u through her union with Vy
ā
sa
ambālikā
An affectionate form of
amba
, “mother”
ambhas
Water, billow
Ambik
ā
A princess of K
ā
ś
ī
, marries Vicitrav
ī
rya, mother of Dh
ṛ
tar
ā
ṣ
ṭ
ra through her union with Vy
ā
sa
ambikā
An affectionate form of
amba
, “mother”
Ā
mrap
ā
l
ī
Guardian of the Mango Trees, courtesan of Vai
ś
ā
l
ī
Ā
mrava
ṇ
a
Park of the Mango Trees, one of the Buddha’s favorite parks
amṛta
Immortal; liquid of eternal life, drunk by the gods, which surfaces during the churning of the ocean (
amṛtamanthana
) and coincides with the substance that men call
soma
A
ṃ
ś
a
Portion; one of the
Ā
dityas
aṃśa
Portion. The gods can descend into certain human beings with a part of themselves. Thus, of the P
ā
ṇ
ḍ
ava brothers, Bh
ī
ma has a portion of V
ā
yu, Yudhi
ṣ
ṭ
hira of Dharma, Arjuna of Indra, Nakula and Sahadeva of the A
ś
vins
ānanda
Joy, beatitude
Ā
nanda
Joy; Buddha’s cousin
Ā
nandavardhana
A poet and writer of treatises, author of the
Dhranyāloka
, “The Light of Poetical Suggestion,” perhaps the most important Indian work of literary criticism; lived in Kashmir in the ninth century
A.D.
Ananta
Infinite; another name of the snake
Ś
e
ṣ
a
ananta
Infinite, without limit
Anas
ū
y
ā
Without envy; daughter of Dak
ṣ
a and V
ī
rin
ī
, wife of Atri
anattā
Non-Self; a P
ā
li term of Buddhist doctrine (equivalent to the Sanskrit
anātman
) that denies the existence of a Self,
ātman
Andrée
A character in Proust’s
Recherche
A
ṅ
giras
A group of
ṛṣis
, their guide is also called A
ṅ
giras
anirukta
Inexpressible, unexpressed, implicit; describes those verses and rites in which the divinity of whom one is speaking is not named; also describes formulas that are murmured or pronounced mentally
Annap
ū
r
ṇ
ā
Full of food; a peak in the Him
ā
laya
Antelope
M
ṛ
ga, name of the constellation Orion
Antelope Park
Mrgad
ā
va, park of the king of V
ā
r
ā
ṇ
as
ī
Anumati
Consent; daughter of A
ṅ
giras; also the fifteenth day of the lunar cycle, when the gods look favorably on sacrificial offerings
Anuruddha
A Buddhist monk present at the Council of R
ā
jag
ṛ
ha
Anyata
ḥ
plak
ṣ
ā
A pond in Kuruk
ṣ
etra where Urva
ś
ī
appears with her following of Apsaras
āpaḥ
Waters, from
āp-
, “to pervade”
aparimita
Boundless
apauruṣeya
Not from man; of nonhuman origin
Apollo
Son of Zeus and Leto, twin brother of Artemis
Apsaras
Flowing in the waters; celestial nymphs
apuṃścalū
puṃścalūvākyā
“Not-whore called whore”
araṇī
A twig of
aśvattha
with which the ritual fire is kindled and with which Pur
ū
ravas first unleashed fire in the world
Arati
Dissatisfaction; a daughter of M
ā
ra
Archer
Ś
arva; one of Rudra’s names
arhat
Worthy; the fourth level of sanctity in Buddhist terminology; refers to those who have freed themselves from
karman
Arjuna
White One; one of the P
ā
ṇ
ḍ
avas, born of the union between Indra and Kunt
ī
, first wife of P
ā
ṇ
ḍ
u, his putative father
arka
Brilliant;
Asclepias gigantica
; a hymn of praise; the mystic name of the holy fire in the
agnicayana
and the
aśramedha
Ā
rtabh
ā
ga
A brahmanic master, contemporary with Y
ā
jñavalkya
Artemis
Daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo
Aru
ṇ
a
Son of Ka
ś
yapa and Vinat
ā
, S
ū
rya’s charioteer
Arundhat
ī
One of the K
ṛ
ttik
ā
s, wife of Vasi
ṣ
ṭ
ha
Aryaman
One of the
Ā
dityas, an ancestor of the
Ā
ryas
Ā
ryas
Noble Ones; used by the Vedic texts to refer to members of the three upper
castes
as
-
To gain
A
ś
ani
Flash (of lightning); one of Rudra’s names
asat
That which is not (
a-sat
), the unmanifest
āśrama
Hermitage
Asuras
Gods, the first-born sons of Praj
ā
pati; when they oppose the Devas, the gods per excellence, they become antigods
aśva
Horse
Aśvajit
One of the first five companions of the Buddha
A
ś
vala
Priest (
hotṛ
) of King Janaka
aśvamedha
Sacrifice of the horse
aśvattha
Ficus religiosa, peepul tree
A
ś
vins
Divine twins, sons of Vivasvat and Sara
ṇ
y
ū
atirikta
Overflowing
ātman
Self
Atri
Devourer: one of the Saptar
ṣ
is, to whom are attributed a number of the hymns of the fifth