Hinduism's Online Lexicon - A-z Dictionary

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Jabala Upanishad: (Sanskrit) Belongs to the Atharva Veda. This short scripture teaches of knowledge attained in renunciation. See: Upanishad.

Jagadacharya: (Sanskrit) "World teacher." In 1986 the World Religious Parliament of New Delhi named five world leaders who were most active in spreading Sanatana Dharma outside India. The five are: H.H. Swami Chinmayananda of Chinmaya Missions, India; Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Saiva Siddhanta Church and Himalayan Academy, USA; Yogiraj Amrit Desai of Kripalu Yoga Center, USA; Pandit Tej Ramji Sharma of Nepali Baba, Nepal; and Swami Jagpurnadas Maharaj, Mauritius.

Jaimini: (Sanskrit) Founder of the Mimamsa Darshana. See: shad darshana.

Jaiminiya Brahmana Upanishad: (Sanskrit) A philosophical discourse of the Sama Veda dealing with death, passage to other worlds and reincarnation. See: Upanishad.

Jainism: (Jaina) (Sanskrit) An ancient non-Vedic religion of India made prominent by the teachings of Mahavira ("Great Hero"), ca 500 bce. The Jain Agamas teach reverence for all life, vegetarianism and strict renunciation for ascetics. Jains focus great emphasis on the fact that all souls may attain liberation, each by his own effort. Their great historic saints, called Tirthankaras ("Ford-Crossers"), are objects of worship, of whom Mahavira was the 24th and last. Jains number about six million today, living mostly in India. See: Mahavira.

Janaloka: (Sanskrit) "Plane of creativity, or of liberated mortals." The third highest of the seven upper worlds, realm of vishuddha chakra. See: loka.

jangama: (Sanskrit) "Moving; wanderer." A term used by Vira Saivites, originally to name their mendicant, renunciates who walked as homeless sadhus, uplifting others. Now an order of Vira Saivite teachers. See: Vira Saivism.

japa: (Sanskrit) "Incantation." Practice of concentrated repetition of a mantra, often while counting the repetitions on a mala or strand of beads. It may be done silently or aloud. Sometimes known as mantra yoga. A major sadhana in Hindu spiritual practice, from the simple utterance of a few names of God to extraordinary feats of repeating sacred syllables millions of times for years on end. It is recommended as a cure for pride and arrogance, anger and jealousy, fear and confusion. It harmonizes the doshas and quiets the vrittis. Filling the mind with divine syllables, awakening the divine essence of spiritual energies in the physical body, japa brings forth the amrita. For Saivites, Namah Sivaya in its various forms is the most treasured mantra used in japa. The mantra Hare-Rama-Hare-Krishna is among the foremost Vaishnava mantras. Japa yoga is said to be of 14 kinds: daily (nitya), circumstantial (naimittika), the japa of desired results (kamya), forbidden (nishiddha), penitential (prayashchitta), unmoving (achala), moving (chala), voiced (vachika), whispered (upanshu), bee, or murmured (bhramara), mental (manasa), uninterrupted (akhanda), nonuttered (ajapa) and circumambulatory (pradakshina). See: amrita, mantra, yama-niyama, yoga.

jatakarma: (Sanskrit) "Rite of birth." See: samskaras of birth.

jati : (Sanskrit) "Birth; genus; community or caste." See: varna dharma.

jayanti: (Sanskrit) "Birthday." See: Guru Jayanti.

jiva: (Sanskrit) "Living, existing." From jiv, "to live." The individual soul, atman, during its embodied state, bound by the three malas (anava, karma and maya). The jivanmukta is one who is "liberated while living." See: atman, evolution of the soul, jivanmukta, purusha, soul.

jivanmukta: (Sanskrit) "Liberated soul." A being who has attained nirvikalpa samadhi--the realization of the Self, Parasiva--and is liberated from rebirth while living in a human body. (Contrasted with videhamukta, one liberated at the point of death.) This attainment is the culmination of lifetimes of intense striving, sadhana and tapas, requiring total renunciation, sannyasa (death to the external world, denoted in the conducting of one's own funeral rites), in the current incarnation. While completing life in the physical body, the jivanmukta enjoys the ability to reenter nirvikalpa samadhi again and again. At this time, siddhis can be developed which are carried to the inner worlds after mahasamadhi. Such an awakened jnani benefits the population by simply being who he is. When he speaks, he does so without forethought. His wisdom is beyond reason, yet it does not conflict with reason. Nor does he arrive at what he says through the process of reason, but through the process of ajna-chakra sight. See: jivanmukti, jnana, kaivalya, moksha, Self Realization, Sivasayujya, videhamukti.

