Aarti
आरती
A devotional ceremony in which a lamp or flame is circled before a sacred presence as an offering of light.
SANSKRIT LIBRARY
Sanskrit Dictionary
Explore Sanskrit terms used throughout yoga, meditation, philosophy, and practice. Search by Sanskrit or English, browse A–Z, and open any term for a fuller explanation.
232
Sanskrit Terms
Browse A–Z
Abhava
अभाव
The absence or nonexistence of a particular object, condition, cause, obstacle, or mental content.
Abhaya
अभय
Freedom from fear expressed as inner steadiness and the safety, reassurance, and protection symbolized by an open palm.
Abhyanga
अभ्यङ्ग
An Ayurvedic practice of massaging the body with oil as daily self-care or therapeutic treatment.
Acharya
आचार्य
An authoritative teacher qualified to transmit philosophy, scripture, spiritual discipline, or lineage teachings.
Adharma
अधर्म
Conduct contrary to ethical duty or sustaining order, associated with moral disorder, suffering, and harmful karma.
Adhikara
अधिकार
Authority, eligibility, or proper scope to undertake a practice or duty, without implying control over its results.
Adhyaya
अध्याय
A chapter or major textual division, especially in works such as the Bhagavad Gita, with roots in recitation and study.
Advaita
अद्वैत
The Vedanta teaching that Atman, the deepest Self, is not separate from Brahman, the ultimate reality.
Aisvarya
ऐश्वर्य
Sovereignty or commanding power, encompassing divine authority, worldly prosperity, and advanced yogic capacities.
Ajnana
अज्ञान
Ignorance or mistaken understanding of the self and reality, especially the identity of Atman and Brahman in Advaita Vedanta.
Ama
आम
Incompletely digested or transformed material believed in Ayurveda to accumulate when digestive and metabolic capacity is impaired.
Amrita
अमृत
Immortality or deathlessness, also understood as divine nectar and, in Hatha Yoga, a subtle vital essence.
Ananta
अनन्त
The infinite or boundless, contemplated in meditation and personified as Vishnu or the cosmic serpent on whom he rests.
Anitya
अनित्य
The transient nature of changing phenomena, mistaken for permanence through misapprehension.
Anubhava
अनुभव
Firsthand knowledge gained through personal encounter, practice, observation, or direct perception.
Anubhuti
अनुभूति
Directly known experience, perception, or realization arising through sensation, inward awareness, or practice.
Archana
अर्चना
Reverent worship of a deity through recited names and offerings such as flowers or other sacred items.
Aroga
अरोग
The adjective describes a person or condition free from disease and considered healthy, sound, or well.
Artha
अर्थ
The practical resources and material prosperity that support life and constitute one of the four aims of human existence.
Astau
अष्टौ
The cardinal numeral for eight, used in counting and in identifying the eight limbs of yoga.
Asthi
अस्थि
Bone or skeletal structure of the physical body, especially in anatomy-informed yoga and Ayurvedic discussions.
Aushadhi
औषधि
A medicinal herb or remedy, listed in the Yoga Sutras as one possible source of extraordinary attainments.
Avatar
अवतार
A deity's deliberate descent into embodied form, often to restore dharma, protect beings, and offer spiritual guidance.
Bahiranga
बहिरङ्ग
The outward practices of yoga involving conduct, posture, breath, and the senses as preparation for meditation.
Bahya
बाह्य
Outer, external, or outwardly directed, it can qualify the phase after exhalation in pranayama but does not itself denote retention.
Baka
बक
A crane or heron, best known as the bird named in Crane Pose, which is often called Crow Pose in English.
Bandha
बन्ध
An intentional internal lock that coordinates muscular action, posture, attention, and breath to contain or redirect prana.
Basti
बस्ति
An advanced hatha yoga colon-cleansing practice, classed among the six shatkarmas and often described as a yogic enema.
Bhajan
भजन
A sung devotional practice expressing love, praise, remembrance, or worship of the Divine, especially within Bhakti Yoga.
Bhakta
भक्त
A practitioner of bhakti who expresses loving devotion to the divine through prayer, worship, remembrance, and service.
