Encyclopedia of Hinduism

yogi becomes absorbed meditationally in om, he becomes eternal. Om, too, is understood as the essence of the word brahman (shabd ...

321 J:AF pancha makara In Hindu TANTRISM of the “left-handed” sort, the pancha makara or “Five M’s” (SANSKRIT words that begin w ...

tions of the godhead. VASUDEVA, or KRISHNA, is the highest changeless god; Sankarshana is the Lord over all life; Pradyumna pred ...

papa In the KARMA system, papa is karmic demerit, often translated as “sin.” All Hindu and Buddhist traditions used this term, w ...

Cohasset, were closely associated with the larger Vedanta Society in the United States, although organizationally independent. S ...

half-era. There are indications that Parsvanath, too, was a historical figure, who preached an early version of the Jain doctrin ...

Born in 1927 near Madras (Chennai) in the village of Vayalur, the boy who was to become Sri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari became ...

and has him find another head immediately. In a rush he gets a newly severed elephant head, and thus the younger son Ganesha has ...

the account of Appar (429 verses). The writing fol- lows a simple lively style and was probably designed to be sung. It contains ...

temples and shrines with SHIVA LINGAM, in addi- tion to many other temples to Shiva that can be pilgrimage destinations. SHAKTAS ...

For Brahmins, purity is maintained by tradi- tion and occupation and reinforced by vegetari- anism. In Vedic times Brahmins were ...

MINS, the near overflow) indicates that the woman has received the grace of the goddess. No men are directly involved. As part o ...

Avadhuta Foundation, 1993); H. W. L. Poonja, Wake Up and Roar: Satsang with H. W. L. Poonja (Kula, Hawaii: Pacific Center, 1992) ...

lect, the highest discriminatory faculty, as much as possible from the whirl of prakriti, phenomenal existence. This task requir ...

ing to control it in its three phases of inhalation (puraka), exhalation (recaka), and suspension of breath between the two (kum ...

A Study of Indian Culture and Society (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1971). pratyahara See YOGA SUTRA. pratyaksh ...

puja Puja, or “worship,” is perhaps the central cer- emonial practice of Hinduism. A puja minimally entails an offering and some ...

acquiring punya, along with general good works. Generally punya was accrued in order to gain a better birth in the next life, al ...

such as those in the Markandeya Purana, but even these are juxtaposed with stories from the other two sects. Included in the cat ...

Further reading: Samuel Atkins, Pusan in the Rig Veda (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1941); Jan Gonda, Pushan and ...