Easwaran Gita Flashcards
adharma
“Not dharma.” Injustice, evil, anything which goes against moral laws.
advaita
Having no duality; the supreme Reality, which is the “One without a second.” The word advaita is especially used in Vedanta philosophy, which stresses the unity of the Self (Ātman) and Brahman.
ahaṁkāra
[aham “I”; kāra “maker”] Self-will, separateness.
ahimsā
[a “not”; himsā “violence”] Nonviolence, doing no injury, wishing no harm.
ākāsha
Space, sky; the most subtle of the five elements.
akshara
The eternal; the syllable Om.
Ananta
The cosmic serpent on which Vishnu reclines in rest.
apara
[“not transcendent”] Lower knowledge; intellectual knowledge.
Arjuna
One of the five Pāndava brothers and an important figure in Indian epic and legend. He is Srī Krishna’s beloved disciple and friend in the Bhagavad Gītā.
Aryaman
“The noble one,” a Vedic god, revered as an ancestor of mankind.
asat
[a “not”; sat “truth, goodness”] Untruth; anything unreal, untrue, or lacking in goodness.
ashvattha
The pipal tree, a kind of fig; it is regarded as holy and often grows in temple compounds.
Ashvatthāma
A great archer and warrior who is Drona’s son.
asura
In Hindu myth, a demon; figuratively, a being with an evil nature.
Ātman
“Self”; the innermost soul in every creature, which is divine.
avatara
[ava “down”; tri “to cross”] The descent of God to earth; the incarnation of Vishnu on earth; the birth of divine consciousness in the human heart.
avidyā
[a “not”; vidyā “wisdom”] Ignorance, lack of wisdom, want of knowledge.
avyaya
The eternal, the changeless.
Bhagavad Gītā
[Bhagavat “Lord”; gītā “song”] “The Song of the Lord,” name of a Hindu scripture which contains the instructions of Srī Krishna.
bhakti
Devotion, worship, love.
bhakti yoga
The Way of Love.
Bhīshmā
A revered elder of the Kaurava dynasty who allows himself to be killed by Arjuna in the Mahābhārata battle.
Bhrigu
A sage famous in ancient legend.
Brahmā
God as creator, one of the Hindu Trinity; the others are Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer. Brahmā should not be confused with Brahman.
brahmacharya
“Conduct leading to God,” self-control, purity.
Brahman
The supreme reality underlying all life, the divine ground of existence, the impersonal Godhead.
brahmanirvāna
“Nirvana in Brahman,” the final state of spiritual fulfillment: eternal union with Brahman, the ground of all being.
Brahmavidyā
The science of knowing Brahman.
brahmin
[Skt brāhmana] Literally, a person who strives to know Brahman; in traditional Hindu society, a person of the priestly or learned class.
Brihaspati
The guru or priest of the gods.
Buddha
[from budh “to wake up “] “The Awakened one,” the title given to the sage Siddhārtha Gautama Shākyamuni after he obtained complete illumination. The Buddha lived and taught in North India during the sixth century B.C.
buddhi
Understanding, intelligence; the faculty of discrimination; correct view, idea, purpose.
Chitraratha
“Having a bright chariot,” the king of Gandharvas.
daivam
Divine will; destiny.
deva
A divine being, a god. The devas of Hindu mythology resemble the Olympians of the ancient Greeks - extraordinary, immortal, yet not unlike mortal men and women in their behavior. The feminine is devī, “goddess.”
dharma
Law, duty; the universal law which holds all life together in unity.
Dhritarāshtra
The king of the Kurus. He has been blind since birth and has therefore never been enthroned as the rightful king, but he serves as de factor ruler. The entire Bhagavad Gītā is a narration told by Sanjaya to the blind king, whose sons are the Kauravas.
Draupadī
The royal princess who became the wife of each of the five Pāndava brothers.
Drona
A learned brahmin who became a warrior, and eventually general of the Kaurava army. The preceptor of the royal princes, he taught the heroes of the Mahābhārata the skills of war.
duhka
Pain, suffering, sorrow.
