Glossary

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.

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.

I am Brahman. The second Mahāvākya, from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10. The first-person recognition of Brahman-Ātman identity.

Qualification, fitness. The four qualifications for Vedantic inquiry (sādhanacatuṣṭaya): viveka, vairāgya, śamādi ṣaṭkasampatti, mumukṣutva.

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.

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.

The self. Not the ego or personality but the pure witnessing awareness present through all states of consciousness. Identical with Brahman in Advaita.

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.

The inner controller. Brahman as the consciousness that pervades and animates all beings from within, described in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.7.

Without measure. The fourth part of Oṃ — the silence after M — corresponding to Turīya. Not a phoneme but the ground of all phonemes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dual. The school of Madhvācārya holding that God, souls, and the world are eternally and absolutely distinct from one another.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Sheath. One of the five layers within which the self appears to be enclosed, in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad's Pañcakośa model.

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.

Great sentence. The four principal sentences of the Upanishads expressing Brahman-Ātman identity: Prajñānam Brahma, Aham Brahmāsmi, Tat Tvam Asi, Ayam Ātmā Brahma.

Mind — the thinking, feeling, doubting faculty. Distinct from buddhi (discriminating intellect). The third sheath (manomaya kośa) in the Pañcakośa model.

Reflection, the second of the three stages of Vedantic inquiry (śravaṇa → manana → nididhyāsana). The student tests the teaching against every objection and resolves doubts through reasoning.

The power by which Brahman appears as many. Not illusion (the world exists) but the principle of appearance — operating through āvaraṇa (concealment) and vikṣepa (projection).

Liberation. In Advaita: the recognition that the self was never bound — that bondage was a misidentification (avidyā), not an ontological condition. Possible while still living (jīvanmukti).

The burning desire for liberation. The fourth of the four qualifications (sādhanacatuṣṭaya) for Vedantic inquiry. Not mere intellectual curiosity but an orientation of the whole person toward liberation.

Not this, not this. Yājñavalkya's description of Brahman in Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3.9.26 — the via negativa. Every description of Brahman is negated until the mind rests in what no description can capture.

Deep contemplation, assimilation. The third stage of Vedantic inquiry. The teaching is absorbed until it is no longer a thought about the self but a recognition of the self.

Without attributes. Nirguṇa Brahman is Brahman as it is in itself — beyond all qualities, descriptions, and relationships. Advaita's ultimate account of Brahman.

The five sheaths: annamaya, prāṇamaya, manomaya, vijñānamaya, ānandamaya. The Taittirīya Upaniṣad's model of the layers within which Ātman appears to be enclosed.

The supreme Brahman — the absolute, unqualified, attributeless Brahman. Distinguished in Advaita from Apara-brahman (Brahman as approached through lower knowledge or devotional practice).

Consciousness is Brahman. The first Mahāvākya, from Aitareya Upaniṣad 3.3. Defines Brahman as pure consciousness — the ground of all knowing.

Vital breath, life-force. The animating energy pervading the body. In the Pañcakośa model, prāṇa constitutes the prāṇamaya kośa (vital-breath sheath).

Karma already in motion — actions of past lives that have already produced the current birth and continue to unfold. Even after liberation, prārabdha karma continues until exhausted.

Activity, agitation. One of the three guṇas (qualities of prakṛti). Rajas is the force of desire, action, and restlessness. Obstructs the calm mind needed for Brahman-recognition.

With attributes. Saguṇa Brahman is Brahman as Īśvara — the personal God who creates, sustains, and dissolves the universe. In Advaita, Saguṇa Brahman is Nirguṇa Brahman viewed through māyā.

Witness. The pure awareness that witnesses all states of consciousness without being any of them. The Advaita term for Ātman in its function as the unchanging ground of all experience.

Deep meditative absorption. In Advaita, samādhi is preparatory (it stills the mind) but does not itself produce liberation — liberation requires knowledge (jñāna), not just absorption.

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Driven by karma arising from avidyā (ignorance of Brahman-Ātman identity). Ends with liberation (mokṣa).

Being, existence, reality. One of the three intrinsic indicators of Brahman (Sat-Cit-Ānanda). Not the existence of any particular thing but existence as such — the ground without which nothing could exist.

Hearing the teaching from the teacher. The first of the three stages of Vedantic inquiry: śravaṇa (hearing) → manana (reflection) → nididhyāsana (contemplation).

The good — what is ultimately beneficial for the self's liberation. Distinguished from preyas (the pleasant, what immediately attracts). The distinction is central to the Kaṭha Upaniṣad's teaching.

Deep dreamless sleep — the third state of consciousness in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad's four-state analysis. The Prājña state. Characterised by the dissolution of the waking and dream identities into undivided consciousness.

That thou art. The third and most famous Mahāvākya, repeated nine times in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8–6.16. Tat = Brahman/Sat. Tvam = the individual self. Asi = are (identity).

The fourth — not a fourth state but the witnessing awareness present through all three states (waking, dream, deep sleep). Śāntam, śivam, advaitam — peaceful, auspicious, non-dual.

Limiting adjunct. A condition that appears to limit Brahman and produce the appearance of an individual self. When upādhis are recognised as not-self, Ātman is recognised as Brahman.

Contemplative practice, meditation on a symbol or deity. In Advaita, upāsanā belongs to the lower path (aparā vidyā) and purifies the mind as preparation for liberating knowledge, but does not itself produce liberation.

Dispassion — the natural loosening of craving for impermanent objects that follows from viveka (discrimination). Not suppression of desire but the recognition that impermanent objects cannot deliver lasting fulfilment.

Knowledge. Parā vidyā (higher knowledge) is knowledge of the imperishable Brahman. Aparā vidyā (lower knowledge) is all other knowledge — the Vedas, grammar, astronomy, ritual — however extensive.

Discrimination — the developing capacity to distinguish between what is real and permanent (Brahman) and what is apparent and impermanent (the world of names and forms).

The self in the waking state — the first quarter (pāda) of Ātman in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Characterised by seven limbs and nineteen mouths; turned outward toward gross objects.

Empirical, conventional. The level of reality at which the world of names and forms, cause and effect, and individual selves operate. Real at this level; not ultimately real at the pāramārthika level.

Ethical restraints — the first of the eight limbs of Yoga. Also: Yama as the god of death who teaches Nachiketa in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad.