|
The
picture above is of "Bagalamukhi-yantra" and the Mantra is
"Bagalamukhi-mantra" |
o
|
Indian name for a hermitage, monastic community, or other place of religious significance. Mostly used for a place where a sadhak (saint) lives and either it is named after the name of the saint or after the name of the place.-derived from Sanskrit asrama 'hermitage'.[The word is accepted in Britannica (New English Oxford Dictionary)] |
|
The
picture above is of "Bagalamukhi-yantra" and the Mantra is
"Bagalamukhi-mantra" |
|
The
picture above is of "Bhubaneswari-yantra" and the Mantra is
"Bhubaneswari-mantra". |
|
There are 4 most important places in Sanaatan
dharma (= religion of truth; The Hindu
religion is rooted from Satya Sanaatana
religion which is the root of all religions), to where
each Hindu (who has Hindu religion) is supposed to make pilgrimage at least once in life. These 4
places are called chaar dhaam (chaar =
4, dhaam = abode or place). These are:
The ancient Epics also relate the history of the chaar
dhaam with the widely accepted Four Yugas (Yuga = era).
The chaar yuga s are: |
|
Indian (Bharat) expression for the "eternal law of the cosmos", "inherent property in the nature of the things". -Origin Sanskrit, literally 'decree, custom, or property of something'. From spiritual point of view it means - characteristics of truth, honesty, and justice - Also it is often used in the sense of "religion", e.g. Christian religion, Hindu religion (dharma) etc. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Garuda A mythical bird half-man-half-bird -on which Lord Visnu moves. It is the vehicle of Lord Visnu. Shri Garuda is one of the powers of Lord Visnu himself. HUge in size, and brighter than pure gold, its Teja (lusture) crosses the Sun. Extremely heroic and brave in nature and a staunch enemy of evils and snakes (representating evil). Also, he is destroyer of poison. Garuda Sadhana gives the power to cure venom and poisonous effect.
According to Puranic stories, he was born of Sage Kashyapa and Vinata, one of the daughters of Daksha Prajapati and is of Kaashyap gotra. He has a white face, a beak-like long nose, red wings, and a huge body with a golden hue. His lustre was so brilliant that soon after his birth, the demi-gods mistook him for Agni (fire) and began worshipping him.
Garuda had a son named Sampati, and his wife was Unnati. Another wife of Kashyapa, Kadru, who was the mother of the serpent race, was Vinata's great rival. Once the two wives had a dispute over the color of the horse of Indra- the, Uchchaishrava, that was obtained during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthana). Vinata lost the bet and as per the conditions, she was made a slave of Kadru. She could regain her freedom only if Garuda could obtain the nectar (Amrit). Garuda succeeded in stealing it from heaven but not without a fight with Indra, its preserver. In one side were all the Gods with Indra and Garuda was on one side. It was said that he almost won over all the Gods before being severly harmed and in the process Indra's Vajra (thunder-bolt weapon) was destroyed. Indra recovered the nectar afterwards, after Garuda freed his mother.
Garuda's son Jatayu once tried to fly up to the Sun in the sky. This burnt his wings and he fell down. Also, he tried to resist Raavana during the abduction of Sitaa and got fatal injuries. In this condition, he awaited his death till giving Raama the details of Sita's abduction by Ravana and her whereabouts. His last rites were performed by Rama. Jatayu had been a friend of Rama's father, Dasharatha.
Garuda, after getting permission and acceptance from Shri Visnu, after the war, wrote one of the first Puraanas, teh Garuda puraana. This is in the form of instructions to Garuda by Vishnu and deals with a variety of science and principles, including the secret of creation of the Universe.
Garuda
Mantra : Om PA Kshim Svaaha Garuda Gaayatri: Om TatPurushaaya Vidmahe, SuvarnaPakshaaya Dheemahi, Tannoh Garudah Prachodayaat
Mahapurusa Achyuta is believed to be born at the will of Shri Jagannath (Visnu), with the inherent subtle power of Shri Garuda. He was found by his father, in dreams, near the Garuda Khamba (pillar), at the front of the Jagannath Temple. Being a power of Visnu, and one of the five souls of Visnu, he easily acquired all the powers (siddhis) of Garuda after sometime, e.g. the power to see the future. He is a saviour of the devotees and extremely kind and devotee-concerned.Please see "Birth of Shri Achyuta" page for more details and "Taamrapothi" page for his sadhana and the manifested power to see the events in the three time-zones. |
|
Guru is often used for a Hindu spiritual teacher or Guide. The word Guru comes from Sanskrit guru 'weighty, grave' (compare with Latin gravis). It means "with weightage (a big importance)". Also it is often (correctly from spiritual point-of-view) interpreted as being derived from two root words Gu (meaning darkness), and ru (dispeller or remover). A real Guru (sad-Guru) is an awakened human who transmits higher consciousness to the disciples and devotees - to take them from an ordinary path to the path-of-truth. An aspirant who is accepted by a Guru and who is considered to be worthy to be initiated is called shisya (disciple). From the spiritual point of view -The Guru is as good as the God. It has been said that - Guru Brahmaa, Guru Vishnu, Gurudeva Maheswara (Guru himself is Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva- When we offer respects to the guru, we are offering respects to God. In Baba Buddhanath Das's words, the Supreme-God becomes invisible in the living world and makes the Guru visible. Hence, for realizing God's mercy, it is required that we learn to offer respects to God through God's representative. The origin is from Sanskrit. [The word is introduced in Britannica]. |
|
Karma of a person means the sum of that individual person's actions
in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in
future existences. Karma yoga: The discipline of selfless action as a way to perfection instead of following mystic, ascetic, or other spiritual paths. Such a person is called as "Karma yogi". Karma phala: The fruit (consequence) that a persons gets (either enjoys or bears) depending on his past-Karma. |
|
