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Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Abhayapada | Position from where there is no fear of fall |
| Abhedya | Unpierceable |
| Acharya | Teacher; spiritual guide or preceptor |
| Achhedya | Uncuttable |
| Achit | Non-sentinent |
| Achit Prakriti | Evolutes of Maya |
| Adharma | Unrighteousness |
| Adhibhut | Physcical |
| Adhyatma | Psychic |
| Adi | First |
| Advaita | Monism |
| Agha | Sin |
| Ahamkar | Ego |
| Ahimsa | Non-violence |
| Aishwarya | Opulence; spiritual powers |
| Ajnan | Ignorance |
| Akhand | Integral, whole |
| Akshar | Eternal abode of Lord Swaminarayan |
| Akshar Deri | Shrine built over the cremation spot of Aksharbrahman Gunatitanand Swami in Gondal |
| Akshar mukta | A liberated soul residing in Akshardham |
| Akshar Purush | Akshar mukta |
| Aksharatmak | One whose atman is Akshar |
| Aksharbhav | Brahmabhav |
| Aksharbrahman | Akshar; Brahman |
| Akshardham | The divine abode of Lord Swaminarayan |
| Aksharrup | Oneness with Akshar; brahmanised state |
| Amayik | Free from maya; divine |
| Amravati | Swarga loka; abode of Indra - God of rain |
| Amsha | Part |
| Anadi | Having no beginning; eternal |
| Anadibhed | Eternal entity |
| Anand | Bliss |
| Anant | Endless; infinite |
| Anatman | Body |
| Antahkaran | Aggregate of Manas, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahamkar |
| Antaryami | Indweller |
| Antaryami shakti | God's divine power of immanence |
| Anyathakartum | The extraordinary powers of God |
| Arti | Ritual of waving lighted lamps before the deity as an act of adoration |
| Ashram | Religious community; residence of religious community; stage of life. Brahmacharya, Grahastha, Vanprastha and Sanyasta are the four stages |
| Ashtang yoga | Eight steps of yoga culminating in the realisation of God |
| Ashtang yogi | One proficient in Ashtang yoga |
| Asura | Man of evil character; demon |
| Atmadarshan | The realisation of the self as distinct from the body |
| Atmajnan | Knowledge of one's self as atman |
| Atman | The pure soul |
| Atmanishtha | Faith in the soul's inherent power |
| Atmasatta | Soul; soul's inherent power |
| Atyantik pralay | Period of final test |
| Avatar | Incarnation of God |
| Avatari | Cause of all incarnations |
| Avidya | Ignorance |
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| Badrikashram | Abode of Nar-Narayan |
| Bhagwadbhav | Godliness |
| Bhagwan | God |
| Bhagwat Dharma | Devotion to God accompanied by righteousness; Ekantik Dharma |
| Bhajan | Devotional song; worship |
| Bhakta | A devotee of God |
| Bhakti | Devotion |
| Bhakti marg | The path of devotion |
| Bharatkhand | India |
| Bhed | Difference; class |
| Bhumapurush | One of the demigods |
| Brahma | Creator of the universe |
| Brahmabhav | Consciousness of being one with Brahman |
| Brahmachari | One who vows to lead a life of celibacy |
| Brahmacharya | The practice of celibacy |
| Brahmadham | Akshardham |
| Brahmahatya | Sin of killing a brahmin |
| Brahmajnan | The knowledge of Brahman |
| Brahmajyoti | The divine light of Akshar |
| Brahmaloka | Akshardham |
| Brahmamahol | Akshardham |
| Brahman | Akshar; Aksharbrahman |
| Brahmanised | One who has attained oneness with Brahman |
| Brahmapur | Akshardham |
| Brahmarup | Oneness with Brahman |
| Brahmaswarup | Oneness with Brahman; God-realised |
| Brahmavetta | Knower of Brahman |
| Brahmavidya | The knowledge of Brahman |
| Buddhi | Intellect |
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| Chaitanya | Pure consciousness |
| Chidakash | Akshardham |
| Chitta | The lower mind |
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| Dan | Alms |
| Dev | Deity; demigod |
| Dham | Abode |
| Dhami | Master of the abode |
| Dhanvantar Vaidya | Physician of the gods |
| Dharma | Righteousness; Moral or social duty or law; code of ethical conduct; religion |
| Dharmakul | Family and descendants of Dharmadev - Shri Maharaj's father |
| Dhun | Repeated singing of the Lord's name |
| Dhyan | Medidation; concentration |
| Diksha | Initiation into sainthood |
| Divya | Divine |
| Divyabhav | Divine attributes |
| Dwapar Yuga | The third age of the world |
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| Ekantik Bhakta | A devotee in whom dharma, jnan, vairagya and bhakti are fully developed |
| Ekantikbhav | Single-mindedness |
| Ekantik Dharma | Bhagwat Dharma |
