Aham mameti—the false conception of “It is Mine”
Ahankara—the false identification of one’s self with anything material; false ego
Arjuna—One of the Pandavas, the friend of Lord Krishna and protagonist of the Bhagavad-gita; a central figure in the epic history of the Mahabharata
Artha—economic development and/or its results
Asuras—the demonic class of people who do not follow Vedic principles; atheist; one who opposed to the supremacy of God (the Supreme Personality of Godhead)
Atma—the living being, or spirit soul
Atyahara—over collecting of anything, including overeating anything, including overeating
Bhagavad-gita—the basic treatise of the spiritual science, or elementary text of Vedic literature explaining God, the living being, time, karma and material nature
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati—the spiritual master of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami [1874-1937]; a powerful and uncompromising preacher who established the Gaudiya Math, a large spiritual institution to preach the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He established the principle of yukta-vairagya, the innovative use of material facilities to promote the mission, despite the disapproval of traditionalists who considered them unbefitting of a spiritual renunciate.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura—father of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati [1838 1915]. H brought the mission of Lord Chaitanya into the modern age. He was a prolific poet, songwriter and writer who penned dozens of books that are revered by Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
Bhakti-yoga—the yoga of loving devotion to Lord Krishna as taught by the Gaudiya Vaishnavas; the methods of learning and developing love for the Lord.
Bharatvarsa—long ago this was the name of the earth planet. Before the advent of western cultures it referred to India and its surrounding areas. Now refers to India only.
Bhumi—the Earth personified. The personality who is the Earth
Brahma, Lord—one of the three predominating Deities of the material world, in charge of the quality of passion; Brahma is the secondary creator of the material world; he creates after the sum total of ingredients are provided by the Supreme Lord .
Brahmana(s)—the leaders of society; human society is divided into four sections one of which are the brahmanas who are situated in the mode of goodness, and above the modes of passion and ignorance. The natural qualities of the brahmanas are peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness. Due to these qualities they are able to properly lead and guide the other sections of society.
Chaitanya Charitamrita—the title of the authorized biography of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu written in the late sixteenth century and compiled by Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, presenting the Lord’s pastimes and teachings.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu—The incarnation of Krishna who appeared in Bengal in the fifteenth century to teach yuga-dharma, or the religion of the age, the congregational chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. He is the most munificent incarnation because he is bestowing freely what no one else has ever given— pure love of God.
Daiva-varnashrama—transcendental varnashrama in which all members act in pure devotional service doing everything for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. daiva-varnashrama is above the gunas and above the principles of varnashrama dharma, but the participants continue to follow the principles of varnashrama dharma for the sake of leading others on the correct path (Bg. 3.25-26)
Dharma—the essential characteristic or nature of anything, but particularly the living being, also called sva-dharma. The Sanskrit term dharma is variously translated as duty, virtue, morality, righteousness, or religion Gaudiya Vaishnava—any Vaisnava who follows the pure teachings of Lord Caitanya; The name Gaudiya refers to the region of Bengal and Bangladesh. A Vaisnava is a devotee of Visnu or Krishna. Hence, a Gaudiya Vaisnava is a practitioner of the form of Vaisnavism associated with Bengal, as started by Caitanya Mahaprabhu some 500 years ago. See Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna, Vaishnava, Visnu.
Guna(s)—the qualities of material nature, goodness, passion and ignorance, or sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna.
Harinam sankirtan—the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord, as in the Mahamantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Jiva—the atma, or spirit soul
Kali-yuga, [the age of Kali]—the age of quarrel and hypocrisy — the last and most degraded age in the progression of ages: Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. It is the present age in which we now live. Through the progression of ages the good qualities of human society are reduced by the tendency of people to engage in sinful activity. Short lives, weak memories, ill-luck, and pervasive disturbances are the qualities of Kali.
Kama—lust
Karma—as used herein: material reaction that accrues specifically because we want the fruits of our action, and consider ourselves to be the doer of activities. The word itself can be understood in four ways: 1. material action performed according to scriptural regulations; 2. action pertaining to the development of the material body; 3. any material action which will incur a subsequent reaction; 4. the material reaction one incurs due to fruitive activities; The law of karma compels a reaction to our activities. For example, if we do good for others we will be blessed with beauty, wealth, education and so on. On the other hand, if we cause pain and suffering to other living beings, we must endure pain and suffering in return; One of the five tattvas, or Vedic ontological truths.
Karma-yoga—activity, or karma, becomes karma yoga when we dovetail our desires and actions to please the Lord, or to serve the purpose of the Lord. The same work when done selflessly for the pleasure of the Lord only is bhakti-yoga, or pure devotional service.
Krishna—the Supreme personality of Godhead; The personality who is God as understood by the Western religious traditions.
Ksatriya(s)—the executive class of the varnashrama social system which divides human society into four social sections Ksatriyas make use of military strength for the purpose of protecting the principles of Vedic culture, the brahmanas, cows, elderly and weak. Their role is to maintain the social order in society by seeing that everyone is properly engaged. These men are influenced predominantly by the mode of passion.
Mahabharata—The epic tale of the history of ancient India. It narrates the struggle between the forces of good and evil, personified by the Pandavas and Kurus respectively.
Maha-mantra—the great chanting for deliverance, the chanting of which is the universal religion for this age of Kali: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Mahaprasadam—the remnants of food offered directly to the Lord according to Vaishnava tradition.
