INDEPENDENCE
1. The
Siddhis (powers) are attained by birth,
chemical means, power of words,
mortification or concentration.
Sometimes a man is born with the Siddhis, powers, of course
from the exercise of powers he had in his previous birth. In
this birth he is born, as it were, to enjoy the fruits of them. It
is said of Kapila, the great father of the Sankhya Philosophy,
that he was a born Siddha, which means, literally, a man
who has attained to success.
The Yogis claim that these powers can be gained by
chemical means. All of you know that chemistry originally
began as alchemy; men went in search of the philsopher’s
stone, and elixirs of life, and so forth. In Inidia there was a
sect called the Rasayanas. Their idea was that ideality,
knowledge, spirituality and religion, were all very right, but
that the body was the only instrument by which to attain to
all these. If the body broke now and then it would take so
much more time to attain to the goal. For instance, a man
wants to practice Yoga, or wants to become spiritual. Before
he has advanced very far he dies. Then he takes another
body and begins again, then dies, and so on, and in this way
much time will be lost in dying and in being born again. If
the body could be made strong and perfect, so that it would
get rid of birth and death, we should have so much more
time to become spiritual. So these Rasayanas say, first make
the body very strong, and they claim that this body can be
made immortal. The idea is that if the mind is
manufacturing the body, and if it be true that each mind is
only one particular outlet to that infinite energy, and that
there is no limit to each particular outlet getting any amount
of power from outside, why is it impossible that we should
keep our bodies all the time? We shall have to manufacture
all the bodies that we shall ever have. As soon as this body
dies we shall have to manufacture another. If we can do that
why cannot we do it just here and no, without getting out?
The theory is perfectly correct. If it is possible that we live
after death, and make other bodies, why is it impossible that
we should have the power of making bodies here, without
entirely dissolving this body, simply changing it continually?
They also thought that in mercury and in sulphur was hidden
the most wonderful power, and that by certain preparations
of these a man could keep the body as long as he liked.
Others believed that certain drugs could bring powers, such
as flying through the air, etc. Many of the most wonderful
medicines of the present day we owe to the Rasayamas,
notably the use of metals in medicine. Certain sects of Yogis
claim that many of their principal teachers are still living in
their old bodies. Patanjali, the great authority on Yoga, does
not deny this.
The power of words. There are certain sacred words
called Mantrams, which have power, when repeated under
proper conditions, to produce these extraordinary powers. We
are living in the midst of such a mass of miracles, day and
night, that we do not think anything of them. There is no limit
to man’s power, the power of words and the power of mind.
Mortification. You will find that in every religion
mortifications and asceticisms have been practised. In these
religious conceptions the Hindus always go to the extremes.
You will find men standing with their hands up all their
lives, until their hands wither and die. Men sleep standing,
day and night, until their feet swell, and, if they live, the legs
become so stiff in this position that they can no more bend
them, but have to stand all their lives. I once saw a man who
had raised his hands in this way, and I asked him how it felt
when he did it first. He said it was awful torture. It was
such torture that he had to go to a river and put himself in
water, and that allayed the pain for a little. After a month he
did not suffer much. Through such practices powers (Siddhis)
can be attained.
Concentration. The concentration is Samadhi, and that is
Yoga proper; that is the principle theme of this science, and
it is the highest means. The preceding ones are only
secondary, and we cannot attain to the highest through them.
Samadhi is the means through which we can gain anything
and everything, mental, moral or spiritual.
2. The change into another species is by the
filling in of nature.
Patanjali has advanced the proposition that these powers
come by first, sometimes by chemical means, or they may be
got by mortification and he has admitted that this body can
be kept for any length of time. Now he goes on to state what
is the cause of the change of the body into another species,
which he says is by the filling in of nature. In the next
aphorism he will explain this.
3. Good deeds, etc., are not the direct causes in
the transformation of nature, but they act as
breakers of obstacles to the evolutions of
nature, as a farmer breaks the obstacles to
the course of water, which then runs down
by its own nature.
When a farmer is irrigating his field the water is already in
the canals, only there are gates which keep the water in. The
farmer opens these gates, and the water flows in by itself, by
the law of gravitation. So, all human progress and power are
already in everything; this perfection is every man’s nature,
only it is barred in and prevented from taking its proper
course. If anyone can take the bar off in rushes nature. Then
the man attains the powers which are his already. Those we
called wicked become saints, as soon as the bar is broken
and nature rushes in. It is nature that is driving us towards
perfection, and eventually she will bring everyone there. All
these practices and struggles to become religious are only
negative work to take off the bars, and open the doors to that
perfection which is our birthright, our nature.
To-day the evolution theories of the Yogis will be better
understood in the light of modern research. And yet the
theory of the Yogis is a better explanation. The two causes
of evolution advanced by the moderns, viz., sexual selection
and survival of the fittest, are inadequate. Suppose human
knowledge to have advanced to much as to eliminate
competition, both from the function of acquiring physical
sustenance and of acquiring a mate. Then, according to the
moderns, human progress will stop and the race will die.
And the result of this theory is to furnish every oppressor
with an argument to calm the qualms of conscience, and men
are not lacking, who, posing as philosophers, want to kill out
all wicked and incompetent persons (they are, of course, the
only judges of competency), and thus preserve the human
race! But the great ancient evolutionist, Patanjali, declares
that the true secret of evolution is the manifestation of the
perfection which is already in every being; that this
perfection has been barred, and the infinite tide behind it is
struggling to express itself. These struggles and competRAJA
itions are but the results of our ignorance, because we do not
know the proper way to unlock the gate and let the water in.
This infinite tide behind must express itself, and it is the
cause of all manifestation, not competition for life, or sex
gratification, which are only momentary, unnecessary,
extraneous effects, caused by ignorance. Even when all
competition has ceased this perfect nature behind will make
us go forward until every one has become perfect. Therefore
there is no reason to believe that competition is necessary to
progress. In the animal the man was suppressed, but, as
soon as the door was opened, out rushed man. So, in man
there is the potential god, kept in by the locks and bars of
ignorance. When knowledge breaks these bars the god
becomes manifest.
4. From egoism alone proceed the created
minds.
The theory of Karma is that we suffer for our good or bad
deeds, and the whole scope of philosophy is to approach the
glory of man. All the Scriptures sing the glory of man, of
the soul, and then, with the same breath, they preach this
Karma. A good deed brings such a result, and a bad deed
such a result, but, if the soul can be acted upon by a good or
a bad deed it amounts to nothing. Bad deeds put a bart to the
manifestation of our nature, of the Purusa, and good deeds
take the obstacles off, and its glory becomes manifest. But
the Purusa itself is never changed. Whatever you do never
destroys your own glory, your own nature, because the soul
cannot be acted upon by anything, only a veil is spread
before it, hiding its perfection.
5. Though the activities of the different
created minds are various, the one original
mind is the controller of them all.
These different minds, which will act in these different
bodies, are called made-minds, and the bodies made-bodies;
that is, manufactured bodies and minds. Matter and mind
are like two inexhaustible storehouses. When you have
become a Yogi you have learned the secret of their control.
It was yours all the time, but you had forgotten it. When you
become a Yogi you recollect it. Then you can do anything
with it, manipulate it any way you like. The material out of
which that manufactured mind is created is the very same
material which is used as the macrocosm. It is not that mind
is one thing and matter another, but they are different
existences of the same thing. Asmita, egoism, is the
material, the fine state of existence out of which these mademinds
and made-bodies of the Yogi will be manufactured.
Therefore, when the Yogi has found the secret of these
energies of nautre he can manufacture any number of bodies,
or minds, but they will all be manufactures out of the
substance known as egoism.
6. Among the various Chittas that which is
attained by Samadhi is desireless.
Among all the various minds that we see in various men,
only that mind which has attained to Samadhi, perfect
concentration, is the highest. A man who has attained
certain powers through medicines, or through words, or
through mortifications, still has desires, but that man who
has attained to Samadhi through concentration is alone free
from all desires.
7. Works are neither black nor white for the
Yogis; for others they are threefold, black,
white, and mixed.
When the Yogi has attained to that state of perfection, the
actions of that man, and the Karma produced by those
actions, will not bind him, because he did not desire them.
He just works on: he works to do good, and he does good,
but does not care for the result, and it will not come to him.
But for ordinary men, who have not attained to that highest
state, works are of three kind, black (evil actions), white
(good actions), and mixed.
8. From these threefold works are manifested
in each state only those desires (which are)
fitting to that state alone. (The others are
held in abeyance for the time being.)
Suppose I have made the three kinds of Karma, good, bad,
and mixed; and suppose I die and become a god in heaven;
the desires in a god body are not the same as the desires in a
human body. The god body neither eats nor drinks; what
becomes of my past unworked Karmas, which produce as
their effect the desire to eat and drink? Where would these
Karmas go when I became a god? The answer is that desires
can only manifest themselves in proper environments. Only
those desires will come out for which the environment is
fitted; the rest will remain stored up. In this life we have
many godly desires, many human desires, many animal
desires. If I take a god body, only the god desires will come
up, because for them the environments are suitable. And if I
take an animal body, only the animal desires will come up,
and the god desires will wait. What does that show? That
by means of environment we can check these desires. Only
that Karma which is suited to and fitted for the environments
will come out. These proves that the power of environment
is the great check to control even Karma itself.
9. There is connectiveness in desire, even
though separated by speices, space and
time, there being identifi-cation of memory
and impressions.
Experiences becoming fine become impressions;
impressions revivified become memory. The word memory
here includes unconscious co-ordination of past experience,
reduced to impressions, with present conscious action. In
each body the group of impressions acquired in a similar
body only will become the cause of action in that body. The
experiences of dissimilar bodies will be held in abeyance.
Each body will act as if it were a descendant of a series of
bodies of that species only; thus, consecutiveness of desires
will not be broken.
10. Thirst for happiness being eternal desires
are without beginning.
All experience is preceded by desire for becoming happy.
There was no beginning of experience, as each fresh
experience is built upon the tendency generated by past
experience; therefore desire is without beginning.
11. Being held together by cause, effect,
support, and objects, in the absence of these
is its absence.
These desires are held together by cause and effect; if a
desire has been raised it does not die without producing its
effect. Then again, the mind-stuff is the great storehouse,
the support of all past desires, reduced to Samskara form;
until they have worked themselves out they will not die.
Moreover, so long as the senses receive the external objects
fresh desires will arise. If it be possible to get rid of these,
then alone desires will vanish.
12. The past and future exist in their own
nature, qualities having different ways.
13. They are manifested or fine, being of the
nature of the Gunas.
The Gunas are the three substances, Sattva, Rajas, and
Tamas, whose gross state is the sensible universe. Past and
future arise from the different modes of manifestation of
these Gunas.
14. The unity in things is from the unity in
changes. Though there are three substances
their changes being co-ordinated all objects
have their unity.
15. The object being the same, perception and
desire vary according to the various minds.
16. Things are known or unknown to the mind,
being de-pendent on the colouring which
they give to the mind.
17. The states of the mind are always known
because the lord of the mind is
unchangeable.
The whole gist of this theory is that the universe is both
mental and material. And both the mental and material
worlds are in a continuous state of flux. What is this book?
It is a combination of molecules in constant change. One lot
is going out, and another coming in; it is a whirlpool, but
what makes the unity? What makes it the same book? The
changes are rhythmical; in harmonious order they are
sending impressions to my mind, and these pieced together
make a continuous picture, although they parts are
continuously changing. Mind itself is continuously
changing. The mind and body are like two layers in the
same substance, moving at different rates of speed.
Relatively, one being slower and the other quicker, we can
distinguish between the two motions. For instance, a train is
moving, and another carriage is moving slowly alongside it.
It is possible to find the motion of both these, to a certain
extent. But still something else is necessary. Motion can
only be perceived when there is something else which is not
moving. But when two or three things are relatively moving,
we first perceive the motion of the faster one, and then that
of the slower ones. How is the mind to perceive? It is also
in a flux. Therefore another thing is necessary which moves
more slowly, then you must get to something in which the
motion is still slower, and so on, and you will find no end.
Therefore logic compels you to stop somewhere. You must
complete the series by knowing something which never
changes. Behind this never ending chain of motion is the
Purusa, the changeless, the colourless, the pure. All these
impressions are merely reflected upon it, as rays of light
from a camera are reflected upon a white sheet, painting
hundreds of pictures on it, without in any way tarnishing the
sheet.
18. Mind is not self-luminous, being an object.
Tremendous power is manifested everywhere in nature, but
yet something tells us that it is not self-luminous, not
essentially intelligent. The Purusa alone is self-luminous,
and gives its light to everything. It is its power that is
percolating through all matter and force.
19. From its being unable to cognise two things
at the same time.
If the mind were self-luminous it would be able to cognise
everything at the same time, which it cannot. If you pay
deep attention to one thing you lose another. If the mind
were self-luminous there would be no limit to the
impressions it could receive. The Purusa can cognise all in
one moment; therefore the Purusa is self-luminous, and the
mind is not.
20. Another cognising mind being assumed
there will be no end to such assumptions
and confusion of memory.
Let us suppose that there is another mind which cognises the
first, there will have to be something which cognises that,
and so there will be no end to it. It will result in confusion
of memory, there will be no storehouse of memory.
21. The essence of knowledge (the Purusa)
being un-changeable, when the mind takes
its form, it becomes conscious.
Patanjali says this to make it more clear that knowledge is
not a quality of the Purusa. When the mind comes near the
Purusa it is reflected, as it were, upon the mind, and the
mind, for the time being, becomes knowing and seems as if
it were itself the Purusa.
22. Coloured by the seer and the seen the mind
is able to understand everything.
On the one side the external world, the seen, is being
reflected, and on the other, the seer is being reflected; thus
comes the power of all knowledge to the mind.
23. The mind through its innumerable desires
acts for another (the Purusa), being
combinations.
The mind is a compound of various things, and therefore it
cannot work for itself. Everything that is a combination in
this world has some object for that combination, some third
thing for which this combination is going on. So this
combination of the mind is for the Purusa.
24. For the discriminating the perception of the
mind as Atman ceases.
Through discrimination the Yogi knows that the Purusa is
not mind.
25. Then bent on discriminating the mind
attains the previous state of Kaivalya
(isolation).
Thus the practice of Yoga leads to discriminating power, to
clearness of vision. The veil drops from the eyes, and we
see things as they are. We find that this nature is a
compound, and is showing the panorama for the Purusa,
who is the witness; that this nature is not the Lord, that the
whole of these combinations of nature are simply for the
sake of showing these phenomena to the Purusa, the
enthroned king within. When discrimination comes by long
practice fear ceases, and the mind attains isolation.
26. The thoughts that arise as obstructions to
that are from impressions.
All the various ideas that arise making us belive that we
require something external to make us happy are
obstructions to that perfection. The Purusa is happiness and
blessedness by its own nature. But that knowledge is
covered over by past impressions. These impressions have
to work themselves out.
27. Their destruction is in the same manner as
of ignorance, etc., as said before.
28. Even when arriving at the right
discriminating knowledge of the senses, he
who gives up the fruits, unto him comes as
the result of perfect discrimination, the
Samadhi called the cloud of virtue.
When the Yogi has attained to this discrimination, all these
powers will come that were mentioned in the last chapter,
but the true Yogi rejects them all. Unto him comes a peculiar
knowledge, a particular light called the Dharma Megha, the
cloud of virtue. All the great prophets of the world whom
history has recorded had this. They had found the whole
foundation of knowledge within themselves. Truth to them
had become real. Peace and calmness, and perfect purity
became their own nature, after they had given up all these
vanities of powers.
29. From that comes cessation of pains and
works.
When that cloud of virtue has come, then no more is there
fear of falling, nothing can drag the Yogi down. No more
will there be evils for him. No more pains.
30. Then knowledge, bereft of covering and
impurities, becoming infinite, the knowable
becomes small.
Knowledge itself is there; its covering is gone. One of the
Buddhistic scriptures sums up what is meant by the Buddha
(which is the name of a state). It defines it as infinite
knowledge, infinite as the sky. Jesus attained to that state
and became the Christ. All of you will attain to that state,
and knowledge becoming infinite, the knowable becomes
small. This whole universe, with all its knowable, becomes
as nothing before the Purusa. the ordinary man thinks
himself very small, because to him the knowable seems to be
so infinite.
31. Then are finished the successive transformations
of the qualities, they having attained
the end.
Then all these various transformations of the qualities, which change
from species to species, cease for ever.
32. The changes that exist in relation to moments,
and which are perceived at the other end (at
the end of a series) are succession.
Patanjali here defines the word succession, the changes that
exist in relation to moments. While I am thinking, many
moments pass, and with each moment there is a change of
idea, but we only perceive these changes at the end of a
series. So, perception of time is always in the memory. This
is called succession, but for the mind that has realised
omnipresence all these have finished. Everything has
become present for it; the present alone exists, the past and
future are lost. This stands controlled, and all knowledge is
there in one second. Everything is known like a flash.
33. The resolution in the inverse order of the
qualities, berfect of any motive of action for
the Purusa, is Kaivalya, or it is the
establishment of the power of knowledge in
its own nature.
Nature’s task is done, this unselfish task which our sweet
nurse Nature had imposed upon herself. As it were, she
gently took the self-forgetting soul by the hand, and showed
him all the experiences in the universe, all manifestations,
bringing him higher and higher through various bodies, till
his glory came back, and he remembered his own nature.
Then the kind mother went back the way she came, for
others who have also lost their way in the trackless desert of
life. And thus she is working, without beginning and
without end. And thus through pleasure and pain, through
good and evil, the infinite river of souls is flowing into the
ocean of perfection, of self-realisation.
Glory unto those who have realised their own nature.
May their blessings be on us all!
chemical means, power of words,
mortification or concentration.
Sometimes a man is born with the Siddhis, powers, of course
from the exercise of powers he had in his previous birth. In
this birth he is born, as it were, to enjoy the fruits of them. It
is said of Kapila, the great father of the Sankhya Philosophy,
that he was a born Siddha, which means, literally, a man
who has attained to success.
The Yogis claim that these powers can be gained by
chemical means. All of you know that chemistry originally
began as alchemy; men went in search of the philsopher’s
stone, and elixirs of life, and so forth. In Inidia there was a
sect called the Rasayanas. Their idea was that ideality,
knowledge, spirituality and religion, were all very right, but
that the body was the only instrument by which to attain to
all these. If the body broke now and then it would take so
much more time to attain to the goal. For instance, a man
wants to practice Yoga, or wants to become spiritual. Before
he has advanced very far he dies. Then he takes another
body and begins again, then dies, and so on, and in this way
much time will be lost in dying and in being born again. If
the body could be made strong and perfect, so that it would
get rid of birth and death, we should have so much more
time to become spiritual. So these Rasayanas say, first make
the body very strong, and they claim that this body can be
made immortal. The idea is that if the mind is
manufacturing the body, and if it be true that each mind is
only one particular outlet to that infinite energy, and that
there is no limit to each particular outlet getting any amount
of power from outside, why is it impossible that we should
keep our bodies all the time? We shall have to manufacture
all the bodies that we shall ever have. As soon as this body
dies we shall have to manufacture another. If we can do that
why cannot we do it just here and no, without getting out?
The theory is perfectly correct. If it is possible that we live
after death, and make other bodies, why is it impossible that
we should have the power of making bodies here, without
entirely dissolving this body, simply changing it continually?
They also thought that in mercury and in sulphur was hidden
the most wonderful power, and that by certain preparations
of these a man could keep the body as long as he liked.
Others believed that certain drugs could bring powers, such
as flying through the air, etc. Many of the most wonderful
medicines of the present day we owe to the Rasayamas,
notably the use of metals in medicine. Certain sects of Yogis
claim that many of their principal teachers are still living in
their old bodies. Patanjali, the great authority on Yoga, does
not deny this.
The power of words. There are certain sacred words
called Mantrams, which have power, when repeated under
proper conditions, to produce these extraordinary powers. We
are living in the midst of such a mass of miracles, day and
night, that we do not think anything of them. There is no limit
to man’s power, the power of words and the power of mind.
Mortification. You will find that in every religion
mortifications and asceticisms have been practised. In these
religious conceptions the Hindus always go to the extremes.
You will find men standing with their hands up all their
lives, until their hands wither and die. Men sleep standing,
day and night, until their feet swell, and, if they live, the legs
become so stiff in this position that they can no more bend
them, but have to stand all their lives. I once saw a man who
had raised his hands in this way, and I asked him how it felt
when he did it first. He said it was awful torture. It was
such torture that he had to go to a river and put himself in
water, and that allayed the pain for a little. After a month he
did not suffer much. Through such practices powers (Siddhis)
can be attained.
Concentration. The concentration is Samadhi, and that is
Yoga proper; that is the principle theme of this science, and
it is the highest means. The preceding ones are only
secondary, and we cannot attain to the highest through them.
Samadhi is the means through which we can gain anything
and everything, mental, moral or spiritual.
2. The change into another species is by the
filling in of nature.
Patanjali has advanced the proposition that these powers
come by first, sometimes by chemical means, or they may be
got by mortification and he has admitted that this body can
be kept for any length of time. Now he goes on to state what
is the cause of the change of the body into another species,
which he says is by the filling in of nature. In the next
aphorism he will explain this.
3. Good deeds, etc., are not the direct causes in
the transformation of nature, but they act as
breakers of obstacles to the evolutions of
nature, as a farmer breaks the obstacles to
the course of water, which then runs down
by its own nature.
When a farmer is irrigating his field the water is already in
the canals, only there are gates which keep the water in. The
farmer opens these gates, and the water flows in by itself, by
the law of gravitation. So, all human progress and power are
already in everything; this perfection is every man’s nature,
only it is barred in and prevented from taking its proper
course. If anyone can take the bar off in rushes nature. Then
the man attains the powers which are his already. Those we
called wicked become saints, as soon as the bar is broken
and nature rushes in. It is nature that is driving us towards
perfection, and eventually she will bring everyone there. All
these practices and struggles to become religious are only
negative work to take off the bars, and open the doors to that
perfection which is our birthright, our nature.
To-day the evolution theories of the Yogis will be better
understood in the light of modern research. And yet the
theory of the Yogis is a better explanation. The two causes
of evolution advanced by the moderns, viz., sexual selection
and survival of the fittest, are inadequate. Suppose human
knowledge to have advanced to much as to eliminate
competition, both from the function of acquiring physical
sustenance and of acquiring a mate. Then, according to the
moderns, human progress will stop and the race will die.
And the result of this theory is to furnish every oppressor
with an argument to calm the qualms of conscience, and men
are not lacking, who, posing as philosophers, want to kill out
all wicked and incompetent persons (they are, of course, the
only judges of competency), and thus preserve the human
race! But the great ancient evolutionist, Patanjali, declares
that the true secret of evolution is the manifestation of the
perfection which is already in every being; that this
perfection has been barred, and the infinite tide behind it is
struggling to express itself. These struggles and competRAJA
itions are but the results of our ignorance, because we do not
know the proper way to unlock the gate and let the water in.
This infinite tide behind must express itself, and it is the
cause of all manifestation, not competition for life, or sex
gratification, which are only momentary, unnecessary,
extraneous effects, caused by ignorance. Even when all
competition has ceased this perfect nature behind will make
us go forward until every one has become perfect. Therefore
there is no reason to believe that competition is necessary to
progress. In the animal the man was suppressed, but, as
soon as the door was opened, out rushed man. So, in man
there is the potential god, kept in by the locks and bars of
ignorance. When knowledge breaks these bars the god
becomes manifest.
4. From egoism alone proceed the created
minds.
The theory of Karma is that we suffer for our good or bad
deeds, and the whole scope of philosophy is to approach the
glory of man. All the Scriptures sing the glory of man, of
the soul, and then, with the same breath, they preach this
Karma. A good deed brings such a result, and a bad deed
such a result, but, if the soul can be acted upon by a good or
a bad deed it amounts to nothing. Bad deeds put a bart to the
manifestation of our nature, of the Purusa, and good deeds
take the obstacles off, and its glory becomes manifest. But
the Purusa itself is never changed. Whatever you do never
destroys your own glory, your own nature, because the soul
cannot be acted upon by anything, only a veil is spread
before it, hiding its perfection.
5. Though the activities of the different
created minds are various, the one original
mind is the controller of them all.
These different minds, which will act in these different
bodies, are called made-minds, and the bodies made-bodies;
that is, manufactured bodies and minds. Matter and mind
are like two inexhaustible storehouses. When you have
become a Yogi you have learned the secret of their control.
It was yours all the time, but you had forgotten it. When you
become a Yogi you recollect it. Then you can do anything
with it, manipulate it any way you like. The material out of
which that manufactured mind is created is the very same
material which is used as the macrocosm. It is not that mind
is one thing and matter another, but they are different
existences of the same thing. Asmita, egoism, is the
material, the fine state of existence out of which these mademinds
and made-bodies of the Yogi will be manufactured.
Therefore, when the Yogi has found the secret of these
energies of nautre he can manufacture any number of bodies,
or minds, but they will all be manufactures out of the
substance known as egoism.
6. Among the various Chittas that which is
attained by Samadhi is desireless.
Among all the various minds that we see in various men,
only that mind which has attained to Samadhi, perfect
concentration, is the highest. A man who has attained
certain powers through medicines, or through words, or
through mortifications, still has desires, but that man who
has attained to Samadhi through concentration is alone free
from all desires.
7. Works are neither black nor white for the
Yogis; for others they are threefold, black,
white, and mixed.
When the Yogi has attained to that state of perfection, the
actions of that man, and the Karma produced by those
actions, will not bind him, because he did not desire them.
He just works on: he works to do good, and he does good,
but does not care for the result, and it will not come to him.
But for ordinary men, who have not attained to that highest
state, works are of three kind, black (evil actions), white
(good actions), and mixed.
8. From these threefold works are manifested
in each state only those desires (which are)
fitting to that state alone. (The others are
held in abeyance for the time being.)
Suppose I have made the three kinds of Karma, good, bad,
and mixed; and suppose I die and become a god in heaven;
the desires in a god body are not the same as the desires in a
human body. The god body neither eats nor drinks; what
becomes of my past unworked Karmas, which produce as
their effect the desire to eat and drink? Where would these
Karmas go when I became a god? The answer is that desires
can only manifest themselves in proper environments. Only
those desires will come out for which the environment is
fitted; the rest will remain stored up. In this life we have
many godly desires, many human desires, many animal
desires. If I take a god body, only the god desires will come
up, because for them the environments are suitable. And if I
take an animal body, only the animal desires will come up,
and the god desires will wait. What does that show? That
by means of environment we can check these desires. Only
that Karma which is suited to and fitted for the environments
will come out. These proves that the power of environment
is the great check to control even Karma itself.
9. There is connectiveness in desire, even
though separated by speices, space and
time, there being identifi-cation of memory
and impressions.
Experiences becoming fine become impressions;
impressions revivified become memory. The word memory
here includes unconscious co-ordination of past experience,
reduced to impressions, with present conscious action. In
each body the group of impressions acquired in a similar
body only will become the cause of action in that body. The
experiences of dissimilar bodies will be held in abeyance.
Each body will act as if it were a descendant of a series of
bodies of that species only; thus, consecutiveness of desires
will not be broken.
10. Thirst for happiness being eternal desires
are without beginning.
All experience is preceded by desire for becoming happy.
There was no beginning of experience, as each fresh
experience is built upon the tendency generated by past
experience; therefore desire is without beginning.
11. Being held together by cause, effect,
support, and objects, in the absence of these
is its absence.
These desires are held together by cause and effect; if a
desire has been raised it does not die without producing its
effect. Then again, the mind-stuff is the great storehouse,
the support of all past desires, reduced to Samskara form;
until they have worked themselves out they will not die.
Moreover, so long as the senses receive the external objects
fresh desires will arise. If it be possible to get rid of these,
then alone desires will vanish.
12. The past and future exist in their own
nature, qualities having different ways.
13. They are manifested or fine, being of the
nature of the Gunas.
The Gunas are the three substances, Sattva, Rajas, and
Tamas, whose gross state is the sensible universe. Past and
future arise from the different modes of manifestation of
these Gunas.
14. The unity in things is from the unity in
changes. Though there are three substances
their changes being co-ordinated all objects
have their unity.
15. The object being the same, perception and
desire vary according to the various minds.
16. Things are known or unknown to the mind,
being de-pendent on the colouring which
they give to the mind.
17. The states of the mind are always known
because the lord of the mind is
unchangeable.
The whole gist of this theory is that the universe is both
mental and material. And both the mental and material
worlds are in a continuous state of flux. What is this book?
It is a combination of molecules in constant change. One lot
is going out, and another coming in; it is a whirlpool, but
what makes the unity? What makes it the same book? The
changes are rhythmical; in harmonious order they are
sending impressions to my mind, and these pieced together
make a continuous picture, although they parts are
continuously changing. Mind itself is continuously
changing. The mind and body are like two layers in the
same substance, moving at different rates of speed.
Relatively, one being slower and the other quicker, we can
distinguish between the two motions. For instance, a train is
moving, and another carriage is moving slowly alongside it.
