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Ācārya: bona fide, selfrealized, spiritual teacher (guru) who instructs by example in representing the  paramparā and whose statements can be verified in the scriptures.

Ādhāra: basis, fundament, foundation (tapas - is the ādhāra of the teaching of Krishna see 11.6: 26-27).

Ādhi: place, situation, (see loka).

Ādityas: the twelve demigod sons of Aditi.

Ādi-s'esha: ('the secondary from the beginning') also S'esha-nāga or Ananta-s'esha: the snakebed of Garbhodakas'āyī Vishnu. Represents the secondary matter in the service to Krishna. Portion of Sankarshana and is sometimes also so named. (see also Ananta, Sankarshan and S.B. 5.25)

Āgastya: 'He whose senses are not independent': a great sage, a seer, son of Kumbha, the pot. Residing in the Malaya hills he worshiped the Lord (6.3:35). Was with Vasishthha born from the seed that Mitra and Varuna deposited in a clay pot when they saw Urvas'ī. He wed the first daughter of Malayadhvaja and from her was born a son called Drdhacyuta. (4.28: 32) He cursed the king of Pāndya to become an elephant because he failed to receive him properly when he roaming the Malaya hills payed an unexpected visit. That elephant is known as Gajendra.

- A son begotten by Pulastya in Havirbhū who in his next life was called Dahrāgni, he of the fire of digestion, and Vis'ravā, the great one of austerity (4.1: 36).

- A name of S'iva.

Āgnīdhra: son of Priyavrata and grandson of Manu. he desired a woman from heaven and thus won the hand of the apsara Pūrvacitti. Thus he had good offspring like Nābhi, the father of avatāra Rishabha (see 5.2).

Ākūti: one of Svāyambhuva Manu's three daughters and the wife of Ruci (see 4.1)

Ānakadundubhi: another name for Vasudeva, the father of Lord Krishna, as the one who gave the Lord His place of birth (see 9.24: 28-31).

Ānanda: heavenly bliss, see also sat-cit-ānanda, eternity, consciousness, and happiness as the fundamental qualities of Divine consciousness.

Āranyaka: name of a class of religious and philosophical writings closely connected with the brāhmanas and called so because they were either composed in forests or studied there. The upanishads are considered to be attached to them (see also Vedas).

Ārati: lightoffering; ritual at which before the idol, His arcā-form (see Mūrti), flowers, water, incense and light are being offered.

- One of the nine activities of devotional service (see bhāgavata  dharma).

- Ceremony with a lamp for welcoming or leaving the Lord.

Āroha: induction, generalization, to generalize from an impersonal, material denominator; the 'ascending' method of knowledge acquisition. Characteristic of upādāna kārarana.

Ārunis: saintly persons headed by Āruni, also called Uddālaka, who is a renown brahmin teacher, son of Aruna Aupaves'i and father of S'veta-ketu (10.87: 18).

- Superior yogīs.

Āryan: the civilized, progressive, cultured person of spiritual realization (abused: arian).

Āsana: bodily postures (see ashthānga-yoga).

Ās'rama: refuge for the spiritual seeker.

- Department of spiritual life. Four kinds:

- Brahmacār ī: bachelor, celibate, continent student of a bona fide spiritual teacher.
-
Grihastha: married.
-
Vānaprastha: withdrawn.
-
Sannyāsa: detached (see varnās'rama).

- Going through these stages makes it possible to achieve full selfrealization before one abandons the body. Thus one does not return to the material world and is one liberated from the cycle of birth and rebirth. (see also samsāra, mukti)

- Remote hut serving as a place for meditation.

- Place or space where one together strives for selfrealization, a hermitage.

Āsuram bhāvam āsrita: plainly atheistic persons.

Ās'utosha: name for Lord  S'iva as the one who is quickly pleased (see e.g. 9.9: 8).

Ātma: in the self, of the soul or the self, selfrealized, of the living being, of one's own, the body, what is personal, what is of the self.

Ātmā: soul, but also: body, mind, senses.

