Glossary Of Yoga,Pranayama Related Terms
ADHIKARI= Fit aspirant (Uttama: Good; Madhyama: medium; Adhama: inferior)
Agni = Fire
Ahamkara = Ego
Aisvarya = Material or spiritual wealth
Ajna-Chakra = Cavernous plexus
Akasa = Ether, space, sky
Alasya = Lethargy, inertia
Anahata = Cardiac plexus
Anga = Subordinate step, limb
Anima = Subtlety, reducing body in size
Antahkarana = Internal psychic organ, mind
Apana = Vital energy functioning in excretion
Apas = Water
Arambha = A state reached in Pranayama
Asana = Bodily position, posture
Ashtanga = Eight limbs (of Patanjali= s Raja Yoga)
Astika = Believer of God or the Vedas
Asura = Demon, evil tendency in man
Asuri = Devilish
Atman = Divine soul in man, the Supreme Self
Avadhani = Attentive, concentrated
Avastha = State
BANDHA = A lock in Yogic posture
Bandhu = Relative, one connected by relation
Bhakta = Devotee
Bhakti = Devotion
Bhastrika = Bellows (a kind of Pranayama)
Bhati = To shine
Bhava = (Devotional) attitude
Bheda = Difference, splitting
Bija = Seed, source
Bijakshara = Seed-letter containing latent power of Mantra
Brahmachari = Celibate, student of scriptures
Brahmanda = Macrocosm, Brahma= s egg
Brahmarandhra= Head fontanelle at the top of head
Buddhi = Intellect, understanding, reason
CHAKRA = Wheel, plexus
Charu = Boiled milk and rice
Chit = Consciousness
Chitta = Mind-stuff, subconscious mind
DAIVI = Divine
Dama = Control of outer senses
Deva(ta) = Deity
Dhairya = Heroism, valour
Dharma = Duty, virtue, righteous way of living
Dhyana = Deep meditation
Dridhata = Firmness
GAYATRI = A very sacred Mantra in the Vedas
Ghata = A state reached in Pranayama
Granthi = Knot (of nerves or psychic energy)
Grihastha = Householder
HAMSA = Swan, Divine Self
Hiranyagarbha= Cosmic intelligence, cosmic mind, Brahma
IDA = Psychic nerve-current flowing through nostril; lunar
Indriya = Sense of perception whether physical (Karma Indriya) or internal current (Jnana Indriya)
Ishta = Object of desire, chosen ideal
JAPA = Repetition of a Mantra
Jivanmukti = Liberation while still in body, the state of Jnana or Knowledge, Wisdom of Brahman
Jivatman` = Individual soul
KALA = Ray, part, aspect
Kapala = Skull
Kamala = Lotus
Karma = Action (Sanchita: accumulated; Prarabdha: to be worked out in this life; Agami: being freshly formed)
Karuna = Mercy
Kevala Kumbhak= Cessation of breath spontaneously
Khechari Mudra= Applying elongated tongue to the posterior palate in Hathayoga
Kriya = Action
Kumbhaka = Period between in-and-outgoing breath
Kundalini = Serpent-power coiled up at the Muladhara Chakra
Kutir = Living quarters (of a Sadhaka)
LINGA SARIRA = Subtle body
MADHYAMA = Pranayama with 32 Matras
Manas = Mind
Matra = A second, time-measure
Mitahara = Moderate diet
Moksha = Liberation, release
Mudra = Symbolic hand-position
Mumukshutva = Intense longing for liberation
NADI = Astral tube carrying Prana
Nauli = Abdominal churning exercise
Nirvikalpa = Without modification of the mind
Nishkama = Selfless, unselfish
Nishpatti = Consummation, ratio
PADMA = Lotus
Para = Super, higher, (highest)
Paramahamsa = The highest class of Sannyasins
Parichaya = A state reached in Pranayama
Pindanda = Microcosm
Pingala = Psychic nerve-current in right nostril, solar
Pralaya = Dissolution of the cosmos
Prana = Vital energy, life-breath, life-force
Pranava = The mystic syllable = OM=
Pranavadin = One who advocates the theory of Prana
Pranayama = Breath-control
Prasvasa = Expiration of Breath
Pratyahara = Abstraction of senses
Prithvi = Element of earth with density and fragrance characteristic to it
Puja = Worship, adoration
Puraka = Inhalation
SADHAKA = Spiritual aspirant
Sadhana = Spiritual practice
Sahaja = Natural, true, native
Sahasrara = 1000 petalled lotus at the crown of head
Sakti = Power
Sama = Control of mind, tranquillity
Samadhi = State of superconsciousness, perfect absorption of mind in Yoga
Sambhavi = A Yogic technique of concentration
Sampat = Quality, wealth
Samsara = Life through repeated births and deaths, process of worldly life
Samskara = Impression, prenatal tendency
Sandhya = Junction (of sunrise and sunset)
Sannyasa = Renunciation of social ties, 4th state in Hindu life
Santi = Peace, quietness
Sastra = Scripture, word of authority
Satavadhani = One who does 100 things at the same time
Shatchakras = The six Chakras or nerve-plexuses
Sraddha = Faith
Sthula = Gross
Suddhi = Purity
Sukshma = Fine, subtle, indivisible
Surya = Sun
Sushumna = Nerve-current in spinal canal from Muladhara to crown of head
Svaha = Word uttered while offering an oblation, offering to God, exclamation used in offerings
TAMAS = Darkness, inertia, dullness
Tandri = Drowsiness
UDANA = Vital force near the throat
Upanishad = Vedantic scriptures, end of Vedas
Urdhvareto-Yogi = A Yogi whose energies have been sublimated into spiritual power
Utsaha = Cheerfulness, enthusiasm
VAIRAGYA = Indifference, disgust for worldly things and enjoyments
Vajra = Firmness, thunderbolt
Vak = Speech
Vasana = Subtle desire
Vayu = Wind, vital air, Prana
Vichara = Enquiry into nature of Self or Truth
Virya = Seminal fluid
Visuddha = Laryngeal plexus
Viveka = Discrimination
Vritti = Thought-wave, mental whirlpool
Vyana = All-pervading Prana
Vyavahara = Worldly activity, phenomenal, relative world
YAAMA = A period of three hours
Yajna = Sacrifice
Yatra = Pilgrimage
Yoga = Union with God
