Glossary
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| abhiseka | a ceremonial bath performed in the worship of a Deity |
| acarya | one who teaches by his own example; a spiritual master |
| ahimsa | nonviolence |
| ananda | spiritual bliss |
| arca-vigraha | the form of God manifested through material elements, as in a painting or statue of Krsna |
| asrama | the four spiritual orders according to the Vedic social system: brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa (sometimes refers to living quarters) |
| asura | a person opposed to the service of the Lord |
| atma | the self; soul |
| avatara | "one who descends" - a fully or partially empowered incarnation of God who descends from the spiritual world for a particular mission |
| Balarama | Krsna's elder brother, and His first plenary expansion. |
| bhagavan | "He who possesses all opulence" the Supreme Lord, who is the reservoir of all beauty, strength, fame, wealth, knowledge and renunciation |
| bhakta | devotee of the Lord (sometimes refers to a new, uninitiated devotee) |
| bhakti-yoga | devotional service- highest form of yoga |
| Brahma | the first created being of the universe; directed by Lord Visnu, he creates all life forms in the universe and rules the modes of passion. |
| brahmacari | a celibate student |
| brahmajyoti | the spiritual effulgence emanating from the transcendental body of Lord Krsna and illuminating the spiritual world. |
| Brahman | 1) the individual soul 2) the impersonal, all pervasive aspect of the Supreme 3) the Supreme Personality of Godhead 4) the maha-tattva, or total material existence |
| brahmana | a member of the most intelligent class of men, according to the four Vedic occupational divisions of society |
| Brahma-samhita | prayers offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Krsna, discovered by Caitanya Mahaprabhu in South India. |
| Caitanya-Caritamrita | the biography of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu composed in Bengali in the late 16th century by Krsnadas Kaviraja |
| Caitanya Mahaprabhu | Lord Krsna's incarnation in the age of Kali, who appeared in Navadwipa, West Bengal, in the late 15th century and inaugurated the congregational chanting of the divine names of God |
| das / dasi | servant |
| deva | a demigod or godly person |
| Garuda | the man-bird carrier of Lord Visnu |
| Goloka | Krsnaloka, the eternal abode of Lord Krsna |
| gopi | cowherd maiden (eternal consorts of Krsna) |
| gosvami | one fully able to control the senses |
| grhastha | a married person living according to the Vedic social system |
| guru | spiritual master |
| jiva | living entity, eternal individual soul |
| Kali-yuga | "age of quarrel and hypocrisy" which began 5,000 years ago--(see yuga) |
| karma | material activities, for which one incurs subsequent reactions |
| karmi | one engaged in fruitive activities (karma); a materialist |
| lila | a transcendental pastime or activity performed by the Supreme Lord |
| loka | planet |
| Krsna | all-attractive; the Supreme Personality of Godhead |
| maha-mantra | the "great mantra": Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare--(see mantra) |
| mahatma | "great soul," a liberated person who is fully Krsna conscious |
| mahat-tattva | the total material energy |
| mantra | a transcendental sound or Vedic hymn |
| manu | the demigod who is the father of mankind |
| maya | illusion; the energy of the Supreme Lord that deludes living entities into forgetfulness of their spiritual nature and of God |
| mayavadi | impersonalist |
| mukti | liberation from material existence |
| Narayana | the four-armed form of Lord Krsna who presides over the Vaikuntha planets; Lord Visnu. |
| Nityananda | the incarnation of Lord Balarama who is a principal associate of Lord Caitanya. |
| om (omkara) | the sacred syllable that represents the Absolute Truth |
| Paramatma | the Supersoul; the localized aspect of the Supreme Lord; the indwelling witness and guide who accompanies every conditioned soul. |
| parampara | disciplic succession |
| prasadam | sanctified food; food, flowers, incense offered in devotion to Lord Krsna |
| prema | pure, spontaneous devotional love of God |
| purana | history told in story form |
| Radharani | Krsna's eternal consort, devotional service personified |
| Rama | 1) a name of Lord Krsna meaning "the source of all pleasure" 2) Lord Ramacandra, an incarnation of Krsna as a perfect righteous king. |
| Rupa Goswami | the leader of the six Goswamis of Vrndavana, principal followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. |
| sac-cid-ananda | eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. |
| sadhu | a saint or Krsna conscious person |
| samsara | the cycle of repeated birth and death in the material world |
| sanatana-dharma | the eternal religion; devotional service |
| sannyasa/sannyasi | the renounced order of life for spiritual culture |
| sastra | revealed scriptures |
| Siva | the demigod who supervises the material mode of ignorance and who annihilates the material cosmos. |
| Srimad- Bhagavatam | the Bhagavat Purana, written by Vyasadeva specifically to give a deep understanding of Lord Sri Krsna. |
| sudra | a member of the laborer class of men |
| Upanisads | 108 philosophical treatises that appear within the Vedas |
| Vaikunthas | the eternal spiritual planets of the spiritual world |
| vaisnava | a devotee of the Supreme Lord |
| vaisya | a member of the mercantile and agricultural class |
| vanaprastha | a man who has retired from householder life to cultivate greater renunciation |
| varnasrama-dharma | the Vedic social system, which organizes society into four occupational and four spiritual divisions (varnas and asramas) |
| Vedas | the four original scriptures (Rg, Sama, Atharva and Yajur) |
| Visnu | the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Krsna) |
| Vrndavan | the transcendental abode of Lord Krsna |
| Vyasadeva | the compiler of the Vedas and author of the Puranas, Mahabharata and Vedanta-sutra. |
| yajna | sacrifice |
| Yamaraja | the demigod who punishes the sinful after death |
| yoga | spiritual discipline to link oneself with the Supreme |
| yuga | "age," there are four yugas, which cycle perpetually: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga and Kali-yuga. As the ages proceed from Satya to Kali, religion and the good qualities of men gradually decline. |