Duryodhana
The oldest son of Dhritarāshtra and the chief enemy of the Pāndavas and Srī Krishna.
dvandva
In Sanskrit grammar, a kind of compound that combines two or more words as a pair or group.
Gandharva
Heavenly musicians who are demigods, rather touchy and proud, handsome and amorous.
Gāndīva
Arjuna’s bow, which was a gift from the god of fire.
Ganges
[Skt gangā] A major river of northern India, revered as a sacred symbol.
Garuda
The great eagle that is Vishnu’s vehicle.
gāyatrī
A meter used in Vedic hymns; a prayer to the sun composed in this meter.
Gītā
“The Song,” a shorter title for the Bhagavad Gītā.
Guṇa
Quality; specifically, the three qualities which make up the phenomenal world. The corresponding adjectives are sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic.
guru
A spiritual teacher.
Hari
Name of Vishnu or Krishna.
Hastināpura
“City of the elephants,” an important city in ancient India, located about sixty miles northeast of the modern Delhi. It was the capital of the Pāndavas and their line.
Himālaya
[hima “snow”; ālaya “abode”] The great mountain range which stretches across the northern border of India, important in mythology as the home of Shiva and the other gods.
Ikshavāku
The son of Manu and the founder of the Solar Dynasty of kings.
Indra
The god of storms and battle. In the Veda, Indra is the chief of the gods (devas) and an important deity; later his role is greatly diminished.
Īshvara
The Lord; God.
Janaka
A king of ancient times who was both an effective ruler and a holy sage.
Janārdana
“He who stirs up the people,” name of Krishna.
jīva
Living being; the living soul; the finite, individual soul that is identified with separate existence, as opposed to Ātman, the eternal Self.
jnāna
[from jnā “to know”] Wisdom; higher knowledge.
jnāna yoga
The Way of Wisdom.
kalpa
A period in cosmic time equaling one Day of Brahmā or 1,000 “great yugas” - a total of 4,320 million years.
kāma
Selfish desire, greed; sexual desire, sometimes personified as Kāmadeva.
Kāmadhuk
“The cow of wishes,” who in legend fulfills all desires.
Kapila
Name of a sage, first teacher of the Sānkhya philosophy
karma
[from kri “to do”] Action; former actions which will lead to certain results in a cause-and-effect relationship.
karma yoga
The Way of Action; the path of selfless service.
Karna
A brave warrior who plays an important role in the larger epic, but is only mentioned in passing in the Gītā.
Kauravas
“The sons of Kuru,” Duryodhana and his brothers, who are the enemies of the Pāndava brothers.
Kripa
A revered teacher of the royal family who also serves as a warrior.
Krishna
[“black”; or from krish “to draw, to attract to oneself”] “The Dark One” or “He who draws us to Himself,” name of an incarnation of Vishnu. Vishnu, the cosmic force of goodness, comes to earth as Krishna to reestablish dharma, or law. Krishna is the friend and advisor of the Pāndava brothers, especially Arjuna, to whom he reveals the teachings of the Bhagavad Gītā. He is the inner Lord, who personifies spiritual love and lives in the hearts of all beings.
kshatriya
A warrior or prince; a member of the ruling class of traditional Hindu society.
kshetra
A field; a place; a scared place or temple.
Kubera
God of wealth.
kundalinī
“The serpent power,” spiritual or evolutionary energy. In yoga literature, kundalinī is described as a force coiled at the base of the spine. Kundalinī may be aroused through meditation and the practice of yoga; then it rises up through the subtle body, awakening the higher centers of consciousness.
Kurukshetra
“The field of the Kurus,” where the Mahābhārata battle takes place. It is north of the modern city of Delhi.
līlā
Game; the divine play of the Lord disguising himself as the many beings of this world.
Mādhava
Another name for Krishna, “of the Mādhava clan.”
