Dictionary of Advaita Vedanta in Quotations

1134 Pages·2013·4.8 MB·English

Dictionary of Advaita Vedanta
in Quotations
About the Dictionary
Dedication
To Śabda Brahman
Publishing data
Dictionary of Advaita Vedanta in Quotations
© 2012, Amphibia Publishing, Vancouver, Canada
ISBN-978-0-9784507-3-1
Contact
The Compiler will be grateful for your comments and suggestions to improve the Dictionary: [email protected]
Epigraph
“Most of the terms of Eastern schools of philosophy cannot be defined, like the terms of Western philosophy. They are symbolical
and do not indicate particular concepts. Words such as Atma, Buddhi, Dharma, Karma, etc., have meaning according to the con-
text in which and the occasion and the time at which they are used or occur. Atma, for instance, may mean many things, ranging
from the Supreme Self via te soul (whatever it means) to the body, the lowest form of the “self”...
The symbols of traditional psychology and many of the terms of Oriental philosophy are hints and cannot be equated with the
terms of Western philosophy. Eastern and Western philosophy, traditional psychology and the modern outlook, cannot meet, un-
less the modern thinker finds his way back to the wisdom which is hidden in his unconscious and contains the wide world of an-
cient, but perennial, traditions.”
Mees G. H. The Revelation in the Wilderness.
Introduction
Purpose and description
The need for a dictionary of Indian philosophy existed already in the VI Century B.C., when Nirukta, a glossary treating etymology,
particularly of obscure words, mostly those occurring in the Vedas, was compiled. Its glosses were very brief, and wisdom was
passed on largely by word of mouth. Now, for better or for worse, things are different. Words are usually read, and dictionaries are
critical. On hearing a word in a rich context, as in a guru’s answer to one’s question, - understanding happens by itself. If, how-
ever, an unknown word crops up in a philosophical text, say in an Upanishad, one often falls into a black hole: the context does
not clarify the word, and the only way to understand it is to wait in suspension for another context. Understanding augments but is
still incomplete. Then again, another occurrence. And so it continues until a basic concept is formed. The Sanskrit vocabulary of
Indian philosophy is famous for its fluidity and contextual dependency of meanings, which become even more elusive in English
translation.
The Dictionary offers an unusual approach to solve the problem of contextuality of Sanskrit terms. It presents a mosaic of contexts
for each head word, even its definitions are often drawn from a variety of sources. Every context reveals a facet of the word, and
their combined action accelerates and improves the process of understanding.
The Dictionary contains 350 head words, with thousands of quotations from 112 primary and secondary literature sources, and
1400 cross-references.
The Dictionary covers only the basic stock of the vocabulary of Advaita Vedanta, and it is especially useful for the new learners.
The reader is warned against taking any text in the Dictionary for granted. The texts are exact citations, and may reflect arguable
positions or even mistakes of their authors. For instance, Wikipedia says that the Katha Upanishad “propounds a dualistic philos-
ophy”. Hardly any Advaitin will agree with that. Still, such statements are present in the Dictionary, mostly in the General subsec-
tions, in accordance with the principle of non-interference with the cited text. And of course, a certain diversity of opinion stimu-
lates the student’s critical ability.
Traditions of Advaita Vedanta
The Advaita Vedanta entry in the Dictionary gives the general description of the darshana. Within it there are many traditions - big
and small, almost identical and yet vastly different in form, preferred themes, priorities and terminology. Texts of five major Advaita
Vedanta traditions, complemented by general sources, provide the material for citations.
Academic literature is represented rather sparsely because of the practical orientation of the Dictionary. Unlike Western philos-
ophies, in Indian darshanas texts are subservient to the practical dimension, and very often when separated from practice they
simply do not make sense. That is why the Dictionary is based primarily on the texts written by practitioners of Advaita Vedanta.
Affiliation of the sources is shown with an unusual prominence in the Dictionary. Why? Because the central subject, non-duality, is
so simple that there is nothing to say about it, therefore the whole game shifts to the way how the individual teachers manage to
speak and yet say nothing about Nothing. Even a very brief acquaintance with the lives and teachings of the five founders of the
Advaita Vedanta traditions selected for the Dictionary, suffices to prove the point.
