Vedic Sanskrit words and their Meanings

 

A

Abhaya mudra - gesture of fearlessness

Abhinivesha - fear of death

Adhara mudra - perineal mudra

Adharas - 16 bases which support the body

Adharmic - not fulfilling one's natural role in life

Advaita - non dual experience; unity of the individual soul

Agni - fire, in all its aspects. Agni encompasses all fires, from the densest (the power of digestion) to the most rarefied (the essence of cosmic fire

Agni mandala - 'zone of fire'; visualizing entire body in the form of agni

Agnisar kriya - practice of emptying the lungs and pumping the stomach to strengthen the diaphragm and lower stomach region

Agocharam - beyond sensory perception

Agochari mudra - another name for nasikagra drishti

Aham Bhramasmi - vedic mantra, I am Brahman'

Ahamkara - ego

Ahimsa - absence of violence from within; non violence

Ajapa japa - continuous, spontaneous repetition of mantra

Ajna chakra - 'third eye'; command centre

Ajna mandala - ajna chakra symbol at the eyebrow centre

Akhanda kirtan - ongoing, unbroken kirtan

Akara - form, link, continuity

Akasha - space; ether

Akasha tattwa - ether element

Akashi mudra - awareness of the inner space; practice of the external stage of dharana; gazing into space with the head tilted back

Amaroli - auto urine procedure; drinking of one's own urine in order to detoxify the body and develop stamina and vitality

Anadi - endless

Anahada nada - unheard, unstuck sound

Anahata chakra - heart chakra or emotional centre

Anahata kshetram - trigger point of anahata chakra

Ananda - everlasting bliss

Ananda samadhi - fourth state of samadhi; blissful absorption

Anandamaya kosha - sheath or body of bliss, beatitude

Annamaya kosha - sheath or body of matter

Antah - inner

Antah karana - inner instrument; experienced or manifest mind which includes the four aspects of manas, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara

Antar kumbhaka - internal breathe retention

Antar lakshya - internal aim to be aspired for in dharana

Antar mouna - inner silence; meditative technique

Antaranga yoga - four internal stages of raja yoga

Anuman - inference

Anusandhana - discovery

Apah - water

Apana - sub-prana, which is located in the lower abdominal region, responsible for elimination and reproduction

Aparigraha - non possessiveness

Ardhanareshwara - form of Shiva, which is half male and half female

Arjuna - one of the five Pandava brothers; he to whom Lord Krishna addressed the Bhagavad Gita

Artha - material need; wealth

Asamprajnata samadhi - transitional stage of samadhi where the traces of the mind become active according to their intensity

Asamprayoge - 'not coming into contact'

Asana - a physical posture in which one is at ease and in harmony with oneself

Asevitah - faith

Ashrama - four stages of life

Ashtanga yoga - eightfold path of yoga

Ashwini mudra - contraction of anal sphincter

Asmita - state where the ego and the sense of individuality are completely transcended and there is only pure awareness

Asmita klesha - feeling of 'I' identified with an action

Asmita samadhi - fifth state of samadhi; dissolution of ego; merging of body, mind and soul

Asteya - honesty

Asthi - bone found in the body tissues

Atadroop pratishtha - knowledge of false identity; inability to link name with form

Atma - individual soul; spirit

Aum - primordial sound; mantra

Avachetan - subconscious

Avidya - ignorance; lack of conscious awareness; mistaking the non eternal for the eternal; confined cognition

Avyakta - unmanifest; unseen

Awarohan - descending passage to the subtle body; spinal passage

Ayurveda - vedic system of medical diagnosis and treatment

 

B

Bahir - external

Bahir kumbhaka - external breath retention

Bahir lakshya - external aim to focus on in order to achieve concentration

Bahiranga yoga - four external stages of raja yoga

Baikhari - audible sound produced by striking two objects

Bandha - psychic lock that concentrates the flow of energy in the body at one point or plexus; postural contraction of the body

Basti - excretory cleansing technique for the intestines and colon

Beeja - 'seed'

Bhadrasana - gentleman's pose

Bhagavad Gita - Lord Krishna's discourse to Arjuna delivered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the great Mahabharata war