Madhusūdana
“Slayer of Madhu,” a name for Krishna, who killed the demon Madhu.
Mahābhārata
Name of the great Indian epic composed some 2,500 years ago, traditionally attributed to the sage Vyāsa. It relates the conflict between the descendants of Pāndu (forces of light) and those of Dhritarāshtra (forces of darkness).
manas
The mind; specifically, the faculty which registers and stores sensory impressions.
mantram (mantra)
A holy name or phrase; a spiritual formula.
Manu
The father of the human race, the Hindu equivalent of Adam or the first man.
Mārgashīrsha
The lunar month that falls in November-December.
Marīchi
A Vedic demigod. The name means “particle of light.”
Māyā
Illusion; appearance, as contrasted with Reality; the creative power of God.
Meerā
A woman saint of medieval India remembered for her songs to her beloved Krishna.
Meru
A mythical mountain said to stand at the center of the world or cosmos. The gods dwell on Meru in beautiful cities, amidst flowering gardens.
moksha
Liberation, salvation, illumination.
Nakula
One of the junior Pāndava brothers.
Nārada
The divine musician and sage who is a devotee of Srī Krishna.
Nirvāna
[nir “out”; vāna “to blow”] Complete extinction of self-will and separateness; realization of the unity of all life.
nirvikalpa samādhi
A state of spiritual awareness in which there is no perception of duality; of inside or outside, of subject and object; merger in the impersonal Godhead.
Om (Aum)
The cosmic sound, heard in deep meditation; the Holy word, taught in the Upanishads, which signifies Brahman, the divine ground of existence.
Pāndavas
“The sons of Pāndu,” a collective name for Arjuna and his four brothers, Yudhishthira, Bhīma, Nakula, and Sahadeva. The Pāndavas are in conflict with the Kauravas; both claim the ancient throne of Hastināpura. The Gītā is placed on the eve of the battle that will decide this conflict. The Pāndavas are looked upon as forces for good and the Kauravas as wicked usurpers.
Pārtha
“Son of Prithā,” a name for Arjuna - or for his brothers Bhīma and Yudhishthira.
Patañjali
The author of the Yoga Sūtras, a classic description of the way to Self-realization through meditation. Patañjali lived around the second century B.C., and his method is sometimes referred to as rāja yoga.
Pāvaka
“The purifier,” a name for the god of fire.
Prahlāda
A demon prince who was greatly devoted to Vishnu.
Prajāpati
“Lord of offspring,” the creator of all beings. Indian myth encompasses many creation stories, and sometimes one great Father, or Prajāpati, is mentioned; sometimes there are seven or more fathers or sages who created all living creatures.
prajnā
[from jnā “to know”] a transcendental mode of knowing developed in deep meditation.
prakriti
The basic energy from which all mental and physical worlds take shape; nature.
prāna
Breath; vital force.
Prithā
Arjuna’s mother (also called Kuntī). Arjuna is called Pārtha, “son of Prithā.”
Purusha
[“person”] The soul; the spiritual core of every person. In the Gītā, the terms Ātman and Purusha are virtually interchangeable.
Purushottama
“Highest Person,” Supreme Being, God.
rāja yoga
“The Royal Path”; the path of meditation taught especially by Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtras.
rājas
energy, passion.
Rāma
“Prince of Joy,” name of the son of Dasharatha, who was king of Ayodhyā. Rāma was the famous prince who killed the evil demon Rāvana to reclaim his wife Sītā. He is regarded as an incarnation of Vishnu.
Rig Veda
The oldest of the four Vedas, the most ancient and sacred Hindu scriptures.
Rudras
A group of gods associated with storm and destruction. Sometimes the Rudras are mentioned as a group; at other times they are thought of as a single god, Rudra. In later Hinduism, Shiva is called Rudra.
sādhana
A body of disciplines or way of life, which leads to the supreme goal of Self-realization.
sādhu
A holy man, sage.
Sahadeva
One of the junior Pāndava brothers.
