The Ramayana (109 page)

Airavata
  Indra's four-tusked, white, flying elephant.

akasa
  The fifth element, cosmic ether.

aksauhini
  An army or legion of 21,870 chariots, as many elephants, 65,610 horses, and 109,350 foot soldiers.

Alakananda
  The Ganga (Ganges).

alidha
  The archer's stance.

amavasya
  The new moon.

Amravati
  Indra's heavenly city.

amrita
  The nectar of immortality.

amsa
  Essence; part.

Anantasesha
  The cosmic serpent; also, Vishnu's rest, the bed upon which he lies.

anarya
  An ignoble person.

Angaraka
  The planet Mars; he is also a God.

anjali
  An offering.

antapura
  A harem.

apradakshina
  Counterclockwise, or inauspicious, circumnavigation; the opposite of pradakshina.

apsara
  A nymph.

aranya
  A jungle.

arghya
  An offering of welcome.

artha
  Wealth, possessions. Artha is one of the four goals in life (the others are dharma, kama, and moksha).

Aryaman
  The first man; ancestor.

asariri
  A disembodied voice.

asokavana
  A grove or thicket of asoka trees.

asrama
  A hermitage. The four asramas of life are brahmachari (celibate), grihasta (householder), vanaprastha (renunciate), and sannyasi (hermit).

astra
  A supernatural weapon.

Asura
  Any of a class of demons.

aswamedha yagna
  A horse sacrifice.

aswattha
  A pipal tree.

Aswins
  Heavenly twins, known for their beauty.

Atharva
  The fourth Veda, concerned with sorcery.

atibala
  Extreme strength.

atman
  The individual soul.

AUM, OM
  A holy syllable that represents the ultimate reality.

Avatara
  An incarnation of a God, especially Vishnu.

ayana
  A journey.

ayudha
  A weapon.

bala
  Strength.

bhakta
  A devotee.

bhakti
  Devotion; worship.

Bharatavarsha
  The land of Bharata; India.

bhasma
  Holy ashes.

Bhumi
  The earth.

Bhumi
  
Devi
The Earth Goddess.

bhuta
  Spirit; ghost.

bindu
  Point; mystic singularity.

braahma
  A weapon of Brahma.

Brahma
  A God of the Hindu Trinity; the Creator.

brahmachari
  A celibate.

brahmahatya
  The murder of a brahmana.

Brahmaloka
  Brahma's realm.

Brahman
  Ultimate Godhead.

brahmana
  A member of the priestly caste; also, “Brahma's people.”

Brahmarishi
  A sage of Brahman.

brahmashakti
  Brahma's feminine power or weapon.

brahmastra
  Brahma's astra, known for its protective powers.

Brahmavadi
  A knower of Brahman.

Brahmavidya
  Knowledge of Brahman.

Bramadatta
  A bow Rama used against Khara.

Brighu
  An ancient rishi.

Brihaspati
  The guru of the Devas; also, the planet Jupiter.

Budha
  The planet Mercury; he is also a God.

Chaitra
  An auspicious lunar month; also, Kubera's garden.

chakra
  A wheel: in the body, a subtle center of energy along the spinal column and in the brain. See also
Sudarshana chakra
.

chakravaka
  A mythical bird, a symbol of despairing love.

chamara
  A whisk made of silk threads.

chandala
  An untouchable.

chandana
  The sandalwood tree.

Chandra
  The Moon God.

charana
  An unearthly being.

Chiranjivi
  A long-lived, almost immortal person.

chital
  A kind of deer.

Chitraratha
  The king of the gandharvas.

choodamani
  A hair ornament.

Daitya
  Any of a group of demons, sons of Diti.

Daksha
  A Prajapati who was Brahma's son and Sati's father.

Danava
  Any of a group of demons, sons of Danu.

danda
  A staff; also, punishment.

darbha
  A kind of grass.

darbhasana
  A seat made of darbha grass.

Deva
  Any of a class of celestial, elemental beings; God; also, “Being of Light.”

devadaru
  The Himalayan cedar.

Devaloka
  The heavenly realm of the Devas.

devastra
  The astra of the Devas.

Devi
  Goddess.

Dhanu
  The constellation Sagittarius; also, a God.

dhanusha
  A bow.

Dhanvantari
  The original physician, who rose from the sea of milk with the amrita.

dharma
  Truth; justice; duty.

Dhruva
  The North Star.

dhyana
  Meditation.

diggaja
  One of the elephants that support the world. There are four diggajas.

Dikpala
  The lord of a direction.

diksha
  A gift or offering for a brahmana.

dumarus
  A two-sided hand drum beaten by stones attached to it by string.

dundubhi
  A percussion instrument of the Gods.

durdina
  An evil day.

dwapara yuga
  The third great age.

dwarapalaka
  A gatekeeper or sentinel.

Dwividha
  A powerful vanara chieftain.

ekarnava
  The original sea of life.

gaandharva
  An astra of the gandharvas.

gana
  A servitor of Siva.

gandarvastra
  An astra of the gandharvas.

gandharva
  Any of a race of heavenly minstrels.

