But generally the term ‘Veda’ is reserved for the Samhita, the metrical hymns. (Dow)” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works

tol [Beng.] ::: [a Sanskrit school].

transliterate ::: v. t. --> To express or represent in the characters of another alphabet; as, to transliterate Sanskrit words by means of English letters.

Tretya yuga: The Sanskrit name of the second age (yuga) of the manvantara; it is one-fourth less righteous and briefer than the preceding one, enduring 1,296,000 of our years (three-tenths of the entire manvantara).

Trikaya: Sanskrit for triple body. That school in Buddhist mysticism which conceives of the Buddha as having three bodies, viz.: The Law-Body (Dharma-kaya) which is the soul of Buddha, the Enjoyment-Body (Sambhogakaya) which is the embodiment of Wisdom, and the Transformation-Body (Nirmana-kaya) which is the embodiment of compassion.

Trishna(Sanskrit) ::: The meaning of this word is "thirst" or "longing," but it is a technical term imbodying the ideathat it is this "thirst" for the things which the human ego formerly knew, and which it wills and desires toknow again -- things familiar and akin to it from past experiences -- which draws the intermediate natureor human ego of man back again to incarnation in earth-life. It is attracted anew to what is to it old andfamiliar worlds and scenes; it thirsts for the manifested life comprising them, for the things which itformerly made akin to itself; and thus is it attracted back to those spheres which it left at some precedingperiod of its evolutionary journey through them, when death overtook it. Its attraction to return to earth isnaught but an operation of a law of nature. Here the intermediate nature or human ego sowed the seeds ofthought and of action in past lives, and here therefore must it of necessity reap their fruits. It cannot reapwhere it has not sown, as is obvious enough. It never goes whither it is not attracted or drawn.After death has released the intermediate nature, and during long ages has given to it its period of blissand rest and psychical recuperation -- much as a quiet and reposeful night's sleep is to the tired physicalbody -- then, just as a man reawakens by degrees, so does this intermediate nature or human ego bydegrees recede or awaken from that state of rest and bliss called devachan. And the seeds of thoughts, theseeds of actions which it had done in former lives, are now laid by in the fabric of itself -- seeds whosenatural energy is still unexpended and unexhausted -- and inhere in that inner psychical fabric, for theyhave nowhere else in which to inhere, since the man produced them there and they are a part of him.These seeds of former thoughts and acts, of former emotions, desires, loves, hates, yearnings, andaspirations, each one of such begins to make itself felt as an urge earthwards, towards the spheres andplanes in which they are native, and where they naturally grow and expand and develop.In this our present life, all of us are setting in motion causes in thought and in action which will bring usback to this earth in the distant future. We shall then reap the harvest of the seeds of thought and actionthat we are in this present life planting in the fields of our human nature.In the Pali books of the Orient this word is called tanha.

Unmesha: Sanskrit for becoming visible. The manifestation or creation of the universe.

Upadhi(Sanskrit) ::: A word which is used in various senses in Indian philosophy, the vocable itself meaning"limitation" or "a peculiarity" and hence "a disguise"; and from this last meaning arises the expression"vehicle," which it often bears in modern theosophical philosophy. The gist of the word signifies "thatwhich stands forth following a model or pattern," as a canvas, so to say, upon which the light from aprojecting lantern plays. An upadhi therefore, mystically speaking, is like a play of shadow and form,when compared with the ultimate reality, which is the cause of this play of shadow and form. Man maybe considered as a being composed of three (or even four) essential upadhis or bases.

Upadhi: Sanskrit for substitute, disguise. One of many conditions of body and mind obscuring the true state of man or his self which Indian philosophies try to remove for the attainment of moksha (q.v.). In occult terminology, this word is used in the sense of a “carrier of something lighter or subtler than itself”—for instance, the body is the upadhi of the spirit.

Upanishad(Sanskrit) ::: A compound, composed of upa "according to," "together with," ni "down," and the verbal rootsad, "to sit," which becomes shad by Sanskrit grammar when preceded by the particle ni: the entirecompound thus signifying "following upon or according to the teachings which were received when wewere sitting down." The figure here is that of pupils sitting in the Oriental style at the feet of the teacher,who taught them the secret wisdom or rahasya, in private and in forms and manners of expression thatlater were written and promulgated according to those teachings and after that style.The Upanishads are examples of literary works in which the rahasya -- a Sanskrit word meaning"esoteric doctrine" or "mystery" -- is imbodied. The Upanishads belong to the Vedic cycle and areregarded by orthodox Brahmans as a portion of the sruti or "revelation." It was from these wonderfulquasi-esoteric and very mystical works that was later developed the highly philosophical and profoundsystem called the Vedanta. The Upanishads are usually reckoned today as one hundred and fifty innumber, though probably only a score are now complete without evident marks of literary change oradulteration in the way of excision or interpolation.The topics treated of in the Upanishads are highly transcendental, recondite, and abstruse, and in orderproperly to understand the Upanishadic teaching one should have constantly in mind the master-keys thattheosophy puts into the hand of the student. The origin of the universe, the nature of the divinities, therelations between soul and ego, the connections of spiritual and material beings, the liberation of theevolving entity from the chains of maya, and kosmological questions, are all dealt with, mostly in asuccinct and cryptic form. The Upanishads, finally, may be called the exoteric theosophical works ofHindustan, but contain a vast amount of genuine esoteric information.

Upanishad: Sanskrit for secret teaching or Esoteric Doctrine. The Upanishads form the third section of the Vedas, recording the speculations of the Hindu sages and esoteric adepts on the nature of the world and ultimate reality and the way to spiritual union with The Absolute. The principal basis of Hindu philosophy. More than one hundred Upanishads are mentioned, but thirteen are generally listed as the oldest ones, viz. Chandogya, Brhadaranyaka, Aitareya, Taittiriya, Katha, Isa, Munda, Kausitaki, Kena, Prasna, Svetasvatara, Mandukya, and Maitri; they probably date from the 8th century B.C.

Vac: Sanskrit for speech, voice, word. In Vedic and occult philosophy vac has a similar role as the Logos in Greek philosophy. It appears personified as the goddess of speech and close to primeval reality in the hierarchy of emanations.

Vach(Sanskrit) ::: A term which means "speech" or "word"; and by the same procedure of mystical thoughtwhich is seen in ancient Greek mysticism, wherein the Logos is not merely the speech or word of theDivinity, but also the divine reason, so Vach has come to mean really more than merely word or speech.The esoteric Vach is the subjective creative intelligent force which, emanating from the subjectiveuniverse, becomes the manifested or concrete expression of ideation, hence Word or Logos. Mystically,therefore, Vach may be said to be the feminine or vehicular aspect of the Logos, or the power of theLogos when enshrined within its vehicle or sheath of action. Vach in India is often called Sata-rupa, "thehundred-formed." Cosmologically in one sense daiviprakriti may be said to be a manifestation or form ofVach.

Vahana(Sanskrit) ::: A "vehicle" or carrier. This word has a rather wide currency in philosophical and esoteric andoccult thought. Its signification is a bearer or vehicle of some entity which, through this carrier orvehicle, is enabled to manifest itself on planes or in spheres or worlds hierarchically inferior to its own.Thus the vahana of man is, generally speaking, his body, although indeed man's constitution comprises anumber of vahanas or vehicles, each one belonging to -- and enabling the inner man, or manifestingspiritual or intellectual entity, to express itself on -- the plane where the vahana is native.Vahana is thus seen to have a number of different meanings, or, more accurately, applications. E.g., thevahana of man's spiritual monad is his spiritual soul; the vahana of man's human ego is his human soul;and the vahana of man's psycho-vital-astral monad is the linga-sarira working through its vahana orcarrier, the sthula-sarira or physical body. The wire which carries the current of electricity can be said tobe the vahana of the electric current; or again, the intermolecular ether is the vahana of many of theradioactive forces of the world around us, etc. Every divine being has a vahana or, in fact, a number ofvahanas, through which it works and through which it is enabled to express its divine powers andfunctions on and in worlds and planes below the sphere or world or plane in which it itself lives. (Seealso Soul; Upadhi)

Vahana: Sanskrit for vehicle (q.v.).

Vaisya(Sanskrit) ::: The third of the four castes or social classes into which the inhabitants of ancient India weredivided. The Vaisya is the trader and agriculturist. (See also Brahmana; Kshatriya; Sudra)

Vedanta(Sanskrit) ::: From the Upanishads and from other parts of the wonderful cycle of Vedic literature, theancient sages of India produced what is called today the Vedanta -- a compound word meaning "the end(or completion) of the Veda" -- that is to say, instruction in the final and most perfect exposition of themeaning of the Vedic tenets.The Vedanta is the highest form that the Brahmanical teachings have taken, and under the name of theUttara-Mimamsa attributed to Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas, the Vedanta is perhaps the noblest ofthe six Indian schools of philosophy. The Avatara Sankaracharya has been the main popularizer of theVedantic system of philosophical thought, and the type of Vedantic doctrine taught by him is what istechnically called the Advaita-Vedanta or nondualistic.The Vedanta may briefly be described as a system of mystical philosophy derived from the efforts ofsages through many generations to interpret the sacred or esoteric meaning of the Upanishads. In itsAdvaita form the Vedanta is in many, if not all, respects exceedingly close to, if not identical with, someof the mystical forms of Buddhism in central Asia. The Hindus call the Vedanta Brahma-jnana.

Veda(s)(Sanskrit) ::: From a verbal root vid signifying "to know." These are the most ancient and the most sacredliterary and religious works of the Hindus. Veda as a word may be described as "divine knowledge." TheVedas are four in number: the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda, thislast being commonly supposed to be of later date than the former three.Manu in his Work on Law always speaks of the three Vedas, which he calls "the ancient triple Brahman"-- sanatanam trayam brahma." Connected with the Vedas is a large body of other works of variouskinds, liturgical, ritualistic, exegetical, and mystical, the Veda itself being commonly divided into twogreat portions, outward and inner: the former called the karma-kanda, the "Section of Works," and thelatter called jnana-kanda or "Section of Wisdom."The authorship of the Veda is not unitary, but almost every hymn or division of a Veda is ascribed to adifferent author or rather to various authors; but they are supposed to have been compiled in their presentform by Veda-Vyasa. There is no question in the minds of learned students of theosophy that the Vedasrun back in their origins to enormous antiquity, thousands of years before the beginning of what is knownin the Occident as the Christian era, whatever Occidental scholars may have to say in objection to thisstatement. Hindu pandits themselves claim that the Veda was taught orally for thousands of years, andthen finally compiled on the shores of the sacred lake Manasa-Sarovara, beyond the Himalayas in adistrict of what is now Tibet.

Vedic ::: Of or relating to the Veda or Vedas, the variety of Sanskrit in which they are written, or the Hindu culture that produced them.

vedic ::: of or relating to the Veda or Vedas, the variety of Sanskrit in which they are written, or the Hindu culture that produced them.

Vibhuta: Sanskrit for “manifestation of great power.” In Yoga, the eight supernatural, mystic powers which one can attain, viz. (1) the power of becoming as minute as an atom, (2) the power to become as light as cotton, (3) the power of reaching anywhere, even to the moon, (4) the power of having all wishes of whatever description realized, (5) the power to expand oneself into space, (6) the power to create, (7) the power to command all, and (8) the power of suppressing all desires.

Vidhi: Sanskrit for rule, formula, sacred precept or scripture.

Vidya: Sanskrit for knowledge. In theosophy, the “wisdom knowledge” which enables man to distinguish between true and false.

Vidya(Sanskrit) ::: The word (derived from the same verbal root vid from which comes the noun Veda) for"knowledge," "philosophy," "science." This is a term very generally used in theosophical philosophy,having in a general way the three meanings just stated. It is frequently compounded with other words,such as: atma-vidya -- "knowledge of atman" or the essential Self; Brahma-vidya -- "knowledge ofBrahman," knowledge of the universe, a term virtually equivalent to theosophy; or, again, guhya-vidya -signifying the "secret knowledge" or the esoteric wisdom. Using the word in a collective but neverthelessspecific sense, vidya is a general term for occult science.

Vijnana: Sanskrit for consciousness; the faculty of apprehension or individualization of experience, and as such perhaps equivalent to ahamkara (q.v.); intellectual, not intuitional, knowledge.

Vijnana-vada: Sanskrit for theory of consciousness; specifically that consciousness is of the essence of reality; also the Buddhist school of subjective idealism otherwise known as Yogacara (q.v.).

vrddhi ::: [in Sanskrit grammar]: the long modification.

Vyapakatva: Sanskrit for omnipresence, all-pervasiveness.

"We must, however, consider deeply and clearly what we mean by the understanding and by its purification. We use the word as the nearest equivalent we can get in the English tongue to the Sanskrit philosophical term buddhi.” The Synthesis of Yoga

“We must, however, consider deeply and clearly what we mean by the understanding and by its purification. We use the word as the nearest equivalent we can get in the English tongue to the Sanskrit philosophical term buddhi.” The Synthesis of Yoga

Yajna: Sanskrit for sacrifice, a Vedic institution which became philosophically interpreted as the self-sacrifice of the Absolute One which, by an act of self-negation (nisedha-vyapara) became the Many.

Yama: Sanskrit for moral restraint or self control which is the first prerequisite to the study and practice of Yoga (q.v.); ten rules of conduct (yamas) are listed in the classic text, Hathayo-gapradipika, viz. non-injuring, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, forgiveness, endurance, compassion, sincerity, sparing diet, and cleanliness.

Yoga: Sanskrit for union. The development of the powers latent in man for achieving union with the Divine Spirit. It is defined as “the restraint of mental modifications.” Eight stages are enumerated, viz. moral restraint (yama), self-culture (niyama), posture (asana) breath-control (pranayama), control of the senses (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and a state of superconsciousness (samadhi). The techniques of Yoga are recognized and applied by all schools of occultism.

Yoga(Sanskrit) ::: Literally "union," "conjunction," etc. In India it is the technical name for one of the sixDarsanas or schools of philosophy, and its foundation is ascribed to the sage Patanjali. The name Yogaitself describes the objective of this school, the attaining of union or at-one-ness with the divine-spiritualessence within a man. The yoga practices when properly understood through the instructions of genuineteachers -- who, by the way, never announce themselves as public lecturers or through books oradvertisements -- are supposed to induce certain ecstatic states leading to a clear perception of universaltruths, and the highest of these states is called samadhi.There are a number of minor forms of yoga practice and training such as the karma yoga, hatha yoga,bhakti yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga, etc. Similar religious aspirations or practices likewise exist inOccidental countries, as, for instance, what is called salvation by works, somewhat equivalent to theHindu karma yoga or, again, salvation by faith -- or love, somewhat similar to the Hindu bhakti yoga;while both Orient and Occident have, each one, its various forms of ascetic practices which may begrouped under the term hatha yoga.No system of yoga should ever be practiced unless under the direct teaching of one who knows thedangers of meddling with the psychomental apparatus of the human constitution, for dangers lurk atevery step, and the meddler in these things is likely to bring disaster upon himself, both in matters ofhealth and as regards sane mental equilibrium. The higher branches of yoga, however, such as the rajayoga and jnana yoga, implying strict spiritual and intellectual discipline combined with a fervid love forall beings, are perfectly safe. It is, however, the ascetic practices, etc., and the teachings that go withthem, wherein lies the danger to the unwary, and they should be carefully avoided.

Yogi(Yogin, Sanskrit) ::: A yogi is a devotee, one who practices the Yoga system or one or more of its varioussubordinate branches.In some cases, yogis are those who strive in various ways to conquer the body and physical temptations,for instance by torture of the body. They also study more or less some of the magnificent philosophicalteachings of India coming down from far distant ages of the past; but mere mental study will not make aman a mahatma, nor will any torture of the body bring about the spiritual vision -- the vision sublime.(See also Yoga)

Yuga(Sanskrit) ::: A word meaning an "age," a period of time. A yuga is a period of mundane time, and four ofthese periods are usually enumerated in "divine years":1. Krita or Satya Yuga. . . . 4,000Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . 400Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,8002. Treta Yuga. . . . . . . . . . . 3,000Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . 300Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,6003. Dvapara Yuga. . . . . . . . 2,000Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,4004. Kali Yuga. . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,200TOTAL . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .12,000This rendered in years of mortals equals:4,800 x 360 = 1,728,0003,600 x 360 = 1,296,0002,400 x 360 = 864,0001,200 x 360 = 432,000. . . . . .Total 4,320,000Of these four yugas, our present racial period is the fourth or kali yuga, often called the "iron age" or the"black age." It is stated to have commenced at the moment of Krishna's death, usually given as 3,102years before the Christian era. There is a very important point of the teaching in connection with theyugas which must not be forgotten. It is the following: The four yugas as above outlined refer to whatmodern theosophical philosophy calls a root-race, although indeed a root-race from its individualbeginning to its individual ending is about double the length of the composite yuga above set forth incolumnar form. The racial yugas, however, overlap because each new great race is born at about themiddle period of the parent race, although the individual length of any one race is as above stated. Thus itis that by the overlapping of the races, a race and its succeeding race may for a long time becontemporaneous on the face of the globe.As the four yugas are a reflection in human history of what takes place in the evolution of the earth itselfand of the planetary chain, therefore the same scheme of yugas applies also on a cosmic scale -- thereexist the four series of satya yuga, treta yuga, dvapara yuga, and kali yuga, in the evolution of the earth,and on a still larger scale in the evolution of a planetary chain. Of course these cosmic yugas are verymuch longer than the racial yugas, but the same general scheme of 4, 3, 2 applies throughout. For furtherdetails of the teaching concerning the yugas, the student should consult H. P. Blavatsky's The SecretDoctrine, and the work by the present author, Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy.



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   1 The Mother
   1 A B Purani

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   8 Anonymous
   6 Frederick Lenz
   5 Swami Vivekananda
   5 Devdutt Pattanaik
   4 Gregory David Roberts
   3 Wendy Doniger
   3 Siddhartha Mukherjee
   3 Paramahansa Yogananda
   3 John Keay
   3 Elizabeth Gilbert
   3 Dalai Lama XIV
   2 Will Durant
   2 Tom Robbins
   2 Stephen Cope
   2 R Gordon Wasson
   2 Ravinder Singh
   2 Joseph Campbell
   2 Jiddu Krishnamurti
   2 Ibrahim Ibrahim
   2 Hazrat Inayat Khan

1:This is the highest mystical teaching." ~ From "The Shveteshvatara Upanishad," an ancient Sanskrit text embedded in the Yajurveda, Wikipedia.,
2:At each step we say in the language of the Sanskrit verse, "Even as I am appointed by Thee seated in my heart, so, O Lord, I act." ~ Sri Aurobindo, TSOY, The Master of the Work
3:Forms of religion but forge so many bonds round the individual; Spiritual Consciousness alone disperses them." ~ "Mahabharata," one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India… contains philosophical and devotional material", Wikipedia,
4:From time forth created things From time too, they advance in growth. Likewise in time they disappear Time is a form and formless too.." ~ "Upaninshads," part of the Sanskrit texts that contain some of the central philosophical concepts and ideas of Hinduism, Wikipedia.,
5:The Transcendent Mother and the Higher Hemisphere
   "At the summit of this manifestation of which we are a part there are worlds of infinite existence, consciousness, force and bliss over which the Mother stands as the unveiled eternal Power."1 The Transcendent Mother thus stands above the Ananda plane.There are then four steps of the Divine Shakti:
   (1) The Transcendent Mahashakti who stands above the Ananda plane and who bears the Supreme Divine in her eternal consciousness.
   (2) The Mahashakti immanent in the worlds of SatChit-Ananda where all beings live and move in an ineffable completeness.
   (3) The Supramental Mahashakti immanent in the worlds of Supermind.
   (4) The Cosmic Mahashakti immanent in the lower hemisphere.
   Yes; that is all right. One speaks often however of all above the lower hemisphere as part of the transcendence. This is because the Supermind and Ananda are not manifested in our universe at present, but are planes above it. For us the higher hemisphere is pr [para], the Supreme Transcendence is prA(pr [paratpara]. The Sanskrit terms are here clearer than the English.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, Three Aspects of the Mother, 52,
6:Disciple: If the Asuras represent the dark side of God on the vital plane - does this dark side exist on every plane? If so, are there beings on the mental plane which correspond to the dark side?
   Sri Aurobindo: The Asura is really the dark side of God on the mental plane. Mind is the very field of the Asura. His characteristic is egoistic strength, which refuses the Higher Law. The Asura has got Self-control, Tapas, intelligence, only, all that is for his ego.
   On the vital plane the corresponding forces we call the Rakshashas which represent violent passions and impulses. There are other beings on the vital plane which we call pramatta and piśacha and these; manifest, more or less, on the physico-vital plane.
   Distiple: What is the corresponding being on the higher plane?
   Sri Aurobindo: On the higher plane there are no Asuras - there the Truth prevails. There are "Asuras" there in the Vedic sense,- "beings with divine powers". The mental Asura is only a deviation of that power.
   The work of the Asura has all the characteristics of mind in it. It is mind refusing to submit to the Higher Law; it is the mind in revolt. It works on the basis of ego and ignorance.
   Disciple: What are the forces that correspond to the dark side of God on the physical plane?
   Sri Aurobindo: They are what may be called the "elemental beings", or rather, obscure elemental forces - they are more "forces" than "beings". It is these that the Theosophists call the "Elementals". They are not individualised beings like the Asura and the Rakshasas, they are ignorant forces working oh the subtle physical plane.
   Disciple: What is the word for them in Sanskrit;?
   Sri Aurobindo: What are called bhūtas seem most nearly to correspond to them.
   Disciple: The term "Elemental" means that these work through the elements.
   Sri Aurobindo: There are two kinds of "elementals": one mischievous and the other innocent. What the Europeans call the gnomes come under this category. ~ A B Purani, EVENING TALKS WITH SRI AUROBINDO, 15-06-1926,
7:Who could have thought that this tanned young man with gentle, dreamy eyes, long wavy hair parted in the middle and falling to the neck, clad in a common coarse Ahmedabad dhoti, a close-fitting Indian jacket, and old-fashioned slippers with upturned toes, and whose face was slightly marked with smallpox, was no other than Mister Aurobindo Ghose, living treasure of French, Latin and Greek?" Actually, Sri Aurobindo was not yet through with books; the Western momentum was still there; he devoured books ordered from Bombay and Calcutta by the case. "Aurobindo would sit at his desk," his Bengali teacher continues, "and read by the light of an oil lamp till one in the morning, oblivious of the intolerable mosquito bites. I would see him seated there in the same posture for hours on end, his eyes fixed on his book, like a yogi lost in the contemplation of the Divine, unaware of all that went on around him. Even if the house had caught fire, it would not have broken this concentration." He read English, Russian, German, and French novels, but also, in ever larger numbers, the sacred books of India, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, although he had never been in a temple except as an observer. "Once, having returned from the College," one of his friends recalls, "Sri Aurobindo sat down, picked up a book at random and started to read, while Z and some friends began a noisy game of chess. After half an hour, he put the book down and took a cup of tea. We had already seen him do this many times and were waiting eagerly for a chance to verify whether he read the books from cover to cover or only scanned a few pages here and there. Soon the test began. Z opened the book, read a line aloud and asked Sri Aurobindo to recite what followed. Sri Aurobindo concentrated for a moment, and then repeated the entire page without a single mistake. If he could read a hundred pages in half an hour, no wonder he could go through a case of books in such an incredibly short time." But Sri Aurobindo did not stop at the translations of the sacred texts; he began to study Sanskrit, which, typically, he learned by himself. When a subject was known to be difficult or impossible, he would refuse to take anyone's word for it, whether he were a grammarian, pandit, or clergyman, and would insist upon trying it himself. The method seemed to have some merit, for not only did he learn Sanskrit, but a few years later he discovered the lost meaning of the Veda. ~ Satprem, Sri Aurobindo Or The Adventure of Consciousness,
8:Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā, (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; Wylie: ral gcig ma: one who has one knot of hair),[1] also known as Māhacīnatārā,[2] is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is, along with Palden Lhamo deity, one of the most powerful and fierce goddesses of Vajrayana Buddhist mythology.[1][3] According to Tibetan legends, her right eye was pierced by the tantric master Padmasambhava so that she could much more effectively help him subjugate Tibetan demons.

Ekajati is also known as "Blue Tara", Vajra Tara or "Ugra Tara".[1][3] She is generally considered one of the three principal protectors of the Nyingma school along with Rāhula and Vajrasādhu (Wylie: rdo rje legs pa).

Often Ekajati appears as liberator in the mandala of the Green Tara. Along with that, her ascribed powers are removing the fear of enemies, spreading joy, and removing personal hindrances on the path to enlightenment.

Ekajati is the protector of secret mantras and "as the mother of the mothers of all the Buddhas" represents the ultimate unity. As such, her own mantra is also secret. She is the most important protector of the Vajrayana teachings, especially the Inner Tantras and termas. As the protector of mantra, she supports the practitioner in deciphering symbolic dakini codes and properly determines appropriate times and circumstances for revealing tantric teachings. Because she completely realizes the texts and mantras under her care, she reminds the practitioner of their preciousness and secrecy.[4] Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama meditated upon her in early childhood.

According to Namkhai Norbu, Ekajati is the principal guardian of the Dzogchen teachings and is "a personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy."[5]

Dzogchen is the most closely guarded teaching in Tibetan Buddhism, of which Ekajati is a main guardian as mentioned above. It is said that Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha) himself entrusted the "Heart Essence" (Wylie: snying thig) teachings to her care. To the great master Longchenpa, who initiated the dissemination of certain Dzogchen teachings, Ekajati offered uncharacteristically personal guidance. In his thirty-second year, Ekajati appeared to Longchenpa, supervising every ritual detail of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis empowerment, insisting on the use of a peacock feather and removing unnecessary basin. When Longchenpa performed the ritual, she nodded her head in approval but corrected his pronunciation. When he recited the mantra, Ekajati admonished him, saying, "Imitate me," and sang it in a strange, harmonious melody in the dakini's language. Later she appeared at the gathering and joyously danced, proclaiming the approval of Padmasambhava and the dakinis.[6] ~ Wikipedia,
9:This greater Force is that of the Illumined Mind, a Mind no longer of higher Thought, but of spiritual light. Here the clarity of the spiritual intelligence, its tranquil daylight, gives place or subordinates itself to an intense lustre, a splendour and illumination of the spirit: a play of lightnings of spiritual truth and power breaks from above into the consciousness and adds to the calm and wide enlightenment and the vast descent of peace which characterise or accompany the action of the larger conceptual-spiritual principle, a fiery ardour of realisation and a rapturous ecstasy of knowledge. A downpour of inwardly visible Light very usually envelops this action; for it must be noted that, contrary to our ordinary conceptions, light is not primarily a material creation and the sense or vision of light accompanying the inner illumination is not merely a subjective visual image or a symbolic phenomenon: light is primarily a spiritual manifestation of the Divine Reality illuminative and creative; material light is a subsequent representation or conversion of it into Matter for the purposes of the material Energy. There is also in this descent the arrival of a greater dynamic, a golden drive, a luminous enthousiasmos of inner force and power which replaces the comparatively slow and deliberate process of the Higher Mind by a swift, sometimes a vehement, almost a violent impetus of rapid transformation.
   But these two stages of the ascent enjoy their authority and can get their own united completeness only by a reference to a third level; for it is from the higher summits where dwells the intuitional being that they derive the knowledge which they turn into thought or sight and bring down to us for the mind's transmutation. Intuition is a power of consciousness nearer and more intimate to the original knowledge by identity; for it is always something that leaps out direct from a concealed identity. It is when the consciousness of the subject meets with the consciousness in the object, penetrates it and sees, feels or vibrates with the truth of what it contacts, that the intuition leaps out like a spark or lightning-flash from the shock of the meeting; or when the consciousness, even without any such meeting, looks into itself and feels directly and intimately the truth or the truths that are there or so contacts the hidden forces behind appearances, then also there is the outbreak of an intuitive light; or, again, when the consciousness meets the Supreme Reality or the spiritual reality of things and beings and has a contactual union with it, then the spark, the flash or the blaze of intimate truth-perception is lit in its depths. This close perception is more than sight, more than conception: it is the result of a penetrating and revealing touch which carries in it sight and conception as part of itself or as its natural consequence. A concealed or slumbering identity, not yet recovering itself, still remembers or conveys by the intuition its own contents and the intimacy of its self-feeling and self-vision of things, its light of truth, its overwhelming and automatic certitude. ... Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light; it is in us a projecting blade, edge or point of a far-off supermind light entering into and modified by some intermediate truth-mind substance above us and, so modified, again entering into and very much blinded by our ordinary or ignorant mind substance; but on that higher level to which it is native its light is unmixed and therefore entirely and purely veridical, and its rays are not separated but connected or massed together in a play of waves of what might almost be called in the Sanskrit poetic figure a sea or mass of stable lightnings.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine,
10:The true Mantra must come from within OR it must be given by a Guru

Nobody can give you the true mantra. It's not something that is given; it's something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being - then it has power, because it's not something that comes from outside, it's your very own cry.

I saw, in my case, that my mantra has the power of immortality; whatever happens, if it is uttered, it's the Supreme that has the upper hand, it's no longer the lower law. And the words are irrelevant, they may not have any meaning - to someone else, my mantra is meaningless, but to me it's full, packed with meaning. And effective, because it's my cry, the intense aspiration of my whole being.

A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra. The power is automatically there, because the sound contains the experience. I saw that once in Paris, at a time when I knew nothing of India, absolutely nothing, only the usual nonsense. I didn't even know what a mantra was. I had gone to a lecture given by some fellow who was supposed to have practiced "yoga" for a year in the Himalayas and recounted his experience (none too interesting, either). All at once, in the course of his lecture, he uttered the sound OM. And I saw the entire room suddenly fill with light, a golden, vibrating light.... I was probably the only one to notice it. I said to myself, "Well!" Then I didn't give it any more thought, I forgot about the story. But as it happened, the experience recurred in two or three different countries, with different people, and every time there was the sound OM, I would suddenly see the place fill with that same light. So I understood. That sound contains the vibration of thousands and thousands of years of spiritual aspiration - there is in it the entire aspiration of men towards the Supreme. And the power is automatically there, because the experience is there.

It's the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, "Glory to You, O Lord," into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolini's help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was there - not because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of "giving" me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and that's the japa I do now - I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.[[Mother later clarified: "'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't MY mantra, it's something I ADDED to it - my mantra is something else altogether, that's not it. When I say that my mantra has the power of immortality, I mean the other, the one I don't speak of! I have never given the words.... You see, at the end of my walk, a kind of enthusiasm rises, and with that enthusiasm, the 'Glory to You' came to me, but it's part of the prayer I had written in Prayers and Meditations: 'Glory to You, O Lord, all-triumphant Supreme' etc. (it's a long prayer). It came back suddenly, and as it came back spontaneously, I kept it. Moreover, when Sri Aurobindo read this prayer in Prayers and Meditations, he told me it was very strong. So I added this phrase as a kind of tail to my japa. But 'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't my spontaneous mantra - it came spontaneously, but it was something written very long ago. The two things are different."

And that's how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your being - there is no need of effort or concentration: it's your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within.... No guru can give you that. ~ The Mother, Agenda, May 11 1963,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

1:Do you believe in that Infinite, good Providence working in and through you? If you believe that this Omnipresent One is present in every atom, is through and through, Ota-Prota, as the Sanskrit word goes, penetrating your body, mind and soul, how can you lose heart? ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
2:There is, however, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus: "Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue, injuring any being is sin." ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
3:Today the West is awakening to its wants; and the "true self of man and spirit" is the watchword of the advanced school of Western theologians. The student of Sanskrit philosophy knows where the wind is blowing from, but it matters not whence the power comes so longs as it brings new life. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
4:I am alone, I am all alone, I am completely alone. Grasping this reality, I let go of my bag, drop to my knees and press my forehead against the floor. There, I offer up to the universe a fervent prayer of thanks. First in English. Then in Italian. And then - just to get the point across - in Sanskrit. ~ elizabeth-gilbert, @wisdomtrove
5:Do you know this Sanskrit Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:Life is like Sanskrit read to a pony. ~ Lou Reed,
2:Do you ever speak a known language? Sanskrit, perhaps? ~ Mary Hughes,
3:Dharma, which is the Sanskrit word for life’s purpose. ~ Robin S Sharma,
4:Arabic equals Sanskrit plus history, equals Greek minus tragedy ~ Abdal Hakim Murad,
5:karma, which is Sanskrit for action, is the cause and not the result. ~ Tashi Tsering,
6:which we also get the loanword yoga from Sanskrit, meaning “connection ~ Jostein Gaarder,
7:This unconditional wakefulness is described in the Sanskrit term bodhicitta, ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche,
8:Manu is the father of mankind, and therefore from manu comes the word man, or, in Sanskrit, manuṣya. ~ Anonymous,
9:The word 'art' interests me very much. If it comes from Sanskrit, as I've heard, it signifies 'making. ~ Marcel Duchamp,
10:Sanskrit has ninety-six words for love; ancient Persian has eighty; Greek three; and English simply one. ~ Robert Johnson,
11:The soul apart from the body and mind is a sound, a note, a tone, which is called in Sanskrit Svara. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,
12:My heart is longing for a lost knowledge, slipped down out of the minds of men. ~ from the Sanskrit poem "Black Marigolds",
13:Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, they contain pure truths, before we cluttered our languages with so many useless words. ~ Cassandra Clare,
14:Dharma is a sanskrit word. It simply means that which is right, that which is correct, that which is the divine law. ~ Frederick Lenz,
15:This is the law of Karma, which is Sanskrit for "Comeback." "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. ~ Florence Scovel Shinn,
16:Neither Sanskrit nor classical Tibetan has a word for “emotion” as the concept is used in modern languages and cultures. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
17:In Sanskrit words are like living beings; depending on context, circumstance and environment their mood varies and meaning differs. ~ Amit Ray,
18:how small a strip has as yet been explored of the vast continent of Sanskrit literature, and how much still remains terra incognita. ~ F Max M ller,
19:In ancient India, the Sanskrit word for a piece of crystallized sugar was khanda, which was later Anglicized to candy. ~ Bathroom Readers Institute,
20:Everything knows what is best for itself. That is what the Sanskrit word dharma means. Dharma means the best of all possible actions. ~ Frederick Lenz,
21:Kundalini energy passes through the shushumna, which is a Sanskrit name for an astral nerve channel that runs along the spinal column. ~ Frederick Lenz,
22:It’s a myth that Sanskrit is the best language for writing computer code. Patriotic Indians have spread this lie for many years—Bill Gates ~ Manu Joseph,
23:Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one. ~ Henry David Thoreau,
24:In sanskrit they say: "Tat twam asi" - thou art that. You are God. The bubble of your awareness bursts and you're flooded with immortality. ~ Frederick Lenz,
25:This insight was that Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Gothic (German-related languages) and Celtic all traced their origin back to a common ancestor. ~ Daniel L Everett,
26:The German word for breathing—atmen—is derived from the ancient Indian (Sanskrit) word Atman, meaning the indwelling divine spirit or God within. ~ Eckhart Tolle,
27:Cessation is believed to be a direct insight into an unconditioned reality (Pali: Nibbāna; Sanskrit: Nirvana) that lies behind all manifest phenomena. ~ Sam Harris,
28:True love is made of four elements: loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. In Sanskrit, these are, maitri, karuna, mudita, and upeksha. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
29:The goal of the Buddha’s teaching is Nibbāna (Sanskrit: Nirvāṇa). Literally translated, that means “not burning,” or in other words, the loss of all passions. ~ Ayya Khema,
30:The word Buddha comes from the Sanskrit word Budh, meaning, to be awake. So Buddha is not a name and ultimately not a person, but a state of consciousness. ~ Eckhart Tolle,
31:Chanting is one of the most traditional and first Yoga practices. It helps to open the throat area and is a great way to learn some Sanskrit and the Yoga Sutra. ~ Patanjali,
32:the putka was derived from the Sanskrit putika, the name of a plant never theretofore identified that the Aryans had used as the first surrogate for Soma. ~ R Gordon Wasson,
33:"(1) The regional language should be the medium of instruction(2) Sanskrit should be the national language, and(3) English should be the international language." ~ The Mother,
34:That was my childhood. I grew up with the monks, studying Sanskrit and meditating for hours in the morning and hours in the evening, and going once a day to beg for food. ~ Satish Kumar,
35:At the moment you're suffering from what we call Maya. Maya is illusion. Maya is a Sanskrit word that suggests that we have forgotten. We've forgotten the purpose of life. ~ Frederick Lenz,
36:In Sanskrit, “independent woman” is a synonym for a harlot. Hence the woman who is unattached to a man is not only a universal feminine type but a sacral type in antiquity. ~ Erich Neumann,
37:There is a word Kristos in the Greek dictionary, and this word is supposed to be borrowed from the Sanskrit word "Krishna," and Christ is derived from Kristos. ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
38:Each today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope. Look, therefore, to this one day, for it and it alone is life.”
Sanskrit poem ~ Robin Craig Clark,
39:I'll bet I'm as old as you are." "I'm older than Sanskrit." "Well, I was waitress at the Last Supper." "I'm so old I remember when McDonald's had only sold a hundred burgers." "You win. ~ Tom Robbins,
40:From all your herds, a cup or two of milk, From all your granaries, a loaf of bread, In all your palace, only half a bed: Can man use more? And do you own the rest? —ANCIENT SANSKRIT POEM ~ Rolf Potts,
41:There's the kind of people like me, who spent years in India, have learned Sanskrit, have done this work deeply - they probably say for lifetimes - now interfacing [with the mainstream]. ~ Gary Kraftsow,
42:In classical Sanskrit poetry, the laughter of women is responsible for the blooming of plants, which is why women were invited to the royal gardens in spring to sing and dance and play. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik,
43:I am very sorry, but I cannot learn languages. I have tried hard, only to find that men of ordinary capacity can learn Sanskrit in less time that it takes me to buy a German Dictionary ~ George Bernard Shaw,
44:I'll bet I'm as old as you are."
"I'm older than Sanskrit."
"Well, I was waitress at the Last Supper."
"I'm so old I remember when McDonald's had only sold a hundred burgers."
"You win. ~ Tom Robbins,
45:“It is the coward and the fool who says, ‘This is fate'” — so says the Sanskrit proverb. But it is the strong man who stands up and says, “I will make my fate.” ~ Swami Vivekananda #swamivivekananda #swamijiquotes,
46:Prashna is ‘question’ in Sanskrit, but it can also mean riddle or puzzle. It points to a ‘baffling, ultimately insoluble crystallization of conflict articulated along opposing lines of interpretation’. ~ Gurcharan Das,
47:In Sanskrit this ardent, one-pointed, self-transcending passion is called tapas, and the Vedas revere it as an unsurpassable creative force. From the tapas of God, the Rig Veda says, the cosmos itself was born. ~ Anonymous,
48:Show me that you can divide the notes of a song; But first, show me that you can discern Between what can be divided And what cannot. —An anonymous musical composition inspired by a classical Sanskrit poem ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee,
49:Show me that you can divide the notes of a song; But first, show me that you can discern Between what can be divided And what cannot. —An anonymous musical composition inspired by a classical Sanskrit poem Abhed ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee,
50:Yesterday is but a dream, And tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, And every tomorrow a vision of hope. —KĀLIDĀSA, Sanskrit dramatist and poet, ca. fifth century CE ~ Anthony Robbins,
51:Bodhichitta is a Sanskrit word that means “noble or awakened heart.” It is said to be present in all beings. Just as butter is inherent in milk and oil is inherent in a sesame seed, this soft spot is inherent in you and me. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
52:Now I’m really curious. Tell me.” I tapped on his bare chest. “Please?”
He watched me a moment. “It’s in Sanskrit. It says, ‘This Is Forever.’”
My heart skipped a beat as I stared up at him. “Does it mean what I think it does? ~ J Lynn,
53:Sanskrit has different words to describe love for a brother or sister, love for a teacher, love for a partner, love for one’s friends, love of nature, and so on. English has only one word, which leads to never-ending confusion. ~ Sharon Salzberg,
54:Since God doesn't have a name, I'll give him the name of Simptar. It doesn't come from any language. I give myself the name Amptala. As far as I know no such name exists. Perhaps in a language earlier than Sanskrit, an it-language. ~ Clarice Lispector,
55:So much of what I taught seemed simple enough to me—and to about a third of the class—but for the others it was as if I were teaching Boolean algebra in Sanskrit with Greek footnotes to explain the underlying concepts … or something. ~ L E Modesitt Jr,
56:It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected in the Sanskrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the paltry abridgements used at preparatory schools in England. ~ Thomas B Macaulay,
57:I have trust that we humans can resolve the problems that we have created. There is a Sanskrit saying that I subscribe to and I like very much, that "God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in the animals, and thinks in Man." ~ Edgar Mitchell,
58:The sacred places mentioned are often difficult to identify, although usually they have been preserved by later religions, as for example Mecca (Sanskrit:Makheshvara), whose "black stone," mentioned in the Puranas, was an emblem of Shiva. ~ Alain Dani lou,
59:Animals do not have beliefs. Animals want to know if the other is food, a mate or a threat. Humans, however, are consumed with notions of what is true (satyam, in Sanskrit), good (shivam) and beautiful (sundaram). Belief establishes these. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik,
60:In meditation you experience time slowing down because you can notice more things per discreet moment and you're more open... The word 'meditation' in Sanskrit comes from the word 'familiarization' - as in familiarization with one's own mind. ~ Richard Davidson,
61:Nanamoli Thera (Osbert Moore). The Life of the Buddha. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publishing Society, 1992 (1st edition 1972). Shantideva. The Bodhicaryavatara. (1) Translated from Sanskrit by Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton. Oxford/New York: ~ Stephen Batchelor,
62:It’s not intuitively obvious that noting Gone would bring fulfillment, but many people over the ages have discovered this, hence the Sanskrit word nirvana. Are there any other counterintuitive “Gone goodies”? Indeed, yes. There is one more major one. ~ Shinzen Young,
63:For the first few years, it's most beneficial to meditate on the heart chakra. The heart chakra, called the anahata chakra in Sanskrit, is located in the center of the chest, dead center. If you focus there you will feel a warm and tingling sensation. ~ Frederick Lenz,
64:The Sanskrit word namaste means 'The spirit in me honors the spirit in you.' Whenever you first make eye contact with another person, say 'Namaste' silently to yourself. This is a way of acknowledging that the being there is the same as the being here. ~ Deepak Chopra,
65:Defects of Samsara The fourth reflection that turns our minds toward the Dharma is the reflection on the defects of samsara. Samsara is a Pali and Sanskrit word that means “perpetual wandering,” or the wandering through the endless cycles of existence. ~ Joseph Goldstein,
66:The cultivation of this quality of “evenness” is a central principle of the Bhagavad Gita. It is called samatva in Sanskrit, and it is a central pillar of Krishna’s practice. When the mind develops steadiness, teaches Krishna, it is not shaken by fear or greed. ~ Stephen Cope,
67:(P)rince Gautama undertook his journey and came at last, beneath another sacred tree, to see; in seeing he became a Buddha (Sanskrit buddh,to see). What he saw was that all life is suffering and that the cause of suffering is the desire of the ego to control life. ~ James Hollis,
68:Do you believe in that Infinite, good Providence working in and through you? If you believe that this Omnipresent One is present in every atom, is through and through, Ota-Prota, as the Sanskrit word goes, penetrating your body, mind and soul, how can you lose heart? ~ Swami Vivekananda,
69:(“I got around a lot” [bahu aham caranti] has the same double meaning in Sanskrit as it has in English—to move from one place to another and from one sexual partner to another—as well as a third, purely Indian meaning that is also relevant here: to wander as a mendicant.) ~ Wendy Doniger,
70:There is, however, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus: "Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue, injuring any being is sin." ~ Swami Vivekananda,
71:Sura-na Bheda Pramaana Sunaavo; Bheda, Abheda, Pratham kara Jaano. Show me that you can divide the notes of a song; But first, show me that you can discern Between what can be divided And what cannot. —An anonymous musical composition inspired by a classical Sanskrit poem ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee,
72:Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning “action.” It denotes an active force, the inference being that the outcome of future events can be influenced by our actions. To suppose that karma is some sort of independent energy which predestines the course of our whole life is simply incorrect. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
73:That's a good point, I suppose,' he said in that way people have when you've just said something that's so off the mark it might as well be in Sanskrit, but they like you, so they want to make something positive out of it so they can give you the credit you both know you don't deserve. ~ Lauren Willig,
74:The first wave involved Sanskrit ‘commentaries’ (bhasyas) by Vedanta scholars, the most celebrated of whom were Adi Shankara from Kerala in the eighth century followed by Ramanuja from Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century and Madhva Acharya from Karnataka in the thirteenth century. They ~ Devdutt Pattanaik,
75:Today the West is awakening to its wants; and the "true self of man and spirit" is the watchword of the advanced school of Western theologians. The student of Sanskrit philosophy knows where the wind is blowing from, but it matters not whence the power comes so longs as it brings new life. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
76:India was the motherland of our race
and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages.
India was the mother of our philosophy,
of much of our mathematics, of the ideals embodied in
Christianity... of self-government and democracy.
In many ways, Mother India is the mother of us all. ~ Will Durant,
77:The one idea the Hindu religions differ in from every other in the world, the one idea to express which the sages almost exhaust the vocabulary of the Sanskrit language, is that man must realise God even in this life. ~ Swami Vivekananda in: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda [ Volume 4 ], Kartindo.com, p. 405.,
78:According to this version Jadi Rana asked the Parsis to explain their religion and rituals to him. He must have been struck by the obvious similarities between Zoroastrian and ancient Vedic rituals. The newcomers also composed sixteen Sanskrit slokas to explain their beliefs (these have been preserved). ~ Sanjeev Sanyal,
79:I am alone, I am all alone, I am completely alone. Grasping this reality, I let go of my bag, drop to my knees and press my forehead against the floor. There, I offer up to the universe a fervent prayer of thanks. First in English. Then in Italian. And then - just to get the point across - in Sanskrit. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,
80:The atomic structure of matter was well known to the ancient Hindus. One of the six systems of Indian philosophy is Vaisesika, from the Sanskrit root visesas, “atomic individuality.” One of the foremost Vaisesika expounders was Aulukya, also called Kanada, “the atom-eater,” born about 2800 years ago. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
81:The Perennial Philosophy is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula, tat tvam asi ('That art thou'); the Atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all existence; and the last end of every human being, is to discover the fact for himself, to find out who he really is. ~ Aldous Huxley,
82:Srila Prabhupada has already had an amazing effect on the world. There's no way of measuring it. One day I just realized, "God, this man is amazing!" He would sit up all night translating Sanskrit into English, putting in glossaries to make sure everyone understands it, and yet he never came off as someone above you. ~ George Harrison,
83:I studied Sanskrit for many years, and I've got all the coursework for my Ph.D. And a lot of what's going on in American Yoga is just made-up stuff. Smart people, even good people, Western therapists, Yoga therapists and other things, Western healthcare practitioners who love Asana and say, "Let's make up yoga therapy." ~ Gary Kraftsow,
84:It was the history of the family, written by Melquíades, down to the most trivial details, one hundred years ahead of time. He had written it in Sanskrit, which was his mother tongue, and he had encoded the even lines in the private cipher of the Emperor Augustus and the odd ones in a La cedemonian military code. ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez,
85:The Sanskrit word samsara—which traditionally represents the summation of all our confusion and destructive patterns of behavior—literally means “wandering around.” The Tibetan word for a sentient being caught up in confusion—drowa—could be translated as “always on the go.” I like to think of this word as meaning “commuter. ~ Ethan Nichtern,
86:The Sanskrit word samsara—which traditionally represents the summation of all our confusion and destructive patterns of behavior—literally means “wandering around.” The Tibetan word for a sentient being caught up in confusion—drowa—could be translated as “always on the go.” I like to think of this word as meaning “commuter.” From ~ Ethan Nichtern,
87:The air they breathe, being a living element with both physical and psychical properties, carries a subtle vital energy. This in India is named by the Sanskrit word prana; in Tibet it is called sugs, in Aikido, Japan, ki, and in China, chi. By controlling its circulation throughout the body, man is able to attain spiritual enlightenment or illumination. ~ Frank Waters,
88:India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all. ~ Will Durant,
89:Sanskrit is a beautiful contextual language. It is called “Dev Bhasha” the language of the soul. Here, meanings of the words must come from the heart, from direct experience – dictionary meanings or static meanings have not much value. Meanings of the words vary depending on mind-set, time, location and culture. The words are made to expand the possibilities of the mind. ~ Amit Ray,
90:The concept of karma is a beautiful concept in Sanskrit. The whole idea of karma is that every being has an innate tendency - the karma of ice is to be cold, the karma of fire is to burn, the karma of the trees is to grow and bear fruit. In the same way, a human has a certain thrust. What I've realized is that my thrust is to be in the world, like in the world of business. ~ Karan Bajaj,
91:You retain your health only so long as you are willing to forgive your stresses, shrug off adversity and adapt to new situations. Resistance to change always impedes the workings of your immunity. An old Sanskrit proverb tells us kshama chajanani: the essence of motherly love is forgiveness. Damage to the ahamkara-mother predisposes us to disease by weakening our innate forgiveness. ~ Robert E Svoboda,
92:when we look at the original Ayurvedic term for this primordial state from which the universe arose, the Sanskrit word, avyakta, simply means “unmanifest.” Contained within the unmanifest is the impulse to create, known in Ayurveda as prakruti, or nature. In essence, Ayurveda simply describes the universe as arising from a field of potentiality that has an intrinsic nature to create. Modern ~ Deepak Chopra,
93:Sanskrita, “polished, complete.” Sanskrit is the elder sister of all Indo-European tongues. Its alphabetical script is called Devanagari; literally, “divine abode.” “Who knows my grammar knows God!” Panini, great philologist of ancient India, paid that tribute to the mathematical and psychological perfection of Sanskrit. He who would track language to its lair must indeed end as omniscient. 2 ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
94:Made in India is just a label coded in your genes. It is random chance that one is born within certain man-made boundaries, or is of a certain race, or of a certain religion, nothing more. So how does being born this side of a border or the other make any group of people better than another group? If God exists, then I doubt if He prefers people on the basis of their knowing Sanskrit or Urdu or English ~ Twinkle Khanna,
95:Life is suffering” is misleading for at least two reasons. First, the Buddha used an ancient Indian language similar to Sanskrit called Pali, and the word he used in Pali for the first noble truth, dukkha, is difficult to translate. Dukkha is too multifaceted and nuanced a term to be captured in the one-word translation “suffering.” And second, the fact of dukkha in our lives doesn’t mean that life is only dukkha. ~ Toni Bernhard,
96:A scene of Mahabharata where the Surya Devta(Sun God)would come to bless Kunti with a baby The child watching this on TV says "I have been taught that Neil Armstrong had taken several days to reach the moon.Surya Devta took only half a minute to land up in the Kunti's room; that too, he didn't even need a rocket-he had simply walked. Science and Sanskrit had always appeared contradicting subjects to me at school:-) ~ Ravinder Singh,
97:These words, they have a special appeal to you, don't they?' she asked softly. 'These dead languages. Why is that?'
He was leaning close enough to her that she felt his warm breath on her cheek when he exhaled. 'I cannot be sure,' he said, 'though I think it has something to do with the clarity of them. Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, they contain pure truths, before we cluttered our languages with so many useless words. ~ Cassandra Clare,
98:A scene of Mahabharata where the Surya Devta(Sun God)would come to bless Kunti with a baby

The child watching this on TV says "I have been taught that Neil Armstrong had taken several days to reach the moon.Surya Devta took only half a minute to land up in the Kunti's room; that too, he didn't even need a rocket-he had simply walked. Science and Sanskrit had always appeared contradicting subjects to me at school:-) ~ Ravinder Singh,
99:Why are we so easily swayed by facts forwarded by email? Why do so many Indians believe that the Taj Mahal was originally a temple called Tejo Mahalaya? Why do so many of us instantly believe and immediately proselytize that ‘India has never invaded any country in her last 1,000 years of history’ or that ‘The word “navigation” is derived from the Sanskrit navgath’ without even pausing to ask: ‘Is any of this actually true? ~ Sidin Vadukut,
100:Yoga, in Sanskrit, can be translated as "union". It originally comes from the root word yuj, which means "to yoke", to attach yourself to a task at hand with ox-like discipline. And the task at hand in yoga is to find union - between mind and body, between the individual and her god, between our thoughts and the source of our thoughts, between teacher and student, and even between ourselves and our sometimes hard-to-bend neighbors. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,
101:Do you know this Sanskrit Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
102:The bottom line is that assumptions of character based on race alone are bullshit of the highest order. The first teaching of any real spiritual practice is Ahaṁ Brahmāsmīti, which in sanskrit means 'I am spirit.' You are not the material body but the spiritual spark within. People who think they are white are trapped in a cage of illusion. People who think they are black are trapped in the same cage. The soul has no material designation or color. ~ John Joseph,
103:We’re sleepwalkers. All religious teachers have recognized that we human beings do not naturally see; we have to be taught how to see. That’s what religion is for. That’s why the Buddha and Jesus say with one voice, “Be awake.” Jesus talks about “staying watchful” (Matt. 25:13; Luke 12:37; Mark 13:33–37), and “Buddha” means “I am awake” in Sanskrit. Jesus says further, “If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light” (Luke 11:34). Thus, ~ Richard Rohr,
104:It is not always obvious that metaphor has played this al limportant function. But this is because the concrete metaphiers become hidden in phonemic change, leaving the words to exist on their own. E v en such an unmetaphorical-sounding word as the verb 'to be' was generated from a metaphor. It comes f rom the Sanskrit bhu, “to grow, or make grow,” while the English forms ‘am’ and ‘is’ have e vol v ed from the same root as the Sanskrit asmiy “to breathe ~ Anonymous,
105:You will be surprised to know that the English word love comes from a Sanskrit word lobha; lobha means greed. It may have been just a coincidence that the English word love grew out of a Sanskrit word that means greed, but my feeling is that it cannot be just coincidence. There must be something more mysterious behind it, there must be some alchemical reason behind it. In fact, greed digested becomes love. It is greed, lobha, digested well, which becomes love. ~ Osho,
106:books that Uncle bought in Odessa or acquired in Heidelberg, books that he discovered in Lausanne or found in Berlin or Warsaw, books he ordered from America and books the like of which exist nowhere but in the Vatican Library, in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, classical and modern Greek, Sanskrit, Latin, medieval Arabic, Russian, English, German, Spanish, Polish, French, Italian, and languages and dialects I had never even heard of, like Ugaritic and Slovene, Maltese and Old Church Slavonic. ~ Amos Oz,
107:The ancient Sanskrit legends speak of a destined love, a karmic connection between souls that are fated to meet and collide and enrapture one another. The legends say that the loved one is instantly recognised because she’s loved in every gesture, every expression of thought, every movement, every sound, and every mood that prays in her eyes. The legends say that we know her by her wings—the wings that only we can see—and because wanting her kills every other desire of love. ~ Gregory David Roberts,
108:The ancient Sanskrit legends speak of a destined love, a karmic connection between souls that are fated to meet and collide and enrapture one another. The legends say that the loved one is instantly recognised because she’s loved in every gesture, every expression of thought, every movement, every sound, and every mood that prays in her eyes. The legends say that we know her by her wings- the wings that only we can see- and because wanting her kills every other desire of love. ~ Gregory David Roberts,
109:The ancient Sanskrit legends speak of a destined love, a karmic connection between souls that are fated to meet and collide and enrapture one another. The legends say that the loved one is instantly recognised because she's loved in every gesture, every expression of thought, every movement, every sound, and every mood that prays in her eyes. The legends say that we know her by her wings - the wings that only we can see - and because wanting her kills every other desire of love. ~ Gregory David Roberts,
110:The ancient Sanskrit legends speak of a destined love, a karmic connection between souls that are fated to meet and collide and enrapture one another. The legends say that the loved one is instantly recognised because she’s loved in every gesture, every expression of thought, every movement, every sound, and every mood that prays in her eyes. The legends say that we know her by her wings—the wings that only we can see—and because wanting her kills every other desire of love. The ~ Gregory David Roberts,
111:In Buddhist theory, two Sanskrit terms, vitarka and vicara, are used to describe the subtle attachments of mind. Vitarka characterizes the state of “seeking,” when our attention is attached to what we’re trying to make happen. Vicara characterizes the state of “watching,” when, even though we’re not trying to force something to happen, we’re still attached to an outcome we are waiting for. With either, our mental attachment makes us blind or resistant to other aspects of what is happening right now. ~ Peter M Senge,
112:The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of the verbs and in the forms of the grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists. ~ Peter Watson,
113:The Ramayana, for instance, and the Mahabharata were first recorded in Sanskrit but have been retold—both written down and orally performed—in Tamil, Bangla and most of the other languages of India. And the people who share these texts did have ways of referring to themselves long before they called themselves ‘Hindu’. The term ‘Hindu’ was coined in opposition to other religions, but this self-definition through otherness began centuries before there was contact with Europeans (or, indeed, with Muslims). ~ Wendy Doniger,
114:Gabrielle Dunbar paced for ten minutes, chanting the words So Hum over and over. She had learned this particular Sanskrit mantra at yoga. At the end of the class, her teacher would have them all lie on their backs in Corpse pose. She would have them close their eyes and repeat “So Hum” for five straight minutes. The first time the teacher had suggested this, Gabrielle had practically rolled her closed eyes. But then, somewhere around minute two or three, she began to feel the toxins of stress drain from her body. “So ~ Harlan Coben,
115:violence only makes a situation worse. It cannot help but provoke a violent response. Strictly speaking, satyagraha is not “nonviolence.” It is a means, a method. The word we translate as “nonviolence” is a Sanskrit word central in Buddhism as well: ahimsa, the complete absence of violence in word and even thought as well as action. This sounds negative, just as “nonviolence” sounds passive. But like the English word “flawless,” ahimsa denotes perfection. Ahimsa is unconditional love; satyagraha is love in action. Gandhi’s message ~ Eknath Easwaran,
116:The word for “history” in Sanskrit, itihasa, could be translated as “That’s what happened,” giving the impression of an only slightly more modest equivalent of von Ranke’s phrase for positivist history: “Wie es [eigentlich] gewesen ist” (“The way it [really] happened”). But the iti in the word is most often used as the Sanskrit equivalent of “end quote,” as in “Let’s go [iti],” he said. Itihasa thus implies not so much what happened as what people said happened (“That’s what he said happened”)—narratives, inevitably subjective narratives. ~ Anonymous,
117:Over centuries and in different centers they composed a collection of to28 hymns in their Sanskrit language and as they had no method of writing, of course they learned to sing them by heart. The collection was called the Rig Veda and the Rig Veda was permeated by Sonia. From the hymns it was clear that the Soma was pressed, then mixed with other ordinary potable fluids such as milk but not alcohol, and drunk by the Brahmans and perhaps a few- others, who thereupon passed some hours in what we now call the bliss of an entheogenic experience. ~ R Gordon Wasson,
118:The artist, the poet, the musician and the philosopher show in their gifts throughout their lives the heritage of the jinn. The words genius and jinn come from a Sanskrit word Jnana, which means knowledge. The jinns. Therefore, are the beings of knowledge; whose hunger is for knowledge, whose joy is in learning, in understanding, and whose work is in inspiring, and bring light and joy to others. In every kind of knowledge that exists, the favorite knowledge to a jinn is the knowledge of truth, in which is the fulfillment of its life's purpose. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,
119:On the surface, we may look polished and “perfect,” but hiding our true self in all its dimensions saps our life energy and robs us of the freedom to express ourselves genuinely, from the heart. Hiding leaves you with the experience of feeling splintered and having lost yourself. You can have the fabulous yoga outfit; know the name of every pose in Sanskrit; and even have a beautiful, super-flexible, strong practice. But the real question to ask is “Where are you in all of that?” And, even more, “What is hiding behind all those trappings costing you?” So ~ Baron Baptiste,
120:Both have full lips and a rounded nose – evidence, say some, that the Indus people were direct descendants of migrants out of Africa 80,000 years ago. Perhaps, as some historians have long argued, the Indus people were subsequently displaced from the valley by immigrant Aryans, thus becoming the non-Sanskrit-speaking ‘Dravidians’ of south India. ‘Meluhha’, the word that Mesopotamians used for people from the Indus valley, may be related to mleccha, the term that the Sanskrit-speakers used for anybody who could not speak their language – such as those in south India. ~ Alice Albinia,
121:Die älteste Sprache, sagt man, sei das Indogermanische, Indo-europäische, das Sanskrit. Aber es ist so gut wie gewiß, daß das ein "Ur" ist, so vorschnell wie manches andere, und daß es eine wieder ältere Muttersprache gegeben hat, welche die Wurzeln der arischen sowohl wie auch der semitischen und chamitischen Mundarten in sich beschloß. Wahrscheinlich ist sie auf Atlantis gesprochen worden, dessen Silhouette die letzte im Fernendunst undeutlich noch sichtbare Vorbirgskulisse der Vergangenheit bildet, das aber selbst wohl kaum die Ur-Heimat des sprechenden Menschen ist. ~ Thomas Mann,
122:Like metals, myths too get recycled. Reworked and so richly embellished as to be almost unrecognisable, stories which may once have reflected genuine historical events are liable to be re-used by later generations in a totally different context and for purposes quite other than that for which they were originally intended. This is not the case with the corpus of Vedic literature; the form and content of its sacrificial formulae were, as has been noted, too ritually crucial to be tampered with. Less sacred compositions, like the two great Sanskrit epics, were a different matter. ~ John Keay,
123:By mental cultivation I mean a disciplined application of mind that involves deepening our familiarity with a chosen object or theme. Here I am thinking of the Sanskrit term bhavana, which connotes "cultivation," and whose Tibetan equivalent, gom, has the connotation of "familiarization." These two terms, often translated into English as meditation, refer to a whole range of mental practices and not just, as many suppose, to simple methods of relaxation. The original terms imply a process of cultivating familiarity with something, whether it is a habit, a way of seeing, or a way of being. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
124:The white cat symbolizes the silvery moon prying into corners and cleansing the sky for the day to follow. The white cat is "the cleaner" or "the animal that cleans itself," described by the Sanskrit word Margaras, which means "the hunter who follows the track; the investigator; the skip tracer." The white cat is the hunter and the killer, his path lighted by the silvery moon. All dark, hidden places and beings are revealed in that inexorably gentle light. You can't shake your white cat because your white cat is you. You can't hide from your white cat because your white cat hides with you. ~ William S Burroughs,
125:Ma’s pet peeve was how the Western world misunderstood the theory of karma. “I mean it’s the Bhagavad Gita they’re bastardizing. What is all this ‘karma’s a bitch’ nonsense!” Ma loved to say. The entire “what goes around comes around” thing was a backward view of karma. Karma was simply Sanskrit for action, and the theory was that your actions are the only thing under your control, as opposed to the fruits of your actions, which are not. And since actions always bear fruit, you were better off focusing your energy on your own actions, rather than worrying about the results you wanted them to produce. ~ Sonali Dev,
126:Many are the scholars who make it their professional occupation to occupy themselves in this towering edifice of culture, exploring its nook and crannies, developing their responses, making their contributions here and there, and helping to hand it on to succeeding generations. For some the temptation proves irresistible to go yet farther and make this the concern of their lives, letting society go its own sorry way while they lock themselves away in this abiding, socially transcendent cultural stronghold, acquiescing in society while pursuing Bildung. As Rotterdam burns, they study Sanskrit verb forms. ~ Nicholas Wolterstorff,
127:A Sanskrit word appeared in the paragraph: ANTEVASIN. It means, ‘one who lives at the border.’ In ancient times, this was a literal description. It indicated a person who had left the bustling center of worldly life to go live at the edge of the forest where the spiritual masters dwelled. The antevasin was not of the villager’s anymore-not a householder with a conventional life. But neither was he yet a transcendent-not one of those sages who live deep in the unexplored woods, fully realized. The antevasin was an in-betweener. He was a border-dweller. He lived in sight of both worlds, but he looked toward the unknown. And he was a scholar. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,
128:Sanskrit word tapas means “to heat,” and when used in yoga it speaks to the practice of “standing in the fire for the sake of positive change,” says Stephanie Snyder. Literally, this means holding a difficult pose, feeling the burn as muscles tighten and contract, maintaining the mental focus it takes to stay in the pose—and choosing to endure all this in the name of becoming stronger, more agile, unfuckwithable. Applied metaphorically to our Sober Curiosity, it means sitting in whatever WTF we happen to be experiencing as a result of not drinking, watching it pass, and choosing to focus on the positive parts of the experience. These positives ~ Ruby Warrington,
129:The disdain shown toward these texts by most of the modern Orientalists, who wanted to relate everything back to the Vedä(s) (as, moreover, the Western world does to the Greeks), has led them to make monumental errors in dating and describing the evolution of religious and philosophical concepts. Many passages of the best-known texts of philosophical and religious brahmanic literature written in the Sanskrit language are derived from the Âgamä(s). This is the case with, for example, the Bhagavat Gîtâ, of which over half the verses are borrowed from the Parameshvarä Âgamä and three of which passages are quotations from the Shvetâshvatarä Upanishad, which is itself based on the Âgamä(s).2 ~ Alain Dani lou,
130:Astronomer
Sky-man in a manhole
with astronomy for dream,
astrology for nightmare;
fat man full of proverbs,
the language of lean years,
living in square after
almanac square
prefiguring the day
of windfall and landslide
through a calculus
of good hours,
clutching at the tear
in his birthday shirt
as at a hole
in his mildewed horoscope,
squinting at the parallax
of black planets,
his Tiger, his Hare
moving in Sanskrit zodiacs,
forever troubled
by the fractions, the kidneys
in his Tamil flesh,
his body the Great Bear
dipping for the honey,
the woman-smell
in the small curly hair
down there.
~ A. K. Ramanujan,
131:Recent scientific research reveals that the human system is capable of producing its own narcotic if it is maintained in a certain way. It is a completely self-contained system. And, what’s more, this is a narcotic which has a tremendous impact on health, well-being, alertness and perception. This chemical has been termed Anandamide (after the ancient Sanskrit word ‘ananda’, which refers to the core of life as blissfulness). If a sufficient amount is generated in the system, an individual can be intoxicated and fully awake at the same time. So, what Adiyogi disclosed, in effect, was that there is a whole marijuana mountain inside you! If you cultivate it properly, you could be stoned and yet stable, exuberant and yet aware all the time. ~ Sadhguru,
132:In the ancient Indian Upanishads, the answer to the question “Who am I?” is “Tat tvam asi.” This succinct Sanskrit sentence means literally: “Thou art That,” or “You are Godhead.” It suggests that we are not namarupa—name and form (body/ego), but that our deepest identity is with a divine spark in our innermost being (Atman) that is ultimately identical with the supreme universal principle (Brahman). And Hinduism is not the only religion that has made this discovery. The revelation concerning the identity of the individual with the divine is the ultimate secret that lies at the mystical core of all great spiritual traditions. The name for this principle could thus be the Tao, Buddha, Cosmic Christ, Allah, Great Spirit, Sila, and many others. ~ Stanislav Grof,
133:I walked once behind a group of monks, in India. And they were very serious monks. The elderly monk, with his disciples around him, they were walking up a hill and I followed them. They never once looked at the beauty of the sky, the blue, the extraordinary blue of the sky and the mountains, and the blue light of the grass and the trees and the birds and the water - never once looked around. They were concerned and they had bent their head down and they were repeating something, which I happen to know in Sanskrit, and going along totally unaware of nature, totally unaware of the passers-by. Because their whole life has been spent in controlling desire and concentrating on what they thought is the way to reality. So desire there acted as a repressive limiting process. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti,
134:Kali comes from the Sanskrit word ‘kal’, meaning time. She is a Hindu goddess, who is greatly misunderstood by the Western world as being associated with sex, death and violence, but in the Hindu text she kills only demons. For humankind, she represents the death of the ego and the will to overcome the ‘I am the body’ idea. She reminds us that the body is only temporary, and through this realisation she provides liberation to her children. To the soul who aspires to greater spiritual endeavours, Kali is receptive, supportive and loving. It is only a person filled with ego who will perceive Kali in a fearsome form. Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum darkness, the great non-manifest from which all of creation arises and into which all of creation will eventually dissolve. ~ Traci Harding,
135:We have seen that our numerical zero derives originally from the Hindu sunya, meaning void or emptiness, deriving from the Sanskrit name for the mark denoting emptiness, or sunya-bindu, meaning an empty dot. These developed between the sixth and eighth centuries. By the ninth century, the assimilation of Indian mathematics by the Arab world led to the literal translation of sunya into Arabic as as-sifr, which also means 'empty' or the 'absence of anything'. We still see a residue of this because it is the origin of the English word 'cipher'. Originally, it meant 'Nothing', or if used insultingly of a person it would mean that they were a nonentity-a nobody-as in King Lear where the fool says to the King "Now thou art an 0 without a figure. I am better than thou art now. I am a fool, thou art nothing. ~ John D Barrow,
136:It is important to differentiate nonattachment from detachment. Detachment indicates withdrawal as well as negation, leading to indifference, which in itself is a defense against the fear of attachment. Progressive detachment leads to ennui, flatness, and a decrease in aliveness and the joy of existence. If followed consistently, detachment as the pathway of negation leads eventually to the Void, which is often misunderstood to represent Enlightenment or the described Buddha state of anatta, from the Sanskrit. While the Void is a very impressive state, in contrast, Allness is the ultimate state. The Void is nonlinear, which is impressive, but void of Divine Love, which is also nonlinear. The true conditions of Allness versus nothingness are experientially very, very different. (Discussed in Chapter 18.) ~ David R Hawkins,
137:Like many things that are claimed as Western inventions, grammar was first practiced in the East. According to scholars, there is a rich tradition of grammatical typology in Sanskrit that dates back to at least the sixth century B.C. and probably the eighth century B.C. *3 I had that teacher, and that comment still chaps my hide. *4 Modern linguistic relativism goes back at least two thousand years: “Multa renascentur quae iam cecidere, cadentque / quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, / quem penes arbitrium est et ius et norma loquendi.” (Many words shall revive, which now have fallen off; / and many which are now in esteem shall fall off, if it be the will of usage, / in whose power is the decision and right and standard of language.) Horace, Ars Poetica, A.D. 18. What a commie hippie liberal. ~ Kory Stamper,
138:Justru sesungguhnya akibat konsep yang singkat mengenai tinjauan dan luasan pengkajian bahasa, kesusasteraan dan kebudayaan Melayu itu, sehingga disamarkan hanya sebagai “Pengajian Melayu”, telah pula membawa akibat2 yang mempengaruhi penyingkiran bidang ilmiah tertentu dari pengajian Melayu, seperti pengkajian2 bahasa dan kesusasteraan Arab, bahasa dan kesusasteraan Farsi, bahasa dan kesusasteraan Sanskrit, yang kesemuanya telah memberi sumbangan yang berkesan dalam perkembangan bahasa dan kesusasteraan Melayu. Tambahan pula, bidang2 seperti sejarah pemikiran, falsafah, dan ilmu2 yang berkaitan dengan metodoloji penyelidikan ilmiah, kajian2 mengenai teori2 yang memang berkembang dengan pesatnya di Eropa, dewasa itu dan sekarang, semua ini diabaikan dalam pengkajian bidang2 kechil tertentu saja. ~ Syed Muhammad Naquib al Attas,
139:The Sanskrit texts make it clear that a cataclysm on this scale, though a relatively rare event, is expected to wash away all traces of the former world and that the slate will be wiped clean again for the new age of the earth to begin. In order to ensure that the Vedas can be repromulgated for future mankind after each pralaya the gods have therefore designed an institution to preserve them -- the institution of the Seven Sages, a brotherhood of adepts possessed of unerring memories and supernatural powers, practitioners of yoga, performers of the ancient rituals and sacrifices, ascetics, spiritual visionaries, vigilant in the battle against evil, great teachers, knowledgeable beyond all imagining, who reincarnate from age to age as the guides of civilization and the guardians of cosmic justice. ~ Graham Hancock,
140:The first and foremost thing that must be recognised is that Hindu society is a myth. The name Hindu is itself a foreign name. It was given by the Mahomedans to the natives for the purpose of distinguishing themselves. It does not occur in any Sanskrit work prior to the Mahomedan invasion. They did not feel the necessity of a common name, because they had no conception of their having constituted a community. Hindu society as such does not exist. It is only a collection of castes. Each caste is conscious of its existence. Its survival is the be-all and end-all of its existence. Castes do not even form a federation. A caste has no feeling that is affiliated to other castes, except when there is a Hindu-Moslem riot. On all other occasions each caste endeavours to segregate itself and to distinguish itself from other castes. ~ Romila Thapar,
141:Racism quickly came to color the English usage of the Sanskrit word arya, the word that the Vedic poets used to refer to themselves, meaning “Us” or “Good Guys,” long before anyone had a concept of race. Properly speaking, “Aryan” (as it became in English) designates a linguistic family, not a racial group (just as Indo-European is basically a linguistic rather than demographic term); there are no Aryan noses, only Aryan verbs, no Aryan people, only Aryan-speaking people. Granted, the Sanskrit term does refer to people rather than to a language. But the people who spoke *Indo-European were not a people in the sense of a nation (for they may never have formed a political unity) or a race, but only in the sense of a linguistic community.10 After all those migrations, the blood of several different races had mingled in their veins. ~ Wendy Doniger,
142:The epithet Sindhusthan besides being Vedic had also a curious advantage which could only be called lucky and yet is too substantial to be ignored. The word Sindhu in Sanskrit does not only mean the Indus but also the Sea-which girdles the southern peninsula—so that this one word Sindhu points out almost all frontiers of the land at a single stroke. Even if we do not accept the tradition that the river Brahmaputra is only a branch of the Sindhu which falls into flowing streams on the eastern and western slopes of the Himalayas and thus constitutes both our eastern as well as western frontiers. still it is indisputably true that it circumscribes our northern and western extremities in its sweep and so the epithet Sindhusthan calls up the image of our whole Motherland : the land that lies between Sindhu and Sindhu—from the Indus to the Seas. ~ Anonymous,
143:absorption, where fables will be no longer required. He then teaches us how Vikramaditya the Brave became King of Ujjayani. Some nineteen centuries ago, the renowned city of Ujjayani witnessed the birth of a prince to whom was given the gigantic name Vikramaditya. Even the Sanskrit-speaking people, who are not usually pressed for time, shortened it to "Vikram", and a little further West it would infallibly have been docked down to "Vik". Vikram was the second son of an old king Gandharba-Sena, concerning whom little favourable has reached posterity, except that he became an ass, married four queens, and had by them six sons, each of whom was more learned and powerful than the other. It so happened that in course of time the father died. Thereupon his eldest heir, who was known as Shank, succeeded to the carpet of Rajaship, and was instantly ~ Anonymous,
144:The pattern’s been the same forever: They come, they build, maybe they teach. There’s a brief period of maturity, sufficient that later cultures don’t understand how the growth could even be possible. Then, all at once, there’s a reset. Those advanced cultures — Egyptians, Mayans, and on and on — vanish, leaving a handful of dumb ancestors who grow up able to do none of the things the old cultures could.” He raised a hand and ticked off points. “Not just the megaliths, but monuments like the Nazca lines, Sanskrit texts describing Vimanas and other obviously flying craft, the writings in the Zohar of the manna machine, the list goes on. Maybe past visitors have just wiped memories and destroyed records to erase all this knowledge instead of invoking a mass extinction, but then why do we sometimes hear the Ark of the Covenant described as if it were a radiation weapon? ~ Sean Platt,
145:Ogma -which is the name of the god/originator of speech and language in the Celtic Mythology- was derived from the Sanskrit word 'Yama' (meaning, Twin) and the latter was originally derived from the Semitic root of 'Ogm' or 'Ojm' which literally means: 'Hard Rock'. One can find this word in the Arabic dictionary nowadays; it even becomes more interesting when we observe the Megalithic culture being attributed to the Celtic world. Oh, I am so proud to be the first person to discover this, but it got more astounding when I remembered that the word for 'Dictionary' in Arabic is derived from this specific word as well: Mojm - with 'M' in the beginning signaling the used object for 'Ojm'; as if this discovery is revealing to us a story about rocks being originally used for inscriptions on dry hard clay in the Middle East. Welcome to the Middle East my Scottish and Irish brethren, Welcome Home! ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim,
146:A child dragging bent useless legs is crawling up the hill outside the village. Nose to the stones, goat dung, and muddy trickles, she pulls herself along like a broken cricket. We falter, ashamed of our strong step, and noticing this, she gazes up, clear-eyed, without resentment—it seems much worse that she is pretty. In Bengal, GS says stiffly, beggars will break their children’s knees to achieve this pitiable effect for business purposes: this is his way of expressing his distress. But the child that lies here at our boots is not a beggar; she is merely a child, staring in curiosity at tall, white strangers. I long to give her something—a new life?—yet am afraid to tamper with such dignity. And so I smile as best I can, and say “Namas-te!” “Good morning!” How absurd! And her voice follows as we go away, a small clear smiling voice—“Namas-te!”—a Sanskrit word for greeting and parting that means, “I salute you”. ~ Peter Matthiessen,
147:As al-Biruni (Alberuni), the great Islamic scholar of the eleventh century, would put it, ‘the Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no king like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs.’ He thought they should travel more and mix with other nations; ‘their antecedents were not as narrow-minded as the present generation,’ he added.8 While clearly disparaging eleventh-century attitudes, al-Biruni thus appears to confirm the impression given by earlier Muslim writers that in the eighth and ninth centuries India was considered anything but backward. Its scientific and mathematical discoveries, though buried amidst semantic dross and seldom released for practical application, were readily appreciated by Muslim scientists and then rapidly appropriated by them. Al-Biruni was a case in point: his scientific celebrity in the Arab world would owe much to his mastery of Sanskrit and access to Indian scholarship. ~ John Keay,
148:Thy Name
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
I will declare thy name unto my brethren.… Psalm 102
OK. Let’s not call what ditched us God:
ghu, the root in Sanskrit, means not God,
but only the calling thereupon. Let’s call God
Fun. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was Fun. Fun created man in his own image.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no Fun.
Let’s call the House of God the Funhouse. Fun
derives, according to Dr. Onions (may he
with his Johnson rest in peace), from fond,
or foolish. God, in this prime sense, is fond
of us, and we, if all goes well, of him. Let’s
call God luck. There is no luck in scripture.
Chance gets mentioned several times, my favorite
being, Time and chance happeneth to them all;
but luck is the unspoken name. King David
to the harp and sackbut sings, in paraphrase, My luck?
Gimme a fucking break! With my luck, how do I know?
~ Brooks Haxton,
149:Max had a book with her and began leafing through it, looking for something. "There's a passage our conversation reminds me of ..."
"What?"
"In the Upanishads -- a series of Sanskrit works which are part of the Veda. Here it is Pol, listen: In this body, in this town of Spirit, there is a little house shaped like a lotus, and in that house there is a little space. There is as much in that little space within the heart as there is in the whole world outside. Maybe that little space is the realty of your you and my me?"
"Could I copy that?" I asked.
"Of course. I've been watching that little space within your heart enlarging all year as more and more ideas are absorbed into it. Some people close their doors and lock them so that nothing can come in, and the space cannot hold anything as long as the heart clutches in self-protection or lust or greed. But if we're not afraid, that little space can be so large that one could put a whole universe in it and still have room for more. ~ Madeleine L Engle,
150:Hindu mythology makes constant references to queerness, the idea that questions notions of maleness and femaleness. There are stories of men who become women, and women who become men, of men who create children without women, and women who create children without men, and of creatures who are neither this, nor that, but a little bit of both, like the makara (a combination of fish and elephant) or the yali (a combination of lion and elephant). There are also many words in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil such as kliba, napumsaka, mukhabhaga, sanda, panda, pandaka, pedi that suggest a long familiarity with queer thought and behaviour. It is common to either deny the existence of such fluidity in our stories, or simply locate them in the realm of the supernatural or point to law books that, besides endorsing patriarchy and casteism, also frown upon queer behaviour. Yet the stories are repeatedly told and shown. Gentle attempts, perhaps, of wise sages to open up stubborn finite minds and lead them towards infinity ~ Devdutt Pattanaik,
151:The Cup of Jamshid in Persian (i.e., Aryan) culture is yet another reflection of the Fuenta Magna Bowl; not only does it refer to the elixir of immortality, but it even explicitly refers -through its etymology- to the Godself icon with the Sanskrit word 'Yama' (meaning, Twin) whence the celtic word 'Ogma' was also derived. This symbolism is linked with ancient Egypt also through the second syllable 'shid' which is in reality the same word of 'djed'. The proof thereof lies in the fact that 'djed' is a [pillar-like symbol in hieroglyphics representing stability] - however it was originally derived from its Semitic root with the meaning of 'to tighten'. In Arabic, the further propagation of the exact syntax has even preserved its context referring to the act of 'building'. This picture is vividly depicted through the twin Hapi tightening together the Sema Tawy as well as the Godself icon tightening its grips onto the two preys. The Cup of Life was metaphorical symbolism that originated to refer to Ishmael's heritage as I elaborated in my earlier work. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim,
152:The humiliation revealed to Yudhishtir the human desire for delusions and the importance of being gentle with the harsh truth. Yudhishtir was so caught up with his honesty that he did not realize the other’s inability to receive it. The ability to communicate with a king with deference and dexterity is known in Sanskrit as sabha-chaturya, which translated literally means ‘tactfulness in court’. It is a trait that ministers and courtiers had to possess if they wished to survive in court and get their jobs done. It is a trait that people who work with leaders must possess. It is a trait that even leaders need to possess if they wish to lead. The foundation for this skill lies in the observation that people are uncomfortable with the truth, especially when it shows them in a bad light or has consequences that could affect them adversely. When confronted with it, they react negatively—with rage or denial. They may get defensive or simply reject the submission. So the work does not get done. One needs strategic communication, also known as diplomacy. One needs sabha-chaturya. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik,
153:WHO WERE THE BARBARIANS? Nobody ever called themselves 'barbarians'. It's not that sort of word. It's a word used about other people. In fact, it's a term of otherness. It had been used by the Ancient Greeks to describe non-Greek people whose language they couldn't understand and who therefore seemed to babble unintelligibly: 'Ba ba ba'. The same word, Barbara, appears in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India, meaning 'stammering, gibbering' – in other words, alien. The Romans adopted the Greek word and used it to label (and usually libel) the peoples who surrounded their own world. Once the term had the might and majesty of Rome behind it, the Roman interpretation became the only one that counted, and the peoples whom they called Barbarians became forever branded – be they Spaniards, Britons, Gauls, Germans, Scythians, Persians or Syrians. And of course 'barbarian' has become a by-word for the very opposite of everything we consider civilized. In contrast to the Romans, the Barbarians were lacking in refinement, primitive, ignorant, brutal, rapacious, destructive and cruel. ~ Terry Jones,
154:Creeks and summits are brilliant at sunset. I laze in a boat, my way in the wind's hands. Watching wild landscapes I forget distance and come to the water's edge. Gazing at lovely far woods and clouds I guess I've lost my way. How could I know this lucid stream would turn, leading me into mountains? I abandon my boat, pick up a light staff and come upon something wonderful, four or five old monks in contemplation, enjoying the shade of pines and cypresses. Before the forest dawns they read Sanskrit. Their nightly meditation quiets the peaks. Here even shepherd boys know the Dao. Woodcutters bring in worldly news. They sleep at night in the woods with incense, on mats clean as jade. Their robes are steeped in valley fragrances; the stone cliffs shine under a mountain moon. I fear I will lose this refuge forever so at daybreak I fix it in my mind. People of Peach Tree Spring goodbye. I'll be back when flowers turn red. [1508.jpg] -- from To Touch the Sky: Poems of Mystical, Spiritual & Metaphysical Light, Translated by Willis Barnstone

~ Wang Wei, Stone Gate Temple in the Blue Field Mountains
,
155:And here is where I’m humbled. I’m humbled by my feebleness in helping this person. Humbled that I had the arrogance to believe I’d seen and heard it all. You can never see and hear it all because, for all their sordid similarities, each story in the Downtown Eastside unfolded in the particular existence of a unique human being. Each one needs to be heard, witnessed, and acknowledged anew, every time it’s told. And I’m especially humbled because I dared to imagine that Serena was less than the complex and luminous person she is. Who am I to judge her for being driven to the belief that only through drugs will she find respite from her torments? Spiritual teachings of all traditions enjoin us to see the divine in each other. Namaste, the Sanskrit holy greeting, means, “The divine in me salutes the divine in you.” The divine? It’s so hard for us even to see the human. What have I to offer this young Native woman whose three decades of life bear the compressed torment of generations? An antidepressant capsule every morning, to be dispensed with her methadone, and half an hour of my time once or twice a month. ~ Gabor Mat,
156:The fundamental text of the Hindu tradition is, of course, the Bhagavad Gītā; and there four basic yogas are described. The word yoga itself, from a Sanskrit verbal root yuj, meaning “to yoke, to link one thing to another,” refers to the act of linking the mind to the source of mind, consciousness to the source of consciousness; the import of which definition is perhaps best illustrated in the discipline known as knowledge yoga, the yoga, that is to say, of discrimination between the knower and the known, between the subject and the object in every act of knowing, and the identification of oneself, then, with the subject. “I know my body. My body is the object. I am the witness, the knower of the object. I, therefore, am not my body.” Next: “I know my thoughts; I am not my thoughts.” And so on: “I know my feelings; I am not my feelings.” You can back yourself out of the room that way. And the Buddha then comes along and adds: “You are not the witness either. There is no witness.” So where are you now? Where are you between two thoughts? That is the way known as jñāna yoga, the way of sheer knowledge. ~ Joseph Campbell,
157:Sankranti is the Sanskrit word in Hindu astrology which refers to the transmigration of the Sun from one Rashi—or sign of the zodiac—to another. Hence, there are twelve such Sankrantis in all. However, the Sankranti festival usually refers to Makar Sankranti or the transition of the Sun from Dhanu Rashi, or Sagittarius, to Makar Rashi, or Capricorn.’ ‘The winter solstice marks the beginning of the gradual increase in the length of days. Scientifically, the shortest day of the year is around the twenty-first or twenty-second day of December, after which the days begin to get longer and the winter solstice begins. Hence, the Uttarayana, northern movement of the Sun, is actually 21 December, which was originally the day of Makar Sankranti too. But because of the Earth’s tilt of 23.45 degrees and sliding of equinoxes, Ayanamsa, longitudinal change, occurs. This has caused Makar Sankranti to slide further down the ages. A thousand years ago, Makar Sankranti was on 31 December and is now on 14 January. Five thousand years later, it shall be by the end of February, while in 9,000 years it shall come in June. ~ Mahendra Jakhar,
158:What J. S. Bach gained from his Lutheranism to inform his music, what Jonathan Edwards took from the Reformed tradition to orient his philosophy, what A. H. Francke learned from German Pietism to inspire the University of Halle’s research into Sanskrit and Asian literatures, what Jacob van Ruisdael gained from his seventeenth-century Dutch Calvinism to shape his painting, what Thomas Chalmers took from Scottish Presbyterianism to inspire his books on astronomy and political economy, what Abraham Kuyper gained from pietistic Dutch Calvinism to back his educational, political, and communications labors of the late nineteenth century, what T. S. Eliot took from high-church Anglicanism as a basis for his cultural criticism, what Evelyn Waugh found for his novels in twentieth-century Catholicism, what Luci Shaw, Shirley Nelson, Harold Fickett, and Evangeline Paterson found to encourage creative writing from other forms of Christianity after they left dispensationalism behind — precious few fundamentalists or their evangelical successors have ever found in the theological insights of twentieth-century dispensationalism, Holiness, or Pentecostalism. As ~ Mark A Noll,
159:The Transcendent Mother and the Higher Hemisphere
   "At the summit of this manifestation of which we are a part there are worlds of infinite existence, consciousness, force and bliss over which the Mother stands as the unveiled eternal Power."1 The Transcendent Mother thus stands above the Ananda plane.There are then four steps of the Divine Shakti:
   (1) The Transcendent Mahashakti who stands above the Ananda plane and who bears the Supreme Divine in her eternal consciousness.
   (2) The Mahashakti immanent in the worlds of SatChit-Ananda where all beings live and move in an ineffable completeness.
   (3) The Supramental Mahashakti immanent in the worlds of Supermind.
   (4) The Cosmic Mahashakti immanent in the lower hemisphere.
   Yes; that is all right. One speaks often however of all above the lower hemisphere as part of the transcendence. This is because the Supermind and Ananda are not manifested in our universe at present, but are planes above it. For us the higher hemisphere is pr [para], the Supreme Transcendence is prA(pr [paratpara]. The Sanskrit terms are here clearer than the English.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, Three Aspects of the Mother, 52,
160:There are two Sanskrit words that are used for 'path': marga, which also carries the sense of 'way, method or means' and upaya, that by which one reaches one's aim. In reality, it must be the case that we are already who we really are. Who else could we be? It is the illusory ego that believes that we are in some way limited and that wants to become eternally happy. Whilst this state of affairs continues, the search is doomed to failure. Paths and practices are therefore needed not in order that we may find something new but in order that we may uncover what is already here now.

The reason why different paths are needed is that minds, bodies and egos function differently. All paths aim effectively to remove the obscuring effect of this ego. This can be done through the practices of devotion and surrender to a God, for example, in the case of bhakti yoga. It can also be achieved in simple day to day life of working, at whatever may be our particular job, by doing the work for its own sake and giving up any claim to the results, in the case of karma yoga. And it can be achieved by enquiry and reason, using the mind and intellect to appreciate the truth of the non-existence of the ego, in the case of jnana yoga. ~ Dennis Waite,
161:Schopenhauer’s thought has some limitations. He denounced the world as illusion, but nowhere explained how or why this illusion had come into being. His conception of salvation is no less problematic. If what lies behind the world is nothingness, the simplest path to salvation is suicide. Schopenhauer resists this implication with the argument that killing oneself solves nothing, since the will simply renews itself in some other form. But if life is nothing but pain, death resolves everything for the suffering individual – however illusory he or she may be.

On the other hand, accepting that the world is an illusion need not mean seeking to escape from it. As Schopenhauer pictures it in much of his work, human life – like everything that exists – is purposeless striving. But from another point of view, this aimless world is pure play. In some Indian traditions, the universe is the play (in Sanskrit, lila) of the spirit. Schopenhauer held fast to the belief that the world was in need of redemption. But from what? Everything that exists is only maya, after all. Seeking no deliverance from the world’s insubstantial splendour, a liberated mind might find fulfillment by playing its part in the universal illusion. ~ John N Gray,
162:THE SANSKRIT WORD for meditation is dhyana; the Tibetan term is samten. Both refer to the same thing: steady mind. Mind is steady in the sense that you don’t go up when a thought goes up, and you don’t go down when it goes down, but you just watch things going either up or down. Whether good or bad, exciting, miserable, or blissful thoughts arise—whatever occurs in your state of mind, you don’t support it by having an extra commentator. The sitting practice of meditation is simple, direct, and very businesslike. You just sit and watch your thoughts go up and down. There is a physical technique in the background, which is working with the breath as it goes out and in. That provides an occupation during sitting practice. It is partly designed to occupy you so that you don’t evaluate thoughts. You just let them happen. In that environment, you can develop renunciation: you renounce extreme reactions to your thoughts. Warriors on the battlefield don’t react to success or failure. Success or failure is just regarded as another breath coming in and going out, another discursive thought coming in and going out. So the warrior is very steady. Because of that, the warrior is victorious—because victory is not particularly the aim or the goal. But the warrior can just be—as he or she is. ~ Ch gyam Trungpa,
163:We are in the Kali Yuga [a Sanskrit term meaning Dark Age] and its fatal influence is a thousand-fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East; hence the easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness [evil] in this cyclic struggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now laboring. One of these is the relative facility with which men fancy they can get at the "Gate" and cross the threshold of Occultism without any great sacrifice. It is the dream of most Theosophists, one inspired by desire for Power and personal selfishness, and it is not such feelings that can ever lead them to the coveted goal. For, as well said by one believed to have sacrificed himself for Humanity--"Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life" eternal, and therefore "few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14) So strait indeed, that at the bare mention of some of the preliminary difficulties the affrighted Western candidates turn back and retreat with a shudder... Let them stop here and attempt no more in their great weakness. For if, while turning their backs on the narrow gate, they are dragged by their desire for the Occult one step in the direction of the broad and more inviting gates of that golden mystery which glitters in the light of illusion, woe to them! ~ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in Studies in Occultism, (1888),
164:English version by W. Norman Brown Slender as a streak of lightning, composed of the essence of sun, moon and fire, situated above the six lotuses, the manifestation of you in the forest of great lotuses, those with mind free of stain and illusion who view it, mighty ones, experience a flood of supreme joy. Let my idle chatter be the muttering of prayer, my every manual movement the execution of ritual gesture, my walking a ceremonial circumambulation, my eating and other acts the rite of sacrifice, my lying down prostration in worship, my every pleasure enjoyed with dedication of myself, let whatever activity is mine be some form of worship of you. Bearing a mark of vermilion so that the impenetrable darkness of your thick locks with the hosts of their beauties makes it seem like an imprisoned ray of the new-risen sun, may it bring welfare to us, as though the flood of beauty of your face had a channel to flow in, the streak of which is the part in your hair. Your right eye, because it has the sun as its essence, gives birth to the day; Your left eye, which has the moon as its substance, produces the night; Your third eye, which resembles a golden lotus slightly opened, creates the twilight intervening between day and night. [2701.jpg] -- from A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry, Edited by A. N. D. Haksar

~ Shankara, In Praise of the Goddess
,
165:Ancient Sanskrit literature describes 120 talas or time-measures. The traditional founder of Hindu music, Bharata, is said to have isolated 32 kinds of tala in the song of a lark. The origin of tala or rhythm is rooted in human movements—the double time of walking and the triple time of respiration in sleep, when inhalation is twice the length of exhalation. India has always recognised the human voice as the most perfect instrument of sound. Hindu music therefore, largely confines itself to the voice range of three octaves. For the same reason, melody (relation of successive notes) is stressed rather than harmony (relation of simultaneous notes). The deeper aim of the early rishi-musicians was to blend the singer with the Cosmic Song which can be heard through awakening of man’s occult spinal centres. Indian music is a subjective, spiritual and individualistic art, aiming not at symphonic brilliance but at personal harmony with the Oversoul. The Sanskrit word for musician is bhagavathar, “he who sings the praises of God.” The sankirtans or musical gatherings are an effective form of yoga or spiritual discipline, necessitating deep concentration, intense absorption in the seed thought and sound. Because man himself is an expression of the Creative Word, sound has the most potent and immediate effect on him, offering a way to remembrance of His Divine origin. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
166:One would begin, for example, by remarking that the Vedic doctrine is neither pantheistic" nor polytheistic, nor a worship of the powers of Nature except in the sense that Natura naturans est Deus and all her powers but the names of God’s acts; that karma is not ‘‘fate’’ except in the orthodox sense of the character and destiny that inhere in created things themselves, and rightly understood, determines their vocation; 5 that 'maya' is not ‘illusion", but rather the material measure and means essential to the manifestation of a quantitative and in this sense “material”, world of appearances, by which we may be either enlightened or deluded according to the degree of our own maturity; that the notion of a “reincarnation” in the popular sense of the return of deceased individuals to rebirth on this earth represents only a misunderstanding of the doctrines of heredity, transmigration and regeneration; and that the six darshanas the later Sanskrit “philosophy” are not so many mutually exclusive “systems'’ but, as their name implies, so many “points of view" which are no more mutually contradictory than are, let us say, botany and mathematics. We shall also deny in Hinduism the existence of anything unique and peculiar to itself, apart from the local colouring and social adaptations that must be expected under the sun where nothing can be known except in the mode of the knower. ~ Ananda K Coomaraswamy,
167:The truth is, everyone likes to look down on someone. If your favorites are all avant-garde writers who throw in Sanskrit and German, you can look down on everyone. If your favorites are all Oprah Book Club books, you can at least look down on mystery readers. Mystery readers have sci-fi readers. Sci-fi can look down on fantasy. And yes, fantasy readers have their own snobbishness. I’ll bet this, though: in a hundred years, people will be writing a lot more dissertations on Harry Potter than on John Updike. Look, Charles Dickens wrote popular fiction. Shakespeare wrote popular fiction—until he wrote his sonnets, desperate to show the literati of his day that he was real artist. Edgar Allan Poe tied himself in knots because no one realized he was a genius. The core of the problem is how we want to define “literature”. The Latin root simply means “letters”. Those letters are either delivered—they connect with an audience—or they don’t. For some, that audience is a few thousand college professors and some critics. For others, its twenty million women desperate for romance in their lives. Those connections happen because the books successfully communicate something real about the human experience. Sure, there are trashy books that do really well, but that’s because there are trashy facets of humanity. What people value in their books—and thus what they count as literature—really tells you more about them than it does about the book. ~ Brent Weeks,
168:Joy The Pali word sukkha (Sanskrit su-kha) is usually translated as happiness. As the opposite of duhkha, however, it connotes the end of all suffering, a state of being that is not subject to the ups and downs of change – that is, abiding joy. It would be difficult to find a more thoroughly researched definition of joy than the Buddha’s. If we can trust that at least the outline of truth remains in the legends of his life, then his questionings just before going forth to the Four Noble Sights were chiefly concerned with the search for absolute joy. What anyone could want of worldly happiness, Prince Siddhartha surely had, with the promise of much more. But the young prince scrutinized the content of worldly happiness much more closely than the rest of us, and his conclusion was that what people called joy was a house of cards perched precariously on certain preconditions. When these preconditions are fulfilled, the pleasure we feel lasts but a moment, for the nature of human experience is to change. And when they are not fulfilled, there is longing and a frustratingly elusive sense of loss; we grasp for what we do not have and nurse the gnawing desire to have it again. To try to hold on to anything – a thing, a person, an event, a position – merely exposes us to its loss. Anything that changes, the Buddha concluded, anything in our experience that consists of or is conditioned by component sensations – the Buddha’s word was samskaras – produces sorrow, not joy. Experience promises happiness, but it delivers only ~ Anonymous,
169:To live without comparison, to live without any kind of measurement inwardly, never to compare what you are with what you should be. The word 'meditation' means not only to ponder, to think over, to probe, to look, to weigh; it also has a much deeper meaning in Sanskrit - to measure, which is `to become'. In meditation there must be no measurement. This meditation must not be a conscious meditation in deliberately chosen postures. This meditation must be totally unconscious, never knowing that you are meditating. If you deliberately meditate it is another form of desire, as any other expression of desire. The objects may vary; your meditation may be to reach the highest, but the motive is the desire to achieve, as the business man, as the builder of a great cathedral. Meditation is a movement without any motive, without words and the activity of thought. It must be something that is not deliberately set about. Only then is meditation a movement in the infinite, measureless to man, without a goal, without an end and without a beginning. And that has a strange action in daily life, because all life is one and then becomes sacred. And that which is sacred can never be killed. To kill another is unholy. It cries to heaven as a bird kept in a cage. One never realizes how sacred life is, not only your little life but the lives of millions of others, from the things of nature to extraordinary human beings. And in meditation which is without measurement, there is the very action of that which is most noble, most sacred and holy. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti,
170:The term satipaṭṭhāna can be explained as a compound of sati, "mindfulness" or "awareness", and upaṭṭhāna, with the u of the latter term dropped by vowel elision. The Pāli term upaṭṭhāna literally means "placing near", and in the present context refers to a particular way of "being present" and "attending" to something with mindfulness. In the discourses [of the Buddha], the corresponding verb upaṭṭhahati often denotes various nuances of "being present", or else "attending". Understood in this way, "satipaṭṭhāna" means that sati "stands by", in the sense of being present; sati is "ready at hand", in the sense of attending to the current situation. Satipaṭṭhāna can then be translated as "presence of mindfulness" or as "attending with mindfulness."

The commentaries, however, derive satipaṭṭhāna from the word "foundation" or "cause" (paṭṭhāna). This seems unlikely, since in the discourses contained in the Pāli canon the corresponding verb paṭṭhahati never occurs together with sati. Moreover, the noun paṭṭhāna is not found at all in the early discourses, but comes into use only in the historically later Abhidhamma and the commentaries. In contrast, the discourses frequently relate sati to the verb upaṭṭhahati, indicating that "presence" (upaṭṭhāna) is the etymologically correct derivation. In fact, the equivalent Sanskrit term is smṛtyupasthāna, which shows that upasthāna, or its Pāli equivalent upaṭṭhāna, is the correct choice for the compound. ~ An layo,
171:Just as I do not see how anyone can expect really to understand Kant and Hegel without knowing the German language and without such an understanding of the German mind as can only be acquired in the society of living Germans, so a fortiori I do not see how anyone can understand Confucius without some knowledge of Chinese and a long frequentation of the best Chinese society. I have the highest respect for the Chinese mind and for Chinese civilisation; and I am willing to believe that Chinese civilisation at its highest has graces and excellences which may make Europe seem crude. But I do not believe that I, for one, could ever come to understand it well enough to make Confucius a mainstay.

I am led to this conclusion partly by an analogous experience. Two years spent in the study of Sanskrit under Charles Lanman, and a year in the mazes of Patanjali's metaphysics under the guidance of James Woods, left me in a state of enlightened mystification. A good half of the effort of understanding what the Indian philosophers were after and their subtleties make most of the great European philosophers look like schoolboys lay in trying to erase from my mind all the categories and kinds of distinction common to European philosophy from the time of the Greeks. My previous and concomitant study of European philosophy was hardly better than an obstacle. And I came to the conclusion seeing also that the 'influence' of Brahmin and Buddhist thought upon Europe, as in Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and Deussen, had largely been through romantic misunderstanding that my only hope of really penetrating to the heart of that mystery would lie in forgetting how to think and feel as an American or a European: which, for practical as well as sentimental reasons, I did not wish to do ~ T S Eliot,
172:Disciple: If the Asuras represent the dark side of God on the vital plane - does this dark side exist on every plane? If so, are there beings on the mental plane which correspond to the dark side?
   Sri Aurobindo: The Asura is really the dark side of God on the mental plane. Mind is the very field of the Asura. His characteristic is egoistic strength, which refuses the Higher Law. The Asura has got Self-control, Tapas, intelligence, only, all that is for his ego.
   On the vital plane the corresponding forces we call the Rakshashas which represent violent passions and impulses. There are other beings on the vital plane which we call pramatta and piśacha and these; manifest, more or less, on the physico-vital plane.
   Distiple: What is the corresponding being on the higher plane?
   Sri Aurobindo: On the higher plane there are no Asuras - there the Truth prevails. There are "Asuras" there in the Vedic sense,- "beings with divine powers". The mental Asura is only a deviation of that power.
   The work of the Asura has all the characteristics of mind in it. It is mind refusing to submit to the Higher Law; it is the mind in revolt. It works on the basis of ego and ignorance.
   Disciple: What are the forces that correspond to the dark side of God on the physical plane?
   Sri Aurobindo: They are what may be called the "elemental beings", or rather, obscure elemental forces - they are more "forces" than "beings". It is these that the Theosophists call the "Elementals". They are not individualised beings like the Asura and the Rakshasas, they are ignorant forces working oh the subtle physical plane.
   Disciple: What is the word for them in Sanskrit;?
   Sri Aurobindo: What are called bhūtas seem most nearly to correspond to them.
   Disciple: The term "Elemental" means that these work through the elements.
   Sri Aurobindo: There are two kinds of "elementals": one mischievous and the other innocent. What the Europeans call the gnomes come under this category. ~ A B Purani, EVENING TALKS WITH SRI AUROBINDO, 15-06-1926,
173:The word zen itself is a Japanese mispronunciation of the Chinese word ch’an, which, in turn, is a Chinese mispronunciation of the Sanskrit dhyana, meaning “contemplation, meditation.” Contemplation, however, of what?

Let us imagine ourselves for a moment in the lecture hall where I originally presented the material for this chapter. Above, we see the many lights. Each bulb is separate from the others, and we may think of them, accordingly, as separate from each other. Regarded that way, they are so many empirical facts; and the whole universe seen that way is called in Japanese ji hokkai, “the universe of things.”

But now, let us consider further. Each of those separate bulbs is a vehicle of light, and the light is not many but one. The one light, that is to say, is being displayed through all those bulbs; and we may think, therefore, either of the many bulbs or of the one light. Moreover, if this or that bulb went out, it would be replaced by another and we should again have the same light. The light, which is one, appears thus through many bulbs.

Analogously, I would be looking out from the lecture platform, seeing before me all the people of my audience, and just as each bulb seen aloft is a vehicle of light, so each of us below is a vehicle of consciousness. But the important thing about a bulb is the quality of its light. Likewise, the important thing about each of us is the quality of his consciousness. And although each may tend to identify himself mainly with his separate body and its frailties, it is possible also to regard one’s body as a mere vehicle of consciousness and to think then of consciousness as the one presence here made manifest through us all. These are but two ways of interpreting and experiencing the same set of present facts. One way is not truer than the other. They are just two ways of interpreting and experiencing: the first, in terms of the manifold of separate things; the second, in terms of the one thing that is made manifest through this manifold. And as, in Japanese, the first is known as ji hokkai, so the second is ri hokkai, the absolute universe. ~ Joseph Campbell,
174:The Tarim Mummies’ (Tarim being the name of the river that once drained the now waterless Tarim basin of eastern Xinjiang) are mostly not of Mongoloid race but of now DNA-certified Caucasoid or Europoid descent. Some had brown hair; at least one stood 2 metres (6.5 feet) tall. They are similar to the Cro-Magnon peoples of eastern Europe. So are their clothes and so probably was their language. It is thought to have been ‘proto-Tocharian’, an early branch of the great Indo-European language family that includes the Celtic, Germanic, Greek and Latin tongues as well as Sanskrit and Early Iranian. But Mair and his disciples would not be content to stop there. Several hundred mummies have now been discovered, their preservation being the result of the region’s extreme aridity and the high alkaline content of the desert sands. The graves span a long period, from c. 2000 BC to AD 300, but the forebears of their inmates are thought most probably to have migrated from the Altai region to the north, where there flourished around 2000 BC another Europoid culture, that of Afanasevo. Such a migration would have consisted of several waves and must have involved contact with Indo-European-speaking Iranian peoples as well as Altaic peoples. Since both were acquainted with basic metallurgy and had domesticated numerous animals, including horses and sheep, the mummy people must themselves have acquired such knowledge and may have passed it on to the cultures of eastern China. According to Mair and his colleagues, therefore, the horse, the sheep, the wheel, the horse-drawn chariot, supplies of uncut jade and probably both bronze and iron technology may have reached ‘core’ China courtesy of these Europoid ‘proto-Tocharians’. By implication, it followed that the Europeans who in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries AD would so embarrass China with their superior technology were not the first. ‘Foreign Devils on the Silk Road’ had been active 4,000 years ago; and thanks to them, China’s ancient civilisation need not be regarded as quite so ‘of itself’. It could in fact be just as derivative, and no more indigenous, than most others. Needless to say, scholars in China have had some difficulty with all this. ~ John Keay,
175:How important was mantra to Gandhi’s transformation? Extremely. When done systematically, mantra has a powerful effect on the brain. It gathers and focuses the energy of the mind. It teaches the mind to focus on one point, and it cultivates a steadiness that over time becomes an unshakable evenness of temper. The cultivation of this quality of “evenness” is a central principle of the Bhagavad Gita. It is called samatva in Sanskrit, and it is a central pillar of Krishna’s practice. When the mind develops steadiness, teaches Krishna, it is not shaken by fear or greed. So, in his early twenties, Gandhi had already begun to develop a still-point at the center of his consciousness—a still-point that could not be shaken. This little seed of inner stillness would grow into a mighty oak. Gandhi would become an immovable object. Rambha had given Gandhi an enchanting image to describe the power of mantra. She compared the practice of mantra to the training of an elephant. “As the elephant walks through the market,” taught Rambha, “he swings his trunk from side to side and creates havoc with it wherever he goes—knocking over fruit stands and scattering vendors, snatching bananas and coconuts wherever possible. His trunk is naturally restless, hungry, scattered, undisciplined. This is just like the mind—constantly causing trouble.” “But the wise elephant trainer,” said Rambha, “will give the elephant a stick of bamboo to hold in his trunk. The elephant likes this. He holds it fast. And as soon as the elephant wraps his trunk around the bamboo, the trunk begins to settle. Now the elephant strides through the market like a prince: calm, collected, focused, serene. Bananas and coconuts no longer distract.” So too with the mind. As soon as the mind grabs hold of the mantra, it begins to settle. The mind holds the mantra gently, and it becomes focused, calm, centered. Gradually this mind becomes extremely concentrated. This is the beginning stage of meditation. All meditation traditions prescribe some beginning practice of gathering, focusing, and concentration—and in the yoga tradition this is most often achieved precisely through mantra. The whole of Chapter Six in the Bhagavad Gita is devoted to Krishna’s teachings on this practice: “Whenever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self,” instructs Krishna. “When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. ~ Stephen Cope,
176:Who could have thought that this tanned young man with gentle, dreamy eyes, long wavy hair parted in the middle and falling to the neck, clad in a common coarse Ahmedabad dhoti, a close-fitting Indian jacket, and old-fashioned slippers with upturned toes, and whose face was slightly marked with smallpox, was no other than Mister Aurobindo Ghose, living treasure of French, Latin and Greek?" Actually, Sri Aurobindo was not yet through with books; the Western momentum was still there; he devoured books ordered from Bombay and Calcutta by the case. "Aurobindo would sit at his desk," his Bengali teacher continues, "and read by the light of an oil lamp till one in the morning, oblivious of the intolerable mosquito bites. I would see him seated there in the same posture for hours on end, his eyes fixed on his book, like a yogi lost in the contemplation of the Divine, unaware of all that went on around him. Even if the house had caught fire, it would not have broken this concentration." He read English, Russian, German, and French novels, but also, in ever larger numbers, the sacred books of India, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, although he had never been in a temple except as an observer. "Once, having returned from the College," one of his friends recalls, "Sri Aurobindo sat down, picked up a book at random and started to read, while Z and some friends began a noisy game of chess. After half an hour, he put the book down and took a cup of tea. We had already seen him do this many times and were waiting eagerly for a chance to verify whether he read the books from cover to cover or only scanned a few pages here and there. Soon the test began. Z opened the book, read a line aloud and asked Sri Aurobindo to recite what followed. Sri Aurobindo concentrated for a moment, and then repeated the entire page without a single mistake. If he could read a hundred pages in half an hour, no wonder he could go through a case of books in such an incredibly short time." But Sri Aurobindo did not stop at the translations of the sacred texts; he began to study Sanskrit, which, typically, he learned by himself. When a subject was known to be difficult or impossible, he would refuse to take anyone's word for it, whether he were a grammarian, pandit, or clergyman, and would insist upon trying it himself. The method seemed to have some merit, for not only did he learn Sanskrit, but a few years later he discovered the lost meaning of the Veda. ~ Satprem, Sri Aurobindo Or The Adventure of Consciousness,
177:A Letter To My Aunt
A Letter To My Aunt Discussing The Correct Approach To Modern Poetry
To you, my aunt, who would explore
The literary Chankley Bore,
The paths are hard, for you are not
A literary Hottentot
But just a kind and cultured dame
Who knows not Eliot (to her shame).
Fie on you, aunt, that you should see
No genius in David G.,
No elemental form and sound
In T.S.E. and Ezra Pound.
Fie on you, aunt! I'll show you how
To elevate your middle brow,
And how to scale and see the sights
From modernist Parnassian heights.
First buy a hat, no Paris model
But one the Swiss wear when they yodel,
A bowler thing with one or two
Feathers to conceal the view;
And then in sandals walk the street
(All modern painters use their feet
For painting, on their canvas strips,
Their wives or mothers, minus hips).
Perhaps it would be best if you
Created something very new,
A dirty novel done in Erse
Or written backwards in Welsh verse,
Or paintings on the backs of vests,
Or Sanskrit psalms on lepers' chests.
But if this proved imposs-i-ble
Perhaps it would be just as well,
For you could then write what you please,
And modern verse is done with ease.
Do not forget that 'limpet' rhymes
17
With 'strumpet' in these troubled times,
And commas are the worst of crimes;
Few understand the works of Cummings,
And few James Joyce's mental slummings,
And few young Auden's coded chatter;
But then it is the few that matter.
Never be lucid, never state,
If you would be regarded great,
The simplest thought or sentiment,
(For thought, we know, is decadent);
Never omit such vital words
As belly, genitals and -----,
For these are things that play a part
(And what a part) in all good art.
Remember this: each rose is wormy,
And every lovely woman's germy;
Remember this: that love depends
On how the Gallic letter bends;
Remember, too, that life is hell
And even heaven has a smell
Of putrefying angels who
Make deadly whoopee in the blue.
These things remembered, what can stop
A poet going to the top?
A final word: before you start
The convulsions of your art,
Remove your brains, take out your heart;
Minus these curses, you can be
A genius like David G.
Take courage, aunt, and send your stuff
To Geoffrey Grigson with my luff,
And may I yet live to admire
How well your poems light the fire.
~ Dylan Thomas,
178:The beginning point is that there is open space, belonging to no one. There is always primordial intelligence connected with the space and openness. Vidya, which means “intelligence” in Sanskrit—precision, sharpness, sharpness with space, sharpness with room in which to put things, exchange things. It is like a spacious hall where there is room to dance about, where there is no danger of knocking things over or tripping over things, for there is completely open space. We are this space, we are one with it, with vidya, intelligence, and openness. But if we are this all the time, where did the confusion come from, where has the space gone, what has happened? Nothing has happened, as a matter of fact. We just became too active in that space. Because it is spacious, it brings inspiration to dance about; but our dance became a bit too active, we began to spin more than was necessary to express the space. At this point we became self-conscious, conscious that “I” am dancing in the space. At such a point, space is no longer space as such. It becomes solid. Instead of being one with the space, we feel solid space as a separate entity, as tangible. This is the first experience of duality—space and I, I am dancing in this space, and this spaciousness is a solid, separate thing. Duality means “space and I,” rather than being completely one with the space. This is the birth of “form,” of “other.” Then a kind of blackout occurs, in the sense that we forget what we were doing. There is a sudden halt, a pause; and we turn around and “discover” solid space, as though we had never before done anything at all, as though we were not the creators of all that solidity. There is a gap. Having already created solidified space, then we are overwhelmed by it and begin to become lost in it. There is a blackout and then, suddenly, an awakening. When we awaken, we refuse to see the space as openness, refuse to see its smooth and ventilating quality. We completely ignore it, which is called avidya. A means “negation,” vidya means “intelligence,” so it is “un-intelligence.” Because this extreme intelligence has been transformed into the perception of solid space, because this intelligence with a sharp and precise and flowing luminous quality has become static, therefore it is called avidya, “ignorance.” We deliberately ignore. We are not satisfied just to dance in the space but we want to have a partner, and so we choose the space as our partner. If you choose space as your partner in the dance, then of course you want it to dance with you. In order to possess it as a partner, you have to solidify it and ignore its flowing, open quality. This is avidya, ignorance, ignoring the intelligence. ~ Ch gyam Trungpa,
179:Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā, (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; Wylie: ral gcig ma: one who has one knot of hair),[1] also known as Māhacīnatārā,[2] is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is, along with Palden Lhamo deity, one of the most powerful and fierce goddesses of Vajrayana Buddhist mythology.[1][3] According to Tibetan legends, her right eye was pierced by the tantric master Padmasambhava so that she could much more effectively help him subjugate Tibetan demons.

Ekajati is also known as "Blue Tara", Vajra Tara or "Ugra Tara".[1][3] She is generally considered one of the three principal protectors of the Nyingma school along with Rāhula and Vajrasādhu (Wylie: rdo rje legs pa).

Often Ekajati appears as liberator in the mandala of the Green Tara. Along with that, her ascribed powers are removing the fear of enemies, spreading joy, and removing personal hindrances on the path to enlightenment.

Ekajati is the protector of secret mantras and "as the mother of the mothers of all the Buddhas" represents the ultimate unity. As such, her own mantra is also secret. She is the most important protector of the Vajrayana teachings, especially the Inner Tantras and termas. As the protector of mantra, she supports the practitioner in deciphering symbolic dakini codes and properly determines appropriate times and circumstances for revealing tantric teachings. Because she completely realizes the texts and mantras under her care, she reminds the practitioner of their preciousness and secrecy.[4] Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama meditated upon her in early childhood.

According to Namkhai Norbu, Ekajati is the principal guardian of the Dzogchen teachings and is "a personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy."[5]

Dzogchen is the most closely guarded teaching in Tibetan Buddhism, of which Ekajati is a main guardian as mentioned above. It is said that Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha) himself entrusted the "Heart Essence" (Wylie: snying thig) teachings to her care. To the great master Longchenpa, who initiated the dissemination of certain Dzogchen teachings, Ekajati offered uncharacteristically personal guidance. In his thirty-second year, Ekajati appeared to Longchenpa, supervising every ritual detail of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis empowerment, insisting on the use of a peacock feather and removing unnecessary basin. When Longchenpa performed the ritual, she nodded her head in approval but corrected his pronunciation. When he recited the mantra, Ekajati admonished him, saying, "Imitate me," and sang it in a strange, harmonious melody in the dakini's language. Later she appeared at the gathering and joyously danced, proclaiming the approval of Padmasambhava and the dakinis.[6] ~ Wikipedia,
180:The key point here is Macaulay’s belief that “knowledge and reflection” on the part of the Hindus, especially the Brahmanas, would cause them to give up their age-old belief in anything Vedic in favor of Christianity. The purpose was to turn the strength of Hindu intellectuals against their own kind by utilizing their commitment to scholarship in uprooting their own tradition, which Macaulay viewed as nothing more than superstitions. His plan was to educate the Hindus to become Christians and turn them into collaborators. He persisted with this idea for fifteen years until he found the money and the right man for turning his utopian idea into reality. He needed someone who would translate and interpret the Vedic texts in such a way that the newly educated Indian elite would see the superiority of the Bible and choose that over everything else. Upon his return to England, after a good deal of effort he found a talented but impoverished young German Vedic scholar by name Friedrich Max Muller who was willing to take on the arduous job. Macaulay used his influence with the East India Company to find funds for Max Muller’s translation of the Rig Veda. Though an ardent German nationalist, Max Muller agreed for the sake of Christianity to work for the East India Company, which in reality meant the British Government of India. He also badly needed a major sponsor for his ambitious plans, which he felt he had at last found. The fact is that Max Muller was paid by the East India Company to further its colonial aims, and worked in cooperation with others who were motivated by the superiority of the German race through the white Aryan race theory. This was the genesis of his great enterprise, translating the Rig Veda with Sayana's commentary and the editing of the fifty-volume Sacred Books of the East. In this way, there can be no doubt regarding Max Muller’s initial aim and commitment to converting Indians to Christianity. Writing to his wife in 1866 he observed: “It [the Rig Veda] is the root of their religion and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last three thousand years.” Two years later he also wrote the Duke of Argyle, then acting Secretary of State for India: “The ancient religion of India is doomed. And if Christianity does not take its place, whose fault will it be?” This makes it very clear that Max Muller was an agent of the British government paid to advance its colonial interests. Nonetheless, he still remained an ardent German nationalist even while working in England. This helps explain why he used his position as a recognized Vedic and Sanskrit scholar to promote the idea of the “Aryan race” and the “Aryan nation,” a theory amongst a certain class of so-called scholars, which has maintained its influence even until today. ~ Stephen Knapp,
181:Flow is an extremely potent response to external events and requires an extraordinary set of signals. The process includes dopamine, which does more than tune signal-to-noise ratios. Emotionally, we feel dopamine as engagement, excitement, creativity, and a desire to investigate and make meaning out of the world. Evolutionarily, it serves a similar function. Human beings are hardwired for exploration, hardwired to push the envelope: dopamine is largely responsible for that wiring. This neurochemical is released whenever we take a risk or encounter something novel. It rewards exploratory behavior. It also helps us survive that behavior. By increasing attention, information flow, and pattern recognition in the brain, and heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle firing timing in the body, dopamine serves as a formidable skill-booster as well. Norepinephrine provides another boost. In the body, it speeds up heart rate, muscle tension, and respiration, and triggers glucose release so we have more energy. In the brain, norepinephrine increases arousal, attention, neural efficiency, and emotional control. In flow, it keeps us locked on target, holding distractions at bay. And as a pleasure-inducer, if dopamine’s drug analog is cocaine, norepinephrine’s is speed, which means this enhancement comes with a hell of a high. Endorphins, our third flow conspirator, also come with a hell of a high. These natural “endogenous” (meaning naturally internal to the body) opiates relieve pain and produce pleasure much like “exogenous” (externally added to the body) opiates like heroin. Potent too. The most commonly produced endorphin is 100 times more powerful than medical morphine. The next neurotransmitter is anandamide, which takes its name from the Sanskrit word for “bliss”—and for good reason. Anandamide is an endogenous cannabinoid, and similarly feels like the psychoactive effect found in marijuana. Known to show up in exercise-induced flow states (and suspected in other kinds), this chemical elevates mood, relieves pain, dilates blood vessels and bronchial tubes (aiding respiration), and amplifies lateral thinking (our ability to link disparate ideas together). More critically, anandamide also inhibits our ability to feel fear, even, possibly, according to research done at Duke, facilitates the extinction of long-term fear memories. Lastly, at the tail end of a flow state, it also appears (more research needs to be done) that the brain releases serotonin, the neurochemical now associated with SSRIs like Prozac. “It’s a molecule involved in helping people cope with adversity,” Oxford University’s Philip Cowen told the New York Times, “to not lose it, to keep going and try to sort everything out.” In flow, serotonin is partly responsible for the afterglow effect, and thus the cause of some confusion. “A lot of people associate serotonin directly with flow,” says high performance psychologist Michael Gervais, “but that’s backward. By the time the serotonin has arrived the state has already happened. It’s a signal things are coming to an end, not just beginning.” These five chemicals are flow’s mighty cocktail. Alone, each packs a punch, together a wallop. ~ Steven Kotler,
182:Prayers To Lord Murugan
Lord of new arrivals
lovers and rivals:
arrive
at once with cockfight and banner—
dance till on this and the next three
hills
women's hands and the garlands
on the chests of men will turn like
chariotwheels
O where are the cockscombs and where
the beaks glinting with new knives
at crossroads
when will orange banners burn
among blue trumpet flowers and the shade
of trees
waiting for lightnings?
Twelve etched arrowheads
for eyes and six unforeseen
faces, and you were not
embarrassed.
Unlike other gods
you find work
for every face,
and made
eyes at only one
woman. And your arms
are like faces with proper
names.
15
3
Lord of green
growing things, give us
a hand
in our fight
with the fruit fly.
Tell us,
will the red flower ever
come to the branches
of the blueprint
city?
Lord of great changes and small
cells: exchange our painted grey
pottery
for iron copper the leap of stone horses
our yellow grass and lily seed
for rams!
flesh and scarlet rice for the carnivals
on rivers O dawn of nightmare virgins
bring us
your white-haired witches who wear
three colours even in sleep.
Lord of the spoor of the tigress,
outside our town hyenas
and civet cats live
on the kills of leopards
and tigers
too weak to finish what's begun.
16
Rajahs stand in photographs
over ninefoot silken tigresses
that sycophants have shot.
Sleeping under country fans
hearts are worm cans
turning over continually
for the great shadows
of fish in the open
waters.
We eat legends and leavings,
remember the ivory, the apes,
the peacocks we sent in the Bible
to Solomon, the medicines for smallpox,
the similes
for muslin: wavering snakeskins,
a cloud of steam
Ever-rehearsing astronauts,
we purify and return
our urine
to the circling body
and burn our faeces
for fuel to reach the moon
through the sky behind
the navel.
Master of red bloodstains,
our blood is brown;
our collars white.
Other lives and sixtyfour rumoured arts
tingle,
pins and needles
at amputees' fingertips
in phantom muscle
17
7
Lord of the twelve right hands
why are we your mirror men
with the two left hands
capable only of casting
reflections? Lord
of faces,
find us the face
we lost early
this morning.
Lord of headlines,
help us read
the small print.
Lord of the sixth sense,
give us back
our five senses.
Lord of solutions,
teach us to dissolve
and not to drown.
Deliver us O presence
from proxies
and absences
from sanskrit and the mythologies
of night and the several
roundtable mornings
of London and return
the future to what
it was.
18
10
Lord, return us.
Brings us back
to a litter
of six new pigs in a slum
and a sudden quarter
of harvest
Lord of the last-born
give us
birth.
11
Lord of lost travellers,
find us. Hunt us
down.
Lord of answers,
cure us at once
of prayers.
~ A. K. Ramanujan,
183:Nights On Planet Earth
Heaven was originally precisely that: the starry sky, dating back to the earliest
Egyptian texts, which include magic spells that enable the soul to be sewn in the
body of the great mother, Nut, literally 'night,' like the seed of a plant, which is
also a jewel and a star. The Greek Elysian fields derive from the same celestial
topography: the Egyptian 'Field of Rushes,' the eastern stars at dawn where the
soul goes to be purified. That there is another, mirror world, a world of light, and
that this world is simply the sky—and a step further, the breath of the sky, the
weather, the very air—is a formative belief of great antiquity that has continued
to the present day with the godhead becoming brightness itself: dios/theos
(Greek); deus/divine/diana (Latin); devas (Sanskrit); daha (Arabic); day
(English).
—Susan Brind Morrow, Wolves and Honey
Gravel paths on hillsides amid moon-drawn vineyards,
click of pearls upon a polished nightstand
soft as rainwater, self-minded stars, oboe music
distant as the grinding of icebergs against the hull
of the self and the soul in the darkness
chanting to the ecstatic chance of existence.
Deep is the water and long is the moonlight
inscribing addresses in quicksilver ink,
building the staircase a lover forever pauses upon.
Deep is the darkness and long is the night,
solid the water and liquid the light. How strange
that they arrive at all, nights on planet earth.
Sometimes, not often but repeatedly, the past invades my dreams in the form of
a familiar neighborhood I can no longer locate,
a warren of streets lined with dark cafés and unforgettable bars, a place where I
can sing by heart every song on every jukebox,
a city that feels the way the skin of an octopus looks pulse-changing from color
to color, laminar and fluid and electric,
a city of shadow-draped churches, of busses on dim avenues, or riverlights, or
canyonlands, but always a city, and wonderful, and lost.
Sometimes it resembles Amsterdam, students from the ballet school like fanciful
15
gazelles shooting pool in pink tights and soft, shapeless sweaters,
or Madrid at 4AM, arguing the 18th Brumaire with angry Marxists, or Manhattan
when the snowfall crowns every trash-can king of its Bowery stoop,
or Chicago, or Dublin, or some ideal city of the imagination, as in a movie you
can neither remember entirely nor completely forget,
barracuda-faced men drinking sake like yakuza in a Harukami novel, women
sipping champagne or arrack, the rattle of beaded curtains in the back,
the necklaces of Christmas lights reflected in raindrops on windows, the taste of
peanuts and their shells crushed to powder underfoot,
always real, always elusive, always a city, and wonderful, and lost. All night I
wander alone, searching in vain for the irretrievable.
In
In
In
In
In
In
In
In
the
the
the
the
the
the
the
the
night
night
night
night
night
night
night
night
will
will
will
will
will
will
will
will
drink from a cup of ashes and yellow paint.
gossip with the clouds and grow strong.
cross rooftops to watch the sea tremble in a dream.
assemble my army of golden carpenter ants.
walk the towpath among satellites and cosmic dust.
cry to the roots of potted plants in empty offices.
gather the feathers of pigeons in a honey jar.
become an infant before your flag.
~ Campbell McGrath,
184:This greater Force is that of the Illumined Mind, a Mind no longer of higher Thought, but of spiritual light. Here the clarity of the spiritual intelligence, its tranquil daylight, gives place or subordinates itself to an intense lustre, a splendour and illumination of the spirit: a play of lightnings of spiritual truth and power breaks from above into the consciousness and adds to the calm and wide enlightenment and the vast descent of peace which characterise or accompany the action of the larger conceptual-spiritual principle, a fiery ardour of realisation and a rapturous ecstasy of knowledge. A downpour of inwardly visible Light very usually envelops this action; for it must be noted that, contrary to our ordinary conceptions, light is not primarily a material creation and the sense or vision of light accompanying the inner illumination is not merely a subjective visual image or a symbolic phenomenon: light is primarily a spiritual manifestation of the Divine Reality illuminative and creative; material light is a subsequent representation or conversion of it into Matter for the purposes of the material Energy. There is also in this descent the arrival of a greater dynamic, a golden drive, a luminous enthousiasmos of inner force and power which replaces the comparatively slow and deliberate process of the Higher Mind by a swift, sometimes a vehement, almost a violent impetus of rapid transformation.
   But these two stages of the ascent enjoy their authority and can get their own united completeness only by a reference to a third level; for it is from the higher summits where dwells the intuitional being that they derive the knowledge which they turn into thought or sight and bring down to us for the mind's transmutation. Intuition is a power of consciousness nearer and more intimate to the original knowledge by identity; for it is always something that leaps out direct from a concealed identity. It is when the consciousness of the subject meets with the consciousness in the object, penetrates it and sees, feels or vibrates with the truth of what it contacts, that the intuition leaps out like a spark or lightning-flash from the shock of the meeting; or when the consciousness, even without any such meeting, looks into itself and feels directly and intimately the truth or the truths that are there or so contacts the hidden forces behind appearances, then also there is the outbreak of an intuitive light; or, again, when the consciousness meets the Supreme Reality or the spiritual reality of things and beings and has a contactual union with it, then the spark, the flash or the blaze of intimate truth-perception is lit in its depths. This close perception is more than sight, more than conception: it is the result of a penetrating and revealing touch which carries in it sight and conception as part of itself or as its natural consequence. A concealed or slumbering identity, not yet recovering itself, still remembers or conveys by the intuition its own contents and the intimacy of its self-feeling and self-vision of things, its light of truth, its overwhelming and automatic certitude. ... Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light; it is in us a projecting blade, edge or point of a far-off supermind light entering into and modified by some intermediate truth-mind substance above us and, so modified, again entering into and very much blinded by our ordinary or ignorant mind substance; but on that higher level to which it is native its light is unmixed and therefore entirely and purely veridical, and its rays are not separated but connected or massed together in a play of waves of what might almost be called in the Sanskrit poetic figure a sea or mass of stable lightnings.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine,
185:The true Mantra must come from within OR it must be given by a Guru

Nobody can give you the true mantra. It's not something that is given; it's something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being - then it has power, because it's not something that comes from outside, it's your very own cry.

I saw, in my case, that my mantra has the power of immortality; whatever happens, if it is uttered, it's the Supreme that has the upper hand, it's no longer the lower law. And the words are irrelevant, they may not have any meaning - to someone else, my mantra is meaningless, but to me it's full, packed with meaning. And effective, because it's my cry, the intense aspiration of my whole being.

A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra. The power is automatically there, because the sound contains the experience. I saw that once in Paris, at a time when I knew nothing of India, absolutely nothing, only the usual nonsense. I didn't even know what a mantra was. I had gone to a lecture given by some fellow who was supposed to have practiced "yoga" for a year in the Himalayas and recounted his experience (none too interesting, either). All at once, in the course of his lecture, he uttered the sound OM. And I saw the entire room suddenly fill with light, a golden, vibrating light.... I was probably the only one to notice it. I said to myself, "Well!" Then I didn't give it any more thought, I forgot about the story. But as it happened, the experience recurred in two or three different countries, with different people, and every time there was the sound OM, I would suddenly see the place fill with that same light. So I understood. That sound contains the vibration of thousands and thousands of years of spiritual aspiration - there is in it the entire aspiration of men towards the Supreme. And the power is automatically there, because the experience is there.

It's the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, "Glory to You, O Lord," into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolini's help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was there - not because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of "giving" me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and that's the japa I do now - I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.[[Mother later clarified: "'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't MY mantra, it's something I ADDED to it - my mantra is something else altogether, that's not it. When I say that my mantra has the power of immortality, I mean the other, the one I don't speak of! I have never given the words.... You see, at the end of my walk, a kind of enthusiasm rises, and with that enthusiasm, the 'Glory to You' came to me, but it's part of the prayer I had written in Prayers and Meditations: 'Glory to You, O Lord, all-triumphant Supreme' etc. (it's a long prayer). It came back suddenly, and as it came back spontaneously, I kept it. Moreover, when Sri Aurobindo read this prayer in Prayers and Meditations, he told me it was very strong. So I added this phrase as a kind of tail to my japa. But 'Glory to You, O Lord' isn't my spontaneous mantra - it came spontaneously, but it was something written very long ago. The two things are different."