-'The soul is eternal, does not dwindle, is pure, the individual, the knower of the field, the original foundation, the unchanging, self-illumined, actual cause, pervading all, independent and unmoving. From these twelve symptoms of the soul is a conscious person impelled to give up the false conception of 'I' and 'Mine' that originates from the illusion of everything that belongs to having a body (7.7: 19-20)'.

- The being of God and man,

- Selfremembrance in alignment with Krishna,

- The end of the illusion of I (see ahankāra).

Ātmā-jyoti:'the light of the soul'. Spiritual knowledge (see also vidyā, ātmā-tattva and Brahmajyoti).

Ātmānandis: devotees who in seclusion with Krishna want to stay alone and do not preach.

Ātma-rāma: the Lord satisfied within Himself attractive to all as explained by the famous verse of the Bhāgavatam named to this (see 1.7: 10).

: full surrender to Krishna. Final position of the ninefold process of devotional service (see bhāgavata-dharma). Surrender to Krishna from the inside (see also chaitya).

Ātmatattva: term indicating the essential knowledge concerning the difference between the body and the soul.

- The perfect knowledge of the soul itself.

- The reality of the soul under the authority of regulation (see niyama).

Āyu(s of Āyur): the son of Purūravā and Urvas'ī, the sage ruling over the month Pushya or Pausha, December/January (see 12.11: 42).

Āvritya: concealment, the being covered (of the soul by the matter).

Abhinives'a: one of the five kles'as, the hindrances on the path of selfrealization: the attachment to life.

Abhyāsa: steadiness, fortitude, endurance, resilience, discipline, regulated practice, repetition, repeated reading, study; use, habit, custom, the effort of the mind to remain in its unmodified condition of purity (sattva).

Acinthya-bhedābheda-tattva: Lord Caitanya's doctrine of Krishna as the "inconceivable oneness and difference" of God and His energies (see also siddhānta).

- The heuristic, the rule of thumb of the  Caitanya-vaishnava who poses: He is Me, but I am not Him; He is the unity in the manifold of the to Him only qualitatively equal parts and parcels; He is the Person of God that is the universe, of which I am only a part kalā (ekatvena prithāktvena bahudhā B.G. 9.15).

Acyuta: (literally: someone who never falls); the Infallible One, said of Krishna.

Adbhuta: wonderment, amazement or bewilderment as an indirect rasa.

Adharma: godlessness, neglect of duty, the counternatural, injustice, irreligion (see also dharma).

- What obstructs the original purpose of one's own duty is vidharma, misconceived or strange to one's own is it paradharma, directions that are turned against one's purpose in life are upadharma and one speaks of chala when by an opponent the words of the scripture are twisted and covered with pretense. That what by persons whimsically, as a dim reflection, is done in defiance of the purpose of one's own order of life [one's ās'rama] is ābhāsa; [to all of this one has to pose the question:] in what respect would that what to one's own nature as being the appropriate dharma is arranged not be capable of bringing peace? (S.B. 7.15: 12-13)

- The irreligious counterparts of falsehood, violence, dissatisfaction and quarrel (12.3: 20).

- See also: Māyāvādi.

Adhi: a prefix to verbs and nouns, expresses above, over and above, besides.

Adhibhūtam: material nature.

Adhidaivatam: the universal form of the Lord called adhidaiva (see B.G. 8.4)

Adhidaivika, adhyātmika, adhibhautika kles'as: hindrances stemming from resp. nature, oneself and others, see further kles'a s.

Adhikāri: devotee.

- Term for surrendered devotees in the temple. Three kinds:

- Kanishthha: beginners (bhaktas) At this level one develops:
- s'raddhā, faith;
- sadhu-sanga, association with devotees;
- bhajana kriya: the regular spiritual practice of chanting the names reading the scriptures and such; this stage bridges to the next level via
dīkshā.

- Madhyama: advanced (the initiated) At this level one develops:

- anārtha nivritti: sins gradually disappear: the purification of the heart;
- nishtha; determination; durable surrender.
- ruci, a higher taste;
- as'akti: the deeper relation with
Krishna; the individual character of a rasa.

- Uttama: pure devotees stable in transcendence (see also 11.2: 45-47, Bhakta). At this level one develops:

- bhava: a strong emotional experience, ecstacy, of relating to Krishna.
-
prema: full-blown love of God.

