Vraja Maṇḍala

Ayurvedika oil massage.

Literal: ground or support. The word is generally used in the sense of a base, ground or support. For instance, in the phrase: ‘This is a blue lotus with a sweet smell,’ the lotus flower forms the ‘adhikaraṇa’ for the blue color and the sweet smell. The place where an action is performed by an agent or the locus of an object.

• Literal: Physical fire (hearth, sacrificial fire, digestive fire).
• Vaidika/Purāṇika: Agni is a major Lesser God—messenger between humans and gods, acceptor of offerings in yajña, and one of the three sacred fires (with Vāyu, Sūrya).
• Āyurveda: agni denotes digestive/metabolic fire (jatharāgni and tissue agnis) that transforms food into tissues and energy; proper agni is essential for health.
• Symbolic/ritual: represents purification, illumination, and sacrificial transformation (offering to Agni conveys gifts to deities).

Space or ether

Soul, Psyche, Mind-field or Inner instruments. These are psychological and intellectual faculties which consist of 4 components: 1. Manas - Mind: Mediates sense-data, attention, doubt and coordination of the senses (lower thinking/processing). 2. Buddhi - Intellect faculty: Decision, discrimination, judgment and determination. 3. Ahaṅkāra - False ego: Sense of “I”, : sense of “I” and ownership, self‑identification. 4. Citta - Memory & Subconscious Mind:  Storehouse of impressions (saṃskāras), memory and emotive colouring (in some texts citta is treated as part of buddhi or as an additional aspect). Literal: antaḥ = inner; karaṇa = instrument/agent.

Water.

Literally: Eight plus one hundred (i.e., 108).

Divine Self or Spirit.

[Eternal] Life science.

• Pertaining to Āyurveda (science/practice of life).
• Āyurvedika is the correct spelling for Ayurvedic.

Language

• To adore, worship, or serve with love.
• To share an intimate relationship with God.

• celibacy / chastity (sexual restraint)
• practice of self‑restraint and disciplined living for spiritual aims
• the student stage (brahmacharya āśrama) - life of study, celibate discipline, and service to a spiritual teacher.

Etymological: from brahman (ब्रह्मन्, the Absolute/Brahman or sacred) + carya (चर्य, conduct/behavior) - “conduct devoted to Brahman.”

God, Logos, The Highest Person, The Absolute Truth.

• A divine/heavenly being(s).
• Race of celestial being(s).
• deva = male.
• devi = Female.

• The principle or divine law that orders the universe.
• Individual conduct in conformity with this principle.
• The essential function or nature of a thing.

Meditation.

Knowledge of spiritual mysteries or divine truths, especially experiential, intuitive, or mystical insight into the nature of reality or the divine. Origin: from Greek γνώσις (gnōsis) - Feminine noun.

The remover of darkness (ignorance) / Self realized soul(s)

Matter or Inert (insentient) substance.

Inert (non-being), or simply, stupid.

Living entity.

The Five Sense Organs, Tools/Instruments of Perception.

1. Śrotra - Ear
2. Tvak - Skin
3. Cakṣus - Eye
4. Jihvā or rasanā - Tongue
5. Ghrāṇa - Nose

The jñānendriyas are produced from the sattva part of the tanmātras or subtle elements. Literal: jñāna = knowledge; indriya = organ/instrument (instruments that cognize).

Organs of action or Tools/Instruments of interaction or Motor faculties 1. Vāk - Speech 2. Pāṇi - Hands 3. Pāda - Feet 4. Pāyu - Excretory organ 5. Upastha - Organ of reproduction Literal: karma = action; indriya = organ/instrument. Root of Karmendriyas Karmendriyas are the products of the rajas aspect of the five tanmātras as follows:

1. Ākāśa or ether or space gives rise to vāk.
2. Vāyu or air gives rise to pāṇi.
3. Agni or fire gives rise to pāda.
4. Āpas or water gives rise to pāyu.
5. Pṛthvī or earth gives rise to upastha.

Way of life.

• An aesthetic mystic diagram / geometric configuration in which combination and intersections of various forms / shapes /symbols / letters have their full play.
• A physical structure that function as devices through which a practitioner witnesses deities and the divine.

• An auspicious invocation or opening (a benediction) at the start of a text, ceremony, or performance.
• A short prayer or salutation seeking blessings (often placed before a work or recital).

Garland/series/collection of names.

• Śrī Nimbārkācārya is one of the foremost Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas and the founder of the Svabhāvika-dvaitādvaita (Natural dual non-dualism) corpus doctrinae of Vedānta.
• A key exponent of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇas devotion and one of the early initiators of the of the Nimbārkā / Sanakādi Kumāra Sampradāya.
• He is revered as an incarnation of Śrī Sudarśana (Lord Viṣṇu’s discus).
• Also called Nimbāditya or Niyamānanda.

Devotional performance offered as service; Often devotional poetry in the Vraja tradition, frequently sung in Dhrupad style.

Devotional poetry / collection of devotional verses.

• Literal: Five actions
• Āyurveda: Detoxification therapy. The five principal cleansing and purificatory procedures in classical Āyurveda used to remove toxins (ama) and restore doshik balance.

The Five Gross Elements. 1. Earth (Bhūmi) – Solidity, stability (bones, muscles, physical structures). 2. Water (Āpaḥ) – Fluidity, cohesion (bodily fluids, rivers, oceans). 3. Fire (Anala/Tejas) – Heat, energy (sunlight, digestion, transformation). 4. Air (Vāyu) – Motion, life force (breath, wind, movement). 5. Space (Ākāsha) – Sound, vastness (ether, sky, inner stillness). These five elements constitute everything tangible and perceivable in the universe.  

