॥ श्रीः ॥
Concepts
Key ideas in Advaita Vedānta philosophy - the fundamental principles that illuminate the non-dual nature of reality and the path to self-knowledge.
Adhyāsa
Superimposition (adhyāsa) - the foundational concept in Śaṅkara's Advaita Vedānta explaining how the non-dual Brahman appears as the world of multiplicity through ignorance.
Antahkarana
Antahkarana (अन्तःकरण) - the inner instrument - is the totality of mind, intellect, ego, and memory. Understanding its structure is essential for the practice of self-inquiry in Advaita Vedanta.
Anubhava
Anubhava (अनुभव) - direct experience or realization - is the ultimate means of knowing the Self. Beyond scripture, beyond reasoning, beyond all indirect knowledge, anubhava is the direct, immediate experience of one's own true nature.
Ātman
The inner self, identical with Brahman - the witness consciousness (sākṣī) that is the foundation of all experience in Advaita Vedānta.
Avasthatraya
The three states of consciousness - waking, dream, and deep sleep - and their analysis in Advaita Vedānta to reveal the witness self (sākṣī) that transcends them all.
Avidya
Avidya (अविद्या) - ignorance or not-knowing - is the root cause of bondage in Advaita Vedanta. It is not mere lack of information but the fundamental misapprehension of reality that makes the world appear separate from the Self.
Bhagavata Dharma
Bhagavata Dharma (भागवतधर्म) - the path of devotion to the Lord - as taught in the Bhagavata Purana, is the path of pure, unconditional love for God, free from all desires for worldly or heavenly rewards.
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga (भक्तियोग) - the path of devotion - is the transformation of the heart's natural capacity to love into a steady flame directed toward the divine. It culminates in the recognition that the lover and the beloved are one.
Brahman
The ultimate non-dual reality in Vedānta - limitless, eternal, the ground of all existence, described as sat-cit-ānanda (being-consciousness-bliss).
Guru
The Guru (गुरु) in the Advaita tradition is not a teacher who imparts information but the living embodiment of the truth - the one who awakens the disciple to the Self that was never lost.
Guru-Shishya Parampara
Guru-Shishya Parampara (गुरुशिष्यपरम्परा) - the unbroken lineage of teacher and disciple - is the living channel through which the knowledge of the Self has been transmitted from generation to generation for thousands of years.
Ishvara
Ishvara (ईश्वर) - the Lord in Advaita Vedanta - is not a separate creator God but Brahman associated with the power of maya, the supreme principle that governs the manifestation, sustenance, and dissolution of the universe.
Jivanmukti
Jivanmukti (जीवन्मुक्ति) - liberation while living - is the state of one who has realized the Self while still in the body. The jivanmukta lives in the world but is not bound by it, acting without attachment and resting in constant awareness of Brahman.
Jnana Yoga
Jnana Yoga (ज्ञानयोग) - the path of knowledge - is the direct means to liberation in Advaita Vedanta. Through sustained inquiry into the nature of the Self, the seeker is led from ignorance to realization.
Karma and Karma Yoga
Karma (कर्म) is the law of cause and effect that governs all action, and Karma Yoga is the art of acting without attachment - transforming every action into a means of liberation.
Mahavakyas
The Mahavakyas (महावाक्य) - the four great sentences of the Upanishads - are the condensed essence of Vedantic teaching. Each one declares the identity of the individual self with the ultimate reality.
Māyā
The apparent power (śakti) of Brahman that projects the world of names and forms, making the one non-dual reality appear as many.
Moksha
Moksha (मोक्ष) - liberation from the cycle of birth and death - is the ultimate goal of human life. Not a reward after death, but the recognition of what one has always been.
Mumukshutva
Mumukshutva (मुमुक्षुत्व) - the intense longing for liberation - is the ultimate qualification for spiritual life. Without this burning desire, no amount of study or practice yields freedom.
Nishkama Karma
Nishkama Karma (निष्काम कर्म) - action without desire - is the performance of one's duties without attachment to the results. It is the central teaching of the Bhagavad Gita and the essence of Karma Yoga.