Bhaja Govindam - ode to Shakti by Adi Shankaracharya

Bhakti - devotion

Bhal bhati - forehead bellows

Bhastrika pranayama - 'bellows' breathing technique

Bhati - to shine

Bhava samadhi - absorption' in meditation due to emotional cause, e.g. kirtan

Bheda - to pass through, pierce, purify

Bhoochari mudra - practice of the external stage of dharana; gazing into space after focusing on the finger nail of the hand held in front of the face

Bhoota - element

Bhrumadhya - eyebrow centre

Bhrumadhya drishti - eyebrow centre gazing

Bindu visarga - centre or source of individual creation from where the psychic vibrations first emanate

Brahma - Lord of creation; manifest force of life and creation; potentiality of mooladhara chakra

Brahma dhyana - meditation on the concept of Brahma

Brahma granthi - perineal knot or psychic block

Brahma nadi - subtle pranic flow within sushumna nadi through which kundalini ascends

Brahmacharya - one who lives in higher consciousness; sexual control; redirection of sexual energy towards spiritual or meditational practices

Brahmacharya ashrama - first stage of life up to 25 years, which is devoted to study and learning

Brahman - absolute reality; 'ever expanding consciousness'

Buddha - the enlightened one

Buddhi - discerning, discriminating aspect of mind; from the root 'bodh', 'to be aware of', 'to know'; intellect

 

C

Chaitanya jyoti - eternal flame of spirit

Chakra - psychic center in the subtle body; circle, wheel or vortex of energy; conjugation point of the nadis

Chakrasana - wheel pose

Chandra bheda pranayama - breathing technique that pierces and purifies the ida nadi

Chandra mandala - another name for ajna mandala

Charvak - one of the six darshana or systems of Indian thought; philosophy which accepts only the perceivable phenomena as valid, not the unperceivable

Chaturmas - four months of the rainy season

Chetana - consciousness; unmanifest aspect of consciousness and energy

Chidakasha - space of consciousness experienced in the head region

Chidakasha dharana - technique of meditation involving awareness of the chidakasha

Chin mudra - attitude of chitta or consciousness; upward hand position with thumb and first finger touching

Chit - eternal consciousness

Chit shakti - mental force governing the, subtle dimensions

Chitta - individual consciousness, including the subconscious and unconscious levels of mind; memory, thinking, concentration, attention, enquiry

Chitta vritti - mental modification

 

D

Daharakasha - lower or deep space; encompassing mooladhara, swadhisthana and manipura

Daharakasha dharana - concentration on the symbols of chakra and tattwa within the lower space

Dakshina nadi - another name for pingala nadi

Danta dhauti - method of cleaning the teeth

Darshana - to glimpse; to see; to have a vision

Deerghakaala - for a long period of time

Dehasamya - body stillness

Desha - place

Deva tattwa - first tattwa: the divine element

Devadutta - minor prana

Devata - deity

Devi - female deity; goddess

Dhananjaya - minor prana

Dhara - stream, flow

Dharana - holding or binding of the mind to one point; concentration

Dharma - the natural role we have to play in life; ethical law; duty

Dhatu - layers of tissue in the body

Dhauti - cleansing practices for the stomach region involving gentle washing with air, water, cloth or stick

Dhyana - meditation

Divya - divine

Divya loka - plane of divine or transcendental experience

Divyabhava - divine feeling

Doshas - humors of the physical body

Drashta - seer, observer; awareness

Dridha bhoomihi - solid foundation

Drishti - vision, eyesight

Drishtisamya - stillness of vision

Drona - teacher of the Pandava and Kaurava princes from the Mahabharata epic

Durga - devi; goddess; representing energy

Dwesha - repulsion, aversion

 

G

Garbha - womb Ida

Gayatri mantra - vedic mantra of 24 matras or syllables

Gherand Samhita - traditional yogic text by Rishi Gherand

Gomukasana - cow face pose

Granthis - psychic knots

Grihastha ashrama - second stage of life from 25 50 years; householder

Guna - attribute, quality or nature of the phenomenal world

Guna rahita akasha - one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; attributeless space

Gupta nadi - runs from the knees along the inside of the thighs into the perineum

Guru - one who dispels darkness

 

