GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY

acharya : Religious teacher

adharma : Unrighteousness

Advaitavada : Non-dualism

Adya Shakti : Primeval Divine Energy

agnimantra: A mantra that makes one determined to achieve an extremely difficult and daunting task

ahetuki bhakti: Love for God that wells up unbidden out of the depths of the immortal soul

Akhanda Sachchidananda : The Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute

amla bhakti: Love without alloy

amrita : Immortality

anahat : This sound is produced on its own without two material objects being struck together

anna : Sixteen annas make one hundred percent

antaryamin : The knower of the heart within.

anulom and vilom : Evolution and involution

arati : Singing forth the devotional songs along with waving of lights before the sacred images

asana : Seat

atmajnana : Knowledge of the Self

Atmaram^:Rejoicing in that Companionship

Avadhoot^:A hermit who worships Shiva

avidya maya : Power of ignorance

avidya shakti:Leading to darkness and away from God

avirbhava: The Divine presence infilling the images of the Deity; manifestation of God

bahaduri wood : Superior and heavy log

Bankim Chandra : He was a resident of Benetola locality of Calcutta — a deputy magistrate and a great bhakta. Sri Paramahansa Deva met him at Adhar Sen’s house. This was the only one meeting that Bankim Babu had with him. Bankim was the celebrated writer of Bengal. He wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ in Bengali.

banya : A semi-circular percussion instrument played along with tabla

beeja mantra : A mystic word or words to be recited silently having great power within

Bhagavan : Personal God with divine attributes; the beloved Lord

Bhagavata : Divine word

Bhagavati tanu : The body derived from the Mother of Universe

Bhagirathi : Another name for the Ganga, after the name of Bhagirath who brought it to earth from heaven after great penance

bhajan : Singing forth devotional hymns

bhakta : Dualist; an aspirant who seeks to attain God through love, self surrender and devotion

Bhakta-vatsala : The gracious loving Lord of the bhakta

bhava : God-consciousness; mood, feeling, emotion

Bhavatarini : Saviour of mankind from bonds of the world

bhoga : Sensory enjoyments; food offering to gods

bhoga arati : Worhip performed after offering of meals to the deities

bodhebodha : It is the intellectual, literal, imaginative, inner feeling of the real nature of Brahman (Atman, Bhagavan). The Vedanta illustrates it in this way (taken from Vol. III of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, 24 August, 1882): A babu is lying in a room in the dark. Somebody gropes in the dark to reach him. His hand touches a couch and he says, ‘No, this is not he.’ Then he touches the window. This too is not he. Then he touches the door and again says to himself, ‘No, not he.’ ‘Not this, not this, not this.’ At last his hand does touch the babu. Then he says, ‘That's it. He is the babu’ - it means that he has realized that ‘the babu is’. He has reached the babu but hasn't known him intimately.

brahmachari : A brahmachari is a holy man practising control over the mind and preparing for the next steps of life — that of the householder, or the ascetic.

Brahmajnana : Knowledge of the Absolute

Brahmajnani : Monist; the knower of Brahman

Brahman : The Unconditioned, the Absolute

brahmanda : Universe

Brahmarishi : One who has attained Brahman and teaches Its essence to others

chakor : A red-legged partridge which enjoys moonbeam

Chandi-mandap : A roofed place usually with four sides open

chanvar : A fan made of the white hair from the tail of the cow called Chamari

charanamrita : Nectar of divine feet

charchari : Dry fish with spiced vegetables soaked in oil

chidakasha : Firmament of divine consciousness

Chidananda : Bliss and Consciousness

Chintamani : Wish fulfilling gem; God

Dakinis : The spirits of destruction

Dakshina Mother Kali : Bestower of happiness and bliss

dama : Self control over sense organs

dashamul pachan : Decoction of ten medicinal roots

Dasharath : Father of Lord Rama

daya : Charity; kindness

dham : Place of pilgrimage

dharana : Meditation and concentration

dharma : Righteousness; religion

faras : The temple attendant who arranges the lights

four fruits : Dharma (good works), artha (wealth), kama (desires), moksha (liberation of the soul)

gandharvas : Class of demi-gods proficient in music and war

Gayatri : The Vedic mantra (sacred text) that the brahmins and other twice-born Hindus repeat everyday while meditating on the Supreme Being

Gopal : Baby Krishna

Guru : Divine preceptor and teacher

habate wood : Old, dry and worn out wood

Haldarpukur : Sri Ramakrishna had his house in Kamarpukur village in Hooghly district. In front of his house there was a big pond called Haldarpukur.