Pancanga
Pancanga (पञ्चाङ्ग) - the five limbs of the traditional Hindu calendar - are tithi (lunar day), vara (weekday), nakshatra (constellation), yoga (auspicious combination), and karana (half-day). Together they form the framework for determining auspicious times.
Pañca Kośa
The five sheaths (kośas) that cover the Self - from the gross physical body to the subtlest layer of bliss - and the method of discrimination (viveka) that uncovers the Ātman beyond them all.
Panchikarana
Panchikarana (पञ्चीकरण) - the process of the fivefold division of the elements - explains how the one Brahman manifests as the diverse material universe through the combination of the five subtle elements.
Pramanas
Pramanas (प्रमाण) - the means of valid knowledge - are the instruments by which we know anything. In Advaita Vedanta, three pramanas are accepted: perception, inference, and scriptural testimony, with scripture considered the sole means for knowing the Self.
Prasthana Traya
Prasthana Traya (प्रस्थानत्रय) - the three canonical texts of Vedanta - are the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras. Together, they form the foundational scripture of the Vedanta tradition.
Pratyabhijna
Pratyabhijna (प्रत्यभिज्ञा) - recognition or re-cognition - is the sudden direct realization that the Self one has been seeking is what one has always been. Not a new experience, but the recognition of what was never truly forgotten.
Purusharthas
The Purusharthas (पुरुषार्थ) - the four aims of human life - are the framework within which Indian thought understands human aspiration: dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation).
Sadhana Chatushtaya
Sadhana Chatushtaya (साधनचतुष्टय) - the four-fold qualifications for spiritual seekers - is the essential foundation without which study of Vedanta bears no fruit.
Samadhi
Samadhi (समाधि) - the state of complete absorption - is the culmination of meditation. In Advaita Vedanta, it is not a special experience but the natural state of the Self, recognized when the mind becomes still.
Samsara
Samsara (संसार) - the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth - is not merely a cosmic process but the everyday experience of the mind that has forgotten its true nature. Liberation is not escape from the world but freedom in the world.
Samskaras
Samskaras (संस्कार) - the subtle impressions left by every thought, word, and action - shape our character, condition our responses, and determine our future. Understanding samskaras is essential for understanding the mechanism of bondage and liberation.
Sat-Chit-Ananda
Sat-Chit-Ananda (सच्चिदानन्द) - Existence-Knowledge-Bliss - is the threefold description of Brahman in Advaita Vedanta. These are not attributes of Brahman but its very nature, inseparable and identical.
Shraddha
Shraddha (श्रद्धा) - faith or trust - is the settled conviction that the truth can be known. It is not blind belief but the confidence that sustains the seeker through the uncertainties of the spiritual journey.
Śravaṇa-Manana-Nididhyāsana
The threefold method of Vedāntic self-inquiry - hearing the truth from a teacher, reflecting upon it rationally, and meditating upon it until it becomes direct experience.
The Three Bodies
The three bodies (शरीरत्रय) - physical, subtle, and causal - are the three layers of embodiment through which the Self experiences the world. Knowing them is essential for understanding what we are not.
Upasana
Upasana (उपासना) - meditative worship or contemplation - is the practice of dwelling on a higher reality until the mind becomes one with it. In Vedanta, it purifies the mind and prepares it for direct knowledge.
Vairagya
Vairagya (वैराग्य) - dispassion or detachment - is not the rejection of the world but the natural freedom from attachment that arises when one sees the impermanent as impermanent and the eternal as eternal.
Vedanta
Vedanta (वेदान्त) - the end of the Vedas - is the systematized knowledge of the Upanishads. It is the culmination of Vedic wisdom, teaching the nature of reality, the Self, and the path to liberation.
Viveka
Viveka (विवेक) - the power of discrimination between the real and the unreal - is the foundational insight that makes the spiritual journey possible. Without it, we mistake the changing for the eternal and the temporary for the true.