H

Hasta uttanasana - a pre pranayama exercise

Hatha yoga - yoga of attaining physical and mental purity, and channelling of the pranas in the body

Hatha Yoga Pradipika - yogic text, 'light on hatha yoga'

Himsa - anything which disrupts the natural flow of human perception and consciousness

Hiranya - 'golden'

Hiranyagarbha - golden womb; golden egg

Hreem - beeja mantra

Hridayakasha - space of the heart, experienced between manipura and vishuddhi chakra

Hridayakasha dharana - vedic meditative process involving concentration on the heart space

 

I

Ida nadi - major pranic channel in the body; passive aspect of prana manifesting as mental force, chit shakti; lunar force governing the manifest subtle dimension

Indra - king of the vedic gods

Indriyas - sensory organs

Ishwara - higher reality; non decaying principle of Samkhya philosophy; unmanifest existence; being; non changing principle or quality

Ishwara pranidhana - cultivation of faith in the higher reality

Iti - `through' or 'thus'

 

J

Jagriti - wakefulness

Jala - water

Jala neti - nasal cleansing using warm and saline water, or oil, ghee, milk, yogurt or amaroli

Jalandhara bandha - chin lock; technique that frees 'the blockages of rudra granthi', controls the network of nadis, nerves and blood vessels flowing to the brain

Janma chakra - wheel of life

Japa yoga - yoga of mantra repetition

Jaya - victory, success

Jiva - individual identity

Jnana - intuitive knowledge

Jnana kanda - path of knowledge

Jnana mudra - hand position that joins fingers and thumb; gesture of intuitive knowledge

Jnana yoga - yoga of knowledge and wisdom attained through spontaneous self-analysis and investigation of abstract or speculative ideas

Jnanendriyas - five sensory organs

Jyoti mandir - temple of light

 

K

Kagra - tip

Kaivalya - state of consciousness beyond duality

Kala - time

Kala loka - plane that comes under the influence of time and its secondary aspect, space

Kama - emotional need or fulfilment

Kapalbhati pranayama - frontal brain bellowing technique used to raise the pranic energy of the body and centre it at ajna chakra

Kapalshodhan - variation of kapalbhati

Kapha - phlegm, one of the three humors described in ayurveda

Karana - cause

Kari - that which produces

Karma - action; law of cause and effect, which shapes the destiny of each individual

Karma kanda - path of ritual

Karma shaya - deep layers of consciousness where the karma are stored in the form of impressions, symbols or archetypes

Karma yoga - yoga of action; action performed with meditative awareness; yoga of dynamic meditation

Karmendriyas - five physical organs of action (feet, hands, speech, excretory and reproductive organs)

Kama dhauti - ways to clean the ears

Khechari mudra - tongue lock

Kirtan - singing of God's name

Kleem - beeja mantra

Koorma - tortoise

Koormasana - tortoise pose

Kosha - sheath or body

Krishna - incarnation of Vishnu

Kriya - action or motion

Kriya yoga - practices of kundalini yoga

Kukkutasana - cockerel pose

Kumbha - a pot

Kumbhaka - internal or external retention of breath

Kundalini - 'serpent power'; spiritual energy; evolutionary potential

Kundalini yoga - path of yoga, which awakens the dormant spiritual force

Kunjal kriya - cleansing the stomach by voluntary vomiting using warm saline water

Kuru princes - opponents of the Pandava princes in the Mahabharata epic

 

L

Laghoo - 'short form'

Lakshya - aim; stage

Lalana upa chakra - minor chakra at the back of the throat

Lam - beeja mantra of mooladhara chakra

Laya - to dissolve

Laya yoga - yoga of conscious dissolution of individuality

Lokas - seven planes of consciousness

 

M

Madhya - intermediate

Madhya lakshya - intermediate stage

Maha - great

Maha bheda mudra - great piercing attitude

Mahamrityunjaya mantra - a long universal mantra

Maha mudra - great attitude

Maha samadhi - final liberation experienced on the departure of the spirit from the body

Mahabandha - great lock

Mahabharata - great epic of ancient India

Mahakasha - one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; bright like the middle of the sun

