A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie

ghï 74
ghï
Clarified butter, an ingredient of many
SACRIFICES and PÜJÄS, such as the Vedic
sacrifice homa, in which ghï is thrown
into fire.
Gho•ä
Daughter of the ø•i (sage) Kak•ïvat. She
was afflicted with leprosy, but the
AŸVINS cured her late in life, and
bestowed beauty and youth on her so
that she could marry.
ghosts
See BHÜTA; PRETA.
gifts
See DÄNA.
Giridhara
(‘the upholder of the mountain’)
Epithet of Kø•æa, who held Mount
Govardhan up high in order to protect
the shepherds of Vraja from torrential
rains sent by Indra.
Girijä (‘mountain-born’)
A name of DEVÏ.
gïtä (‘song’)
A religio-philosophical text in the form
of an epic poem. The best known is the
Bhagavadgïtä, which is found as an
insert in the sixth book of the
Mahäbhärata. Other well-known gïtäs
are the Upagïtä, also found in the
Mahäbhärata, and the Bhrämaragïtä.
Gïta-govinda
Famous poem by JÄYADEVA, celebrating
the love of Kø•æa and the GOPÏS, influential
for the development of GAU¥ÏYA
VAIÆŒAVISM.
Gïtä-rahasya (‘secret of the Gïtä’)
A work by B. G. TILAK interpreting the
Bhagavadgïtä as a ‘Gospel of action.’
Glasenapp, Helmut von
(1891–1963)
German Indologist and scholar of
religion, who taught mainly at
Königsberg and Tübingen, and promoted
the knowledge of Indian religions, especially
Hinduism, through many scholarly
and popular works: Der Hinduismus
(1930); Die Religionen Indiens (1943);
Die Philosophie der Inder (1949); Das
Indienbild deutscher Denker (1960).
go
See COW.
goat (aja)
The most frequently used animal for
Vedic SACRIFICES. Goats are still offered
to KÄLÏ (2) on a regular basis. Aja also
means ‘unborn’, and many interesting
speculations make use of the double
meaning of the word.
God and gods
Many outsiders are fascinated to learn
that Hindus worship 330 million (thirtythree
crores) gods. There is no record of
the names of all of these, of course, and
the figure serves to indicate that the
number of higher powers is unimaginably
high. There are lists of gods that go
into the hundreds and there are litanies
of names of major gods, such as Ÿiva or
Vi•æu, that enumerate a thousand
names.
The English word God/gods stands
for a great many Hindu (Sanskrit) terms
that have clearly differentiated meanings.
The most commonly used word is
DEVA or devatä, generically applicable
to all higher powers and also liberally
used by Hindus when addressing an
important human being, who is honoured
by the title ‘Deva’. Deva is everything
that reveals something unusual or
uncommon, that exercises power and
influence, or that is helpful or harmful.