Bhastrika
भस्त्रिका
A forceful breathing practice using repeated nasal inhalations and exhalations, often followed by breath retention.
Bhava
भाव
The inner state, feeling, or disposition brought to practice, including a devotee's way of relating to the divine.
Bhavana
भावन
The deliberate development of a mental quality or contemplative orientation through sustained attention.
Bheka
भेक
A frog, used in yoga primarily in posture names for shapes that resemble the animal.
Bhoga
भोग
Embodied experience encompassing pleasure and pain, sensory enjoyment, worldly consumption, and the results of karma.
Bhuja
भुज
The arm as a body part, commonly used in posture names describing arm support, pressure, or position.
Bhujanga
भुजङ्ग
A serpent or snake, often understood as a cobra in yoga pose names describing its raised upper body.
Bindu
बिन्दु
A point, dot, or drop representing a meditative focus, a yantra's center, or subtle vital essence in Tantric traditions.
Bodha
बोध
Clear understanding or recognition arising through study, reflection, meditation, or direct insight.
Bodhi
बोधि
The liberating realization that overcomes ignorance and leads to freedom from suffering and rebirth in Buddhist philosophy.
Brahma
ब्रह्मा
The Hindu creator deity associated with cosmic creation and order, traditionally grouped with Vishnu and Shiva in the Trimurti.
Buddha
बुद्ध
A fully awakened being who has attained liberating knowledge, most often Siddhartha Gautama when used as a proper title.
Catur
चतुर्
The number four, commonly used in compounds to indicate four parts, limbs, stages, or members.
Chaitanya
चैतन्य
The illuminating principle of awareness and sentience, often understood as pure or universal consciousness.
Chaturanga
चतुरङ्ग
A low plank-like posture with bent elbows, supported by the hands and feet in modern postural yoga.
Chit
चित्
Pure awareness through which thoughts, sensations, and perceptions are known, identified in Advaita with Atman and Brahman.
Dakshina
दक्षिणा
An offering given in gratitude for ritual service, teaching, or spiritual guidance, often to a priest, guru, or teacher.
Darshan
दर्शन
The sacred act of seeing and being seen by a deity or teacher, and a philosophical viewpoint or school of thought.
Dasa
दास
A servant or attendant, especially a devotee who practices loving service to the divine or a guru.
Daya
दया
Compassion toward all beings expressed through thought, speech, and action, and observed in some traditions as a yama.
Deva
देव
A male deity or celestial being honored in Hindu traditions through mantra, ritual worship, devotion, and sacred stories.
Devi
देवी
A goddess or female deity, sometimes understood as the supreme divine reality in Shakta traditions.
Dhatu
धातु
A foundational constituent, especially a verbal root in Sanskrit or one of the body's seven sustaining tissues in Ayurveda.
Dhauti
धौति
One of Hatha yoga's six purification practices, encompassing internal and external cleansing methods.
Diksha
दीक्षा
Formal initiation or consecration into a spiritual practice, mantra, or lineage, conferred by a qualified teacher.
Dosha
दोष
One of three Ayurvedic functional factors—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha—whose balance supports health and disturbance contributes to illness.
Drishya
दृश्य
Everything perceived by the seer, including the external world, body, senses, and changing activity of the mind.
Dukha
दुःख
Suffering, pain, or unsatisfactoriness arising through change, attachment, aversion, karma, and mistaken identification.
Durga
दुर्गा
A major Hindu goddess embodying divine feminine strength, protection, and the defeat of forces that threaten dharma.
Dvaita
द्वैत
The Vedanta school that teaches an eternal distinction between Vishnu, individual souls, and the material world.
Dvesa
द्वेष
The conditioned tendency to resist painful experiences, identified as one of the five afflictions that obscure clear perception.
Dvi
द्वि
The numeral and compound prefix for two or both, often marking two-limbed or two-part forms in yoga posture names.
Eka
एक
The number one, also denoting a single limb, side, object, focus, principle, or unified reality.
Ekadasa
एकादश
The cardinal number eleven, also meaning eleventh in some grammatical contexts and used in Sanskrit counting.
Ganda
गण्ड
The cheek or side of the face, sometimes including the temple, and a component of certain compound pose names.
