Vedic Sanskrit Glossary - J -

Jaḍa Bharata — See Bharata.

* Jaḍa Bharata — Bharata Mahārāja in his final birth as a renounced brāhmaṇa. He gave wonderful spiritual instruction to Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa.

jaḍa-yoga — A process of self-realization by which the yogi completely withdraws his senses and consciousness from all material engagements, exhibiting a total disregard for the safety and maintenance of his material body.

* jāḍya — invalidity, a vyabhicāri-bhāva.

* Jagad-guru — the spiritual master of the whole world.

* Jagad-īśa — the Supreme Lord, who is the proprietor of all the universes.

Jagāi and Mādhāi — Two debauchees whom Lord Nityānanda converted into Vaiṣṇavas.

* Jagāi and Mādhāi — two great debauchees whom Lord Nityānanda converted into Vaiṣṇavas.

* jagamohana — the area directly in front of the central altar of an Orissan temple.

* Jagannatha Misra — Kṛṣṇa’s eternal father, Nada Maharaj of Kṛṣṇa -lila.

Jagannātha Purī — See Purī.

* Jagannātha Purī — place of pilgrimage on the east coast of India where the deity of Jagannātha is worshiped

Jagannātha — (-deva) ” Lord of the universe,” an ancient Deity of Kṛṣṇa. He was established along with His brother Balarāma and sister Subhadrā in the holy city of Purī, on the coast of Orissa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu resided in Purī and worshiped Lord Jagannātha.

* Jagannātha — the Supreme Lord, who is Lord of the universe. A particular Deity form of Lord Krṣṇa, seemingly fashioned from wood and brightly painted, which has been worshipped for many centuries in Jagannātha Purī. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to daily visit Lord Jagannātha and see Him in a mood of intense separation, in the mood of Rādhārāṇī, who was parted from her beloved Kṛṣṇa most of her days.

Jagannātha-ratha — A chariot (ratha) on which the Deity of Jagannātha rides, used in a festival celebrating Kṛṣṇa’s return to Vṛndāvana from Dvārakā.

* jāgara — the ecstatic symptom of wakefulness.

* jagat — the material universe.

Jaimini — A prominent sage, a disciple of Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Jaimini wrote the Mīmāmsā-sūtras, which established the philosophical school of Vedic textual interpretation.

* Jaiminī — the atheistic propounder and philosopher of Karma-mimāṁsā philosophy, and author of the Karma-mīmāṁsā-sūtras, which explain the Vedas in ritualistic terms, and advocate material work as the purpose of life. He theorized that if fruitive activity is performed nicely, then God is obliged to give the results.

* Jains — religious sect based on impersonalist ideas.

* jajmani — system of patron-client relationships.

jalebi — A syrupy fried pastry in the shape of a tubular swirl.

Jāmbavān — One of the principal devotees of Lord Rāmacandra who helped Him defeat Rāvaṇa. He had a bearlike body.

Jāmbavatī — The daughter of Jāmbavān. After Kṛṣṇa fought Jaāmbavān over the Syamantaka jewel, Jāmbavān surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and offered Him Jāmbavatī, who became one of Kṛṣṇa’s eight principal queens.

* Jāmbavatī — the daughter of Jāmbavān. She is one of the eight principal queens of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

* jambīra — a citrus fruit with numerous seeds.

jambū — Eugenia jambos L, rose apple, an evergreen tree with large, creamy-white flowers and oval fruits that smell like roses.

* Jana-nivāsa — name for Kṛṣṇa indicating that He is the ultimate resort of all living entities.

* Janaka Mahārāja — considered one of the mahājanas, the great self-realized king of Mithilā, and the father of Sītā-devī, consort of Lord Rāmacandra.

Jānakī — Sītā, the daughter of King Janaka and wife of Lord Rāmacandra.

Janaloka — The planet above Svarga and Mahar that is inhabited by altruistic celibates.

* Janaloka — a heavenly planet.