And that's how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your being - there is no need of effort or concentration: it's your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within.... No guru can give you that. ~ The Mother, Agenda, May 11 1963,

IN CHAPTERS [197/197]



   96 Integral Yoga
   23 Yoga
   8 Poetry
   5 Philosophy
   4 Occultism
   3 Education
   3 Buddhism
   2 Psychology
   1 Thelema
   1 Mythology
   1 Integral Theory
   1 Hinduism


   48 Sri Aurobindo
   34 The Mother
   29 Satprem
   25 Nolini Kanta Gupta
   15 Sri Ramakrishna
   9 A B Purani
   6 Jayadeva
   5 Swami Vivekananda
   4 Aldous Huxley
   3 Swami Krishnananda
   3 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   3 Bokar Rinpoche
   2 Thubten Chodron
   2 Patanjali
   2 Nirodbaran
   2 Mahendranath Gupta
   2 Ken Wilber
   2 Aleister Crowley


   14 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
   10 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
   9 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
   8 Agenda Vol 01
   7 Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit
   7 The Synthesis Of Yoga
   7 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
   6 The Secret Of The Veda
   6 The Secret Doctrine
   5 Talks
   4 Vedic and Philological Studies
   4 The Perennial Philosophy
   4 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
   4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
   4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
   4 Agenda Vol 02
   3 Words Of Long Ago
   3 The Study and Practice of Yoga
   3 The Life Divine
   3 Tara - The Feminine Divine
   3 Questions And Answers 1956
   3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
   3 Agenda Vol 08
   2 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
   2 Sex Ecology Spirituality
   2 Questions And Answers 1955
   2 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
   2 On Education
   2 Letters On Yoga IV
   2 Letters On Yoga I
   2 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
   2 How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator
   2 Bhakti-Yoga
   2 Agenda Vol 05
   2 Agenda Vol 04


0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
   At the age of sixteen Gadadhar was summoned to Calcutta by his elder brother Ramkumar, who wished assistance in his priestly duties. Ramkumar had opened a Sanskrit academy to supplement his income, and it was his intention gradually to turn his younger brother's mind to education. Gadadhar applied himself heart and soul to his new duty as family priest to a number of Calcutta families. His worship was very different from that of the professional priests. He spent hours decorating the images and singing hymns and devotional songs; he performed with love the other duties of his office. People were impressed with his ardour. But to his studies he paid scant attention.
   Ramkumar did not at first oppose the ways of his temperamental brother. He wanted Gadadhar to become used to the conditions of city life. But one day he decided to warn the boy about his indifference to the world. After all, in the near future Gadadhar must, as a householder, earn his livelihood through the performance of his brahminical duties; and these required a thorough knowledge of Hindu law, astrology, and kindred subjects. He gently admonished Gadadhar and asked him to pay more attention to his studies. But the boy replied spiritedly: "Brother, what shall I do with a mere bread-winning education? I would rather acquire that wisdom which will illumine my heart and give me satisfaction for ever."
  --
   The real organizer of the Samaj was Devendranath Tagore (1817-1905), the father of the poet Rabindranath. His physical and spiritual beauty, aristocratic aloofness, penetrating intellect, and poetic sensibility made him the foremost leader of the educated Bengalis. These addressed him by the respectful epithet of Maharshi, the "Great Seer". The Maharshi was a Sanskrit scholar and, unlike Raja Rammohan Roy, drew his inspiration entirely from the Upanishads. He was an implacable enemy of image worship ship and also fought to stop the infiltration of Christian ideas into the Samaj. He gave the movement its faith and ritual. Under his influence the Brahmo Samaj professed One Self-existent Supreme Being who had created the universe out of nothing, the God of Truth, Infinite Wisdom, Goodness, and Power, the Eternal and Omnipotent, the One without a Second. Man should love Him and do His will, believe in Him and worship Him, and thus merit salvation in the world to come.
   By far the ablest leader of the Brahmo movement was Keshab Chandra Sen (1838-1884). Unlike Raja Rammohan Roy and Devendranath Tagore, Keshab was born of a middle-class Bengali family and had been brought up in an English school. He did not know Sanskrit and very soon broke away from the popular Hindu religion. Even at an early age he came under the spell of Christ and professed to have experienced the special favour of John the Baptist, Christ, and St. Paul. When he strove to introduce Christ to the Brahmo Samaj, a rupture became inevitable with Devendranath. In 1868 Keshab broke with the older leader and founded the Brahmo Samaj of India, Devendra retaining leadership of the first Brahmo Samaj, now called the Adi Samaj.
   Keshab possessed a complex nature. When passing through a great moral crisis, he spent much of his time in solitude and felt that he heard the voice of God, When a devotional form of worship was introduced into the Brahmo Samaj, he spent hours in singing kirtan with his followers. He visited England land in 1870 and impressed the English people with his musical voice, his simple English, and his spiritual fervour. He was entertained by Queen Victoria. Returning to India, he founded centres of the Brahmo Samaj in various parts of the country. Not unlike a professor of comparative religion in a European university, he began to discover, about the time of his first contact with Sri Ramakrishna, the harmony of religions. He became sympathetic toward the Hindu gods and goddesses, explaining them in a liberal fashion. Further, he believed that he was called by God to dictate to the world God's newly revealed law, the New Dispensation, the Navavidhan.
  --
   Mahimacharan and Pratap Hazra were two devotees outstanding for their pretentiousness and idiosyncrasies. But the Master showed them his unfailing love and kindness, though he was aware of their shortcomings. Mahimacharan Chakravarty had met the Master long before the arrival of the other disciples. He had had the intention of leading a spiritual life, but a strong desire to acquire name and fame was his weakness. He claimed to have been initiated by Totapuri and used to say that he had been following the path of knowledge according to his guru's instructions. He possessed a large library of English and Sanskrit books. But though he pretended to have read them, most of the leaves were uncut. The Master knew all his limitations, yet enjoyed listening to him recite from the Vedas and other scriptures. He would always exhort Mahima to meditate on the meaning of the scriptural texts and to practise spiritual discipline.
   Pratap Hazra, a middle-aged man, hailed from a village near Kamarpukur. He was not altogether unresponsive to religious feelings. On a moment's impulse he had left his home, aged mother, wife, and children, and had found shelter in the temple garden at Dakshineswar, where he intended to lead a spiritual life. He loved to argue, and the Master often pointed him out as an example of barren argumentation. He was hypercritical of others and cherished an exaggerated notion of his own spiritual advancement. He was mischievous and often tried to upset the minds of the Master's young disciples, criticizing them for their happy and joyous life and asking them to devote their time to meditation. The Master teasingly compared Hazra to Jatila and Kutila, the two women who always created obstructions in Krishna's sport with the gopis, and said that Hazra lived at Dakshineswar to "thicken the plot" by adding complications.

0.00 - Publishers Note C, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The present volume consists of three books: Light of Lights, Eight Talks and Sweet Mother; there are also translations from Sanskrit, Pali, Bengali and French. These, along with the translations of the Dhammapada and Charyapada, have been mostly serialised in Ashram journals.
   His original writings in French have also been included here. We are grateful to the Government of India for a grant towards meeting the cost of publication of this volume.

0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
   The title is the Sanskrit for That, in its sense of "The Existing".
   This chapter is an attempt to replace Elohim by a more

0.00 - THE GOSPEL PREFACE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Sri Mahendra Nath Gupta, familiary known to the readers of the Gospel by his pen name M., and to the devotees as Master Mahashay, was born on the 14th of July, 1854 as the son of Madhusudan Gupta, an officer of the Calcutta High Court, and his wife, Swarnamayi Devi. He had a brilliant scholastic career at Hare School and the Presidency College at Calcutta. The range of his studies included the best that both occidental and oriental learning had to offer. English literature, history, economics, western philosophy and law on the one hand, and Sanskrit literature and grammar, Darsanas, Puranas, Smritis, Jainism, Buddhism, astrology and Ayurveda on the other were the subjects in which he attained considerable proficiency.
  He was an educationist all his life both in a spiritual and in a secular sense. After he passed out of College, he took up work as headmaster in a number of schools in succession Narail High School, City School, Ripon College School, Metropolitan School, Aryan School, Oriental School, Oriental Seminary and Model School. The causes of his migration from school to school were that he could not get on with some of the managements on grounds of principles and that often his spiritual mood drew him away to places of pilgrimage for long periods. He worked with some of the most noted public men of the time like Iswar Chandra Vidysgar and Surendranath Banerjee. The latter appointed him as a professor in the City and Ripon Colleges where he taught subjects like English, philosophy, history and economics. In his later days he took over the Morton School, and he spent his time in the staircase room of the third floor of it, administering the school and preaching the message of the Master. He was much respected in educational circles where he was usually referred to as Rector Mahashay. A teacher who had worked under him writes thus in warm appreciation of his teaching methods: "Only when I worked with him in school could I appreciate what a great educationist he was. He would come down to the level of his students when teaching, though he himself was so learned, so talented. Ordinarily teachers confine their instruction to what is given in books without much thought as to whether the student can accept it or not. But M., would first of all gauge how much the student could take in and by what means. He would employ aids to teaching like maps, pictures and diagrams, so that his students could learn by seeing. Thirty years ago (from 1953) when the question of imparting education through the medium of the mother tongue was being discussed, M. had already employed Bengali as the medium of instruction in the Morton School." (M The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda Part I. P. 15.)

0.02 - The Three Steps of Nature, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But what then constitutes this higher or highest existence to which our evolution is tending? In order to answer the question we have to deal with a class of supreme experiences, a class of unusual conceptions which it is difficult to represent accurately in any other language than the ancient Sanskrit tongue in which alone they have been to some extent systematised.
  The only approximate terms in the English language have other associations and their use may lead to many and even serious inaccuracies. The terminology of Yoga recognises besides the status of our physical and vital being, termed the gross body and doubly composed of the food sheath and the vital vehicle, besides the status of our mental being, termed the subtle body and singly composed of the mind sheath or mental vehicle,5 a third, supreme and divine status of supra-mental being, termed the causal body and composed of a fourth and a fifth vehicle6 which are described as those of knowledge and bliss. But this knowledge is not a systematised result of mental questionings and reasonings, not a temporary arrangement of conclusions and opinions in the terms of the highest probability, but rather a pure self-existent and self-luminous Truth. And this bliss is not a supreme pleasure of the heart and sensations with the experience of pain and sorrow as its background, but a delight also selfexistent and independent of objects and particular experiences, a self-delight which is the very nature, the very stuff, as it were, of a transcendent and infinite existence.

01.03 - Mystic Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   This is spiritual matter and spiritual manner that can never be improved upon. This is spiritual poetry in its quintessence. I am referring naturally here to the original and not to the translation which can never do full justice, even at its very best, to the poetic value in question. For apart from the individual genius of the poet, the greatness of the language, the instrument used by the poet, is also involved. It may well be what is comparatively easy and natural in the language of the gods (devabhasha) would mean a tour de force, if not altogether an impossibility, in a human language. The Sanskrit language was moulded and fashioned in the hands of the Rishis, that is to say, those who lived and moved and had their being in the spiritual consciousness. The Hebrew or even the Zend does not seem to have reached that peak, that absoluteness of the spiritual tone which seems inherent in the Indian tongue, although those too breathed and grew in a spiritual atmosphere. The later languages, however, Greek or Latin or their modern descendants, have gone still farther from the source, they are much nearer to the earth and are suffused with the smell and effluvia of this vale of tears.
   Among the ancients, strictly speaking, the later classical Lucretius was a remarkable phenomenon. By nature he was a poet, but his mental interest lay in metaphysical speculation, in philosophy, and unpoetical business. He turned away from arms and heroes, wrath and love and, like Seneca and Aurelius, gave himself up to moralising and philosophising, delving 'into the mystery, the why and the how and the whither of it all. He chose a dangerous subject for his poetic inspiration and yet it cannot be said that his attempt was a failure. Lucretius was not a religious or spiritual poet; he was rather Marxian,atheistic, materialistic. The dialectical materialism of today could find in him a lot of nourishment and support. But whatever the content, the manner has made a whole difference. There was an idealism, a clarity of vision and an intensity of perception, which however scientific apparently, gave his creation a note, an accent, an atmosphere high, tense, aloof, ascetic, at times bordering on the supra-sensual. It was a high light, a force of consciousness that at its highest pitch had the ring and vibration of something almost spiritual. For the basic principle of Lucretius' inspiration is a large thought-force, a tense perception, a taut nervous reactionit is not, of course, the identity in being with the inner realities which is the hallmark of a spiritual consciousness, yet it is something on the way towards that.

0 1958-09-16 - OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   But what is going to come now? I constantly hear the Sanskrit mantra:
   OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH1
  --
   For the moment, of all the formulas or mantras, the one that acts most directly on this body, that seizes all the cells and immediately does this (vibrating motion) is the Sanskrit mantra: OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH.
   As soon as I sit for meditation, as soon as I have a quiet minute to concentrate, it always begins with this mantra, and there is a response in the body, in the cells of the body: they all start vibrating.

0 1958-11-04 - Myths are True and Gods exist - mental formation and occult faculties - exteriorization - work in dreams, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   He said he had received initiation in India (he knew a little Sanskrit and the Rig-Veda thoroughly), and then he formulated a tradition which he called the cosmic tradition and which he claimed to have received I dont know howfrom a tradition anterior to that of the Cabala and the Vedas. But there were many things (Madame Theon was the clairvoyant one, and she received visions; oh, she was wonderful!), many things that I myself had seen and known before knowing them which were then substantiated.
   So personally, I am convinced that there was indeed a tradition anterior to both these traditions containing a knowledge very close to an integral knowledge. Certainly, there is a similarity in the experiences. When I came here and told Sri Aurobindo certain things I knew from the occult standpoint, he always said that it conformed to the Vedic tradition. And as for certain occult practices, he told me that they were entirely tantric and I knew nothing at that time, absolutely nothing, neither the Vedas nor the Tantras.

0 1959-01-06, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   X continues his work on me daily; it is to last 41 days in all. He told me that he wants to undo the things of several births. When it is over, he will explain it all to me. I do not know how to tell you how luminous and good this man is, he is a very great soul. He is also giving me Sanskrit lessons, and little by little, each evening, speaks to me of the Tantra.
   His action upon you is to continue for another five days, after which he is positive that you will be entirely saved. According to him, it is indeed a magic attack originating in Pondicherry, and perhaps even from someone in the Ashram!! He told me that this evil person would finally be forced to appear before you I am learning many interesting things from him.
  --
   I have followed the vicissitudes of your struggle step by step and I know that it has been terrible, but my confidence in the outcome has not wavered for I know you are in good hands. I am so happy that X is taking good care of you, teaching you Sanskrit, speaking to you of the Tantra. It is just what I wanted.
   His action here has been very effective and really very interesting. I still do not know whether someone has really done black magic, and the villain has yet to appear before me. But already several days ago the malefic influence completely disappeared without leaving any trace in the atmosphere. Also their mantric intervention did not stop at that, for it has had another most interesting result. I am preparing a long letter for Swami to explain all this to him

0 1959-01-14, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   This morning, X told me that he would be most happy to continue his action upon you if it would help your work; he has continued it anyway, even after knowing that the malefic influence was expelled from the Ashram. By the way, X told me that this evil spirit is continuing to circle around the Ashram, but beyond its borders. Therefore, if you agree, it would be necessary for him to come to Pondicherry one of these days to come to grips directly with the evil one and finish him off in such a way that he can no longer come to disturb the sadhaks, or your work, upon the slightest pretext. Then X could force this spirit to appear before him, and thereby free the atmosphere from its influence. Anyway, this trip to Pondicherry would not take place in the near future, and it would be easy to give him an official excuse: seminars on the Tantra Shastra that will interest all the Sanskritists at the Ashram. Moreover, Xs work would be done quietly in his room when he does his daily puja. From here, from Rameswaram, it is rather difficult to attract Pondicherrys atmosphere and do the work with precision. Of course, nothing will be done without your express consent. Swami is writing you on his own to tell you of the revelation that X received from his [deceased] guru concerning your experience and the schemings of certain Ashram members.
   In this regard, perhaps you know that X is the tenth in the line of Bhaskaraya (my spelling of this name is perhaps not correct), the great Tantric of whom you had a vision, who could comm and the coming of Kali along with all her warriors. It is from X that Swami received his initiation.
  --
   As for the true tantric initiation, this is what X told me: I will give you initiation. You are fit. You belong to that line. It will come soon, some months or some years. Shortly you shall reach the junction. When the time has come, you yourself will come and open a door in me and I shall give you initiation.1 And he made me understand that an important divine work was reserved for me in the future, a work for the Mother. The important practical point is that I have rapidly to develop my knowledge of Sanskrit. The mantra given to me seems to grow in power as I repeat it.
   Sweet Mother, by what Grace have you guided and protected me through all these years? There are moments when I have the vision of this Grace, bringing me to the verge of tears. I see so clearly that you are doing everything, that you are all that is good in me, my aspiration and my strength. Me is all that is bad, all that resists, me is horribly false and falsifying. If your Grace withdraws for one second, I collapse, I am helpless.2 You alone are my strength, the source of my life, the joy and fulfillment to which I aspire.

0 1959-01-31, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   My explanations will have to be simple, for X speaks English with difficulty, thus subtleties are out of the question. (I am teaching him a little English while he is teaching me Sanskrit, and we manage to understand each other rather well all the same. He understands more than he can speak.)
   I do not want to mention this to Swami, as X is not very happy about the way Swami seizes upon every occasion to appropriate things, and particularly mantras (I will explain this to you when we meet again). It is especially the way he says I. Nothing very seriousit is Swamis bad side, though he has good ones too. You know that, however.

0 1959-06-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Also, I explained to him that a mantra had come to you which you were repeating between 5 and 6 in particular, and I told him about this culminating point where you wanted to express your gratitude, enthusiasm, etc., and about the French mantra. After explaining, I gave him your French and Sanskrit texts. He felt and understood very well what you wanted. His first reaction after reading it was to say, Great meaning, great power is there. It is all right. I told him that apart from the meaning of the mantra, you wanted to know if it was all right from the vibrational standpoint. He told me that he would take your text to his next puja and would repeat it himself to see. He should have done that this morning, but he has a fever (since his return from Madurai, he has not been well because of a cold and sunstroke). I will write you as soon as I know the result of his test.
   Regarding me, this is more or less what he said: First of all, I want an agreement from you so that under any circumstances you never leave the Ashram. Whatever happens, even if Yama1 comes to dance at your door, you should never leave the Ashram. At the critical moment, when the attack is the strongest, you should throw everything into His hands, then and then only the thing can be removed (I no longer know whether he said removed or destroyed ). It is the only way. SARVAM MAMA BRAHMAN [Thou art my sole refuge]. Here in Rameswaram, we are going to meditate together for 45 days, and the Asuric-Shakti may come with full strength to attack, and I shall try my best not only to protect but to destroy, but for that, I need your determination. It is only by your own determination that I can get strength. If the force comes to make suggestions: lack of adventure, lack of Nature, lack of love, then think that I am the forest, think that I am the sea, think that I am the wife (!!) Meanwhile, X has nearly doubled the number of repetitions of the mantra that I have to say every day (it is the same mantra he gave me in Pondicherry). X repeated to me again and again that I am not merely a disciple to him, like the others, but as if his son.
  --
   As for the Sanskrit text and the mantra, I await your next letter.
   For you, I fully approve of what he told you. Fervently, and with all my love, I pray that he will succeed in what he wants to do during these 45 days of meditation. This is really what I was counting on.

0 1960-10-08, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Sanskrit is better. Sanskrit is a much fuller and subtler language, so its probably much better. But these modern languages are so artificial (by this, I mean superficial, intellectual); they cut things up into little pieces and remove the light behind.
   I also read On the Veda where Sri Aurobindo speaks of the difference between the modern mind and the ancient mind; and its quite obvious, especially from the linguistic point of view. Sanskrit was certainly much more fluid, a better instrument for a more global, more comprehensive light, a light containing more things within itself.
   In these modern languages, its as if things are passed through a sieve and broken up into separate little bits, so then you have all the work of putting them back together. And something is always lost.
   But I even doubt that the modern mind, built as it now is, would be able to know Sanskrit in this way. I think they are cutting up Sanskrit as well, out of habit.
   We need a new language.

0 1960-11-15, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   The rainy season expresses this state of things so well: a constant descent of luminous sweetness (sweetness is not the right wordthere must be a Sanskrit word for it, but this is all we have! ) in this endless gloom.
   ***

0 1961-04-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   The first was with a boy who was a Sanskritist and had wanted to come to India with us. He was the son of a French ambassadoran old, noble family. But he learned that his lungs were bad, and so he joined the Army; he enlisted as an officer, just at the start of the 1914 war. And he had the courage of those who no longer cling to life; when he received the order to advance on the enemy trenches (it was incredibly stupid, simply sending people to be slaughtered!), he didnt hesitate. He went. And he was hit between the two lines. For a long time, it was a no mans land; only after some days, when the other trench had been taken, could they go and collect the dead. All this came out in the newspapers AFTERWARDS. But on the day he was killed, of course, no one was aware of it.
   I had a nice photo of him with a Sanskrit dedication, placed on top of a kind of wardrobe in my bedroom. I open the door and the photo falls. (There was no draft or anything.) It fell and the glass broke into smithereens. Immediately I said, Oh! Something has happened to Fontenay. (That was his name: Charles de Fontenay.) After that I came back down from my room, and then I hear a miaowing at the door (the door opened onto a large garden courtyard1). I open the door: a cat bursts in and jumps on me, like that (Mother thumps her breast). I speak to him: What is it, whats the matter? He drops to the ground and looks at meFontenays eyes! Absolutely! No one elses. And he just stayed put, he didnt want to go. I said to myself, Fontenay is dead.
   The news came a week later. But the newspapers gave the date when they had moved out of the trenches and been killedit had been on that day.

0 1961-04-18, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I have had this experience, and I remember it even went on for several days; I saw all material circumstances as an absolutean absolute that we perceive as an unfolding, but which is an eternally existing absolute. I had this experience, and at the same time I had a very clear perception of what falsehood is the lie; what, from the psychological, the mental point of view, Sri Aurobindo, translating from the Sanskrit, called crookedness.3 We attribute the course of circumstances to our psychological reactionsand indeed, they are used momentarily because everything collaborates either consciously or unconsciously to make things be what they have to be but things could be what they have to be without the intervention of this falsehood. I lived in that consciousness for several days, and it became apparent that this was what separated falsehood from truth. In this state of knowledge-consciousness, the distinction can be made between falsehood and truth; and when seen in that truth-consciousness, material circumstances change character.
   Now I no longer have the experience of that state except as a memory, so I cant formulate it accurately. But what was very clear and comes very oftenvery oftenis the perception of a superimposition of falsehood over a real fact. This brings us back to what I was telling you some time ago,4 that everything is very simple in its truth, that human consciousness is what complicates everything. But the former was an even more total experience of it.

0 1961-10-30, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   When he first read the Vedastranslated by Western Sanskritists or Indian pandits they appeared to Sri Aurobindo as an important document of [Indian] history, but seemed of scant value or importance for the history of thought or for a living spiritual experience.2 Fifteen years later, however, Sri Aurobindo would reread the Vedas in the original Sanskrit and find there a constant vein of the richest gold of thought and spiritual experience.3 Meanwhile, Sri Aurobindo had had certain psychological experiences of my own for which I had found no sufficient explanation either in European psychology or in the teachings of Yoga or of Vedanta, and which the mantras of the Veda illuminated with a clear and exact light.4 And it was through these experiences of his own that Sri Aurobindo came to discover, from within, the true meaning of the Vedas (and especially the most ancient of the four, the Rig-veda, which he studied with special care). What the Vedas brought him was no more than a confirmation of what he had received directly. But didnt the Rishis themselves speak of Secret words, clairvoyant wisdoms, that reveal their inner meaning to the seer (Rig-veda IV, 3.16)?
   It is not surprising, therefore, that exegetes have seen the Vedas primarily as a collection of propitiatory rites centered around sacrificial fires and obscure incantations to Nature divinities (water, fire, dawn, the moon, the sun, etc.), for bringing rain and rich harvests to the tribes, male progeny, blessings upon their journeys or protection against the thieves of the sunas though these shepherds were barbarous enough to fear that one inauspicious day their sun might no longer rise, stolen away once and for all. Only here and there, in a few of the more modern hymns, was there the apparently inadvertent intrusion of a few luminous passages that might have justifiedjust barely the respect which the Upanishads, at the beginning of recorded history, accorded to the Veda. In Indian tradition, the Upanishads had become the real Veda, the Book of Knowledge, while the Veda, product of a still stammering humanity, was a Book of Worksacclaimed by everyone, to be sure, as the venerable Authority, but no longer listened to. With Sri Aurobindo we might ask why the Upanishads, whose depth of wisdom the whole world has acknowledged, could claim to take inspiration from the Veda if the latter contained no more than a tapestry of primitive rites; or how it happened that humanity could pass so abruptly from these so-called stammerings to the manifold richness of the Upanishadic Age; or how we in the West were able to evolve from the simplicity of Arcadian shepherds to the wisdom of Greek philosophers. We cannot assume that there was nothing between the early savage and Plato or the Upanishads.5

0 1961-11-05, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Anyway, it was because of Theon that I first found the Mantra of Life, the mantra that gives life, and he wanted me to give it to him, he wanted to possess itit was something formidable! It was the mantra that gives life (it can make anyone at all come back into life, but thats only a small part of its power). And it was shut away in a particular place,2 sealed up, with my name in Sanskrit on it. I didnt know Sanskrit at that time, but he did, and when he led me to that place, I told him what I saw: Theres a sort of design, it must be Sanskrit. (I could recognize the characters as Sanskrit). He told me to reproduce what I was seeing, and I did so. It was my name, Mirra, written in Sanskrit the mantra was for me and I alone could open it. Open it and tell me whats there, he said. (All this was going on while I was in a cataleptic trance.) Then immediately something in me KNEW, and I answered, No, and did not read it.
   I found it again when I was with Sri Aurobindo and I gave it to Sri Aurobindo.

0 1962-05-31, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And yet I have noticed that to associate a certain state and a certain aspiration with a certain sound helps the body. No one told me the mantra; I had begun doing japa before we met X (it had come to me when I was trying to find a means of getting the body to take part in the experience the body itself, you know: THIS). And this help was certainly given to me, because the method imposed itself very, very imperiouslywhen I heard certain Words it was like an electric shock. And then, disregarding all Sanskrit rules, I made myself a sentence; it isnt really a Sanskrit sentence, or any kind of sentence at alla phrase made up of three Words. And these three Words are full of meaning for me. (I wouldnt mention it to a Sanskritist!) They have a full, living meaning. And they have been repeated literally millions and millions of times, I am not exaggerating they surge up from the body spontaneously.
   It was the first sound that came from the body when I had that last experience [April 13]. Along with the first pain, came that first soundso it must be quite well rooted.6 And it brings in exactly that vibration of eternal Life: the first thing I felt, all of a sudden, was a kind of strong calm, confident and smiling.

0 1963-05-11, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Its the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, Glory to You, O Lord, into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolinis help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was therenot because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of giving me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and thats the japa I do now I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.1 And thats how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your beingthere is no need of effort or concentration: its your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within. No guru can give you that.
   Well up. Well, its a long way to go! I will need a great deal of paper for all those diagrams [Tantric diagrams given by X]: seventy-two every day.
  --
   Its a rectangle divided into three compartments, with figures and lettersa Sanskrit letter. Quite a job, I can tell you!
   Seventy-two every day! Mon petit! (Mother laughs)
  --
   Theyre figures. Figures and one Sanskrit letter. But you cant say theres much soul in figures, can you?
   Will you show it to me? Id like to see.
  --
   (Satprem draws the Tantric diagram he has been instructed to do 72 times a day for three times 72 days. It is a square divided into 9 smaller squares which contain figures and one Sanskrit letter. The first thing Mother does is to add up all the figures:)
   Did you add them up? No? Whatever way you do it, it adds up to 72. 9 is the figure of birth.
  --
   And this [the Sanskrit letter] is HRIM.
   Its one of the three essential sounds. I dont remember now, but each of them represents one aspect of the Mother.
  --
   (Mother begins drawing herself the diagram with the figures and the Sanskrit mantra.)
   Lets see if I remember my Sanskrit.
   My eyes are no good, Ive lost all my power of expression because of that (Mother takes her magnifying glass to draw). Before, I used to do these letters so easily, and now I cant see any more.
  --
   I used to write my Sanskrit as I write Frenchall gone.
   One must learn to lose everything in order to gain everything. Always, every minute.

0 1963-06-26a, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I used to write my whole japa fluently like that, in Sanskrit,1 now I have forgotten everything again.
   (Then Mother starts writing from memory Satprems yantram with its nine figures, in the prescribed order. A few days earlier, Mother had done it without a single mistake; today she stops in the middle:)
  --
   Satprem has entire pages written and rewritten in Sanskrit by Mother.
   ***

0 1964-01-04, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   He is a very good man, but very ignorantit seems funny to say that about a pundit, a great pundit who knows Sanskrit better than the head of the Maths [monasteries] of the South, but I say that he lacks this: the opening up above. He has a connection in a straight line (gesture tapering off to a point above), and indeed its very high up, but its a pinpointa sharp point that gives him an experience which is his ALONE: he cannot pass it on to others. You understand, it isnt an immensity rising upward: its a pinpoint.
   Last time, when he came to meditate, just before he came upstairs, all of a sudden I felt the Lord coming (He has a particular way of becoming concrete when He wants me to do something), and He became concrete with the will that I should take advantage of this mans goodwill to widen his consciousness. It was very clear. And He became concrete with a Power, you know, one of those overwhelming Powers and a wonderful Love. It came like that, and he was caught in the Movementwhat he was conscious of, I cannot say. But when he left the room, he said he had had an experience. And this time, he was quite sincere, spontaneous, natural, not trying to to make a show.2 It was very good.

0 1964-02-05, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But when you have the experience perfectly sincerely, that is, when you dont kid yourself, its necessarily one single point, ONE WAY of putting it, thats all. And it can only be that. There is, besides, the very obvious observation that when you habitually use a certain language, the experience expresses itself in that language: for me, it always comes either in English or in French; it doesnt come in Chinese or Japanese! The words are necessarily English or French, with sometimes a Sanskrit word, but thats because physically I learned Sanskrit. Otherwise, I heard (not physically) Sanskrit uttered by another being, but it doesnt crystallize, it remains hazy, and when I return to a completely material consciousness, I remember a certain vague sound, but not a precise word. Therefore, the minute it is formulated, its ALWAYS an individual angle.
   It takes a sort of VERY AUSTERE sincerity. You are carried away by enthusiasm because the experience brings an extraordinary power, the Power is there its there before the words, it diminishes with the words the Power is there, and with that Power you feel very universal, you feel, Its a universal Revelation. True, it is a universal revelation, but once you say it with words, its no longer universal: its only applicable to those brains built to understand that particular way of saying it. The Force is behind, but one has to go beyond the words.

0 1965-06-26, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Whats the Sanskrit for spirit?
   Its Purusha, in opposition to Prakriti, Nature.

0 1967-02-18, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   So what should be done there (and what I am trying to do) is the same work of receptive silence and to let inspiration, the inspirational consciousness, gather the necessary elements. For that we must be very tranquil. We must be very supple, in the sense of surrendered; I mean, allow as little habitual activity as possible to mix inbe almost like an automaton. But with the full perception of the consciousness trying to be expressed, so that nothing gets mixed in with it. Thats the most important thing: to receive this consciousness and hold it like really like something sacred, without anything getting mixed in with it, like that. So then, there is a problem of attraction, we could say, and of concretization in the formula.4 I always tell myself that if I knew many languages, it would make use of all that; unfortunately I know only two (I know only two thoroughly) and I have only very superficial and minimal glimpses of two or three others thats not enough. Only, I have been in contact with very different methods: the method of the Far East and the Sanskrit method, and of course the methods of the West. It does give a sort of base, but its not sufficient I am at the opposite extreme from erudition. I have always felt that erudition shrivels up thoughtit parches the brain. (But I have great respect for scholars, oh! indeed, and I seek their advice, but for myself it wont do!)
   Once, very long ago, when Sri Aurobindo was telling me about himself, that is, of his childhood, his education, I put the question to him, I asked him, Why am I, as an individual being, so mediocre? I can do anything; all that I have tried to do I have done, but never in a superior way: always like this (gesture to an average level). Then he answered me (at the time I took it as a kindness or commiseration), Thats because it gives great supplenessa great suppleness and a vast scope; because those who have perfection are concentrated and specialized. As I said, I took it simply like a caress to comfort a child. But now I realize that the most important thing is not to have any fixity: nothing should be set, definitive, like the sense of a perfection in the realization that puts a total stop to the forward march. The sense of incapacity (with the meaning I said of mediocrity, of something by no means exceptional) leaves you in a sort of expectation (gesture of aspiration upward) of something better. And then, the most important thing is supplenesssuppleness, suppleness. Suppleness and breadth: reject nothing as useless or bad or inferiornothing; set nothing up as really superior and beautifulnothing. Remain ever open, ever open.

0 1967-05-10, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yes, you say, I wondered how they restored the names of the pharaohs and gods. Then you ask, Is the Egyptians language contemporary with the most ancient Sanskrit, or still more ancient? Or is there another human language older than the oldest Sanskrit? You also ask, Is this Egyptian hieroglyphic language akin to the Chaldean tradition or the Aryan tradition?
   Yes, all that is very interesting, but I cant get an answer. Theres a complete lacuna.

0 1967-07-15, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   When it comes to languages, its very interesting. Those are things that come, stay for an hour or two, then go away; they are like lessons, things to be learned. And so, one day, there came the question of languages, of the different languages. Those languages were formed progressively (probably through usage, until, as you said, one day someone took it into his head to fix it in a logical and grammatical way), but behind those languages, there are identical experiencesidentical in their essence and there are certainly sounds that correspond to those experiences; you find those sounds in all languages, the different sounds with minor differences. One day (for a long time, more than an hour), it unfolded with all the evidence to support it, for all languages. Unfortunately, I couldnt see clearly, it was at night, so I couldnt note it down and it went away. But it should be able to come back. It was really interesting (Mother tries to recall the experience.) There were even languages I had never heard: Ive heard many European languages; in India, several Indian languages, chiefly Sanskrit; and then, Japanese. And there were languages I had never heard. It was all there. And there were sounds, certain sounds that come from all the way up, sounds (how can I explain?), sounds we might call essential. And I saw how they took shape and were distorted in languages (Mother draws a sinuous descending line that branches out). Sounds like the affirmative and the negativewhat, for us, is yes and noand also the expression of certain relationships (Mother tries to remember). But the interesting point was that it came with all the words, lots of words I didnt know! And at that time I knew them (it comes from a subconscient somewhere), I knew all those words.
   At the same time, there was a sort of capacity or possibility, a state in which one was able to understand all languages; that is, every language was understood because of its connection with that region (gesture to the heights, at the origin of sounds). There didnt seem to be any difficulty in understanding any language. There was a sort of almost graphic explanation (same sinuous descending line branching out) showing how the sound had been distorted to express this or that or

0 1968-11-06, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Bharatidi was a specialist of Pali (used by the southern schools of Buddhism) and Sanskrit.
   The painter who did a portrait of Sri Aurobindo in profile, standing.

02.05 - Robert Graves, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   We may ask in this connection which deity does our poet invoke here, to whom does he raise his offerings, to whomkasmai devya? One need not be startled at the answer: it is the toadstool. But the mushroom growth assumes a respectable figure in the guise of its Sanskrit name,chatraka. Kalidasa did one better. His magic touch gave the insignificant flora a luminousrobeilndhra, a charming name. The great poet tells us that the earth is not barren or sterilekartum yat camahmucchilndhrmabandhym. The next pertinent question is: why does the poet worship a toadstool? What is his purpose? Does a toadstool possess any special power? This leads us to a hidden world, to the 'mysteries' spoken of by the poet himself.
   In ancient days and in some spiritual practice and discipline this fungus had a special use for a definite purpose. Its use produces on one a drowsy effect, perhaps a strong and poisonous intoxicating effect. What is the final result of this drugging? We know that in our country among the sadhus and some sects practising occult science, taking of certain herbal drugs is recommended, even obligatory. Today Aldous Huxley has taken up the cue, in the most modern fashion indeed, and prescribed mescalin in the process of Yoga and spiritual practice. Did the Vedic Rishis see in the same way a usefulness of Soma, the proverbial creeper secreting the immortal drink of delight? However, the Tantriksadhaks hold that particular soporifics possess the virtue of quieting the external senses and dulling and deadening the sense organs, and thereby freeing the inner and subtler consciousness in its play and manifestation.

02.13 - On Social Reconstruction, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Money was always a power and those who had money were always powerful in all ages and countries. Poverty annuls the entire host of good qualities you may have, says the Sanskrit proverb. Only this money power has been shifted from class to class or section to section in a society. In the modern age the demand and tendency is that those who are the first and immediate agents in the chain of the production of wealth should be given all the profit and all the advantage (barring of course the State itself which has the prior and major claim so long as it exists). The rest are considered as mere parasites. Those who do not thus directly produce or help in producing wealth are a burden upon the society and they have no justifiable place there: either they should change their vocation, declass themselves and become labourers or they must go to the wall, subsist somewhere somehow till they finally pass out of existence.
   This theory of money power, in spite of its factual or practical truth, is not the whole truth. This is, I should say, the very old I Ptolemaic social system, in a new garb, which turns round man as an economic and physicalbeing. The Copernican system would view man chiefly as a psychological centre. A truly rational economic system can be based upon such an inner view of the situation. A merely economic view would take man as nothing more than a wage-earning machine and that will give the society and its government a mechanistic pattern. It will forget this simple truism that a man's worth is not and need not be always commensurate with his wage-earning capacity or even his usefulness as a citizen (in the way the atom-bomb Scientists are proving useful today).

03.04 - The Body Human, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The human frame is a miracle of creation. It would not be far wrong to say that the whole trend of physical evolution has been to bring out this morphological marvel. It has not been a very easy task for Nature to raise a living creature from its original crawling crouching slouching horizontal position to the standing vertical position which is so normal and natural to the human body. Man has proportionately a larger cranium with a greater and heavier content of the grey substance in comparison with the (vertebral) column upon which it is set, his legs too have to carry a heavier burden. And yet how easy and graceful his erect posture! It is a balancing feat worthy of the cleverest rope-dancer. Look at a bear or even at a chimpanzee standing and moving on its hind legs; what an uncouth, ungainly gait, forced and ill at ease! He is more natural and at home in the prone horizontal position. The bird was perhaps an attempt at change of position from the horizontal to the vertical: the frame here attained an angular incline (cf. tiryak, as the bird is called in Sanskrit), but to maintain even that position it was not possible to increase or enlarge the head. It is not idly that Hamlet exclaims:
   What a piece of work is a man!... how infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable!... the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!1

03.09 - Art and Katharsis, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The voice of Art is sweetly persuasivekntsmmita, as the Sanskrit rhetoricians say-it is the voice of the beloved, not that of the school-master. The education of Poetry is like the education of Nature: the poet said of the child that grew in sun and shower
   And beauty born of murmuring sound

03.11 - The Language Problem and India, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Naturally I am referring to the educated or cultured stratum of humanity, the lite. This restriction, however, does not vitiate or nullify our position. The major part of humanity is bound and confined to the soil where they are born and brought up. Their needs do not go beyond the assistance of their vernacular. A liberal education, extending even to the masses, may and does include acquaintance with one or two foreign languages, especially in these days, but in fact it turns out to be only a nodding acquaintance, a secondary and marginal acquisition. When Latin was the lingua franca in Europe or Sanskrit in India, it was the lite, the intelligentsia, the Brahmin, the cleric, who were the trustees and guardians of the language. That position has virtually been taken in modern times, as I have said, by English and French.
   The cultivation of a world language need not mean a neglect or discouragement of the national or regional language. Between the two instead of there being a relation of competition there can be a relation of mutual aid and helpfulness. The world language can influence the local language in the way of its growth and development and can itself be influenced and enriched in the process. The history of the relation of English and the Indian languages, especially Bengali, is an instance in point.

03.12 - TagorePoet and Seer, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   A great literature seems to have almost invariably a great name attached to it, one name by which it is known and recognised as great. It is the name of the man who releases the inmost potency of that literature, and who marks at the same time the height to which its creative genius has attained or perhaps can ever attain. Homer and Virgil, Dante and Shakespeare, Goe the and Camoens, Firdausi in Persian and Kalidasa in classical Sanskrit, are such namesnumina, each being the presiding deity, the godhead born full-armed out of the poetic consciousness of the race to which he belongs. Even in the case of France whose language and literature are more a democratic and collective and less an individualistic creation, even there one single Name can be pointed out as the life and soul, the very cream of the characteristic poetic genius of the nation. I am, of course, referring to Racine, Racine who, in spite of Moliere and Corneille and Hugo, stands as the most representative French poet, the embodiment of French resthesis par excellence.
   Such a great name is Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali literature. We need not forget Bankim Chandra, nor even Madhusudan: still one can safely declare that if Bengali language and literature belonged to any single person as its supreme liberator and fosterer savitand pit is Rabindranath. It was he who lifted that language and literature from what had been after all a provincial and parochial status into the domain of the international and universal. Through him a thing of local value was metamorphosed definitively into a thing of world value.

05.10 - Knowledge by Identity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   In seeking to disvalue the principle of identity as a fundamental element in knowing, Prof. Das brings in to witness on his side the logical copula. Some logicians, of course, assert a parallelism if not identity between the laws of thought and the laws of language, language being conceived as the very imagea photographof thought, but the truth of the matter is that it is and it is not so, as in many other things. However, here when it is stated that the copula disjoining the subject and the predicate is the very pattern of all process of knowledge, one mistakes, we are afraid, a scheme or a formula, for the thing itself, a way of understanding a fact for the fact itself. Such a formula for understanding, however it may be valid for more or less analytical languages, those of later growth, need not and did not have the same propriety in respect of other older languages. We know the evolution of language has been in the direction of more and more disjunction of its component limbs even like the progression of the human mind and intellect. The modern analytical languages with their army of independent prepositions have taken the place of the classical languages which were predominantly inflexional. The Greek and Latin started the independent prepositional forms in the form of a fundamentally inflexional structure. Still further back, in Sanskrit for example, the inflexional form reigns supreme. Prefixes and affixes served the role of prepositions. And if we move further backward, the synthetic movement is so complete that the logical components (the subject, the copula, the predicate) are fused together into one symbol (the Chinese ideogram). We are here nearer to the original nature and pattern of knowledgea single homogeneous movement of apperception. There is no sanctity or absoluteness in the logical disposition of thought structure; the Aristotelian makes it a triplicity, the Indian Nyaya would extend the dissection to five or seven limbs. But whatever the logical presentation, the original psychological movement is a single indivisible lan and the Vedantic fusion of the knower, the knowledge and the known in identity remains the fundamental fact.
   Calcutta Review, 1948 August-September.

10.01 - A Dream, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

10.04 - Lord of Time, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

10.06 - Looking around with Craziness, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

10.07 - The Demon, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

1.00c - INTRODUCTION, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  where all is good and no evil is what Sanskrit logicians call a
  dream in the air. Another theory in modern times has been

10.10 - A Poem, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

10.11 - Savitri, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

10.12 - Awake Mother, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga

1.013 - Defence Mechanisms of the Mind, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  Our physical body is not our total personality. We have many things inside us which we cannot see with our eyes. Internal to the body is the vital principle, called the prana in Sanskrit. The prana is not the breath. The breath is only the external function of an energy principle called prana. It cannot be translated into English. Prana is a very subtle, ethereal principle, subtler even than electricity. It is pranic energy that enables the physical body to function, including the functions of breathing, digesting, and the circulation of blood. Everything is controlled by the movement of the pranic energy. It is also this prana which acts as the motive power behind the action of the senses. If the pranas are withheld, the senses become weak in their action. So, the pranas are something like the electric force generated by the dynamo of the individual within, to project the senses externally towards objects. And the mind, which is the synthesising principle of all sense activities, passes judgement of a tentative character upon the reports brought in by the senses. Finally, there is the supreme judge, which is the intellect.
  All of these are inside the body not in the sense of pebbles in a bottle, but inseparably permeating everything that is in the body, or that is the body. We cannot separate the intellect, the mind, the senses, the prana, the body, etc. One is involved in the other, so it looks like a compound that has been created by these elements. For some purposes they look like different functions, but for other purposes they look as if they are a single force, acting in different ways. So, self-control would mean a judicious control exercised over every function inside, including the physical functions, the function of the prana, the senses, the mind and the intellect. All of these have to be harnessed in a given direction.