Ganesh
गणेश
The elephant-headed Hindu deity of wisdom and auspicious beginnings, invoked to place or remove obstacles.
Ganga
गङ्गा
The sacred river and Hindu goddess whose waters are associated with purification, pilgrimage, devotion, and liberation.
Garbha
गर्भ
The womb, its protected interior, or the embryo or fetus developing within it, often evoked by compact fetal postures.
Garuda
गरुड
The divine, eagle-like king of birds who serves as Vishnu's mount and gives Eagle Pose its name.
Ghrita
घृत
Purified butterfat used as food, in Vedic fire offerings, and in Ayurveda as a medicine or base for herbal preparations.
Go
गो
A cow, ox, or cattle collectively, often appearing in yoga compounds and carrying broader meanings in older texts.
Gunas
गुणाः
The three interdependent modes of nature—clarity, activity, and inertia—whose interplay shapes mind, matter, and experience.
Hamsa
हंस
A sacred swan or goose symbolizing the inner Self and the natural mantra heard in inhalation and exhalation.
Hanu
हनु
An anatomical term for the jaw, sometimes translated as the chin when context indicates its front or lower portion.
Hanuman
हनुमान्
The divine vanara hero of the Ramayana, revered as an exemplar of devotion, courage, and disciplined service to Rama.
Hatha
हठ
A forceful method using breath, bodily techniques, bandhas, and mudras to regulate vital processes and support meditation.
Hetu
हेतु
A cause, reason, or supporting ground that produces a condition or establishes an inference.
Hrdaya
हृदय
The physical heart or inner seat of feeling and awareness, also used for the essential core of a person or teaching.
Ida
इडा
The left, lunar subtle channel associated with the left nostril and the movement of prana.
Indra
इन्द्र
The Vedic king of the devas, associated with sovereign power, storms, rain, battle, victory, and the vajra.
Ishta
इष्ट
A desired or chosen ideal, often denoting the divine form or focus toward which a practitioner feels personally drawn.
Ishvara
ईश्वर
The supreme consciousness described in yoga as untouched by affliction, karma, and the results of action.
Ishvari
ईश्वरी
The Divine understood in feminine form, either as a particular goddess or the supreme Goddess of sovereign power.
Janu
जानु
The knee or knee region, commonly referenced in asana names such as Head-to-Knee Pose.
Japa
जप
The meditative repetition of a mantra, practiced aloud, quietly, or mentally, often with the use of a mala.
Jnani
ज्ञानी
A person established in knowledge of the true Self or ultimate reality, rather than merely learned in philosophy.
Jyoti
ज्योतिस्
Light or radiance, whether visible as flame or sunlight or understood as the inner illumination of awareness and knowledge.
Kailasa
कैलास
The sacred mountain regarded as the abode of Shiva and Parvati, identified with Mount Kailash in western Tibet.
Kali
काली
A fierce form of Devi associated with time, death, protection, transformation, and liberation.
Kama
काम
Desire, love, and sensual or aesthetic pleasure, recognized as a legitimate aim of life when guided by dharma.
Kanda
कन्द
A bulb-like subtle-body center in the lower torso from which the nadis carrying prana are said to arise.
Kapha
कफ
One of Ayurveda's three doshas, associated with cohesion, lubrication, nourishment, stability, and growth.
Kapota
कपोत
A pigeon or dove referenced in posture names for the pose's birdlike shape, especially its lifted chest.
Karna
कर्ण
The physical ear or organ of hearing, commonly used as an anatomical element in yoga pose names.
Karuna
करुणा
The caring response to suffering, cultivated as one of four attitudes that foster mental clarity and serenity.
Kavya
काव्य
An artfully composed literary work in verse, prose, or mixed form, often expressing philosophical or devotional themes.
Klesa
क्लेश
A mental affliction that distorts perception, drives reactive behavior, and sustains suffering through ignorance and attachment.
Kosha
कोश
A sheath of embodied experience, classified in Vedanta among five layers distinct from the ultimate Self.
Kripa
कृपा
Compassion toward suffering or benevolent grace bestowed by a deity or guru, especially in devotional traditions.
