--- title: "Glossary of Sanskrit Terms — Advaita & Upanishads Codex" slug: "glossary" type: "guide" category: "advaita-vedanta" url: "https://thecodex.expert/advaita/glossary/" url_json: "https://thecodex.expert/advaita/api/v1/entries/glossary" source_citation: "" confidence: "high" author: "LUDIFU" last_updated: "2026-04-27" word_count: 2968 cite_as: "Glossary of Sanskrit Terms — Advaita & Upanishads Codex, Advaita & Upanishads Codex, https://thecodex.expert/advaita/glossary/, last updated 2026-04-27." --- # Glossary of Sanskrit Terms **Source:** Advaita & Upanishads Codex **URL:** https://thecodex.expert/advaita/glossary/ **Type:** guide **Category:** advaita-vedanta **Confidence:** High — sourced from Tier 1/2 academic translations **Last updated:** 2026-04-27 ## Summary Sanskrit glossary for the Advaita and Upanishads Codex. Definitions of key terms from the Upanishads and Advaita Vedanta tradition. ## Content ## How to Use This Glossary ## Key Distinctions the Glossary Encodes ## Sanskrit in the Upanishadic Tradition ## Terms in Their Teaching Context ## The Most Essential Terms: A Working Summary ## Deepening the Glossary: Beyond Definitions Glossary of Sanskrit Terms — Advaita & Upanishads Codex Home › Glossary Glossary Sanskrit terms used throughout this Codex, with plain English definitions and links to the pages where each concept is covered in depth. A B C D G I J K L M N P R S T U V Y A अद्वैत Advaita Non-dual. Literally: a (not) + dvaita (two). The central claim of Advaita Vedanta: reality is non-dual, and the appearance of multiplicity is due to māyā. → What is Advaita? अहंकार Ahaṃkāra The ego — the sense of being a separate, individual 'I'. The third modification of the inner instrument (antaḥkaraṇa), after mind (manas) and intellect (buddhi). Not the self, but often mistaken for it. अहं ब्रह्मास्मि Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi I am Brahman. The second Mahāvākya, from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10. The first-person recognition of Brahman-Ātman identity. → Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1.4.10 अधिकार Adhikāra Qualification, fitness. The four qualifications for Vedantic inquiry (sādhanacatuṣṭaya): viveka, vairāgya, śamādi ṣaṭkasampatti, mumukṣutva. → Viveka & Vairāgya अध्यास Adhyāsa Superimposition — the cognitive error of attributing the properties of one thing to another. Śaṅkara's foundational concept: the mutual superimposition of self and not-self is the root of bondage. → Śaṅkarācārya अविद्या Avidyā Ignorance — specifically, the ignorance of Brahman-Ātman identity. Not mere lack of information but the deep-seated misidentification of the self with the not-self. Root cause of saṃsāra. आत्मन् Ātman The self. Not the ego or personality but the pure witnessing awareness present through all states of consciousness. Identical with Brahman in Advaita. → What is Ātman? आनन्द Ānanda Bliss, fullness. One of the three intrinsic indicators of Brahman (Sat-Cit-Ānanda). Not happiness dependent on conditions but the fullness of what lacks nothing. → Sat-Cit-Ānanda अन्तर्यामिन् Antaryāmin The inner controller. Brahman as the consciousness that pervades and animates all beings from within, described in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.7. अमात्र Amātra Without measure. The fourth part of Oṃ — the silence after M — corresponding to Turīya. Not a phoneme but the ground of all phonemes. → Māṇḍūkya 1.12 B ब्रह्म Brahman The ultimate reality — the ground of all existence. Sat-Cit-Ānanda. Not a god who created the world from outside but the very being-consciousness-fullness that is the nature of all things. → What is Brahman? बुद्धि Buddhi Intellect, the discriminating faculty. The fourth and subtlest sheath of the self in the Pañcakośa model. Distinguished from manas (thinking mind) by its capacity for direct discernment. भक्ति Bhakti Devotion. The path of liberation emphasised in Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita Vedanta. In Advaita, bhakti is accepted as part of the preparation (upāsanā) but not as a direct means of liberation. भाष्य Bhāṣya Commentary. A bhāṣya proceeds word-by-word through a root text, explaining its meaning within a philosophical framework. Śaṅkara wrote bhāṣyas on the ten principal Upanishads, Bhagavad Gītā, and Brahmasūtras. C चित् Cit Consciousness, pure awareness. One of the three intrinsic indicators of Brahman (Sat-Cit-Ānanda). Not consciousness as a property of a brain but consciousness as the ground of all knowing. चित्त Citta Mind-stuff, mental substance. The repository of memory and saṃskāra (impressions). Citta-śuddhi (purification of mind) is the goal of karma and upāsanā as preparation for liberating knowledge. D द्वैत Dvaita Dual. The school of Madhvācārya holding that God, souls, and the world are eternally and absolutely distinct from one another. → Three schools compared धर्म Dharma Right conduct, truth-law, the structure of reality. Not merely 'religion' or 'duty' but the underlying ordering principle of existence. The Vedic tradition's primary ethical concept. दुःख Duḥkha Suffering, unsatisfactoriness. In Advaita, duḥkha arises from the false identification of the self with the limited individual. Its root cause is avidyā (ignorance of Brahman-Ātman identity). G गुरु Guru Teacher. In Advaita, the guru's function is to occasion the Mahāvākya recognition in the qualified student — to point at the truth that the student cannot see for themselves due to avidyā. I ईश्वर Īśvara The Lord — Brahman viewed through the limiting adjunct of māyā, as the creator, sustainer, and dissolver of the universe. In Advaita, Īśvara is Saguṇa Brahman — Brahman with attributes. J जीव Jīva The individual self — Brahman as it appears through the limiting adjuncts of the body-mind complex. In Advaita: Jīva = Brahman in reality; the difference is apparent, not ultimate. जीवन्मुक्त Jīvanmukta Liberated while living. One who has recognised Brahman-Ātman identity while still embodied. The body continues (due to prārabdha karma) but the identification with it does not. → Mokṣa ज्ञान Jñāna Knowledge, direct recognition. In Advaita, jñāna is the sole direct means of liberation — not action (karma) or meditation (upāsanā) alone. The specific knowledge is of Brahman-Ātman identity. K कर्म Karma Action and its consequences. Also: the residue of past actions that shape present conditions. Three types in Advaita: sañcita (accumulated), prārabdha (in-motion), āgāmin (future-generating). कोश Kośa Sheath. One of the five layers within which the self appears to be enclosed, in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad's Pañcakośa model. → Pañcakośa L लक्षणा Lakṣaṇā Secondary or implied meaning. The method used in Advaita to interpret Tat Tvam Asi — both Tat and Tvam are understood in their implied rather than literal sense (bhāgalakṣaṇā), revealing an identity of pure consciousness. M महावाक्य Mahāvākya Great sentence. The four principal sentences of the Upanishads expressing Brahman-Ātman identity: Prajñānam Brahma, Aham Brahmāsmi, Tat Tvam Asi, Ayam Ātmā Brahma. → The Four Mahāvākyas मनस् Manas Mind — the thinking, feeling, doubting faculty. Distinct from buddhi (discriminating intellect). The third sheath (manomaya kośa) in the Pañcakośa model. मनन Manana Reflection, the second of the three stages o --- *Cite as: "Glossary of Sanskrit Terms — Advaita & Upanishads Codex", Advaita & Upanishads Codex, https://thecodex.expert/advaita/glossary/, last updated 2026-04-27.* *Part of [Advaita & Upanishads Codex](https://thecodex.expert/advaita) — a LUDIFU knowledge project.*