It is possible to find the motion of both these, to a certain
extent. But still something else is necessary. Motion can
only be perceived when there is something else which is not
moving. But when two or three things are relatively moving,
we first perceive the motion of the faster one, and then that
of the slower ones. How is the mind to perceive? It is also
in a flux. Therefore another thing is necessary which moves
more slowly, then you must get to something in which the
motion is still slower, and so on, and you will find no end.
Therefore logic compels you to stop somewhere. You must
complete the series by knowing something which never
changes. Behind this never ending chain of motion is the
Purusa, the changeless, the colourless, the pure. All these
impressions are merely reflected upon it, as rays of light
from a camera are reflected upon a white sheet, painting
hundreds of pictures on it, without in any way tarnishing the
sheet.
18. Mind is not self-luminous, being an object.
Tremendous power is manifested everywhere in nature, but
yet something tells us that it is not self-luminous, not
essentially intelligent. The Purusa alone is self-luminous,
and gives its light to everything. It is its power that is
percolating through all matter and force.
19. From its being unable to cognise two things
at the same time.
If the mind were self-luminous it would be able to cognise
everything at the same time, which it cannot. If you pay
deep attention to one thing you lose another. If the mind
were self-luminous there would be no limit to the
impressions it could receive. The Purusa can cognise all in
one moment; therefore the Purusa is self-luminous, and the
mind is not.
20. Another cognising mind being assumed
there will be no end to such assumptions
and confusion of memory.
Let us suppose that there is another mind which cognises the
first, there will have to be something which cognises that,
and so there will be no end to it. It will result in confusion
of memory, there will be no storehouse of memory.
21. The essence of knowledge (the Purusa)
being un-changeable, when the mind takes
its form, it becomes conscious.
Patanjali says this to make it more clear that knowledge is
not a quality of the Purusa. When the mind comes near the
Purusa it is reflected, as it were, upon the mind, and the
mind, for the time being, becomes knowing and seems as if
it were itself the Purusa.
22. Coloured by the seer and the seen the mind
is able to understand everything.
On the one side the external world, the seen, is being
reflected, and on the other, the seer is being reflected; thus
comes the power of all knowledge to the mind.
23. The mind through its innumerable desires
acts for another (the Purusa), being
combinations.
The mind is a compound of various things, and therefore it
cannot work for itself. Everything that is a combination in
this world has some object for that combination, some third
thing for which this combination is going on. So this
combination of the mind is for the Purusa.
24. For the discriminating the perception of the
mind as Atman ceases.
Through discrimination the Yogi knows that the Purusa is
not mind.
25. Then bent on discriminating the mind
attains the previous state of Kaivalya
(isolation).
Thus the practice of Yoga leads to discriminating power, to
clearness of vision. The veil drops from the eyes, and we
see things as they are. We find that this nature is a
compound, and is showing the panorama for the Purusa,
who is the witness; that this nature is not the Lord, that the
whole of these combinations of nature are simply for the
sake of showing these phenomena to the Purusa, the
enthroned king within. When discrimination comes by long
practice fear ceases, and the mind attains isolation.
26. The thoughts that arise as obstructions to
that are from impressions.
All the various ideas that arise making us belive that we
require something external to make us happy are
obstructions to that perfection. The Purusa is happiness and
blessedness by its own nature. But that knowledge is
covered over by past impressions. These impressions have
to work themselves out.
27. Their destruction is in the same manner as
of ignorance, etc., as said before.
28. Even when arriving at the right
discriminating knowledge of the senses, he
who gives up the fruits, unto him comes as
the result of perfect discrimination, the
Samadhi called the cloud of virtue.
When the Yogi has attained to this discrimination, all these
powers will come that were mentioned in the last chapter,
but the true Yogi rejects them all. Unto him comes a peculiar
knowledge, a particular light called the Dharma Megha, the
cloud of virtue. All the great prophets of the world whom
history has recorded had this. They had found the whole
foundation of knowledge within themselves. Truth to them
had become real. Peace and calmness, and perfect purity
became their own nature, after they had given up all these
vanities of powers.
29. From that comes cessation of pains and
works.
When that cloud of virtue has come, then no more is there
fear of falling, nothing can drag the Yogi down. No more
will there be evils for him. No more pains.
30. Then knowledge, bereft of covering and
impurities, becoming infinite, the knowable
becomes small.
Knowledge itself is there; its covering is gone. One of the
Buddhistic scriptures sums up what is meant by the Buddha
(which is the name of a state). It defines it as infinite
knowledge, infinite as the sky. Jesus attained to that state
and became the Christ. All of you will attain to that state,
and knowledge becoming infinite, the knowable becomes
small. This whole universe, with all its knowable, becomes
as nothing before the Purusa. the ordinary man thinks
himself very small, because to him the knowable seems to be
so infinite.
31. Then are finished the successive transformations
of the qualities, they having attained
the end.
Then all these various transformations of the qualities, which change
from species to species, cease for ever.
32. The changes that exist in relation to moments,
and which are perceived at the other end (at
the end of a series) are succession.
Patanjali here defines the word succession, the changes that
exist in relation to moments. While I am thinking, many
moments pass, and with each moment there is a change of
idea, but we only perceive these changes at the end of a
series. So, perception of time is always in the memory. This
is called succession, but for the mind that has realised
omnipresence all these have finished. Everything has
become present for it; the present alone exists, the past and
future are lost. This stands controlled, and all knowledge is
there in one second. Everything is known like a flash.
33. The resolution in the inverse order of the
qualities, berfect of any motive of action for
the Purusa, is Kaivalya, or it is the
establishment of the power of knowledge in
its own nature.
Nature’s task is done, this unselfish task which our sweet
nurse Nature had imposed upon herself. As it were, she
gently took the self-forgetting soul by the hand, and showed
him all the experiences in the universe, all manifestations,
bringing him higher and higher through various bodies, till
his glory came back, and he remembered his own nature.
Then the kind mother went back the way she came, for
others who have also lost their way in the trackless desert of
life. And thus she is working, without beginning and
without end. And thus through pleasure and pain, through
good and evil, the infinite river of souls is flowing into the
ocean of perfection, of self-realisation.
Glory unto those who have realised their own nature.
May their blessings be on us all!
REFERENCES TO YOGA
Svetacvatara
Upanisad
Chapter II.
6. When the fire is churned, where the air is controlled,
where the flow of Soma becomes plentiful there a (perfect)
mind is created.
8. Placing the body in which the chest, the throat, and the
head are held erect, in a straight posture, making the organs
enter the mind, the sage crosses all the fearful currents by
means of the raft of Brahman.
9. The man of well regulated endeavours controls the
Prana, and when it has become quieted breathes out through
the nostrils. The persevering sage holds his mind as a
charioteer holds the restive horses.
10. In (lonely) places, as mountain caves, where the floor
is even, free of pebbles or sand, where there are no
disturbing noises from men or waterfalls, in places helpful to
the mind and pleasing to the eyes, Yoga is to be practiced
(mind is to be joined).
11. Like snowfall, smoke, sun, wind, fire, firefly,
lightning, crystal, moon, these forms, coming before,
gradually manifest the Brahman in Yoga.
12. When the perceptions of Yoga, arising from earth,
water, light, fire, ether, have taken place, then Yoga has
begun. Unto him does not come disease, nor old age, nor
death, who has got a body made up of the fire of Yoga.
13. The first signs of entering Yoga are lightness, health,
the skin becomes smooth, the complexion clear, the voice
beautiful, and there is an agreeable odour in the body.
14. As gold or silver, first covered with earth, etc., and
then burned and washed, shines full of light, so the
embodied man seeing the truth of the Atman as one, attains
the goal and becomes sorrowless.
Yajnavalkya, quoted by Cankara.
“After practising the postures as desired, according to rules,
then, O Gargi, the man who has conquered the posture will
practice Pranayama.
“On the seat of earth, spreading the Kuca grass, and over
it a skin, worshipping Ganapati with fruits and sweetmeats,
seated on that seat, placing the opposite hands on the knees,
holding the throat and head in the same line, the lips closed
and firm, facing the east of the norht, the eyes fixed on the
tip of the nose, avoiding too much food or fasting, the Nadis
should be purified according to the above-mentioned rule,
without which the practice will be fruitless, thinking of the
(seed-word) Hum, at the junction of the Pingala and Ida (the
right and the left nostrils), the Ida should be filled with
external air in twelve Matras (seconds), then the Yogi
meditates fire in the same place and the word ‘Rang,’ and
while meditating thus, slowly rejects the air through the
Pingala (right nostril). Again filling in through the Pingala
the air should be slowly rejected through the Ida, in the same
way. This should be practices for three or four years, or
three or four months, according to the directions of a Guru,
in secret (alone in a room) in the early morning, at midday,
in the evening, and at midnight (until) the nerves become
purified, and these are the signs; lightness of body, clear
complexion, good appetite, hearing of the Nada. Then
should be practiced Pranayama, composed of Rechaka
(exhalation), Kumbhaka (retention), and Puraka (inhalation).
Joining the Prana with the Apana is Pranayama.
“In sixteen Matras filling the body from the head to the
feet in thirty-two Matras to be thrown out, with sixty-four
the Kumbhaka should be made.
“There is another sort of Pranayama in which, with
sixteen Matras, the body is to be filled, then the Kumbhaka
is to be made with sixty-four, and with thirty-two is should
be rejected.
“By Pranayama impurities of the body are thrown out; by
Dharana the impurities of the mind; by Pratyahara
impurities of attachment, and by Samadhi is taken off
everything that hides the lordship of the Soul.
Sankhya
29. By the achievement of meditation, there are to the
pure one (the Purusa) all powers like nature.
30. Meditation is the removal of attachment.
31. It is perfected by the suppression of the modifications.
32. By meditation, posture and performance of one’s
duties, it is perfected.
33. Restraint of the Prana is by means of expulsion and
retention.
34. Posture is that which is steady and easy.
36. Also by non-attachment and practice, meditation is
perfected.
74. By reflection on the principles of nature, and by
giving them up as “not It, not It,” discrimination is perfected.
3. Repetition, instruction is to be repeated.
5. As the hawk becomes unhappy if the food is taken
away from him, and happy if he gives if up himself (so he
who gives up everything voluntarily is happy).
6. As the snake is happy in giving up his old skin.
8. That which is not a means of liberation is not to be
thought of; it becomes a cause of bondage, as in the case of
Bharata.
9. From the association of many things there is
obstruction to meditation, through passion, etc., like the shell
bracelet on virgin’s hand.
10. It is the same, even in the case of two.
11. The hopeless are happy, like the girl Pingala.
13. Although devotion is not to be given to many
institutes and teachers, the essence is to be taken from them
all, as the bee takes the essence from many flowers.
14. One whose mind has become concentrated like the
arrowmakers’, does not get his meditation disturbed.
15. Through transgression of the original rules there is
non-attainment of the goal, as in other worldly things.
19. By continence, reverence, and devotion to Guru,
success comes after a long time (as in the case of Indra.)
20. There is no law as to time, as in the case of
Vamadeva.
24. Or through association with one who has attained
perfection.
27. Not by enjoyments is desire appeased even with the
sages (who have practiced Yoga for long).
128. The Siddhis attained by Yoga are not to be denied,
like recovery through medicines etc.
24. Any posture which is easy and steady is an Asana;
there is no other rule.
Vyasa Sutra
Chapter IV., Section 1.
7. Worship is possible in a sitting posture.
8. Because of meditation.
9. Because the meditating (person) is compared to the
immovable earth.
10. Also because the Smrttis say so.
11. There is no law of place: whereever the mind is
concentrated, there worship should be performed.
These several extracts give an idea what other systems of
Indian Philosophy have to say upon Yoga.
GLOSSARY
Abhaya
. . . . . . Fearlessness.
Abhava . . . . . . Bereft of quality
Abheda . . . . . . Non-separateness; sameness; without
distinction.
Abhidhya . . . . . Not coveting others’ goods, not thinking
vain thoughts, not brooding over
injuries received from others.
Abhigata . . . . . Impediment.
Abhimana . . . . . Pride.
Abhinivesa . . . . . Practices.
Acharya . . . . . Great spiritual teacher.
Adarsa . . . . . . A mirror—a term sometimes used to
denote the finer power of vision
developed by the Yogi.
Adhidaivika . . . . . Supernatural.
Adhikari . . . . . One qualified as a seeker of wisdom.
Aditi . . . . . . The infinite, the goddess of the sky.
Aditya . . . . . . The Sun.
Adityas . . . . . . Twelve planetary spirits.
Adharma . . . . . Absence of virtue; unrighteousness.
Adrogha . . . . . Not injuring.
Adrogha-Vak . . . . One who does not harm others even by
words.
Advaita . . . . . . (A-dvaita) Non-dualism. The monistic
system of Vedanta philosophy.
Advaitin . . . . . A follower of Advaita.
Adhyasa . . . . . Reflection, as the crystal reflects the
colour of the object before it.
Superimposition of qualities of one
object over another, as of the snake
on the rope.
Agni . . . . . . The god of fire. Later, the Supreme God
of the Vedas.
Aham . . . . . . “I.”
Aham-Brahmasmi . . . “I am Brahman.”
Ahamkara . . . . . Egoism. Self-consciousness.
Ahara . . . . . . Gathering in,—as food to support the
body or the mind.
Ahimsa . . . . . . Non-injuring in thought, word, or deed.
Ahimsaka . . . . . One who practices Ahimsa.
Ajna . . . . . . The sixth lotus of the Yogis, corresponding
to a nerve-centre in the
brain, behind the eyebrows. Divine
perception.
Ajnata . . . . . . One who has attained divine wisdom.
Akaca . . . . . . The all-pervading material of the
universe.
Akbar . . . . . . Mogul Emperor of India, 1542-1605.
Akhanda . . . . . Undivided.
Akanda-Satchidananda . . “The undivided Existence-Knowledge-
Bliss Absolute.”
Alambana . . . . . Objective contemplation. The things
which are supports to the mind in its
travel Godwards.
Amritatvam . . . . . Immortality.
Anahata . . . . . lit. “unstruck sound.” The fourth lotus
of the Yogis in the Sucumna, opposite
the heard.
Ananda . . . . . . Bliss.
Ananya-Bhakti . . . . Worship of one particular Deity in
preference to all others. In a higher
sense, it is seeing all Deities as but so
many forms of the One God.
Singleness of love and worship.
Anavasada . . . . . Cheerfulness, not becoming dejected.
Strength, both mental and physical.
Anima . . . . . . Attenuation.
Antahkarana . . . . Internal organ. The mind with its three
functions, the cognitive faculty, the
determinative faculty, and the
egoism.
Antaryamin . . . . . The name of Icvara,—meaning, He who
knows everything that is going on
within (antara) every mind.
