South Asian religions terms

a major epic in Sanskrit, that includes the Bhagavadgītā as a small part

goddess of time, destruction, and a cosmic mother, consort of Shiva

originally referred to a poor renunciate, often Sufi, but acquired new meanings in the Baul tradition

Arjuna's charioteer, a god and avatār of Vishnu, other names: Hari, Govinda, Kanai

the "Great Vehicle" of Buddhism that developed around four centuries after the Buddha and emphasized compassion

Hindu god who is specifically the creator of the universe

god of wind, also the element air

a class of scriptures as well as body of practices that utilize sexual practices and also meditation on diagrams

triad of gods: Brahma as creator, Vishnu as preserver, Shiva as destroyer

"god" in Sanskrit

a vernacular religion of north India

 a South Asian religion associated with the Vedas, Upaniṣads, legends of gods and goddesses, and the Bhagavad Gita

"sky-clad" or naked male ascetics of Jainism who have renounced the world

transforming physical metals into gold, that sometimes also had a mythological / spiritual aspect as linked to yoga

"action" in Sanskrit, also a kind of yoga

emptiness, nothingness, voidness: a doctrine and goal in Mahāyāna and later Tantric Buddhism

"tool" or "instrument" used in meditation or ritual as a symbol of a deity or cosmic idea

“heaps” or “aggregates” around the body, of which there are five in most Buddhist schools

a mystical dimension of Islam that often stresses internal self-reflection and teachings on fana (dissolution

release or liberation from saṃsāra

legends or mythologies about the gods and goddesses, usually in Sanskrit

a Russian medium and occult author who took an interest in Indian spirituality and helped found the Theosophical Society

 Indian religion teaching a path to spiritual purity and enlightenment through disciplined nonviolence

knowledge or gnosis in Sanskrit

literally "partaking" in a deity or human, a form of devotion often through songs and poetry

without qualities, formless

musical yogis and fakirs of Bengal who are usually not limited to any single religion

sacred four scriptures in early South Asia, of which Rig Veda is the earliest

most well-known Sufi order in India, named after a 13th-century Sufi who was known for allowing music among the people

"extinction," a goal of Buddhism

 A prince who lived around the 6th century BCE and who preached enlightenment through awareness of sorrow's cause

"intellect" in Sanskrit

Sanskrit word meaning yoking or union 

the most famous Baul, who lived in the nineteenth century

 "dissolution," "annihilation," a mystical experience in Sufism

Sanskrit term for impersonal infinite spirit, ground of all existence, formless absolute

one of the Pāṇḍava brothers (heroes of the Mahābhārata) and a chariot-rider instructed by Krishna on the eve of battle

The Vedic god of fire, also fire element

Vedic priestly caste

a Tamil yogin who helped change Hinduism after its encounter with Theosophy

"self" or "soul" in Sanskrit

"Song of the Blessed One," a part of the Mahābhārata in which Krishna gives instruction on the battlefield

"thus-gone ones," special Buddhas for meditation in Tantric Buddhism, often five in number

a religion that developed after the Buddha died, often divided into Theravada and Mahayana

a shrine where a Sufi saint is often entombed

Buddhist doctrine of "not-self," the idea that there is no soul behind the fluctuations of the skandhas

a Hindu god who is the preserver of the universe, part of the trimūrti

 "quality," often in a set of three: purity (sattva), activity (rajas), and darkness (tamas)

meditation, also a kind of yoga of meditation

Hindu god who is the destroyer of the universe, lord of dance, yoga, other names: Rudra, Mahadeva

ca. seventh century monk from China who traveled to India in search of Mahayana scriptures

enlightened beings in Buddhism often linked to lands, meditative objects, colors, and other symbols

"goddess" in Sanskrit

duty, religion, law, also a god who is the embodiment of the same

original language of the Vedas and Upaniṣads, Mahābhārata and Bhagavadgītā, and many other texts 

"Path of the Elders": one of the earliest and more conservative schools of Buddhism

cycle of birth and rebirth, also worldly existence and domestic life, family