Glossary

এই পাতাগুলি শিক্ষামূলক। এগুলি দীক্ষা, চিকিৎসা পরামর্শ, বা জীবন্ত গুরুর বিকল্প নয়।

অধ্যায়গুলি প্রথমে ইংরেজিতে প্রকাশিত। বাংলা অনুবাদ পরে আসবে।

Ācāra

conduct, observance or mode of practice; classification varies by text.

Āgama

“that which has come down”; a revealed scripture or scriptural class, especially in Śaiva, Śākta and Vaiṣṇava settings.

Āmnāya

transmission, sacred current or directional revelation; often used in lineage-specific schemes.

Bhairava

a formidable and transcendent form/name of Śiva central to several tantric traditions.

Bhakti

devotion, loving participation or relationship with the divine.

Bīja

“seed”; a condensed mantra syllable associated with a deity or power. Many uses are initiation-specific.

Cakra

wheel, circle or center; in subtle-body maps, one of several possible lotus-like centers. Systems vary.

Darśana

seeing and being seen by the sacred; also a philosophical viewpoint or system.

Devī

Goddess; “the shining/divine one.”

Dīkṣā

initiation or consecration that authorizes and transforms a practitioner's relationship to a path.

Guru

a teacher of spiritual weight or authority; the role does not remove ethical accountability.

Guhya

hidden, secret, inward, protected or esoteric.

Jñāna

knowledge, insight or liberating understanding.

Kaula

a wide family of tantric currents associated with *kula* (“family,” “totality,” “embodied group”), interpreted differently across sources.

Kālīkula

families of Goddess traditions centered on Kālī and related forms.

Kuṇḍalinī

“coiled one”; a transformative power described differently in yogic and tantric systems.

Maṇḍala

a structured sacred field, circle, domain or diagram used in ritual and contemplation.

Mantra

a consecrated sound-form, syllable, name, phrase or verse used within a defined tradition.

Mudrā

seal, gesture or embodied configuration; meaning depends on artistic and ritual context.

Nāḍī

channel in subtle-body maps; not identical with a nerve or blood vessel.

Nyāsa

ritual “placing” or installation, often of mantra or deity aspects in the body; detailed sequences may be restricted.

Pāñcarātra

a major Vaiṣṇava scriptural and ritual tradition associated with Nārāyaṇa/Vāsudeva worship.

Prāṇa

life-breath or vital process; meanings extend beyond ordinary respiration.

Pratyabhijñā

recognition; especially associated with nondual Śaiva philosophy of recognizing consciousness's universal nature.

Pūjā

worship through offerings, attention and hospitality to divine presence.

Purāṇa

a broad class of Sanskrit narrative and religious texts involving cosmology, genealogy, sacred places, deities and devotion.

Sādhana

disciplined practice oriented toward realization or a religious goal.

Sampradāya

transmitted religious community, teaching lineage or tradition.

Śaiva

related to Śiva or Śaiva traditions.

Śākta

related to Śakti/Devī or Goddess traditions.

Śakti

power, capacity or divine energy; also the Goddess as ultimate reality in Śākta traditions.

Śrīcakra

sacred diagram central to Śrīvidyā; not generic decorative geometry.

Śrīkula

Goddess traditions oriented toward Śrī/Tripurasundarī, commonly contrasted with Kālīkula in broad classifications.

Siddhi

accomplishment, perfection or extraordinary capacity; pursuit of powers is ethically and spiritually contested.

Tantra

depending on context, a scripture, system, doctrine or the broad family of traditions discussed in this collection.

Tattva

principle, reality-category or constituent used to map manifestation and experience.

Upaniṣad

a diverse body of texts concerned with ultimate reality, self, knowledge, death, ritual interiorization, devotion and later yogic ideas. There is no single count: a traditional list names 108; a principal (mukhya) group of about ten to thirteen is most often studied.

Vajrayāna

“Diamond/Thunderbolt Vehicle”; a broad name for tantric Buddhist paths, internally diverse.

Veda

the ancient, layered Sanskrit revelation. There are four Vedas: Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda and Atharvaveda, each with associated Saṃhitā, Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka and Upaniṣad strata.

Yantra

instrument or sacred diagram whose identity belongs to a specific deity, text and use.