Mahaprana - prana in its cosmic, unmanifest aspect

Mahat - greater mind

Majja - nerves found in the body tissues

Mala - garland

Mananat - bondage of mind

Manas - mind

Manasi - mental

Mandala - zone; area; pictorial representation

Manduki - frog

Manduki mudra - frog attitude

Mandukya Upanishad - one of the major Upanishads, which describes the three states of consciousness, represented by the three syllables of AUM

Manipura chakra - psychic centre behind the navel, associated with vitality and energy; 'city of jewels'

Manomaya kosha - mental sheath or body

Mantra - sound or vibration of power, which liberates the mind from bondage

Mantra yoga - path of yoga which liberates the mind through sound vibration

Mantraha - force of vibration

Maya - illusion; partial understanding; wrong or false notions about self-identity

Mayurasana - peacock pose

Medha - fat found in the body tissues

Mehdra - plexus of the pranic body; nadi plexus located just a few centimetres below the nave

Mitahara - balanced diet

Moksha - liberation; freedom

Moola - `root'

Moola bandha - perineal lock; technique for locating and awakening mooladhara chakra; used to release brahma granthi

Mooladhara anusandhana - discovery of mooladhara chakra

Mooladhara chakra - root chakra, situated at the perineum; seat of the primal energy

Mooladhara dhyana - practice involving visualization of mooladhara chakra and sensing the vortex of energy at this point

Mouna - silence

Mrityu tattwa - decay able element; manifest aspect of tattwa

Mudra - psychic gesture; psycho physiological posture, movement or attitude

Mukti - liberation

Mumsa - muscle found in the body tissues

Mumukshutva - desire for liberation

 

N

Nabho mudra - another name for khechari mudra

Nada - psychic or internal sound

Nada Yoga - yoga of internal sound

Nadi - prana flow or channel

Nadi shodhana - purification of nadis

Nadi shodhana pranayama - practice of alternate nostril breathing by which the pranic channels are purified

Naga - one of the five minor pranas

Nairantarya - continuously without a break

Nara - decaying principle

Nashwara - decaying principle described in Samkhya philosophy; manifest existence; becoming; changeable

Nasi - nose

Nasikagra drishti - nose tip gazing

Nasikagra upa chakra - minor chakra at the nose tip

Natya mudras - dance mudras that express different attitudes or moods, such as love or anger

Nauli - practice of rotation of the abdominal muscles

Neti - cleansing practice for the head; nasal cleaning

Nidra - deep sleep

Nigraha - control

Nirbeeja samadhi - final state of samadhi where there is absorption without seed; total dissolution

Nirguna dhyana - meditation without gunas or qualities

Nirvichara samadhi - transitional stage of samadhi; absorption without reflection

Nirvichara dhyana - meditation without special attributes

Nirvichara samadhi - transitional stage of samadhi involving purification of memory which gives rise to true knowledge of the object of perception

Niyama - inner discipline

Nyaya - one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy; `logic'; recognition of the real spiritual experience by the omniscient mind

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O

 

Om Namah Shivaya - Shiva mantra; 'I salute Shiva (consciousness)'

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudeva - Krishna mantra; 'I salute Krishna (consciousness)'

Om Namo Narayana - Narayan or Vishnu mantra; 'I salute Narayan (consciousness)'

 

P

Padmasana - lotus pose

Pancha klesha - five afflictions (ignorance, ego, attraction, aversion and fear of, death)

Panchaka - five

Pandavas - the five brothers in the Mahabharata epic

Para nada - transcendental sound

Param - supreme

Paramakasha - one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; 'deep, dark space with a twinkling star like light'; state of shoonya, nothingness

Parigraha - collection

Pashubhava - instinctive personality

Pasyanti - mental

Patanjali - ancient rishi who codified the meditative stages and states into the system of raja yoga

Pawanmuktasana - series of wind releasing postures; preliminary asana series

Pingala nadi - major pranic channel in the body which conducts the dynamic force manifesting as prana shakti

Pitta - bile,. One of the three humors described in ayurveda

Pooraka - inhalation

Poorna - full

Poorna dhanurasana - full bow pose

Poorva Mimamsa - one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy in the form of answers; contains theory of karma kanda or ritual