Narayana Guru tradition
The Narayana Guru tradition is the least known among the major traditions and the most philosophical of them all. Knowledge is
foremost, and the devotional component is derivative. Knowledge is the closest English word to the Malayalam arivu (see in the
Dictionary), used by Narayana Guru (1854-1928) to describe one of the central notions of his philosophy. With knowledge at the
centre of his exposition of the Advaita system, the absolutist outlook and dialectical method become its natural ingredients.
Nataraja Guru (1895-1973), a direct disciple of Narayana Guru, founded the Narayana Gurukula movement to continue the tradi-
tion. The next guru was Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati (1924-1999), the current Head of the Narayana Gurukula is Guru Muni Naraya-
na Prasad (1938- ).
Ramakrishna tradition
Ramakrishna is not a typical Advaita Vedanta teacher. His tantric and bhakti allegiances were more in the public eye. Why then is
his tradition included in the Dictionary? At least for two reasons.
First, he taught his most prominent disciples, such as Vivekananda, Brahmananda, Nirmalananda and others in the Advaita Ve-
danta tradition, and their published texts are incontestably Advaitic.
Second, the Ramakrishna Math with its publishing division, and other organizations in the Ramakrishna tradition belong to Advai-
ta Vedanta and have done perhaps more than anyone else, apart from the Sankara tradition, to propagate it both as theory and
practice.
Ramana Maharshi tradition
Ramana Maharshi did not associate himself with any particular system of thought. He was equally supportive of any path leading
one to one’s true Self. Still, his teaching has much in common with Shankara’s school, and his deep knowledge and fundamental
agreement with the Advaitic thought shine unmistakably throughout his recorded talks and the few writings.
The most famous form of Ramana Maharshi’s teaching was silence. Few people, however, are good students in silence, therefore
Ramana Maharshi also had to talk. The source texts of his tradition are almost exclusively based on notes made by his listeners
and devotees.
Ramana Maharshi had a very rare talent of explaining concepts incomprehensible for the everyday human intellect in clear, suc-
cinct and natural words. It is a real boon for a dictionary like this.
Sankara tradition
The Sankara tradition is central to Advaita Vedanta. Its literature, used in this Dictionary, includes both Sankara’s own works and
works of his followers. There were different interpretations of primary texts and various trends even within the tradition itself, but
the grain of this dictionary is not intended to catch such fine details. In many texts of this tradition the line between primary sourc-
es and associated commentaries is more blurred than in more recent traditions, therefore one has to be especially vigilant to the
context. If a citation is not quite clear, the reader is advised to consult the referenced text.
Sivananda tradition
Sivananda’s tradition in Advaita Vedanta was widely propagated by his disciples. Swami Krishnananda and Swami Chinmayanan-
da were especially successful in explaining the basics of Advaita to the Western audience. Literature of this tradition counts hun-
dreds of items, from scholarly treatises to study courses conducted at the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy and Vedanta Centres in
many countries.
How to use the Dictionary
General principles
The Dictionary is easy to use, its structure allows the reader to see multiple meaningful units of the same and adjacent levels at
once, as constellations. Such presentation is natural for our visual perception, therefore understanding of the system of words is
faster and deeper than by reading the usual linear text.
Finding words:
a) Browsing is self-evident.
b) Keyword searching is often overlooked, although it is a powerful tool to find a word not only in the position of head word, but
also in descriptions and other microtexts. It is also the only practical way to find words that have no entries of their own. For in-
stance, the word “Consciousness” occurs in many entries, such as Atman, Chaitanya, etc., but not as a separate entry because of
its non-Sanskrit origin. The same holds true for several other Western words that are important in translations but non-existent in
the original texts. They are Absolute, Mind, Awareness, Soul, and so forth. They are all searchable.
Students of Advaita may enjoy reading the Dictionary as a book, wandering within clusters of words, or jumping to linked concepts,
or even randomly browsing entries until attention singles out a word, and the reader immerses into the important topic to satisfy a
fleeting interest in one entry, or obtain a deeper insight by means of a thread of words or an interlinked system of descriptions.
Dictionary entry
The Dictionary is a compilation of quotations from Advaita Vedanta texts and general works on Indian philosophy (see “Literature
sources”).
