Sanskrit A

Question 1

Abhyasa

Answer 1

practice

Question 2

Acarya

Answer 2

guru

Question 3

Advaita (“nonduality”)

Answer 3

Truth and teaching that there is only One Reality (Atman, Brahman), especially as found in the Upanishads;

Question 4

Ahamkara (“I-maker”)

Answer 4

the individuation principle, or ego

Question 5

Ahimsa (“nonharming”)

Answer 5

Single most important moral discipline (yama)

Question 6

Akasha (“ether/space”)

Answer 6

the first of the five material elements of which the physical universe is composed; also used to designate “inner” space, that is, the space of consciousness (called cid-akasha)

Question 7

Amrita (“immortal/immortality”)

Answer 7

a designation of the deathless Spirit (atman, purusha); also the nectar of immortality that oozes from the psychoenergetic center at the crown of the head (see sahasrara-cakra) when it is activated and transforms the body into a “divine body” (divya-deha)

Question 8

Ananda (“bliss”)

Answer 8

the condition of utter joy, which is an essential quality of the ultimate Reality (tattva)

Question 9

Anga (“limb”)

Answer 9

a fundamental category of the yogic path, such as asana, dharana, dhyana, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, samadhi, yama; also the body (deha, sharira)

Question 10

Arjuna (“White”)

Answer 10

one of the five Pandava princes who fought in the great war depicted in the Mahabharata, disciple of the God-man Krishna whose teachings can be found in the Bhagavad Gita

Question 11

Asana (“seat”)

Answer 11

a physical posture (see also anga, mudra); the third limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eightfold path (astha-anga-yoga); originally this meant only meditation posture, but subsequently, in hatha yoga, this aspect of the yogic path was greatly developed

Question 12

Ashrama (“that where effort is made”)

Answer 12

a hermitage; also a stage of life, such as brahmacharya, householder, forest dweller, and complete renouncer (samnyasin)

Question 13

Ashta-anga-yoga, ashtanga-yoga (“eight-limbed union”)

Answer 13

the eightfold yoga of Patanjali, consisting of moral discipline (yama), self-restraint (niyama), posture (asana), breath control (pranayama), sensory inhibition (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and ecstasy (samadhi), leading to liberation (kaivalya)

Question 14

Asmita (“I-am-ness”)

Answer 14

a concept of Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga, roughly synonymous with ahamkara

Question 15

Atman (“self”)

Answer 15

the transcendental Self, or Spirit, which is eternal and superconscious; our true nature or identity; sometimes a distinction is made between the atman as the individual self and the parama-atman as the transcendental Self; see also purusha; cf. brahman

Question 16

Avadhuta (“he who has shed [everything]”)

Answer 16

a radical type of renouncer (samnyasin) who often engages in unconventional behavior

Question 17

Avidya (“ignorance”)

Answer 17

the root cause of suffering (duhkha); also called ajnana; cf. vidya

Question 18

Ayurveda, Ayur-veda (“life science”)

Answer 18

one of India’s traditional systems of medicine, the other being South India’s Siddha medicine