Garuda
  Vishnu's Eagle.

Gayatri
  The mother of all mantras.

ghee
  Clarified butter.

gochara
  A planetary transit.

gotra
  Subcaste, clan.

guna
  An essence of nature. There are three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas.

guru
  A spiritual teacher or guide; master.

gyana
  Knowledge, wisdom.

Halahala
  The original poison, which Siva drank.

Hari
  Vishnu.

hatya
  Murder.

havis
  The offering from a sacrifice.

Himavan
  The Himalaya.

Hiranyagarbha
  Pregnant with the Golden Egg.

homa
  Ritual worship.

Ikshvaku
  A king, founder of Rama's royal House of Ikshvaku. A race of the Sun is named after him.

Indra
  A God, the king of the Devas.

Indradhanush
  A rainbow.

Jambavan
  The king of the bears.

Janaki
  Janaka's daughter, Sita.

Janardhana
  Vishnu.

janma nakshatra
  A lunar birth star.

jata
  Dreadlocks of the kind rishis wear.

jatakarma
  A caste ritual.

jaya
  Victory.

Jaya vijayi bhava!
  “Be victorious!”

jitendriya
  One who has conquered his senses.

jivatma
  An embodied soul.

jrumbhana
  An astra.

kaala
  Time.

Kaali
  The black Goddess.

kadamba
  A tree.

kali yuga
  The fourth and the most evil of the ages.

Kama, Kamadeva
  The God of love.

Kamadhenu
  The first, sacred, cow of wishes.

kamandalu
  A brahmana's water pot.

Kama shastra
  The sacred arts of loving.

kanchana
  Golden.

kankana
  A bracelet.

kanya
  A virgin; maiden; young woman.

kanyadana
  A gift given by a bride or young maiden.

kanya sulka
  Bride-price.

karma
  Action; duty; also, the fruit of past deeds.

Karttikeya
  Siva's son.

Kaumodaki, Kaumodiki
  Vishnu's mace.

kavacha
  Armor.

kavya
  Poem.

kinnara
  Faunlike being, known to ask riddles.

kinnari
  Female kinnara.

kirtana
  A devotional song.

Kodanda
  Rama's bow.

koyal
  A cuckoo.

krita yuga
  The first of the four ages; the purest, most pristine yuga.

krodhagraha
  A room reserved for being angry in; “chamber of anger.”

krosa
  A measurement of distance.

kshatriya
  A member of the caste of royal warriors.

Kshirasagara
  A mythical sea of milk.

Kubera
  A Deva who is Lord of treasures.

kula
  A clan.

kulaguru
  The teacher of a royal family.

kulapati
  The head of a clan.

kundala
  Earrings; studs.

Kurma
  The Tortoise: Vishnu's second Avatara.

kutila
  A hut.

lagna
  An ascendant, rising sign.

Lakshmi
  The Goddess of fortune; Vishnu's consort.

linga
  Siva's phallic emblem; phallus.

loka
  World; realm; dimension.

Lokapala
  The Gods; the guardians of the four quarters; also, the world.

Madhuvana
  Vineyard.

magadhi
  Bard, singer.

maharathika
  A great warrior.

Mahavishnu
  Vishnu.

mahima siddhi
  The occult power to grow big and small.

mahodadi
  A great sea.

mahodara
  Consumption

malaya
  Of a mountain.

Manasa sarovara
  A holy lake in the Himalaya that Brahma made from his mind.

manavastra
  An astra.

mandala
  Dimension; galaxy.

Mangala
  The planet Mars.

mantapa
  A pavilion.

mantra
  A sacred incantation.

Manu
  An ancient king and lawgiver.

Margasirsa, Mrigasirsa
  An auspicious Hindu lunar month.

Marut
  A companion of Vayu, the Wind God. There are forty-nine Maruts.

matrihatya
  Matricide.

Matsya
  The Fish; Vishnu's first Avatara.

maya
  Illusion; cosmic illusion.

Maya
  The Goddess of illusion.

Mayaa
  A great demon builder and king.

mayavi
  A sorcerer.

Mohini
  The Enchantress; Vishnu as a woman.

moksha
  Liberation; salvation; enlightenment.

moolabala
  Ravana's crack legion, the principal source of his power.

mowna
  Silence.

mridanga
  A two-sided percussion instrument.

mudgara
  A weapon.

mudra
  A hand sign of occult power.

muhurta
  A small measure of time; especially, an auspicious moment.

muni
  A seer; rishi; also, silent one, knower of minds.

musth
  A male elephant's season of rut.

naga
  A great serpent; also, a magical, serpentine being.

nagapasa
  An occult serpent noose.

nagina
  A female naga.

nairrita
  A race of otherworldly beings.

nakshatra
  Any of the twenty-seven asterisms in lunar Hindu astrology, considered stellar Goddesses and wives of the Moon.

nalika
  An astra.

Nandana
  Indra's garden.

naracha
  A fiery missile.

Narada
  An ancient sage, the son of Brahma. He was said to have been born immaculately from Brahma's thought.