Adhīshthāya: to that circumstance, time and again (does He take birth).

Adhiyajńa: the Supersoul, plenary part of the Lord in the heart of each living being. 

Adhokshaja: name for the supreme Personality, Vishnu or the Vishnu-avatāra as being situated above and beyond the senses.

Adhyātma-cetasā: someone exclusively depending on Krishna. 

Aditi: the mother of the twelve demigods Vivasvān, Aryamā, Pūshā and Tvashthā, Savitā, Bhaga, Dhātā, Vidhātā, Varuna, Mitra, S'atru and Lord Urukrama (Vāmana) (6.6: 38-39; 8: 18).

- One of sage Kas'yapa 's wives (see S.B. 8.16 & 17).

Advaita: without duality, which relating to the Lord means that His body and Himself are non-different.

- S.B.: 7.15: 63-65 (63) To the observation that, like with the substance of the threads of a cloth, the effect and cause (of this existence) are one because ultimately setting them apart constitutes the unreal, does one speak of the conception of oneness (bhāvādvaita, see also B.G.: 18: 16). (64) In all activities of the mind, the words and the body directly to be of dedication unto the Supreme of the transcendental Absolute, o Yudhishthhira, is called oneness in activities (kriyādvaita, compare B.G. 9: 27). (65) When the ultimate goal and interest of oneself, the wife and the children, the others or whatever living beings is one, is that oneness called oneness of interest (dravyādvaita).

Advaita-ācārya (Advaita Prabhu): Pańca-tattva incarnation of Mahā-Vishnu. The oldest associate of Lord Caitanya responsible for beseeching His descend into the material world.

Adhvaryu: the priest reciting the yayur mantras at the beginning of a sacrifice (see also ritvik).

Aghampāpāh: serious sin.

Agni: the demigod ruling fire.

Agni-traya: name or the three sacred fires, called respectively

Garhapatya: the fire from which sacrificial fires are lighted.
Ahavaniya: the fire prepared for receiving oblations; especially the eastern of the three fires burning at a sacrifice
Dakshina: the fire to the south, the fire of collecting, where the cooking is done.

Agnihotra-yajńa: sacrifice of fire. The ceremonial fire sacrifice performed in Vedic rituals.

Aham brahmāsmi: the vedic aphorism "I am spiritual".

Ahamkāra (Ahankāra): false ego derived from being identified with the body is the seat of fear. In the behavioral science of psychology often called neurotic, viz, spiritually ineffective, because of being estranged from the True Self or self-ideal (Krishna, see also asmitā). Also commonly called simply ego. One cures from the neurosis of false identification by restoring the priority of the regulative principles defining the humanity (see vidhi) or, in other words, by accepting the authority of Krishna and His representatives (see ācārya, paramparā, guru, māyāvadi). If one refuses this, is one troubled by anarthas (non-virtues) and kles'as (hindrances) or with symptoms of psychic disfunctioning: repression (ignorance, lack of consiousness, unknowing, see avidyā), projection (dves'a), fear (fobias, bhaya), and obsessive compulsory behavior (the counter-natural, hysteria, perversion, false religion or adharma).

- The illusion of 'I' and 'mine' as discussed in e.g. 2.9: 2, 4.28: 17, 4.29: 5, 5.5: 8, 6.16: 41, 10.85: 17, and 11.28: 15.

Ahimsa: nonviolence, not injuring anything, harmlessness, safeness, security (see e.g. 11.8: 9).

Airāvata: the elephant of Indra.

Aja: (the Unborn One) name of Krishna referring to His eternal transcendental nature.

- Name of the Supreme Personality of God, "He who is unborn".

Ajana: 'being unborn', name of the Lord as the Unborn One.

Ajita: name for Krishna as the Invincible One.

Ajāmila: a fallen brahmin who was saved from hell by unintentionally chanting the Lord's name at the time of death (see 6.1&2).

Akarma: 'not-working', freedom from reactions, selfless activity, devotional service, activity leading to self-realization. (see nais(-kāma)karma).

Akrūra: 'not cruel, gentle'; name of Krishna's trusted paternal uncle who was sent to Vraja by Kamsa to invite Krishna and Balarāma for a wrestling match (see 10.36).