Janamejaya — Parīkṣit’s eldest son, the next emperor of the Kuru dynasty. After Parīkṣit died, Janamejaya heard the Mahābārata from Dvaipāyana Vyāsa’s disciple Vaiśampāyana.

* Janamejaya — the son of King Parīkṣit.

Janārdana — Lord Viṣṇu, the protector of His devotees and destroyer of their enemies.

* Janārdana — a name for the Supreme Personality of Godhead meaning “He who is the original abode and protector of all living beings”.

* Janas — see: Janaloka above

Janaśarmā — A poor, greedy brāhmaṇa who became a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa by the good association of Gopa-kumāra. This is described in Part Two of Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta.

* Jaṅgama-nārāyaṇa — moving Nārāyaṇa.

Janmāṣṭamī — The festival of Kṛṣṇa’s birth.

* Janmāṣṭamī — the celebration of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s appearance in the material world;  the eighth lunar day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhadra (August-September). The festival of Kṛṣṇa’s birthday.

japa — Chanting of a mantra quietly to oneself.

* japa — the soft recitation of the Kṛṣṇa’s holy names as a private meditation, with the aid of 108 prayer beads.

* jarā — old age.

Jarāsandha — A powerful enemy of Kṛṣṇa’s, the emperor of the Magadha kingdom. Yudhiṣṭhira could not perform the Rājasūya sacrifice without first neutralizing Jarāsandha’s opposition, so Kṛṣṇa arranged for Jarāsandha to be killed by Bhīma.

* Jarāsandha — the King of Magadha. He was killed by Bhīma. (Sabhā Parva in Mahābhārata)

jari — Ornate embroidery with silver or gold thread.

* jāta-karma — a purificatory ceremony performed at the birth of a child.

* Jaṭāsura — a Rākṣasa who disguised himself as a brāhmaṇa and tried to kidnap Draupadī and four of the Pāṇḍavas except for Bhīma. Bhīma challenged him and killed him in single combat.

Jaṭāyu — A vulture who tried to stop Rāvaṇa from kidnapping Sītādevī. Mortally wounded by Rāvaṇa, he died in the arms of the grateful Lord Rāmacandra.

* Jaṭāyu — a devotee of Lord Rāmacandra who was the king of the vultures, and the brother of Sampāti. He fought with the demon Rāvaṇa when the latter kidnapped Sītā, the consort of Lord Rāmacandra.

Jaya and Vijaya — The guards of a main gate of Vaikuṇṭha. When the four Kumāra sages tried to enter Vaikuṇṭha, Jaya and Vijaya stopped them and were cursed to fall down into the material world. Thus they were successively born as the demons Hiraṇyakṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa, and Śiśupāla and Dantavakra.

* Jaya and Vijaya — two doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha who were cursed on account of offending the four Kumāra Ṛṣis, and who thus both had to take birth three times in the material world as great demons, Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa in Satya-yuga, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, and Śiśupāla and Dantavakra at the end of Dvāpara-yuga.

jaya — ” Victory!” or “All glories!”

* Jaya — a son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra who was killed by Bhīma. (Droṇa Parva in Mahābhārata)

* Jaya — an exclamation meaning “All victory to you!” or “All glories to you!”

* jāyā — intelligence.

 Jaya — A gatekeeper in one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets who, along with another gatekeeper (Vijaya), was cursed to take birth as a demon.

* Jayadeva Gosvāmī — a great Vaisnava poet and author of Gita-govinda.

Jayadratha — The king of Sindhu-deṣa and brother-in-law of Duryodhana. He once kidnapped Draupadī, the wife of the Pāṇḍavas, and so the Pāṇḍavas captured and humiliated him. He was a commander in the Kuru army at Kurukṣetra and was killed by Arjuna.

* Jayadratha — the King of Sindhu. He was killed by Arjuna in the battle of Kurukṣetra. (Droṇa Parva in Mahābhārata)

* Jāyanteyas — nine great sages, sons of King Bharata, who were also known as the nine Yogendras.