1.01 - Foreward, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  manageable in the Sanskrit language where one word often bears
  several different meanings, but not easy to render in an English
  --
  in Sanskrit and English, notes explanatory of important points
  in the text and justifying the interpretation both of separate
  --
  been given for use by those who can read the original Sanskrit.
  These translations however are not intended to be a scholastic
  --
  of phrase and the syntax of English and Vedic Sanskrit are poles
  asunder; to achieve some sense of style and natural writing one

1.01 - MASTER AND DISCIPLE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  M: "Yes, sir. I recently read a Sanskrit play called Prabodha Chandrodaya. It deals with discrimination."
  MASTER: "Yes, discrimination about objects. Consider - what is there in money or in a beautiful body? Discriminate and you will find that even the body of a beautiful woman consists of bones, flesh, fat, and other disagreeable things. Why should a man give up God and direct his attention to such things? Why should a man forget God for their sake?"

1.01 - Necessity for knowledge of the whole human being for a genuine education., #The Essentials of Education, #unset, #Zen
  3. In Sanskrit, the giver.
  In the second life period, between the change of teeth and puberty, its much more important that I transform my knowledge into visual imagery and living forms, unfolding it and allowing it to flow into the child. What a person has learned is important for children only after puberty until the early twenties.

1.01 - Tara the Divine, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  "Tara" in Sanskrit. It is said that she liberated an
  infinite number of beings in the morning and an

1.01 - THAT ARE THOU, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  In the present section we shall confine our attention to but a single feature of this traditional psychology the most important, the most emphatically insisted upon by all exponents of the Perennial Philosophy and, we may add, the least psychological. For the doctrine that is to be illustrated in this section belongs to autology rather than psychologyto the science, not of the personal ego, but of that eternal Self in the depth of particular, individualized selves, and identical with, or at least akin to, the divine Ground. Based upon the direct experience of those who have fulfilled the necessary conditions of such knowledge, this teaching is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula, tat tvam asi (That art thou); the Atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all existence; and the last end of every human being is to discover the fact for himself, to find out Who he really is.
  The more God is in all things, the more He is outside them. The more He is within, the more without.

1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  what in Sanskrit are called Sattva (illumination), Rajas
  (action), and Tamas (darkness); each is for the purpose of

1.02 - The Eternal Law, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  Reading books on Hinduism, it would appear that it is a kind of spiritual paleontology interspersed with polysyllabic Sanskrit words,
  as if Indians were a mixture of arcane philosophers and unrepentant idolaters. But if we look at India simply, from within, without trying to divide her into paragraphs of Hinduism (which are necessarily 11

10.32 - The Mystery of the Five Elements, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It must be noted, however, that parallelism means similarity but also difference. The manner of approach to the reality, the way of expressing it is different in the east and in the west. The ancients express a truth or a fact symbolically, the moderns express it in a straightforward matter-of-fact way. The ancients used symbols; for they wanted a multiple way of expression, that is to say, a symbol embodying a movement refers at the same time to many forms of the same movement on different levels, along different lines, in diverse applications. It is like the multiple meanings of a verbal root in Sanskrit. The scientific terms, on the other hand, are very specific; they connote only one thing at a time. Each term with its specific sense is unilateral in its movement.
   Now furthermore, the Great Five need not be restricted to the domain of matter alone as being its divisions and levels and functions, but they may be extended to represent the whole existence, the cosmos as a whole. Indeed they are often taken to symbolise the stair of existence as a whole, the different levels of cosmic being and consciousness. Thus at the lowest rung of the ladder as always is the earth representing precisely matter and material existence; next, water represents life and the vital movement; then, fire represents the heart centre from where wells up all impulse and drive for progression. It holds the evolutionary urge: we call it the Divine Agni, the Flame of the Inner Heart, the radiant Energy of Aspiration. The fourth status or level of creation is mind or the mental world, represented by air, the Vedic Marut; finally, Vyom or space represents all that is beyond the mind, the Infinite Existence and Consciousness. The five then give the chart, as it were, of nature's constitution, they mark also the steps of her evolutionary journey through unfolding time.

1.035 - The Recitation of Mantra, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  In Indian tradition, we have the mantras which are also associated with certain factors other than merely a combination of words, one aspect of which is what is known as chandas. This a peculiar feature of the formation of a mantra. A chandas is a particular method of combining words according to a rule called ghana shastra, which is known in mystical circles in India. A particular word, when it is combined with another particular word, produces a particular effect. Rhetoricians are well acquainted with this subject. Great novelists and poets in India, especially those endowed with special genius and charged with divine power, such as Kalidasa, followed this technique of ghana shastra, and knowing the power of words, composed their poems or their works in such a way that they follow the rules of accepted rhetoric. Ordinary literature is not acquainted with this secret of Sanskrit literature. The greatness of a poet can be judged from the way he starts the work. How does he start the work? What is the word that he uses in the beginning? It is the belief among great writers in India that the initial phrases at the commencement of the work tell upon the nature of the entire work that is to follow.
  This system of the combination of particular words with other words of the requisite character is followed in the composition of a mantra, which literally means, 'that which protects a person who thinks of it'. Mananat trayate iti mantrah a mantra is that which protects us when we chant it. It protects us like armour, like a shield that we wear in a war, by generating in us a resisting power against any kind of influence which is extraneous in nature, and which is unwanted for the purpose on hand. Chandas is the peculiar chemical combination of the letters, we may say. Particular chemical substances produce special results or effects when they are combined with certain types of other chemical components. But when they are mixed together, they may create a third force altogether.

1.03 - Bloodstream Sermon, #The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, #Bodhidharma, #Buddhism
  Buddha is Sanskrit for what you call aware, miraculously
  aware. Responding, perceiving, arching your brows, blinking your

1.03 - Meeting the Master - Meeting with others, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   A young man from Tinnevelly, knowing Sanskrit, came this morning and wanted to see Sri Aurobindo. He said he had received inspiration from par shakti to go to Sri Aurobindo who is Bhagawan. He was directly going up the staircase without asking anyone when he was stopped. It seemed that he had been fasting for some days; he brought fruits to offer to Sri Aurobindo.
   Disciple: Like the other man, shall I send this one to Ramana Maharshi ?
  --
   Disciple: He says he has come for Maha Mantra. I asked him if he was ready to do anything you ask him to do. He said "Yes." Then I told him you might ask him to go back. He said he would if you asked him to. He can talk in Sanskrit.
   Sri Aurobindo: That means he wants to see me! I have no time to listen to his Sanskrit.
   16 JANUARY 1924

1.03 - Physical Education, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  On the subject of physical education, it must be mentioned that the physical is our base, and even the highest spiritual values are to be expressed through the life that is embodied here. Sariram adyam khalu dharmasadhanam, says the old Sanskrit adage, -- the body is the means of fulfillment of dharma, while dharma means every ideal which we can propose to ourselves and the law of its working out and its action.
  Of all the domains of education, physical is the one most completely governed by method, order, discipline and procedure. All education of the body must be rigorous, detailed and methodical.

1.03 - Tara, Liberator from the Eight Dangers, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  star to nd our way across the dark seas of the disturbing emotions. The Sanskrit noun tara means star, and the verb trri indicates to guide across, to
  cross over. We ask Tara to protect us from danger by teaching us the path

1.03 - The End of the Intellect, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  opened the book, read a line aloud and asked Sri Aurobindo to recite what followed. Sri Aurobindo concentrated for a moment, and then repeated the entire page without a single mistake. If he could read a hundred pages in half an hour, no wonder he could go through a case of books in such an incredibly short time." But Sri Aurobindo did not stop at the translations of the sacred texts; he began to study Sanskrit,
  which, typically, he learned by himself. When a subject was known to be difficult or impossible, he would refuse to take anyone's word for it, whether he were a grammarian, pandit, or clergyman, and would insist upon trying it himself. The method seemed to have some merit,
  for not only did he learn Sanskrit, but a few years later he discovered
  the lost meaning of the Veda.23

1.03 - The Sephiros, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  The view of another system is that the universe is the eternal love play (lila in Sanskrit) of two forces, the positive being the central point - Hadit; the negative Absolute
  Space. The latter, depicted as the Queen of Space, Nuit - the " blue-lidded daughter of Sunset " is conceived as say- ing : " For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing and the joy of dissolution all."

1.03 - VISIT TO VIDYASAGAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  PUNDIT ISWAR CHANDRA VIDYASAGAR was born in the village of Beersingh, not far from Kamarpukur, Sri Ramakrishna's birthplace. He was known as a great scholar, educator, writer, and philanthropist. One of the creators of modern Bengali, he was also well versed in Sanskrit grammar and poetry. His generosity made his name a household word with his countrymen, most of his income being given in charity to widows, orphans, indigent students, and other needy people. Nor was his compassion limited to human beings: he stopped drinking milk for years so that the calves should not be deprived of it, and he would not drive in a carriage for fear of causing discomfort to the horses. He was a man of indomitable spirit, which he showed when he gave up the lucrative position of principal of the Sanskrit College of Calcutta because of a disagreement with the authorities. His affection for his mother was especially deep. One day, in the absence of a ferryboat, he swam a raging river at the risk of his life to fulfil her wish that he should be present at his brother's wedding. His whole life was one of utter simplicity. The title Vidyasagar, meaning "Ocean of Learning", was given him in recognition of his vast erudition.
  Master's visit to the scholar

1.045 - Piercing the Structure of the Object, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  This condition of prakriti or pradhana the mulaprakriti, as it is called becomes the cause of the first manifestation in the process of evolution. This first form of manifestation, cosmologically, is called mahat in the terminology of the Samkhya. This is a Sanskrit word which practically means what is known as cosmic intellect or universal intelligence. This is, in the language of the Puranas and the Epics, the condition of the Creator or Brahma wherein all individualities are brought together into a single universal point of view. There are no various points of view there; there is only one point of view, and that is the cosmic point of view. Here, everything is directly experienced without the instrumentality of the senses. There is not even this mind as we see it in our own personal individuality. It is pure intelligence, subtly manifest in cosmic sattva, which is the first manifestation of prakriti.  .
  Then the Samkhya tells us that there is a gradual solidification or concretisation of this state, and there is manifest a tendency to self-affirmation of a cosmic nature which is called ahamkara. This ahamkara is not the egoism of the human being, but it is a logical presupposition of the manifestation of variety. It is purely a logical 'x' without which we cannot explain anything that is manifest subsequently, but it has no connection whatsoever with the pride or the individual egoism of the human beings that we see usually. Sometimes these states of prakriti, mahat and ahamkara, mentioned in the Samkhya, are identified with the principles of Ishvara, Hiranyagarbha and Virat which are mentioned in the Vedanta doctrine.
  It is now that a condition or a state supervenes where there is a sudden split of this cosmic condition into the external and the internal. This is the beginning of what they call samsara or bondage of the jiva. There is no bondage as long as a bifurcation is not introduced between the subject and the object of knowledge. Bondage commences the moment there is a severance of the consciousness from its content, an isolation of the subject from the object. This happens subsequent to the appearance of ahamkara. So, on the objective side, we have what are known as the tanmatras and the mahabhutas. The tanmatras are the subtle principles behind the five gross elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, and they are called sabda, sparsa, rupa, rasa and gandha in Sanskrit, meaning thereby the sensations of sound, touch, form, taste and smell which have connection with the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether prithivi, appu, tejo, vayu and akasa. This is the external side of the world. Generally, what we call the world is constituted of these five great elements or mahabhutas. But the experiencing side, the subject side, is what is known as the jiva, the principle of individuality you, I, and everyone included who have an extrovert vision of these five mahabhutas, all of which we regard as something outside us, notwithstanding that every one of us, including the bhutas, have come from the same principle of ahamkara. It is something like the right hand looking at the left hand as an object of its perception, though both these are emanations of a single substance, a single unifying principle - namely, the bodily organism.
  The subject side is the individual, the jiva, which has a physical body made up of the five elements themselves earth, water, fire, air and ether. Then we have the five pranas prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana. There are the senses the five senses of knowledge and the five of action. And then there is the principle of mentation there is the intellect and all these complexities constituting what is known as the subtle body of the individual. This is the subject side, while the object side is formed of the five elements mentioned.

1.04 - Homage to the Twenty-one Taras, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  Written down in Sanskrit, the Homage was translated into Tibetan. The
  meaning of the verses is not clear from simply reading the Homage, and a

1.04 - The Praise, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  First writte n in Sanskrit, the praise was later
  transl ated into Tibetan, and, with the tantra containing
  --
  studie d Sanskrit.
  His writte n works were prolific. He notably
  --
   SPIRITS: some beings called in Sanskrit rakshasa
  - 104 -
  --
  TURE: in Sanskrit, swift, Tara's attribute; also
  designates a part of the mantra; Tara uses the power
  --
   LOCAL DEITIES: in Sanskrit, yakshas
   TURE: the swift one

1.05 - Buddhism and Women, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  as well as Sanskrit and English languages. But few
  young Tibetans show deep interest in the dharma.

1.05 - Consciousness, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  we even start noticing it as a current or inner force before realizing it is a consciousness. Consciousness is force, consciousness-force, as Sri Aurobindo calls it, for the two terms are truly inseparable and interchangeable. The ancient wisdom of India knew this well, and never spoke of consciousness, Chit, without adjoining to it the term Agni, heat, flame, energy: Chit-Agni (sometimes also called Tapas, a synonym of Agni: Chit-Tapas). The Sanskrit word for spiritual or yogic discipline is tapasya, that which produces heat or energy, or,
  more correctly, consciousness-heat or consciousness-energy. Agni, or Chit-Agni, is the same everywhere. We speak of descending or ascending Force, of inner force, of mental, vital, or material force, but there are not a hundred different kinds of forces; there is only one Force in the world, a single current that circulates through us as it circulates through all things, and takes on one attribute or another,

1.05 - THE MASTER AND KESHAB, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "It is all a question of the mind. Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. The mind will take the colour you dye it with. It is like white clothes just returned from the laundry. If you dip them in red dye, they will be red. If you dip them in blue or green, they will be blue or green. They will take only the colour you dip them in, whatever it may be. Haven't you noticed that, if you read a little English, you at once begin to utter English words: Foot fut it mit? Then you put on boots and whistle a tune, and so on. It all goes together. Or, if a scholar studies Sanskrit, he will at once rattle off Sanskrit verses. If you are in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions.
  On the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will think and talk only of God.

1.06 - Agni and the Truth, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The seventh verse offers no difficulty to the ritualistic interpretation except the curious phrase, "we come bearing the prostration." Sayana explains that bearing here means simply doing and he renders, "To thee day by day we, by night and by day, come with the thought performing the prostration." In the eighth verse he takes r.tasya in the sense of truth and explains it as the true fruit of the ritual. "To thee shining, the protector of the sacrifices, manifesting always their truth (that is, their inevitable fruit), increasing in thy own house." Again, it would be simpler and better to take r.tam in the sense of sacrifice and to render, "To thee shining out in the sacrifices, protector of the rite, ever luminous, increasing in thy own house." The "own house" of Agni, says the commentator, is the place of sacrifice and this is indeed called frequently enough in Sanskrit, "the house of Agni".
  We see, therefore, that with a little managing we can work out a purely ritual sense quite empty of thought even for a passage which at first sight offers a considerable wealth of psychological significance. Nevertheless, however ingeniously it is effected, flaws and cracks remain which betray the artificiality of the work. We have had to throw overboard the plain sense of kavi which adheres to it throughout the Veda and foist in an unreal rendering. We have either to divorce the two words
  --
  Kratu means in Sanskrit work or action and especially work in the sense of the sacrifice; but it means also power or strength
  (the Greek kratos) effective of action. Psychologically this power effective of action is the will. The word may also mean mind or intellect and Sayana admits thought or knowledge as a possible sense for kratu. Sravas means literally hearing and from this primary significance is derived its secondary sense, "fame". But, psychologically, the idea of hearing leads up in Sanskrit to another sense which we find in sravan.a, sruti, sruta, - revealed knowledge, the knowledge which comes by inspiration. Dr.s.t.i and sruti, sight and hearing, revelation and inspiration are the two chief powers of that supra-mental faculty which belongs to the old Vedic idea of the Truth, the Ritam. The word sravas is not recognised by the lexicographers in this sense, but it is accepted in the sense of a hymn, - the inspired word of the
  Veda. This indicates clearly that at one time it conveyed the idea of inspiration or of something inspired, whether word or knowledge. This significance, then, we are entitled to give it, provisionally at least, in the present passage; for the other sense of fame is entirely incoherent and meaningless in the context.

1.06 - Wealth and Government, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   the medium of instruction, (2) Sanskrit should be the national language, (3) English should be the international language.
  Are we correct in giving these replies to such questions?

1.06 - Yun Men's Every Day is a Good Day, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
  gers; how lamentable is Shunyata!" The Sanskrit word
  "Shunyata" in our language means the spirit of emptiness.

1.07 - Savitri, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  The next step was to make a fair copy of the entire revised work. I don't know why it was not given straightaway for typing. There was a talk between the Mother and Sri Aurobindo about it; Sri Aurobindo might have said that because of copious additions, typing by another person would not be possible. He himself could not make a fair copy. Then the Mother suggested my name and brought a thick blue ledgerlike book for the purpose. I needed two or three reminders from the Mother before I took up the work in right earnest. Every morning I used to sit on the floor behind the head of the bed, and leaning against the wall, start copying like a student of our old Sanskrit tols. Sri Aurobindo's footstool would serve as my table. The Mother would not fail to cast a glance at my good studentship. Though much of the poetry passed over my head, quite often the solar plexus would thrill at the sheer beauty of the images and expressions. The very first line made me gape with wonder. I don't remember if the copying and revision with Sri Aurobindo proceeded at the same time, or revision followed the entire copying. The Mother would make inquiries from time to time either, I thought, to make me abandon my jog-trot manner or because the newly started Press was clamouring for some publication from Sri Aurobindo. Especially now that people had come to know that after The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo was busy with Savitri, they were eagerly waiting for it. But they had to wait quite a long time, for after the revision, when the whole book was handed to the Mother, it was passed on to Nolini for being typed out. Then another revision of the typescript before it was ready for the Press! Again, I cannot swear if the typing was completed first before its revision or both went on at the same time. At any rate, the whole process went very slowly, since Sri Aurobindo would not be satisfied with Savitri done less than perfectly. Neither could we give much time to it, not, I think, more than an hour a day, sometimes even less. The Press began to bring it out in fascicules by Cantos from 1946. At all stages of revision, even on Press proofs, alterations, additions never stopped. It may be mentioned that the very first appearance of anything from Savitri in public was in the form of passages quoted in the essay "Sri Aurobindo: A New Age of Mystical Poetry" by Amal, published in the Bombay Circle and later included as Part III in Amal's book: The Poetic Genius of Sri Aurobindo.
  So far the account of the procedure which was followed for working on the three Books seems approximately correct. We have been considerably helped by some dates mentioned before in the account. But in what follows about the rest of the epic, I am afraid that the report cannot claim as much exactness owing to my lapse of memory. I can sum up the position obtained at this stage by quoting Sri Aurobindo's letter to Amal in 1946. After investigating all the documents available, we have come to the following conclusions about the rest of the Books. Book IV, The Book of Birth and Quest, is fairly revised by Sri Aurobindo. Several versions before the end of 1938 have been worked upon these versions are expansions of much older drafts, one of them possibly dating back to Baroda. The revised version was later corrected and amplified with my help as scribe and has been divided into four Cantos. In re-doing Book V, The Book of Love, Sri Aurobindo took up, at a certain point, an earlier version than that of 1936. There are quite a number of versions with various titles before 1936. Here too, originally there were no different Cantos. There are three old versions of The Book of Fate of equal length. They were called Canto II, and fairly short. One of these versions was expanded into enormous length and developed into two Cantos, the very last touches given almost during the final month of Sri Aurobindo's life. An instance of the expansion is the passage "O singer of the ultimate ecstasy... will is Fate." There was no Book of Yoga in the original scheme of the poem. One old version called Book III, Death, has been changed into The Book of Yoga. It was enormously expanded and named Canto I. All the rest of the six Cantos were totally new and dictated. They were all at first divided into Cantos with different titles. Apparently all these Cantos except the first one are entirely new. I could get no trace of any old versions from which they could have been developed. I am now amazed to see that so many lines could have been dictated day after day, like The Book of Everlasting Day. The Book of Death contains three old versions all called Canto III; the final version is constructed from one of these and from another version some lines are taken to be inserted into The Book of Eternal Night, Canto IV, Night, of the early version served as the basis of The Book of Eternal Night. It was revised, lines were added and split into two Cantos. Then in the typescript further revisions took place. Canto I, first called The Passage into the Void of Night, was changed into Towards the Black Void. Book X, The Book of the Double Twilight, called only Twilight, Canto V in the earlier versions of which there are four or five, had no division into Cantos. From these early versions a fair number of lines have been taken and woven into a larger version. The old lines are now not always in their original form. Book XI had three old drafts. One which was larger than the other two has been used for the final version and was enormously expanded; even whole passages running into hundreds of lines have been added, as I have mentioned before. About The Epilogue, except for a few additions, it almost reproduces the single old version.
  --
  Sri Aurobindo's quotations from memory from Homer, Shakespeare, Milton and others which he said should be verified were, in most cases, correct. When I read Homer's lines trying to imitate Sri Aurobindo's intonation, but forgetting the quantitative length, he corrected me. That reminds me also of how he encouraged me indirectly to learn the Sanskrit alphabet. I didn't know it, as I learnt Pali in my school. So whenever I met with a Sanskrit word while reading correspondences to Sri Aurobindo, I had either to show it to him or get somebody's help. I thought this wouldn't do, I must learn at least the alphabet. I put my mind to it and, getting some smattering of it, began to show my learning before him. He Started taking interest. When I tried to articulate a word in part, he helped me with the rest as one does with a child. Fortunately I managed, after getting the Mother's approval, to learn French also during the break from my work. She said it would be very useful, and so it was, for when some French communications came, I could read them to him.
  This is roughly the story of the grand epic Savitri traced from the earliest conception to its final consummation. Undoubtedly the first three Books were of a much higher level of inspiration and nearer perfection than the rest, for with ample leisure, and working by himself he could devote more time and care to that end, which unfortunately could not be said about the rest of the Books. Apart from the different versions I have mentioned, there is a huge mass of manuscripts which we have left unclassified since they are in fragments[4] all of which testifies to the immense labour of a god that has gone into the building of the magnificent epic. For a future research scholar, when Savitri earns as wide a recognition as, for instance, Dante's or Homer's epic, if not more, a very interesting work remains to be done; going into the minutest detail, he would show where new lines or passages have been added, or where one line slightly changed becomes an overhead line, or how another line after various changes comes back to its original version, etc., etc. I was chosen as a scribe probably because I didn't have all these gifts, so that I could, like a passive instrument, jot down faithfully whatever was dictated while Amal would have raised doubts, argued with him or been lost in sheer admiration of the beauty and the grandeur! Dilip would have started quoting line after line in rapturous ecstasy before the poem had come out! I submit no apology, nor am I conscience-stricken for my failures, for he knew what was the worth of his instrument. I am only grateful to him for being able to serve him with the very faculty which he had evolved and developed in me.

1.07 - The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
  The major [contemplative] traditions we have studied in their original languages present an unfolding of meditation experience in terms of a stage model: for example, the Mahamudra from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; the Visuddhimagga from the Pali Theravada tradition; and the Yoga Sutras from the Sanskrit Hindu tradition. The models are sufficiently similar to suggest an underlying common invariant sequence of stages, despite vast cultural and linguistic differences as well as styles of practice.
  This developmental model has also been found to be consistent with the stages of mystical or interior prayer found in the Jewish (Kabbalist), Islamic (Sufi), and Christian mystical traditions (see, for example, Chirban's chapter in Transformations), and Brown has also found it in the Chinese contemplative traditions. Theorists such as Da Avabhasha have given extensive hermeneutic and developmental readings from what now appears to be at least a representative sampling from every known and available contemplative tradition (see, for example, The Basket of Tolerance), and they are in fundamental and extensive agreement with this overall developmental model.

1.08 - Attendants, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  But see him again sitting on the floor with big volumes by his side. How serious his whole demeanour is! An erudite Sanskrit scholar at work! Sri Aurobindo sitting on the bed, leaning against the back-rest, asks him to find out the root of some Vedic word and its various derivative meanings. Purani forages through the dictionaries or Sayana's commentaries, reads them aloud and notes them down. The Master dictates the interpretations of a hymn in a low voice, sometimes looks at him or makes some further enquiry, resting his left elbow on the side-cushion which is tending to slide down, and he puts it back in its position. Meanwhile if he needs anything, he casts a glance behind to see if anyone is nearby, and resumes his dictation. The disciple, serious and docile, obeys the Master's bidding.
  Apropos of Sayana, Sri Aurobindo said in a talk, "Sayana in spite of his many mistakes, is very useful, though it is like going to Ignorance for Knowledge." I added, "Purani with his shining bald head, some locks of white hair, his glasses resting on the tip of his sharp nose and fat volumes by his side, looks very much like Sayana!" Sri Aurobindo replied, "O Sayana came back to undo his mischief?"

1.08 - Introduction to Patanjalis Yoga Aphorisms, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  Before going into the Yoga aphorisms I shall try to discuss one great question, upon which rests the whole theory of religion for the Yogis. It seems the consensus of opinion of the great minds of the world, and it has been nearly demonstrated by researches into physical nature, that we are the outcome and manifestation of an absolute condition, back of our present relative condition, and are going forward, to return to that absolute. This being granted, the question is: Which is better, the absolute or this state? There are not wanting people who think that this manifested state is the highest state of man. Thinkers of great calibre are of the opinion that we are manifestations of undifferentiated being and the differentiated state is higher than the absolute. They imagine that in the absolute there cannot be any quality; that it must be insensate, dull, and lifeless; that only this life can be enjoyed, and, therefore, we must cling to it. First of all we want to inquire into other solutions of life. There was an old solution that man after death remained the same; that all his good sides, minus his evil sides, remained for ever. Logically stated, this means that man's goal is the world; this world carried a stage higher, and eliminated of its evils, is the state they call heaven. This theory, on the face of it, is absurd and puerile, because it cannot be. There cannot be good without evil, nor evil without good. To live in a world where it is all good and no evil is what Sanskrit logicians call a "dream in the air". Another theory in modern times has been presented by several schools, that man's destiny is to go on always improving, always struggling towards, but never reaching the goal. This statement, though apparently very nice, is also absurd, because there is no such thing as motion in a straight line. Every motion is in a circle. If you can take up a stone, and project it into space, and then live long enough, that stone, if it meets with no obstruction, will come back exactly to your hand. A straight line, infinitely projected must end in a circle. Therefore, this idea that the destiny of man is progressing ever forward and forward, and never stopping, is absurd. Although extraneous to the subject, I may remark that this idea explains the ethical theory that you must not hate, and must love. Because, just as in the case of electricity the modern theory is that the power leaves the dynamo and completes the circle back to the dynamo, so with hate and love; they must come back to the source. Therefore do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle. It is as certain as can be, that every bit of hatred that goes out of the heart of a man comes back to him in full force, nothing can stop it; similarly every impulse of love comes back to him.
  On other and practical grounds we see that the theory of eternal progression is untenable, for destruction is the goal of everything earthly. All our struggles and hopes and fears and joys, what will they lead to? We shall all end in death. Nothing is so certain as this. Where, then, is this motion in a straight line this infinite progression? It is only going out to a distance, and coming back to the centre from which it started. See how, from nebulae, the sun, moon, and stars are produced; then they dissolve and go back to nebulae. The same is being done everywhere. The plant takes material from the earth, dissolves, and gives it back. Every form in this world is taken out of surrounding atoms and goes back to these atoms. It cannot be that the same law acts differently in different places. Law is uniform. Nothing is more certain than that. If this is the law of nature, it also applies to thought. Thought will dissolve and go back to its origin. Whether we will it or not, we shall have to return to our origin which is called God or Absolute. We all came from God, and we are all bound to go back to God. Call that by any name you like, God, Absolute, or Nature, the fact remains the same. "From whom all this universe comes out, in whom all that is born lives, and to whom all returns." This is one fact that is certain. Nature works on the same plan; what is being worked out in one sphere is repeated in millions of spheres. What you see with the planets, the same will it be with this earth, with men, and with all. The huge wave is a mighty compound of small waves, it may be of millions; the life of the whole world is a compound of millions of little lives, and the death of the whole world is the compound of the deaths of these millions of little beings.

1.08 - RELIGION AND TEMPERAMENT, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  The Sanskrit dharmaone of the key words in Indian formulations of the Perennial Philosophyhas two principal meanings. The dharma of an individual is, first of all, his essential nature, the intrinsic law of his being and development. But dharma also signifies the law of righteousness and piety. The implications of this double meaning are clear: a mans duty, how he ought to live, what he ought to believe and what he ought to do about his beliefs these things are conditioned by his essential nature, his constitution and temperament. Going a good deal further than do the Catholics, with their doctrine of vocations, the Indians admit the right of individuals with different dharmas to worship different aspects or conceptions of the divine. Hence the almost total absence, among Hindus and Buddhists, of bloody persecutions, religious wars and proselytizing imperialism.
  It should, however, be remarked that, within its own ecclesiastical fold, Catholicism has been almost as tolerant as Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. Nominally one, each of these religions consists, in fact, of a number of very different religions, covering the whole gamut of thought and behaviour from fetishism, through polytheism, through legalistic monotheism, through devotion to the sacred humanity of the Avatar, to the profession of the Perennial Philosophy and the practice of a purely spiritual religion that seeks the unitive knowledge of the Absolute Godhead. These tolerated religions-within-a-religion are not, of course, regarded as equally valuable or equally true. To worship polytheistically may be ones dharma; nevertheless the fact remains that mans final end is the unitive knowledge of the Godhead, and all the historical formulations of the Perennial Philosophy are agreed that every human being ought, and perhaps in some way or other actually will, achieve that end. All souls, writes Father Garrigou-Lagrange, receive a general remote call to the mystical life; and if all were faithful in avoiding, as they should, not merely mortal but venial sin, if they were, each according to his condition, docile to the Holy Ghost, and if they lived long enough, a day would come when they would receive the proximate and efficacious vocation to a high perfection and to the mystical life properly so called. With this statement Hindu and Buddhist theologians would probably agree; but they would add that every soul will in fact eventually attain this high perfection. All are called, but in any given generation few are chosen, because few choose themselves. But the series of conscious existences, corporeal or incorporeal, is indefinitely long; there is therefore time and opportunity for everyone to learn the necessary lessons. Moreover, there will always be helpers. For periodically there are descents of the Godhead into physical form; and at all times there are future Buddhas ready, on the threshold of reunion with the Intelligible Light, to renounce the bliss of immediate liberation in order to return as saviours and teachers again and again into the world of suffering and time and evil, until at last every sentient being shall have been delivered into eternity.

1.08 - The Depths of the Divine, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
  The Self is "not this, not that," which in Sanskrit is the "neti, neti" I bracketed in Eckhart's quotation. The Self is not this, not that, precisely because it is the pure Witness of this or that, and thus in all cases transcends any this and any that. The Self cannot even be said to be "One," for that is just another quality, another object that is perceived or witnessed. The Self is not "Spirit"; rather, it is that which, right now, is witnessing that concept. The Self is not the "Witness"-that is just another word or concept, and the Self is that which is witnessing that concept. The Self is not Emptiness, the Self is not a pure Self-and so on.
  There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only. It is beyond quality. If there is unity, there will also be duality. The numerical one gives rise to other numbers. The truth is neither one nor two. It is as it is.

1.09 - Saraswati and Her Consorts, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  We may note that the word Pegasus, if we transliterate it into the original Aryan phonetics, becomes Pajasa and is obviously connected with the Sanskrit pajas, which meant originally force,
  I do not think we have any real materials for determining the first origin and primitive history of religious ideas. What the facts really point to is an early teaching at once psychological and naturalistic, that is to say with two faces, of which the first came to be more or less obscured, but never entirely effaced even in the barbarous races, even in races like the tribes of North America. But this teaching, though prehistoric, was anything but primitive.

1.10 - The Image of the Oceans and the Rivers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  HE THREE riks of the third hymn of Madhuchchhandas in which Saraswati has been invoked, run as follows, in the Sanskrit: -
  Pavaka nah. sarasvat, vajebhir vajinvat; yajnam vas.t.u dhiyavasuh..

1.10 - The Revolutionary Yogi, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  Such are the mental, vital, physical and psychic discoveries that Sri Aurobindo pursued alone, step by step, between the ages of twenty and thirty, simply by following the thread of consciousness. The remarkable thing is that he practiced yoga in circumstances and places where one would usually not do yoga: while giving his lectures in French or English at the State College of Baroda, during his work at the court of the Maharaja, and more and more in the midst of his secret revolutionary activities. The hours of the night that were not devoted to studying his mother tongue or Sanskrit or to political work were spent writing poetry. "Aurobindo had the habit of writing poetry till late into the night," his Bengali teacher recalls, "and consequently he did not get up very early in the morning. . . . He would concentrate for a minute before starting, then the poetry would flow from his pen like a stream." From writing poetry, Sri Aurobindo would pass to his experimental sleep. In 1901, at the age of twenty-nine, he married Mrinalini Devi and tried to share his spiritual life with her. I am experiencing all the signs and symptoms, he wrote to her in a letter found in the archives of the British police. I should like to take you with me along this path. But Mrinalini did not understand him, and Sri Aurobindo would remain alone. We could search Sri Aurobindo's life in vain for those moving or miraculous anecdotes that adorn the lives of great sages and mystics, in vain for sensational yogic methods;
  everything seemed so ordinary, apparently, that nothing attracted one's attention, just as in life itself. Perhaps he had found more miracles in the ordinary than in the extraordinary: With me all is different, all is uncommon, he wrote in a letter to Mrinalini. All is deep and strange to the eyes that see.103 And perhaps that is what he wants us to discover through his example, his work, his yoga all those unknown riches beneath the ordinary crust. Our lives [are] a deeper mystery than we 103

1.11 - The Master of the Work, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
     After the removal of the veil of ego, the removal of the veil of Nature and her inferior modes that govern our mind, life and body. As soon as the limits of the ego begin to fade, we see how that veil is constituted and detect the action of cosmic Nature in us, and in or behind cosmic Nature we sense the presence of the cosmic Self and the dynamisms of the world-pervading Ishwara. The Master of the instrument stands behind all this working, and even within the working there is his touch and the drive of a great guiding or disposing Influence. It is no longer ego or ego-force that we serve; we obey the World-Master and his evolutionary impulse. At each step we say in the language of the Sanskrit verse, "Even as I am appointed by Thee seated in my heart, so, 0 Lord, I act." But still this action may be of two very different kinds, one only illumined, the other transformed and uplifted into a greater supernature. For we may keep on in the way of action upheld and followed by our nature when by her and her illusion of egoism we were "turned as if mounted on a machine," but now with a perfect understanding of the mechanism and its utilisation for his world purposes by the Master of works whom we feel behind it. This is indeed as far as even many great Yogis have reached on the levels of spiritualised mind; but it need not be so always, for there is a greater supramental possibility. It is possible to rise beyond spiritualised mind and to act spontaneously in the living presence of the original divine Truth-Force of the Supreme Mother Our motion one with her motion and merged in it, our will one with her will, our energy absolved
     in her energy, we shall feel her working through us as the Divine manifest in a supreme Wisdom-Power, and we shall be aware of the transformed mind, life and body only as the channels of a supreme Light and Force beyond them, infallible in its steps because transcendent and total in its knowledge. Of this Light and Force we shall not only be the recipients, channels, instruments, but become a part of it in a supreme uplifted abiding experience.

1.12 - Delight of Existence - The Solution, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  9:In our ordinary life this truth is hidden from us or only dimly glimpsed at times or imperfectly held and conceived. But if we learn to live within, we infallibly awaken to this presence within us which is our more real self, a presence profound, calm, joyous and puissant of which the world is not the master - a presence which, if it is not the Lord Himself, is the radiation of the Lord within. We are aware of it within supporting and helping the apparent and superficial self and smiling at its pleasures and pains as at the error and passion of a little child. And if we can go back into ourselves and identify ourselves, not with our superficial experience, but with that radiant penumbra of the Divine, we can live in that attitude towards the contacts of the world and, standing back in our entire consciousness from the pleasures and pains of the body, vital being and mind, possess them as experiences whose nature being superficial does not touch or impose itself on our core and real being. In the entirely expressive Sanskrit terms, there is an anandamaya behind the manomaya, a vast Bliss-Self behind the limited mental self, and the latter is only a shadowy image and disturbed reflection of the former. The truth of ourselves lies within and not on the surface.
  10:Again this triple vibration of pleasure, pain, indifference, being superficial, being an arrangement and result of our imperfect evolution, can have in it no absoluteness, no necessity. There is no real obligation on us to return to a particular contact a particular response of pleasure, pain or neutral reaction, there is only an obligation of habit. We feel pleasure or pain in a particular contact because that is the habit our nature has formed, because that is the constant relation the recipient has established with the contact. It is within our competence to return quite the opposite response, pleasure where we used to have pain, pain where we used to have pleasure. It is equally within our competence to accustom the superficial being to return instead of the mechanical reactions of pleasure, pain and indifference that free reply of inalienable delight which is the constant experience of the true and vast Bliss-Self within us. And this is a greater conquest, a still deeper and more complete self-possession than a glad and detached reception in the depths of the habitual reactions on the surface. For it is no longer a mere acceptance without subjection, a free acquiescence in imperfect values of experience, but enables us to convert imperfect into perfect, false into true values, - the constant but veritable delight of the Spirit in things taking the place of the dualities experienced by the mental being.
  --
  14:This elimination is possible because pain and pleasure themselves are currents, one imperfect, the other perverse, but still currents of the delight of existence. The reason for this imperfection and this perversion is the self-division of the being in his consciousness by measuring and limiting Maya and in consequence an egoistic and piecemeal instead of a universal reception of contacts by the individual. For the universal soul all things and all contacts of things carry in them an essence of delight best described by the Sanskrit aesthetic term, rasa, which means at once sap or essence of a thing and its taste. It is because we do not seek the essence of the thing in its contact with us, but look only to the manner in which it affects our desires and fears, our cravings and shrinkings that grief and pain, imperfect and transient pleasure or indifference, that is to say, blank inability to seize the essence, are the forms taken by the Rasa. If we could be entirely disinterested in mind and heart and impose that detachment on the nervous being, the progressive elimination of these imperfect and perverse forms of Rasa would be possible and the true essential taste of the inalienable delight of existence in all its variations would be within our reach. We attain to something of this capacity for variable but universal delight in the aesthetic reception of things as represented by Art and Poetry, so that we enjoy there the Rasa or taste of the sorrowful, the terrible, even the horrible or repellent;2 and the reason is because we are detached, disinterested, not thinking of ourselves or of self-defence (jugupsa), but only of the thing and its essence. Certainly, this aesthetic reception of contacts is not a precise image or reflection of the pure delight which is supramental and supra-aesthetic; for the latter would eliminate sorrow, terror, horror and disgust with their cause while the former admits them: but it represents partially and imperfectly one stage of the progressive delight of the universal Soul in things in its manifestation and it admits us in one part of our nature to that detachment from egoistic sensation and that universal attitude through which the one Soul sees harmony and beauty where we divided beings experience rather chaos and discord. The full liberation can come to us only by a similar liberation in all our parts, the universal aesthesis, the universal standpoint of knowledge, the universal detachment from all things and yet sympathy with all in our nervous and emotional being.
  15:Since the nature of suffering is a failure of the consciousforce in us to meet the shocks of existence and a consequent shrinking and contraction and its root is an inequality of that receptive and possessing force due to our self-limitation by egoism consequent on the ignorance of our true Self, of Sachchidananda, the elimination of suffering must first proceed by the substitution of titiks.a, the facing, enduring and conquest of all shocks of existence for jugupsa, the shrinking and contraction: by this endurance and conquest we proceed to an equality which may be either an equal indifference to all contacts or an equal gladness in all contacts; and this equality again must find a firm foundation in the substitution of the Sachchidananda consciousness which is All-Bliss for the ego-consciousness which enjoys and suffers. The Sachchidananda consciousness may be transcendent of the universe and aloof from it, and to this state of distant Bliss the path is equal indifference; it is the path of the ascetic. Or the Sachchidananda consciousness may be at once transcendent and universal; and to this state of present and all-embracing Bliss the path is surrender and loss of the ego in the universal and possession of an all-pervading equal delight; it is the path of the ancient Vedic sages. But neutrality to the imperfect touches of pleasure and the perverse touches of pain is the first direct and natural result of the soul's self-discipline and the conversion to equal delight can, usually, come only afterwards. The direct transformation of the triple vibration into Ananda is possible, but less easy to the human being.