Mahant is mostly used in Hinduism and literally means a chief priest of a temple or the head of a monastery. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Mantra is a combination of divine syllables or sounds which when recited invokes the latent power in that particular mantra, which involves pleasing some deities or attaining some results (used originally in Vedic sanatana dharma, Hinduism and Buddhism). The Mantras are created by spiritual Seers (Rishis and Yogis) in a divine trance. Each mantra has a rishi (spiritual seer). In Sanskrit, mantra literally means 'instrument of thought', from man (to think) verb : ‘Mananat trayate iti mantrah’ - by the Manana (constant recollection or recitation) of which one is liberated. Liberation involves your aim, i.e. what one wants to achieve by this mantra -sadhana. Each Mantra consists of a Matraa (phase) which creates a distinct sound-frequency; a Devataa (deity or God); a Bija (seed) which gives it a special power, and the Kilakam (support or pillar). Some mantras consisty of only seeds (single syllables without special literal meaning) an are called Bija-mantras. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Peepal
tree
Botanical name or the Latin name: Ficus religiousName in "Sanskrit" language : Ashvattha The "Peepal tree" or the "holy fig tree" is the most accepted botanical entity in the Hindu tradition. It is considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists and its name has been referred in the Vedas and hindu epics. The saints used to meditate sitting under this holy tree. It was only under the Peepal tree that Gautam Buddha (9th Avataar of Lord Vishnu) attained enlightenment and that particular tree was named as " Bodhi-brikhsa", the wisdom-tree. The Peepal is considered as a feminine to the masculine Banyan tree.The tree grows in most parts of India, especially on the banks of rivers and large water bodies and are abundantly found in the forests on the lower slopes of the Himalayas, Orissa as well as in central India. The Peepal-bark has light gray color and is smooth and the leaves have a distinctive shape of heart and have long and tapering tips. The tree is also used in Ayurveda (the Indian branch of medical science dealing with natural plants and products). |
|
Intense, disciplined, and regular practice or learning for spritualism, religion, art and craft, e.g. music. Mostly it refers to intense spiritual practice to get enlightment -derived from Sanskrit sadhana 'dedication to an aim', from sadh 'bring about'. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. A person who performs sadhana is a Sadhak. |
|
Samadhi is a blissfull state of intense concentration or super-consciousness achieved through Yoga (or meditation). In yoga this is also regarded as the final stage, at which union with the divine is reached, before or at the time when a sadhak reaches his final stage of leaving the body (not necessarily forever). It is derived from Sanskrit equivalent word meaning "state of contemplation". [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Sannyasi (also Sanyasi; Sannyasinii for female gender): a Hindu religious mendicant or Ascetic. The origin is from Sanskrit 'sanyasin' meaning - laying aside, ascetic', from sa 'together' + ni 'down' + as 'throw'. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Another name for "Puri", Orissa, India. |
|
(please click on the Yantra for a larger image) |
|
Siddhi literally means absolute or total understanding; enlightenment (a state of being "Buddha", also called "Siddha"). Additionally, the word is frequently (Siddhis in plural) used to mean the paranormal powers possessed by saints, mystics, mantriks, and tantriks. The origin is from Sanskrit. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Tantra (noun) refers to a Hindu or Buddhist spiritual Sadhana, that is performed using Yantra, Mantra, and specific rituals. One of the ways in which Tantra is explained is : Tanu trayate itii Tantra (which liberates from the limitations of the body). From point-of-view of spiritual practice, Tantra means : Yantra ku Mantrare Bhediba hiin Tantra (Oriya), i.e. To pierce through an Yantra by applying a Mantra is Tantra. One who practises Tantra is a Tantrik (also Tantric). Tantra is infact the best way of Spiritual practice to attain Siddhis. In the times of Guru Matsyendranath, Guru Gorakhnath, Guru Viswamitra etc., tantra was a much respected and evolved science. However, with time, tantra became a Taboo, partly because of misuse-of-capabilites by certain Greedy individuals, and partly because the real knowledge was made very confined due to the fear of misuse and slowly got extinct. In recent times, the word has been associated with a variety of strange things, by people with orientation-less or poor imagination, which has nothing really to do with Tantra. Tantra is a vast Science, with many different ways, Siddhis, rituals and know-hows of six-abilites: Shanti, (peace), Vashikaran (hypnotism and control), Stambhan (paralyze someone), Vidveshana (create conflict between persons), Uchhatan (driving away), and Maarana (destroy or kill someone). It is the misuse of such capabilities that led to extinction of the divine knowledge, however, these are never the main aims of tantra. The fear of tantra-practising is unfounded. The construction of the Jagannath temple at Puri is based on the principle of Tantra. The temple is constructed in the form of Shri-Yantra and the deities are placed on Maha-Vairabh Yantra which was designed using 100000 special black stones (saalagrama). The word dates back from the 7th century (at least) or earlier and the origin is from Sanskrit (from tan 'stretch'). [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
|
Yantra is a type geometrical diagram or object, used Tantra (tantric worship). They are made of various metals (e.g., copper, silver, gold, astadhatu - an alloy of 8 different metals - etc.) or dried leaves of a special plant (bhoja patra). -origin is from Sanskrit, literally 'device for holding or fastening'. In tantric method of spiritualism (tantric sadhana) an "Yantra" often represents the body of the deity related to that sadhana. e.g., Shunya yantra, Bhubaneswar yantra, Bagalamukhi yantra It also literally means - A Machine. [The word is accepted in Britannica]. |
