My Religion

Non-English Words With Their Meanings

• Agiari : A Zoroastrian temple; Parsi place of fire-worship
• Ahimsa : non-violence; love
• Allah : A Muslim term for God
• Ashram : Aa place for spiritual retirement; Gandhiji's colony of workers
• Ashrama : One of the four stages in a man's life (student, householder, meditator in the forest, and wandering teacher), as enjoined by Hinduism
• Avatar : Incarnation
• Bati : A thick bread
• Bhatti : A small open furnace
• Bhagavat : A Purana or devotional book containing the life-history of Lord Krishna and other ancient stories
• Bhagavad Gita : Hindu scripture, often regarded as the New Testament of Hinduism
• Bhajan : A religious service consisting of devotional songs; devotional song
• Bhangi : A scavenger; an 'untouchable'
• Brahmachari : one pledged to chastity; student
• Brahmacharya : chastity; continence
• Brahman : God; Supreme Being
• Brahmana : The highest Hindu caste, consisting of priests
• Dharma : Religious duty
• Dharmayuddha : Righteous war
• Ezhavo : An outcaste of Malabar
• Gayatri : Vedic prayer addressed to the Sun God
• Gita : See Bhagavad Gita
• Goshala : A dairy, cattle farm
• Guru : Religious teacher
• Himsa : Violence
• Itihasa : Ancient Hindu Book of History
• Kali : A Hindu goddess of destruction; name of goddess Durga
• Kalma : a Muslim prayer formula
• Karmayogi :Religious person devoted to the path of action
• Khuda : A Muslim term for God
• Koran : A sacred book of Muslims
• Lota : A small vessel for water
• Mahabharata : A Hindu epic
• Mandir : A Hindu temple
• Mantra A Vedic hymn or sacred prayer
• Moksha :salvation; liberation
• Nirvana : Lit. extinction; extinction of desire; Buddhist conception of salvation
• Pariah : An outcaste of the Tamils of South India
• Phooka : Process of inserting a rod or pipe into the re­productive organ of the cow and blowing air into it to make the cow yield its last drop of milk
• Quran : See Koran
• Rama : A Hindu incarnation of God; God
• Ramanama : Name of Rama or God
• Ramayana : A Hindu epic, describing the life-history of King Rama
• Rama Raj : Kingdom of Rama or God; the ideal political and social order
• Rishi : seer
• Sanatana : Ancient; Orthodox
• Sanatani : One who follows the ancient faith
• Satyagraha : Lit. clinging to Truth; non-violent resistance to untruth
• Satyagrahi : Non-violent resister of untruth
• Shastra : Hindu sacred book
• Shivalingam : A stone idol or short pillar representing Shiva, a Hindu god
• Shudra : The fourth or lowest Hindu caste consisting of manual labourers
• Smriti : Ancient book embodying Hindu law and tradition
• Swadeshi : The duty to serve one's neighbours and there­fore to use articles produced by them only
• Swaraj : Self-government
• Tapas, Tapasya : Austerity
• Upanishads : Ancient philosophical treatises of Hinduism
• Varna : Social groups numbering four based on pursuit of hereditary occupations
• Varna Dharma : Specific duties of the different social groups
• Varnashrama :Four social groups and four stages of man's life
• Varnashrama Dharma : Specific duties of four social groups and of four stages of man's life
• Vedas : Earliest Hindu scriptures
• Vishnu : A Hindu god
• Yogi : One practising Yoga
• Zend Avesta : Scriptures of the Parsis or Zoroastrians