1.12 - The Divine Work, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  literal sense of the Sanskrit word our "own being", our essential
  nature, the divine stuff of our souls. Whatever springs from this

1.12 - The Superconscient, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  Unfortunately, artists and creators too often have a considerable ego standing in the way, which is their main difficulty. The religious man, who has worked to dissolve his ego, finds it easier, but he rarely attains universality through his own individual efforts, leaping instead beyond the individual without bothering to develop all the intermediate rungs of the personal consciousness, and when he reaches the "top" he no longer has a ladder to come down, or he does not want to come down, or there is no individual self left to express what he sees, or else his old individual self tries its best to express his new consciousness, provided he feels the need to express anything at all. The Vedic rishis, who have given us perhaps the only instance of a systematic and continuous spiritual progression from plane to plane, may be among the greatest poets the earth has ever known, as Sri Aurobindo has shown in his Secret of the Veda. The Sanskrit word kavi had the double meaning of "seer of the Truth" and "poet." One was a poet because one was a seer. This is an obvious and quite forgotten reality. It may be worthwhile, then, to say a few words about art as a means of ascent of the consciousness, and, in particular, about poetry at the overmental level.
  198 - On Yoga II, Tome 2, 263
  --
  200 - Looking at the diagram of the centers of consciousness, we notice that each center contains a Sanskrit letter: Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Om, in ascending order. These essential sounds represent the particular vibrations that comm and the forces of each plane. (See A. Avalon, The Serpent Power.)
  201 - One may read mantras in a book and repeat them endlessly to no avail. They will have no power or "active force" unless given by a Master or Guru.
  --
  205 - Unfortunately, these texts have reached us in translation, such that all the magic of the original sound has vanished. The remarkable thing, however, is that if one hears the original Sanskrit text chanted by someone who has knowledge, one can receive an illumination without understanding a word of what has been chanted.
  206 - Letters, 3rd Series, 97

1.12 - TIME AND ETERNITY, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  In the idealistic cosmology of Mahayana Buddhism memory plays the part of a rather maleficent demiurge. When the triple world is surveyed by the Bodhisattva, he perceives that its existence is due to memory that has been accumulated since the beginningless past, but wrongly interpreted. (Lankavatara Sutra), The word here translated as memory, means literally perfuming. The mind-body carried with it the ineradicable smell of all that has been thought and done, desired and felt, throughout its racial and personal past. The Chinese translate the Sanskrit term by two symbols, signifying habit-energy. The world is what (in our eyes) it is, because of all the consciously or unconsciously and physiologically remembered habits formed by our ancestors or by ourselves, either in our present life or in previous existences. These remembered bad habits cause us to believe that multiplicity is the sole reality and that the idea of I, me, mine represents the ultimate truth. Nirvana consists in seeing into the abode of reality as it is, and not reality quoad nos, as it seems to us. Obviously, this cannot be achieved so long as there is an us, to which reality can be relative. Hence the need, stressed by every exponent of the Perennial Philosophy, for mortification, for dying to self. And this must be a mortification not only of the appetites, the feelings and the will, but also of the reasoning powers, of consciousness itself and of that which makes our consciousness what it isour personal memory and our inherited habit-energies. To achieve complete deliverance, conversion from sin is not enough; there must also be a conversion of the mind, a paravritti, as the Mahayanists call it, or revulsion in the very depths of consciousness. As the result of this revulsion, the habit-energies of accumulated memory are destroyed and, along with them, the sense of being a separate ego. Reality is no longer perceived quoad nos (for the good reason that there is no longer a nos to perceive it), but as it is in itself. In Blakes words, If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would be seen as it is, infinite. By those who are pure in heart and poor in spirit, Samsara and Nirvana, appearance and reality, time and eternity are experienced as one and the same.
  Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time. And not only time but temporalities, not only temporal things but temporal affections; not only temporal affections but the very taint and smell of time.
  --
  Such was the conclusion to which the most celebrated of Indian converts was forced after some years of association with his fellow Christians. There are many honourable exceptions, of course; but the rule even among learned Protestants and Catholics is a certain blandly bumptious provincialism which, if it did not constitute such a grave offence against charity and truth, would be just uproariously funny. A hundred years ago, hardly anything was known of Sanskrit, Pali or Chinese. The ignorance of European scholars was sufficient reason for their provincialism. Today, when more or less adequate translations are available in plenty, there is not only no reason for it, there is no excuse. And yet most European and American authors of books about religion and metaphysics write as though nobody had ever thought about these subjects, except the Jews, the Greeks and the Christians of the Mediterranean basin and western Europe. This display of what, in the twentieth century, is an entirely voluntary and deliberate ignorance is not only absurd and discreditable; it is also socially dangerous. Like any other form of imperialism, theological imperialism is a menace to permanent world peace. The reign of violence will never come to an end until, first, most human beings accept the same, true philosophy of life; until, second, this Perennial Philosophy is recognized as the highest factor common to all the world religions; until, third, the adherents of every religion renounce the idolatrous time-philosophies, with which, in their own particular faith, the Perennial Philosophy of eternity has been overlaid; until, fourth, there is a world-wide rejection of all the political pseudo-religions, which place mans supreme good in future time and therefore justify and commend the commission of every sort of present iniquity as a means to that end. If these conditions are not fulfilled, no amount of political planning, no economic blue-prints however ingeniously drawn, can prevent the recrudescence of war and revolution.
  next chapter: 1.13 - SALVATION, DELIVERANCE, ENLIGHTENMENT

1.16 - Man, A Transitional Being, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  The Written Works The highlight of those first years of exile was his reading of the Veda in the original Sanskrit. Until then, Sri Aurobindo had read only English or Indian translations and, along with the Sanskrit scholars, he had seen in the Veda only rather obscure, ritualistic texts . . . of small value or importance for the history of thought or for a living spiritual 294
  Pondicherry was then a French possession.
  experience.295 But in the original, he discovered a constant vein of the richest gold of thought and spiritual experience. 296 . . . I found that the mantras of the Veda illuminated with a clear and exact light psychological experiences of my own for which I had found no sufficient explanation either in European psychology or in the teachings of Yoga or of Vedanta.297 It can well be imagined how Sri Aurobindo might have become a little perplexed by his own experiences, and how it took him several years to understand exactly what was happening to him. We have described the supramental experience of Chandernagore as if the steps had neatly followed one another, each with its own explanatory note, but, in reality, the explanations came long afterwards. At the time, there were no signposts at all to guide him. Yet here was the most ancient of the four Vedas,298 the Rig Veda, unexpectedly suggesting that he was not completely alone or astray on this planet. That the Western and even the Indian scholars had not understood the extraordinary vision of these texts is perhaps not so surprising when we realize that Sanskrit roots lend themselves to a double or even a triple meaning, which in turn can be invested with a double symbolism, esoteric and exoteric.
  These hymns can be read on two or three different levels of meaning,

1.16 - The Suprarational Ultimate of Life, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The first mark of the suprarational, when it intervenes to take up any portion of our being, is the growth of absolute ideals; and since life is Being and Force and the divine state of being is unity and the Divine in force is God as Power taking possession, the absolute vital ideals must be of that nature. Nowhere are they wanting. If we take the domestic and social life of man, we find hints of them there in several forms; but we need only note, however imperfect and dim the present shapes, the strivings of love at its own self-finding, its reachings towards its absolute the absolute love of man and woman, the absolute maternal or paternal, filial or fraternal love, the love of friends, the love of comrades, love of country, love of humanity. These ideals of which the poets have sung so persistently, are not a mere glamour and illusion, however the egoisms and discords of our instinctive, infrarational way of living may seem to contradict them. Always crossed by imperfection or opposite vital movements, they are still divine possibilities and can be made a first means of our growth into a spiritual unity of being with being. Certain religious disciplines have understood this truth, have taken up these relations boldly and applied them to our souls communion with God; and by a converse process they can, lifted out of their present social and physical formulas, become for us, not the poor earthly things they are now, but deep and beautiful and wonderful movements of God in man fulfilling himself in life. All the economic development of life itself takes on at its end the appearance of an attempt to get rid of the animal squalor and bareness which is what obligatory poverty really means, and to give to man the divine ease and leisure of the gods. It is pursued in a wrong way, no doubt, and with many ugly circumstances, but still the ideal is darkly there. Politics itself, that apparent game of strife and deceit and charlatanism, can be a large field of absolute idealisms. What of patriotism,never mind the often ugly instincts from which it starts and which it still obstinately preserves,but in its aspects of worship, self-giving, discipline, self-sacrifice? The great political ideals of man, monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, apart from the selfishnesses they serve and the rational and practical justifications with which they arm themselves, have had for their soul an ideal, some half-seen truth of the absolute and have carried with them a worship, a loyalty, a loss of self in the idea which have made men ready to suffer and die for them. War and strife themselves have been schools of heroism; they have preserved the heroic in man, they have created the katriys tyaktajvit of the Sanskrit epic phrase, the men of power and courage who have abandoned their bodily life for a cause; for without heroism man cannot grow into the Godhead; courage, energy and strength are among the very first principles of the divine nature in action. All this great vital, political, economic life of man with its two powers of competition and cooperation is stumbling blindly forward towards some realisation of power and unity,in two divine directions, therefore. For the Divine in life is Power possessed of self-mastery, but also of mastery of His world, and man and mankind too move towards conquest of their world, their environment. And again the Divine in fulfilment here is and must be oneness, and the ideal of human unity however dim and far off is coming slowly into sight. The competitive nation-units are feeling, at times, however feebly as yet, the call to cast themselves into a greater unified cooperative life of the human race.
  No doubt all is still moving, however touched by dim lights from above, on a lower half rational half infrarational level, clumsily, coarsely, in ignorance of itself and as yet with little nobility of motive. All is being worked out very crudely by the confused clash of life-forces and the guidance of ideas that are half-lights of the intellect, and the means proposed are too mechanical and the aims too material; they miss the truth that the outer life-result can only endure if it is founded on inner realities. But so life in the past has moved always and must at first move. For life organises itself at first round the ego-motive and the instinct of ego-expansion is the earliest means by which men have come into contact with each other; the struggle for possession has been the first crude means towards union, the aggressive assertion of the smaller self the first step towards a growth into the larger self. All has been therefore a half-ordered confusion of the struggle for life corrected by the need and instinct of association, a struggle of individuals, clans, tribes, parties, nations, ideas, civilisations, cultures, ideals, religions, each affirming itself, each compelled into contact, association, strife with the others. For while Nature imposes the ego as a veil behind which she labours out the individual manifestation of the spirit, she also puts a compulsion on it to grow in being until it can at last expand or merge into a larger self in which it meets, harmonises with itself, comprehends in its own consciousness, becomes one with the rest of existence. To assist in this growth Life-Nature throws up in itself ego-enlarging, ego-exceeding, even ego-destroying instincts and movements which combat and correct the smaller self-affirming instincts and movements,she enforces on her human instrument impulses of love, sympathy, self-denial, self-effacement, self-sacrifice, altruism, the drive towards universality in mind and heart and life, glimmerings of an obscure unanimism that has not yet found thoroughly its own true light and motive-power. Because of this obscurity these powers, unable to affirm their own absolute, to take the lead or dominate, obliged to compromise with the demands of the ego, even to become themselves a form of egoism, are impotent also to bring harmony and transformation to life. Instead of peace they seem to bring rather a sword; for they increase the number and tension of conflict of the unreconciled forces, ideas, impulses of which the individual human consciousness and the life of the collectivity are the arena. The ideal and practical reason of man labours to find amidst all this the right law of life and action; it strives by a rule of moderation and accommodation, by selection and rejection or by the dominance of some chosen ideas or powers to reduce things to harmony, to do consciously what Nature through natural selection and instinct has achieved in her animal kinds, an automatically ordered and settled form and norm of their existence. But the order, the structure arrived at by the reason is always partial, precarious and temporary. It is disturbed by a pull from below and a pull from above. For these powers that life throws up to help towards the growth into a larger self, a wider being, are already reflections of something that is beyond reason, seeds of the spiritual, the absolute. There is the pressure on human life of an Infinite which will not allow it to rest too long in any formulation,not at least until it has delivered out of itself that which shall be its own self-exceeding and self-fulfilment.

1.17 - The Transformation, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  become engrossed in the study of Sanskrit or Ayurvedic medicine.
  There was a complete recasting of all external values according to the one inner criterion. When a disciple once asked the Mother about the best way of collaborating in the supramental transformation, he was given this answer: It is always the same thing: by realizing one's own being, in whatever form, by whatever means it doesn't matter but that is the only way. Each person carries a truth within himself; he must become one with that truth, live that truth. When he does that,

1.200-1.224 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  D.: The Sanskrit text.
  M.: It contains the answer to your question.

1.20 - RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MASTER (smiling): "During my boyhood I could understand what the Sdhus read at the Lahas' house at Kamarpukur, although I would miss a little here and there. If a pundit speaks to me in Sanskrit I can follow him, but I cannot speak it myself.
  "To realize God is the one goal of life. While aiming his arrow at the mark, Arjuna said, 'I see only the eye of the bird and nothing else-not the kings, not the trees, not even the bird itself.'
  "The realization of God is enough for me. What does it matter if I don't know Sanskrit?
  "The grace of God falls alike on all His children, learned and illiteratewhoever longs for Him. The father has the same love for all his children. Suppose a father has five children. One calls him 'Baba', some 'Ba', and some 'Pa'. These last cannot pronounce the whole word. Does the father love those who address him as 'Baba' more than those who call him 'Pa'? The father knows that these last are simply too young to say 'Baba'

1.2.1 - Mental Development and Sadhana, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  If by passivity of the mind you mean laziness and inability to use it, then what Yoga makes that its basis? The mind has to be quieted and transformed, not made indolent and useless. Is there any old Yoga that makes it a rule not to allow those who practise it to study Sanskrit or philosophy? Did that prevent the Yogis from attaining mental quietude? Do you think that the Mother and myself never read anything and have to sit all day inactive in order to make our minds quiet? Are you not aware that the principle of this Yoga is to arrive at an inner silence in which all activities can take place without disturbing the inner silence?
  ***

1.22 - ADVICE TO AN ACTOR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Sri Ramakrishna had rested on his bed only a few minutes when Hari, Narayan, Narendra Bannerji, and other devotees arrived from Calcutta and saluted him. Narendra Bannerji was the son of the professor of Sanskrit at the Presidency College of Calcutta.
  Because of friction with other members of the family, he had rented a separate house where he lived with his wife and children. Narendra was a very simple and guileless man.

1.23 - FESTIVAL AT SURENDRAS HOUSE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Just then Mahimacharan arrived. He lived at Cossipore near Calcutta. Mahimacharan held the Master in great respect and was a frequent visitor at the temple garden. He was a man of independent means, having inherited some ancestral property. He devoted his time to religious thought and to the study of the scriptures. He was a man of some scholarship, having studied many books, both Sanskrit and English.
  MASTER (to Mahima): "What is this? I see a steamship here. (All laugh.) We expect here a small boat at the most, but a real steamship has arrived. But then I know. It's the rainy season!" (Laughter.)

1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  A young girl of 9 or 10, whose mother is a Research Scholar in Sanskrit in the University of Madras, accompanied by Mr. Maurice Frydman met Sri Bhagavan in Palakothu at about 12 noon. Sri Bhagavan, as usual with Him, kindly smiled on her. She asked Sri Bhagavan: Why is there misery on earth?
  M.: Due to Karma.
  --
  Mr. Thomas, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Oxford, had presided over the Oriental Conference in Trivandrum and on his way to Calcutta he visited Sri Bhagavan. He is an elderly gentleman with a broad forehead and a quiet manner. He speaks softly and slowly. He evinces great interest in oriental literature, especially Sanskrit. He had heard of the richness of
  Tamil. He desired to know which of the English translations of Srimad

1.24 - PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  The Master joked about the delay in serving their meal. One of the scholars quoted a Sanskrit verse about the anxiety created in people's minds by the pangs of hunger.
  Proceeding to explain the verse he said: "The study of philosophy is indeed edifying, but poetry is more fascinating than philosophy. People listening to good poems think of the study of philosophy-Vednta, Nyaya, Samkhya, and so forth as dry and insipid. Again, music is more attractive than poetry. Music melts even a heart of stone. But a beautiful woman has an even greater attraction for a man's heart than music. Such a woman, passing by, diverts a man's attention from both poetry and music. But when a man feels the pangs of hunger, everything else poetry, music and woman appears as of no consequence. Thus, hunger is the most arresting thing."
  --
  Pundit Shashadhar, a man of fair complexion and no longer young, had a string of rudraksha beads around his neck. He was one of the renowned Sanskrit scholars of his time-a pillar of orthodox Hinduism, which had reasserted itself after the first wave of Christianity and Western culture had passed over Hindu society. His clear exposition of the Hindu scriptures, his ringing sincerity, and, his stirring eloquence had brought back a large number of the educated young Hindus of Bengal to the religion of their forefa thers.
  The pundit saluted the Master with reverence. Narendra, Rkhl , Ram, Hazra, and M., who had come with the Master, seated themselves in the room as near the Master as they could, anxious not to miss one of his words.

1.25 - ADVICE TO PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "Michael visited the temple garden when Narayan Shastri was living with me. Dwarika Babu, Mathur's eldest son, brought him here. The owners of the temple garden were about to get into a lawsuit with the English proprietors of the neighbouring powder magazine; so they wanted Michael's advice. I met him in the big room next to the manager's office. Narayan Shastri was with me. I asked Narayan to talk to him. Michael couldn't talk very well in Sanskrit. He made mistakes. Then they talked in the popular dialect. Narayan Shastri asked him his reason for giving up the Hindu religion. Pointing to his stomach, Michael said, 'It was for this.' Narayan said, 'What shall I say to a man who gives up his religion for his belly's sake?' Thereupon Michael asked me to say something. I said: 'I don't know why, but I don't feel like saying anything. Someone seems to be pressing my tongue.' "
  MANOMOHAN: "Mr. Choudhury will not come. He said: 'That fellow Shashadhar from Faridpur will be there. I shall not go.' "

1.25 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  The extract which follows is taken from the translation by Waitao and Goddard of the Chinese text of The Awakening of Faith, by Ashvaghoshaa work originally composed in Sanskrit during the first century of our era, but of which the original has been lost. Ashvaghosha devotes a section of his treatise to the expedient means, as they are called in Buddhist terminology, whereby unitive knowledge of Thusness may be achieved. The list of these indispensable means includes charity and compassion towards all sentient beings, sub-human as well as human, self-naughting or mortification, personal devotion to the incarnations of the Absolute Buddha-nature, and spiritual exercises designed to free the mind from its infatuating desires for separateness and independent selfhood and so make it capable of realizing the identity of its own essence with the universal Essence of Mind. Of these various expedient means I will cite only the last two the Way of Tranquillity, and the Way of Wisdom.
  The Way of Tranquillity. The purpose of this discipline is twofold: to bring to a standstill all disturbing thoughts (and all discriminating thoughts are disturbing), to quiet all engrossing moods and emotions, so that it will be possible to concentrate the mind for the purpose of meditation and realization. Secondly, when the mind is tranquillized by stopping all discursive thinking, to practise reflection or meditation, not in a discriminating, analytical way, but in a more intellectual way (cp. the scholastic distinction between reason and intellect), by realizing the meaning and significances of ones thoughts and experiences. By this twofold practice of stopping and realizing ones faith, which has already been awakened, will be developed, and gradually the two aspects of this practice will merge into one another the mind perfectly tranquil, but most active in realization. In the past one naturally had confidence in ones faculty of discrimination (analytical thinking), but this is now to be eradicated and ended.

1.27 - AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  BHAVANATH: "He can certainly recite Sanskrit verses."
  MASTER: "Once I said to a man about a sdhu: 'He is a rajasic sdhu. Why should one give him food and other presents?' At this another sdhu taught me a lesson by saying to me: 'Don't say that. There are three classes of holy men: sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic.' Since that day I have respected holy men of all classes."

1.300 - 1.400 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  A young girl of 9 or 10, whose mother is a Research Scholar in Sanskrit in the University of Madras, accompanied by Mr. Maurice Frydman met Sri Bhagavan in Palakothu at about 12 noon. Sri Bhagavan, as usual with Him, kindly smiled on her. She asked Sri Bhagavan: "Why is there misery on earth?"
  M.: Due to Karma.

13.04 - A Note on Supermind, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   A Sanskrit wit in trying to portray a pig for the benefit of one who has never seen the animal said (in joke or in earnest, one does not know): a pig is an elephant reduced or a mouse enlarged; it would be equally cogent or correct to say that the mind is the Supermind in reduced proportions or that the Supermind is the mind in enlarged proportions. One may "also remember in this connection Aesop's story of the boasting frog who wanted to inflate or blow himself into the size of a bull and blew himself up and burst into fragments in the attempt. The fate of the mind is likely to be the same if it attempted to magnify itself to the measure of Supermind.
   However far the mind may be stretched, it cannot reach the Supermind. It is not a question of degree, but of kind, norm and quality. Even so, Matter, however subtilised, de-materialised remains Matterpulverized into infinitesimal particles at the farthest limits of the material universeit, does not abandon its material nature, it does not become Life. So again with regard to Life: Life-force, however extended or subtilised, does not acquire the mental power and become Mind. Matter evinces Life-power only when life is injected into it, Life exits somewhere else, exists by itself. In the same way Life betrays mental power when Mind is injected into it, mind is by itself something else. The difference, we may say, using a philosophical jargon, is not merely epistemological but ontological. These categories are, in fact, not derivative phenomena but self-existing Reals (noumena). Perhaps the word 'Supermind' itself is somewhat responsible for a misconstruction and misunderstanding. Supermind does not mean a "superior mind", it means beyond mind, away from mind, unreachable for mindaprpya manas saha.

1.400 - 1.450 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  Mr. Thomas, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Oxford, had presided over the Oriental Conference in Trivandrum and on his way to Calcutta he visited Sri Bhagavan. He is an elderly gentleman with a broad forehead and a quiet manner. He speaks softly and slowly. He evinces great interest in oriental literature, especially Sanskrit. He had heard of the richness of
  Tamil. He desired to know which of the English translations of Srimad

1.4 - Readings in the Taittiriya Upanishad, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  highest truth. Or in the Sanskrit,
  brahmavid apnoti param -

1.68 - The God-Letters, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Maybe it was Devanagri that began it! This "sacred" character, used rightly for Sanskrit alone, is supposed (so Allan Bennett told me) to be constructed on can one call them ideographic? principles. The upright line is the soft palate; the horizontal the hard; and the line between them shows the position of the tongue when one pronounces the letter. He demonstrated this most elegantly for the letter T (); but I was never able to follow this up with most of the other fifty- five (isn't it?) letters.
  However, it did start me thinking (why?) about the possibility of a direct relation between the sound of a letter and its meaning in some primitive manner of speech.
  --
  But at the moment I am especially desirous that you should compare and contrast this letter with the S Sound. (S or Sh combined with T is discussed rather fully in Magick, pp. 336-8)[135] You should find it child's play to determine the significance of the sibilant. It is the one letter which necessitates the exposure of the skeleton! (I.e., the Subconscious). Hence "Hush!" it is the hiss of the snake, great Lord of Life and Death (life? yes, the spermatozoon, child!) "Silence! Danger! There is a man somewhere about." The savage reaction. And, sure enough, Ish is the Hebrew for man (Mankind is ADM, Adam, Sanskrit Admi, the Father and Mother conjoined. "Male and Female created They Man.")
  The S-gods are innumerable. Asar (Asi, Isis, is his female twin) Astarte, Ishtar or Ashtoreth, Set, Saturn, Shu, Zeus, (into whom the D intrudes, because S is the male as N the female, and D the father as M the mother) and the Jesus group. Here is the idea of the South, or East, both quarters referring, in ways very slightly divergent, to the element of Fire, the Sun, the Father-God in his aspect as the Holy Ghost. The ancient tradition appears in the Gospels: the Lesser Mysteries of John, beheaded with the Sword, and consumed on a Disk, and the Greater Mysteries of Jesus, pierced with a Wand, and consumed in a Cup. All same Tarot!

17.00 - Translations, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Sanskrit
   Bengali

1951-04-14 - Surrender and sacrifice - Idea of sacrifice - Bahaism - martyrdom - Sleep- forgetfulness, exteriorisation, etc - Dreams and visions- explanations - Exteriorisation- incidents about cats, #Questions And Answers 1950-1951, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There are some very remarkable instances of exteriorisation. I am going to tell you two incidents about cats which occurred quite a long time ago in France. One happened very long ago, long before the war even. We used to have small meetings every weekquite a small number of friends, three or four, who discussed philosophy, spiritual experiences, etc. There was a young boy, a poet, but one who was rather light-hearted; he was very intelligent, he was a student in Paris. He used to come regularly to these meetings (they took place on Wednesday evenings) and one evening he did not come. We were surprised; we had met him a few days before and he had said he would comehe did not come. We waited quite a long time, the meeting was over and at the time of leaving I opened the door to let people out (it was at my house that these meetings were held), I opened the door and there before it sat a big dark grey cat which rushed into the room like mad and jumped upon me, like this, mewing desperately. I looked into its eyes and told myself, Well, these are so-and-sos eyes (the one who was to come). I said, Surely something has happened to him. And the next day we learnt that he had been assassinated that night; the next morning he had been found lying strangled on his bed. This is the first story. The other happened long afterwards, at the time of the war the First [World] War, not the Second the war of the trenches. There was a young man I knew very well; he was a poet and artist (I have already spoken about him), who had gone to the war. He had enlisted, he was very young; he was an officer. He had given me his photograph. (This boy was a student of Sanskrit and knew Sanskrit very well, he liked Buddhism very much; indeed he was much interested in things of the spirit, he was not an ordinary boy, far from it.) He had given me his photograph on which there was a sentence in Sanskrit written in his own hand, very well written. I had framed this photograph and put it above a sort of secretaire (a rather high desk with drawers); well, above it I had hung this photograph. And at that time it was very difficult to receive news, one did not know very well what was happening. From time to time we used to receive letters from him, but for a long time there had been nothing, when, one day, I came into my room, and the moment I entered, without any apparent reason the photograph fell from the wall where it had been well fixed, and the glass broke with a great clatter. I felt a little anxious, I said, There is something wrong. But we had no news. Two or three days later (it was on the first floor; I lived in a house with one room upstairs, all the rest on the ground-floor, and there was a flight of steps leading to the garden) I opened the entrance door and a big grey cat rushed inlight grey, this timea magnificent cat, and, just as the other one had done, it flung itself upon me, like this, mewing. I looked into its eyeshad the eyes of that boy. And this cat, it turned and turned around me and all the time tugged at my dress and miaowed. I wanted to put it out, but it would not go, it settled down there and did not want to move. The next day it was announced in the papers that this boy had been found dead between two trenches, dead for three days. That is, at the time he must have died his photograph had fallen. The consciousness had left the body completely: he was there abandoned, because they did not always go to see what was happening between the trenches; they could not, you understand; he was found two or three days later; at that time probably he had gone out altogether from his body and wanted definitely to inform me about what had happened and he had found that cat. For cats live in the vital being, they have a very developed vital consciousness and can easily be taken possession of by vital forces.
   But these two examples are quite extraordinary, for they both came about almost in the same way, and in both instances the eyes of these cats had completely changed they had become human eyes.

1953-10-21, #Questions And Answers 1953, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Ah! as for Buddhism. The people of the South and the North have different kinds of imagination. The southern people are generally more rigid, arent they? I dont know, but for Buddhism, the Buddhism of the South is quite rigid and doesnt allow any suppleness in the understanding of the text. And it is a terribly strict Buddhism in which all notion of the Godhead in any form whatsoever, is completely done away with. On the other hand, the Buddhism of the North is an orgy of gods! It is true that these are former Buddhas, but still they are turned into gods. And it is this latter that has spread into China and from China gone to Japan. So, one enters a Buddhist temple in Japan and sees There is a temple where there were more than a thousand Buddhas, all sculptureda thousand figures seated around the central Buddha they were there all around, the entire back wall of the temple was covered with images: small ones, big ones, fat ones, thin ones, women, menthere was everything, a whole pantheon there, formidable, and they were like gods. And then too, there were little beings down below with all kinds of forms including those of animals, and these were the worshippers. It was it was an orgy of images. But the Buddhism of the South has the austerity of Protestantism: there must be no images. And there is no divine Consciousness, besides. One comes into the world through desire, into a world of desire, and abandoning desire one goes out of the world and creation and returns to Nirvanaeven the nought is something too concrete. There is no Creator in Buddhism. So, I dont know. The Buddhism of the South is written in Pali and that of the North in Sanskrit. And naturally, there is Tibetan Buddhism written in Tibetan, and Chinese Buddhism written in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism in Japanese. And each one, I believe, is very very different from the others. Well, probably there must be several versions of the Ramayana. And still more versions of the Mahabharata that indeed is amazing!
   (Nolini) Of the Ramayana also.

1954-09-08 - Hostile forces - Substance - Concentration - Changing the centre of thought - Peace, #Questions And Answers 1954, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  But I can also tell you that when I was in Japan I met a man who had formed a group, for It cant be said that it was for sadhana, but for a kind of discipline. He had a theory and it was on this theory that he had founded his group: that one can think in any part of ones being whatever if one concentrates there. That is to say, instead of thinking in your head, you can think in your chest. And he said that one could think here (gesture) in the stomach. He took the stomach as the seat of pra, you see, that is, the vital force. He used certain Sanskrit words, you know, half-digested, and all that But still, this does not matter, he was full of goodwill and he said that most human miseries come from the fact that men think in their heads, that this makes the head ache, tires you and takes away your mental clarity. On the other hand, if you learn how to think here (gesture indicating the stomach), it gives you power, strength and calmness. And the most remarkable thing is that he had attained a kind of ability to bring down the mental power, the mental force exactly here (gesture); the mental activity was generated there, and no longer in the head. And he had cured a considerable number of people, considerable, some hundreds, who used to suffer from terrible headaches; he had cured them in this way.
  I have tried it, it is quite easy, precisely because, as I told you a while ago, the mental force, mental activity is independent of the brain. We are in the habit of using the brain but we can use something else or rather, concentrate the mental force elsewhere, and have the impression that our mental activity comes from there. One can concentrate ones mental force in the solar plexus, here (gesture), and feel the mental activity coming out from there.

1955-10-26 - The Divine and the universal Teacher - The power of the Word - The Creative Word, the mantra - Sound, music in other worlds - The domains of pure form, colour and ideas, #Questions And Answers 1955, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Some of them said that it must have been in Sanskrit, others said that it must have been a still more ancient tongue, others said that it must have been Syrian, and so on, you see; and nobody thought that perhaps it was not any language at all!
  Does the Word also follow the evolution?

1955-11-16 - The significance of numbers - Numbers, astrology, true knowledge - Divines Love flowers for Kali puja - Desire, aspiration and progress - Determining ones approach to the Divine - Liberation is obtained through austerities - ..., #Questions And Answers 1955, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  In the prayer you gave us this time for Kali Puja, you have written something in Sanskrit.
  It is Sri Aurobindo who has written a mantra.1
  --
  Have you read it? You dont know how to read Sanskrit? So now you must find someone to show you how to read it; and then to give you the significance. And after that you will ask me why he wrote it. Not now!
  Sweet Mother, has that Chaldean legend2 which you have written any relation with Kali Puja?

1956-02-29 - Sacrifice, self-giving - Divine Presence in the heart of Matter - Divine Oneness - Divine Consciousness - All is One - Divine in the inconscient aspires for the Divine, #Questions And Answers 1956, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  The word sacrifice in French has slightly too narrow a sense, which it doesnt have in the original Sanskrit; for in French sacrifice implies a sort of suffering, almost a regret. While in Sanskrit this sense is not there at all; it corresponds to self-giving.
    Sweet Mother, here it is written: All are linked together by a secret Oneness.

1956-04-25 - God, human conception and the true Divine - Earthly existence, to realise the Divine - Ananda, divine pleasure - Relations with the divine Presence - Asking the Divine for what one needs - Allowing the Divine to lead one, #Questions And Answers 1956, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  It is what is called Ananda in Sanskrit. And we have often said before that to know this Ananda, one must first have completely renounced all human pleasures, to begin with, for so long as a human pleasure delights you, you are not in the right state to know the Ananda.
  It may come to you and you will not even be aware of it.

1956-05-23 - Yoga and religion - Story of two clergymen on a boat - The Buddha and the Supramental - Hieroglyphs and phonetic alphabets - A vision of ancient Egypt - Memory for sounds, #Questions And Answers 1956, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Is the language of ancient Egypt contemporaneous with the earliest Sanskrit, or is it earlier still? And then, something else: was the cuneiform script of Assyria phonetic or hieroglyphic?
  I believe that there too it is possible to read the sounds, for quite a number of names given in the Bible have been set right and it has been found that there were deformations: Nabuchodonsor, for example.
  --
  Yes, that seems strange to me. For a book came to my hands in which the names had been restored, and had become a little queer! But still, there must have been a certain way of pronouncing them. I mean, does any other human language go back further than the earliest Sanskrit?
  I dont know the dates of the earliest language.
  And one last thing: is this hieroglyphic Egyptian language related to the Chaldean line or to the Aryan? There are Sanskrit roots in all the languages. That was precisely what I wanted to ask.
  I read somewhere that the priests of Egypt used to give initiation with mantras.
  --
  A few Sanskrit words.
  There are Sanskrit rootswith some distortionsin all languages. And there is a very old tradition claiming to be older than the two bifurcating lines, Aryan and Chaldean. But Greek, for instance, which is relatively recent, is it a language of Aryan or Chaldean origin?
  Greek is entirely Aryan.

1957-04-17 - Transformation of the body, #Questions And Answers 1957-1958, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
    Perfection is the true aim of all culture, the spiritual and psychic, the mental, the vital and it must be the aim of our physical culture also. If our seeking is for a total perfection of the being, the physical part of it cannot be left aside; for the body is the material basis, the body is the instrument which we have to use. arram khalu dharmasdhanam, says the old Sanskrit adage,the body is the means of fulfilment of dharma, and dharma means every ideal which we can propose to ourselves and the law of its working out and its action. A total perfection is the ultimate aim which we set before us, for our ideal is the Divine Life which we wish to create here, the life of the Spirit fulfilled on earth, life accomplishing its own spiritual transformation even here on earth in the conditions of the material universe. That cannot be unless the body too undergoes a transformation, unless its action and functioning attain to a supreme capacity and the perfection which is possible to it or which can be made possible.
    The Supramental Manifestation, SABCL, Vol. 16, p. 5

1964 02 05 - 98, #On Thoughts And Aphorisms, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But then, when you have had the experience very sincerely that is, when you are not fooling yourselfit is necessarily only one point, one way of saying the thing, thats all. And it cannot be more than that. Besides, it is very easy to observe that when you are in the habit of using a particular language, it comes in that language; for me it always comes either in English or in French, it does not come in Chinese or in Japanese! The words are inevitably English or French; and sometimes there is a Sanskrit word but that is because, physically, I learnt Sanskrit. I have occasionally heardnot physically Sanskrit pronounced by another being; but it does not crystallise, it remains nebulous; and when I come back to an entirely material consciousness, I remember a vague sound, not a precise word. Therefore, it is always an individual angle from the very moment it is formulated.
   You must have a kind of very austere sincerity. You are seized with enthusiasm, because the experience brings an extraordinary power: the Power is there it is there, before the words, and it diminishes with the words but the Power is there and with this Power you feel very universal, you have the feeling: It is a universal revelationyes, it is a universal revelation, but when you put it into words, it is no longer universal; then it is relevant only for minds that are built to understand this way of speaking. The Force is behind, but you have to go beyond the words.

1.jda - My heart values his vulgar ways (from The Gitagovinda), #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Barbara Stoler Miller Original Language Sanskrit My heart values his vulgar ways, Refuses to admit my rage, Feels strangely elated, and keeps denying his guilt. When he steals away without me To indulge his craving For more young women, My perverse heart Only wants Krishna back. What can I do? I reach the lonely forest hut where he secretly lies at night. My trembling eyes search for him as he laughs in a mood of passion. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. I shy from him when we meet; he coaxes me with flattering words. I smile at him tenderly as he loosens the silken cloth on my hips. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. I fall on the bed of tender ferns; he lies on my breasts forever. I embrace him, kiss him; he clings to me drinking my lips. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. My eyes close languidly as I feel the flesh quiver on his cheek. My body is moist with sweat; he is shaking from the wine of lust. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. I murmur like a cuckoo; he masters love's secret rite. My hari is a tangle of wilted flowers; my breasts bear his nailmarks. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. Jewel anklets ring at my feet as he reaches the height of passion. My belt falls noisily; he draws back my hair to kiss me. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. I savor passion's joyful time; his lotus eyes are barely open. My body falls like a limp vine; Madhu's foe delights in my love. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. Jayadeva sings about Radha's fantasy of making love with Madhu's killer. Let the story of a lonely cowherdess spread joy in his graceful play. Friend, bring Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! I've gone mad with waiting for his fickle love to change. The enchanting flute in his hand Lies fallen under coy glances; Sweat of love wets his cheeks; His bewildered face is smiling -- When Krishna sees me watching him Playing in the forest In a crowd of village beauties, I feel the joy of desire. Wind from a lakeside garden Coaxing buds on new asoka branches Into clusters of scarlet flowers Is only fanning the flames to burn me. This mountain Of new mango blossoms Humming with roving bumblebees Is no comfort to me now, freind. [1994.jpg] -- from Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller <
1.jda - Raga Gujri, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Nirmal Dass Original Language Sanskrit Primal, All-pervasive, Unrivaled, Unchanging, First Mover, Hoard of virtue, All-powerful, Beyond creation, Incomprehensible, Forever present. Only Ram's name can entice the heart. Repeat this always: His name is ambrosia, it is the true reality. Remember His name and suffering shall vanish. Remember His name and birth, old age, death shall not touch you. If you wish to defeat Yama and his hordes, seek honor, peace and goodness. The present, the past, the future are all transitory and fleeting -- only He is everlasting and infinite. Forsake all lusts; do not look longingly upon what others posses and hold -- it is not fitting. Abandon all evil deeds and all evil thoughts. Go and seek the refuge of Chakradhar. Experience for yourself Hari's love through holiness, through right deeds, through right words. What use is yoga? What good is the world? What good is giving alms, what good penance? Adore Gobind, Gobind, O mortal, for He is the source of all spiritual power. Openly, without hesitation, Jayadeva comes seeking His refuge -- for He existed in the past, He exists today. He abides in all things. [2184.jpg] -- from Songs of the Saints from the Adi Granth, Translated by Nirmal Dass

1.jda - Raga Maru, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Nirmal Dass Original Language Sanskrit I drew up breath through my left nostril, fixed it at the bridge of my nose, and then forced out that breath through the right nostril, while repeating "Om" sixteen times. I broke the strength of my weak heart, steadied my inconstant spirit, and gave form to my inchoate mind -- thus did I drink ambrosia. O my heart, sing the praises of God the primal -- thus shall you lessen the difference between you and Him. I worshipped the Worshipful, and trusted the Trustworthy -- like water can easily blend with water. Jayadeva says, I praised the victorious Deva, and found that Brahma who Himself has no desires, who is lost forever in the vastness of His own self. [2184.jpg] -- from Songs of the Saints from the Adi Granth, Translated by Nirmal Dass <
1.jda - When he quickens all things (from The Gitagovinda), #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Barbara Stoler Miller Original Language Sanskrit When he quickens all things To create bliss in the world, His soft black sinuous lotus limbs Begin the festival of love And beautiful cowherd girls wildly Wind him in their bodies. Friend, in spring young Hari plays Like erotic mood incarnate. [1994.jpg] -- from Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller <
1.jda - When spring came, tender-limbed Radha wandered (from The Gitagovinda), #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Barbara Stoler Miller Original Language Sanskrit When spring came, tender-limbed Radha wandered Like a flowering creeper in the forest wilderness, Seeking Krishna in his many haunts. The god of love increased her ordeal, Tormenting her with fevered thoughts, And her friend sang to heighten the mood. Soft sandal mountain winds caress quivering vines of clove. Forest huts hum with droning bees and crying cuckoos. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Lonely wives of travelers whine in love's mad fantasies. Bees swarm over flowers clustered to fill mimosa branches. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Tamala trees' fresh leaves absorb strong scents of deer musk. Flame-tree petals, shining nails of love, tear at young hearts. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Gleaming saffron flower pistils are golden scepters of Love. Trumpet flowers like wanton bees are arrows in Love's quiver. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Tender buds bloom into laughter as creatures abandon modesty. Cactus spikes pierce the sky to wound deserted lovers. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Scents of twining creepers mingle with perfumes of fresh garlands. Intimate bonds with young things bewilder even hermit hearts. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Budding mango trees tremble from the embrace of rising vines. Brindaban forest is washed by meandering Jumna river waters. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Jayadeva's song evokes the potent memory of Hari's feet, Coloring the forest in springtime mood heightened by Love's presence. When spring's mood is rich, Hari roams here To dance with young women, friend -- A cruel time for deserted lovers. Wind perfumes the forest with fine pollen Shaken loose from newly blossomed jasmine As it blows Love's cactus-fragrant breath To torture every heart it touches here. Crying sounds of cuckoos, mating on mango shoots Shaken as bees seek honey scents of opening buds, Raise fever in the ears of lonely travelers -- Somehow they survive these days By tasting the mood of lovers' union In climaxing moments of meditation. [1994.jpg] -- from Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller <
1.jda - You rest on the circle of Sris breast (from The Gitagovinda), #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Barbara Stoler Miller Original Language Sanskrit You rest on the circle of Sri's breast, Wearing your earrings, Fondling wanton forest garlands. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! The sun's jewel light encircles you As you break through the bond of existence -- A wild Himalayan goose on lakes in minds of holy men. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! You defeat the venomous serpent Kaliya, Exciting your Yadu kinsmen Like sunlight inciting lotuses to bloom. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! You ride your fierce eagle Garuda To battle demons Madhu and Mura and Naraka, Leaving the other goods free to play. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Watching with long omniscient lotus-petal eyes, You free us from bonds of existence, Preserving life in the world's three realms. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Janaka's daughter Sita adorns you. You conquer demon Dusana. You kill ten-headed Ravana in battle. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Your beauty is fresh as rain clouds. You hold the mountain to churn elixir from the sea. Your eyes are night birds drinking from Sri's moon face. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Poet Jayadeva joyously sings This song of invocation In an auspicious prayer. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! As he rests in Sri's embrace, On the soft slope of her breast, The saffroned chest of Madhu's killer Is stained with red marks of passion And sweat from fatigue of tumultuous loving. May his broad chest bring you pleasure too! [1994.jpg] -- from Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller <
1.snk - In Praise of the Goddess, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by W. Norman Brown Slender as a streak of lightning, composed of the essence of sun, moon and fire, situated above the six lotuses, the manifestation of you in the forest of great lotuses, those with mind free of stain and illusion who view it, mighty ones, experience a flood of supreme joy. Let my idle chatter be the muttering of prayer, my every manual movement the execution of ritual gesture, my walking a ceremonial circumambulation, my eating and other acts the rite of sacrifice, my lying down prostration in worship, my every pleasure enjoyed with dedication of myself, let whatever activity is mine be some form of worship of you. Bearing a mark of vermilion so that the impenetrable darkness of your thick locks with the hosts of their beauties makes it seem like an imprisoned ray of the new-risen sun, may it bring welfare to us, as though the flood of beauty of your face had a channel to flow in, the streak of which is the part in your hair. Your right eye, because it has the sun as its essence, gives birth to the day; Your left eye, which has the moon as its substance, produces the night; Your third eye, which resembles a golden lotus slightly opened, creates the twilight intervening between day and night. [2701.jpg] -- from A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry, Edited by A. N. D. Haksar <
1.ww - Stone Gate Temple in the Blue Field Mountains, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Willis Barnstone Original Language Chinese Creeks and summits are brilliant at sunset. I laze in a boat, my way in the wind's hands. Watching wild landscapes I forget distance and come to the water's edge. Gazing at lovely far woods and clouds I guess I've lost my way. How could I know this lucid stream would turn, leading me into mountains? I abandon my boat, pick up a light staff and come upon something wonderful, four or five old monks in contemplation, enjoying the shade of pines and cypresses. Before the forest dawns they read Sanskrit. Their nightly meditation quiets the peaks. Here even shepherd boys know the Dao. Woodcutters bring in worldly news. They sleep at night in the woods with incense, on mats clean as jade. Their robes are steeped in valley fragrances; the stone cliffs shine under a mountain moon. I fear I will lose this refuge forever so at daybreak I fix it in my mind. People of Peach Tree Spring goodbye. I'll be back when flowers turn red. [1508.jpg] -- from To Touch the Sky: Poems of Mystical, Spiritual & Metaphysical Light, Translated by Willis Barnstone <
20.01 - Charyapada - Old Bengali Mystic Poems, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Sri Aurobindo refers to the same dual phenomenon as "aspiration from below" and "Grace from above". Emptiness or Neutral: the original word"pulin" is taken by the Sanskrit commentator as representing the neuter. Evidently it means the Void in which all creation ceases, the sun and the moon being the motors of creation
   A smooth, clean pathway.

2.01 - On Books, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   It is asserted that one "Bhasker Shastri Joshi gave him lessons in Sanskrit and Gujarati." Sri Aurobindo did not learn Sanskrit from anyone at Baroda. He read the Mahabharata by himself and also read works of Kalidas and one drama of Bhavabhuti as well as Ramayana.
   It is stated that Sri Aurobindo's patriotism got the religious colour by his contact with one Swami Hamsa. Swami Hamsa had nothing to do with his nationalism. He was a Hathayogi and Sri Aurobindo attended his lecture in the palace on invitation. He did not meet him at his place.

2.02 - Brahman, Purusha, Ishwara - Maya, Prakriti, Shakti, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  6 The word for creation in Sanskrit means a loosing or putting forth of what is in the being.
  We see that the Absolute, the Self, the Divine, the Spirit, the Being is One; the Transcendental is one, the Cosmic is one: but we see also that beings are many and each has a self, a spirit, a like yet different nature. And since the spirit and essence of things is one, we are obliged to admit that all these many must be that One, and it follows that the One is or has become many; but how can the limited or relative be the Absolute and how can man or beast or bird be the Divine Being? But in erecting this apparent contradiction the mind makes a double error. It is thinking in the terms of the mathematical finite unit which is sole in limitation, the one which is less than two and can become two only by division and fragmentation or by addition and multiplication; but this is an infinite Oneness, it is the essential and infinite Oneness which can contain the hundred and the thousand and the million and billion and trillion. Whatever astronomic or more than astronomic figures you heap and multiply, they cannot overpass or exceed that Oneness; for, in the language of the Upanishad, it moves not, yet is always far in front when you would pursue and seize it. It can be said of it that it would not be the infinite Oneness if it were not capable of an infinite multiplicity; but that does not mean that the One is plural or can be limited or described as the sum of the Many: on the contrary, it can be the infinite Many because it exceeds all limitation or description by multiplicity and exceeds at the same time all limitation by finite conceptual oneness. Pluralism is an error because, though there is the spiritual plurality, the many souls are dependent and interdependent existences; their sum also is not the One nor is it the cosmic totality; they depend on the One and exist by its Oneness: yet the plurality is not unreal, it is the One Soul that dwells as the individual in these many souls and they are eternal in the One and by the one Eternal.

2.02 - Indra, Giver of Light, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Even the reader unacquainted with Sanskrit will be able, I think, to appreciate from this single example the reasons which justify the modern critical mind in refusing to accept
  Sayana as a reliable authority for the interpretation of the Vedic text.
  --
  The principle which Indra represents is Mind-Power released from the limits and obscurations of the nervous consciousness. It is this enlightened Intelligence which fashions right or perfect forms of thought or of action not deformed by the nervous impulses, not hampered by the falsehoods of sense. The image presented is that of a cow giving abundantly its yield to the milker of the herds. The word go means in Sanskrit both a cow and a ray of light. This double sense is used by the Vedic symbolists to suggest a double figure which was to them more than a figure; for light, in their view, is not merely an apt poetic image of thought, but is actually its physical form. Thus, the herds that are milked are the Herds of the Sun, - Surya, God of the revelatory and intuitive mind, or else of Dawn, the goddess who manifests the solar glory. The Rishi desires from Indra a daily increase of this light of Truth by his fuller activity pouring rays in a rich yield upon the receptive mind.
  The activity of the pure illuminated Intelligence is sustained and increased by the conscious expression in us of the delight in divine existence and divine activity typified by the Soma wine. As the Intelligence feeds upon it, its action becomes an intoxicated ecstasy of inspiration by which the rays come pouring abundantly and joyously in. "Light-giving indeed is the intoxication of thee in thy rapture."