Krishna
कृष्ण
The divine teacher of the Bhagavad Gita, revered as an avatar of Vishnu or the supreme form of God.
Kshama
क्षमा
Patient forbearance and forgiveness amid injury, insult, or discomfort, without resentment or retaliation.
Kurma
कूर्म
The tortoise symbolizes steadiness and sensory withdrawal and is embodied in Vishnu's second avatar.
Lakshmi
लक्ष्मी
The Hindu goddess of prosperity, abundance, beauty, and flourishing, revered as the divine consort of Vishnu.
Linga
लिङ्ग
A mark, sign, or characteristic, most often the sacred aniconic emblem of Shiva in Hindu and yogic traditions.
Loka
लोक
A world or sphere of existence, including a physical domain, cosmic realm, its inhabitants, or society as a whole.
Maitri
मैत्री
The cultivation of friendliness toward those who are happy, practiced to calm and clarify the mind.
Mala
माला
A loop of prayer beads used to count mantra or divine-name repetitions during japa, commonly made with 108 beads.
Manana
मनन
The reasoned reflection on a received teaching that examines doubts and prepares understanding for contemplative assimilation.
Mandala
मण्डल
An ordered sacred diagram or ritual space representing a deity, the cosmos, or relationships among spiritual forces.
Mathas
मठाः
Monastic and religious teaching centers where renunciants, teachers, and students may live, study, worship, and maintain lineages.
Matsya
मत्स्य
Meaning fish, it names Vishnu's avatar who protects Manu during a great flood and forms part of the Sanskrit name for Fish Pose.
Mayura
मयूर
The peacock, a bird appearing in yoga pose names and carrying devotional symbolism in Indian traditions.
Metta
मेत्ता
The intentional cultivation of goodwill, wishing oneself and all beings safety, well-being, and happiness.
Mouna
मौन
The intentional practice of refraining from speech to support contemplation, discipline, and inward composure.
Mudita
मुदिता
Sincere delight in the virtue, happiness, and well-being of others, cultivated as an antidote to jealousy.
Mukti
मुक्ति
Spiritual freedom from ignorance, karma, suffering, and the cycle of rebirth, often understood as synonymous with moksha.
Muni
मुनि
A contemplative sage or ascetic whose sustained meditation and self-discipline cultivate steadiness and insight.
Murti
मूर्ति
A visible sacred form of a deity or revered being, approached as a representation or embodied presence in devotional practice.
Nada
नाद
Sound or resonance, often understood as a subtle inner tone used as an object of meditation and mental absorption.
Naga
नाग
A serpent or cobra, especially a semidivine serpent being, with elephant as an established secondary meaning.
Nakra
नक्र
A crocodile or alligator, best known in yoga as the namesake of Crocodile Pose, whose form varies by tradition.
Narayana
नारायण
A name of Vishnu and the Supreme Being in many Vaishnava traditions, understood as the source and refuge of all beings.
Nauli
नौलि
An advanced Hatha yoga cleansing practice that isolates and rolls the abdominal muscles after exhalation.
Nava
नव
A word meaning nine or, in a separate usage, new, fresh, or young, with its intended sense determined by context.
Neti
नेति
A Hatha yoga nasal-cleansing practice using saline water or thread, traditionally included among the six cleansing actions.
Nidra
निद्रा
A mental fluctuation supported by the cognition of absence, whose effects can later be remembered.
Niidhyasana
निदिध्यासन
Sustained Vedantic contemplation that assimilates teachings about the Self after hearing and rational examination.
Niralamba
निरालम्ब
Freedom from external support, describing objectless awareness, unsupported postures, or self-sustaining ultimate reality.
Nirodha
निरोध
The restraint or cessation of mental fluctuations, central to Patanjali's definition of yoga.
Nirvana
निर्वाण
The extinguishment of the causes of suffering, bringing liberation from bondage and the cycle of rebirth.
Nitya
नित्य
That which is eternal or unchanging, or in practical and ritual contexts, regular, daily, or obligatory.
Padma
पद्म
The lotus flower, symbolizing purity and spiritual unfolding in yoga and many Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
Panca
पञ्च
The cardinal number five, commonly used in compounds naming fivefold groups such as the elements or sheaths.