| Ekras | Pure |
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| Gadi | Seat of the Head |
| Golok | The abode of Lord Krishna |
| Gopis | Milkmaids of Vrindavan, who were devotees of Lord Krishna |
| Goval | Shepherds of Vrindavan |
| Gunas | Qualities referring to Sattva (goodness), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (darkness) |
| Gunatit | State beyond the three gunas or qualities |
| Guru | A religious teacher, adviser or guide; spiritual preceptor |
| Guru Paramapara | The unbroken line of gurus in the spiritual hierarchy |
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| Himsa | Violence |
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| Icchashakti | The power of will |
| Indra | God of rain |
| Indriyas | Sense organs |
| Ishwar | One of the five eternal entities; demigods |
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| Jagat | The world |
| Janmashtami | Birthday of Lord Krishna; 8th day of the dark half of the month of Shravan |
| Jiva | One of the five eternal entities; soul |
| Jivanmukta | One who experiences liberation in this very birth; name given to Shriji Maharaj |
| Jnan | Knowledge of the self or God |
| Jnan shakti | The power of knowledge |
| Jnani | One who has the knowledge of Brahman |
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| Kala | Time |
| Kali yuga | The fourth and present age of the world |
| Karan | Causal |
| Karma | Actions |
| Kirtan | Religious hymn; devotional song |
| Kriyashakti | The power of action |
| Kshar | Perishable |
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| Ladu | Sweetmeat ball |
| Lakshmi | Consort of Vishnu; Goddess of wealth |
| Lila | Divine sport; pastimes of the Lord |
| Loka | World; place; abode |
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| Maha Purush | The primordial self of Akshar mukta |
| Mahamaya | Primordial maya |
| Mahamukta | Akshar mukta |
| Mahant | Head priest of a temple |
| Maharaj | Title of respect for spiritual leaders; commonly used on own to refer to Lord Swaminarayan |
| Mahatmya | Greatness; Glory |
| Mahattatva | Cosmic intelligence |
| Mahavishnuroop | Mammoth |
| Mahima | Glory; greatness |
| Manas | Mind |
| Mantra | Revered words or syllable or hymn recited during worship and medidation |
| Manushya | Human |
| Manushyabhav | Human attributes |
| Maya | One of the five eternal entities; the power of God responsible for creating attachment towards the body and its relations |
| Mayik | The doctrine of illusion |
| Moha | Delusion |
| Moksha | Ultimate salvation or liberation from the fetters of maya |
| Mukta | A released soul |
| Mukti | Liberation from the cycle of births and deaths |
| Mul | Primordial |
| Mul Akshar | Primordial Akshar |
| Mul Maya | Primordial maya |
| Mul Purush | The primordial self od Akshar mukta |
| Mumukshu | Spiritual aspirant |
| Muni | Seer; sage |
| Murti | Image of the deity installed in a temple for worship; a picture or statue |
| Murtiman | With form |
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| Naimisharanya Kshetra | An important place of pilgrimage near Ayodhya |
| Narayan | God |
| Nirakar | Formless; devoid of all forms evolved from maya |
| Nirdosh | Free from faults |
| Nirgun | Devoid of attributes; divine |
| Nirlobh | Freedom from covetousness; poverty |
| Nirman | Freedom from ego; humility |
| Nirvikari | Immutable |
| Nirvikalp Samadhi | The highest state of realisation where only the undisturbed bliss of God is experienced |
| Nishchay | Conviction of the form of God |
| Nishkam | Without passion; celibacy |
| Nishkam Bhakta | A devotee desirous of nothing but the service of God |
| Nishtha | Faith; conviction of the form of God |
| Nissneh | Non-attachment |
| Nisswad | Without taste; tastelessness |
| Niyam | Moral habit or rule |
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| Panch bhutas | Earth, water, fire, wind and space; the five evolutes of maya |
| Panch Vartman | Five vows taken at time of initiation into the Sampradaya or into sainthood |
| Panchvishayas | The five sense objects |
| Parabrahman | God |
| Param | Supreme; greatest |
| Paramatman | God |
| Paramhansa | Highest stage of ascetic renunciation |
| Parampad | Highest position; final beatitude |
| Parmeshwar | God |
| Paroksh | Unmanifest |
| Parshad | First state of initiation into the ascetic life; a renunciate wearing white clothing |
