Documents for "Hinduism":

• advaita see Vedanta.

• Agni see Veda.

• ahimsa [Sanskrit,=noninjury], ethical principle of noninjury to both men and animals, common to Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. Ahimsa became influential in India after 600 BC, contributing to the spread...

• Arya Samaj see Saraswati, Dayananda.

• asana see yoga.

• Atharva-Veda see Veda.

• avatara [Skt.,=descent], incarnations of Hindu gods, especially Vishnu. The doctrine of avatara first occurs in the Bhagavad-Gita , where Krishna declares: "For the preservation of the righteous, the...

• Bhagavad-Gita [Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata , one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism. The Gita (as it is often called) consists of a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna on the eve of the great battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna is overcome with anguish when he sees in the opposing army many of his kinsmen, teachers, and friends. Krishna persuades him...

• bhakti [Skt.,=devotion], theistic devotion in Hinduism. Bhakti cults seem to have existed from the earliest times, but they gained strength in the first millennium AD The first full statement of...

• Brahma a god often identified, with Vishnu and Shiva , as one of the three supreme gods in Hinduism. In the late Vedic period he was called Prajapati, the primeval man whose sacrifice permitted the original act of creation. His popularity has declined since the Gupta era (AD 320-550), and today...

• Brahman or Brahmin . In the Upanishads, Brahman is the name for the ultimate, unchanging reality, composed of pure being and consciousness. Brahman lies behind the apparent multiplicity of the phenomenal world, and is...

• Brahmanism see Hinduism.

• Brahmin see Brahman.

• Brahmo Samaj [Hindi,=society of God], Indian religious movement, founded in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1828 by Rammohun Roy. It promoted a monotheistic, reformed Hinduism with strong Islamic and Christian overtones, support for the rights of women, and opposition to such aspects of Hinduism as idolatry and animal...

• chakra see yoga.

• Dalits see Harijans.

• dharma . In Hinduism , dharma is the doctrine of the religious and moral rights and duties of each individual; it generally refers to religious duty, but may also mean social order, right conduct, or simply virtue...

• Durga see Hinduism.

• Ganesha see Hinduism.

• guru in Hinduism and Buddhism, spiritual teacher. The guru gives initiation into spiritual practice and instructs disciples, often maintaining a close relationship with them. Among the Sikhs (see Sikhism ) the title guru was given to the 10 leaders of the community from Nanak (c.1469-c.1539), founder of Sikhism, to Govind Singh (1666-1708). Govind appointed no successor, declaring that the Granth...

• Hare Krishnas communalistic religious movement, officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Founded in New York City (1966) by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), the...

• Harijans [children of God], in India, individuals who are at the bottom of or outside the Hindu caste system. They were traditionally sweepers, washers of clothes, leatherworkers, and those whose occupation it was to kill animals. The term is also sometimes applied to the hill tribes of India, who...

• Hindu philosophy the philosophical speculations and systems of India that have their roots in Hinduism.

• Hinduism Western term for the religious beliefs and practices of the vast majority of the people of India. One of the oldest living religions in the world, Hinduism is unique among the world religions in...

• Indra see Veda.

• Kali [Hindi,=the Black One], important goddess in popular Hinduism and Tantra. Known also as Durga [the Inaccessible] and as Chandi [the Fierce], Kali is associated with disease, death, and destruction. As Parvati she is the consort of Shiva. Although often represented as a terrifying figure, garlanded with skulls and bearing a bloody sword in one of her many arms, she is worshiped lovingly by many as the Divine Mother. Her cult,...

• karma or karman , [Skt.,=action, work, or ritual], basic concept common to Hinduism , Buddhism , and Jainism. The doctrine of karma states that one's state in this life is a result of actions (both physical and mental) in past incarnations, and action in this life can determine one's destiny in future...

• Krishna [Sanskrit,=black], one of the most popular deities in Hinduism, the eighth avatar, or incarnation of Vishnu. Krishna appears in the Mahabharata epic as a prince of the Yadava tribe and the friend and counselor of the Pandava princes. His divinity is proclaimed in several places in the epic, particularly in the Bhagavad-Gita. Krishna's childhood and youth are described in the Harivamsa (a supplement to the Mahabharata ), the Vishnu Purana, and the Bhagavata Purana, the last being one of the most important texts of the Bhakti, or devotional, movement. As a young boy Krishna is the foster child of cowherds and shows his divine nature by conquering demons. As a...

• kundalini see yoga.

• Lakshmi see Hinduism.

• Madhva see Vedanta.

• mahatma [Sanskrit,=great-souled], honorific title used in India among Hindus for a person of superior holiness. Mohandas Gandhi is the best-known figure to whom the title was applied.

• mantra in Hinduism and Buddhism, mystic words used in ritual and meditation. A mantra is believed to be the sound form of reality, having the power to bring into being the reality it represents. There...

• maya in Hinduism, term used in the Veda to mean magic or supernatural power. In Mahayana Buddhism it acquires the meaning of illusion or unreality. The term is pivotal in the Vedanta system of Shankara,...

• Nyaya see Hindu philosophy.

• Om [Skt.,=yes, so be it] for Hindus and Buddhists, a mystic word or mantra. Om is regarded as the syllable of the supreme Reality and is sometimes called "the mother of mantras." It is often found...

• Patañjali see yoga.

• Purva Mimamsa see Hindu philosophy.

• Rig-Veda see Veda.

• samadhi a state of deep absorption in the object of meditation, and the goal of many kinds of yoga. In Buddhism the term refers to any state of one-pointed concentration. In Hinduism it signifies the highest levels of mystical contemplation, in which the individual consciousness becomes...

• Sama-Veda see Veda.

• Samkhya see Hindu philosophy.

• Sarasvati see Hinduism.

• Shakti [Skt.,=power], in Hinduism, name given to the female consorts of male deities. The Shakti personifies the dynamic, manifesting energy that creates the universe, while the male god represents the...

• Shiva or Siva , one of the greatest gods of Hinduism , also called Mahadeva. The "horned god" and phallic worship of the Indus valley civilization may have been a prototype of Shiva worship or Shaivism. Shaivism is mentioned as early as the Upanishads and the Mahabharata (500-200 BC). Shiva is identified with the fierce Vedic god Rudra and,...

• Siva see Shiva.

• soma psychotropic plant, the juice of which was sometimes drunk as part of the Vedic sacrifice (see Veda ). Many hymns in the Rig-Veda are in praise of soma. In the late Vedic period substitutes for soma...

• suttee [Skt. sati =faithful wife], former Indian funeral practice in which the widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre. The practice of killing a favorite wife on her husband's grave has been found in...

• Tantra in both Hinduism and Buddhism, esoteric tradition of ritual and yoga known for elaborate use of mantra , or symbolic speech, and mandala , or symbolic diagrams; the importance of female deities, or Shakti ; cremation-ground practices such as meditation on corpses; and, more so in Hindu than in Buddhist tantra, the ritual use of wine, meat, and sexual intercourse. Tantric practices use both ritual and...

• Transcendental Meditation service mark for a religious movement based on Vedanta philosophy, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Stressing natural meditation and the liberating pleasures such practices could invoke, the movement's meditation method is believed to help individuals...

• untouchables see Harijans.

• Upanishads speculative and mystical scriptures of Hinduism , regarded as the wellspring of Hindu religious and speculative thought. The Upanishads, which form the last section of the literature of the Veda , were composed beginning c.900 BC Of the 112 extant Upanishads, about 13 date from the Vedic period and the remainder are later, sectarian works. The principal early Upanishads develop answers to...

• Vaisheshika see Hindu philosophy.

• Varuna see Veda.

• Veda [Sanskrit,=knowledge, cognate with English wit, from a root meaning know ], oldest scriptures of Hinduism and the most ancient religious texts in an Indo-European language. The authority of the Veda as stating the essential truths of Hinduism is still accepted to some extent by all Hindus. The Veda is...

• Vedanta one of the six classical systems of Indian philosophy. The term "Vedanta" has the literal meaning "the end of the Veda" and refers both to the teaching of the Upanishads , which constitute the last section of the Veda , and to the knowledge of its ultimate meaning. By extension it is the name given to those philosophical schools that base themselves on the Brahma Sutras (also called the Vedanta Sutras ) of Badarayana (early centuries AD), which summarize the Upanishadic doctrine. The best-known and most influential of the schools of Vedanta is that of Shankara (AD 788-820), known as the...

• Vedanta Societies first and most influential Hindu organization in the West, founded by Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), a disciple of Indian mystic Ramakrishna (1836-86). Vivekananda attended an international...

• Vishnu one of the greatest gods of Hinduism , also called Narayana. First mentioned in the Veda as a minor deity, his theistic cults, known as Vaishnavism, or Vishnuism, grew steadily from the first millennium BC, absorbing numerous different...

• Yajur-Veda see Veda.

• yoga [Skt.,=union], general term for spiritual disciplines in Hinduism , Buddhism , and throughout S Asia that are directed toward attaining higher consciousness and liberation from ignorance, suffering, and rebirth. More specifically it is also the name of one of the six...