Term

Meaning

Acharya

Hindu spiritual teacher or leader.

Ahinsa

Hindu non-violence; respect for life.

Arjuna

Economic development. The second aim of life.

Arti

Hindu welcoming ceremony.

Aryan

Hindu nobility or respected classes

Asram

Hindu religious school or centre

Asrama

one of four Hindu life stages devoted to material considerations

Atma

The essential Hindu self, the soul.

Aum

Hindu sacred symbol

Avatar

Hindu divine incarnation

Ayodhya

Town Hindu’s believe to be the birthplace of Rama

Bhagavad Gita

Hindu scripture or song

Bhajana

Hindu devotional hymn or song.

Bhakti

Hindu devotional form or tradition

Bhakti-yoga

Hindu path of loving devotion of God.

Brahma

Hindu creative deiety

Brahmacharin

Hindu in the first stage of life, a celibate

Brahmacharya

Hindu ultimate reality

Brahman

Eternal

Brahmana

The first of the four Hindu varnas, the priesthood

brahmin

Priest and professional First Hindu caste

Chamar

Hinsu leather worker or untouchable outcaste

Chandala

General Hindu term for an untouchable or outcaste.

Chela

Disciple of a Hindu guru.

Chuhra

Hindu cleaner or outcast untouchable

dharma

Hindu obligations

Dharma

Hindu religion or religious duty

dharmashastra

Hindu law of 6th Cent CE

Dhoti

Hindu garment which covers the lower body and legs.

Dhyana

Meditation.

Dipa

Hindu meaning light; usually a small lamp using ghee.

Diva

A Hindu lamp

Divali

The festival of lights at the end of one year

Durga

Hindu female deity. A form of the goddess Parvarti; wife of Shiva.

Dvaita

Hindu duality of tangible and intangible nature of God

Dwaraka

Pilgrimage site on the west coast of India.

Ganesh,

A Hindu deity portrayed with an elephant's head - a sign of strength.

Gotra

A Hindu caste who force their members to marry outside the group.

Grhastha

The second stage of Hindu life;. the householder (grihasti)

Guru

Hinfu spiritual teacher, preceptor or enlightener.

Hanuman

Hindu monkey warrior who faithfully served Rama and Sita

harijan

Untouchable Hindu caste

Havan

Hindu ceremony where offerings of ghee and grains are burnedAlso known as Agnihotra.

Havan kund

A Hindu ceremonial container for the havan fire

Hitopadesh

Hindu Stories with a moral

Holi

Hindu festival of colours, celebrated in Spring.

Homa

Hommage - term often used interchangeably with havan.

Janeu

Sacred thread worn by Hindus who study under a guru.

Janmashtami

The birthday of KrishnaJapa

Jap

The quiet or silent repetition of a mantra as a meditative process.

Jati

Caste or occupational kinship group.

jatis

Hindu sub-caste or social standing within Varna

Jatra

Hindu Pilgrimage.

Jnana

Knowledge

Kaali

Hindu divine justice(a from of Durga).

Kali

Hindu Goddess of Justice

Kali yuga

Fourth Hindu age of quarreling and hypocrisy.

Kama

The third of the four Hindu aims of life - regulated enjoyment.

Karma

Hindu interpretation of cause and effect.

Khatri

Second of the four Hindu varnas , the ruling or warrior class.

Kirtan

Hindu hymn or corporate devotional singing

Krishna

God an avatar of Vishnu. whose teachings are found in the Bhagavad Gita.

kshatriyas

Ruler, warrior and administrator Second Hindu caste

Lakshmi

The goddess of fortune.

Maala

Circle of stringed beads of wood or wool used in Hindu meditation.

Mahabharata

Hindu epic that relates the story of the five Pandava princes

Mandala

A Hindu circle, area or community / group.

Mandir

Hindu Temple

Mantra

Hindu sacred text or prayer, often recited repetitiously.

Manusmriti

Hindu personal and social laws An ancient and important text on Dharma.

Marg

Hindu Path. (see Jnana yoga, Karma yoga and Bhakti yoga)

Mata

Hindu Mother. Often associated with Hindu goddesses who represent shakti power.

Mathura

Hindu holy place associated with Krishna.

Maya

Hindu for illusory power

Moksha

Hindu ultimate liberation from transmigration (cycle of birth and death).

Moorti

Hindu image or deity used as a focus of worship.

