KNOW US ALL IN RAMAYANA - NAMES
Glossary
Adisesha :
The primordial Serpent which is Lord Vishnu's bed.
Agneyastra : A missile charged with an
invocation to the God Agni (Fire).
Aryaputra : Noble prince; classical
form of address by wife to husband,
betokening love and respect combined.
Ashrama : Hermitage.
Asuric Yajna : Sacrifice pertaining to
Asuras. Demoniacal sacrifice and
necromancy for gaining power
.
Abhisheka : Religious rite of pouring
or sprinkling sacred waters on the head of
one who is installed as King or First
Prince.
Adharma : Sin, unrighteous action,
opposite of dharma.
Agni : The God of Fire.
Alakapuri : The capital of Kubera, the
God of Wealth.
Amaravati : The city in heaven where
Indra has his abode.
Aruna : The God of Dawn, first son of
Kasyapa Prajapati and Vinata. He was
born lame.
Aruna was the elder brother of Garuda.
Aruna is the charioteer of the Sun God
Arundhati : Wife of Sage Vasishtha, a
pattern of chastity.
Astras : Miraculous weapons whose
power lay in the invocations they were
charged with.
Asuras : Enemies of the Gods.
Aswapati : King of Kekaya, father of
Kaikeyi and grandfather of Bharata.
Aswini Devatas : Celestial beings, twin
sons of Surya.
Avatar : Incarnation.
A
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B.
Bala, Ati Bala: Two invocations to
obviate hunger, thirst and sleep.
Bhagirathi : Another name of Ganga
.
Bhagyam : Fortune, prosperity.
Bhakta : Devotee.
Bhakti : Devotion to God, loyalty,
faith.
Bheda : Diplomacy of playing one
against another in the enemy camp.
Bhogavati : The capital of the Serpent
King in the nether world.
Brahmana : The first of the four castes
devoting their lives to study and teaching
and the
performance of religious ceremonies.
Brahma : The Creator, one of the
Trinity
Brahmastra : The most powerful
among Astras (mantra invoked weapons).
Brahmachari : One who is in the first
of the four stages in a Brahmin's life, the
stage of study and practice of a disciplined
life.
Brahmadanda : Holy staff of an
austere Brahmin.
Brahmajnana : The realisation of e.
Brahmadanda : Holy staff of an
austere Brahmin.
Brahmajnana : The realisation of the
Supreme Being, higher wisdom.
Brahmarishi : The highest type of
sages.
Brihaspati : The preceptor of the
Devas, the planet Jupiter.
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C
Chaitra : The month falling in the
second half of April and the first half of
May.
Chandala : Outcaste, untouchable.
D
Dana : Gift, bribing of the enemy,
Danavas : Sons of Danu and Kasyapa
Prajapati, enemies of Devas.
Daityas : Sons of Diti and Kasyapa
Prajapati, enemies of Devas.
Daivam : Divine, celestial, fate.
Danda : Physical punishment, force
used in meeting the enemy's tactics.
Darbha : A species of sacred
Danda : Physical punishment, force
used in meeting the enemy's tactics.
Darbha : A species of sacred grass used
for religious rites.
Deva-Loka : The celestial regions.
Devarishis : Sages of Heaven.
Devas : Celestial beings, sons of Aditi
and Kasyapa.
Dharma : Duty as laid down by
religion or Dishtam : Indicated.
G
Gandharvas : A Class Of semi-divine
beings. Celestial musicians.
Garuda : The bird king who is Vishnu's
vehicle.
Govinda : One of the names of
Krishna.
Guru : Acharya, preceptor.
H
Hari : One of the names of Vishnu. The
second of the Hindu Trinity. Other names
are Krishna, Mukunda, Madhava, Kesava,
Narayana.
Himavan : The presiding deity of the
Himalaya range.
I
Ikshvaku : King of the Solar race from
whom the name came for the race of Solar
kings.
Indra : The chief and the king of the
Gods.
Indra-Astra : Missile charged with an
invocation to Indra.
J.
Jambavan : Leader of bears in the army
of Sugriva.
Jamadagni : A great sage, father of
Parasurama.
Jnana : Spiritual knowledge,
realisation.
Jnani : A knower of Reality.
Kama : Desire, usually referred to in
relation to sex.
K
Kamadhenu : The Divine cow of
Heaven. It was born of the Ocean when
the Devas and Asuras churned it for
Nectar.
Kamavalli : A name which Surpanakha
gave to herself.
Kartaviryarjuna : Son of King
Kritavirya. He had a thousand hands and
his golden chariot could go wherever he
wished. He was a contemporary of
Ravana and had him imprisoned in his
city.
P
Parasurama killed him for carrying
away Kamadhenu and killing Jamadagni
Kailasa : The abode of Siva.
Kalpaka : A Tree which issued out of
the Ocean when it was churned by Devas
and Asuras. A celestial tree which grants
any wish to people who are under it.
Karma : Action, the law that governs
all action and its inevitable consequences
on the doer.
Karma Yogin : One who practises the
way of action for salvation.
Kasyapa : A celebrated sage, son of
Brahma. He had many wives through
whom were born the various forms of life
on earth.
Kekaya : A country north-west of
Kosala, the place where Bharata's
maternal grand father ruled. West of
modern Punjab.
Kinkaras : Soldiers, personal
attendants.
Kinnaras : Celestial beings like the
Gandharvas, who played on musical
instruments.
Kodanda : Rama's bow.
Kokila : The cuckoo.
Krodha : Anger.
Krouncha : A Krouncha : A bird.
Kshatriya : The second of the four
castes.
Kubera : God of Wealth.
Kurukshetra : The battlefield where the
Pandavas and Kauravas fought.
Kusa : A kind of grass used in religious
ceremonies.