Prajna - knowledge with awareness; the seer who observes the state of nidra; the all knowing; what is known; represents the 'M' of AUM; awareness of the 'one without a second'

Prakasha - light

Prakasha mandala - white light at the centre of ajna chakra

Prakriti - individual nature

Pramana - direct knowledge; knowledge based on direct experience

Prana - vital energy; inherent vital force pervading every dimension of matter

Prana mudra - a technique of raising the prana

Prana nigraha - control of prana

Prana shakti - dynamic solar force governing the dimension of matter

Prana tattwa - third element representing the vital or life giving force

Prana vidya - knowledge and control of prana

Pranamaya kasha - energy sheath or body

Pranava - mantra Aum; primal sound vibration

Pranava dhyana - meditation on the mantra Aum

Pranayama - expansion of the range of vital energy

Pranidhana - 'to believe in'

Pranothana - awakening of the pranas in the different chakras

Pratishtha - awareness of identity

Pratyahara - withdrawal of the mind from the senses

Pratyaya - seeds or impressions in the field of consciousness, which do not disappear even in samadhi

Pravrittis - four instincts; (i) desire for food, (ii) desire for sleep; (iii) desire to procreate and (iv) fear of death

Prithvi - earth or matter

Purusha - totality of consciousness

Purusharthas - four efforts which man must make in order to fulfil his individual existence: (i) artha (wealth), (ii) kama (love), (iii) dharma (duty), (iv) moksha (liberation)

 

R

Raga - attraction

Rahita - without

Raja yoga - yoga of awakening the psychic awareness and faculties through meditation

Rajas - one of the three gunas; dynamism; state of activity and the creativity combined with full ego involvement

Rakta - blood found in the body tissues

Rasa - serum found in the body tissues

Rechaka - exhalation

Rishi - seer; realized sage; one who contemplates or meditates on the Self

Rityam - the changing principle

Roodan - the cry

Roopa - form

Rud - to cry

Rudra - howling energy

Rudra granthi - psychic knot or block between ajna and sahasrara chakras

 

S

Sabeeja samadhi - absorption with seed where the form of awareness remains

Sadhaka - spiritual aspirant

Sadhana - spiritual practice

Saguna dhyana - meditation to develop awareness of the transcendental qualities

Sah - with

Sahaja - spontaneous; easy

Sahaja samadhi - spontaneous meditative experience where the mind is totally withdrawn from the external world

Sahajoli mudra - contraction and release of the urinary passage in the female body to stimulate Swadhisthana chakra and promote brahmacharya

Sahasrara chakra - abode of Shiva or super consciousness; 'the thousand petalled lotus'; highest chakra or psychic centre, which symbolizes the threshold between the psychic and spiritual realms; located at the crown of the head

Sahita - 'combined with something'

Sakama karma - ego inspired actions

Sakshi - witness; drashta aspect

Sam - perfect, balanced

Samadhi - culmination of meditation; state of unity with the object of meditation and the universal consciousness

Samana - one of the five sub pranas; situated between the navel and diaphragm

Samapatti - complete absorption; samadhi

Samkhya - one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy; associated with yoga; based on the division of existence into purusha, prakriti and a number of elements

Samprajnata samadhi - first sate of samadhi; transcendental state where there is knowledge with awareness

Samskara - unconscious memories; impressions that do not fit into the known categories of our present personality

Samya - stillness

Samyam - harmonious control; culmination of pratyahara, dharana and samadhi

Sanatan - eternal

Sankalpa - resolve

Sannyasa - renunciation; dedication

Sannyasa ashram - fourth stage of life from 75 years onwards; total renunciation

Sanskrit - 'language of the gods': original vedic language

Santosha - contentment

Sapta - seven

Saptavatan - awareness of seven things simultaneously

Saraswati - goddess of learning

Sat - true

Satchitananda - three divine attributes of truth, consciousness and bliss

Satkaara - with faith

Satsang - gathering in which the ideals and principles of truth are discussed

Sattwa - one of the three gunas; pure, unadulterated quality; state of luminosity and harmony

Sattwic - pertaining to sattwa

Satya - truth, reality

Satyam - the unchanging principle

Savdhan - attention; alert

Savichara samadhi - third state of samadhi where the mind alternates between time, space and object

Savishesha dhyana - meditation with special qualities: awareness of the concept of Shakti as a powerful force equal to that of Brahman

Savitarka samadhi - second state of samadhi where there is alternating association of the consciousness between word, knowledge and sensory perception

Shaiva - one who worships Shiva as the supreme reality

Shaivism - practice of worshipping Shiva

Shakta - one who worships the various manifestations of Shakti in the form of Kali, Saraswati, Durga, etc.

