Writing on Hinduism necessitates the use of non-English words that occur often need to be explained. This glossary explains words beginning with C to H.
Chiranjeevis: The persons from Hindu mythology who are immortal and will live till the world is destroyed at the end of Kaliyuga. Parashurama and Hanuman are two of the chiranjeevis.
Dadheechi: One of the ancient sages of India who sacrificed his life so that the Devas could use his bones to make weapons from them, which would make them invincible against the Asuras. It is said that Indra’s mace is made from the thighbone of Dadheechi.
Daksha: Created by Brahma from his thumb. Daksha plays a major role in Hindu mythology. He married Prasuti and their daughter Sati, married Shiva against his wishes. This ultimately led to Sati immolating herself and Shiva cutting off Daksha’s head and later replacing it with a goat’s head. Later Daksha had to live a life as a mortal. He was born to the Prachetas and Marisha. In that life thirteen of his daughters were married to sage Kashyap and were the mothers of many non-human races including the Devas and Asuras.
Dakshina: The daughter of Akuti and Ruchi who was an incarnation of Lakshmi. She was married to Yagna who was an incarnation of Vishnu. Dakshina literally means Honorarium.
Dattatreya: An avatar of Vishnu born to the sage Atri and Anasuya. The name means given to Atri. He is depicted as having three heads and four arms. Prahlad was his most famous disciple.
Demi-Gods: The Devas
Demons: The Asuras
Devahuti: The daughter of Swayambhav Manu and Shatrupa who was married to sage Kardam. She was the mother of sage Kapila, who was an avatar of Vishnu.
Devas: In the Riga Veda, the Devas were the pagan Gods representing the forces of nature. As Hinduism evolved to a monotheistic philosophy the Devas were relegated to the status of demi-Gods. They retained their functionality but not their supreme power. Their king and leader was Indra and their kingdom was heaven (which is not to be confused with the conception of heaven in Christianity).
Dhanavantri: He is the divine physician and ranked as a demi-God. He emerged from the churning of the ocean carrying the pitcher of nectar of immortality. Ayurveda, the Hindu form of medicine, is his boon to humanity.
Dharma: A member of the class of deities known as demi-Gods or Devas. Dharma is the demi-God of justice.
Dhruv: The son of Uttanapada and Suniti, he was forsaken by his father and ridiculed by his stepmother. At the age of five he undertook deep penance and compelled Vishnu to appear before him and bless him. He succeeded his father and ruled for thirty-six thousand years. After his ascension he was made the pole star as a tribute to his unwavering devotion.
Diti: One of the daughters of Daksha who was married to sage Kashyap. She was a shrewish woman and extremely jealous of her sister Aditi. Diti was the mother of the Asuras.
Draupadi: The daughter of King Drupad of Panchal, who was born fully grown in a sacrifice conducted by Drupad. Arjun won her hand in marriage by completing the assigned feat in her swayamvar, but Draupadi married all five Pandava brothers.
Dravidians: As per the early European Indologists the Dravidians were the inhabitants of India before the Aryan migration. With the doubts now being raised on the Aryan Invasion Theory, the classification into Aryans and Dravidians is also being doubted.
rga: An incarnation of Parvati assumed for the purpose of killing the demon Mahishasura, who had been given a boon that no male could kill him. It is believed that Lakshmi and Saraswati also contributed to the making of Durga.
rvasa: A hotheaded and much freared sage who appears often in Hindu mythology putting curses on people for little or no reason. He was the incarnation of Shiva born to the sage Atri and Anasuya.
ryodhan: The eldest son of Dhritrashtra and the leader of the Kauravas in the Mahabharata War.
shyant: A king in the Lunar Dynasty and the father of King Bharat after whom India is named. He was the ancestor of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. His romance with Shakuntala has been immortalized by Kalidas.