Akshauhinī: army division consisting of 21.870 chariots, 21.870 elephants, 109.350 infantry en 65.610 cavalry or tien anikini's (see also g ana).

Ambarīsha Mahārāja: great king and devotee, who perfectly exercised all nine methods of devotional service (see bhāgavata dharma, see 9: 4&5).

Ambikā: means mother, good woman, a name scripturally associated with the feminine of Umā and Pārvatī relating to Skanda, S'iva or Rudra, as a term of respect. Together with Pas'upati worshiped by the gopas in 10.34.

Amrit: nectar, the nectar of the Gods. A substance procured from the churning of the ocean of milk (see canto 8.7, 8. 8, 8. 9 and 8. 10)

Ams'a-avatāra: (partial descend of the Lord) the Lord incarnates to inspire the inner life, but then for one particular purpose only (see also Channa and Avatāra).

Ananga: 'the bodiless one'; name of Kāmadeva or Cupid the God of Love so called because he was made bodiless by a flash from the eye of S'iva, for having attempted to disturb his life of austerity by filling him with love for Pārvatī, his consort.

- the ether (akas'a), the air, the sky; the mind ; that which is not the anga.

Ananta/Ananta S'esha/Anantadeva: name for the divine snake with the countless heads on which he carries the universe; the snakebed on which Vishnu reclines. (see also Sankarshana and 5.25)

Anantavijaya: the name of King Yudhishthhira's conchshell.

Anartha's: (non-goals) unwanted quality, divided in six: kāma: lust, krodha: anger, lodha: possessiveness, mada: pride, mātsarya: envy and moha: delusion.

Anasūyantah: life without envy.

Anga Mahārāja: the father of king Vena.

Angamejayatva: instability of the body.

Angas: limbs, accessories of the Veda, viz. S'īkshā (phonetics; how to represent vocal sounds by signs and written characters), kalpa (the rituals, prescriptions of rules for ceremony and sacrifice) Vyākarana, (grammar; the art concerned with the right use and application of the rules of a language), chandas (prosody: syllable accents; the laws of versification or metrical composition) Jyotisha (astronomy), Nirukta (etymology; to retrace the original meaning of single or composite terms).

Angirā (Angiras): one of the seven great sages (see 8.13) directly born from Lord Brahmā (see also maharishi). He wrote hymns, a code of law and an astronomical treatise.

- Renown sage and founding father or prajāpati who instructed Citraketu (see 6.14 &15, 4.1: 33).

- One of the ten sons of Brahmā who came forth from his mouth (3.12: 20-24).

- Far relative of Bharata (5.9: 1).

- Sage married to two daughters of Daksha (6.6: 2).

- Sage married to S'raddha a daughter of Kardama (3.24: 22).

- Sage begotten by Pushkarinī in Ulmuka (4.13: 17)

Aniruddha: (Unobstructed, ungovernable, self-willed) one of the four original expansions of Lord Krishna in the spiritual world dominating the mind (see also Sankarshana- of the ego, Pradyumna - of the intelligence and Vāsudeva of the consciousness, see also Vyūhas S.B. 4.24:35-37 en pańcatattva).

- Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna who was the son of Krishna, was enticed by the daughter of Bānāsura into illicit sex, upon which a war followed in which Bāna was defeated (see chapter 10.62)

- A descendant of Vrishni

- The rope for fastening cattle.

Anna-prāsana: ritual at which a child for the first time receives solid food. One of the ten samskāras.

Anna: food in four types called carvya, cūshya, lehya and pehy - resp. food that is chewed, sucked in (swallowed as a whole), licked up and drunk (mentioned in 4.19: 9, see also prasādam).

Anta: the end (see vedānta and siddhānta).

Antardhāna: ('disappearance'), Vijitās'va or 'he who won the horse', the son of Prithu who retreived the by Indra stolen horse of the As'vamedha sacrifice held by Atri after the demise of king Vena (see S.B. 4.24: 3).

Anu-ātmā: the atomic minute soul that is part and parcel of Krishna (see also jīvā- of  vibhu-ātmā).

