Glossary of Sanskrit Technical Terms
Ābhāsa-Vāda – the theory of appearance or manifestation
Abhaya – fearlessness
Abhinna-Nimittopādāna – non-different efficient and material (cause)
Adhiṣṭāna – substratum
Adhyāropāpavāda – the method or theory of prior superimposition and subsequent denial
Adhyāsa – superimposition
Advaita – non-dual
Agrahaṇa – non-apprehension
Aham Brahmāsmi – I Am The Absolute
Ahaṅkāra – ego / the 'I'-maker
Ajātivāda – the theory of non-origination
Ajñāna – ignorance / nescience
Ākāśa – ether / space
Akhaṇḍākāra-Vṛtti-Jñāna – direct knowledge of the Self
Akhaṇḍārtha-Vākya – identity statement
Aliṅga – without any characteristic
Anādi – beginning-less / eternal
Ānanda – bliss
Ānandamaya-Kośa – the sheath of bliss
Anirvacanīya-Khyāti – the indefinability of apprehension
Annamaya-Kośa – the sheath of food
Antaḥ-Kāraṇa – internal instruments
Antaryāmi – inner guide
Anubhava – direct personal experience
Anumāna – inference
Anupalabdhi – non-cognition
Arthāpatti – postulation / presumption
Asat – non-being / non-existence
Asmitā – the Sense of ‘I’
Ātman – the Self
Ātma-Vāda – the theory of the Self
Ātma-Vicāra – enquiry into the (nature of the) Self
Avaccheda-Vāda – the theory of limitation
Avākyārtha – not-spoken meaning
Āvaraṇa – concealment / veil
Avasthā-Traya-Vicāra – inquiry into the three states of experience
Avidyā – ignorance
Avidyā-Vṛtti – a mode of ignorance
Ayam Ātmā Brahma – This Self is The Absolute
Asamprajñāta – not the Samadhi with Prajna
Bādhāyaṃ Sāmānādhikaraṇya – grammatical co-ordination in the sense of sublation
Bahya-Kāraṇa – external instruments
Bhagavad Gītā – Song of God
Bhagavān – Lord / God
Bhāti – shining / self-luminous
Bimba-Pratibimba-Vāda – the theory of the original and its reflection
Brahman – the Absolute
Brahma-Sūtra – threads of the Absolute
Buddhi – intellect
Caturthaḥ – the fourth
Cid-Ābhāsa – the reflection of intelligence
Cit – spirit; consciousness
Citta – mind
Dhāraṇā – concentration
Dharma-Megha-Samādhi – the final state of one-pointedness
Dhyāna – contemplation
Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi-Vāda – the theory that perception is creation
Eka-Jīva-Vāda – the theory that there is only one self or individual
Ekāgrata – one-pointedness
Guṇa – qualities
Hiraṇyagarbha – the Golden Egg
Hṛdaya – heart
Īśvara – Lord
Jāgrat – the waking state
Jīva – the individual soul
Jiva-Brahma Aikya – the oneness of the individual soul with the Absolute
Jīvanmukta – liberated while living
Jñāna – knowledge
Jñāna Yoga – the Yoga of knowledge
Jñāna-Svarūpa – embodiment of knowledge
Jñānendriya – organs of knowledge
Kaivalya – isolation
Kāla – time / death
Kāma – desire
Kāraṇa-Śarīra – causal body
Karma – action
Karmendriya – organs of action
Kleśa – affliction
Kośa – sheath
Mahābhūta – the great elements
Mahāvākya – great saying
Manaḥ / Manas – cognitive mind
Manana – reflection / consideration
Māṇḍūkya – frog
Manomaya-Kośa – the sheath of mind / the mental sheath
Mantra – sacred word / hymns
Mantra Yoga – The Yoga of the Divine Word
Māyā – illusion
Mithyā – not real / illusory / false
Mokṣa – liberation
Mukhya-Antaraṇga-Sādhana – the principal proximate aid to liberation
Mūlāvidyā – primordial nescience