Antararama . . . . . The Yogi who rests in the final contemplation
of the Supreme Lord
(Icvara).
Anubhava . . . . . Realisation.
Anuddharsa. . . . . Absence of excessive merriment.
Anumana . . . . . Inference.
Anurakti . . . . . The attachment that comes after the
knowledge of the nature of God.
Anuraga . . . . . Great attachment to Icvara.
Anuvdda . . . . . A statement referring to something
already known.
Apakshiyate . . . . . To decay.
Apana . . . . . . One of the five manifestations of prana.
The nerve-current in the body which
governs the organs of excretion.
Aparapratyaksha . . . Super-sensuous perception.
Aparavidya . . . . . Lower knowledge; knowledge of
externals.
Aparigraha . . . . . Non-receiving of gifts; not indulging in
luxuries.
Apas . . . . . . One of the elements; water; liquid.
Apratikalya . . . . . State of sublime resignation.
Apta . . . . . . One who has attained to realisation of
God; one who is self-illumined.
Aptavakyam . . . . Words of an Apta.
Apura . . . . . . Merit.
Aranyakas . . . . . The ancient Rishis, dwellers in the
forest; also a name given to the
books composed by them.
Aristha . . . . . . Portents or signs by which a Yogi can
foretell the exact time of his death.
Arjavam . . . . . Straight-forwardness.
Arjuna . . . . . . The hero of the Bhagavad Gita, to
whom Krishna (in the form of a
charioteer) taught the great truths of
the Vedanta Philosophy.
Artha . . . . . . Meaning.
Arthavattva . . . . . Fruition.
Arupa . . . . . . (A-rupa) Without form.
Aryavarta . . . . . The land of the Aryans. The name
applied by the Hindus to Northern
India.
Asamprajnata . . . . The highest super-conscious state.
Asana . . . . . . Position of the body during meditation.
Asat . . . . . . Non-being or existence. Opposite of
Sat. Applied to the changing existence
of the universe.
Asmita . . . . . . Non-discrimination.
Acoka . . . . . . A noted Buddhist King, 259-222 B.C.
Acrama . . . . . . Hermitage.
Asvada . . . . . . lit. “taste,”—applied to the finer faculty
of taste developed by the Yogi.
Asteyam . . . . . Non-stealing.
Asti . . . . . . . To be, or exist.
Atharva Veda . . . . That portion of the Veda which treats of
psychic powers.
Athata Brahma-jijnaca . . “Then therefore, the enquiry into
Brahman.” [Vedanta Sutra, 1–1–I.]
Atikranta-Chavaniya . . The stage of meditation which ends with
what is called “Cloud (or Showerer)
of Virtue” Samadhi.
Atithi . . . . . . A guest.
Atman . . . . . . The Eternal Self.
Avarana . . . . . Coverings (of the mind).
Avatara . . . . . . A divine Incarnation.
Avidya . . . . . . Ignorance.
Avritti-rasakrit-upadecat . “Repetition (of the mental functions of
knowing, meditating, etc., is required)
on account of the text giving
instructions more than once.”
[Vedanta Sutra, 1–1–IV.]
Avyaktam . . . . . Indiscrete; undifferentiated. Stage of
nature, where there is no
manifestation.
Bahya-Bhakti . . . . External devotion (as worship through
rites, symbols, ceremonials, etc., of
God).
Bandha . . . . . . Bondage.
Banyan-Tree . . . . (Ficus Indica) Indian fig tree; the
branches drop roots to the ground,
which grow and form new trunks.
Bhagavad-Gita . . . . “The Holy Song.” A gem of Indian
literature containing the essence of
the Vedanta Philosophy.
Bhagavan . . . . . lit. “Possessor of all powers.” A title
meaning Great Lord.
Bhagavan Ramakrsna . . A great Hindu prophet and teacher of the
19th century, 1835-1886. [See “Life
and Sayings of Cri Rama-krsna” by
F. Max Müller. London, 1898.
Longmans, Green & Co., and Charles
Scribner’s Sons. New York.]
Bhagavata-Purana . . . One of the principal Puranas.
Bhakta . . . . . . A great lover of God.
Bhakti . . . . . . Intense love for God.
Bhaki-Yoga . . . . . Union with the Divine through devotion.
Bharata . . . . . A great Yogi who suffered much from
his excessive attachment to a deer
which he brought up as a pet.
Bhashya . . . . . A commentary.
Bhautika . . . . . Pertaining to the Bhutas, or elements.
Bhavana . . . . . Pondering; meditation.
Bheda . . . . . . Separateness.
Bhikshu . . . . . . A religious mendicant, a term now
usually applied to the Buddhist
monks.
Bhoga . . . . . . Enjoyment of sense objects.
Bhoja . . . . . . The annotator of the Yoga Aphorisms.
Brahma . . . . . . The Creator of the Universe.
Brahmacharya . . . . Chastity in thought, word and deed.
Brahmacharin . . . . One who has devoted himself to
continence and the pursuit of
spiritual wisdom.
Brahman . . . . . The One existence, the Absolute.
Brahmaloka . . . . The world of Brahma, the highest
heaven.
Brahmana . . . . . A “twice-born man,” a Brahmin.
Brahmanas . . . . . Those portions of the Vedas which state
the rules for the employment of the
hymns at the various ceremonials.
Each of the four Vedas has its own
Brahmana.
Brahma-Sutra-Bhashya . . Commentary on the aphorisms of
Vedanta.
Brahmavadin . . . . Teacher of Brahman, one who speaks or
teaches of Brahman or Absolute
Being.
Brahmayoga . . . . The Yoga which leads to the realisation
of the Brahman. (Chap. VIII of the
Bhagavad Gita is called by that
name).
Brahmin . . . . . An Anglicised form of Brahmana, a
member of the Brahmana caste.
Buddha . . . . . . lit. “The Enlightened,” the name given
to one of the greatest Incarnations
recognised by the Hindus, born sixth
century B.C.
Buddhi . . . . . . The determinative faculty.
Chaitanya . . . . . Pure intelligence. Name of a great
Hindu sage (born 1485) who is
regarded as a Divine Incarnation.
Chandogya Upanishad . . One of the oldest Upanishads of the
Sama-Veda.
Charvaka . . . . . A materialist.
Chidakaca . . . . . The space of knowledge, where the Soul
shines in its own nature.
Chitta . . . . . . “Mind-stuff.” (The fine material out of
which the mind has been
manufactured)
Chittakaca . . . . . The mental space.
Dakshima . . . . . Offering made to a priest, or teacher, at
religious ceremonies.
Dama . . . . . . Control of the organs.
Dana . . . . . . Charity.
Dasya . . . . . . “Servantship;” the state of being a
devoted servant of God.
Daya . . . . . . Mercy, compassion, doing good to
others without hope of return.
Deha . . . . . . Matter, gross body.
Devadatta . . . . . “God-given.”
Devas . . . . . . The “shining ones,” semi-divine beings
representing states attained by
workers of good.
Devaloka . . . . . Abode of the gods.
Devayana . . . . . The path which leads to the sphere of
the gods, or the different heavens.
Devi-Bhagavata . . . . One of the Puranas, which describes the
deeds of the Divine Mother.
Dharana . . . . . Holding the mind to one thought for
twelve seconds. Concentration.
Dharma . . . . . Virtue. Religious duty.
Dharma-megha . . . . “Cloud of virtue” (applied to a kind of
Samadhi).
Dhyana . . . . . . Meditation.
Dhyanamarga . . . . The way to knowledge through
meditation.
Dvandas . . . . . Dualities in nature, as heat and cold,
pleasure and pain, etc., etc.
Dvesha . . . . . . Aversion.
Dyava-Prithivi . . . . Heaven (and) Earth.
Ekagra . . . . . . Concentrated state of mind.
Ekam . . . . . . One.
Eka-Nistha . . . . . Intense devotion to one chosen ideals.
Ekanta-Bhakti . . . . Singleness of love and devotion to God.
Ekatma-Vadam . . . . Monism. The theory, according to
which there is only on intelligence
Entity. Pure idealism.
Ekayana . . . . . The one stay or support of all things,—
hence the Lord.
Ganapati . . . . . One of the Hindu deities.
Ganeca . . . . . . God of wisdom and “remover of
obstacles.” He is always invoked at
the commencement of every
important undertaking.
Gargi . . . . . . A woman-sage mentioned in the Upanishads.
She practiced Yoga and
attained to the highest superconscious
state.
Gauni . . . . . . Preparatory stage of Bhakti-Yoga.
Gayatri . . . . . . A certain most holy verse of the Vedas.
Ghata . . . . . . A jar.
Gopis . . . . . . Shepherdesses, worshippers of Krsna.
Grahama . . . . . Sense-perception.
Grihastha . . . . . A householder, head of a family.
Gunas . . . . . . Qualities, attributes.
Guru . . . . . . lit. “the dispeller of darkness.” A religious
teacher who removes the
ignorance of the pupil. The real guru
is a transmitter of the spiritual
impulse that quickens the spirit and
awakens a genuine thirst for religion.
Hamsa . . . . . . The Jiva, or individual soul.
Hanuman . . . . . The great Bhakta hero of the Ramayana.
Hari . . . . . . lit. “One who steals the hearts and
reason of all by his beauty,” hence
the Lord, a name of God.
Hatha Yoga . . . . . The science of controlling body and
mind, but with no spiritual end in
view, bodily perfection being the
only aim.
Hatha-Yogi (or Yogin) . . One who practices Hatha Yoga.
Hiranyagarbha . . . . lit. “golden wombed.” Applied to
Brahma, the Creator, as producing
the universe out of Himself.
Hum . . . . . . A mystic word used in meditation as
symbolic of the highest Bliss.
Ida . . . . . . . The nerve current on the left side of the
spinal cord; the left nostril.
Indra . . . . . . Ruler of the gods.
Indriyani . . . . . Sense organs.
Indriyas . . . . . The internal organs of perception.
Icana . . . . . . One of the devas.
Ishtam . . . . . . Chosen ideal (from “ish,” to wish). That
aspect of God which appeals to one
most.
Ishta Nistha . . . . . Devotion to one ideal.
Ishtapurta . . . . . The works which bring as reward the
enjoyments of the heavens.
Icvara . . . . . . The Supreme Ruler; the highest possible
conception through reason, of the
Absolute, which is beyond all
thought.
Icvarapranidhana . . . Meditation on Icvara.
Icvara Pranidhanadva . . A Sutra of Patanjali—entitled “By
worship of the Supreme Lord.”
Jada . . . . . . Inanimate.
Jagrati . . . . . . Waking state.
Jati . . . . . . . Species.
Jayate . . . . . . To be born.
Jiva . . . . . . The individual soul. The one Self as
appearing to be separated into
different entities; corresponding to
the ordinary use of the word “soul.”
Jivatman . . . . . The Atman manifesting as the Jiva.
Jivan Mukta . . . . lit. “Living Freedom.” One who has
attained liberation (Mukti) even while
in the body.
Jnana . . . . . . Pure intelligence. Knowledge.
Jnana-chaksu . . . . One whose vision has been purified by
the realisation of the Divine.
Jnanakanda . . . . The knowledge portion or philosophy of
the Vedas.
Jnana-yajna . . . . “Wisdom-Sacrifice.” Perfect unselfishness,
purity and goodness which lead
to Jnana, or supreme wisdom
(Moksha).
Jnani [or Jnanin] . . . One who seeks liberation through pure
reason or philosophy.
Kaivalya . . . . . Isolation. Oneness with Absolute Being.
Kala . . . . . . Time.
Kalpa . . . . . . A cycle (in evolution).
Kalyana . . . . . Blessings.
Kama . . . . . . Desires.
Kapila . . . . . . Author of the Sankhya Philsophy, and
the father of the Hindu Evolutionists.
Kapilavastu . . . . . Birthplace of Gautama the Buddha.
Karika . . . . . . A running commentary.
Karma . . . . . . Work or action, also effects of actions;
the law of cause and effect in the
moral world.
Karmakanda . . . . The ritualistic portion of the Vedas.
Karamendriyas . . . . Organs of action.
Karma Yoga . . . . Union with the Divine through the
unselfish performance of duty.
Khanda . . . . . . Differentiated, or divided; division.
Klesa . . . . . . Troubles.
Krsna . . . . . . An Incarnation of God who appeared in
India about 1400 B.C. Most of his
teachings are embodied in the
Bhagavad Gita.
Kriya . . . . . . Action, ritual, ceremonial.
Kriyamana . . . . . The Karma we are making at present.
Kriya-Yoga . . . . . Preliminary Yoga, the performance of
such acts as lead the mind higher and
higher.
Kshana . . . . . . Moments.
Kshatriya . . . . . Member of the warrior (or second) caste
of ancient India.
Kshetra . . . . . . lit. “the perishable,” also “a field.”
Applied to the human body (as the
field of action).
Kshetrajna . . . . . The knower of Kshetra. (Gita, Chap.
XII.) The soul.
Kumbhaka . . . . . Retention of the breath in the practice of
pranayama.
Kundalini . . . . . lit. “the coiled-up.” The residual energy,
located according to the Yogis, at the
base of the spine, and which in
ordinary men produces dreams,
imagination, psychical perceptions,
etc., and which, when fully aroused
and purified, leads to the direct
perception of God.
Kunti . . . . . . The mother of the five Pandavas, the
heroes who opposed the Kauravas at
the battle of Kurukshetra, the account
of which forms the principal theme
of the Mahabharata, the Indian epic.
Kurma . . . . . . The name of a nerve upon which the
Yogis meditate.
Kurma-Purana . . . . One of the eighteen principal Puranas.
Kuca . . . . . . A kind of Indian grass used in religious
rites.
Madhubhumiba . . . . The second stage of the Yogi when he
gets beyond the argumentative
condition.
Madhumati . . . . . lit. “honeyed.” The state when knowledge
gives satisfaction as honey
does.
Mathura . . . . . Sweet. That form of Bhakti in which the
relation of the devotee towards God
is like that of a loving wife to her
husband.
Madvacharya . . . . Commentator of the dualistic school of
the Vedanta philosophy.
Mahat . . . . . . lit. “The great one.” Cosmic intelligence.
Mahattattva. . . . . Great principle. The ocean of intelligence
evolved first from indiscrete
nature, according to Sankhya
philosophy.
Mahayoga . . . . . [lit. “great union.”] Seeing the Self as
one with God.
Maitriya . . . . . lit. “Full of compassion.” The name of a
Hindu sage.
Manas . . . . . . The deliberative faculty of the mind.
Mantra . . . . . . Any prayer, holy verse, sacred or mystic
word recited or contemplated during
worship.
Mantra-drashta . . . . “Seer of thought.” One possessed of
super-sensuous knowledge.