Anuloma: the father is of a higher class than the mother as opposed to pratiloma, the reverse situation (see 11.20: 2). Other divisions are:

- The vaidehakas consist of those born of a s'ūdra father and brāhmana mother,
- the sūtas are those born from a
kshatriya father and a brāhmana mother or from a s'ūdra father and kshatriya mother.
- The mūrdhāvasiktas are those born of a
brāhmana father and kshatriya mother.
- Ambasthhas are those born from a
brāhmana father and vais'ya mother (these often work in the healthcare business).
- Karana indicates those born of a
vais'ya father and s'ūdra mother or of a kshatriya father and vais'ya mother.

Anukarana: imitation, blind following, third class devotion (see kanishthha).

Anusarana: to follow, in accord to serve to one's own nature in devotion; with an initiative of one's own. Second and first class devotion (see madhyama en uttama).

Anavasthitva: complain, inability to maintain progress (see also avidhya:andha-tāmisram).

Apahrita-cetasam: term of Krishna for confused people.

Apāna-vāyu: one of the internal bodily air-movements, which trough the ashthānga-yoga -system can be controlled. The apāna-vāyu goes downward.

Aparā prakriti: the lower, material energy of the Lord.

Aparigraha: to be without possessions (or possessiveness), nonacceptance of gifts. (see yama and nirmama).

Apaurusha: 'not spoken by a material person' (see s'ruti).

Apavarga: the way towards liberation as revealed by Krishna. (see also kaivalya-panthā). There are four stages of yogic evolution: that of karma-, jńāna-, ashthānga- to bhakti-yoga (zie ook tri-kānda).

- Heaven, liberation, completion, end.

- The emancipation of the soul from bodily existence, exemption from further transmigration; final beatitude.

- Gift, donation, restriction.

Apsaras: heavenly dancing girls, denizens of heaven. Wives of the Gandharva's.

- Pūrvacitti is the name of the apsara recognized by the Lord (see 11.16: 33).

Arcana: honoring, praise, homage paid, the reverence before a mūrti or the connecting of one's senses in the service of the Lord (see: bhāgavata dharma).

Arca-vigraha: the incarnation of the Lord in a seemingly materially created form meant to facilitate new devotees, to worship Him (see Mūrti).

Arci: the wife of king Prithu (4.23: 19-28).

Arjuna: son of Queen Kuntī (Pritha) and King Pāndu. Friend and nephew of Krishna. The one to whom the Gītā is spoken (see also Pāndavas and family tree, gudākes'a and parantapa).

Artha: economic activity, economic development, profit. One of the four main goals of a material life (see purushārthas)

Aruni: a sage, not to confuse with Āruni - see before-, mentioned in 4.8: 1 and 6.15: 12-15.

Aryamā: the demigod in charge of Pitriloka, the world of the ancestors. One of the twelve sons of Aditi (6.6: 38-39) and Kas'yapa.

- Of the union of Aryamā with his wife Mātrikā were born many scholarly sons among whom Lord Brahmā created a species of man that was like them with an aptitude for self-examination (6.6: 42).

- As long as Vidura played the part of a s'ūdra, administered Aryamāofficiating for Yamarāja, punishment as was suitable for the sinful ones (1.13: 15).

Asamprajnatasamādhi: unintentional, natural absorption in Krishna, nor negative, nor positive, without false ego (see samādhi and dharmamegha-samādhi).

Asānga: to detach oneself from material consciousness.

Asat: of a temporary nature, temporal material form, the untrue, de material cause (see also sat en upādāna).

Asat-kāla: time assuming a certain form and with that is falsified (e.g. standard time). This term is not directly mentioned in the s'āstra- it is used for modern preaching to connect two essential terms. There is mention though of the kāla-kūtha ('false time' also called hālahala) poison that was produced from the churning of the ocean and which Lord S'iva drank (see kāla, 8.7: 18 en 8.6: 25).

Ashthānga-yoga: the eightfold path of yoga. Selfrealization in eight consecutive phases: austerities (yama), observances (niyama), sitting postures (ā sana), breath control (prānāyāma), turning inward (pratyāhāra), concentration (dhāranā), meditation (dhyāna), absorption, oneness (samādhi).

Ashtha-siddhis: the eight mystical perfections, acquired by the practice of yoga (see siddhi).

Asita: an ancient authority on the Vedas. One of the masters of perfection that are the wandering spiritual educators (6.15: 12).

Asmitā: the illusion of I and Mine. Identification with the material and the notion of being the proprietor. Opposes the term soul and sharing (see kles'a, jīvātmā, nirmama and ahamkāra).

Asteya: non-stealing, free from unrighteous appropriation (see yama).

Āstikyam: religious connectedness, faithfullness, trust in the principles of religion, piety.

Asura: (lit.: not of Surya, the sungod of sura, the light, enlightenment) a godless one, a demon, someone going against the rules, someone of darkness, an atheist, an unenlightened person of desire driven by lust and anger (see also sura and Rākshasa's).

- Anyone who does not follow scriptural injunctions and whose only aim in life is to constantly enjoy worldly pleasures.

- Purely demonic being who publicly opposes the principles of the religion.

- Malicious monster of the kind that with Krishna's stay on earth fought against Him.

As'ubhāt: evil fate avoided by the knowledge of action (see karma and B.G. 4.16 & 9.1).

As'vamedha-yajńa: Horse-sacrifice. At the end of the life or the rule of a king is a horse sent out with a plaquette around its neck followed by an army. Anyone contesting the honor inscribed on that plaquette is then fought.

- Method to take leave of worldly attachments and status.

- The sons of Sagara were burnt to ashes when the horse of their as'vamedha-sacrifice was found in the ās'rama of sage Kapila whom they offended for it (see 9.8).

As'vattha: the holy fig tree, also called bodhi or pippala, or one with no specific property, also often called a banyan; mentioned in the Gītā (10: 26) and in the Bhāgavatam (11.16: 21 and 11.30).

As'vatthāmā: the evil son of the great military leader Dronācārya who murdered the children of the Pāndavas.

As'vins, the As'vini Kumāras: twin gods responsible for medical care and herbs born from Vivasvān and his wife Vadavā. They gave sage Cyavana his youth and thus achieved a share in the soma-rasa that before was denied to them. They recieved the protective shield of mantra's that made them immortal from Dadhyanca (zie: 4.7: 5, 5.23: 7, 6.9: 52, 8.13: 10, 9.23: 11).

- The twins Kula en Nakula of the Pāndavas are regarded as incarnations of them.

Atri Muni: one of the ten maharishis born from Brahmā. Received from Kardama his daughter Anasūyā in marriage (3.24: 22).

- Meditated for a hundred years on the mountain named Riksha and achieved the blessing of the demigods to be born from him (4.1: 17-28).'

- The wife of Atri Muni, named Anasūyā, bore three very famous sons: Dattātreya, Durvāsā and Soma (the moongod), which are (partial) incarnations of respectively the Supersoul (Vishnu), Lord S'iva and Lord Brahmā.' (4.1: 15 and 9.14: 2).

- The sage that was involved in a conflict between Indra and Prithu about stealing a horse (see 4.19).

AUM: see omkāra.

Avabhritha: a concluding ceremony in vedic sacrifices in which one washes oneself and the utensils of the sacrifice.

Avadhūta: a saint of full renunciation, someone unconcerned about the things of the world like clothing or even being clean (see e.g. Rishabha).

- Is discussed by Krishna as as having 24 masters (in 11.7,8 & 9).

- Is questioned by Parīkchit in 7.13.

Avaroha-panthā: the materialist wants to understand everything by the āroha-panthā - the path of argument and reason - but transcendental matters cannot be understood in this way. Rather, one must follow the avaroha-panthā, the process of descending knowledge, the path of surrender to the parampar ā and acceptance of spiritual knowledge.

Avasah: helplessness (of materialists e.g.).

Avasthātraya: the three states of consiousness (see also vritti-traya): waking, jāgrat, sleep svapna and deep sleep sushupti that are the functions of the intelligence that follow the modes of nature; with characteristics different from them is the individual soul ascertained as being the witness (see 1.18: 26, 4.29: 71 & 1b, 6.16: 61-62, 7.7: 25 10.47: 31, 10.84: 24-25 ,11.13: 27, 11.25: 20, and 11.28: 20).