| Patal | Lowest of the fourteen lokas in this universe |
| Pradhan Purush | "First-produced"; described as lower nature or lower Brahman |
| Pragat | Manifest; present |
| Pragat Brahmaswarup | Present form of Brahman - referring to the God-realised brahmanised Satpurush |
| Prakriti | Maya; one of the five eternal entities |
| Pralay | Destruction |
| Pranas | The vital airs |
| Prasad | Sanctified food from that offered to the deity |
| Pratyaksh | Visible before the eyes |
| Puja | Act of worship or adoration; ritual and prayer offered at home or in the temple |
| Purna | Total; complete; perfect |
| Purna Purushottam | The Ultimate Reality; the supreme God |
| Purush | This term is variously used to mean soul, lower brahman, brahman or Parabrahman |
| Purushottam | The supreme God; Lord Swaminarayan |
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| Rajas | Mode of passion; one of the three gunas |
| Ras | A Gujarati folk-dance |
| Rishi | Seer; sage |
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| Sachchidanand | Truth, consciousness and bliss |
| Sadguru | Senior ascetic; eminent preceptor |
| Sadhak | An aspirant walking on the spiritual path |
| Sadhana | Spiritual endevour |
| Sadhu | Holy man who has renounced the world; ascetic |
| Sagun | With qualities |
| Sagun Brahman | Brahman with divine attributes |
| Sakar | Personal; with form |
| Samadhi | State of trance |
| Samkhya | One of the six chief systems of Indian philosophy attributed to the sage Kapil |
| Sampradaya | Holy or religious fellowship; tradition handed down from a founder through successive religious teachers |
| Samyavastha | State of equilibrium |
| Sanyasi | Hindu ascetic or renunciate |
| Sarvagna | Omniscient |
| Sarvopari | The supreme; transcending all |
| Sat yuga | The first age of the world |
| Sat-Chit-Anand | Truth, consciousness and bliss |
| Satpurush | The Saint who has established rapport with God; God-realised Saint |
| Satsang | Holy Fellowship; religious group or gathering; association with sadhus and devotees |
| Satsangi | Member of the Satsang |
| Sattva | Mode of goodness; one of the three gunas |
| Satyaloka | The loka of Brahma |
| Sevak | Servant |
| Sevakbhav | The spirit of servitude |
| Shakti | Power |
| Sharir | Body |
| Shariri | Soul; controller |
| Shastra | Scriptures |
| Shloka | Verse |
| Shushka | False; dry |
| Sinhasan | Throne |
| Sthan | Place; position |
| Sthula | Gross |
| Stithapragna | Perfect balance of mind |
| Sukshma | Subtle |
| Swabhav | Nature; character; disposition |
| Swadharma | Ethical rules applying to oneself |
| Swami | Lord; master; saint |
| Swami-sevakbhav | Feeling of Master-servant relationship |
| Swargaloka | Abode of Indra - God of rain |
| Swarup | Form |
| Swayamjyoti | Self-luminous |
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| Tamas | Mode of darkness or ignorance; one of the three gunas |
| Tap / Tapas | Austerities |
| Tattva | Evolute; element |
| Tilak | A vertical mark on the forehead symbolic of the footprints of God |
| Tirth | Pilgrimage to sacred place |
| Treta yuga | The second age of the world |
| Trigunatit | Transcending the three gunas of prakriti |
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| Upasak | Worshipper |
| Upasana | Way of understanding God; Mode of worship |
| Upasham | A state of no-mind |
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| Vadvanal | The fire under the sea |
| Vaikunth | Abode of Lakshmi-Narayan |
| Vairagya | Detachment; indifference or aversion to worldly pleasures |
| Vairaj Purush | A demigod |
| Vaishnav | Devotee of Lord Vishnu |
| Vaishwanar | The fire under the sea |
| Varna | Caste or class; the four main castes are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra |
| Vartman | Vow |
| Vasana | Mundane desires |
| Vasudev | God |
| Vedanta | One of the schools of Indian philosophy; the final part of the Vedas; the Upanishads |
| Vedantin | Follower of Vedanta |
| Virat | The gross body of Ishwar |
| Vishishtadvaita | Qualified non-dualism of Ramanujacharya |
| Vishwaswarup | The cosmic form of God |
| Vivek | Discrimination |
| Vrat | Vow |
| Vyapak | All-pervading; immanent |
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| Yagna | Sacrifice |
| Yamapuri | Hell |
| Yoga | One of the schools of Indian philosophy founded by sage Patanjali |
| Yogamaya | Yogic powers |