• An unbroken succession.
• Lineage of teachers and disciples who transmit a teaching, practice, or tradition.

• Divine Blessing or Grace.
• Sāttvika (vegetarian) food offered to a deity.

Purpose, objective, aim, motive, or reason.

Pure, selfless, divine love.

Divine love and devotion.

Earth.

Seer(s) or Sage(s) who perceives and transmits sacred knowledge.

A holy person(s) who has attained spiritual realization.

Communal/group singing of devotional poetry (in the Vraja tradition), performed in Dhrupad style and appropriate Rāgas.

• Religious or spiritual tradition(s).
• An orderly lineage or school of teaching transmitted from Guru to disciple.

• Meaning: The cycle of repeated birth, death, and rebirth - worldly existence characterized by impermanence, ignorance, suffering, and karmic continuity.
• Literal: Saṃsāra (Sanskrit: संसार) — literally “continuous wandering/flow” (sam‑ “together/again” + sṛ/√sṛ “to go, flow, move”).

Correct spelling for the Sanskrit.

Literal: coming to refuge or taking shelter. Etymology: śaraṇa (refuge/shelter) + āgati (coming to)

Body.

Association of saints / company of the wise.

• Purity, light, and wisdom.
• The highest guṇa.

• Selfless service.
• Activity offered to God.

Guru(s) that impart spiritual knowledge and instructions.

Smritis mean “that which has to be remembered”. They refer to a specific set of sacred Hindu texts. They are composed by humans (unlike the Vedas) and are designed to guide a person through their daily lives. The Smritis are: Dharma Shãstras (Law Codes), Itihãsas (Epics: Rãmãyana, Mahãbhãrata), Purãnas, Ãgamas & Tantras (scriptures of the three major theological traditions: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism), Darshanas (Brahma Sûtra, Mîmãmsã Sûtra, Nyãya Sûtra, Vaisheshika Sûtra, Sãnkhya Sûtras and Yoga Sûtras).

•  The Goddess Lakṣmī/Rādhā herself - She is the śakti of Kṛṣṇa and ever united to Nārāyaṇa.
• Auspicious qualities in the abstract - Prosperity (śrī = wealth, abundance), royal majesty, beauty, grace, splendour, virtue, and all excellences that constitute “fortune”.
• Honorific prefix - Placed before the names of deities (Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Devī), revered teachers, or sacred texts to invoke that very auspiciousness and power.

Literally, ‘that which is heard', Vedic literature, such as the four Vedas and the Upaniṣads, that has been directly heard by or revealed to saints and sages.

Natural (inherent) dual non-dualism [corpus doctrinae of śrī nimbārkācāryaḥ].

The Five Sense Perceptions or Subtle Energy. The Five Sense Perceptions are:

1. Śabda - sound/vibration
2. Sparśa - touch
3. Rūpa - form/vision
4. Rasa - taste
5. Gandha - smell

Literal: only that. The five primordial elements (Pancha Mahābhūtaḥ) that manifest from the Ātman associated with ajñāna or ignorance are called tanmātras since each of them contains one and only quality. For instance, the primordial element ākāśa has only śabda (sound) as its characteristic and hence called śabda- tanmātra. 1. Śabda tanmātra - Ākāśa 2. Sparśa tanmātra - Vāyu 3. Rupa tanmātra - Agni 4. Rasa tanmātra - Āpas 5. Gandha tanmātra - Pṛthvī

Element, principle or aspects of reality.

Fire.

• Relating to the Vedas.
• i.e. pertaining to the ancient sacred scriptures of Vaidika India, their rituals, knowledge, or tradition.
• Vaidika is the Saṃskṛta adjective corresponding to the English Vedic term.

• One who practices vairāgya ( dispassion, detachment, or renunciation).
• A Vairāgī is typically a renunciant or ascetic who has turned away from worldly desires and attachments to pursue spiritual goals.

Sacredly wed sages.

• A devotee(s) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa ( or His avatāras like Rāma, Nārayaṇa, etc ) and worships Him as the Supreme Godhead.
• Follows the Vaiṣṇava doctrine of eternal Vaikuṇṭha and of unique individual souls that are eternally the servants and solely dependent on Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
• Follows the Vaiṣṇava rules and regulations.

• A sect within Sanātan Dharma(Hinduism) who worship Śrī Viṣṇu (or His avatāras like Rāma and Kṛṣṇa) as the Supreme Godhead.
• Follows the Vaiṣṇava doctrine of Eternal Vaikuṇṭha.

Wind or air.

• Literal: [Eternal][Sacred] Knowledge.
• The 4 Vedas and allied Vaidika Literature i.e. (Purānas, itihāsas, etc).
• The 4 Vedas.

The end (or essence) of the Vedas.

Sacred Knowledge.

A learned, wise person -  a brāhmaṇa or scholar versed in the Vedas and dharma. Etymologically it denotes “one in whom the seed of dharma has sprouted.” In Vedic and dharmashastra usage a vipra is a twice-born, Vedic-studied priest/scholar responsible for study, teaching, sacrifices, and related duties.

• The sacred lands of Śrī Rādhā Kṛṣṇa.
• Vṛndāvan and all the surrounding divine areas.
• Literal meaning: Pasture-land, Grazing ground, or cow-keeping region.