- Above these three philosophically also designated as the vis'wa (the external), taijasa (physical power) and prājńa (thought) state of the Lord, one also finds turīya (the superconscious state of the soul its selfrealization, see 12.11: 22).

Avatāra: descend of the Supreme Lord. Basically there are two kinds: vibhūti- and āves'a/sākshad-avatāras: resp. empowered entities and incarnations and expansions of the full potency. The latter come in six types: Purusha, Līlā, Guna, Manvantara, Yuga and S'akti-āves'a avatāras (see below). Also divided in vaibhāva temporary, less known two-handed forms (like the Mohinī, Vyāsa and Hamsa forms) and prabhāva eternal incarnations of the four-handed type (like the universal form Krishna showed on the battlefield). Vaibhāva, are also appearances like Kūrma, Matsya, Nara-Nārāyana, Varāha, Hayagrīva. There are 24 of these vaibhāva incarnations (see further purport C.C. adi. 2.97). Another difference is constituted by what is called the vilāsa (expansions) or the prakas'a (His own form) aspects of avatāras.

- A plenary expansion of the Lord.

- The empowered devotee of the Lord.

- Deductive process of the descending of the (Super-) soul in matter.

- Purport CC madhya 20,246 : The Gunā-avatāras are three - Lord Brahmā, Lord S'iva and Lord Vishnu.

- All avatāras in Kali-yuga after Krishna are, exept for Kalki, Channa-avatāras or covert incarnations operating as a devotee, a son or a prophet of Himself.

- Of the Purusha-avatāras there are also three, the three Vishnus.

- Of the līlā and Vishnu-avatāras there are a countless number.

- Of the avatāras who appear during the reign of each Manu, known as Manvantara-avatāras or also vaibhāva-avatāras, there are thus listed fourteen.

- Yajńa and Vāmana are also counted among the Līlā-avatāras and Rishabha under the S'aktyāves'a-avatāras .

- 'The four Yuga-avatāras are: (1) sukla (white) in Satya-yuga (S.B. 11.5.21), (2) rakta (red) in Tretā-yuga (S.B. 11.5.24), (3) āyāma (dark blue) in Dvāpara-yuga (S.B. 11.5.27) and (4) generally krishna (black) but in special cases pīta (yellow) as Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Kali-yuga (S.B. 11.5.32 and 10.8.13.

- The S'aktyāves'a-avatāras are categorized into (1) forms of divine absorption (bhagavad-āves'a), such as Kapiladeva or Rishabhadeva, and (2) divinely empowered forms (s'aktyāves'a), of whom are seven foremost.

(see further channa, svayamrūpa and Vishnu-tattva-avatāra, gunāvatāra, yugāvatāra, ams'a - avatāra, purusha-avatāra, līlā-avatāra, manvantara-avatāra, s'aktyāves'a-avatāras and see S.B. 2: 7, for a description of Vishnu-avatāras).

Avidyā: ignorance born from 'the shadow of Brahmā', darkness, unknowing. In five kinds:

1. false ego as slowness in ignorance (tamas),
2. lust as anger in jealousy (tāmisra),
3. pride as false ownership in materialism (mahā-moha),
4. complaining as the sense for death in death-illusion (andha-tāmisra),
5. doubt as self-deception in delusion (
moha) (see 3.20: 18).

- First introduced in 3.12: 2 as: 'First came about [as the five types of ignorance:] the idea that one would die [andhatāmisra], then indignation [tāmisra], next all the craving of infatuation [mahāmoha] and then there was the delusional of error [like identifying oneself with the body, etc., moha] as well as the darkness of the nescience about one's own engagements [tamas]'.

- As a mode of nature (see guna): tamas or slowness.

- One of the five kles'as.

Avyaya: changelessness. Characteristic of the soul.

Avyakta: non-manifest, not visible to our limited vision.

Ayodhyā: city of Lord Rāma and the kings of the Sūrya-vams'a.

 

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S'rīmad Bhāgavatam | Bhagavad Gītā | Nederlandse versie

 

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