A Popilar Dictionary of Hinduism Karel Werner

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30 A POPULAR DICTIONARY OF HINDUISM Bharata a classical dance form which originated in South Indian temples where it was performed by devadāsis. Many of its poses are represented by sculptures on the temple in Chidambaram and some on the Sun temple in Konārak which helped in the modern reconstruction of the nearly forgotten dance form. the ancient name of (North) India. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan a cultural and educational organization founded by Dr. K.M.Munshi in 1938, with headquarters in Bombay and branches in some two dozen Indian cities and one in London. Its proclaimed aims are the spiritual regeneration of India and its Sanskrit culture. Although not overtly religious, its underlying philosophy is nourished by Hindu ideals with strong universalistic tendencies. bhava existence, being, becoming. Bhava a deity representing positive values of existence; the lord of cattle and men, a benign form of Śiva as giver of existence. Bhavānī one of the names of Śiva’s consort; the name often used for the Devī in Śākta cults. bheda difference, distinction, cleavage; a term used by some schools of Vedāntic philosophy when discussing the problem of the difference between the world and brahman or between the individual and God. Bhedābheda (‘distinction—non-distinction’; fr. bheda-abheda) a Vedāntic doctrine formulated by , and known also as Dvaitādvaita, according to which the world and individual beings are both different and non-different from God or brahman. The school later flourished in Kashmir. mendicant; another name applied sometimes to the fourth stage of life ; Buddhist monk. bhūmi earth; level of existence; stage of spiritual achievement; in Buddhism: a stage on the bodhisattva path. bhūr(r)loka the terrestrial world and the underworld. bhūta a category of malicious spirits, subordinate to Śiva. bhuvana the world, universe; level of existence. Bhuvaneśa the name of Ganeśa in his aspect as the Lord of the world, depicted with eight arms. Bhuvaneśvara (the ‘lord of the world’) a title of Śiva; the capital city of Orissa (Bhubaneshwar) renowned for its large number of Hindu temples dating from A.D. 750–1100 which escaped destruction by Muslim invaders and are therefore of great importance for the study of the development of Hindu temple architecture. Bhuvaneśvarī the title of the Devī in Śākta cults. bhuvarloka intermediary world (Vedic ) between earth and heaven (or material and spiritual worlds). bīja seed; bīja mantra: ‘seminal mantra’, which is always monosyllabic and is used mostly in Tantric systems.
INTRODUCTION 31 bilva (vern. bel) a tree, Aegle marmelos, from whose wood Śiva made his staff and therefore it is favoured as material for making amulets. It also provides ingredients for medicines and oaths are sworn by it. bindu dot, drop, globule; in philosophy: the metaphysical point out of time and space where the absolute and the phenomenal meet, which is experienced in some types of samādhi; the sacred mark made on the forehead, symbolizing the third eye (the eye of wisdom); in the Tantras: semen; Śiva’s semen, the essence of life and the symbol of the nectar of immortality; the symbol of brahman, the essence of all reality. Birth in Hinduism is never the beginning of life of a new being, but the rebirth of one who is transmigrating from life to life. Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna (1831–91) the cofounder, with Colonel Olcott, of the Theosophical Society, in 1875, and the author of voluminous works based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings which had some influence on the neo-Hindu reform movements. bodhisattva, Bodhisattva (‘enlightenment being’) a being destined for enlightenment; a being whose essence is enlightenment. It is a Buddhist term designating, in the first place, a person who took a vow not to rest content with personal liberation, but to train for the full enlightenment of a Buddha in order to show also other beings the path to freedom. In Mahāyāna Buddhism it also means a person who, on the threshold of , renounces personal liberation to stay in the world as long as there are beings suffering in who need assistance. When the doctrine of transcendental Buddhas emerged, ‘celestial’ Bodhisattvas appeared in their retinue as their projections, acting as their mediators in the world. Some of them have names shared with Hindu deities and have come to be worshipped by both Buddhists and Hindus, each of the two flocks having a somewhat different perception of them and their nature. Body a complex structure composed of progressively finer layers, defined somewhat differently from school to school. Generally speaking, there is (1) the gross body (sthūla śarīra) of physiological functions; (2) the subtle body ( śarīra), itself formed by several ‘sheaths’ (kośas), which has its own subtle physiology and is the conductor of the life force and the scene of mental processes; and (3) the ‘causal’ body ( śarīra, sometimes also called śarīra) which stores the imprints of karma and the pattern of the personal character qualities (vāsanas) and transmigrates from life to life. The Vedāntic system recognizes five layers or sheaths (kośas) of personality: annamaya, , manomaya, vijñānamaya and ānandamaya. Brahma, Brahmā the chief god during the period of Brāhmanism. He was then virtually co-existent with the divine source of reality, the brahman, as Self-existent God and called Brahman (BU 2, 6, 3). He lost much of his importance and following when he became merely the God ‘Creator’, the first of the Hindu Trinity (Trimūrti), with as the Preserver and active ruler of the universe and Śiva as the Destroyer (but also the Lord of Yoga). Reduced to playing an active part only at the beginning of the world cycle, he is often
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A Popilar Dictionary of Hinduism Karel Werner

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