Pandita
पण्डित
A learned or wise person recognized for scholarship, expertise, or spiritual discernment, depending on context.
Papa
पाप
Harmful or unethical action and the resulting karmic demerit, understood without necessarily implying divine judgment.
Parvati
पार्वती
The Hindu goddess, daughter of the Himalaya and consort of Shiva, who embodies Shakti, devotion, and disciplined practice.
Pingala
पिङ्गला
The solar nadi associated with the right nostril and the movement of prana through the yogic subtle body.
Pitta
पित्त
One of Ayurveda's three doshas, governing heat, digestion, metabolism, vision, and discernment.
Plavini
प्लाविनी
An advanced Hatha Yoga breath retention involving abdominal inflation, traditionally said to allow effortless floating on water.
Prajna
प्रज्ञा
Clear, discerning insight into reality, cultivated through meditation and associated with samadhi and liberating wisdom.
Pramana
प्रमाण
A reliable source of knowledge, classified as direct perception, inference, or reliable testimony in the Yoga Sutra.
Prasad
प्रसाद
A consecrated offering, especially food, received as a blessing and associated more broadly with grace and serenity.
Prasarita
प्रसारित
The body or limbs are extended or spread apart, as in the wide stance of Wide-Legged Forward Bend.
Pratyaksha
प्रत्यक्ष
Knowledge gained through immediate perceptual experience, recognized as a form of valid cognition in yoga philosophy.
Prem
प्रेम
Heartfelt love or affection, often understood in bhakti yoga as loving devotion directed toward the divine.
Puja
पूजा
A devotional ritual honoring a deity or sacred presence through offerings, mantra, and prayer.
Punya
पुण्य
Virtue and favorable karmic potential generated by ethical, generous, devotional, or dharmic action.
Puraka
पूरक
The deliberate inhalation phase of pranayama, often followed by breath retention and exhalation.
Purana
पुराण
A genre of Hindu sacred texts preserving narratives of cosmology, deities, lineages, dharma, devotion, and liberation.
Purna
पूर्ण
A state of fullness or wholeness lacking nothing, often associated in Vedanta with the completeness of ultimate reality.
Purva
पूर्व
A contextual descriptor for the east, the front, or what is earlier or previous in space, time, or sequence.
Radha
राधा
The goddess revered as Krishna's beloved, eternal consort, and fullest expression of loving devotion in Vaishnava traditions.
Raja
राजा
A king, ruler, or sovereign, with the compound sense of royal, chief, or foremost.
Rajas
रजस्
The guna of movement and stimulation that drives action and change but may manifest as agitation, craving, and ambition.
Rama
राम
The prince and hero of the Ramayana, worshipped as an avatar of Vishnu and an embodiment of dharma.
Rasa
रस
The felt flavor or essence of an experience, especially the aesthetic mood savored through art and performance.
Rasayana
रसायन
An Ayurvedic system of medicines, diet, conduct, and therapies intended to restore health and support longevity.
Rechaka
रेचक
The controlled release of breath during pranayama, with timing and technique determined by the specific practice.
Rishi
ऋषि
A Vedic seer believed to perceive and transmit eternal mantras, later understood more broadly as a revered sage.
Roga
रोग
A bodily or mental illness, understood in Ayurveda as a broad pathological condition rather than a specific diagnosis.
Rta
ऋत
The Vedic principle of cosmic order, truth, and right action that aligns nature, conduct, ritual, and knowledge.
Rudra
रुद्र
A fierce Vedic deity associated with wild nature, destruction, protection, and healing, later identified with Shiva.
Rudraksha
रुद्राक्ष
A textured fruit stone used as a prayer bead for japa, meditation, and devotional wear, especially in traditions devoted to Shiva.
Sadhu
साधु
A broad designation for a holy person or ascetic devoted to spiritual discipline, also used to express approval.
Sakshi
साक्षी
The observing awareness by which thoughts, emotions, sensations, and perceptions are known without becoming a changing mental state.
Salabha
शलभ
A locust or grasshopper, best known in yoga as the namesake of Locust Pose.