Sāma Veda
The Veda of songs and chants. One of the four Vedas.
samādhi
Mystical union with God; a state of intense concentration in which consciousness is completely unified.
samsāra
The world of flux; the round of birth, decay, death and rebirth.
Sanjaya
The sage who divinely perceives what is taking place on the battlefield and reports it to the blind king Dhritarāshtra.
Sānkhya
One of the six branches of Hindu philosophy. Sānkhya seeks to liberate the individual Purusha (spirit) from prakriti (mind and matter).
sannyāsa
Renunciation.
sat
[from as “to be”] The Real; truth; goodness.
sattva
Law, harmony, purity, goodness.
satya
Truth, truthful; good, the Good.
savikalpa samādhi
[sa-vikalpa “having distinctions” or “admitting separateness”] Samādhi in which some duality of subject and object remains, the devotee being absorbed in meditation without becoming completely identified with the object of contemplation; union with the personal God.
Shakti
Power; God’s feminine aspect; the Divine Mother.
shama
Peace; the peace of deep meditation.
Shankara
“Giver of peace,” a name of Shiva.
Shiva
The third person of the Hindu Trinity, the other two being Brahmā, the Creator, and Vishnu, the Preserver. Shiva destroys, but he also conquers death.
shraddhā
Faith.
shūdra
The fourth Hindu caste; a worker or servant.
Skanda
A god of war, the son of Shiva; general of the divine forces when they go into battle against the demons.
soma
A drink used in Vedic ritual; the drink of the gods.
Srī
[pronounced shrī] A title of respect originally meaning “auspicious” or “holy.”
svadharma
The duty appropriate to a particular person, one’s own individual dharma.
tamas
Inertia, ignorance.
tapas
Austerity, control of the senses; the spiritual power acquired through self-control.
tyāga
Renunciation.
Upanishads
Ancient mystical documents found at the end of each of the four Vedas.
Ushanas
A sage and poet who appears in the Vedas.
varna
Caste or class.
Varuna
God of waters and the ocean; in the Vedas, the moral overseer of the world.
Vāsuki
The king of the serpents, he lives in the underworld and balances the earth on his serpent hood.
Veda
[from vid “to know”] “Knowledge”; the name of the most ancient Sanskrit scriptures, considered to be a direct revelation from God to the mystics of the past.
vidyā
Knowledge, wisdom; a science or branch of study.
Vijñāna
Knowledge, judgement, understanding.
Vishnu
Second in the Hindu Trinity; the Preserver who incarnates himself in age after age for the establishment of dharma and for the welfare of all creatures.
Vivasvat
The sun god, the father of Manu, the ancestor of mankind.
Vrishni
Name of an important clan of ancient north India. According to legend the Vrishnis all perished at the end of Krishna’s life when their city, Dvāraka, sank into the sea.
Vyāsa
The sage revered as the author of the Mahābhārata and the Gītā. He was the father of both Dhritarāshtra and Pāndu, and he gave Sanjaya the power of mystic vision so that he could behold the dialogue between Srī Krishna and Arjuna.
yajna
Offering, sacrifice, worship.
Yajur
One of the four Vedas.
yoga
[from yuj “to unite”] Union with God, realization of the unity of all life; a path or discipline which leads to such a state of total integration or unity. Yoga is also the name of one of the six branches of Hindu philosophy, and as such is paired with Sānkhya.
yogī
A person who practices spiritual disciplines.
yuga
An age or eon. In Hindu cosmology there are four yugas, representing a steady deterioration in the state of the world from age to age. The names of the yugas are taken from a game of dice. Krita Yuga is the age of perfection, followed by Tretā Yuga. The incarnation of Srī Krishna is said to mark the end of the third yuga, Dvāpara. We are living in the fourth and final yuga, Kali, in which the creation reaches its lowest point. The world goes through 1,000 such yuga-cycles during one kalpa or Day of Brahmā.
Yudhishthira
Arjuna’s elder brother, famous for his adherence to dharma at all times.