Maya—the illusory energy of the Lord that covers the atma causing him to forget his spiritual identity and identify with his body and possessions.
Modes of (material) nature – see guna(s)
Moksha—liberation into Brahman or Vaikuntha. Traditionally Vedic culture directed human society to find perfection through four stages of development: dharma (religiosity), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification) and moksha (liberation of the soul from birth and death). This process allowed materially attached people to satisfy their senses in a restricted and religious manner, and finally at the last stage of life to renounce all material things to achieve final Liberation. This process has been rendered obsolete by the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who freely bestows love of God directly through sankirtan yajna, the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord.
Paramatma—the manifestation of the Lord within the heart of every living being. As the Supersoul he guides the living being to fulfill his previous desires, or to find a bona fide spiritual master when his desire for such arises. As the Supersoul He is the witness to all the activities of the living being.
Paramesvara—Krishna in His feature as the Supreme Controller.
Paratha Sarathi—another name for Sri Krishna, the speaker of Bhagavadgita. This name is given to Him because he is the chariot driver of Paratha (Arjuna).
Prabhupada—the founder-acharya of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, aka the Hare Krishna Movement). Following the instructions of his guru to preach the philosophy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language, he began ISKCON and developed it into a worldwide organization dedicated to delivering the message of Krishna Consciousness.
Praja—dependents
Prasadam—literally: mercy; generally refers to that which is offered to the Lord in sacrifice and afterward accepted by us for our use.
Raja-guna (rajas)—the material quality of passion, the influence of which compels the living beings to fruitive activity.
Raksasa—one of the many human species, they possess superior intelligence and free will, but deny and decry the existence of God. They are considered demonic.
Saktyavesh avatar—an incarnation of the Lord who is empowered for a specific function. Vyasadeva, for example, was empowered to put the Vedic knowledge in writing.
Samsara—the chain of repeated birth and death, sometimes referred to as the wheel of karma, since as a wheel turns any point repeatedly comes again to the same position. Similarly, by the influences of activities in this world a person in a fortunate condition may find themselves degraded to a less pleasant or undesirable position in later births, but again may later find themselves in a favorable or desirable position; or vice versa.
Samskaras—purificatory rites. There are eight samskaras that can be performed for an individual throughout the course of his life. This word also refers to “soul memory” where an individual may faintly remember, or be influenced by, the condition of their previous birth.
Sattva-guna (sattva)—the material quality of goodness which is purifying and elevating.
Satya-yuga—the first of the four ages, aka the Golden Age. During this age there is no influence of ignorance or tamas, all humans are religious, and there is an unbroken reign of peace on the earth.
Shastra—scripture or scriptures. Referring specifically to the Vedic scriptures.
Shiva, Lord—one of the predominating deities of the material world. Shiva is the controller of the mode of ignorance, or tamo-guna.
Shrimatis—those spiritually advanced personalities whom the Lord has blessed to be holders of His wealth.
Shrutis—the spiritually advanced personalities who are fully conversant with the Vedic scriptures and are competent to guide society thereby.
Srimad Bhagavatam—literally, the beautiful story of the personality of Godhead. It is Vyasadeva’s commentary on his earlier work, the Vedas, and is considered the essence of all Vedic literature.
Suddha-sattva—pure goodness without any tinge of the qualities of passion or ignorance. The suddha-sattva state is found only in transcendence.
Sudra(s)—one of the four varnas. The sudras are the members of society that do things and get the work done.
Supersoul—see Paramatma
Supreme Personality of Godhead—Krishna as the Supreme personality of all of the manifestation of God in His various incarnations. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original manifestation of the Lord and the source of all other manifestations and incarnations.
Tamo-guna (tamas), or the mode of ignorance)—the third quality of the material energy, ignorance. Destruction, ignorance, sloth, madness and illusion are the qualities of tamo-guna.
Vaikuntha—the spiritual realm where there is no influence of time, nor of birth, death, disease or old age. In this transcendental realm the perfected spiritual beings reside in eternal loving union with the Lord.
Vaishnava—a worshiper of Visnu, or Krishna
Vaisya(s)—one of the four varnas, or social orders, of Vedic culture and varnashrama dharma. Vaisyas are those people who are capable of generating valuable and useful artifacts from the natural resources of the earth.
Varnashrama dharma—the social arrangement created by the Lord for the progressive spiritual development of society, organized into four social orders (varnas) and four spiritual orders (ashramas). According to the Vedas, society is not considered human unless the cultural and spiritual principles of varnashrama dharma are followed.
Vedas—the teachings of the Eternal Religion. the Vedas are eternally manifest.
Vishnu, Lord—the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God as understand in the Judeo-Christian traditions.
Vyasadeva—the literary incarnation of the Lord. A Saktyavesh avatar living at the beginning of the age of Kali. He was especially empowered to record Vedic knowledge in writing. He divided the original Veda into four sections—Rig, Yajur, Atarva, and Sama; he later wrote his own commentary on the vast work as the Srimad Bhagavatam. He also wrote the Mahabharata.
Yaksa— one of the many human species, they possess superior intelligence and free will, but deny and decry the existence of God. They are considered demonic.
Yoga—a process by which to connect with and relate to God; literally, union.
Yuga—a great epoch or cycle of time. The material universe passes through four yugas or great ages: Satya, Treta, Dvarpara and Kali. The current age of Kali lasts for 432,000 years of which 5,000 have already passed.