Mundan

Hindu head shaving performed in the first or third year of life.

Navarata

The Nine Nights Festival preceding Dassehra, and held in honour of the goddess Durga.

Nirvana

The cessation of material existence.

Om

Hindu sacred sound or word

Panchatantra

Hindu animal stories with a moral.

Parvati

Hindu consort of Shiva, also known by other names such as Durga, Devi, etc..

Pooja

Hindu worship.

Prahalada

Hindu devotee of Vishnu, connected with the festival of Holi.

Pranayama

Hindu technique of hyperventilation

Prashada

Hindu sacred or sanctified food.

Pravachan

A Hindu lecture or talk, usually based on the scriptures.

Purana

AncientHindu scriptures or Smriti

Raakhi

Hindu bracelet, usually made out of silk or cotton, tied to give protection and to strengthen the bond of mutual love.

Rajas

Hindu passion or creative potency, one of the three gunas (qualities of material nature).

Raksha Bandhan

Hindu festival when woman tie a decorative bracelet on their brothers' wrists.

Rama

Hindu incarnation of the Lord, and hero of the Ramayama

Ramayana

Hindu epic that relates the story of Rama and Sita.

Rishi

Hindu seers who received the divine wisdom.

Saddhu

Hindu holy man, ascetic.

Sadhana

Hindu regulated spiritual practices or discipline.

Samsara Hindu place of transmigration for the soul's passage through a series of

Samskara

Hindu sacraments designed to initiate a new stage of life.

Sanatan Dharma

The eternal or imperishable Hindu religion; also known as Vedi Dharma.

Sannyasa

Hindu forth stage of life or renunciation,

Sannyasin

A Hindu renuciate who, having given up worldly affairs and attachments, has entered the forth stage of life, often as a mendicant.

Sanskrit

Sacred language of the Hindu scriptures.

Saraswati

Hindu power of knowledge, often represented by the goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

Sattva

Hindu Goodness, or the potency to sustain and nourish; one of the three gunas.

Seeta

The divine consort of Rama.

Sewa

Hindu concept of Service, either to the divine or to humanity.

Shaivism

The religion of Hindus who are devotees of Shiva.

Shakti

Energy or power, especially of a Hindu feminine deity.

shastra

Hindu treatises

Shiva

A Hindu god. The name means kindly or auspicious.

Shivarati

Hindu annual festival celebrated in February / March in honour of Shiva. Also called Manashivaratri.

Shraddha

Hindu alms ceremony in memory of departed ancestors.

Shri

Hindu title of respect for men meaning illustrious, e.g. Shri Krishna. The feminine is Shrimati (Mrs).

Shruti

Hindu oral tradition or scripture other than the Vedas.

Shudras

Artisan and labour Fourth Hindu cast

smriti

Hindu oral tradition

Smriti

Relating to to the four Hindu Vedas, including the Upanishads.

Sutra

Short Hindu sayings or verses relating to various rituals

Swami

Hindu title meaning Controller. Sometimes, more specifically, Goswami (one who can control his/her senses). A religious teacher or holy person, particularly a sannyasin.

Swastika

Hindu word from the Sanskrit for well-being; a mark of good fortune.

Tamas

Hindu term for ignorance or destructive potency; the lowest of the three gunas.

Trimurti

Hindu trinity Refers to Brahma, Vishu and Shiva,

Upaayana

Hindu ceremony when the sacred thread is tied - to mark the start of learning with a guru.

Upanishad

Sacred Hindu text based on the teaching of a guru to a disciple. V

Vaishnavism

The religion of Hindus who are devotees of the god Vishnu.

Vaishya

Third of the four Hindu varna - merchants and farmers.

vaishyas

Farmer & merchant Third Hindu cast

Vanaprastha

Third Hindu stage of life, - retirement and asceticism.

Vanaprastha

One who is in the third stage of Hindu life – forest dweller.

varna

Hindu caste major classification

Varsha Pratipada

The day of Creation, celebrated as New Year's Day by many Hindus.

veda

Hindu legal wisdom

Veda

One of four Hindu Vedas,

Vishnu

A Hindu god. With Brahma and Shiva forms the Trimurti.

Vratam

Hindu Vow. Often implies abstention from certain foods.

Yajur Veda

One of the four Hindu Vedas, dealing with the knowledge of karma.

Yoga

Hindu communion of the soul with the Supreme

Yuga

Hindu Age, or extended period of time, of which there are four.