Manipura . . . . . lit. “Filled with jewels.” The third lotus
of the Yogis, opposite the navel (in
the Sucumna).
Matras . . . . . . Seconds.
Matha . . . . . . Monastery.
Mathura [now known as
“Muttra”] . . . .
Birth-place of Krsna.
Maya . . . . . . Mistaking the unreal and phenomenal
for the real and eternal [noumenal?].
Commonly translated “illusion”. (lit.
“which baffles all measurement.”)
Mimansa . . . . . lit. “Solution of a problem.” One of the
six schools of Indian philosophy.
Moksha . . . . . . Freedom, liberation (Mukti).
Moksha-dharma . . . The virtues which lead to liberation of
the soul.
Mrtyu . . . . . . Death. Another name for Yama.
Mukti . . . . . . Emancipation from rebirth
Muladhara . . . . . The basic lotus of the Yogis.
Mumukcutvam . . . . Desire for liberation.
Mundaka-Upanishad . . One of the twelve principal Upanishads.
Muni . . . . . . A (religious) sage.
Nada . . . . . . Sound, finer than is heard by our ears.
Nada-Brahma . . . . The “sound-Brahman.” The Om, that
undifferentiated Word, which has
produced all manifestation.
Nadi . . . . . . A tube along which something flows—
as the blood currents, or nervous
energies.
Nadi-suddhi . . . . lit. “Purification of the channel through
which the nerve currents flow.” One
of the elementary breathing exercises.
Naicthika . . . . . One possessed of a singleness of
devotion towards a high ideal of life.
Namah . . . . . . Salutation.
Nama-rupa . . . . . Name and form.
Namacakti . . . . . The power of the name of God.
Narada . . . . . . The great “god-intoxicated” sage of
ancient India, who is reputed to have
possessed all the “powers” described
in Yoga philosophy.
Narada-Sutra . . . . The Aphorisms of Narada on Bhakti.
Narayama . . . . . “Mover on the waters,” a title of Vishnu.
Nataraja . . . . . lit. “Lord of the stage.” Sometimes used
for God as the Lord of this vast stage
of the universe.
“Neti, Neti” . . . . . “Not this, not this.”
Nimitta . . . . . . Operative cause.
Niralambana . . . . lit. “Supportless,” a very high stage of
meditation, according to Yoga
philosophy.
Nirbija . . . . . . lit. “Without seed.” The highest form of
Samadhi or super-conscious state of
the mind according to Yoga
philosophy.
Nirguna . . . . . Without attributes or qualities.
Nishkamakarma . . . . Unselfish action. To do good acts
without caring for the results.
Nitya . . . . . . Permanent, eternal.
Nirukta . . . . . . Science dealing with etymology and the
meaning of words.
Nirvana . . . . . . Freedom: extinction or “blowing out” of
delusions.
Nirvichara . . . . . Without discrimination.
Nirvikalpa . . . . . Changeless.
Nirvitarka . . . . . Withou question or reasoning.
Nivritti . . . . . . “Revolving away from.”
Nishtha . . . . . . Singleness of attachment.
Niyama . . . . . . The virtues of cleanliness, contentment,
mortification, study and selfsurrender.
Nyaya . . . . . . The school of Indian logic. The science
of logical philosophy.
Ojas . . . . . . lit. “The illuminating or bright.” The
highest form of energy attained by a
constant practice of continence and
purity.
Om or Omkara [`] . . . The most holy word of the Vedas. A
symbolic word, meaning the
Supreme Being, the Ocean of
Knowledge and Bliss Absolute.
Om tat sat* . . . . . lit. “Om That Existence.” That Ocean of
Knowledge and Bliss Absolute, the
only Reality.
Pada . . . . . . Foot.
Pada . . . . . . Chapter.
Para . . . . . . Supreme.
Para-Bhakti . . . . Supreme devotion.
Paramahamsa . . . . Supreme soul.
Paravidya . . . . . Highest knowledge.
Parinamate . . . . . To ripen.
Parjanya . . . . . God of rain, and of the clouds.
Patanjali . . . . . Founder of the Yoga School of
Philosophy.
Pingala . . . . . . The nerve-current on the right side of
the spinal cord; also the right nostril.
Pingala . . . . . . A courtesan who abandoned her vicious
life and became remarkable for her
piety and virtue.
Pitris . . . . . . Forefathers, ancestors.
Pradhana . . . . . lit. “The chief.” The principal element;
a name used for nature in Sankya
philosophy.
Prajna . . . . . . Highest knowledge which leads to the
realisation of the Deity.
Prajnajyati . . . . . One who has been illumined with
knowledge transcending the senses.
* [This, as far as I can tell, is what the Sanskrit on the scroll on the emblem
facing page 51 reads – T.S.]
Prakrti . . . . . . Nature.
Prakrtilayas . . . . Souls that have got all the powers that
nature has by becoming one with
nature.
Prahidda . . . . . The chief of Bhaktas. [Devotees]
Pramana . . . . . Means of proof.
Pramiya . . . . . Correct cognition.
Prana . . . . . . The sum total of the cosmic energy, the
vital forces of the body.
Pranayama . . . . . Controlling the prana.
Pranidhana . . . . . Unceasing devotion.
Prarabdha . . . . . The works or Karma whose fruits we
have begun to reap in this life.
Prasankhyana . . . . Abstract contemplation.
Prathamakalpika . . . Argumentative condition of the
conscious Yogi.
Pratibha . . . . . Divine illumination.
Pratika . . . . . . lit. “Going towards.” A finite symbol
standing for the infinite Brahman.
Pratima . . . . . The use of images as symbols.
Prativishaya . . . . That which is applied to the different
objects, i.e., the organs of sense.
Pratyahara . . . . . Making the mind introspective.
Pratyagatman . . . . The internal self; the self-luminous.
Pratyaksham . . . . Direct perception.
Pravritti . . . . . “Revolving towards.”
Pritti . . . . . . Pleasure in God.
Prithivi . . . . . . One of the elements; earth; solids.
Puraka . . . . . . Inhalation.
Puranas . . . . . Writings containing the Hindu mythology.
Puraca . . . . . . The Soul.
Purva-paksha . . . . The prima facie view.
Qu’ran . . . . . . The Mahommedan Scriptures.
Raga . . . . . . Attachment to those things that please
the senses.
Raganuga . . . . . The highest form of love and attachment
to the Lord.
Raja . . . . . . lit. “To shine.” Royal.
Rajas . . . . . . Activity. One of the three principles
which form the essence of nature.
Raja Yoga . . . . . lit. “Royal Yoga.” The science of
conquering the internal nature, for
the purpose of realising the Divinity
within.
Rakshasa . . . . . A demon.
Ramanjua . . . . . A noted commentator of the Vishictadvaita
School of Philosophy
(qualified monistic).
Rama . . . . . . An Incarnation of God, and hero of the
celebrated epic—the “Ramayana.”
Ramayana . . . . . A celebrated Indian epic poem written
by Valmiki, a sage.
Rang . . . . . . A symbolic word for the highest wisdom.
Rasayanas . . . . . The alchemists of ancient India.
Rechaka . . . . . Exhalation.
Rg-Veda . . . . . Oldest portion of the Vedas, composed
of hymns.
Rishi . . . . . . lit. “Seer of mantras” (thoughts). One
possessed of super-sensuous
knowledge.
Ritambharaprajna . . . One whose knowledge is truthsupporting.
Rudra . . . . . . A name of a Vedic god.
Cabda . . . . . . Sound.
Cabdabrahima . . . . The creative word corresponding to the
Logos.
Cabda Nishtham Jagat . . “Through sound the world stands.”
Sabija Yoga . . . . “Seeded” meditation (that is where all
seeds of future Karma are not yet
destroyed).
Saguna . . . . . . With qualities.
Saguna-Brahma . . . The qualified or lower Brahman.
Sarguna-vidya . . . . Qualified knowledge.
Sahacrara . . . . . The “thousand-petalled lotus,” a figurative
expression of the Yogis
describing the brain.
Sakhya . . . . . . Friendship.
Cakti . . . . . . Power.
Salokya . . . . . . Dwelling in the presence of God.
Sama . . . . . . Not allowing the mind to externalise.
Sama-Veda . . . . . The hymn portion of the Veda, or that
portion which was sung during the
ceremonies.
Samadhi . . . . . Super-consciousness.
Samadhana . . . . . Constant practice.
Samana . . . . . . The nerve current that controls the
function of digestion.
Camanyatadrishta . . . Inference based on superficial reasoning.
Samapatti . . . . . lit. “Treasures.” Used in Yoga philosophy
to indicate the different stages
of meditation.
Samasti . . . . . . The universal.
Samipya . . . . . Closeness to God.
Samprajnata . . . . The first stage of super-consciousness
which comes through deep meditation.
Samsara . . . . . Endless cycle of manifestation.
Samskaras . . . . . Impressions in the mind-stuff that
produce habits.
Samyama . . . . . lit. “Control.” In the Yoga philosophy it
is technically used for that perfect
control of the powers of the mind, by
which the Yogi can know anything in
the universe.
Sanandam . . . . . The “blissful Samadhi.” The third step
of the samprajnata samadhi. The
object of meditation in this state is
the “thinking organ” bereft of activity
and dullness. (Rajas and Tamas.)
Sanchita . . . . . The stored up, past Karma, whose fruits
we are not reaping now, but which
we shall have to reap in the future.
Sandilya . . . . . Writer of the Aphorisms of Divine Love
(Bhakti) from the Advaita point of
view.
Cankaracharya . . . . The great exponent and commentator of
the non-dualistic school of Vedanta.
He is supposed to have lived in India
about the eighth century A.D.
Sankhya . . . . . lit. “That which reveals perfectly.” The
name of a famous system of Indian
philosophy, founded by the great
sage Kapila.
Sankocha . . . . . Shrinking, contraction or nonmanifestation.
Sannyasa . . . . . Complete renunciation of all worldly
position, property and name.
Sannyasin . . . . . One who makes Sannyasa, and lives a
life of self-sacrifice, devoting himself
entirely to religion.
Santa . . . . . . Peaceful or gentle love.
Santa-Bhakta . . . . A devotee who has attained to peace
through the path of Divine love.
Santih . . . . . . Peace.
Santoca . . . . . . Contentment.
Sarupya . . . . . Growing like God.
Castra . . . . . . Books accepted as Divine authority.
Sacred Scriptures.
Sat . . . . . . . Existence-absolute.
Satchidananda . . . . “Existence—Knowledge—Bliss Absolute.”
Sattva . . . . . . Illumination material. One of the three
principles which form the essence of
nature.
Sattva-purshanvatakhyati . The perception of the Self as different
from the principles of nature.
Sattvika . . . . . . Having the Sattva quality highly
developed, hence one who is pure
and holy.
Satyam . . . . . . Truthfulness.
Saucham . . . . . Cleanliness.
Savichara . . . . . With discrimination. (A mode of
meditation)
Savitarka . . . . . Meditation with reasoning or question.
Sayujya . . . . . . Union with Brahman.
Sakshi . . . . . . Witness.
Siddha-Guru . . . . A teacher who has attained Mukti.
Siddhanta . . . . . Decisive knowledge.
Siddhas . . . . . . Semi-divine beings, or Yogis, who have
attained supernatural powers.
Siddhis . . . . . . The supernatural powers which come
through the practice of Yoga.
Ciksha . . . . . . The science dealing with pronunciation
and accents.
Cishya . . . . . . A student or disciple of a Guru.
Siva . . . . . . The “Destroyer” of the Hindu trinity.
Sometimes regarded in the Hindu
mythology as the One God.
Sivoham . . . . . “I am Siva” (or eternal bliss).
Sloka . . . . . . Verse.
Smrti . . . . . . (1) Memory. (2) Any authoritative
religious book, except the Vedas.
Soham . . . . . . “I am He.”
Soma . . . . . . A certain plant, the juice of which was
used in the ancient sacrifices.
Sphota . . . . . . The eternal, essential material of all
ideas or names, which makes words
possible, yet is not any definite word
in a fully formed state. The inexpressible
Manifestor behind all the
expressed, sensible universe. The
power through which the Lord
creates the universe. Its symbol is
the eternal Om.
Craddha . . . . . Strong faith in religion.
Cravana . . . . . (1) Hearing, the ears. (2) The finer
power of hearing developed by the
Yogi.
Cri . . . . . . . Holy, or blessed.
Cri Bhashya . . . . . Name of the qualified non-dualistic
commentary of Vedanta by
Ramanuja.
Crotiyas . . . . . lit. “High born,” or born of a noble
family. The Hindu students who
know the Vedas by heart.
Cruti . . . . . . The Vedas, so called because transmitted
orally from father to son in ancient
times. The Vedas are regarded by all
orthodox Hindus as Divine revelation
and as the supreme authority in
religious matters.
Sthiti . . . . . . Stability.
Sthula Carira . . . . Gross body.
Cukshma Carira [sometimes
called “Linga Carira] .
Fine or subtle body.
Cunya Vada . . . . . Doctrine of the void, nihilism.
Cushupti . . . . . Deep, dreamless sleep.
Sucumna . . . . . The name given by the Yogis to the
hollow canal which runs through the
centre of the spinal cord.
Sutra . . . . . . lit. “Thread.” Usually means aphorism.
Svadhisthana . . . . lit. “Abode of Self.” Second lotus of the
Yogis, between base of spine and the
navel.
Svadhyaya . . . . . Study.
Svaha! . . . . . . “May it be perpetuated,” or “so be it.” An
expression used in making obltation.
Svapna . . . . . . The dream state.
Svapnecvara . . . . Commentator of the Aphorisms of
Sandilya.
Svasti . . . . . . A blessing, meaning “Good be unto you.”
Svati . . . . . . Name of a star
Svarga . . . . . . Heaven.
Svami . . . . . . A title meaning “master” or “spiritual
teacher.”
Cvetasvatara-Upanishad . One of the chief Upanishads of the
Yajur-Veda.
Tadiyata . . . . . lit. “His-ness.” The state when a man
has forgotten himself altogether, in his
love for the Lord, and does not feel that
anything belongs to him personally.
Tamas . . . . . . “Darkness,” intertia.
Tanmatras . . . . . Fine material.
Tantras . . . . . . Books held to be sacred by a certain sect
in India.
Tantrikas . . . . . Followers of the Tantras.
Tapas . . . . . . Controlling the body by fasting or other
means. Austerity.
Taraka . . . . . . Saviour.
Tarka . . . . . . Question or reasoning.
“Tat tvam asi” . . . . “That thou art.”
Tattvas . . . . . . Categories, principles, truths.
Tejas . . . . . . One of the elements; fire; heat.
Titiksha . . . . . . Ideal forbearance. “All-sufferingness.”
