Hinduism Glossary Terms

Dharma

Dharma means religion, religious duty, religious teaching. The word dharma comes from a Sanskrit root meaning “to uphold, support, bear,” thus dharma is that order of things which informs the whole world, from the laws of nature to the inner workings of...

Durga

Durga is one of the names of the Devi as consort of Shiva. Both a mother and a warrior, she is especially known for slaying the buffalo demon, Mahisha. Her autumn festival Durga puja or Navaratri is one of North India’s great celebrations.

fire altar

Fire altars have played a central role in both Hindu and Zoroastrian religious rituals. In the Hindu tradition, fire altars were central to ancient Vedic religious life as the place where many yajnas or rituals were performed. The kindling of sacred fire...

Gandhi, Mohandas

M.K. Gandhi (1869-1948) was one of the great religious leaders and social reformers of the 20th century. He came to be called Mahatma, the “Great Soul.” Born in western India in Gujarat, he studied law in London and then spent twenty years with the Indian...

Ganesha

Ganesha is the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati and the keeper of the thresholds of space and time, to be honored at the doorway and at the outset of any venture. He is both the “lord of beginnings” and the “remover of obstacles.”

Ganesha Chaturthi

Ganesha Chaturthi is the year’s great festival of Ganesha, celebrated most commonly on the fourth day ( chaturthi) of the waning fortnight of the lunar month of August/September. At the Ganesha Temple in Queens, the day includes a procession of the...

Goddess

Goddess is a term used to refer to the female deity, either in the singular as the supreme divine reality, or in the plural as one of many particular or localized feminine deities. In the Hindu tradition, the Goddess refers to the very powerful, even...

guru puja

Guru puja is the honoring of the guru or teacher with puja, or ritual devotion.

Guru Purnima

Guru Purnima is a yearly observance honoring the guru or teacher. It falls on the full moon day ( purnima) of the lunar month of July/August.

gurukulam

A gurukulam is a residential school or training center where a guru teaches; literally, it means the family ( kulam) of the guru.

Hanuman

Hanuman is Lord Rama’s foremost devotee and servant. In the epic Ramayana, Hanuman plays a key role in the rescue of Rama’s wife, Sita, after she had been abducted by the demon-king, Ravana. In Hindu temples Hanuman is always present, on bended knee, at...

Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga is a form of yoga or spiritual/physical discipline giving special attention to the postures and breathing exercises that release and control the energies of the body. The term is often used in the West to refer to the physical-fitness aspects...

haveli

A haveli is a stately house or palace, a Pushti Marga temple. In this devotional sect founded by the teacher ( acharya) Vallabha, Krishna dwells in the household of the teachers. In the Swaminarayan tradition, a haveli is the residence for female ascetics...

Hinduism

“Hindu” was originally a word given by the Greeks, then the Persians, to the land and peoples beyond the Indus or “Sindhu” River. The term “Hinduism” came into common use only in the 19th century to describe a complex and dynamic pattern of life and...

Holi

Holi is a Hindu springtime festival, marked by rituals of revelry including “playing” with colored powder which celebrants throw on one another. In some temples Krishna participates by throwing the colors on his devotees. Holi falls on the first day of...

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), often referred to as the Hare Krishna movement, was founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) who brought his tradition of devotion to Krishna to the United States in 1965...

Jagannatha

Jagannatha is Krishna as “Lord of the Universe,” especially as he is present in the simple, saucer-eyed wooden form worshipped in the pilgrimage town of Puri in the Indian state of Orissa and beloved by worshippers of Krishna both in India and the West...

Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami is the Hindu festival celebrating the birth ( janma) of Lord Krishna on the eighth day ( ashtami) of the waning fortnight of the lunar month of August/September.

japa

Japa is the devotional repetition of a sacred syllable, mantra, or divine name, either aloud or to oneself. Some devotees count each repetition on a mala or rosary.

jnana

Jnana is wisdom, transforming knowledge, especially the knowledge of the identity of the atman or soul and the ultimate reality of Brahman. It is this inner realization to which the teachings of the Upanishads point, and it is this wisdom which is...

Kabir

Kabir was a late 15th and early 16th century poet-saint of North India who glimpsed and praised the one, formless God who could not be confined within the religious establishments of either the Hindus or the Muslims. Kabir’s songs are still widely known...

karma yoga

Karma yoga means the spiritual discipline ( yoga) of action ( karma): active engagement with the concerns and affairs of the world, but with a spirit of detachment or renunciation, action without any ego-attachment to its fruits or results. In the...

Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmir Shaivism is a non-dualist philosophical and ritual tradition, beginning in about the 10th century in Kashmir.

kirtan

In the religious traditions of India the term kirtan refers to singing the praises of God in communal worship.

Krishna

Krishna is one of the most beloved of Hindu Gods, sometimes called an avatara of Vishnu, but widely worshipped in his own right as the Supreme Lord. The stories of Krishna gather together the ancient and heroic cowherd god of India, the adviser to Arjuna...

kumbhabhishekam

Kumbhabhishekam means the “sprinkling” ( abhishekam) of the temple with sacred waters carried in a “water-pot” ( kumbha). This consecration rite is the most important ritual in the life of a newly built Hindu temple. The main rites ordinarily take place...

kundalini yoga

Kundalini is a powerful spiritual energy, understood to be concentrated at the base of the spine like a coiled serpent. The discipline of releasing and raising that energy to the head where it transforms one’s consciousness is called kundalini yoga, a...

Lakshmi

Lakshmi is the goddess who embodies auspiciousness, wealth, and good fortune. She is often regarded as a wife of Vishnu or Narayana and is worshipped especially in the fall festival of lights called Divali.

Lakshmi Narayana

The Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu, also called Narayana, are worshipped together as the Divine couple.

Laws of Manu

The Laws of Manu constitute one of the classic sources of teaching about Dharma in the Hindu tradition. Dating to the period from about 200 BCE to 200 CE, this articulation of law or dharma begins with the story of creation and then covers such subjects...