Hari : Lord, the Preserver

havishya : Boiled rice with clarified butter

Hazra : The native village of Hazra Mahashay is Madagod near Kamarpukur, the native village of Sri Ramakrishna. He passed away in the month of Chaitra in his own village in 1306 B.Y. (1900 A. D.). His extraordinary faith and devotion for Thakur showed itself at the time of his death. He was then sixty three or sixty four years old.

homa : Sacrificial fire

Hriday : Hriday Mukherji was the son of Ramakrishna’s cousin sister. He had his house in Seor village near Kamarpukur. For almost twenty four years Hriday stayed with Thakur, served him and carried out the worship of Mother Kali in Dakshineswar Temple. Later, he lost the confidence of the proprietor of the garden and therefore was not allowed to enter it.

Icchamaya : Has His own way in everything

Ishwara : The Lord

jada samadhi : Like a piece of wood unmindful of the world around

Jagannath Puri : An ancient place of pilgrimage in the Orissa state where Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra are worshipped

jagat : The phenomenal world

Jatila and Kutila : The two obstructives

jiva : Embodied soul

jivanmukta : Liberated in this very life

jnana : Spiritual knowledge

jnani : Man of spiritual knowledge

Kala : God of Death

Kali : God in His relations to the conditioned

Kalpataru : Wish fulfilling tree of heaven

kamandala : Bowl made of gourd shell

karana : The body of ecstasy; the body made of joy

karanananda : Joy of causal

karma kshaya : Work no longer binds one

karmakanda : Work, activity

kaviraj : Old fashioned Hindu physician

Kedarnath Chatterji : Kedarnath Chatterji was in Dhaka for many days. His eyes would wet with tears on reading the story of the Lord. He was a great bhakta. His house was in the city of Hali.

khadkuto : Dry straw, grass, twigs, etc.; denotes an insignificant person

Kojagar Lakshmi Puja : The full moon night in the dark fortnight of Aswin. Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity) is worshipped in North India on Diwali festival. In Bengal Lakshmi is worshipped fifteen days prior to Diwali. On Diwali festival people worship Kali in Bengal.

Kaustubhmani : Jewel worn by god Vishnu

Kuber : The Hindu god of wealth

kumbhak : Suspension of breath

Lakshmi : Goddess of wealth

leela : The relative phenomenal world

maha pralaya : Total destruction of the world

mahabhava : Divine ecstasy

Mahachidakasha : The great space of Consciousness

Mahakarana : The Great Cause as the Unconditioned

mahapurusha : A great spiritual personality

mahatma : Spiritually advanced person

mahavayu : The current of spirit

mahayoga : Great communion

malechha : A non Hindu

mangal-ghat : Consecrated pitcher placed to win Divine favour

Mathur : Sport of Lord Krishna in Mathura

maya : Self-love

mayavada : Illunism

mridanga : A musical instrument almost like a tom-tom

Naradiya bhakti : Communion with God by love, devotion and self-surrender, as practised by Rishi Narada

nava-anuraga : The first love

nedas : Shaven headed Vaishnava monks

nedis : Shaven headed Vaishnava nuns

neeras : Totally devoid of sweetness, love, joy, bliss and other attributes

Nimai sannnyasa : The play depicting sannyasa of Sri Chaitanya

nishkama bhakti : Love for God untainted by desires

nishkama karma : Motiveless, selfless work

Nitya : The Absolute

nivritti : Non-worldliness

Nyaya : Logic

Om Tat Sat : The Lord is the only Reality

Omkar : Om, the Vedic symbol for the Supreme Being

pakhavaja : Indian tom-tom

pancha kosha : The stages of existence of a created being viz., annmaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijnanamaya kosha and anandamaya kosha.