Lakshmi : The Goddess of well-being,
wife of Vishnu.
L
Leela : Play, the unexplainable ways of
Providence.
M
Malyavan : The aged Rakshasa
grandfather of Ravana.
Malyavati : A stream flowing by the
foot of the Chitrakuta Hill.
Maruti : Name of Hanuman being son
of Marut, the Wind-god.
Mahabali : An Asura who became a
powerful ruler and a rival to the gods. He
was the son of Virochana and grandson Prahlada.
Mahadeva : One of the names of Siva.
Maharshi : A great SageManmatha : The God of Love.
Mantras : Scriptural verses,
incantations.
Maya : The architect of Asuras.
Meru : A fabulous mountain around
which the Sun is supposed to revolve.
N
Naga : Semi-divine serpents.
Narayana : Vishnu.
Narada : The celestial rishi with the
lute.
Namah : Bow, salutation.
Nandigrama : A village near Ayodhya
where Bharata lived and ruled Ayodhya as
a deputy of Rama.
Nikumbhila : A cave and grove in
Lanka where oblations were offered to
Kali.
Niti Sastra : Science of government
and diplomacy.
Niyati : Law.
Paduka : Footwear.
P
Parayana : Reading a Purana or Epic as
a daily devotional exercise.
Parijata : A celestial flowering tree.
Parvati : Uma, wife of Siva.
Patala : The nether regions.
Payasam : A sweet preparation of milk
and rice.
Parasurama : The sixth incarnation of
Vishnu who curbed the growing arrogance
of the Kshatriyas.
Pinaka : Bow of Siva.
Puja : Worship.
Prajapati : The Creator.
Puranas : Sacred legends.
Pushpaka Vimana : Aerial chariot of
Ravana which originally belonged to
Kubera. Sitting in this chariot, one could
obtain anything he or she desired.
P
Rajagriha : The capital of the Kekaya
country.
Rajasabha : Council of State.
Rajasik : Appertaining to the principle
of activity egoism, arrogance.
Rakshasas : Evil-minded strong beings
similar to Asuras.
Rakshasi : Feminine of Rakshasa.
: An ancestor of Rama. He was
a king of the Solar race.
Raja Rishi : An eminent sage, a
philosopher-king.
Rishabha : A peak in the Himalayas.
Rishi : A sage who has undergone
severe austerities.
Rudra : Siva.
S
Sama : Peaceful approach to the
enemy, negotiation.
Sastras : Sacred lore.
Satvik : Appertaining to the element of
equanimity as distinguished from the
principles of activity and inertia.
Sanyasini : A female recluse, feminine
of Sanyasi.
Sarama : Wife of Vibhishana. She and
Trijata were the friends among the
Rakshasis that Sita had during Rakshasis that Sita had during her
incarceration in the Asoka Vana.
Sarayu : A tributary of the river
Ganges on the North bank.
Satyaparakrama : Righteous and
strong. Strong in righteousness.
Siddha : One who attained special
powers through penance. A class of
heavenly beings.
Siva : One of the Hindu Trinity.
Sloka : Couplet or Quatrain in Sanskrit.
Surya : The Sun God.
Soulabhya : Ease of access.
Sri Krishna : The eighth incarnation of
Vishnu, who gave the Bhagavad Gita.
Sruti : Veda, Revelation.
Sukra : The Guru or acharya of the
Asuras, the planet Venus.
Swarga : Heaven, where the blessed
are received after death.
T
Tamasik : Pertaining to the element of
Tamasik : Pertaining to the element of inertia.
Tamasa : A river flowing into Ganga.
Tapas : Austerities and penances.
Tapasvi : One who does Tapas or
penance.
Tapasvini : Feminine of Tapasvi
Tapasya : Power obtained through
Tapas or penance.
Tilaka : A mark put on the forehead of
women.
Trivikrama : See Vamana.
V
Vamana : The fifth incarnation of
Vishnu to curb the power of Mahabali.
Vamana became Trivikrama of huge
stature who measured Earth and Heaven
in two steps
Vanaprastha : The third stage of a
Brahmin's life retiring with his wife as a
preparation for sanyasa.
Vayu : The Wind God who was father
of Hanuman.
Vaidehi : Another name of Sita.
Vaishnava : Appertaining to Vishnu or
worship of Vishnu.
Vaitarani : A terrible river in Hell.
Varuna : The Lord of the Ocean.
Veda : Scripture. Four books: Rig
Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama
Vaitarani : A terrible river in Hell.
Varuna : The Lord of the Ocean.
Veda : Scripture. Four books: Rig
Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and
Atharvana Veda.
Vidhi : Law, decree of fate, that which
is ordained.
Vidyut-Jihva : Lightning Tongued, a
Rakshasa sorcerer.
Vinata : Mother of Garuda.
Vishnu : See Narayana.
Visravas : A rishi who was father of
Ravana.
Viswakarma : The celestial architect.
Vritra : An Asura killed by Indra.
Y
Yaga : Sacrifice, a religious ceremony
accompanied by oblations.
Yajarmana : He who performs a
sacrifice, Master of Ceremonies.
Yakshas : A class of celestial beings.
Yama : God of Death.
Yojana : A measure of distance equal
probably to nine miles.
Yudhajit : Son of the King of Kekaya.
Brother of Kaikeyi.
Yuvaraja : Prince-Regent.
Yaga : Sacrifice, a religious ceremony
accompanied by oblations.
Yajarmana : He who performs a
sacrifice, Master of Ceremonies.
Yakshas : A class of celestial beings.
Yama : God of Death.
Yojana : A measure of distance equal
probably to nine miles.
Yudhajit : Son of the King of Kekaya.
Brother of Kaikeyi.
Yuvaraja : Prince-Regent.
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