Trishna . . . . . . Thirst, desire.
Tulsidas . . . . . A great sage and poet who popularised
the famous epic, the Ramayana, by
translating it from Sanskrit into the
Hindustani dialect.
Turiya . . . . . . The fourth, or highest state of
consciousness.
Tyaga . . . . . . Renunciation.
Udana . . . . . . Nerve current governing the organs of
speech, etc.
Uddharsa . . . . . Excessive merriment.
Udgitha . . . . . lit. “That which is chanted aloud,” hence
the Pravana or Om.
Udgatha . . . . . Awakening the Kundalini.
Upadana . . . . . The material cause of the world.
Upadhi . . . . . . Limiting adjunct.
Uparati . . . . . . Not thinking of things of the senses;
discontinuing external religious
observances.
Upayapratyaya . . . . A state of abstract meditation.
Uttara Gita . . . . . The name of a book supposed to be
related by Cri Krsna for the further
instruction of Arjuna.
Uttara Mimansa . . . Another name for the Vedanta philosophy,
written originally in the form
of aphorisms by Vyasa.
Vach or Vak . . . . lit. “speech.” The Word, the Logos.
Vada . . . . . . Argumentative knowledge.
Vairagyam . . . . . Non-attachment to the attractions of the
senses. Renunciation.
Vaiceshika . . . . . A branch of the Nyasa school of philosophy;
the Atomic school.
Vaishnavas . . . . . The followers or worshippers of Vishnu,
who form one of the principle Hindu
religious sects.
Vamadeva . . . . . A great Rishi who possessed the highest
spiritual enlightenment from the time
of his birth.
Vanaprastha . . . . The forest life. Third of the four stages
into which the life of a man was
divided into ancient India.
Varaha-Purana . . . . One of the eighteen principle Puranas.
Vardhate . . . . . To grow.
Vartikam . . . . . A concise explanatory note.
Varuna . . . . . . The old Vedic god of the sky.
Vasana . . . . . . A habit or tendency arising from an
impression remaining unconsciously
in the mind from past Karma.
Vasudeva . . . . . Manifestation of the highest Being.
Vatsalya . . . . . The affection of parents for children.
Vayu . . . . . . lit. “the vibrating.” The air.
Vedana . . . . . . The fine power of feeling developed by
the Yogi.
Vedas . . . . . . The Hindu Scriptures, consisting of the
Rg-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-
Veda, the Artharva-Veda; also the
Brahmanas and the Upanishads;
comprising the hymns, rituals and
philosophy of the Hindu religion.
Vedanta . . . . . The final philosophy of the Vedas, as
expressed in the Upanishads. The
philosophical system which embraces
all Indian systems of philosophy,—
the monistic, the mono-dualistic and
the dualistic.
Vedavai anantah . . . A quotation from the Vedas, meaning
“The Scriptures are infinite.”
Vidcha . . . . . . Disembodied, or unconscious of body.
Vidya . . . . . . Science, or knowledge.
Vidvan . . . . . . One who knows.
Vijnana . . . . . . The higher knowledge.
Vikalpa . . . . . . Verbal delusion, doubt, notion, fancy.
Vikaranabhava . . . . Uninstrumental perception.
Vikshipta . . . . . A scattered or confused state of mind.
Vimoksha . . . . . Absence of desire. Absolute freedom.
Vina . . . . . . A stringed musical instrument of India.
Viparyaya . . . . . False conception of a thing whose real
form does not correspond to that
conception, as mother of pearl mistaken
for silver.
Vipra . . . . . . A sage who was born and bred a
Brahmin.
Viraka . . . . . . Intense misery due to separation from
the beloved one.
Virya . . . . . . Strength, energy.
Vishnu . . . . . . The “Preserver” of the Hindu trinity,
who takes care of the universe, and
who incarnates from time to time to
help mankind.
Vicishtadvaita . . . . Qualified non-dualism. A school of
Indian philosophy, founded by
Ramanuja, a great religious reformer,
which teaches that the individual soul
is a part of God.
Vicishtadvaitin . . . . A follower of the above school of
philosophy; a qualified non-dualist.
Vicoka . . . . . . “Sorrowless.”
Vivekananda . . . . “Bliss-in-discrimination.”
Vitarka . . . . . . Questioning or philosophical enquiry.
Viveka . . . . . . Discrimination (of the true from the
false).
Vicuddha . . . . . The fifth lotus of the Yogis, opposite the
throat (in the Sucumna).
Vraja . . . . . . A suburb of the city of Muttra, where
Krsna played in his childhood.
Vrinda . . . . . . The attendant of the principal Gopi.
Vrtti . . . . . . lit. “The whirlpool.” Wave form in the
chitta; a modification of the mind.
Vyana . . . . . . The nerve current which circulates all
over the body.
Vyasa . . . . . . lit. “One who expounds” (as a commentator).
One Vyasa was the author
of the Mahabharata and of the
Uttara Mimansa.
Vyasa Sutras . . . . The Vedanta Aphorisms by Vyasa.
Vyasti . . . . . . The particular (as opposed to the
universal).
Vyutthana . . . . . Waking, or returning to consciousness
after abstract meditation.
Yajur-Veda . . . . . The ritualistic portion of the Vedas.
Yama . . . . . . The internal purification through moral
training, preparatory to Yoga. The
god of Death, so called from his
power of self-control.
Yoga . . . . . . Joining; union of the lower self with the
higher self, by means of mental
control. Any sort of culture that
leads us to God.
Yoga Sutra . . . . . Aphorism on Yoga.
Yogi . . . . . . One who practices Yoga.
Yudhisthira . . . . . A great Hindu Emperor who lived about
1400 B.C. He was one of the five
Pandavas.
Yuga . . . . . . A cycle or age of the world. The present
cycle is known in India as the “Kali-
Yuga” or “Iron-Age.”
Abhava . . . . . . Bereft of quality
Abheda . . . . . . Non-separateness; sameness; without
distinction.
Abhidhya . . . . . Not coveting others’ goods, not thinking
vain thoughts, not brooding over
injuries received from others.
Abhigata . . . . . Impediment.
Abhimana . . . . . Pride.
Abhinivesa . . . . . Practices.
Acharya . . . . . Great spiritual teacher.
Adarsa . . . . . . A mirror—a term sometimes used to
denote the finer power of vision
developed by the Yogi.
Adhidaivika . . . . . Supernatural.
Adhikari . . . . . One qualified as a seeker of wisdom.
Aditi . . . . . . The infinite, the goddess of the sky.
Aditya . . . . . . The Sun.
Adityas . . . . . . Twelve planetary spirits.
Adharma . . . . . Absence of virtue; unrighteousness.
Adrogha . . . . . Not injuring.
Adrogha-Vak . . . . One who does not harm others even by
words.
Advaita . . . . . . (A-dvaita) Non-dualism. The monistic
system of Vedanta philosophy.
Advaitin . . . . . A follower of Advaita.
Adhyasa . . . . . Reflection, as the crystal reflects the
colour of the object before it.
Superimposition of qualities of one
object over another, as of the snake
on the rope.
Agni . . . . . . The god of fire. Later, the Supreme God
of the Vedas.
Aham . . . . . . “I.”
Aham-Brahmasmi . . . “I am Brahman.”
Ahamkara . . . . . Egoism. Self-consciousness.
Ahara . . . . . . Gathering in,—as food to support the
body or the mind.
Ahimsa . . . . . . Non-injuring in thought, word, or deed.
Ahimsaka . . . . . One who practices Ahimsa.
Ajna . . . . . . The sixth lotus of the Yogis, corresponding
to a nerve-centre in the
brain, behind the eyebrows. Divine
perception.
Ajnata . . . . . . One who has attained divine wisdom.
Akaca . . . . . . The all-pervading material of the
universe.
Akbar . . . . . . Mogul Emperor of India, 1542-1605.
Akhanda . . . . . Undivided.
Akanda-Satchidananda . . “The undivided Existence-Knowledge-
Bliss Absolute.”
Alambana . . . . . Objective contemplation. The things
which are supports to the mind in its
travel Godwards.
Amritatvam . . . . . Immortality.
Anahata . . . . . lit. “unstruck sound.” The fourth lotus
of the Yogis in the Sucumna, opposite
the heard.
Ananda . . . . . . Bliss.
Ananya-Bhakti . . . . Worship of one particular Deity in
preference to all others. In a higher
sense, it is seeing all Deities as but so
many forms of the One God.
Singleness of love and worship.
Anavasada . . . . . Cheerfulness, not becoming dejected.
Strength, both mental and physical.
Anima . . . . . . Attenuation.
Antahkarana . . . . Internal organ. The mind with its three
functions, the cognitive faculty, the
determinative faculty, and the
egoism.
Antaryamin . . . . . The name of Icvara,—meaning, He who
knows everything that is going on
within (antara) every mind.
Antararama . . . . . The Yogi who rests in the final contemplation
of the Supreme Lord
(Icvara).
Anubhava . . . . . Realisation.
Anuddharsa. . . . . Absence of excessive merriment.
Anumana . . . . . Inference.
Anurakti . . . . . The attachment that comes after the
knowledge of the nature of God.
Anuraga . . . . . Great attachment to Icvara.
Anuvdda . . . . . A statement referring to something
already known.
Apakshiyate . . . . . To decay.
Apana . . . . . . One of the five manifestations of prana.
The nerve-current in the body which
governs the organs of excretion.
Aparapratyaksha . . . Super-sensuous perception.
Aparavidya . . . . . Lower knowledge; knowledge of
externals.
Aparigraha . . . . . Non-receiving of gifts; not indulging in
luxuries.
Apas . . . . . . One of the elements; water; liquid.
Apratikalya . . . . . State of sublime resignation.
Apta . . . . . . One who has attained to realisation of
God; one who is self-illumined.
Aptavakyam . . . . Words of an Apta.
Apura . . . . . . Merit.
Aranyakas . . . . . The ancient Rishis, dwellers in the
forest; also a name given to the
books composed by them.
Aristha . . . . . . Portents or signs by which a Yogi can
foretell the exact time of his death.
Arjavam . . . . . Straight-forwardness.
Arjuna . . . . . . The hero of the Bhagavad Gita, to
whom Krishna (in the form of a
charioteer) taught the great truths of
the Vedanta Philosophy.
Artha . . . . . . Meaning.
Arthavattva . . . . . Fruition.
Arupa . . . . . . (A-rupa) Without form.
Aryavarta . . . . . The land of the Aryans. The name
applied by the Hindus to Northern
India.
Asamprajnata . . . . The highest super-conscious state.
Asana . . . . . . Position of the body during meditation.
Asat . . . . . . Non-being or existence. Opposite of
Sat. Applied to the changing existence
of the universe.
Asmita . . . . . . Non-discrimination.
Acoka . . . . . . A noted Buddhist King, 259-222 B.C.
Acrama . . . . . . Hermitage.
Asvada . . . . . . lit. “taste,”—applied to the finer faculty
of taste developed by the Yogi.
Asteyam . . . . . Non-stealing.
Asti . . . . . . . To be, or exist.
Atharva Veda . . . . That portion of the Veda which treats of
psychic powers.
Athata Brahma-jijnaca . . “Then therefore, the enquiry into
Brahman.” [Vedanta Sutra, 1–1–I.]
Atikranta-Chavaniya . . The stage of meditation which ends with
what is called “Cloud (or Showerer)
of Virtue” Samadhi.
Atithi . . . . . . A guest.
Atman . . . . . . The Eternal Self.
Avarana . . . . . Coverings (of the mind).
Avatara . . . . . . A divine Incarnation.
Avidya . . . . . . Ignorance.
Avritti-rasakrit-upadecat . “Repetition (of the mental functions of
knowing, meditating, etc., is required)
on account of the text giving
instructions more than once.”
[Vedanta Sutra, 1–1–IV.]
Avyaktam . . . . . Indiscrete; undifferentiated. Stage of
nature, where there is no
manifestation.
Bahya-Bhakti . . . . External devotion (as worship through
rites, symbols, ceremonials, etc., of
God).
Bandha . . . . . . Bondage.
Banyan-Tree . . . . (Ficus Indica) Indian fig tree; the
branches drop roots to the ground,
which grow and form new trunks.
Bhagavad-Gita . . . . “The Holy Song.” A gem of Indian
literature containing the essence of
the Vedanta Philosophy.
Bhagavan . . . . . lit. “Possessor of all powers.” A title
meaning Great Lord.
Bhagavan Ramakrsna . . A great Hindu prophet and teacher of the
19th century, 1835-1886. [See “Life
and Sayings of Cri Rama-krsna” by
F. Max Müller. London, 1898.
Longmans, Green & Co., and Charles
Scribner’s Sons. New York.]
Bhagavata-Purana . . . One of the principal Puranas.
Bhakta . . . . . . A great lover of God.
Bhakti . . . . . . Intense love for God.
Bhaki-Yoga . . . . . Union with the Divine through devotion.
Bharata . . . . . A great Yogi who suffered much from
his excessive attachment to a deer
which he brought up as a pet.
Bhashya . . . . . A commentary.
Bhautika . . . . . Pertaining to the Bhutas, or elements.
Bhavana . . . . . Pondering; meditation.
Bheda . . . . . . Separateness.
Bhikshu . . . . . . A religious mendicant, a term now
usually applied to the Buddhist
monks.
Bhoga . . . . . . Enjoyment of sense objects.
Bhoja . . . . . . The annotator of the Yoga Aphorisms.
Brahma . . . . . . The Creator of the Universe.
Brahmacharya . . . . Chastity in thought, word and deed.
Brahmacharin . . . . One who has devoted himself to
continence and the pursuit of
spiritual wisdom.
Brahman . . . . . The One existence, the Absolute.
Brahmaloka . . . . The world of Brahma, the highest
heaven.
Brahmana . . . . . A “twice-born man,” a Brahmin.
Brahmanas . . . . . Those portions of the Vedas which state
the rules for the employment of the
hymns at the various ceremonials.
Each of the four Vedas has its own
Brahmana.
Brahma-Sutra-Bhashya . . Commentary on the aphorisms of
Vedanta.
Brahmavadin . . . . Teacher of Brahman, one who speaks or
teaches of Brahman or Absolute
Being.
Brahmayoga . . . . The Yoga which leads to the realisation
of the Brahman. (Chap. VIII of the
Bhagavad Gita is called by that
name).
Brahmin . . . . . An Anglicised form of Brahmana, a
member of the Brahmana caste.
Buddha . . . . . . lit. “The Enlightened,” the name given
to one of the greatest Incarnations
recognised by the Hindus, born sixth
century B.C.
Buddhi . . . . . . The determinative faculty.
Chaitanya . . . . . Pure intelligence. Name of a great
Hindu sage (born 1485) who is
regarded as a Divine Incarnation.