Each dictionary entry is a distillation of knowledge about its headword from an array of texts. Entries have subsections, see below.
Although the pattern of subsections for each type of entry is essentially the same, they are filled differently in many cases. Each
entry was built from bottom up, and it contains only what was found about its head word in the sources. For instance, if there were
no appropriate descriptions found, there is no Descriptions subsection in the entry.
The patterns of subsections are not carved in stone, they vary when changes improve the entry as an interface between the read-
er and the meaning of the word.
There are three types of dictionary entries, each with different subsections that are described below:
1. General entry
2. Person
3. Text
In some cases definitions or descriptions of the same term, coming from different sources, are almost identical. The reason for
including such apparent tautology is to show that the same meaning of the term exists in different schools. Occasionally, it helps to
gain a better understanding, which is the sole purpose of the Dictionary.
Many words are used both in Advaita Vedanta and in other schools. How to determine if it is an Advaita term or not? First, in some
cases it is explicitly stated in the word entry. Secondly, if the word is explained in an Advaita source, such as Sankara’s or Naraya-
na Guru’s philosophical works, then it may be deduced to belong to Advaita Vedanta. Sometimes there is no difference between
the usage of a word in Advaita Vedanta and in a broader context. Most of the times, however, differences exist, but they are so
subtle that the learner can ignore them until the need to know them becomes apparent.
The Dictionary is far from being finished, and it has word clusters at different stages of completeness. More words are gradual-
ly being introduced; interlinking between words improves and reveals new patterns of concepts; subsections are optimized, and
many other things are happening.
1. General entry
Variant spellings
Sanskrit words are very often transliterated into English in multiple forms. The most common spelling is used for the head word,
other variants are stored under this heading. They are searchable.
Definitions
Definitions are brief logical descriptions of the head word. Sources may offer differing definitions, plus their briefness leaves much
out. Often they need elaboration which can be found in Descriptions and other subsections of the word entry.
Descriptions
A description is a context in which the head word reveals its meaning through analogy, comparison or a host of other means. Of-
ten several related words participate in the same description, reinforcing each other’s clarification and facilitating their learning.
Etymology
The origin of a word sheds a unique light on its meaning. Whenever possible, etymology is added.
Related words
Without knowing words that are closely associated with the head word, its meaning will always be incomplete. The most common
relations between words are marked in the Dictionary as
Broader term, e.g. for “Tat-tvam-asi” the Broader term is “Mahavakya”;
Opposite, e.g. for “Cetana” the Opposite is “Jada”.
Other relationships are not marked explicitly, they are clear from the context.
Sanskrit
The Sanskrit form of the head word.
Meditation
Some words are so elusive to description that almost the only means to understand them is by means of meditation. An example
is “Turiya”. Whenever possible, such meditations are provided.
Compiler’s note
The only place apart from the About the Dictionary section, where the Compiler’s voice can be heard. One of the underlying princi-
ples of the Dictionary was to reduce any text other than citations to a minimum.
2. Person
Name
The referent of the head word may have different names, and each of those names may have spelling variants. This subsection
collects all such forms for the head word in one place.
Descriptions
Descriptions are not comprehensive, rather they depict separate traits or facets of the personality under consideration. Some of
them are more telling than volumes of dry prose.
Life
The life story is as brief as possible due to the format restrictions.
Teachings
Teachings of Indian sages are not always easy to describe, they are always an integral part of their lives. It is especially hard to
accomplish in a few words. However, when appropriate citations were found, they were included in the Dictionary.
Works
Under this heading publications, foundation of religious organizations, consecration of temples, - anything important is described.
Related words
There are usually strong associations with names which reveal a lot. For instance, related words for Sivananda are yoga and Ve-
danta, while for Ramana Maharshi it’s moksha.
3. Text
Title
Surprisingly few books have fixed titles. Even such canonical texts as Bhagavadgita and Brahma Sutras have more than one vari-
ant. All such variants along with the Sanskrit title are corralled in this subsection.
Author(s)
Old Indian texts are notorious for the absence of the names of their authors. Reconstructed names of ancient authors, as well as
variants of names of known ones are presented here.
Descriptions
In accordance with the concept of the Dictionary, descriptions are brief narrations about anything deserving special attention re-
garding the text.