jivanmukti: (Sanskrit) "Liberation while living." The state of the jivanmukta. Contrasted with videhamukti, liberation at the point of death. See: death, jivanmukta, moksha, reincarnation, videhamukti.

jivayajna: (Sanskrit) "Self sacrifice." See: yajna.

jnana: (Sanskrit) "Knowledge; wisdom." The matured state of the soul. It is the wisdom that comes as an aftermath of the kundalini breaking through the door of Brahman into the realization of Parasiva, Absolute Reality. The repeated samadhis of Parasiva ever deepen this flow of divine knowing which establishes the knower in an extraordinary point of reference, totally different from those who have not attained this enlightenment. Jnana is the awakened, superconscious state (karana chitta) working within the ordinary experience of the world, flowing into daily life situations. It is the fruition of the progressive stages of charya, kriya and yoga in the Saiva Siddhanta system of spiritual unfoldment. Jnana is sometimes misunderstood as book knowledge, as a maturity or awakening that comes from simply understanding a complex philosophical system or systems. Those who define jnana in this way deny that the path is a progression of charya-kriya-yoga-jnana or of karma-bhakti-raja-jnana. Rather, they say that one can choose his path, and that each leads to the ultimate goal. See: God Realization, door of Brahman, Self Realization, samadhi.

Jnanamrita: (Sanskrit) A treatise of poems by Gorakshanatha on the duties of a yogi. See: Gorakshanatha.

jnana pada: (Sanskrit) "Stage of wisdom." According to the Saiva Siddhanta rishis, jnana is the last of the four successive padas (stages) of spiritual unfoldment. It is the culmination of the third stage, the yoga pada. Also names the knowledge section of each Agama. See: jnana, pada.

jnana shakti: (Sanskrit) "Power of wisdom." One of Siva's three primary shaktis. Also a name for Lord Karttikeya's vel. See: Karttikeya. shakti, trishula.

jnana yoga: (Sanskrit) "Union of knowledge." Describes the esoteric spiritual practices of the fully enlightened being, or jnani. An alternative meaning, popularized by Swami Vivekananda, is the quest for cognition through intellectual religious study, as one of four alternate paths to truth, the other three being bhakti yoga, karma yoga and raja yoga. See: jnana, yoga.

Jnaneshvari: (Sanskrit) Foremost religious treatise in the Marathi language. Written by the Natha saint Jnaneshvar (or Jnanadeva) about 1290. It is a verse-by-verse commentary on the Bhagavad Gita.

jnani: (Sanskrit) "Sage." One who possesses jnana. See: jivanmukta, jnana.

joint family: Kutumba or kula. The Hindu social unit consisting of several generations of kindred living together under the same roof or in a joining compound. Traditionally, joint families live in a large single home, but in modern times accommodations are often in individual, nuclear homes within a shared compound. The joint family includes the father and mother, sons, grandsons and great-grandsons with their spouses, as well as the daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters until they are married--thus often comprising several married couples and their children. The head of the joint family, called kutumba mukhya (also mukhya or kartri), is the father, supported by the mother, and in his absence, the elder son, guided by his mother and supported by his spouse. From an early age, the eldest son is given special training by his father to assume this future responsibility as head of the family. In the event of the father's death, sacred law does allow for the splitting of the family wealth between the sons. Division of family assets may also be necessary in cases where sons are involved in different professions and live in different towns, when there is an inability for all to get along under one roof, or when the family becomes unmanageably large.

The main characteristics of the joint family are that its members 1) share a common residence, 2) partake of food prepared in the same kitchen, 3) hold their property in common and, 4) ideally, profess the same religion, sect and sampradaya. Each individual family of husband, wife and children is under the guidance of the head of the joint family. All work together unselfishly to further the common good. Each joint family extends out from its home to include a second level of connections as an "extended family (brihatkutumba or mahakutumba)." See: extended family, grihastha dharma.

juncture: A critical point in the development of events.

jyotisha: (Sanskrit) From jyoti, "light." "The science of the lights (or stars)." Hindu astrology, the knowledge and practice of analyzing events and circumstances, delineating character and determining auspicious moments, according to the positions and movements of heavenly bodies. In calculating horoscopes, jyotisha uses the sidereal (fixed-star) system, whereas Western astrology uses the tropical (fixed-date) method.

jyotisha shastri: (Sanskrit) "Astrologer." A person well versed in the science of jyotisha. See: jyotisha.

Jyotisha Vedanga: (Sanskrit) "Veda-limb of celestial science (astronomy-astrology)." Ancient texts giving knowledge of astronomy and astrology, for understanding the cosmos and determining proper timing for Vedic rites. (Jyoti means light [of the sun, fire, etc.]) See: jyotisha, Vedanga.