pancha pradip : Lamp with five wicks

pancha vayu : The five vital airs

Param Brahman : The Supreme Brahman

Paramatman : Universal Soul

Patanjal : Compiled by philosopher Patanjali

payas : Pudding made with rice and milk

Prakriti : The female aspect of God

pranayam : Control of breath

prasad : Sacramental food having offered to the deity

pravartakas : Beginners in spirituality

pravritti : Worldliness

prema : Ecstatic love; intense love for God

prema bhakti : Ecstatic love

pulao : A highly spiced fish dish of rice and meat boiled in clarified butter

purna jnana : Ultimate knowledge

Purusha : The male aspect of God

raga bhakti : Loving devotion for God

raga ragini : The modes of Indian music

rajarshi : A royal ascetic sage

rajoguna : Qualities that make one inclined to multiply work and duty

Ramalal : He was the nephew of Sri Ramakrishna and the priest of Kali Temple

Rasaswaroop : Fountain of love and bliss

Ratha Yatra : Car Festival

roshan chowki : A symphony of shahnai and other instruments

Rudra : Manifestation of Shiva as destroyer

rudraksha : A kind of dried fruit used as a bead

Sachchidananda : Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute

Sachchidanandamayi : All Knowing, All Intelligent and All Blissful Mother of the Universe

sadguru : Divine preceptor

sadhakas : The practitioners of spirituality

sadhan : Practice of devotional exercises

sakama karma : Work with a motive

sakhi : The milkmaid friend of Vraja; a female friend

sanatana dharma : The eternal religion

sandhya : Daily service morning, noon and evening, as laid down for the twice-born

Sankhya : Rationalism

sankirtan : Singing of hymns and devotional songs

sanskaras : Tendencies of one’s past births

Santhal : An aboriginal tribe of India

saras : Sweet

Saraswati : Goddess of speech and learning

sati : Faithful wife; pure and chaste woman

sattvaguna : Qualities that lead Godward

Satyam Shivam Sundaram : Absolute Truth, Absolute Good and Absolute Beauty are one

Sejo Babu : Mathur Nath Biswas, Rani Rasmani’s son-in-law. From the very beginning he served Sri Ramakrishna with extreme bhakti like a disciple.

shahnai : A wooden wind instrument

Shaktas : Hindus who worship God as the Primal Divine Energy

shama : Mental restraint

Shava sadhana : Spiritual discipline on a corpse

Shyam : An appellation of Krishna

Shyama : Goddess Kali

siddhas : Spiritually matured ones

Siddhu : Siddheswar Majumdar. He had his house in north Barahnagar

sika : One sika equals four annas; sixteen annas make one rupee.

Singhavahini : The goddess seated upon a lion

Snan Yatra : Ceremony of Lord Jagannath’s sallying out in procession for a bath

swati nakshatra : A particular conjunction of stars

tamoguna : Qualities that cause ignorance which turn the mind away from God

tanapura : A stringed musical instrument

Tara : Divine Mother

tarpan : Sacrament of offering drinking water to the deities

The Captain : Vishwanath Upadhyay, a resident of Nepal. The emissary of the king of Nepal and his representative in Calcutta. A very orthodox brahmin and a great devotee.

tilak : A sectarian mark painted on the body, or forehead

titiksha : Forbearance

twenty four categories : The twenty four categories are the following, viz. — the five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air, space); the five pranas (vital airs) (prana, udana, samana,vyana, apana); the five organs of sense; the five organs of work; the mind; the determinative faculty (buddhi); the ego; Prakriti

upadhi : Adjunct

vairagi : One who looks not for anything except the Lord; a person in vairagya (dispassion)

vairagya : Non-attachment to the world

Vaishishtha : Rama’s preceptor and a holy sage

Vaishnavas : Hindus who worship God as the Preserver (Vishnu)

varnas : The four castes of Hindu society : Brahmin, kshatriya, vaishnava and shudra

vasus : A compact group of eight devas (gods)

vatsalya : One of the attitudes of worship in which the aspirant has the feeling of a child towards God

Videha : Bodiless; detached from the body

vidya shakti : Of divine nature leading to God and to light

vikara : Aberrations; defects; disease of the world

Vishishtadvaitavada : Qualified non-dualism

viveka : Discrimination

woman and gold : Lust and greed

Yama : God of death

yatra : Theatrical performance

yogi : The aspirant who seeks to commune with God; unionist

zemindar : Landlord