arka: The city from which Krishna ruled during Krishna avatar located on the west coast of India. Krishna asked the sea to recede and release some land on which he built the city of Dwarka. At the end of Krishna avatar, Dwarka was again submerged into the sea. Excavations in the ocean bed off the coast of modern Dwarka have revealed artifacts dating back 5000 years to the period of Krishna avatar.
danta: Literally meaning "one tooth", it is another name for Ganesh because he had only one tusk.
ic Period: The period after the Vedic period in which the Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and the Puranas gained prominence as popular scriptures.
ndharvas: A class of immortals who were singers and musicians. They lived with the Apsaras.
nesh: The elephant headed deity who is the younger son of Shiva and Parvati.
nga: The main river of India having its source at Gangotri in the Himalayas and flowing southeast to the Bay of Bengal. The waters of the Ganga have the power of washing away the sins and hence people flock to bathe in the river on auspicious occasions. The ashes of the deceased are also immersed in the river Ganga. Ganga is also the deity (Goddess) of the river.
nga Sagara: The place where Kapila established his ashram. It is where the River Ganga enters the ocean.
ngotri: The source of the Ganga in the Garhwal Himalayas
rbhagriha: The sanctum sanctorum of a temple where the deity is placed. Literally garbhagriha means the womb like room.
ruda: A deity with the body of a man and the face and wings of an eagle. He is the son of sage Kashyap and Vinita and is the king of the birds. Garuda is the vahan of Vishnu.
ushmeshwar: Another name for the Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga. A devotee named Ghushma did not falter in her prayers to Shiva, even though she was told that her son was killed. She had complete belief that Shiva would restore her son to her. Because of her unflinching faith this shrine is also known as Ghushmeshwar.
loka: The heavenly abode of Krishna.
puram: A rising tower like structure at the entrance of temples in south India, which is intricately decorated with painted carvings and sculpture.
ahasta: The second life-stage or “ashram” according to Hindu scriptures. The person lives a complete family life that includes the pleasures of marriage, the raising of children and enjoyment of material comforts with the family.
ishneshwar: One of the twelve Jyotirlingas, or ancient temples dedicated to Shiva. It is situated in Maharashtra on the site where Parvati created a lingam while she preparing sindur by rubbing vermilion powder under her thumb. The name Grishneshwar derives from “grishna” the Hindi word for friction. Later Ghushma an ardent devotee of Shiva worshipped there, therefore this Jyotirlinga is Ghushmeshwar.
anavapi: A river in the Bindu Sarovar region formed from the body of Devahuti when she attained salvation. Gyanavapi translates as a river of knowledge and it is because of the knowledge on Sankhya Yoga imparted by Kapila to Devahuti that this river was formed. Demi-Gods and sages bathe in this river for instant purification.
numan: The monkey deity was son of the Anjani and Kesari. He is revered as the greatest devotee of Rama and played an instrumental role in Rama’s war against Ravana.
ridwar: Literally “The Gate to God”, Haridwar lie on the banks of the Ganga at the foothills of the Himalayas. The pilgrimage to the four shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamnotri and Gangotri starts from Haridwar.
rivamsa: Literally meaning the Family of Hari (an epithet of Krishna) this is classified as a Itihasa or history. As its name suggests, it dwells on the life of Krishna.
stinapura: The capital city of the kings of the Lunar dynasty at the time of the Mahabharata War.
virdhana: The son of Vijitashwa and grandson of Prithu through whom the lineage continued.
ndu: A name given by those to the west of the Indus to those living to the east of the Indus. The word is from Indus or Sindhu. Gradually the area bounded by the rivers Indus and Brahmaputra in the north and the triad of seas (the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal) in the south became the homeland of the Hindus.
nduism: The religion, philosophy, culture and in general the way of life of the people living to the east of the Indus that originated in the Vedic period. It was a name coined by the Persians from the river Sindhu (Indus).
lism: The theory that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to the whole. Holism holds that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Hinduism propounds a holistic view of life that includes religion, philosophy, mythology, culture, health, sociology, governance, science, warfare and a lot more.