2.02 - The Bhakta.s Renunciation results from Love, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  Wherever there is any bliss, even though in the most sensual of things, there is a spark of.that Eternal Bliss which is the Lord Himself. Even in the lowest kinds of attraction there is the germ of. divine love. One of the names of the Lord in Sanskrit is Hari, and this means that He attracts all things to Himself. His is in fact the only attraction worthy of human hearts. Who can attract a soul really? Only He! Do you think dead matter can truly attract the soul? It never did, and never will. When you see a man going after a beautiful face, do, you think that it is the handful of arranged material molecules which really attracts the man? Not at all. Behind those material particles there must be and is the play of divine influence and divine love. The ignorant, man does not know it; but yet, consciously or unconsciously, he is attracted by it and it alone. So even the lowest forms of attraction derive their power from God Himself. None, O beloved, ever loved the husb and for the husbands sake; it is the tman, the Lord who is within, for whose sake the husb and is loved. Loving wives may know this or they may not; it is true all the same.
  None, O beloved, ever loved the wife for the wife's sake, but it is the Self in the wife that is loved. Similarly, no one loves a child or anything else in the world except on account of Him who is within. The Lord is the great magnet, and we are all like iron filings; we are being constantly attracted by Him, and all of us are struggling to reach Him. All this struggling of ours in this world is surely not intended for selfish ends. Fools do not know what they are doing: the work of their life is, after all, to approach the great magnet.

2.03 - The Purified Understanding, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  We must, however, consider deeply and clearly what we mean by the understanding and by its purification. We use the word as the nearest equivalent we can get in the English tongue to the Sanskrit philosophical term buddhi; therefore we exclude from it the action of the sense mind which merely consists of the recording of perceptions of all kinds without distinction whether they be right or wrong, true or mere illusory phenomena, penetrating or superficial. We exclude that mass of confused conception which is merely a rendering of these perceptions and is equally void of the higher principle of judgment and discrimination. Nor can we include that constant leaping current of habitual thought which does duty for understanding in the mind of the average unthinking man, but is only a constant repetition of habitual associations, desires, prejudices, prejudgments, received or inherited preferences, even though it may constantly enrich itself by a fresh stock of concepts streaming in from the environment and admitted without the challenge of the sovereign discriminating reason. Undoubtedly this is a sort of understanding which has been very useful in, the development of man from the animal; but it is only one remove above the animal mind; it is a half-animal reason subservient to habit, to desire and the senses and is of no avail in the search whether for scientific or philosophical or, spiritual knowledge. We have to go beyond it; its purification can only be effected either by dismissing or silencing it altogether or by transmuting it into the true understanding.
  By the understanding we mean that which at once perceives, judges and discriminates, the true reason of the human being not subservient to the senses, to desire or to the blind force of habit, but working in its own right for mastery, for knowledge. Certainly, the reason of man as he is at present does not even at its best act entirely in this free and sovereign fashion; but so far as it fails, it fails because it is still mixed with the lower half-animal action, because it is impure and constantly hampered and pulled down from its characteristic action. In its purity it should not be involved in these lower movements, but stand back from the object, and observe disinterestedly, put it in its right place in the whole by force of comparison, contrast, analogy, reason from its rightly observed data by deduction, induction, inference and holding all its gains in memory and supplementing them by a chastened and rightly-guided imagination view all in the light of a trained and disciplined judgment. Such is the pure intellectual understanding of which disinterested observation, judgment and reasoning are the law and characterising action.

2.04 - Agni, the Illumined Will, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The Sanskrit expression is here a kr.n.udhvam. The preposition gives the idea of a drawing upon oneself of something outside and the working or shaping it out in our own consciousness. A kr. corresponds to the converse expression, a bhu, used of the gods when they approach the mortal with the contact of Immortality and, divine form of godhead falling on form of humanity, "become", take shape, as it were, in him. The
  282

2.05 - Apotheosis, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
  [Within]" (a and i combine into e in Sanskrit; hence Avalokitesvara). See
  W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Toga and Secret Doctrine (Oxford University
  --
  trived from a literal Latinization of the Sanskrit "mnyna"; nir = "out, forth,
  outward, out of, out from, away, away from"; vna = "blown"; nirvana =

2.05 - VISIT TO THE SINTHI BRAMO SAMAJ, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Their host entered the room and saluted Sri Ramakrishna. He was a pious man and devoted to the Master. The pundit's son was still there. The Master asked if the Panini, the Sanskrit grammar, was taught in the schools. He further asked about the Nyaya and the Vednta philosophies. The host did not show much interest in the discussion and changed the subject.
  HOST: "Revered sir, what is the way for us?"

2.08 - ALICE IN WONDERLAND, #God Exists, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  but there things in Sanskrit language? What is Shabda, Sparsa, Rupa, Rasa and Gandha but conceptual precedents of the hard things called earth, water, fire, air and ether including our physical bodies? We can imagine we have difficulties in meditation, why we cannot do Japa, why we cannot do prayer. We get angry for little things and we fly at the throat of another brother,
  because we are yet to be spiritual.

2.08 - On Non-Violence, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Disciple: We had a funny argument about language the other day in course of which Upen Banerji said that Sanskrit was derived from Bengali! (Laughter)
   Disciple: He could not have seriously meant it. He must have meant it as a joke. Probably he wanted to impress all particularly the non-Bengalis. But the strange thing is that someone has recently made an effort to prove that Sanskrit is derived from Tamil! (Laughter)
   Disciple: Everyone can say something absurd because no one is there to put in a word for Sanskrit.
   Sri Aurobindo (turning to a disciple) : Why don't you try to prove that Sanskrit was derived from Gujarati?
   Disciple: Yes, my friend always puts forth the fact that Krishna lived in Gujarat.

2.08 - The Sword, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Note that etymologically the word sun. "together with," is the Sanskrit Sam; and the Hebrew ADNI is the Sanskrit ADHI.
  The phrase "together with the Lord," is then literally identical with the word Samadhi, which is the Sanskrit name of the phenomenon described by Saint Paul, this union of the ego and the non-ego, subject and object, this chymical marriage, and thus identical with the symbolism of the Rosy Cross, under a slightly different aspect.
  And since marriage can only take place between one and one, it is evident that no idea can thus be united, unless it is simple.

2.09 - On Sadhana, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Sri Aurobindo: It is likely. In the past, men used sounds to convey sensations and each word expressed many things. As mind developed, ideas began to be expressed and each word was bound down to convey only one meaning. This evolution of language is very clearly visible in the history of Sanskrit and at one time I proceeded far enough into the study of the subject.
   Disciple: How can the general atmosphere of humanity affect the Sadhana of the individual or the group?

2.1.02 - Classification of the Parts of the Being, #Letters On Yoga I, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  1. The soul and the psychic being are practically the same, except that even in things which have not developed a psychic being, there is still a spark of the Divine which can be called the soul. The psychic being is called in Sanskrit the Purusha in the heart or the Chaitya Purusha. (The psychic being is the soul developing in the evolution.)
  2. The distinction between Purusha and Prakriti is according to the Sankhya System - the Purusha is the silent witness consciousness which observes the actions of Prakriti - Prakriti is the force of Nature which one feels as doing all the actions, when one gets rid of the sense of the ego as doer. Then there is the realisation of these two entities. This is quite different from the psychic being. It is felt in the mind, vital, physical - most easily in the mind where the mental being (Purusha) is seated and controls the others (manomayah. purus.ah. pran.a-sarra-neta).

21.02 - Gods and Men, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   I begin with a Sanskrit proverb: it is not exactly a proverb but a witty saying, half in jest, half in earnest. You will see however the significance it carries. Perhaps, there is a story hanging about it. You know that the Sanskrit pundits, perhaps all pundits, are proverbially supposed to be very unpractical. That is to say, they are so much engrossed in their study, in their books, in abstract things that they lose their sense of the material world, of the external things. So, once it seems, a pundit wanted to know what a pig was: "I have heard of a pig, a boar, what is it? I have not seen it." Someone answered: "It is an animal." "What kind of animal?" Then another pundit to show his erudition answered: "A pig is an enlarged mouse, a mouse become big - musika-vrddhi; or otherwise, it is an elephant become small, a diminution or reduction of an elephant - gaja-ksaya."Our pundit felt illumined and exclaimed, "Yes, yes, now I understand, now I understand."
   So, taking up this image I may say that man also occupies an intermediate position in the order of creation: on one side he is an enlarged animal (not in body, however, always), a developed, elevated animal; on the other side he is a diminutive, a diminished god. The story is very interesting, how man has developed, how he has come out of the animal, you must have read something of this story of evolution; but more interesting is the other part of the story, how God or a god has reduced himself to the stature of a human being.

2.10 - Conclusion, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  Further proof-reading of the Sanskrit is almost certainly necessary as my knowledge of that language is minimal. This document uses the Sanskrit 98 font from Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, Rishikesh, India, with a few additions.
  This work is in the public domain; copy and distribute at will.

2.10 - THE MASTER AND NARENDRA, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "Every now and then, the Master cast his gracious look on Narendra. He said, "Have you now become an experienced physician?" Quoting a Sanskrit verse he said, "He who has killed only a hundred patients is a novice in medicine; but he becomes an expert after killing a thousand!"
  Was the Master hinting that Narendra, even though still young, had had many painful experiences of life? Narendra smiled and kept silent.

2.1.5.2 - Languages, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Hindi is good only for those who belong to a Hindi-speaking province. Sanskrit is good for all Indians.
  ***
  I have the deepest respect for Indian languages and continue to study Sanskrit when I have time.
  ***
  The Sanskrit ought to be the national language of India.
  Blessings.
  --
  On certain issues where You and Sri Aurobindo have given direct answers, we (Sri Aurobindos Action) are also specific, as for instance on the language issue where You have said for the country that (1) the regional language should be the medium of instruction, (2) Sanskrit should be the national language, and (3) English should be the international language.
  Are we correct in giving these replies to such questions?
  --
  (3) Simplified Sanskrit to replace Hindi as the language of India
  (4) English as the international language.

2.15 - On the Gods and Asuras, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Disciple: What is the word for them in Sanskrit?
   Sri Aurobindo: What are called bhtas seem most nearly to correspond to them.

2.17 - December 1938, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Sri Aurobindo: That is legend. I could not have said so. Of course, I wrote many memoranda for the Maharaja. Generally he used to indicate the lines and I used to follow them. But I myself was not much interested in administration. My interest lay outside, in Sanskrit literature and in the national movement.
   When I came to Baroda from England I found out what the Congress was at that time and formed a contempt for it. Then I came in touch with Deshpande, Tilak, Madhav Rao and others. Deshpande got me to write a series in the Indu Prakash (of which he was an editor). There I strongly criticised the Congress for its moderate policy. The articles were so fiery that M. G. Ranade, the great Maharashtrian leader, asked the proprietor of the paper (through Deshpande) not to allow such seditious things to appear in the paper, otherwise he might be arrested and imprisoned. Deshpande approached me with the news and requested me to write something less violent. I then began to write about the philosophy of politics, leaving aside the practical part of politics. But I soon got disgusted with it.

2.18 - January 1939, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Disciple: But I think he is asking for blessings. The post office in receiving the Sanskrit word shis has turned it into "ashes". (Laughter)
   Disciple: There is also X's recent telegram.

2.19 - Feb-May 1939, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Disciple: There is a criticism of Pujalal's poetry by the Gujarati poet critic Khabardar. He says, it is not "rooted in the soil", too Sanskritised and not written for the masses. English poetry, hesays, is founded on the Anglo-Saxon language.
   Sri Aurobindo: Not at all. Poets from Shakespeare and Milton to Shelley and others did not write in the Anglo-Saxon language except William Morris, who consciously used Anglo-Saxon words. They followed Latin and Greek vocabulary. And this idea of writing for the masses is stupid. Poetry was never written for the masses. It is only a minority that read and appreciate poetry. The definition of modern poetry is what the poet himself and a few of his admirers around him understand. Shakespeare and Milton are not mass poets.

2.2.01 - The Problem of Consciousness, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Being-Consciousness to carry in them an eternal and infinite energy that creates, as we say, expresses, as the Sanskrit term better puts it, the universe, then the bliss of eternal conscious being would contain in itself a bliss of eternal energy of consciousness and being finding itself in the joy of self-expression, self-manifestation, self-creation. That would be a sufficient explanation of the appearance of a phenomenal universe, there is in fact no other that is satisfactory. These then are there the three or the four terms underlying all the secret of existence, - Being,
  Consciousness-Energy, Bliss of being, Ananda.

2.25 - List of Topics in Each Talk, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   | 18-04-23 | Gandhian Ahimsa, Vasishtha and Kamadhenu; Hindu-Muslim unity; Sanskrit |
   | 23-07-23 | Satyagraha, Puritanism, Kshatriya spirit; suffering and fanaticism; Gandhi and labour problems; Satyagraha and Prahlad; political dogmatism |

2.26 - The Ascent towards Supermind, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light; it is in us a projecting blade, edge or point of a far-off supermind light entering into and modified by some intermediate truth-mind substance above us and, so modified, again entering into and very much blinded by our ordinary or ignorant mind substance; but on that higher level to which it is native its light is unmixed and therefore entirely and purely veridical, and its rays are not separated but connected or massed together in a play of waves of what might almost be called in the Sanskrit poetic figure a sea or mass of "stable lightnings". When this original or native Intuition begins to descend into us in answer to an ascension of our consciousness to its level or as a result of our finding of a clear way of communication with it, it may continue to come as a play of lightning-flashes, isolated or in constant action; but at this stage the judgment of reason becomes quite inapplicable, it can only act as an observer or registrar understanding or recording the more luminous intimations, judgments and discriminations of the higher power. To complete or verify an isolated intuition or discriminate its nature, its application, its limitations, the receiving consciousness must rely on another completing intuition or be able to call down a massed intuition capable of putting all in place. For once the process of the change has begun, a complete transmutation of the stuff and activities of the mind into the substance, form and power of intuition is imperative; until then, so long as the process of consciousness depends upon the lower intelligence serving or helping out or using the intuition, the result can only be a survival of the mixed Knowledge-Ignorance uplifted or relieved by a higher light and force acting in its parts of Knowledge.
  Intuition has a fourfold power. A power of revelatory truth- seeing, a power of inspiration or truth-hearing, a power of truth-touch or immediate seizing of significance, which is akin to the ordinary nature of its intervention in our mental intelligence, a power of true and automatic discrimination of the orderly and exact relation of truth to truth, - these are the fourfold potencies of Intuition. Intuition can therefore perform all the action of reason - including the function of logical intelligence, which is to work out the right relation of things and the right relation of idea with idea, - but by its own superior process and with steps that do not fail or falter. It takes up also and transforms into its own substance not only the mind of thought, but the heart and life and the sense and physical consciousness: already all these have their own peculiar powers of intuition derivative from the hidden Light; the pure power descending from above can assume them all into itself and impart to these deeper heartperceptions and life-perceptions and the divinations of the body a greater integrality and perfection. It can thus change the whole consciousness into the stuff of intuition; for it brings its own greater radiant movement into the will, into the feelings and emotions, the life-impulses, the action of sense and sensation, the very workings of the body consciousness; it recasts them in the light and power of truth and illumines their knowledge and their ignorance. A certain integration can thus take place, but whether it is a total integration must depend on the extent to which the new light is able to take up the subconscient and penetrate the fundamental Inconscience. Here the intuitive light and power may be hampered in its task because it is the edge of a delegated and modified supermind, but does not bring in the whole mass or body of the identity knowledge. The basis of Inconscience in our nature is too vast, deep and solid to be altogether penetrated, turned into light, transformed by an inferior power of the Truth-nature.

30.01 - World-Literature, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   REAL poetry, the acme of poetical art, says Victor Hugo, is characterised by immensity alone. That is why Aeschylus, Lucretius, Shakespeare and Corneille had conquered his heart. Had he been acquainted with Sanskrit literature he would have included Valmiki and the Vedic seers. As a matter of fact, what we want to derive from poetry or any other artistic creation is a glimpse of the Infinite and the Eternal. When the heart opens wide, it soars aloft to clasp the whole universe with its outspread wings. In the absence of the spirit of universality any work of art, however fascinating, exq1Jisite, subtle or deep, is incomplete; it betrays an imperfection. And where this element of immensity is present, we get something superior even if it contains nothing else; whether it is charged with a grand significance or not, we get something that surpasses all other virtues and we see our heart full to the brim. Whatever be the matter, the, subject, the thought, the emotion or anything else, that does not touch the core of poetry. Through all these or reaching beyond them what is required is a glimpse of the vast, the waves of delight pervading the universe.
   When we read these lines of Shakespeare,
  --
   It is said that Valmiki is the pioneer poet in Sanskrit literature. In our Bengali literature it is Vidyapati, nay, to be more precise and accurate, it is Chandidas who is the father of poetry. He raised the natural vital experiences to the level of the psychic. He has transformed even colloquial expressions into a deeper rhythm and flow. But even theirs was only the initial stage that required a long time to develop fullness and maturity. In truth, this is the third stage we have already referred to. Throughout the era of the Vaishnava poets, coming down to the time of Bharat Chandra the same line of sadhana, of spiritual practice, continued. The Bengali poets who flourished after Chandidas have hardly made any new contri bution, they have not unveiled another layer of the soul of the poetic genius of Bengali literature. What they have done amounts to an external refinement and orderliness. The literature of this age has tried to transcend the ordinary thoughts, i.e.,the manner of ordinary thinking, and has considerably succeeded too; still the presence of imperfection, the signs of a lower flight loom large there. We do not find there - in the words of Matthew Arnold - 'a humanity variously and fully developed' or a multifarious free scope of the universal life such as we have already mentioned.
   This very achievement of breaking down the limited movements within a narrow compass and spreading it out into the vast has been won by Madhusudan, Bankim and Rabindranath in Bengali literature during the current period of English influence. The day Bankim produced his artistic beauty, 'Kapalkundala', and Madhusudan penned -
  --
   So we find in literature another ideal which seeks to remove all the mist, the narrow horizon of the heart and emotions and stand supported by the mind and intelligence. And this ideal aims at a quiet and steady purity and wideness of thought. It is not possible for lawlessness, impurity, strife and narrowness to exist in the domain of thought in the same measure as it is possible in that of the vital being and the emotions. When we ascend to this domain we find a natural indifference or aloofness; we find a poise in a wider and freer world overriding the boundaries of an ignorant ego and a bounded personality. In the ancient literatures - such as Greek, Latin and Sanskrit - there is no such emotionalism as indulged, for example, by the romantics, noting of that indiscriminate and uncontrolled, that dark and confused passion born of rajasic inspiration. The main theme of those ancient literatures is objectivisation and generalisation, and so, wideness, vastness and universality are natural to them. In other words, a vitalistic literature is not classical literature; classicism and the classics bring in higher terms of literary creation. But is that the highest?
   We say, "No." Intellect may anoint the body of literature with a kind of sattwicquality, poise and grace; it may even make it rich with a diversity of manner and theme, yet this sattwicquality, this largeness and elevation, often lack what may be called depth and substance. Here we may get something of the rich smiling surface of the ocean, but not the real vastness, the infinity of the cosmic creation, its immeasurability. The literature which is formed with the help of thought and mental discernment, brain-power and intellectual skill may be, as we have already said, classical, it is not classic - it is not world-literature;it cannot focus and show the universal Muse, the figure of the cosmic beauty. It may at best give the frame-work of world-literature and never the inner lan vital,the secret soul of world literature. For the sole function of intellect is to place a thing in a systematic form and not to discover or reveal anything. Intellect and intelligence play with the materials touched by the senses and concretely felt by the heart. So, in the action of intellect, there is always a sense of division, want and deficiency - elements that are inherent in the gross senses and emotions upon which the intellect is based after all. In fact, the very function of the intellect is to see things divided and separated. It sees and understands the universe by analysing it, dissecting it. It fails to see the whole thing all at once, that is to say, simultaneously. It can never grasp the whole in a vast unity. Discerning intellect is, as the Upanishad says, a golden cover on the face of Truth, it cannot reveal the Truth in its reality, what it shows is a mere similitude or semblance of the Truth, its external grandeur, a remote expression of the Truth, and its divided and scattered rays. We can, of course, with the aid of intelligence form a workable acquaintance with the world. But that is not a true union. Based upon that ground alone classicism may easily become a store-house of lucid and decorative words and moral lessons, but it would find it extremely difficult to bring out the secret of things, the profound oneness with the universe. It is a very superficial judgment to say that the influence of the intellectual faculty, the power of quiet intelligence, is what made the Greek, Latin, Sanskrit literatures classics. A deeper light and power dwelling behind this intellectual faculty is the source of the glory of the ancient classics; the intellectual faculty is only an outer robe of that inner spirit.
   The Body, the Life and the Mind are only eternals. What is exclusively physical, vital or mental is mainly a field of difference, for it is a field of the finite. The Soul alone is the inner reality. And nothing but the Soul is the centre of the universe. The diversity and manifold particularities in the creation have their oneness and a vast and concrete harmony in the Soul. And if we realise this Soul we can easily and without fail embrace the universe. When That is known everything is known. In other words, not the gross perception of the senses, nor the impulse of emotions nor even the dexterity of thought but a divine vision or revelation is needed to create world-literature. This literature is neither realistic nor romantic nor even classical; it is revelatory. A particular thing when seen through revelation or divine vision no longer remains partial; it becomes integral, no more particular but universal. Time, place and subject become then embodiments of the Law of the Infinite, of the Rhythm of the all-encompassing Self, for it is only revelation, direct vision that can give the quintessence of all truths, the profoundest beauty of all the beauties.

30.04 - Intuition and Inspiration in Art, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It may be said that to a great extent in the East the whole of Sanskrit literature was founded on intuition. In the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Ramayana and even in the Mahabharata, very often we find instances where the rein of knowledge has prevented the emotion and the zeal of the heart from running riot. In fact the speciality of Indian art does not lie so much in the play of colours as in the drawing of lines. Colour gives the tinge of the vital urge, while it is the lines that create here the real beauty by circumscribing or delimiting the object in view. Indian sculpture and architecture embody, the quintessential spirit and gracefulness of intuition.
   Perhaps in India the Vaishnavas or the followers of the path of devotion have replaced intuition by inspiration. It is by their influence and at their hands that literature based on inspiration has become so rich, eloquent and intense. Western scholars say that the Aryans were mostly intellectual, principally guided by reason; it is the non-Aryans, the Dravidians, who have introduced the element of emotion into Indian culture. The Aryans generally followed the path of knowledge and the South Indians were predominantly devotional. Perhaps there is some truth in this saying. The Buddhists were also to some extent responsible for the change in the even and tranquil tenor of Aryan culture. In the beginning the Buddhists, like the Vedic Aryans, laid the greatest stress on knowledge. Later on, when Mahayana, the Great Path, came into vogue, there commenced the worship of the Buddha. When the compassion of the Buddha was recognised as the principal trait of Buddhism we moved away from intuition and resorted to inspiration.

30.05 - Rhythm in Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   At the very outset I shall speak of Sanskrit, the mother of languages which first gave voice to the Word, and here I shall take as its representative the great poet Kalidasa. You have no doubt heard about his Meghaduta.The whole of this Meghadutais composed in a wonderful metrical form, and how sweet is the very name given to this metre, mandakranta;the name itself carries in its sound and movement the suggestion of its rhythm. Mandakrantaliterally means, "one that moves with slow deliberate steps." But this does not imply a simple rolling motion. The steps move with a faster beat at appropriate intervals, purposely in order to accentuate the general slowness. The results have been astonishing. Slow motion in verse implies the use of long vowels or double measures. Now listen to this movement in mandakranta:
   kascit kanta / -viraha-guruna / svadhikara-pramatta...
  --
   There is another metrical form, the sloka,which is very familiar to Sanskrit. We may call it the basic form of Sanskrit verse and its backbone as it were. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are composed for the most part in this metre; the Gita (which forms part of the Mahabharata) is almost wholly in this metre, as in the opening lines,
   dharma-ksetre kuruksetre samaveta yuyutsavah
  --
   There is not much rigidity here about the distribution of long and short vowels. All that is required is that the fifth syllable of the foot must be short and the sixth long; this is enough. This metre is called anustubhby the Sanskrit prosodists.
   It really belongs to the category of the payarmetre of our Bengali. Payaris the basic foundation or backbone of the metrical structure in Bengali. You know its form: it is a couplet (like the Hindi doha),each line counting fourteen letters, simple or conjunct, the letters being normally arranged in groups of eight and six. Bengali prosody does not recognise long or short syllables; this is made good by the rhymes at the end. To take an example:
  --
   Like the payarin Bengali and the anustubhof Sanskrit, English has its iambic pentameter. This term implies that each line should consist of five feet. In place of the variations of length in the vowel sounds as in Sanskrit, it has its own characteristic variation of accent and stress. The iambic has a foot of two syllables each; the first has a light stress being unaccented, the second bears the accent. Take for example, the line:
   The cur/few tolls/the knell/of part/ing day,
  --
   Since I have spoken a little about some of the metres in Sanskrit, I should now say something about Greek and Latin. Just as in Sanskrit the syllables are measured according to their quantity, on which the metres are based and their rhythm, so does Greek or Latin verse depend on the variations of vowel length. But there is a difference. The metrical foot in Greek or Latin prosody is a fixed unit, as in English, and it consists of three syllables long or short in varying combinations. In Sanskrit, as we have seen, mandakrantahas feet of varying lengths, of four, six and seven syllables each; the anustubhhas four-syllables feet, but various other combinations are possible; for in Sanskrit it is the syllable that forms the basic unit.
   The best-known measure in Latin or Greek is the hexameter. In this metre the foot consists of three syllables, one of which is long and the other two are short, though their positions may vary. The characteristic movement of the hexameter depends especially on a particular type of foot, the dactyl, with its long-short-short arrangement. That is to say, this foot of three syllables has a long first syllable followed by two short ones, exactly as in the English words, "wonderful" or "beautiful" (pronounced won'-der-ful, beau'-ti-ful). There is used in this hexameter another type of foot, the spondee, where the two short syllables of the dactyl are replaced by a long one. The last foot of this metre may end with a short or long syllable for the sake of the word-music or just to provide a variation. Now listen to this hexameter movement:
  --
   the rush of vowels suggests the dance of ripples, a sweep of the painter's brush or the flourish of the bow on violin strings. Latin has no doubt the strength of its consonants, but it has none of their harshness; there is here no immoderate use of the hard aspirates as we find in German. Sri Aurobindo used to say that the main feature of Latin was in its strength, of Greek its beauty, whereas Sanskrit could combine both beauty and strength.
   The hexameter moves on its six winged feet, but the music it makes is more heavenly than any murmuring of the bees. Critics in all climes have been charmed and taken captive by its rhythm and surge, its sweetness and opulence. Many attempts have been made in England to shape it in the mould of English verse. For quantity or measure in English prosody is of a very different type from what it is in Greek, Latin or Sanskrit. In these classical tongues, the vowels could be leng thened to a degree without deviating from the norm, whereas in English the long vowels are not so common and accent determines their quantity in large measure. The rhythm or music of English verse follows the pattern of stress. Sri Aurobindo wanted to refashion the hexameter in the style of English prosody, and whatever success has been achieved in this field is Sri Aurobindo's gift. For instance, his poem, Ahana,is written entirely in this metre:
   Vision de/lightful a/lone on the/hills whom the/
  --
   The metres in languages where the basic unit is the syllable (mainly ending in vowels but secondarily or partially with consonant-endings as well) have a slow flowing movement; ancient Greek, Latin and Sanskrit follow this line. French has continued in the main this tradition in modern Europe. On our part, in India, Bengali a language formed out of broken Sanskrit, has for the most part adopted this line. The staccato rhythm with its stress on accent has been accepted in Europe, on one hand in the German language, and on the other by its kindred, English (because of its Anglo Saxon structure). Thus, the celebrated German poet says in his well-known line,
   Warum sind denn die Rosen so blass

30.09 - Lines of Tantra (Charyapada), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Later on, he made the further discovery that there was a Sanskrit commentary on these poems, for without a commentary it is difficult to get at their true import. They abound in suggestive symbols and illustrations of a line of spiritual discipline. Another curious thing about these poems was that he could discover a complete translation of these poems in Tibetan. This in itself indicates the importance and influence of these verses. In fact, these are not ordinary poems. They have the power of the Mantra, they are records of spiritual experiences and are helps to their realisation. Another thing: several pages were found missing in the particular manuscript that the Pandit had discovered, with the result that one or two of the poems were not to be found at all and one or two others were available only in fragments. Luckily, the commentary in Sanskrit and the Tibetan translation were available for the entire series, and with their help the missing parts have been reconstructed in full.
   The spiritual discipline followed by these Siddhacharyas as also their culture were, as I have said, of a peculiar character. They did not follow the ordinary rules of conduct prevalent in society and normally accepted by all. There was no aura of tradition about them, like the aura that surrounds the Vedantic tradition; their science was not that of the learned and respectable upper strata of society, the Brahmin or the Kshatriya class. The science of which we speak here is an esoteric science; the path of spiritual discipline and inner practice to which it leads is not the Righth and but the Left-hand path. The Vedantist, one who follows the Vedantic path, says in clear terms: "That which is Thy Face turned to the Right, by That protect me", yat te daksnia-mukhamh tena mam pahi nityam.
   Vedanta is the path of Knowledge and of one who has the Knowledge; it is a Path of the awakened and enlightened intellect. Tantra, especially the Tantra of the Left-hand Path, has sought to guide and train man through another kind of discipline, along the lines of the vital, even the physical-vital movements that are common to all men the natural lines of the natural man. Buddha had proclaimed his message to the common man, in the Prakrit dialects understood by all; he did not address it to the cultured and learned intelligentsia, in Sanskrit, the language of learning. Tantra follows in its discipline this line of popular appeal. That is why we find it so popular particularly in the lower strata of society. The Prakrit texts of Tantra as well as the Charyapadavali eulogise the "untouchables" - the Radi, the Dom, the Bede, the Chandala and the Sabara, they occupy the chief place. It is however true that afterwards, when the learned elite came to realise the importance and utility of this line of spiritual discipline, they laid their hands on it and sought to turn it round towards the Right-hand Path.
   Thus, if Vedanta was the Path of the educated elite, Tantra was a discipline meant for the generality of men.

30.11 - Modern Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   From the point of view of technique, it has been said to be flawless. One likes to characterise these lines as doggerel in English. But they are not so. From the standard of modern appreciation they are really solemn poetry. Such sort of appreciation reminds us of the Sanskrit rhetorician's wit: What is an instance of a faultless sloka or verse? - Dugdham pivati marjarah(the cat drinks milk). - How? - A sloka must have four feet. Marjara(the cat) has them. A sloka must have sweetness or rasa(lit. juice). What can be there more sweet than milk?
   Let alone wit and humour. The real problem is not perhaps with the style and trend of colloquialism, but with something deeper. The question, no doubt, raises a special aspect, but that is a mere symptom or complexity of the disease. For the composition of all ancient poetry was neither artificial nor unnatural. Rather, the reverse is the truth. Matthew Arnold has given proof of the grand style in poetry. For example, Milton's

30.16 - Tagore the Unique, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   IT is no hyperbole to say that Tagore is to Bengali literature what Shakespeare is to English, Goe the to German, Tolstoy to Russian, or Dante to Italian and, to go into the remoter past, what Virgil was to Latin and Homer to Greek or, in our country, what Kalidasa was to ancient Sanskrit. Each of these stars of the first magnitude is a king, a paramount ruler in his own language and literature, and that for two reasons. First, whatever formerly was immature, undeveloped, has become after them mature, whatever was provincial or plebian has become universal and refined; whatever was too personal has come to be universal. The first miracle performed by these great figures was to turn a
   parochial language and a parochial literature into a world language and a world literature. The second was to unfold the inner strength and the deeper genius of the language to reveal and establish the nature and uniqueness of a nation's creative spirit as well as the basic principle of its evolution and culture. These two ways, one tending to expansion, the other to profundity, are in many cases mutually dependent and are often the result of a sudden or rapid outburst.

3.2.08 - Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  What three signs [of the Paramhansa]? If you refer to the four conditions (child, madman, demon, inert), it is not Ramakrishna who invented that. It is an old Sanskrit sloka, blonmdapicajaavat, describing the Paramhansa or rather the various forms of Paramhansahood. The Paramhansa is a particular grade of realisation, there are others supposed to be lower or higher.
  I have no objection to them [vital manifestations of love and bhakti] in their own place. But I must remind you that in my Yoga all vital movements must come under the control of the psychic and of the spiritual calm, knowledge and peace. If they conflict with the psychic or the spiritual control, they upset the balance and prevent the forming of the base of transformation. If unbalance is good for other paths, that is the business of those who follow them. It does not suit mine.

3.2.1 - Food, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  This [reaction of uneasiness after smelling food] is due to an acute consciousness and sensitiveness of the physical being, especially the vital physical. The sense of being fed by smell has become thereby very acute the feeding by smell is a well known thing, and there is the Sanskrit proverb, ghram ardhabhojanam, smell is a half eating. But this by itself would not produce the uneasiness, which must be due to an acute physical sensitiveness to the mass of ordinary human reactions concentrated about the food, greed etc. which fill the atmosphere. It does not look as if more than a very few of the sadhaks were free (even they mainly, not wholly) from these reactions; most seem to accept them as quite normal and proper in a life of Yoga!!
  It is good for the physical to be more and more conscious, but it should not be overpowered by the things of which it becomes aware or badly affected or upset by them. A strong equality and mastery and detachment must come in the nerves and body as in the mind, which will enable the physical to know and contact these things without feeling any disturbance; it should know and be conscious and reject and throw away the pressure of the movements in the atmosphere, not merely feel them and suffer.

33.03 - Muraripukur - I, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   This happened to be my first meeting with Barin. He received me with great kindness and had me seated next to him. I cannot now recall the details of the conversation we had, but perhaps there was nothing much to remember. One thing however I distinctly remember. He asked me if I had read the Gita. I said I had read it in parts. He handed me a copy and asked me to read aloud. I began reciting "Dharmakhetre Kurukhetre..." in a pure and undiluted Bengali style. He stopped me and cried out, "That won't do. One doesn't read Sanskrit here in the Bengali style. Listen, read like this." He gave a recital in the Hindi style, that is, with the pronunciation current in the other parts of India.
   That was my first lesson in Sanskrit pronounced in the Sanskrit way. Later I have heard the correct Sanskrit accent so often from Sri Aurobindo himself. I have heard him recite from the Veda, from the Upanishads, from the Gita. Today, I too do not read from Sanskrit in the Bengali way, even when reading from an article in Bengali.
   It was settled that I would join the Gardens and stay there, But I did not give up my room at the Mess. My books and papers and furniture - a bedstead and the table-lamp, for there was no electric light in those days - were all left in charge of my room-mate, and I paid only an occasional visit. I attended College as well, but at infrequent intervals. College studies could no longer interest me.

33.11 - Pondicherry II, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   I HAVE said that this cemetery that was Pondicherry had been infested by ghosts and goblins. These had a special category known ordinarily as spies. The word "spy" carries with it, as you know, an association of all that is low and disgusting and unspeakable, things of dark import. But did you know that the word is pure Sanskrit? It was spasa in the old Vedic language. The Vedic Rishi describes Indra as sending out these spasa to trace the movements of his enemies, the forces of evil that clustered round the god. So, the Vedic gods had their spies, just as the modern British government had theirs, though of course there was bound to be a certain difference. These government spies tried to collect information as to who came to our houses, who were the people who met us, what places we frequented and how our guests spent their time. That was why Motilal (Motilal Roy of the Pravartak group in Chandernagore), when he first came to Pondicherry, had to come dressed as an Anglo-Indian, and he never entered our house, the Raghavan House of today, except by the back door and under cover of darkness after nightfall.
   In fact, all of us on our first arrival here had to come under false names, the only exception being Moni (Suresh Chakravarti). He did not have to, for he had not been one of the marked men like the rest of us and his name had not been associated with any political trouble, as he was too young for that at the time. And in any case it would not have been wise to give him a false name, to save him from the clutches of the law, for it was decided to rent our houses in his name and it was he again who was to act on our behalf in all official matters. Sri Aurobindo called himself Jatindranath Mitra, though only for a short while. It was under this pseudonym that he sailed from Calcutta as a passenger on the "Dupleix" and had presented himself before the doctor for the medical examination. The fun of it was that the doctor had no suspicion as to whom he was going to examine, although he did exclaim on hearing Sri Aurobindo's accent, "You seem to speak English very well!", to which Sri Aurobindo replied, "Yes, I was in England for sometime." Sometime indeed - fourteen years! My name was Manindranath Roy, and eventually I came to be known as Monsieur Roy; some of my local friends of those days still know me as such' and call me by that name. Roy and "Sacra" (that is, short for Chakravarti in French) became quite well-known figures both in town and elsewhere on account of their football. Bejoy was Bankim Basak - Basak for short - the noted half-back in our football team.
  --
   Gradually, a few books in Sanskrit and Bengali too were added to our stock, through purchase and gifts. As the number of books reached a few hundred, the problem was how to keep them. We used some bamboo strips to make a rack or book-stand along the walls of our rooms; the "almirahs" came later. I do not think there were any "almirahs" at all so long as we were in the Guest House. They came after the Mother's arrival, when we shifted with our books to the Library House. That is why it came to be called the Library House.
   This account would be incomplete without a few details as to our housekeeping. As to the furniture, I have already said the mat alone did duty for everything. Of servants we had only one; he did the shopping. But as we did not know his language, we had just memorised a few words connected with shopping and we somehow managed to make him understand with the help of these words and a good deal of gestures. Bejoy had his standing instructions: "meen moon anna" (fish three annas) - it was lucky meen in Tamil is the same as in Bengali - "if ille, then nal anna" (if not, then four annas), the Tamil equivalents of "if" or "then" were beyond the range of our knowledge. Today we have practically one servant per head, thanks to the boundless grace of the Mother. Sri Aurobindo used to smile and make the comment, "We have as many servants as there are sadhaks here."

33.13 - My Professors, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   While speaking of my professors, I must not omit to mention our Pundit. This was a title given by the students to the teacher of Sanskrit in college as in school, no matter how big a professor he might be - as if to show that the feeling of distance created by English was not there in the case of Sanskrit. Our Pundit was Satischandra Vidyabhushan, who later became a Mahamahopadhyaya, an extremely courteous man, entirely modest, one who behaved as if he were an absolute "nobody". In his class the students had no fear or worry, no constraint, sometimes even no sense of propriety either. One day they said in class, "There is not going to be any reading today, sir; you had better tell us a story. You are familiar with the languages and histories and cultures of so many strange lands, please tell us something." Vidyabhushan was particularly learned in Pali and the Buddhist scriptures. Without a murmur he accepted the order of the boys. While talking of Pali and the Buddhists, he told us something about the Tibetans too. "What you call Darjeeling," he said, "is not a distorted version of Durjayalinga. Actually it is a transcription of a Tibetan word." He spelt out the word on the black-board, in the Tibetan script - it looked somewhat like Bengali - something like Dang-Sang-Ling, I cannot now exatly recall. On another occasion we had the chance to hear a conversation in Sanskrit in his class. The class was on, when one of the officials of the college entered the room with a Ceylonese monk. The monk wanted to meet the Pundit. They talked in Sanskrit. I only remember a single sentence of our professor, "ghatika-catustayam eva agacchatu bhavan,"Be pleased to come at four o'clock." The kindness and affection of our Pundit are still fresh in my mind. He was never afflicted by the weight of his learning, nor did it ever afflict us.
   Now to conclude: let me give you the scene of my final. parting with college, the professors and college life.

33.18 - I Bow to the Mother, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   As I was saying, this capacity for an entire rejection of the past has been one of the powers of her spiritual consciousness and realisation. It is not an easy thing for a human being to wash himself clean of all his past acquisitions, be it intellectual knowledge or the habits of the vital, not to speak of the body's needs, and step forth in his nude purity. And yet this is the first and most important step in the spiritual discipline. The Mother has given us a living example of this. That is why she decided to shed all her past, forget all about it and begin anew the a-b-c of her training and initiation with Sri Aurobindo. And it was in fact at the hands of Sri Aurobindo that she received as a token and outward symbol her first lessons in Bengali and Sanskrit, beginning with the alphabet.
   But all this is simply an attempt on the part of the small to comprehend something of the Vast; it is as if a particle of sand was trying to reflect a little of the sun's rays, a dwarf trying to catch at the high tree-top with his uplifted arms, a child prattling of his mother's beauty.

3.3.1 - Agni, the Divine Will-Force, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  HE NAME of this flaming godhead, Agni, derives from a root whose quality of significance is a preeminent force or intensity whether in state, action, sensation or movement; but the qualities of this essential significance vary. It means a burning brightness, whence its use for fire; it means movement and especially a curving or serpentine movement; it means strength and force, beauty and splendour, leading and preeminence; it developed also certain emotional values which have perished in Sanskrit, but remain in Greek, angry passion on one side, on the other delight and love.
  The Vedic deity Agni is the first of the Powers, the pristine and preeminent, that have issued from the vast and secret

37.02 - The Story of Jabala-Satyakama, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
   Thus was Satyakama given admission to the Ashrama of Gautama. Now for his initiation and training and the tests. Gautama sent for him and said, "Satyakama, I shall now I invest you with the sacred thread." This investiture is a sacred rite which "sets one on the path" - what the Buddhists call in Pali "sompatti" (srotapattiin Sanskrit), that is, "getting into the stream" or starting on the way. He added, "You bring in the fuel from the neighbouring wood." Satyakama did as he was told and the ceremony of initiation was duly performed.
   The teacher now sent for him again and said, "Satyakama, I possess some four hundred kine. But they are all puny and weak. You should look after them." This meant that he was to take them out to pasture. Satyakama replied, "Very well, sir, it will be as you desire. I am leaving with the four hundred kine and I do not return till they are a thousand." Gautama sent him off with his blessings.

3.7.1.01 - Rebirth, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  In former times the doctrine used to pass in Europe under the grotesque name of transmigration which brought with it to the Western mind the humorous image of the soul of Pythagoras migrating, a haphazard bird of passage, from the human form divine into the body of a guinea-pig or an ass. The philosophical appreciation of the theory expressed itself in the admirable but rather unmanageable Greek word, metempsychosis, which means the insouling of a new body by the same psychic individual. The Greek tongue is always happy in its marriage of thought and word and a better expression could not be found; but forced into English speech the word becomes merely long and pedantic without any memory of its subtle Greek sense and has to be abandoned. Reincarnation is the now popular term, but the idea in the word leans to the gross or external view of the fact and begs many questions. I prefer rebirth, for it renders the sense of the wide, colourless, but sufficient Sanskrit term, punarjanma, again-birth, and commits us to nothing but the fundamental idea which is the essence and life of the doctrine.
  Rebirth is for the modern mind no more than a speculation and a theory; it has never been proved by the methods of modern science or to the satisfaction of the new critical mind formed by a scientific culture. Neither has it been disproved; for modern science knows nothing about a before-life or an after-life for the human soul, knows nothing indeed about a soul at all, nor can know; its province stops with the flesh and brain and nerve, the embryo and its formation and development. Neither has modern criticism any apparatus by which the truth or untruth of rebirth can be established. In fact, modern criticism, with all its pretensions to searching investigation and scrupulous certainty, is no very efficient truth-finder. Outside the sphere of the immediate physical it is almost helpless. It is good at discovering data, but except where the data themselves bear on the surface their own conclusion, it has no means of being rightly sure of the generalisations it announces from them so confidently in one generation and destroys in the next. It has no means of finding out with surety the truth or untruth of a doubtful historical assertion; after a century of dispute it has not even been able to tell us yes or no, whether Jesus Christ ever existed. How then shall it deal with such a matter as this of rebirth which is stuff of psychology and must be settled rather by psychological than physical evidence?

