Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

Tirtha Spiritual ford, crossing place, always connected to sacred water.
Thakur Brahman priest, used in Bangladesh.
Thar Clan or surname.
Thyasapu Newari diary/text from the Medieval period.
Tore Cemetery in Manang.
Treta yuga “The eon of the three-quarters”; in which one-fourth of the dharma or righteousness of
Satya Yuga is lost and three-quarters remains.
Tripur-Bhairavi Incarnation of Kali.
Tripur-Sundar Also known as Shuroshi, incarnation of Kali.
Tulo Mahadev The biggest Shiva-linga at the Pashupatinath area.
Tyaginath Aghori-guru.
Udvada The holy town where the sacred fire of the Iranshah Atash Bahram has been burning
since Zoroastrians came to India.
Upadhyay Brahmans Funeral priests at Pashupatinath who cremate and mourn the dead.
Upanishads Written by sages of India between the eighth and fourth centuries BC. They are the final
part of the Vedas and the basis for the philosophy of Vedanta, which means the end of
the Vedas.
Upanayana The ceremony in which a young man is invested with the sacred thread.
Vamodeva The face of Pashupatinath towards the north, it is worshipped as god of giving and
Badrinath.
Varanasi See Benares.
Varna ”Class or caste”. The Chatur-varna, or four castes, as found established in the code of
Manu, are: 1) Brahman, 2) Kshatriya, 3) Vaisya and 4) Sudra. The first three castes were
called “twice born or regenerate” from their being entitled to investiture with the sacred
thread which effect a second birth.
Varnini Devotee of Chinnamasta, begged for food where after Chinnamasta severed her own
head and fed her with blood.
Varuna “The universal encompasser, the all-embracer”. One of the oldest of the Vedic deities,
king of the universe, later identified as a river god.
Vedas The Vedas are the four earliest Hindu texts, and the Rig Veda is the oldest and most
important of the four. These were the works brought by the Indo-Aryan people as they
migrated into the Indus Valley.
Vendidad Zoroastrianism. “Laws against the Demons”, a book containing ritual purity regulations
and other miscellaneous material. One of the books in Zendavesta.
Vishnu Regarded as a major god in Hinduism and Indian mythology. He is thought of as the
preserver of the universe while two other major Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva are
regarded respectively as the creator and destroyer of the universe.
Virupakshya Statue and temple at the Pashupatinath.
Vairochana One of The Five Dhyani Buddhas, usually located in the centre of mandalas of the
Dhyani Buddhas.
Vaishnava The religious path of Vishnu, sectarian worship of Vishnu or his aspects.
Vaisyas The third or trading and agricultural caste.
Vihar Buddhist monastery.
Vishnu The second god of the Hindu triad. The preserver and restorer of the world. The
worshippers of Vishnu recognise in him the supreme being from whom all things
emanate.
Vivekananda 1863-1902. Incarnated godhead in India.
Yajna Vedic fire ritual. In yajna, deities in ethereal worlds are invoked, then fed with the
fragrance of smoke from the various burnt offerings.
Yajur Veda One of the four Vedas. Seen by the outer vision it is the Veda of rituals. On an inner
level, it sets forth a yogic practice for purifying the mind and awakening the inner
consciousness.
Yaksha A kind of demigod, attendants of Kuvera, the god of wealth.
Yama The God of Death. The Lord of the Hells where the sinners are punished after their
death.
Yamadutas Messenger of Yama, who brings in the dead.
Yamraj King of Hell, God of Death.
Yantra A diagram which acts as a receptacle for the power of a mantra. Tantra is the ritual by
which the Yantra is empowered by the mantra. Any substance can be used for a Yantra,
but Aghoris often prefer the human body.
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