Shakti - primal energy; manifest consciousness

Shaktism - practice of worshiping Shakti as the supreme reality

Shambhavi - name for Parvati, consort of Shiva

Shambhavi mudra - eyebrow centre gazing

Shambhu - name for Shiva

Shankhaprakshalana - cleaning the conch; shatkarma that uses saline water to clean the small and large intestines

Shankha mudra - conch Mudra

Shanmukhi mudra - closing the seven gates

Shat - six

Shatkarmas - group of six purificatory techniques of hatha yoga

Shaucha - cleanliness of the body

Sheetali pranayama - 'cooling breath'; breathing principle technique where the breath is drawn in through the folded tongue

Sheetkan pranayama - 'hissing breath'; practice of object drawing the breath in through clenched teeth

Shiva - pure consciousness

Shodhana - purification

Shoonya - nothingness; void

Shuddha - pure in nature

Shuddhata - virtue; purity

Shuddhi - to purify

Shukra/arthata - reproductive tissues in the body

Siddha - perfected being

Siddha yoni asana - female version of siddhasana

Siddhasana - accomplished pose

Siddhi - paranormal or supernormal accomplishment

Simhasana - lion pose

Smashan bhoomi - cremation ground

Smritti - memory; memory field

Soham - mantra of the breath; used in the practice of ajapa japa

Sthiti - condition

Sthoola - gross

Sukha poorvaka - 'simple preliminary practice'

Sukhasana - easy pose

Sukshma - subtle dimension

Sumeru - mountain; tassel on mala

Surya - sun

Surya bheda - pranayama that pierces and purifies the pingala nadi

Surya mandala - image of the sun visualized at the eyebrow centre

Surya namaskara - 'salute to the sun'; series of 12 asanas for revitalizing prana

Surya tantra - path of realization through visualization and evocation of the vital energy within the sun

Surya vijnana - another name for surya tantra

Suryakasha - one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; luminous space of the sun or the soul

Sushumna - central nadi in the spine, which conducts the kundalini or spiritual force from mooladhara to sahasrara

Sutra - threads of thought which outline the ancient spiritual texts

Sutra neti - nasal cleansing using a catheter

Sva, Swa - one's own

Swadharma - acceptance of one's own duty in life

Swadhisthana chakra - 'one's own abode'; second chakra associated with the sacral plexus

Swadhyaya - self study

Swami - master of the self

Swapna - dream state

Swara yoga - science of the breathing cycle

Swastikasana - auspicious pose

 

T

Tabla - Indian drums

Tadroop pratishta - knowledge of true identity; linking of name with form

Tamas - one of the three gunas; state of inertia or ignorance

Tamasic - pertaining to tamas

Tanmatra - nature, quality or essence of the five elements the sun visualized at

Tantra - ancient, universal science and culture which deals with the transcendence of human nature from the present level of evolution and understanding to transcendental level of knowledge, experience and awareness

Tapas - austerity; heat; process of burning impurities

Tarka - process of understanding through discussion and analysis

Tat - 'that'

Tattwa - element

Tattwakasha - one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; elemental space of perfect stillness

Tattwamaasi - 'Thou Art That'; vedic mantra

Teerthasthan - holy places of India

Tejas - luminosity; golden light or flame; the seer who observes the state of swapna

Trataka - to gaze steadily; dharana practice of gazing steadily at one point to focus the mind

Trayate - freed, liberated

Trimoorti dhyana - meditation on the three aspects of personality: sattwa, rajas and tamas

Turiya - fourth dimension of consciousness; super consciousness; simultaneous awareness of all three states of consciousness

Tyaga - renunciation or gradual dissociation of the mind from worldly objects and from the seed of desire

 