3.7.1.07 - Involution and Evolution, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The spiritual process of evolution is then in some sense a creation, but a self-creation, not a making of what never was, but a bringing out of what was implicit in the Being. The Sanskrit word for creation signifies a loosing forth, a letting out into the workings of Nature. The Upanishad in a telling figure applies the image of the spider which brings its web out of itself and creates the structure in which it takes its station. That is applied in the ancient Scripture not to the evolution of things out of Matter, but to an original bringing of temporal becoming out of the eternal infinity; Matter itself and this material universe are only such a web or indeed no more than a part of it brought out from the spiritual being of the Infinite. But the same truth, the same law holds good of all that we see of the emergence of things from
  Involution and Evolution

3.8.1.04 - Different Methods of Writing, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  We may thus explain also the Sanskrit terms for the four directions; for entering India from the west and following this line in their early colonisation, the east would be in front of the Aryans, purva, the west behind, pascima, the south on their right, daks.in.a, while the name for the north, uttara, higher, might possibly indicate a memory of their old northern home in
  450

3 - Commentaries and Annotated Translations, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  the great number of different meanings of which the old Sanskrit
  words are capable. But there is another and more vital difficulty

5.02 - Perfection of the Body, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  HE PERFECTION of the body, as great a perfection as we can bring about by the means at our disposal, must be the ultimate aim of physical culture. Perfection is the true aim of all culture, the spiritual and psychic, the mental, the vital and it must be the aim of our physical culture also. If our seeking is for a total perfection of the being, the physical part of it cannot be left aside; for the body is the material basis, the body is the instrument which we have to use. Sarram khalu dharmasadhanam, says the old Sanskrit adage, - the body is the means of fulfilment of dharma, and dharma means every ideal which we can propose to ourselves and the law of its working out and its action. A total perfection is the ultimate aim which we set before us, for our ideal is the Divine Life which we wish to create here, the life of the Spirit fulfilled on earth, life accomplishing its own spiritual transformation even here on earth in the conditions of the material universe. That cannot be unless the body too undergoes a transformation, unless its action and functioning attain to a supreme capacity and the perfection which is possible to it or which can be made possible.
  I have already indicated in a previous message a relative perfection of the physical consciousness in the body and of the mind, the life, the character which it houses as, no less than an awakening and development of the body's own native capacities, a desirable outcome of the exercises and practices of the physical culture to which we have commenced to give in this Ashram a special attention and scope. A development of the physical consciousness must always be a considerable part of our aim, but for that the right development of the body itself is an essential element; health, strength, fitness are the first needs, but the physical frame itself must be the best possible. A divine life in a material world implies necessarily a union of the two ends

5.1.03 - The Hostile Forces and Hostile Beings, #Letters On Yoga I, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   working in the subtle physical plane. What we in Sanskrit call the Bhutas mostly come under this class. But there are two kinds of elementals, the one mischievous and the other not.
  There are no Asuras on the higher planes where the Truth prevails, except in the Vedic sense - "the Divine in its strength".

5.2.01 - Word-Formation, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The language of man is not framed on earth, but in heaven, as indeed are all things that the soul uses in this mortal journey. By the threefold energy of eternal truth, manifesting force and sustaining delight everything is created as a type in the world of , the mahat of the ancients, in the principle of self-manifest and perfectly arranged knowledge, it is diversely developed by the more discursive but less surefooted agencies of intellectual mind. Imagination hunts after new variations, memory and association corrupt, analogy perverts, sensation, emotion, pleasure seize violent and partial satisfaction. Hence, change, decay, death, rebirth,the law of the world. All this takes place in the descent into the worlds of mind and the worlds of matter. Therefore mankind has one original language based on certain eternal types of sound, developed by certain laws of rhythmic variation, perfectly harmonious and symmetrical in its structure and evolution. This is the devabhasha and is spoken in the Satya yuga. Then it suffers change, detrition, collapse. Innumerable languages, dialects, vernaculars are born. The guardians of the sacred language attempt always to bring back the early purity, but even they cannot do it; they reconstruct it from time to time, compromise with the new tendencies, preserve something of the skeleton, lose the flesh, blood, sinew, much of the force & spirit. This reconstructed language they call Sanskrit; all else Prakrit.
  The backbone of the skeleton is composed of the roots of the original language that survive; the rest is the various principles of word-formation. Accordingly in the languages of the world which are nearest to the old sacred language, the ancient Aryan languages, there is one common element,the roots, the elemental word-formations from the roots and so much of the original significance as survives variety of mental development playing on different lines and to different purposes. The object of this treatise is to provide a reasoned basis, built up on the facts of the old languages, Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, Tamil, Persian, Arabic, for a partial reconstruction, not of the original devabhasha, but of the latest forms commonly original to the variations in these languages. I shall take the four languages, Sanscrit, Greek, Latin and Tamil first, to build up my scheme and then support it by the four other tongues. I omit all argument and handling of possible objections, because the object of this work is suggestive and constructive only, not apologetic. When the whole scheme is stated and has been worked out on a more comprehensive scale than is possible in the limits I have here set myself, the time will come for debate. Over an uncompleted exegesis, it would be premature.

5.2.02 - Aryan Origins - The Elementary Roots of Language, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The elementary vowel roots which concern us, are the roots a (), i (), u () & (), the semivowel roots the V & Y families. The modified vowels e and o are in the Aryan languages secondary sounds conjunct of a and i, a and u. The diphthongsn ai and au with their Greek variations ei and ou are tertiary modifications of e & o. Another conjunct vowel l is a survival of a more ancient order of things in which l and r no less than v and y were considered as semivowels or rather as either vowel or consonant according to usage. R as a vowel has survived in the vowel , l as a separate vowel has perished, but its semivowel value survives in the metrical peculiarity of the Latin tongue of which a faint trace survives in Sanskrit, by which l & r in a conjunct consonant may or may not, at will, affect the quantity of the preceding syllable.
  I shall consider first the vowel roots. They are four in number, a, i, u and , and all four of them indicate primarily the idea of being, existence in some elementary aspect or modification suggested by the innate quality or guna of the sound denoting it. A in its short form indicates being in its simplicity without any farther idea of modification or quality, mere or initial being creative of space, i an intense state of existence, being narrowed, forceful and insistent, tending to a goal, seeking to occupy space, u a wide, extended but not diffused state of existence, being medial and firmly occupant of space, a vibrant state of existence, pulsing in space, being active about a point, within a limit. The leng thened forms of these vowels add only a greater intensity to the meaning of the original forms, but the leng thening of the a modifies more profoundly. It brings in the sense of space already created & occupied by the diffusion of the simple state of beinga diffused or pervasive state of existence. These significances are, I suggest, eternally native to these sounds and consciously or unconsciously determined the use of them in language by Aryan speakers. To follow these developments and modifications it is necessary to take these roots one by one in themselves and in their derivatives.

5.3.04 - Roots in M, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But these do not exhaust the uses of the sound which we find in the primary roots of this family. From a study of Vedic Sanskrit and of Tamil it appears that the idea of limitation must have been modified to cover the idea of the extreme limit, the highest finality and hence the significance of extreme, supreme, a general supremacy or excellence. This general idea came to be specified in application to particular forms of extreme being and to cover the idea of flourishing vigour, vigorous life or action, strength, swiftness, brilliance, swift motion etc. Thus it comes about that the same root which means to die or wither (, etc) means also to flourish, grow, bloom; the same peculiarity of opposite meanings which we shall afterwards find in many roots of this and other classes. The idea of a goal, strong in the sound, seems also to have suggested movement towards a goal. So also we find etc. The word , a mortal, seems to have meant in the Veda, strong, like which also came to mean man; even later means a lover, a horse, stallion etc. We have the Hindi in the sense of man, masculine; the Tamil mara, strong, maravar, Kshatriyas, the strong men or fighters. & in the sense of god, and the respectful address appear to have the same origin. We have too for Indra orHanuman, where must mean strong. From the idea of swift or darting motion or merely motion we get , fish, , to go, move; , , the dancing peacock; , urine (flowing discharge); , the moving earth (cf , , & many other synonyms, all with the sense of motion); , , , , the material of earth, clay, dust; , earth; , wind, air, breeze, breath; in the sense of horse; , horse or camel. , , , where there is the sense of water, ocean, have this origin.We know the root to have had the sense of motion from the Latin movere, motus etc. The sense of flourishing, blooming, soft, growing, we get from the Tamil maram, a tree, S. , a granary, , juice of flowers, , soft, unctuous, bland, , a kind of plant, , , , , a pomegranate grove, collection of pomegranate trees. From the sense of shining, glittering, white, bright, we have , tawny or brilliantly coloured gleaming red-brown, , the sun, , flamingo, swan, duck, horse, , a ray of light, light, Krishna (cf meaning also a horse, lion, etc), , mirage. Cf the Latin marmor, Greek . , pepper, is obviously from the kindred sense of applied to the taste & smell. We may also note the words , a high-browed woman and , repeatedly rubbing, where & seem to have the sense of high or persistent from this general sense of excellence or extreme quality.
  We have gathered therefore from the meanings of the simple M roots and their direct derivatives, even in the limits of classical Sanscrit, a number of fundamental meanings persistent & recurrent in all such roots & derivatives without regard to the variations of the assistant vowel. We need not suppose that all the original basic significances of the M sound are to be found in this limited area; a number may, indeed must have perished in the long course of Sanscritic development from the original Aryan tongue to the Vedic vocabulary & forms & from that again to the classical. We have now to examine the secondary roots of this family and their derivatives & inquire, first, whether the results already gained are confirmed, secondly, whether they supply us with fresh significances of which the primary roots had lost hold.

5.4.01 - Notes on Root-Sounds, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   from OS [Old Sanskrit]
   to breathe. Prooffrom derivatives

6.0 - Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  629 The Sanskrit word mandala means 'circle.' It is the Indian
  term for the circles drawn in religious rituals. In the great
  --
  7*3 The Sanskrit word mandala means "circle" in the ordinary
  sense of the word. In the sphere of religious practices and in

7.05 - Patience and Perseverance, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  It was written in Sanskrit many hundreds of years ago. Until recent times, no European could read it unless he knew Sanskrit, and that was rare. A translation into one of the European languages was needed.
  Babu Pratap Chandra Rai decided to devote himself to this work. In his own land he was able to find a learned friend,
  Kishori Mohan Ganguly, who could translate the Sanskrit book into English, and its hundred parts were published one by one.
  For twelve years Pratap Chandra Rai went on with the task he had set himself. He devoted all his resources to the publication of the book. And when he had nothing left he travelled all over

7.08 - Sincerity, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Twelve years later the young man returned to his home town, and many people hurried to see him, thinking that he had become a very profound scholar. They placed before him a book written in Sanskrit and said:
  Explain the doctrine to us, honourable Pundit.

7.14 - Modesty, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  In 1844 the Sanskrit College of Calcutta needed a teacher of grammar, and the post was offered to Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar.
  At that time he was earning fifty rupees a month, and in this new

9.99 - Glossary, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
    "ka": The first consonant of the Sanskrit alphabet.
    Kabir: A medieval religious reformer, mystic, and writer of songs. He lived during the last part of the fifteenth and the early part of the sixteenth century. Born in the low caste of the weavers, he became the founder of a religious sect. On account of the breadth and universality of his teachings, he was revered by the Mohammedans and the Hindus alike.
  --
    Kalidasa: The great Sanskrit poet and author of Sakuntala.
    Kalighat: A section of northern Calcutta, where is situated the famous temple of Kali.
  --
    mantra: Holy Sanskrit text; also the sacred formula used in japa.
    Manu: The great Hindu lawgiver.
  --
    Naishadha: A famous Sanskrit treatise by Sriharsha.
    Nanak: The founder of the Sikh religion and the first of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs. He was born in the Punjab in A.D. 1469 and died in 1538.
  --
    Panini: A well-known Sanskrit grammar composed by Panini.
    Parabrahman: The Supreme Brahman.
  --
    Raghuvamsa: The name of a Sanskrit treatise by Kalidasa.
    Raghuvir: A name of Rama; the Family Deity of Sri Ramakrishna.

Big Mind (non-dual), #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  I am action. Big Mind is non-action. Big Mind just is. I do, I act, and my intention is to alleviate suffering for all beings of the world. In India my Sanskrit name is
  Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, the Chinese named me Kwan Yin, the Tibetans, Chenrezi.

BOOK II. -- PART I. ANTHROPOGENESIS., #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  and we may add: "It applies in one case to Makara, the tenth Zodiacal sign, meaning in Sanskrit a nondescript amphibious animal, generally called Crocodile, and really signifying something else. (Vide
  Part II., "The Mysteries of the Hebdomad.") This, then, is a virtual admission that the Assyriologists, at
  --
  etymological significance of which, philologists and Indianists, Greek and Sanskrit scholars have
  vainly worked to this day. Very strangely, Max Muller connects both the names Mars and Ares with
  the Sanskrit root mar, whence he traces their derivation, and from which, he says, the name of Maruts
  (the storm-gods) comes. Welcker, however, offers more correct etymologies. (See Griech. Gotterlehre,
  --
  for the "fire-bringer" than that displayed in its Sanskrit origin. The Svastica, the sacred sign and the
  instrument for kindling sacred fire, may explain it better. "Prometheus, the fire-bringer, is the
  --
  with the fire god of the Veda, Agni. . . ." Mati, in Sanskrit, is "understanding," and a synonym of
  MAHAT and manas, and must be of some account in the origin of the name: Promati is the son of
  --
  number, or Jehovah. Arghya in Sanskrit is the libation cup, the navi-form or boat-shaped vessel in
  which flowers and fruit are offered to the deities. Arghyanath is a title of the Maha-Chohan, meaning
  --
  Commentary, written in Sanskrit only.
  "Like as a dragon-snake uncoils slowly its body, so the Sons of men, led on by the Sons of Wisdom,
  --
  paleontologists and the all-denying Sanskritists. Who will now deny Troy, or these Archaic
  inscriptions? As Professor Virchow witnesses: -- "I was myself an eye-witness of two such
  --
  and others in the matter of Sanskrit and its literature. Such facts are recorded by Professor Max Muller
  himself, who, speaking of the discomfiture of Dugald Stewart and Co. in connection with this, states
  that "if the facts about Sanskrit were true, Dugald Stewart was too wise not to see that the conclusions
  drawn from them were inevitable. He therefore denied the reality of such a language as Sanskrit
  altogether, and wrote his famous essay to prove that Sanskrit had been put together after the model of
  Greek and Latin, by those arch-forgers and liars, the Brahmans, and that the whole of Sanskrit
  literature was an imposition" (Science of Language, p. 168). The writer is quite willing and feels proud

BOOK II. -- PART III. ADDENDA. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  in the traditions of the richest literature in the world -- the Sanskrit literature of India -- there is an
  agreement in saying, that, ages ago, there existed in the Pacific Ocean, a large Continent, which by a

BOOK II. -- PART II. THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  freshest form;" -- the Sanskrit scholar thinks. Barth is of a different opinion, however.
  So divided and personal are the opinions of Sanskritists as to the importance and intrinsic value of the
  Rig Veda, that those opinions become entirely biassed whichever way they incline. Thus Mr. Max
  --
  regard to the external character of the Rig Veda. What, then, can any of the modern Sanskritists know
  about its internal or esoteric meaning, beyond the correct inference of Barth, that this Scripture has
  --
  Adonis, who in his many variations stood for the "First Lord." Adam is the Sanskrit Ada-Nath, also
  meaning first Lord, as Ad-Iswara, or any Ad (the first) followed by any adjective or substantive. The
  --
  remembrances of all the literary and Sanskrit-speaking portion of India, as well as in the popular
  legends. Still it was a parody on, and the desecration of the Sacred Mysteries and their science. The
  --
  the Greek word [[Phoroneus]] is the rigid equivalent of the Sanskrit word bhuranyu ('the rapid') an
  epithet of Agni, considered as the carrier of the divine spark. Phoroneus, son of Melia or of the
  --
  each hand and pulls them alternately. . . . The full process is designated in Sanskrit by
  the verb manthami, mathnani; which means 'to rub, agitate, shake and obtain by
  --
  fire have each their name in Sanskrit. The stick which turns is called pramantha; the
  discus which receives it is called arani and aran two aranis' designating the ensemble
  --
  way in which he was engendered that he was called Janaka." (But see Goldstucker's Sanskrit
  Dictionary at the word Arani.) Devaki, Krishna's mother, in prayer addressed to her, is called "the
  --
  The oldest MSS. in Sanskrit on astronomy, begin their series of Nakshatras (the 27 lunar asterisms)
  with the sign of Krittika, and this can hardly make them earlier than 2780 B.C., (see the "Vedic
  --
  of our argument, as its translators and even its editor the great Oxford Sanskritist, Max Muller, has
  missed the true meaning of Narada's words. Exoterically, all this enumeration of "life winds" means,
  --
  by the whole range of Sanskrit literature, such as the Puranas and the laws of Manu. In these "Laws"
  or "Ordinances of Manu," it is said that Brahma first creates "the ten lords of Being," the ten Prajapati
  --
  may help the inquirer to ferret out "the deep significance of ancient Sanskrit nomenclature in the old
  Aryan myths and allegories." Meanwhile, let us see what has been hitherto stated about the
  --
  Universe is bounded by Pentagons," as the Sanskrit writers "speak also of
  [[Footnote(s)]] -------------------------------------------------
  --
  esoterically. "Prachetas" is in Sanskrit, the name of Varuna, the water god, Nereus, an aspect of the
  same as Neptune, the Prachetasas being thus identical with the "five ministers" of [[CHOZZAR]]
  --
  meaning. We willingly leave the rind to the Western Sanskritist, but claim the essence of the fruit for
  ourselves. We do more: we concede that in one sense much in these so-called "fables" refers to
  --
  of Ahura, in Sanskrit Asura, connects him with the Manasaputras, the Sons of Wisdom who informed
  the mindless man, and endowed him with his mind (manas). Ahura (asura) may be derived from the
  --
  As much, if not much more, even than in the Jewish Bible, scattered about in the thousands of Sanskrit
  texts, some still unopened, others yet unknown, as well as in all the Puranas, the numbers seven and
  --
  Pleiades (in Sanskrit, Krittika) who gave the god their name, for Karttikeya is the planet Mars,
  astronomically. As a god he is the son of Rudra, born without the intervention of a woman. He is a
  --
  been a "rocket" (!) -- is one of the many thorns in the side of our modern Sanskritists. Wilson exercises
  his penetration over it, on several pages in his Specimens of the Hindu Theatre, and finally fails to
  --
  the eminent Sanskritist. Nevertheless, as he himself says of the armiform progeny of Krisaswa, "the
  allegorical origin of the (Agneyastra) weapons is, undoubtedly, the more ancient."* It is the fiery
  --
  between Sastra and Astra in Sanskrit.
  [[Vol. 2, Page]] 630 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

BOOK I. -- PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  Budha, "Wisdom," or knowledge (Vidya), the faculty of cognizing, from the Sanskrit root "Budh," to
  know. We theosophists of India are ourselves the real culprits, although, at the time, we did our best to
  --
  Aryasanga in his Secret treatises, and now by all the mystic Northern Buddhists. It is a Sanskrit term,
  and an appellation given by the earliest Aryans to the Unknown deity; the word "Brahma" not being
  --
  researches of Sanskritists and Orientalists in general, it was held scientific. Hindu, Egyptian, and other
  ancient religions, myths, and emblems were made to yield anything the symbologist wanted them to
  --
  generally changing places with premisses as in the syllogisms of more than one Sanskrit and Pali
  scholar, appeared rapidly in succession, over-flooding the libraries with dissertations rather on phallic
  --
  verified?" True, if a great portion of the Sanskrit, Chinese, and Mongolian works quoted in the present
  volumes are known to some Orientalists, the chief work -- that one from which the Stanzas are given -is not in the possession of European Libraries. The Book of Dzyan (or "Dzan") is utterly unknown to
  --
  Doctrines given is found scattered throughout hundreds and thousands of Sanskrit MSS., some already
  translated -- disfigured in their interpretations, as usual, -- others still awaiting their turn. Every
  --
  greatest Sanskritist of his day in India, assured some members of the Theosophical Society of the same
  fact with regard to ancient Brahmanical works. When told that Professor Max Muller had declared to
  --
  nearly every archaic Sanskrit manuscript so modern as to give to the missionaries full justification for
  availing themselves of the opportunity. That they do so and to the full extent of their mental powers, is
  --
  old Puranic MSS.), in correct and archaic Sanskrit, of all that the Pundits of Col. Wilford had heard
  from him about Adam and Abraham, Noah and his three sons, etc., etc
  --
  called "a modern forgery" even so recently as fifty years ago? Was not Sanskrit proclaimed at one time
  the progeny of, and a dialect derived from, the Greek, according to Lempriere and other scholars?
  --
  ** Called in Sanskrit: "Upadhi."
  [[Vol. 1, Page]] 16 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
  --
  original, with its puzzling style and words. Extracts are given from the Chinese Thibetan and Sanskrit
  translations of the original Senzar Commentaries and Glosses on the Book of DZYAN -- these being
  --
  was thought best to blend together texts and glosses, using the Sanskrit and Tibetan proper names
  whenever those cannot be avoided, in preference to giving the originals. The more so as the said terms
  --
  terms are rendered in their Sanskrit form. Needless to remind the reader that these are, in almost every
  case, the late developments of the later language, and pertain to the Fifth Root-Race. Sanskrit, as now
  known, was not spoken by the Atlanteans, and most of the philosophical terms used in the systems of
  --
  ** In the English translation from the Sanskrit the numbers are given in that language, Eka, Chatur,
  etc., etc. It was thought best to give them in English.
  --
  Yana, or Vehicle (in Sanskrit, Vahan) is a mystic expression, both "vehicles" inculcating that man
  may escape the sufferings of rebirths and even the false bliss of Devachan, by obtaining Wisdom and
  --
  'origin of delusion.'" Paramartha is the synonym of the Sanskrit term Svasam-vedana, or "the
  reflection which analyses itself." There is a difference in the interpretation of the meaning of
  --
  altogether correct. The Sanskrit word is Prabhavapyaya, "the place, or rather plane, whence emerges
  the origination, and into which is the resolution of all things," says a commentator. It is not the
  --
  * And yet, one, claiming authority, namely, Sir Monier Williams, Boden Professor of Sanskrit at
  Oxford, has just denied this fact. This is what he taught his audience, on June the 4th, 1888, in his
  --
  *"Paramartha" is self-consciousness in Sanskrit, Svasamvedana, or the "self-analysing reflection" -from two words, parama (above everything) and artha (comprehension), Satya meaning absolute true
  being, or Esse. In Tibetan Paramarthasatya is Dondampaidenpa. The opposite of this absolute reality,
  --
  Kwan-Shai-Yin is identical with, and an equivalent of the Sanskrit Avalokiteshwara, and as such he is
  an androgynous deity, like the Tetragrammaton and all the Logoi* of antiquity. It is only by some sects
  --
  not the Sanskrit? The "One" and the Dragon are expressions used by the ancients in connection with
  their respective Logoi. Jehovah -- esoterically (as Elohim) -- is also the Serpent or Dragon that tempted
  --
  name. It is called generally "That" (Tad in Sanskrit), and means all that is, was, and will be, or that can
  be so received by the human mind.
  --
  ** From the Sanskrit Laya, the point of matter where every differentiation has ceased.
  [[Vol. 1, Page]] 139 FROM NO-NUMBER TO NUMBER SEVEN.
  --
  CAUSE) as its chariot (Mercabah, in Hebrew; Vahan, in Sanskrit) or vehicle to descend into, and
  manifest through, in the phenomenal world. But the Kabalists neither make it plain how the
  --
  ** Useless to repeat again that the terms given here are Sanskrit translations; for the original terms,
  unknown and unheard of in Europe, would only puzzle the reader more, and serve no useful purpose.
  --
  comments: "by Water, Air, Fire, Ether, and Ahamkara" (which last word does not exist in the Sanskrit
  texts); and in vol. v., p. 198, of the same Vishnu Purana it is written, "in this manner were the seven
  --
  Universal Mind -- is daring, for no human language, save the Sanskrit -- which is that of the Gods -can do so with any degree of adequacy. But the failures in this work must be forgiven for the sake of
  the motive.

BOOK I. -- PART III. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  as the perpetual cause, and it is neither Spirit nor matter, but IT -- rendered in Sanskrit TAD ("that"), -all that is, was, or will be, all that the imagination of man is capable of conceiving. Even the exoteric
  Pantheism of Hinduism renders it as no monotheistic philosophy ever did, for in superb phraseology
  --
  American Sanskritists have accepted Professor Weber's opinion that the peoples of India had no idea
  or knowledge of the Zodiac prior to the Macedonian invasion, and that it is from the Greeks that the

BOOK I. -- PART II. THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  the Zodiac called Meenam in Sanskrit), and even with the Matsya (fish) Avatar, and the Lotus -- the
  symbol of the womb, or the water-lily, which is the same.
  --
  disfigure the mystic sense of the Sanskrit texts far more than Wilson ever did, though the latter is
  undeniably guilty of very gross errors.
  --
  yet immovable things, as translated by Wilson, gives a correct idea of the Sanskrit terms used. Esoteric
  philosophy is not the only one to reject the idea of any atom being inorganic, for it is found also in
  --
  Quite so; but no less, however, than any other date as assigned by the Sanskritists, so famous in this
  department of arbitrary fancy.
  --
  of "Yogini," which, we are told by Mr. Hargrave Jennings, "is a Sanskrit word, in the dialects
  pronounced Yogi or Zogee (!), and is equivalent to Sena, and exactly the same as Duti or Duti-Ca' -i.e., a sacred prostitute of the temple, worshipped as Yoni or Sakti" (p. 60). "The books of morality,"

Conversations with Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  I was with others, probably sadhaks, and Mother was there. I was given a book. This book was written in French, but in purely a phonetic way, not taking any account of the orthographic rules. Even some new phonetic signs were used. It was new to me and somehow I had the idea it was written by you, Mother and P.R. I could not understand anything of it. Looking through the book I noticed some misprints. I showed them to Mother who said, "It is strange. I took so much care to have it corrected before having it printed". I also asked for some information from you who were in the adjoining room. You answered me in Sanskrit, which I could not understand. I went to you. You were in bed, and as far as I remember taking breakfast. I bowed to you with very deep feelings of devotion and aspiration and remained sometime prostrated with a blank mind. Then you touched me with your hand and I underwent a change of consciousness of which I don't remember anything. After sometime I came down again. You kissed me twice and I departed with very high feelings. The vividness of the dream and the strength of the feelings struck me. I awoke; it was half past two.
  As for the book, I don't see very well. It may have been something of the past. Something took place probably on the vital plane, and it is not always easy to interpret.
  --
  Pavitra (Philippe Barbier Saint-Hilaire) (from the Sanskrit word for 'pure') was one of the very early disciples of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. He was born in Paris, January 16, 1894. In 1914 he graduated from the cole Polytechnique with a degree in Engineering. He served in the army in World War I as an artillery officer, and after the war worked as a junior engineer in Paris, at the Ministry of transport and communication.
  He was interested in occultism, and in 1920 departed for Japan to study Zen Buddhism. In 1924 he left Japan and spend time with tantric lamas in monasteries in North China and Mongolia.

Diamond Sutra 1, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  Textual note: Some Sanskrit scholars prefer to add ekasmin samaye (one time) to the previous phrase, which is how the Tibetan punctuates this and also how Conze translates it: Thus have I heard at one time. together with the full assembly of 1250 bhikshus and a great many fearless bodhisattvas.
  1250: The number of bhikshus was made up primarily of the three Kashyapa brothers and their disciples, who totaled 1,000 members. Hence, it was quite natural for the elder of the three, Uruvilva, or Maha Kashyapa, to assume leadership of the First Council after the Buddhas Nirvana. In addition, the assembly also included Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, Yashas, and their disciples. Thus, by converting these six men, the Buddha attracted a group of 1250 disciples who were present at many of his sermons and who were known collectively as the mahata bhikshu-samgha (full assembly of monks). Commentators suggest the reason the Buddhas first five disciples were not included in this number is that the figure was rounded off.
  Bhikshu: Although this Sanskrit term means one who begs (for instruction from buddhas and for food from others), it also means one who eliminates evil. In this form, it applies only to monks. The term for nuns is bhikshuni. Although monks alone are mentioned at the beginning of this sutra, nuns, as well as laymen and laywomen, are listed among those present at the end of the sutra, and nuns are also present at other assemblies that make up the Maha Prajnaparamita Sutra. Hence, their omission here is curious and perhaps was intended to present the monks in isolation and in contrast to the noble sons and daughters who are seen outdoing them in the practice of this teaching.
  Bodhisattva: Depending on the interpretation one gives sattva, this term means spiritual warrior
  (see Hardayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 9) or spiritual being, which is the more common, if less interesting, interpretation. The term originally referred to ascetics of various religious traditions but was eventually taken over by Buddhists and was extended not only to monks but to nuns as well as to male and female householders who devoted themselves to achieving enlightenment for others as well as for themselves. Thus, the term was used to represent the Mahayana ideal with its emphasis on compassion and wisdom as opposed to the Hinayana ideal of the arhan with its emphasis on morality and meditation.
  Throughout this sutra, bodhisattva is modified by mahasattva, which I have translated as fearless. Normally, mahasattva is interpreted quite literally as great being, as Purna does in the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines, when he says to the Buddha, One who is called a mahasattva puts on the great armor, sets forth on the great path, and rides the great vehicle. Such a being is called a mahasattva. (1) However, this term was first applied not to humans but to lions and only later to those who had the courage of the king of beasts. Hence, it was used to suggest the difficulties facing those who set forth on the bodhisattva path as well as to praise them for such aspiration. Also, without fearlessness, no progress on this path is possible.
  --
  Textual note: Among Chinese editions, the presence of the Sanskrit sanbahulais ca bodhisattvais mahasattvais (and a great number of fearless bodhisattvas) is reflected only in the translation of Yiching. A number of commentators suggest this was added to our extant Sanskrit editions (as well as to the one that formed the basis of Yi-chings translation) by followers of the Mahayana. However, in
  Chapter Two Subhuti says that fearless bodhisattvas are blessed by the Buddhas daily example.
  --
  Offerings: The Sanskrit term used here for offering is pinda, which refers to any lump, but especially a lump of food. In ancient India, the main staple was glutinous rice, which was eaten with the hands by forming it into balls. The term pinda occurs again at the end of the sutra in Chapter Thirty, where it includes the biggest of all lumps: a universe of a billion worlds. This is not accidental, for the practice of charity and the concept of an entity, either compounded of smaller entities or compounding a greater entity, run throughout this sutra. In the chapters that follow, the Buddha takes us through a series of synonyms for the entities of reality and compares the results of offering such things as a ball of rice, a universe of jewels, numberless existences, or a four-line poem.
  Whereas most sutras begin with some miraculous event, such as the quaking of the earth or the radiation of light from the Buddhas brow, the Diamond Sutra begins with the Buddhas everyday routine and stresses the importance of charity, along with its counterpart of forbearance, and the perspective of prajna wisdom in the practice of both. Thus, the Buddha begins his instruction with his own example and uses an example that involves benefit to others as well as oneself.
  --
  In the afternoon: The text is ambiguous here. The Sanskrit pashcad bhakta-pinda-pata, literally means after eating food. However, since this is already expressed in the previous phrase by krtabhakta-krtyas (eating his meal of rice), this second expression, according to Edgerton, simply indicates time and was often used as a stock term to indicate the period after the noon meal. Whereas both Conze and Mller agree with this interpretation of the text, all Chinese translations, except that of Dharmagupta, have the Buddha eating his meal after he returns, which remains the practice called for in the Vinaya for monks and nuns. However, as the Buddhas reputation grew, he and his disciples were often invited to take their noon meal in the homes of wealthy householders, and perhaps this was such an occasion.
  Put his robe and bowl away: The robe and bowl are the two most important possessions of a monk or nun. Hence, they were put away after use. They also represent the spirit of ones teacher, and in the Zen sect they became the symbols by which transmission of the patriarchship was established and, for a while, maintained.

DS2, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  Buddhas teaching, regardless of whether they have left home as monks and nuns or are lay bodhisattvas. The Sanskrit here is kula, which means of noble family. To be born into a noble family is the result of karma. Likewise, to encounter the Buddhas teaching and to possess the capacity to understand it are also made possible by ones karma. If, however, someone should hear this teaching and not practice it, such a person would waste an opportunity that might not come again for many lifetimes.
  The path Subhuti asks about is the path of the bodhisattva, and not that of the arhan, the Mahayana path, and not the Hinayana path. Although those who emphasize other power prefer to interpret yana as vehicle, as in the Great Vehicle, the words original meaning was path. It was not the
  --
  Chinese translations that include it render it as hsiu-hsing (practice). When used in reference to a path, however, pratipad means walk. Note, too, the similarity between the Sanskrit pratipad and the Greek peripate (walk), which was also an integral part of the manner in which Aristotle and his followers went about seeking the truth. In place of kathan cittan pragrahitavyan (how should they control their thoughts/mind), Paramartha has yun-ho fa-chi pu-sa-hsin (how should they give birth to the thought of enlightenment). In the same phrase, Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Dharmagupta interpret pragraha (control) as chiang-fu (subdue), while Hsuan-tsang and Yi-ching read it as she-fu
  (bring under control). Mller gives restrain, while Conze has control. Edgerton, however, suggests exercises.
  --
  Textual note: While pratyashraushit (give ones full attention) is present in all Sanskrit editionsas well as the KhotaneseKumarajiva, Bodhiruci, Dharmagupta, Hsuan-tsang, and Yi-ching have
  Subhuti saying yuan-lo yu-wen (with joy we long to hear). Paramartha does not include the phrase.

DS3, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  Textual note: My choice of air for the Sanskrit upapaduka (to depend on nothing) is meant to
  describe the appearance of such birth as if from thin air. Chinese translators prefer hua-sheng
  --
  include atma (self), Bodhiruci and Dharmagupta do not. Among Sanskrit editions, Conze includes it,
  as does the Stein edition, while Mller does not. Paramartha replaces Kumarajivas jen (person)

DS4, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  The Sanskrit word dharma is derived from the root dhri, meaning to grasp, and refers to
  anything perceived to be real or permanent. Thus, dharmas are the objects of the sixth organ of sense,
  --
  The Sanskrit akasha means sky, and this is the interpretation given in the Chinese commentaries
  below. The term was also used by other Indian sects, such as the Jains, to refer to the ethereal element

Liber 71 - The Voice of the Silence - The Two Paths - The Seven Portals, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   Nibbana is merely the Pali, the vulgar dialect, for the Sanskrit
   NIRVANA, and that Nirvana is a state characterizing Moksha, which is
  --
   There is a distinction between Buddhist 'Jhana' and Sanskrit 'Dhyana,'
   though etymologically the former is a corruption of the latter.

r1914 09 26, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   The activity of the Vijnana is now reviving and has to be enforced without heed of the obstacles & unsuccesses. The second St. provides an example the will to make the Review the A-F. text of a new dispensation, in spite of the immediate obstacles. It is understood that the text in Sanskrit and other chosen languages will come subsequently.
   ***

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (text), #Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  forbear. It is derived from the Sanskrit root Sah.) This shows that even from our childhood we are made
  to learn forbearance through the very alphabet. The quality of forbearance is of the highest importance
  --
  you will mix English words in your talk in spite of yourself. The Pandit Who studies Sanskrit must quote
  verses. If the mind is kept in bad company, the evil influence of it will colour one's thought and
  --
  644. I am content if I have realised Him. What if I do not know Sanskrit. He bestows His mercy equally on
  all His children who yearn to know Him, be they learned or ignorant. Suppose a father has five children.
  --
  JNANA, BHAKTI AND KARMA1 These Sanskrit words may roughly be translated into English as
  Knowledge, Love and Work; and Yogas are spiritual disciplines connected with them. So there are the

Talks 001-025, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
    An old man came and sat in the hall. Maharshi was reading Sarmas Sanskrit recension of Arunachala Akshara Manamalai (the first of
    The Five Hymns to Arunachala). The man asked softly: It is said that realisation is beyond expression; and expression always fails to describe the realisation. How is it?
  --
     Sanskrit Professor in Oxford University. He expressed a desire to hear the
    Vedas. On Monday a letter arrived from Riga and the questions therein happened to coincide with the questions the European visitor had asked relating to the existence of departed souls and how best to serve them.

Talks 076-099, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  Mr. K. S. N. Iyer said that he was not convinced how spiritual life could be reconciled to worldly activities. The Master in answer cited some verses from Yoga Vasishta. (The original is said to be millions of verses, of which only 32,000 stanzas are now found in the Sanskrit text. It was condensed to 6,000 and called Laghu Vasishta. The latter has been rendered in Tamil in 2,050 stanzas).
  D.: Without the mind concentrating on it the work cannot be performed satisfactorily. How is the mind to be spiritually disposed and the work kept going as well?

Talks 176-200, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  He had read, in the Sanskrit original, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the Sutras with commentaries by Sri Sankara and Ramanuja.
  He asked: Is Maharshis teaching the same as Sankaras?

Talks With Sri Aurobindo 1, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  It is surprising the large number of epic poets in Sanskrit. The very
  language is epic. Valmiki, Vyasa, even classical poets like Kalidasa, Bharavi
  --
  poem there are plenty of Sanskrit words.
  SRI AUROBINDO: But here the country is spoken of as "Durga", so a Hindu
  --
  CHAMPAKLAL: Nirodbaran was trying for some time to pick up Sanskrit and
  now has given up.
  --
  don't know Sanskrit.
  PURANI: In Bengal they write Sanskrit in Bengali script and their pronunciation of Sanskrit is awful.
  SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. I remember in Barin's school he engaged a Bengali to
  teach Sanskrit. When the teacher left, he engaged a Hindustani teacher
  whose pronunciation was quite different from the Bengali way. The students
  --
  number, etc., as in Sanskrit or French.
  PURANI: In French, the gender is especially complex. In Sanskrit the word
  "Dara", meaning "wife", is masculine. I don't know why.
  --
  SRI AUROBINDO: His idea of freedom is like the Sanskrit sloka: "Everything
  under one's control is happiness, everything under another's control is sorrow." But the Gita's idea is to go beyond oneself and one's own freedom.
  --
  Then Purani brought in the subject of Sanskrit quotations.
  SATYENDRA: Sri Aurobindo is not known by orthodox Pundits as a philosopher, but as a Yogi.
  NIRODBARAN: They say he doesn't know enough Sanskrit!
  SRI AUROBINDO (smiling): The editor of the Bengali paper made that remark.
  --
  SRI AUROBINDO: He used too many compounds, making it seem like Sanskrit.
  (To Purani) What is the name of that Indian whom Raman mentions in his
  --
  few lessons in Sanskrit your teacher found that you were progressing with
  extreme rapidity and there was no need of a teacher any more.
  SRI AUROBINDO: I don't remember having any teacher in Sanskrit. I think I
  learnt it by myself. Many languages, in fact, I learnt by myselfGerman
  --
  SRI AUROBINDO: When we have Sanskrit, why should we leave it and go to
  Urdu?
  --
  NIRODBARAN: No, of Sanskrit.
  SATYENDRA (to Sri Aurobindo): Did you recognise your old friend Charu Dutt,
  --
  neither Bengali nor Sanskrit. That won't do in Bengali poetry. Of course
  Nishikanto is excluded.

Talks With Sri Aurobindo 2, #Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
  Tagore has praised his chhanda and bhasha, people call it halting and Sanskritised.
  SRI AUROBINDO: Stupid review!
  --
  SRI AUROBINDO: And he replied in Sanskrit. Gwayer could have spoken
  in Irish.
  --
  PURANI: Though he is a scholar in Sanskrit, he has not read Shakuntala
  and considers this a great virtue! He has learned Sanskrit in order to read the
  Gita and the Upanishads.
  --
   Sanskrit pundits and is learning Sanskrit.
  SRI AUROBINDO: I see? Preparing himself for the other world. Whatever
  --
  DR. MANILAL: Sylvan Levi is also a Sanskrit scholar. He came to Baroda.
  The Gaekwar used to refer to you, Sir, as "my secretary".

The Act of Creation text, #The Act of Creation, #Arthur Koestler, #Psychology
  (via videre and eeSco) to the Sanskrit veda, knowledge. The German Wltz means
  both joke and acumen; it comes from wissen, to know; Wissenschaft science, is
  --
  porary words and concepts back to the Greek and Sanskrit womb.The
  deciphering of the scripts of ancient languages is often aided by clues
  --
  like praising the beauties and expounding the grammar of the Sanskrit
  language but a Sanskrit which you speak only in your sleep and the
  comm and of which you lose when awake. Only fragments of it emerge
  --
  the same Sanskrit root matr split, by mitosis, as it were, into maya
  the Oriental's web of illusions, and metron, metre, the Occidental's

The Poems of Cold Mountain, #Cold Mountain, #Han-shan, #Zen
  11. Saha is also Sanskrit and refers to the world where our karma bears its fruit. Hence, a
  Saha tree is a karma-bearing tree. According to Indian cosmology, the length of lives and

Verses of Vemana, #is Book, #unset, #Zen
  (Pure Sanskrit) Water, earth, fire, sky, air--it is well known that these compose the world. The natural body, the invisible form, the body of delusion, if thought on, are the basis of all.
  171
  --
  To them who understand the meaning of the excellent sankhya yoga I will in this world declare the truth through the most noble raja-yoga. Listen to the greatness of Siva (pure Sanskrit).
  207
  --
  (Pure Sanskrit) By the possession of the four methods (gentleness, liberality, also the unison of discrimination, punishment) giving, secrecy, resolution, wealth and readiness--by these, the unparalleled man is king (very difficult).
  518

WORDNET



--- Overview of noun sanskrit

The noun sanskrit has 1 sense (no senses from tagged texts)
                  
1. Sanskrit, Sanskritic language ::: ((Hinduism) an ancient language of India (the language of the Vedas and of Hinduism); an official language of India although it is now used only for religious purposes)


--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun sanskrit

1 sense of sanskrit                          

Sense 1
Sanskrit, Sanskritic language
   => Indic, Indo-Aryan
     => Indo-Iranian, Indo-Iranian language
       => Indo-European, Indo-European language, Indo-Hittite
         => natural language, tongue
           => language, linguistic communication
             => communication
               => abstraction, abstract entity
                 => entity


--- Hyponyms of noun sanskrit

1 sense of sanskrit                          

Sense 1
Sanskrit, Sanskritic language
   => Romany, Gypsy
   => Urdu
   => Hindi
   => Bihari
   => Magadhan
   => Marathi, Mahratti
   => Gujarati, Gujerati
   => Punjabi, Panjabi
   => Sinhalese, Singhalese, Sinhala


--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun sanskrit

1 sense of sanskrit                          

Sense 1
Sanskrit, Sanskritic language
   => Indic, Indo-Aryan




--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun sanskrit

1 sense of sanskrit                          

Sense 1
Sanskrit, Sanskritic language
  -> Indic, Indo-Aryan
   => Sanskrit, Sanskritic language
   => Sindhi
   => Dard, Dardic, Dardic language
   => Nepali
   => Prakrit
   => Prakrit




--- Grep of noun sanskrit
sanskrit
sanskrit literature
sanskritic language



IN WEBGEN [10000/277]

Wikipedia - Aitareya Upanishad -- One of the ancient Sanskrit scriptures of Hinduism
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https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sanskrit
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_language
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https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/World_egg#Sanskrit_scriptures_and_Vedanta
selforum - sanskrit and evolution of human speech
selforum - sanskrit studies
selforum - power of sanskrit language to carry
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selforum - etymological transparency of sanskrit
selforum - etymological transparency of sanskrit
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2015/06/sanskrit.html
https://circumsolatious.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-is-sanskrit-found-in-tribal-names.html
wiki.auroville - Sanskrit
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Dharmapedia - Vedic_and_Sanskrit_literature
Psychology Wiki - Category:Sanskrit_terms
Psychology Wiki - Category:Sanskrit_words_and_phrases
Psychology Wiki - Sanskrit
Psychology Wiki - Sanskrit_language
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sanskrit
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/User:SanskritFritz
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sanskrit_pronunciation
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1st_century_Sravasti_Bodhisattva,_Epigraphical_Hybrid_Sanskrit,_Saheth-Maheth,_Uttar_Pradesh_India.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sanskrit_n_Thai.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unknown_Tibetan_Sanskrit_Text.jpg
All India Mahila Sanskritik Sanghathan
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Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit
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International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
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Jayatu Sanskritam
Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University
Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University
List of educational institutions with Sanskrit mottos
List of English words of Sanskrit origin
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List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Sanskrit
List of Sanskrit and Persian roots in Hindi
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Vedic Sanskrit
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