Mumukṣutva – a burning desire for liberation
Naiṣkarmya – freedom from action (Karma) and its influence
Nāma – name
Nāmarūpa – name and form
Neti-Neti – not this, not this
Nididhyāsana – meditation / contemplation
Nirbīja – without seed
Nirvicārā – without enquiry
Nirvitarkā – without reasoning
Oṃ, Oṃkāra – the Word; the Eternal
Pāda – quarter
Padārtha – category / objects of experience
Pañca-Bhūta-Viveka – inquiry into the five elements
Pañca-Kośa-Viveka – inquiry into the five sheaths
Parabrahman – the Supreme Being
Paramārtha – absolute truth
Paramātman – the Supreme Self
Pariṇāma – transformation
Phala-Vyāpyatva – pervasion by knowledge
Prajñā – wisdom / the Self of the sleep state
Prajñānam Brahma – Consciousness is The Absolute
Prakṛti – nature
Pramā – valid knowledge
Pramāṇa – means of valid knowledge
Prāṇamaya-Kośa – the sheath of vital air
Prasthāna-Traya – The Triple Canon-Foundation of Vedānta
Prātibhāsika – apparent / illusory
Pratibimba-Vāda – reflection theory
Pratyakṣa – perception
Pratyaya – condition
Puruṣa – the Spirit
Śabda – sound
Sabīja – with seed
Saccidānanda – existence-consciousness-bliss
Sādhana – self-effort / spiritual discipline
Sādhana-Catuṣṭaya – the fourfold aid to the study of Vedānta
Sadyomukti – bodiless liberation
Sākṣi-Bhāsya – revealed by the witness Self
Sākṣi-Caitanya – the witness consciousness
Sākṣin – the witness Self
Samādhi – complete absorption
Samāna – equalized
Samāpatti – the state of becoming one
Samprajñāta – Samādhi with Prajñā
Saṃsāra – the wheel of birth and death
Saṃsarga-Abheda – relation of non-duality
Saṃskāra – impression
Saṃvādi-Bhrama – error which leads to the truth
Saṃyama – combined practice
Śarīra – bodies of the Jīva
Sat – existence / reality / being
Satkāraṇa-Vāda – the theory that cause alone exists
Savicārā – with enquiry
Savitarkā – with reasoning
Siddhārtha-Vākya – existential statement
Śiva – auspicious
Smṛti – memory / recollection
Śravaṇa – hearing / study
Sṛṣṭi-Vākya – creation texts
Śruti – revealed scripture
Sthitaprajñā – one who is established in the divine consciousness
Sthūla Śarīra – gross body
Sūkṣma-Śarīra / Liṅga-Śarīra – subtle body
Suṣupti – deep sleep
Svapna – dream
Svarūpa-Abheda – non-relational proposition / identity statement
Svarūpa-Jñāna – knowledge which is of the nature of the Self
Svarūpa-Lakṣaṇa – essential nature
Taijasa – the self of the dream state
Tanmātra – subtle essence
Taṭastha-Lakṣaṇa – accidental attributes
Tattva – principle / that-ness
Tat Tvam Asi – That Thou Art
Tuccham – utterly unreal / empty
Turīya – the Fourth
Upaniṣad – to sit down near
Vairāgya – renunciation
Vaiśvānara – the self of the waking state
Vāsanā – latent tendency
Veda – knowledge
Vedānta – end of the Vedas
Vibhu – all-pervasive
Vicāra – enquiry
Vidya – knowledge
Vijñāna – wisdom; cognition; intellect
Vijñānamaya-Kośa – the sheath of the intellect
Vikṣepa – projection / distraction
Virāt – cosmic consciousness
Vitarka – reasoning
Vivarta-Vāda – the theory of apparent change; the theory of phenomenal appearance
Viveka – discrimination
Vṛtti – mental mode / condition
Vṛtti-Jñāna – empirical knowledge
Vyāvahārika – the relative viewpoint / empirical
Yoniḥ – womb
Yukti – reasoning