Chandogya Upanishad . . One of the oldest Upanishads of the
Sama-Veda.
Charvaka . . . . . A materialist.
Chidakaca . . . . . The space of knowledge, where the Soul
shines in its own nature.
Chitta . . . . . . “Mind-stuff.” (The fine material out of
which the mind has been
manufactured)
Chittakaca . . . . . The mental space.
Dakshima . . . . . Offering made to a priest, or teacher, at
religious ceremonies.
Dama . . . . . . Control of the organs.
Dana . . . . . . Charity.
Dasya . . . . . . “Servantship;” the state of being a
devoted servant of God.
Daya . . . . . . Mercy, compassion, doing good to
others without hope of return.
Deha . . . . . . Matter, gross body.
Devadatta . . . . . “God-given.”
Devas . . . . . . The “shining ones,” semi-divine beings
representing states attained by
workers of good.
Devaloka . . . . . Abode of the gods.
Devayana . . . . . The path which leads to the sphere of
the gods, or the different heavens.
Devi-Bhagavata . . . . One of the Puranas, which describes the
deeds of the Divine Mother.
Dharana . . . . . Holding the mind to one thought for
twelve seconds. Concentration.
Dharma . . . . . Virtue. Religious duty.
Dharma-megha . . . . “Cloud of virtue” (applied to a kind of
Samadhi).
Dhyana . . . . . . Meditation.
Dhyanamarga . . . . The way to knowledge through
meditation.
Dvandas . . . . . Dualities in nature, as heat and cold,
pleasure and pain, etc., etc.
Dvesha . . . . . . Aversion.
Dyava-Prithivi . . . . Heaven (and) Earth.
Ekagra . . . . . . Concentrated state of mind.
Ekam . . . . . . One.
Eka-Nistha . . . . . Intense devotion to one chosen ideals.
Ekanta-Bhakti . . . . Singleness of love and devotion to God.
Ekatma-Vadam . . . . Monism. The theory, according to
which there is only on intelligence
Entity. Pure idealism.
Ekayana . . . . . The one stay or support of all things,—
hence the Lord.
Ganapati . . . . . One of the Hindu deities.
Ganeca . . . . . . God of wisdom and “remover of
obstacles.” He is always invoked at
the commencement of every
important undertaking.
Gargi . . . . . . A woman-sage mentioned in the Upanishads.
She practiced Yoga and
attained to the highest superconscious
state.
Gauni . . . . . . Preparatory stage of Bhakti-Yoga.
Gayatri . . . . . . A certain most holy verse of the Vedas.
Ghata . . . . . . A jar.
Gopis . . . . . . Shepherdesses, worshippers of Krsna.
Grahama . . . . . Sense-perception.
Grihastha . . . . . A householder, head of a family.
Gunas . . . . . . Qualities, attributes.
Guru . . . . . . lit. “the dispeller of darkness.” A religious
teacher who removes the
ignorance of the pupil. The real guru
is a transmitter of the spiritual
impulse that quickens the spirit and
awakens a genuine thirst for religion.
Hamsa . . . . . . The Jiva, or individual soul.
Hanuman . . . . . The great Bhakta hero of the Ramayana.
Hari . . . . . . lit. “One who steals the hearts and
reason of all by his beauty,” hence
the Lord, a name of God.
Hatha Yoga . . . . . The science of controlling body and
mind, but with no spiritual end in
view, bodily perfection being the
only aim.
Hatha-Yogi (or Yogin) . . One who practices Hatha Yoga.
Hiranyagarbha . . . . lit. “golden wombed.” Applied to
Brahma, the Creator, as producing
the universe out of Himself.
Hum . . . . . . A mystic word used in meditation as
symbolic of the highest Bliss.
Ida . . . . . . . The nerve current on the left side of the
spinal cord; the left nostril.
Indra . . . . . . Ruler of the gods.
Indriyani . . . . . Sense organs.
Indriyas . . . . . The internal organs of perception.
Icana . . . . . . One of the devas.
Ishtam . . . . . . Chosen ideal (from “ish,” to wish). That
aspect of God which appeals to one
most.
Ishta Nistha . . . . . Devotion to one ideal.
Ishtapurta . . . . . The works which bring as reward the
enjoyments of the heavens.
Icvara . . . . . . The Supreme Ruler; the highest possible
conception through reason, of the
Absolute, which is beyond all
thought.
Icvarapranidhana . . . Meditation on Icvara.
Icvara Pranidhanadva . . A Sutra of Patanjali—entitled “By
worship of the Supreme Lord.”
Jada . . . . . . Inanimate.
Jagrati . . . . . . Waking state.
Jati . . . . . . . Species.
Jayate . . . . . . To be born.
Jiva . . . . . . The individual soul. The one Self as
appearing to be separated into
different entities; corresponding to
the ordinary use of the word “soul.”
Jivatman . . . . . The Atman manifesting as the Jiva.
Jivan Mukta . . . . lit. “Living Freedom.” One who has
attained liberation (Mukti) even while
in the body.
Jnana . . . . . . Pure intelligence. Knowledge.
Jnana-chaksu . . . . One whose vision has been purified by
the realisation of the Divine.
Jnanakanda . . . . The knowledge portion or philosophy of
the Vedas.
Jnana-yajna . . . . “Wisdom-Sacrifice.” Perfect unselfishness,
purity and goodness which lead
to Jnana, or supreme wisdom
(Moksha).
Jnani [or Jnanin] . . . One who seeks liberation through pure
reason or philosophy.
Kaivalya . . . . . Isolation. Oneness with Absolute Being.
Kala . . . . . . Time.
Kalpa . . . . . . A cycle (in evolution).
Kalyana . . . . . Blessings.
Kama . . . . . . Desires.
Kapila . . . . . . Author of the Sankhya Philsophy, and
the father of the Hindu Evolutionists.
Kapilavastu . . . . . Birthplace of Gautama the Buddha.
Karika . . . . . . A running commentary.
Karma . . . . . . Work or action, also effects of actions;
the law of cause and effect in the
moral world.
Karmakanda . . . . The ritualistic portion of the Vedas.
Karamendriyas . . . . Organs of action.
Karma Yoga . . . . Union with the Divine through the
unselfish performance of duty.
Khanda . . . . . . Differentiated, or divided; division.
Klesa . . . . . . Troubles.
Krsna . . . . . . An Incarnation of God who appeared in
India about 1400 B.C. Most of his
teachings are embodied in the
Bhagavad Gita.
Kriya . . . . . . Action, ritual, ceremonial.
Kriyamana . . . . . The Karma we are making at present.
Kriya-Yoga . . . . . Preliminary Yoga, the performance of
such acts as lead the mind higher and
higher.
Kshana . . . . . . Moments.
Kshatriya . . . . . Member of the warrior (or second) caste
of ancient India.
Kshetra . . . . . . lit. “the perishable,” also “a field.”
Applied to the human body (as the
field of action).
Kshetrajna . . . . . The knower of Kshetra. (Gita, Chap.
XII.) The soul.
Kumbhaka . . . . . Retention of the breath in the practice of
pranayama.
Kundalini . . . . . lit. “the coiled-up.” The residual energy,
located according to the Yogis, at the
base of the spine, and which in
ordinary men produces dreams,
imagination, psychical perceptions,
etc., and which, when fully aroused
and purified, leads to the direct
perception of God.
Kunti . . . . . . The mother of the five Pandavas, the
heroes who opposed the Kauravas at
the battle of Kurukshetra, the account
of which forms the principal theme
of the Mahabharata, the Indian epic.
Kurma . . . . . . The name of a nerve upon which the
Yogis meditate.
Kurma-Purana . . . . One of the eighteen principal Puranas.
Kuca . . . . . . A kind of Indian grass used in religious
rites.
Madhubhumiba . . . . The second stage of the Yogi when he
gets beyond the argumentative
condition.
Madhumati . . . . . lit. “honeyed.” The state when knowledge
gives satisfaction as honey
does.
Mathura . . . . . Sweet. That form of Bhakti in which the
relation of the devotee towards God
is like that of a loving wife to her
husband.
Madvacharya . . . . Commentator of the dualistic school of
the Vedanta philosophy.
Mahat . . . . . . lit. “The great one.” Cosmic intelligence.
Mahattattva. . . . . Great principle. The ocean of intelligence
evolved first from indiscrete
nature, according to Sankhya
philosophy.
Mahayoga . . . . . [lit. “great union.”] Seeing the Self as
one with God.
Maitriya . . . . . lit. “Full of compassion.” The name of a
Hindu sage.
Manas . . . . . . The deliberative faculty of the mind.
Mantra . . . . . . Any prayer, holy verse, sacred or mystic
word recited or contemplated during
worship.
Mantra-drashta . . . . “Seer of thought.” One possessed of
super-sensuous knowledge.
Manipura . . . . . lit. “Filled with jewels.” The third lotus
of the Yogis, opposite the navel (in
the Sucumna).
Matras . . . . . . Seconds.
Matha . . . . . . Monastery.
Mathura [now known as
“Muttra”] . . . .
Birth-place of Krsna.
Maya . . . . . . Mistaking the unreal and phenomenal
for the real and eternal [noumenal?].
Commonly translated “illusion”. (lit.
“which baffles all measurement.”)
Mimansa . . . . . lit. “Solution of a problem.” One of the
six schools of Indian philosophy.
Moksha . . . . . . Freedom, liberation (Mukti).
Moksha-dharma . . . The virtues which lead to liberation of
the soul.
Mrtyu . . . . . . Death. Another name for Yama.
Mukti . . . . . . Emancipation from rebirth
Muladhara . . . . . The basic lotus of the Yogis.
Mumukcutvam . . . . Desire for liberation.
Mundaka-Upanishad . . One of the twelve principal Upanishads.
Muni . . . . . . A (religious) sage.
Nada . . . . . . Sound, finer than is heard by our ears.
Nada-Brahma . . . . The “sound-Brahman.” The Om, that
undifferentiated Word, which has
produced all manifestation.
Nadi . . . . . . A tube along which something flows—
as the blood currents, or nervous
energies.
Nadi-suddhi . . . . lit. “Purification of the channel through
which the nerve currents flow.” One
of the elementary breathing exercises.
Naicthika . . . . . One possessed of a singleness of
devotion towards a high ideal of life.
Namah . . . . . . Salutation.
Nama-rupa . . . . . Name and form.
Namacakti . . . . . The power of the name of God.
Narada . . . . . . The great “god-intoxicated” sage of
ancient India, who is reputed to have
possessed all the “powers” described
in Yoga philosophy.
Narada-Sutra . . . . The Aphorisms of Narada on Bhakti.
Narayama . . . . . “Mover on the waters,” a title of Vishnu.
Nataraja . . . . . lit. “Lord of the stage.” Sometimes used
for God as the Lord of this vast stage
of the universe.
“Neti, Neti” . . . . . “Not this, not this.”
Nimitta . . . . . . Operative cause.
Niralambana . . . . lit. “Supportless,” a very high stage of
meditation, according to Yoga
philosophy.
Nirbija . . . . . . lit. “Without seed.” The highest form of
Samadhi or super-conscious state of
the mind according to Yoga
philosophy.
Nirguna . . . . . Without attributes or qualities.
Nishkamakarma . . . . Unselfish action. To do good acts
without caring for the results.
Nitya . . . . . . Permanent, eternal.
Nirukta . . . . . . Science dealing with etymology and the
meaning of words.
Nirvana . . . . . . Freedom: extinction or “blowing out” of
delusions.
Nirvichara . . . . . Without discrimination.
Nirvikalpa . . . . . Changeless.
Nirvitarka . . . . . Withou question or reasoning.
Nivritti . . . . . . “Revolving away from.”
Nishtha . . . . . . Singleness of attachment.
Niyama . . . . . . The virtues of cleanliness, contentment,
mortification, study and selfsurrender.
Nyaya . . . . . . The school of Indian logic. The science
of logical philosophy.
Ojas . . . . . . lit. “The illuminating or bright.” The
highest form of energy attained by a
constant practice of continence and
purity.
Om or Omkara [`] . . . The most holy word of the Vedas. A
symbolic word, meaning the
Supreme Being, the Ocean of
Knowledge and Bliss Absolute.
Om tat sat* . . . . . lit. “Om That Existence.” That Ocean of
Knowledge and Bliss Absolute, the
only Reality.
Pada . . . . . . Foot.
Pada . . . . . . Chapter.
Para . . . . . . Supreme.
Para-Bhakti . . . . Supreme devotion.
Paramahamsa . . . . Supreme soul.
Paravidya . . . . . Highest knowledge.
Parinamate . . . . . To ripen.
Parjanya . . . . . God of rain, and of the clouds.
Patanjali . . . . . Founder of the Yoga School of
Philosophy.
Pingala . . . . . . The nerve-current on the right side of
the spinal cord; also the right nostril.
Pingala . . . . . . A courtesan who abandoned her vicious
life and became remarkable for her
piety and virtue.
Pitris . . . . . . Forefathers, ancestors.
Pradhana . . . . . lit. “The chief.” The principal element;
a name used for nature in Sankya
philosophy.
Prajna . . . . . . Highest knowledge which leads to the
realisation of the Deity.
Prajnajyati . . . . . One who has been illumined with
knowledge transcending the senses.
* [This, as far as I can tell, is what the Sanskrit on the scroll on the emblem
facing page 51 reads – T.S.]
Prakrti . . . . . . Nature.
Prakrtilayas . . . . Souls that have got all the powers that
nature has by becoming one with
nature.
Prahidda . . . . . The chief of Bhaktas. [Devotees]
Pramana . . . . . Means of proof.
Pramiya . . . . . Correct cognition.
Prana . . . . . . The sum total of the cosmic energy, the
vital forces of the body.
Pranayama . . . . . Controlling the prana.
Pranidhana . . . . . Unceasing devotion.
Prarabdha . . . . . The works or Karma whose fruits we
have begun to reap in this life.
Prasankhyana . . . . Abstract contemplation.
Prathamakalpika . . . Argumentative condition of the
conscious Yogi.
Pratibha . . . . . Divine illumination.
Pratika . . . . . . lit. “Going towards.” A finite symbol
standing for the infinite Brahman.
Pratima . . . . . The use of images as symbols.
Prativishaya . . . . That which is applied to the different
objects, i.e., the organs of sense.
Pratyahara . . . . . Making the mind introspective.
Pratyagatman . . . . The internal self; the self-luminous.
Pratyaksham . . . . Direct perception.
Pravritti . . . . . “Revolving towards.”
Pritti . . . . . . Pleasure in God.
Prithivi . . . . . . One of the elements; earth; solids.
Puraka . . . . . . Inhalation.