Synopsis
When possible, a synopsis is provided. Again, it has to be a citation - if no such citation was found, there is no synopsis for the
text.
Commentaries
In India commentaries are often more important for understanding primary texts, e.g. sutras, than the texts themselves. The most
important and generally recognized commentaries are listed here.
Publications
The lists are not intended to be comprehensive, they offer the more easily available editions of the text.
Related words
As in the case of other words in the Dictionary, related words may be an easy way to understand some important facets of the
text.
External links
In most cases, external links lead to full texts available online.
Abbreviations and conventions
[ ] - additions to the original text by someone who is citing it. Additions by the compiler are marked as follows: [ ... - Compiler’s
Note].
Transliteration of Sanskrit
Head words are “anglicised”, their form has no diacritical marks or other typographical idiosyncrasies of the academic romanised
Sanskrit that cannot be entered from the standard English language keyboard. Such forms, though incorrect in theory, can be
searched and have other practical value for the English-speaking learner of Advaita Vedanta.
The use of diacritical marks in the word entries is not consistent throughout the Dictionary as a result of the lack of unified ap-
proach to it in the source texts. It was considered undesirable to make changes in them. Consequently, some Sanskrit words have
more than one spelling variant in English, ex. sakti, shakti, and śakti.
List of works cited
Works by tradition
General
Chakravarti. Lectures on Hindu Religion
Chakravarti, I. C. 1893, Lectures on Hindu Religion, Philosophy and Yoga, Calcutta, pp. 158. U. C. Shome.
Dasgupta. A history of Indian philosophy
Dasgupta, S. 1922-1955, A history of Indian philosophy, University Press, Cambridge.
Dasgupta. Hindu Mysticism
Dasgupta, S. N. 1927, Hindu mysticism, Open Court Pub. Co., Chicago.
Davies. Bhagavad Gita
Davies, J. 1882, Hindu philosophy : The Bhagavad Gita: or, The sacred lay: a Sanskrit philosophical poem, Houghton, Mifflin, Bos-
ton.
Deussen. Outlines of Indian Philosophy
Deussen, P. 1907, Outlines of Indian philosophy : with an appendix on the philosophy of the Vedanta in its relations to occidental
metaphysics, K. Curtius, Berlin.
Deussen. The System of the Vedanta
Deussen, P. & Johnston, C. 1912, The system of the Vedanta, The Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago.
Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Jones, C. & Ryan, J. D. 2007, Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Facts On File, New York.
Encyclopedia of philosophy
Borchert, D. M. 2006, Encyclopedia of philosophy, Thomson Gale/Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit.
Encyclopedia of religion
Jones, L., Eliade, M. & Adams, C. J. 2005, Encyclopedia of religion, Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit.
Dictionary - Grimes
Grimes, J. A. 1996, A concise dictionary of Indian philosophy : Sanskrit terms defined in English, State University of New York
Press, Albany.
Hiriyanna. Outlines of Indian philosophy
Hiriyanna, M. 1994, Outlines of Indian philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi.
Hume. The thirteen Upanishads
Hume, R. E. & Haas, G. C. O. 1975, The thirteen principal Upanishads : translated from the Sanskrit, with an outline of the philos-
ophy of the Upanishads and an annotated bibliography, Oxford University Press, H. Milford, London, Oxford, New York.
Illustrated-Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Lochtefeld, J. G. 2002, The illustrated encyclopedia of Hinduism, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., New York.
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, [Online], Available from: <http://www.iep.utm.edu/> [2011].
Lurker. Dictionary of Gods
Lurker, M. 2004, The Routledge dictionary of gods, goddesses, devils and demons, Routledge, London.
Mees. The Revelation in the Wilderness
Mees, G. H. 1985, The Revelation in the Wilderness, dealing with the revelation of the meaning of the symbolism contained in the
traditions of old in the wilderness of the mind and of the modern world, Kanvashrama Trust, Tiruvannamalai, India.
Dictionary - Monier-Williams
Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Re-
trieved 2008-03-06 from “Cologne University” at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf
Muller. The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy
Muller, F. M. 1899, The six systems of Indian philosophy, Longmans, Green, New York [etc.].