U

Udana - one of the five sub pranas; energy located in the extremities of the body arms, legs and head

Uddiyana - 'to raise up', 'to fly up'

Uddiyana Bandha - lock applied to the abdomen which causes the diaphragm to rise into the chest, thereby directing prana into sushumna

Ujjayi pranayama - psychic breathing performed by contracting the epiglottis, producing a light sonorous sound

Upa pranas - five minor pranas responsible for such actions as sneezing, yawning, itching, belching and blinking

Upanishads - vedantic texts conveyed by ancient sages and seers containing their experiences and teachings on the ultimate reality

Upanshu - whispered sound

Upasana kanda - ritual of worship

Usha pan - drinking water through the nose; traditional form of cold water neti

Uttara Mimamsa - one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy which deals with the knowledge of ritual in the form of questions

Utthita Lolasana - 'swinging while standing pose'; a pre pranayama exercise

 

V

Vacha - speech

Vairagya - non attachment

Vaisheshika - a treatise on the subtle, causal and atomic principles in relation to the five elements

Vaishnava - one who worships Vishnu in the form of Rama, Krishna, Narayana etc.

Vaishnavism - sect of Vishnu

Vaishwa - manifest universe

Vaishwanara - seer who observes the manifest universe or the, external, waking consciousness

Vajrasana - thunderbolt pose

Vajroli Mudra - contraction and release of the urinary passage in the male body to stimulate swadhisthana chakra and promote brahmacharya

Vama dhauti - method of cleaning the stomach by voluntary vomiting; includes kunjal kriya and vyaghra Kriya

Vanaprastha ashrama - third stage of life from 50 75 years; retirement from worldly life in order to practise sadhana in relative seclusion

Vashishtasana - balancing asana invented by Sage Vashishta

Vastra dhauti - cleansing of the stomach and oesophagus, using a cloth

Vata - wind, one of the three humors described in ayurveda

Vata nadi - nadi running along the back of the neck and head into the brain; controls gas formation and elimination

Vatsara dhauti - form of stomach cleansing performed by drinking air through the mouth and belching

Vayu - wind, prana

Vedanta - one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy; 'the end of perceivable knowledge'; the mind experiencing its own limits and going beyond them; gaining realization and understanding of that exploration

Vedas - ancient spiritual texts of the Sanatan Dharma

Veerabhava - warrior personality

Veerasana - warrior pose (also known as the philosopher's pose or the thinker's pose)

Vichara - reflection

Vidya - knowledge

Vidyut mandala - visualization of lightning within the white light of prakash mandala

Vijnana - intuitive ability of mind; higher understanding

Vijnanamaya kosha - higher mental sheath or body

Vikalpa - fancy; unfounded belief; imagination

Vikshepa - dissipation

Vipareeta - inverted

Vipareeta karani mudra - inverted psychic attitude

Viparyaya - wrong knowledge

Vishaya - object

Vishnu granthi - psychic knot or block between manipura, anahata and vishuddhi chakras, symbolizing the bondage of personal and emotional attachment

Vishuddhi chakra - psychic centre located at the level of the throat; centre of purification

Vishwa - eternal

Vitara - reasoning

Viveka - right knowledge or understanding

Vrischikasana - scorpion pose

Vritti - circular movement of consciousness; mental and modifications described in raja yoga

Vyaghra kriya - cleansing the stomach by voluntary vomiting using warm saline water (performed on a full stomach)

Vyakta - manifest; seen

Vyana - one of the sub pranas; reserve of pranic energy pervading the whole body

Vyoma - space

Vyoma Panchaka - the five subtle spaces

 

Y

Yam - beeja mantra of anahata chakra

Yama - self restraint, first step of ashtanga or raja yoga

Yantra - visual form of mantra used for concentration and meditation

Yoga angas - parts or aspects of yoga

Yoga mudra - psychic union pose

Yoga mudras - gestures, which help to channel the flow of prana in the body

Yoga nidra - technique of yogic or psychic sleep which induces deep relaxation

Yoga Sutras - ancient authoritative text on raja yoga by Patanjali

Yoni - womb, source

Yoni mudra - attitude by which the primal energy inherent in the womb, or source of creation, is invoked