Puranas . . . . . Writings containing the Hindu mythology.
Puraca . . . . . . The Soul.
Purva-paksha . . . . The prima facie view.
Qu’ran . . . . . . The Mahommedan Scriptures.
Raga . . . . . . Attachment to those things that please
the senses.
Raganuga . . . . . The highest form of love and attachment
to the Lord.
Raja . . . . . . lit. “To shine.” Royal.
Rajas . . . . . . Activity. One of the three principles
which form the essence of nature.
Raja Yoga . . . . . lit. “Royal Yoga.” The science of
conquering the internal nature, for
the purpose of realising the Divinity
within.
Rakshasa . . . . . A demon.
Ramanjua . . . . . A noted commentator of the Vishictadvaita
School of Philosophy
(qualified monistic).
Rama . . . . . . An Incarnation of God, and hero of the
celebrated epic—the “Ramayana.”
Ramayana . . . . . A celebrated Indian epic poem written
by Valmiki, a sage.
Rang . . . . . . A symbolic word for the highest wisdom.
Rasayanas . . . . . The alchemists of ancient India.
Rechaka . . . . . Exhalation.
Rg-Veda . . . . . Oldest portion of the Vedas, composed
of hymns.
Rishi . . . . . . lit. “Seer of mantras” (thoughts). One
possessed of super-sensuous
knowledge.
Ritambharaprajna . . . One whose knowledge is truthsupporting.
Rudra . . . . . . A name of a Vedic god.
Cabda . . . . . . Sound.
Cabdabrahima . . . . The creative word corresponding to the
Logos.
Cabda Nishtham Jagat . . “Through sound the world stands.”
Sabija Yoga . . . . “Seeded” meditation (that is where all
seeds of future Karma are not yet
destroyed).
Saguna . . . . . . With qualities.
Saguna-Brahma . . . The qualified or lower Brahman.
Sarguna-vidya . . . . Qualified knowledge.
Sahacrara . . . . . The “thousand-petalled lotus,” a figurative
expression of the Yogis
describing the brain.
Sakhya . . . . . . Friendship.
Cakti . . . . . . Power.
Salokya . . . . . . Dwelling in the presence of God.
Sama . . . . . . Not allowing the mind to externalise.
Sama-Veda . . . . . The hymn portion of the Veda, or that
portion which was sung during the
ceremonies.
Samadhi . . . . . Super-consciousness.
Samadhana . . . . . Constant practice.
Samana . . . . . . The nerve current that controls the
function of digestion.
Camanyatadrishta . . . Inference based on superficial reasoning.
Samapatti . . . . . lit. “Treasures.” Used in Yoga philosophy
to indicate the different stages
of meditation.
Samasti . . . . . . The universal.
Samipya . . . . . Closeness to God.
Samprajnata . . . . The first stage of super-consciousness
which comes through deep meditation.
Samsara . . . . . Endless cycle of manifestation.
Samskaras . . . . . Impressions in the mind-stuff that
produce habits.
Samyama . . . . . lit. “Control.” In the Yoga philosophy it
is technically used for that perfect
control of the powers of the mind, by
which the Yogi can know anything in
the universe.
Sanandam . . . . . The “blissful Samadhi.” The third step
of the samprajnata samadhi. The
object of meditation in this state is
the “thinking organ” bereft of activity
and dullness. (Rajas and Tamas.)
Sanchita . . . . . The stored up, past Karma, whose fruits
we are not reaping now, but which
we shall have to reap in the future.
Sandilya . . . . . Writer of the Aphorisms of Divine Love
(Bhakti) from the Advaita point of
view.
Cankaracharya . . . . The great exponent and commentator of
the non-dualistic school of Vedanta.
He is supposed to have lived in India
about the eighth century A.D.
Sankhya . . . . . lit. “That which reveals perfectly.” The
name of a famous system of Indian
philosophy, founded by the great
sage Kapila.
Sankocha . . . . . Shrinking, contraction or nonmanifestation.
Sannyasa . . . . . Complete renunciation of all worldly
position, property and name.
Sannyasin . . . . . One who makes Sannyasa, and lives a
life of self-sacrifice, devoting himself
entirely to religion.
Santa . . . . . . Peaceful or gentle love.
Santa-Bhakta . . . . A devotee who has attained to peace
through the path of Divine love.
Santih . . . . . . Peace.
Santoca . . . . . . Contentment.
Sarupya . . . . . Growing like God.
Castra . . . . . . Books accepted as Divine authority.
Sacred Scriptures.
Sat . . . . . . . Existence-absolute.
Satchidananda . . . . “Existence—Knowledge—Bliss Absolute.”
Sattva . . . . . . Illumination material. One of the three
principles which form the essence of
nature.
Sattva-purshanvatakhyati . The perception of the Self as different
from the principles of nature.
Sattvika . . . . . . Having the Sattva quality highly
developed, hence one who is pure
and holy.
Satyam . . . . . . Truthfulness.
Saucham . . . . . Cleanliness.
Savichara . . . . . With discrimination. (A mode of
meditation)
Savitarka . . . . . Meditation with reasoning or question.
Sayujya . . . . . . Union with Brahman.
Sakshi . . . . . . Witness.
Siddha-Guru . . . . A teacher who has attained Mukti.
Siddhanta . . . . . Decisive knowledge.
Siddhas . . . . . . Semi-divine beings, or Yogis, who have
attained supernatural powers.
Siddhis . . . . . . The supernatural powers which come
through the practice of Yoga.
Ciksha . . . . . . The science dealing with pronunciation
and accents.
Cishya . . . . . . A student or disciple of a Guru.
Siva . . . . . . The “Destroyer” of the Hindu trinity.
Sometimes regarded in the Hindu
mythology as the One God.
Sivoham . . . . . “I am Siva” (or eternal bliss).
Sloka . . . . . . Verse.
Smrti . . . . . . (1) Memory. (2) Any authoritative
religious book, except the Vedas.
Soham . . . . . . “I am He.”
Soma . . . . . . A certain plant, the juice of which was
used in the ancient sacrifices.
Sphota . . . . . . The eternal, essential material of all
ideas or names, which makes words
possible, yet is not any definite word
in a fully formed state. The inexpressible
Manifestor behind all the
expressed, sensible universe. The
power through which the Lord
creates the universe. Its symbol is
the eternal Om.
Craddha . . . . . Strong faith in religion.
Cravana . . . . . (1) Hearing, the ears. (2) The finer
power of hearing developed by the
Yogi.
Cri . . . . . . . Holy, or blessed.
Cri Bhashya . . . . . Name of the qualified non-dualistic
commentary of Vedanta by
Ramanuja.
Crotiyas . . . . . lit. “High born,” or born of a noble
family. The Hindu students who
know the Vedas by heart.
Cruti . . . . . . The Vedas, so called because transmitted
orally from father to son in ancient
times. The Vedas are regarded by all
orthodox Hindus as Divine revelation
and as the supreme authority in
religious matters.
Sthiti . . . . . . Stability.
Sthula Carira . . . . Gross body.
Cukshma Carira [sometimes
called “Linga Carira] .
Fine or subtle body.
Cunya Vada . . . . . Doctrine of the void, nihilism.
Cushupti . . . . . Deep, dreamless sleep.
Sucumna . . . . . The name given by the Yogis to the
hollow canal which runs through the
centre of the spinal cord.
Sutra . . . . . . lit. “Thread.” Usually means aphorism.
Svadhisthana . . . . lit. “Abode of Self.” Second lotus of the
Yogis, between base of spine and the
navel.
Svadhyaya . . . . . Study.
Svaha! . . . . . . “May it be perpetuated,” or “so be it.” An
expression used in making obltation.
Svapna . . . . . . The dream state.
Svapnecvara . . . . Commentator of the Aphorisms of
Sandilya.
Svasti . . . . . . A blessing, meaning “Good be unto you.”
Svati . . . . . . Name of a star
Svarga . . . . . . Heaven.
Svami . . . . . . A title meaning “master” or “spiritual
teacher.”
Cvetasvatara-Upanishad . One of the chief Upanishads of the
Yajur-Veda.
Tadiyata . . . . . lit. “His-ness.” The state when a man
has forgotten himself altogether, in his
love for the Lord, and does not feel that
anything belongs to him personally.
Tamas . . . . . . “Darkness,” intertia.
Tanmatras . . . . . Fine material.
Tantras . . . . . . Books held to be sacred by a certain sect
in India.
Tantrikas . . . . . Followers of the Tantras.
Tapas . . . . . . Controlling the body by fasting or other
means. Austerity.
Taraka . . . . . . Saviour.
Tarka . . . . . . Question or reasoning.
“Tat tvam asi” . . . . “That thou art.”
Tattvas . . . . . . Categories, principles, truths.
Tejas . . . . . . One of the elements; fire; heat.
Titiksha . . . . . . Ideal forbearance. “All-sufferingness.”
Trishna . . . . . . Thirst, desire.
Tulsidas . . . . . A great sage and poet who popularised
the famous epic, the Ramayana, by
translating it from Sanskrit into the
Hindustani dialect.
Turiya . . . . . . The fourth, or highest state of
consciousness.
Tyaga . . . . . . Renunciation.
Udana . . . . . . Nerve current governing the organs of
speech, etc.
Uddharsa . . . . . Excessive merriment.
Udgitha . . . . . lit. “That which is chanted aloud,” hence
the Pravana or Om.
Udgatha . . . . . Awakening the Kundalini.
Upadana . . . . . The material cause of the world.
Upadhi . . . . . . Limiting adjunct.
Uparati . . . . . . Not thinking of things of the senses;
discontinuing external religious
observances.
Upayapratyaya . . . . A state of abstract meditation.
Uttara Gita . . . . . The name of a book supposed to be
related by Cri Krsna for the further
instruction of Arjuna.
Uttara Mimansa . . . Another name for the Vedanta philosophy,
written originally in the form
of aphorisms by Vyasa.
Vach or Vak . . . . lit. “speech.” The Word, the Logos.
Vada . . . . . . Argumentative knowledge.
Vairagyam . . . . . Non-attachment to the attractions of the
senses. Renunciation.
Vaiceshika . . . . . A branch of the Nyasa school of philosophy;
the Atomic school.
Vaishnavas . . . . . The followers or worshippers of Vishnu,
who form one of the principle Hindu
religious sects.
Vamadeva . . . . . A great Rishi who possessed the highest
spiritual enlightenment from the time
of his birth.
Vanaprastha . . . . The forest life. Third of the four stages
into which the life of a man was
divided into ancient India.
Varaha-Purana . . . . One of the eighteen principle Puranas.
Vardhate . . . . . To grow.
Vartikam . . . . . A concise explanatory note.
Varuna . . . . . . The old Vedic god of the sky.
Vasana . . . . . . A habit or tendency arising from an
impression remaining unconsciously
in the mind from past Karma.
Vasudeva . . . . . Manifestation of the highest Being.
Vatsalya . . . . . The affection of parents for children.
Vayu . . . . . . lit. “the vibrating.” The air.
Vedana . . . . . . The fine power of feeling developed by
the Yogi.
Vedas . . . . . . The Hindu Scriptures, consisting of the
Rg-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-
Veda, the Artharva-Veda; also the
Brahmanas and the Upanishads;
comprising the hymns, rituals and
philosophy of the Hindu religion.
Vedanta . . . . . The final philosophy of the Vedas, as
expressed in the Upanishads. The
philosophical system which embraces
all Indian systems of philosophy,—
the monistic, the mono-dualistic and
the dualistic.
Vedavai anantah . . . A quotation from the Vedas, meaning
“The Scriptures are infinite.”
Vidcha . . . . . . Disembodied, or unconscious of body.
Vidya . . . . . . Science, or knowledge.
Vidvan . . . . . . One who knows.
Vijnana . . . . . . The higher knowledge.
Vikalpa . . . . . . Verbal delusion, doubt, notion, fancy.
Vikaranabhava . . . . Uninstrumental perception.
Vikshipta . . . . . A scattered or confused state of mind.
Vimoksha . . . . . Absence of desire. Absolute freedom.
Vina . . . . . . A stringed musical instrument of India.
Viparyaya . . . . . False conception of a thing whose real
form does not correspond to that
conception, as mother of pearl mistaken
for silver.
Vipra . . . . . . A sage who was born and bred a
Brahmin.
Viraka . . . . . . Intense misery due to separation from
the beloved one.
Virya . . . . . . Strength, energy.
Vishnu . . . . . . The “Preserver” of the Hindu trinity,
who takes care of the universe, and
who incarnates from time to time to
help mankind.
Vicishtadvaita . . . . Qualified non-dualism. A school of
Indian philosophy, founded by
Ramanuja, a great religious reformer,
which teaches that the individual soul
is a part of God.
Vicishtadvaitin . . . . A follower of the above school of
philosophy; a qualified non-dualist.
Vicoka . . . . . . “Sorrowless.”
Vivekananda . . . . “Bliss-in-discrimination.”
Vitarka . . . . . . Questioning or philosophical enquiry.
Viveka . . . . . . Discrimination (of the true from the
false).
Vicuddha . . . . . The fifth lotus of the Yogis, opposite the
throat (in the Sucumna).
Vraja . . . . . . A suburb of the city of Muttra, where
Krsna played in his childhood.
Vrinda . . . . . . The attendant of the principal Gopi.
Vrtti . . . . . . lit. “The whirlpool.” Wave form in the
chitta; a modification of the mind.
Vyana . . . . . . The nerve current which circulates all
over the body.
Vyasa . . . . . . lit. “One who expounds” (as a commentator).
One Vyasa was the author
of the Mahabharata and of the
Uttara Mimansa.
Vyasa Sutras . . . . The Vedanta Aphorisms by Vyasa.
Vyasti . . . . . . The particular (as opposed to the
universal).
Vyutthana . . . . . Waking, or returning to consciousness
after abstract meditation.
Yajur-Veda . . . . . The ritualistic portion of the Vedas.
Yama . . . . . . The internal purification through moral
training, preparatory to Yoga. The
god of Death, so called from his
power of self-control.
Yoga . . . . . . Joining; union of the lower self with the
higher self, by means of mental
control. Any sort of culture that
leads us to God.
Yoga Sutra . . . . . Aphorism on Yoga.
Yogi . . . . . . One who practices Yoga.
Yudhisthira . . . . . A great Hindu Emperor who lived about
1400 B.C. He was one of the five
Pandavas.
Yuga . . . . . . A cycle or age of the world. The present
cycle is known in India as the “Kali-
Yuga” or “Iron-Age.”
Om
Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble Thankfulness to
H H Sri Chandrasekharendra Mahaswami ji, Hinduism online dot com Swamijis, and
Philosophers com for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the spiritual path and also this
is purely a non-commercial)
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