Glossary

Agni: God of fire

Agnipariksha: A trial by fire

Angaharas: Movement of limbs or steps in a dance

Arya: Sir

Asura: Demon

Ayurvedic: Derived from Ayurved, an ancient Indian form of medicine

Ayushman
bhav: May you live long

Bhang: Traditional intoxicant in India; milk

mixed with marijuana

Bhiksha: Alms or donations

Bhojan
graham:

Dining room

Chandravanshi:Descendants of the moon

Chaturanga: Ancient Indian game which was the basis of the modern game of chess

Chillum: Clay pipe, usually used to smoke marijuana

Choti: Braid

Construction of
royal court
platform:

The description in the book of the court platform is a possible explanation for the

mysterious multiple column buildings made of baked brick dis-covered at Indus

Valley sites, usually next to the public baths, which many historians suppose could

have been a granary

Daivi Astra: Daivi = Divine; Astra = Weapon. A term used in ancient Hindu epics to describe
weapons of mass destruction

Deva: God

Dharma:

Dharma literally translates as religion. But in traditional Hindu custom, it means far

more than that. The word encompasses holy, right knowledge, right living, tradition,

natural order of the universe and duty. Essentially, dharma refers to everything that

can be classified as ‘good’ in the universe

Dharmayudh: The holy war

Dhobi: Washerman

Divyadrishti: Divine sight

Dumru: A small, hand-held percussion instrument

Guruji: Teacher; ji is a term of respect, added to a name or title

Gurukul: The family of the Guru or the family of the teacher. In ancient times, also used to