Sama
सम
An equal, even, or balanced quality in the body, breath, mind, or response to changing conditions.
Samatva
समत्व
The evenness of mind maintained amid success and failure, pleasure and pain, without attachment to outcomes.
Samhita
संहिता
An organized compilation of teachings or mantras, often arranged as a continuous text with joined words.
Samkhya
सांख्य
A philosophical system that analyzes reality through twenty-five principles and distinguishes consciousness from material nature.
Sandhi
संधि
Rule-governed sound changes that occur where adjacent sounds meet within or between words in Sanskrit grammar.
Sannyasin
संन्यासिन्
A person committed to renouncing possessions, social claims, and attachment to results in pursuit of spiritual liberation.
Sanskrit
संस्कृत
The classical Indian language of many yoga, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain texts, commonly written today in Devanagari.
Sapta
सप्त
The cardinal number seven, used independently or in compounds to count or name seven-part sets.
Sarva
सर्व
A pronominal adjective meaning all, every, whole, or entire, often modifying a noun to indicate total scope.
Sat
सत्
Being or enduring reality, especially in Vedanta, also describing what is true, good, virtuous, or auspicious.
Satchidananda
सच्चिदानन्द
The nature of ultimate reality as unconditioned being, self-revealing consciousness, and intrinsic bliss.
Sattva
सत्त्व
The guna of clarity, luminosity, and balance, associated with mental steadiness, discernment, and receptivity to knowledge.
Sattvic
सात्त्विक
States, actions, practices, or substances shaped by sattva foster clarity, harmony, discernment, and a calm, luminous mind.
Shaktipata
शक्तिपात
The descent or awakening of divine power as grace, enabling initiation, spiritual recognition, or liberation.
Shastra
शास्त्र
An authoritative treatise or organized body of teaching that systematically explains philosophy, practice, conduct, or a field of study.
Shishya
शिष्य
A student or disciple who receives sustained instruction from a teacher, often within a practice tradition or lineage.
Shiva
शिव
A major Hindu deity associated with meditation, asceticism, dissolution, transformation, and liberating knowledge.
Shloka
श्लोक
A Sanskrit verse or classical meter, commonly recited, memorized, translated, or studied in philosophical and devotional texts.
Shravana
श्रवण
The receptive study of spiritual teachings through attentive listening to scripture or a qualified teacher.
Shruti
श्रुति
The sacred Vedic revelation traditionally heard by ancient rishis and preserved through oral transmission.
Siddha
सिद्ध
An accomplished adept recognized for advanced spiritual realization, mastery, or liberation.
Siddhi
सिद्धि
An attainment or perfection, often denoting extraordinary abilities or knowledge arising through advanced yogic practice.
Simha
सिंह
The lion, named in Lion Pose and used figuratively for a powerful, eminent, or foremost person.
Sirsa
शीर्ष
The head or uppermost part, commonly used in yoga posture names to describe the body's orientation.
Sita
सीता
The Ramayana heroine and wife of Rama, discovered in a furrow and revered as a manifestation of Lakshmi.
Sitali
शीतली
A pranayama practice of inhaling over or through the tongue and exhaling through the nose to create a cooling effect.
Siva
शिव
The auspicious Hindu deity revered as the divine yogi and, in some traditions, as supreme consciousness.
Smarana
स्मरण
The intentional recollection of the divine, a mantra, or a teaching, honored as one of the nine forms of devotion.
Sodasa
षोडश
The number sixteen, the sixteenth in a sequence, or a group of sixteen defined by its specific context.
Soma
सोम
The sacred Vedic ritual juice and its deity, later associated with the Moon and subtle lunar nectar in hatha yoga.
Spanda
स्पन्द
The subtle pulsation of consciousness through which Shakti manifests the universe and all experience in Kashmir Shaivism.
Sraddha
श्रद्धा
The faith and trust that sustain commitment to a teaching and practice before their results are known through direct experience.
Srotas
स्रोतस्
An Ayurvedic bodily pathway through which breath, nourishment, fluids, tissue materials, and wastes move or transform.
Sthiti
स्थिति
An established state of continuity or steadiness, including the maintenance of a posture, condition, or cosmic order.