* Jayatsena — the son of Jarāsandha. He took the side of Duryodhana in the Kurukṣetra war and was killed by Abhimanyu. (Droṇa Parva in Mahābhārata)

* Jhulana yatra — the swing festival beginning on the third day of the month of Shravan (July-August) and lasting for a fortnight. The swings, usually made from gold or silver, are hung in temples on which the Deities are swung during kirtan by the guests and Vaisnavas.

* ji — honorific suffix added to almost any name as a term of endearment

* Jīmūta — a wrestler who was killed by Bhīma during a wrestling match in the kingdom of Virāṭa.

* jīrṇa-sarpa — the fatigued air of life.

* jitendriya — one who has conquered the senses.

* jīva (jīvātmā) — the living entity, who is an eternal soul, individual but part and parcel of the Supreme Lord.

Jīva Gosvāmī — One of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, principal followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu who rediscovered the forgotten places of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Vraja, reestablished the worship of the principal Vraja Deities, and made literary contributions to establish the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the modern age. Jīva Gosvāmī was the greatest scholar of the Gauḍīya sampradāya. His most important works were his six Sandharbhas and Gopāla-campū.

* Jīva Gosvāmī — one of the Six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana and the nephew of Rupa and Sanātana Gosvāmīs. His father, Anupama, died when the boy was very young. He grew up absorbed in the worship of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Lord Caitanya instructed him in a dream to proceed to Navadvīpa, and there he toured that sacred place in the association of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. He then went to Benares to study Sanskrit, and from there to Vṛndāvana to be under the shelter of his uncles. He became a disciple of Rūpa Gosvāmī and wrote eighteen major works on Vaiṣṇava philosophy, comprising more than 400,000 verses. He is considered by many philosophers and Sanskritists to be the greatest scholar who ever lived.

* jīva jago — wake up sleeping souls.

jīva — An eternal finite spirit soul, qualitatively equal with the Supreme Soul.

* jīva-bhūta — the living force within matter. See also: jīva

* jīva-hiṁsā — envy of other living entities.

* jīva-māyā — the living entities.

* jīva-tattva — the living entities, atomic parts of the Supreme Lord.

* jīvan-mukta — a person who is already liberated even while living in his present body.

jīvātmā — See jīva.

jñāna — Knowledge.

* jñāna — knowledge. Material jñāna does not go beyond the material body. Transcendental jñāna discriminates between matter and spirit. Perfect jñāna is knowledge of the body, the soul and the Supreme Lord.

jñāna-bhakta — A worshiper of God whose devotion is mixed with the motive of acquiring knowledge for his own liberation.

* Jñāna-kāṇḍa — the division of the Vedas dealing with empirical speculation in pursuit of truth; also, such speculation itself; the portions of the Vedas containing knowledge of Brahman, or spirit.

* jñāna-mārga — the cultivation of knowledge.

* jñāna-śakti — the power to distribute transcendental knowledge.

jñāna-yoga — The spiritual discipline of cultivating knowledge of pure spirit.

* jñāna-yoga — the process of approaching the Supreme by the cultivation of knowledge; the predominantly empirical process of linking with the Supreme, which is executed when one is still attached to mental speculation.

* Jnānagamya — a name for the Supreme Personality of Godhead meaning “He who is understood through knowledge of the Vedas.”

jñānī — A practitioner of jñāna-yoga, or, more generally, any learned person.

* jñānī — one who is engaged in the cultivation of knowledge (especially by philosophical speculation). Upon attaining perfection, a jñānī surrenders to Kṛṣṇa.

Juhu Beach — Location of the ISKCON temple in Mumbai, India.

* jvalitā — the stage exhibited by a devotee when more than two or three transcendental transformations are manifest and it is possible to conceal them with difficulty.

* Jyotiḥ-śāstra — the Vedic science of astronomy.

* Jyotir-linga — one of the 12 selfmanifested Śiva-lingas