Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c22: Glossary

Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs c22

Language: English

Glossary

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*Ādhāra.* A ‘support’; a centre of vital power or of specialized function in the body; a *cakra*. A ground or support for meditation.

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*Ardhanārī.* The half-male-half-female form of the Brahman.

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*Āsana.* Posture. Sometimes involves exercises.

*Avadhūta.* Liberated. Gorakhnāth is often so designated. The word is a general term for ‘non-Brāhman’ ascetics who were freed from all ties, particularly of caste, and who accepted Yoya or yoga and bhakti, whether they were Śaivas (Sannyāsīs or Jogīs), or Vaisnavas (Vāivagīs).

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*Bandha.* A binding; a stoppage. Often involved in physical exercises. The Bandhas are those devices which serve to close all exits of air and to produce tension in the body.

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*Caraṇ.* Footprint of a divinity, of a saint, or of some other person; *pāduka*.

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*Cimṭā.* Fire tongs.

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*Cūrmā.* A sweetmeat made of sugar, butter and crumbled bread.

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*Cuṭiyā.* Scalp-lock.

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*Devī.* The Goddess.

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*Dhūnī.* Yogī’s sacred fire.

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*Ḍolī.* A sort of chair, or palanquin for carrying people.

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*Dundubhi.* A mystical drum; *dund*, a large kettle-drum.

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*Gaddī.* A cushion, a throne.

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*Gañja.* Hemp-plant preparation for smoking.

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*Gaurī.* The Goddess. *Gaurīpīṭha.* The *yoni*, *yoni-sthāna*. *Gotra.* A sub-division of a caste. *Hom.* A kind of burnt offering. An offering of ghi in fire. *Indriya.* Motor or sensory function. *Jogī.* Yogī. *Kachcha (kacca).* (Food); uncooked food. *Kafnī.* A garment resembling a shroud, worn by Musulman faqīrs. *Kangan.* A bracelet or armlet of threads. *Kāuṛī.* A shell used as money, of very little value. 4 kāuṛīs = 1 gaṇḍa 20 gaṇḍas = 1 paṇ 4 paṇ = 1 ana 4 anas = 1 kāhan (about ¼ rupee).

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*Ketkī.* ‘A sweet-scented flower.’ *Ketaka*: the tree *pandanus odoratissimus*. *Khichṛī.* A dish made of pulse and rice cooked together. *Khīr.* Rice boiled in milk. *Kuṇḍal.* Ear-ring; coil. *Laḍḍu.* A ball of sweatmeat. *Laṅgoṭī.* A loin cloth. *Laya.* ‘Union’; unconsciousness. A state where the mind ceases to function. A return to the undifferentiated state. Samādhi. *Liṅga.* The Phallus of Śiva (in text the word is often used for *yoni-liṅga* and is so intended unless otherwise specified). *Mahant.* Head of a monastery; a chief teacher. *Makāra.* The letter *M*. *Manasā.* A serpent goddess. *Maṇḍala.* A circle. A *cakra*. A lotus. *Manonmanī.* A state in which the mind is unmoving. *Mantra.* A sacred text; a spell. An instrument of thought, when rightly used, embodying supernatural power.

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*Maṭha.* A hut; a cottage; especially the retired hut or cell of an ascetic (student); cloister, college (especially for young Brahmans); a temple.

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*Meḍhra.* Liṅga.

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*Mela.* A religious fair.

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*Meṃḍhī.* A plant. Myrtle, *Lawsonia alba*.

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*Mīna.* Fish.

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*Mokṣa.* Release; ‘salvation’.

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*Mṛdaṅga.* A small drum.

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*Mudrā.* Ear-ring worn by a Yogī.

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*Mudrā.* A manipulation of the body, a posture, an attitude, a contortion. Often a kind of exercise. The word as applied to one of the five *M*’s is usual rendered ‘parched grain,’ but ‘gesture’ or ‘attitude’ is probably correct.

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*Mukti.* Release, *samādhi*, ‘salvation’.

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*Nād.* A whistle worn by Yogīs; more particularly, sound.

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*Nāda.* Sound.

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*Nāḍi, Nāḍī.* A channel, or a nerve, a path for vital force; one of the elements in the physiological theory of the Yoga.

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*Padma.* Lotus; a chakra.

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*Pāduka.* A foot-print. *Caran*.

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*Pakāurī.* A dish made of peas meal.

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*Pakhal.* A large leather bag such as is borne by bullocks.

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*Palāo.* Rice cooked with mutton.

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*Pañcamakāra.* The five *M*’s.

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*Panth.* A sect, or a division of a sect.

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*Paramparā.* Succession. A table of succession.

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*Pilāo.* Rice cooked with mutton.

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*Pīr.* A saint, a synonym for *mahant*.

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*Pradakṣiṇa.* Going around an image, a shrine, or an object, with the right hand towards it.

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*Prasād.* Food that has been offered to an idol or of which a spiritual teacher has partaken.

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*Pūjārī.* One who conducts worship at a temple, or a shrine.

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*Rākṣasa.* Fiend, ogre.

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*Śākta.* A worshipper of Śakti. *Śakti.* The female power or principle, often personified; the Goddess. *Śaligrām (Śalagrāma).* A black stone found in the Ghandaki river, and worshipped by Hindus; sacred to Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. Some say that it should be an amonite. *Samādh (Samādhi).* Tomb of a saint. As a technical term the final state in the Yoga process; ‘release’. *Saṃkalpa.* Will, desire. *Satī.* The true wife; a name of Śiva’s consort. *Sattu.* Parched grain reduced to meal and made into a paste. *Śelī.* A necklace of threads, worn by mendicants. *Siddhis.* Perfections; supernormal powers. *Siṅg.* Horn. *Śrāddha.* Religious rites for the dead. *Śrīcakra.* A mystic circle of the Tāntra. *Sthān.* A place or location; a small shrine. *Śūnya.* Void. *Tāntra.* For Tāntric. *Ṭhākur.* An idol, a temple. *Ṭīkā.* A sect mark made on the forehead or between the eyebrows. *Tīrtha.* A place of pilgrimage. *Tripuṇḍ.* A sectarian mark of Śiva made with horizontal lines drawn with ashes or other substance on the forehead, arms or trunk. *Urd.* A pulse. *Vāmacāra.* Left-hand practice, or ritual. *Virakta.* Dispassionate. *Yab-Yum.* The state of union of the god and his consort. *Yantra.* A symbol or magic figure. *Yoni.* Womb, uterus, vulva, female organs of generation; source; origin, with the *liṅga* a typical symbol of the divine procreative energy.