Sunya
शून्य
Emptiness, open space, or zero, sometimes describing a contemplative state beyond ordinary mental activity and external supports.
Sunyata
शून्यता
The absence of fixed, independent essence, as phenomena arise through causes, conditions, parts, language, and perception.
Surya
सूर्य
The sun and its deity, associated with light, warmth, vitality, and solar practices such as Sun Salutation.
Svana
श्वान
A dog, chiefly encountered in the Sanskrit names of Downward-Facing Dog and Upward-Facing Dog poses.
Svarupa
स्वरूप
The inherent nature or essential form of the seer, a being, object, teaching, or philosophical principle.
Swami
स्वामी
A respectful title for a Hindu renunciant, monastic teacher, or spiritual leader, with conventions that vary by lineage.
Tamas
तमस्
One of the three gunas of nature, associated with darkness, inertia, heaviness, obscuration, and inactivity.
Tamasic
तामसिक
Characterized by the guna of darkness and inertia, with dullness, confusion, heaviness, or reduced clarity predominating.
Tantra
तन्त्र
A diverse family of Hindu and Buddhist texts, teachings, and initiatory traditions that may use ritual, mantra, and visualization.
Tattva
तत्त्व
Reality or essential nature, and in some traditions a fundamental principle of consciousness, mind, matter, or experience.
Tejas
तेजस्
The luminous, transformative quality of inner fire associated with clarity, courage, disciplined energy, and vital presence.
Tejo Vayu
तेजोवायु
A combined reference to the fire and air elements, not a distinct pranic current or standardized breathing practice.
Tiryan
तिर्यङ्
A directional descriptor for postures or movements extending crosswise, sideways, obliquely, or horizontally.
Tittibha
टिट्टिभ
A small bird, often identified as a lapwing or jacana, whose name appears in the posture conventionally called Firefly Pose.
Trataka
त्राटक
A cleansing and concentration practice that fixes the gaze on a defined target with minimal eye movement.
Trayodasa
त्रयोदश
The cardinal number thirteen, used in counting and contextually as the ordinal thirteenth.
Tri
त्रि
The cardinal number three, commonly used in compounds to indicate three parts, forms, qualities, or members.
Turiya
तुरीय
Nondual awareness underlying waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, conventionally described as the fourth state of consciousness.
Ubhaya
उभय
A descriptive qualifier indicating that two corresponding parts, sides, choices, or categories are included.
Udasina
उदासीन
A neutral stance of awareness, free from preference, hostility, and reactive identification.
Ujjayi
उज्जायी
A breathing technique using gentle throat constriction to create a soft, steady sound, practiced with retention or during asana.
Upanishad
उपनिषद्
A class of Vedic texts presenting philosophical and contemplative teachings on the self, reality, and liberation.
Upavista
उपविष्ट
The adjective denotes a seated or sitting position, especially within the names of yoga postures.
Upeksha
उपेक्षा
Cultivated equanimity toward non-virtuous conduct that prevents anger, contempt, or fixation from disturbing the mind.
Ustra
उष्ट्र
The camel, best known in yoga as the namesake of Camel Pose, a kneeling backbend whose shape evokes the animal.
Veda
वेद
The foundational body of Hindu sacred texts, comprising four collections that shaped the Upanishads, Vedanta, and later yoga.
Vedanta
वेदान्त
A family of philosophical traditions interpreting the Upanishads on the self, ultimate reality, bondage, and liberation.
Yantra
यन्त्र
A sacred geometric diagram used in meditation or ritual to represent a deity, cosmic principles, or both.
Yoga
योग
A disciplined system of practice and philosophy for steadying the mind, integrating life, and moving toward liberation.
Yogi
योगी
A practitioner who follows yoga as a sustained discipline or spiritual path, sometimes implying advanced attainment.
Yogini
योगिनी
A woman devoted to yogic practice, or in tantric traditions, a female adept or goddess.
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About the Sanskrit Library
The Asivana Sanskrit Library is a growing reference for Sanskrit terms encountered in yoga and related traditions. Each dictionary card offers a concise orientation, while the full entry provides additional context, pronunciation, and connections to related concepts.
