Sanskrit Glossary

Key Sanskrit terms from the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Yoga Sutras, and Vedanta — explained plainly, without jargon.

A B D J K M N P S V Ā

A

अभ्यास

abhyāsa

Practice; sustained, repeated effort

B

भक्ति

bhakti

Devotion; love directed toward the divine

ब्रह्मन्

brahman

The ultimate reality; the ground of all being

D

धर्म

dharma

Right action; duty in accordance with one's nature

ध्यान

dhyāna

Meditation; sustained, unbroken attention

धारणा

dhāraṇā

Concentration; single-pointed focus

J

ज्ञान

jñāna

Knowledge; wisdom; particularly self-knowledge

K

कर्म

karma

Action and its consequences

M

मोक्ष

mokṣa

Liberation; freedom from the cycle of rebirth

माया

māyā

Illusion; the appearance of separateness

N

नेति नेति

neti neti

Not this, not this; the Upanishadic method of negation

निष्काम कर्म

niṣkāma karma

Desireless action; acting without attachment to fruits

P

प्रत्याहार

pratyāhāra

Withdrawal of the senses; the fifth limb of yoga

प्राणायाम

prāṇāyāma

Breath regulation; the fourth limb of yoga

S

समाधि

samādhi

Absorption; the eighth limb of Patanjali's yoga

संन्यास

sannyāsa

Renunciation; the fourth ashrama

स्थितप्रज्ञ

sthitaprajña

One of steady wisdom; the Gita's ideal of equanimity

V

वैराग्य

vairāgya

Dispassion; non-attachment to outcomes

विवेक

viveka

Discrimination; the capacity to discern real from unreal

Ā

आत्मन्

ātman

The self; the innermost being