garbha kosha = uterus
garbha pinda (garbha-pinda) = fetus, embryo in the womb
Garuda = Hindu deity, half-man half-eagle, fierce bird of prey, vehicle (vahana) of Lord Vishnu, king
of birds; Garuda is represented as a vehicle of Vishnu and as having a white face, an aquiline beak,
red wings, and a golden body
gava = cow
Gheranda = author of Gheranda Samhita, an important text on Hatha Yoga which he taught to Chanda
Kapali
Gheranda Samhita = a Tantric treatise describing Hatha Yoga written by the sage Gheranda in the
15th century
Gitananda = a well-known yogi, living in the 20th century CE
go = cow
godha = iguana
gomukha = cow face, face resembling a cow, cow head; it is also a kind of musical instrument,
narrow at one end and broad at the other, like the face of a cow
Goraksha (Goraksha, Gorakshanath) = an 11th to 12th Century Hindu Nath yogi, one of
Matsyendranath’s two most important disciples; tending to or breeding cattle, cowherd
graiva = a chain worn around the neck of an elephant; necklace or collar
guru = “he who is heavy, weighty,” a spiritual teacher or preceptor, one who illuminates the
darkness of spiritual doubt, one who hands down a system of knowledge to a disciple; heavy one
or dark/light, dispeller of darkness, one who helps to gain knowledge
guru-shishya parampara = the tradition of teaching dating back centuries, where a guru imparts his
knowledge to his students
H
ha = first syllable of the word hatha, which is composed of the syllables ha (= sun) and tha (=
moon); the object of Hatha Yoga is to balance the flow of solar and lunar energy in the human
system
hala = plow
hamsa (hansa) = a swan; a metaphor for the soul; a vehicle of Lord Brahma; the name of the mantra
by which prakriti permeates the universe; also refers to the breath as it moves within the body
Hanuman = a powerful monkey chief, a mythological entity, of extraordinary strength and prowess,
whose exploits are celebrated in the epic Ramayana; he was the son of Anjana and Vayu, the god
of wind, monkey-god, hero of Ramayana, egoless superhero and perfect devotee, who resembles a
monkey leaping
hasta = hand
hastasana = forward stretch of the arms
hatha = force; the word hatha is used adverbially in the sense of “forcibly” or “against one’s will”;
Hatha Yoga is so called because it prescribes rigorous discipline in order to find union with the
Supreme
hatha-vidya = the science of Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga = “Forceful Yoga,” a major branch of yoga, developed by Goraksha and other adepts c.