ABOUT THE SANSKRIT LIBRARY
A Sanskrit Dictionary for Yoga, Philosophy, and Practice
The Asivana Sanskrit Dictionary is a growing reference for Sanskrit words and meanings used throughout yoga, meditation, yoga philosophy, spiritual practice, and the traditional names of yoga poses.
The directory above is designed for quick reference. Each individual Sanskrit page goes further, exploring the meaning, pronunciation, transliteration, philosophical context, practical use, and related concepts when those details are relevant to the term.
HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
Start with the Word or the Meaning
1
Search
Search directly for a Sanskrit word, or use an English idea such as meditation, peace, non-harming, devotion, breath, self, consciousness, or liberation.
2
Browse
Use the A-Z Sanskrit glossary to explore terms alphabetically when you are studying, reading, or simply looking for concepts you may not already know.
3
Go Deeper
The directory gives you the short meaning. Select Learn More for the full Sanskrit dictionary entry and the deeper context behind the term.
SANSKRIT AND YOGA
Why Understanding Sanskrit Matters
Sanskrit remains woven into the language of modern yoga. Even practitioners who have never formally studied Sanskrit regularly encounter words such as Namaste, Asana, Shanti, Mantra, Om, Karma, Dharma, Pranayama, and Vinyasa.
Sanskrit is also used for many traditional yoga pose names, meditation practices, mantras, philosophical teachings, and concepts discussed in yoga teacher training.
Understanding these Sanskrit terms gives greater context to what a teacher, text, mantra, or practice is communicating. It can also make yoga philosophy and classical texts easier to approach by giving important ideas a clearer foundation before exploring them in greater depth.
YOGA PHILOSOPHY
Reading the Texts with More Context
Sanskrit terms appear throughout many of the philosophical and textual traditions associated with yoga. When reading translations of works such as the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, or later philosophical commentaries, a single Sanskrit word can carry an important part of the teaching.
Concepts such as Dharma, Karma, Dhyana, Viveka, Bhakti, Ahimsa, and Samadhi belong to larger networks of ideas. Learning the vocabulary makes those relationships easier to recognize as they appear across texts, teachings, and practices.
MEANING AND CONTEXT
Sanskrit Does Not Always Translate Neatly
A Sanskrit word may have a straightforward literal meaning while taking on a more specific meaning within yoga philosophy, devotional traditions, meditation, or a particular text.
Asana is a familiar example. In contemporary yoga, the word is commonly used for a physical yoga posture. Its historical and philosophical use reaches beyond the way the word is often used in a modern studio.
This is why the directory uses concise definitions for navigation while the individual Sanskrit pages carry the deeper explanations.
SANSKRIT IN MODERN YOGA
A Shared Language in the Western Yoga Community
Sanskrit has become part of the shared vocabulary of yoga communities far beyond India. Words such as Namaste, Shanti, Guru, Mudra, Mantra, Chakra, Asana, and Yoga itself are familiar to millions of practitioners.
Familiarity does not always mean understanding. Sanskrit words are sometimes simplified, translated differently between teachers, or absorbed into modern yoga culture without much explanation of where the term comes from or what it communicates.
Learning the meaning behind the words creates a more informed relationship with the language used in practice and offers a bridge between contemporary yoga and the philosophical, textual, devotional, and contemplative traditions that continue to shape it.
A GROWING REFERENCE
The Asivana Sanskrit Library
The Sanskrit Library continues to expand as additional terms are researched and published. The goal is to build a useful Sanskrit glossary, yoga Sanskrit dictionary, and educational reference for yoga students, yoga teachers, teacher trainees, meditators, and anyone studying yoga philosophy.
Rather than treating Sanskrit vocabulary as isolated definitions, individual entries connect related ideas across yoga philosophy and practice. If you encounter an unfamiliar Sanskrit word while reading a yoga text, attending class, studying philosophy, learning a mantra, or exploring the Sanskrit name of a yoga pose, begin with the directory above and follow the term into its complete entry.
START EXPLORING
Common Sanskrit Terms in Yoga
Begin with some of the Sanskrit words most often encountered in yoga classes, philosophy, meditation, and everyday practice.