Muller. The Upanishads, Part 1
Muller. The Upanishads, Part 2
Muller, F. M. 1879, The Upanishads, The Clarendon press, Oxford.
Macdonell. Vedic mythology
Macdonell, A. A. 1897, Vedic mythology, K.J. Trubner, Strassburg.
Radhakrishnan. Eastern Religions and Western Thought
Radhakrishnan, S. 1939, Eastern religions and western thought, The Clarendon press, Oxford.
Radhakrishnan. Philosophy of Upanishads
Radhakrishnan, S. 1924, The philosophy of the Upanisads, G. Allen & Unwin ltd.; New York, London.
Raja. Theories of Meaning
Raja, K. K. 1977, Indian Theories of Meaning, The Adyar Library and Research Centre, [S.l.].
Dictionary - Runes
Runes, D. D. 1942, The dictionary of philosophy, Philosophical Library, New York.
Srinivasa. Outlines of Indian philosophy
Srinivasa Iyengar, P. T. 1909, Outlines of Indian philosophy, Theosophical Pub. Society, Benares.
Theos Bernard. Hindu philosophy
Theos Bernard, T. 1947, Hindu philosophy, Philosophical Library, New York.
Whitney. Sanskrit roots
Whitney, W. D. 1885, The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language, Breitkopf and Hartel, Leipzig.
Wilson. The Vishnu Purana
Wilson, H. H. & Hall, F. 1864, The Vishnu Purana: a system of Hindu mythology and tradition, tr. from the original Sanskrit, and
illustrated by, notes derived chiefly from other Puranas, Trubner, London.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2009-2012.
Narayana Guru
Narayana. One hundred verses of Self-instruction
Narayana, Guru & Nataraja, Guru. 2006, One hundred verses of self-instruction (Atmopadesasatakam), Gurukula Pub. House,
Varkala, Kerala.
Nataraja. Bhagavad Gita
Nataraja, Guru. 1961, The Bhagavad Gita; a sublime hymn of dialectics composed by the antique sage-bard Vyasa, Bombay.
Nataraja. Dialectics
Nataraja, Guru. 2010, Dialectics, D.K. Printworld, New Delhi.
Nataraja. Integrated Science of the Absolute
Nataraja, Guru. 2001, An integrated science of the absolute : based on the “Darsana mala” (Garland of visions) by Narayana
Guru, D. K. Printworld, New Delhi.
Nataraja. Saundarya lahari
Sankaracarya & Nataraja, G. 2005, Saundarya lahari : the upsurging billow of beauty of Sankaracarya, D.K.Printworld, New Delhi.
Nataraja. The Philosophy of a Guru
Nataraja, Guru. 1986, The Philosophy of a Guru, Narayana Gurukula, Varkala, Kerala, India.
Nataraja. The word of the Guru
Nataraja, Guru. & Narayana, Guru. 2003, The word of the Guru : the life and teachings of the Guru Narayana, D.K. Printworld (P)
Ltd., New Delhi, India.
Nataraja. Vedanta Revalued and Restated
Nataraja, Guru, Vedanta revalued and restated, Narayana Gurukula Hq., Varkala.
Nataraja. Wisdom’s frame of reference
Nataraja, Guru. 1973, Wisdom’s frame of reference and other essays, Narayana Gurukula, Varkala.
Nitya. An intelligent man’s guide to the Hindu religion
Nitya Chaitanya, Y. 1976, An intelligent man’s guide to the Hindu religion, Narayana Gurukula Foundation, Varkala.
Nitya. Bhagavad Gita
Nitya Chaitanya, Y. 1993, The Bhagavad Gita : a sublime hymn of Yoga, D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., New Delhi.
Nitya. Brhadaranyaka Upanisad
Nitya Chaitanya, Y. 1993, The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad : with original text in Roman transliteration, English translation and ap-
pendices, {D.K.} Printworld.
Nitya. Experiencing the Isavasya Upanishad
Nitya Chaitanya, Y. 1992, Experiencing the Isavasya Upanishad, Narayana Gurukula, Fernhill, India.
Nitya. Isa Upanishad
Nitya Chaitanya, Y., Living the Lord Within : A Commentary on the Isavasya Upanishad, Narayana Gurukula, Varkala, Kerala,
India.