bodhisattva enlightened person in Maha ̄ya ̄na Buddhism who vows not
to attain final enlightenment until all sentient beings have become
enlightened; thus, a bodhisattva is viewed as exceedingly compassionate
(see also: arhat).
brahmacarya religious study or the religious studentship of a brahman
youth, passed in celibacy, being the first stage in the religious life of a
brahman.
brahmadeya abode of brahmans.
brahman supreme essence of the universe in Hindu cosmology.
bra ̄hman.a (alsobrahman) priestly class; highest of the four classes (see also:
ks.atriya,vais ́ya,s ́u ̄ dra).
buddhi intellect, wisdom, insight.
caitya (chaitya)uppermost feature of a Buddhist stu ̄pa, symbolizing the
Buddha’s having transcended the cosmos.
cakra (chakra)literally, “wheel” (see also: cakravartin); a physio-psychical
center, of which there are seven in classical yoga.
cakravartin (chakra-vartin)“turner of the wheel”; in Buddhism, one who
sets in motion the wheel of dharma.
can.kam (T) (sangam)from Sanskrit sangha, meaning “assembly”; poems
that are arranged into two main categories, the interior or akam, relating
to love and family life, and the exterior or pur
̄
am, relating to war and kings.
cit (chit)intellect, senses, mind.
civam (T) (sivam)formless or aniconic reality (see lin ̇ga); term used in S ́aiva
Siddha ̄nta.
civan
̄(T) (sivan)formed or active deity; term used in S ́aiva Siddha ̄nta.
dachma (AV) in Zoroastrianism, a tower-like structure on which dead bodies
are exposed, also known as the “tower of silence.”
daeva (AV) in Zoroastrianism, a demon.
da ̄na gift, giving; “bribing” as a means of statecraft (artha).
dan.d.a “club,” as in a weapon; refers to the policy whereby one defeats one’s
enemy through battle.
da ̄ r al-h.arb (A) “world of hostility”; in Islam refers to lands not under
the guidance of God’s law.
da ̄ r al-isla ̄ m (A) “world of peace”; in Islam refers to lands under the
guidance of God’s law (see sharı ̄‘a).
dars ́ana (darshana)sight, vision; act of seeing and being seen by a deity,
usually through an encounter with an iconic representation of the deity,
particularly when the icon is filled with “power”; also means “viewpoint,”
as in philosophical viewpoint. (Hindi: dars ́an.)
deva deity (see also: devı ̄).
devana ̄ garı ̄ script used in writing Sanskrit; literally, “city [writing] of the
gods.”250 Glossary