Āgama
(Skt.). One of the four sections of the Sanskrit Buddhist canon that coincide with those of the Pāli Canon. Thus the Sanskrit Dīrgha Āgama corresponds to the Pāli Dīgha Nikāya; the Madhyama Āgama to ...
Ardhanārīśvara
A depiction of Śiva and Pārvatī combined as a single figure, the right side male, the left side female, demonstrating the union of Śiva and his śakti.
arulśakti
A term used in Śaiva Siddhānta theology to characterize Śiva's grace, which takes the form of his śakti (i.e. the Goddess), and which leads the devotee to direct experience of the god.
Bhairava
A ferocious form of Śiva; infused with a terrifying and ecstatic power, he is worshipped by Kāpālikas and others. The myth associated with him tells how he was generated from Śiva's fury at the ...
bindu
(Skt., spot or drop).A term used in some forms of anuttara-yoga-tantra to denote the subtle energy whose physical manifestation is identified with male semen. These drops of subtle energy are located ...
Brāhmī
1 (Brahmāṇī) The name of Brahmā's śakti. According to some Purāṇic accounts, she was also the god's daughter, and gave birth to the first Manu as a result of their incestuous union. She is one of the ...
cakra
1 A symbol, probably derived from the sun, of the Universal Ruler's (cakravartin's) dominion over the entire earth. As displayed on the palms of his hands (where it may be associated with Viṣṇu's ...
Devī Mahātmya
The earliest and best-known Sanskrit text consistently glorifying Devī as the supreme and autonomous creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe. Probably composed in the 6th century ce, the ...
Durgā
In Hindu mythology, a fierce goddess, wife of Shiva, often identified with Kali. She is usually depicted riding a tiger or lion and slaying the buffalo demon, and with eight or ten arms.
Dūtī pūjā
(Skt.).In Tantrism, worship of a beautiful woman involving the use of the pañca-makāra. This union is symbolic of the union of Śiva and Śakti, and the bliss of sexual ...
Feminine symbols and religion
Although masculine images reflect the male control of religion for at least the last 2,000 years, the earlier pervasive and dominant importance of feminine imagery has not been entirely lost ...
haṭha-yoga
The system of physical and mental training and discipline commonly known as yoga. It is a part of, but not identical with, the Yoga system of philosophy.
Kālī
A popular Indian goddess of Assamese origin, mentioned but hardly ever revered in Buddhism although elements of her iconography and worship may have been borrowed by practitioners of late ...
Kāpālika
A devotee of Bhairava (a ferocious form of Śiva) and member of an early medieval Tantric tradition which drew on the revelatory authority of the Bhairava Tantras to follow practices opposed, and ...
Kārttikeya
Hindu god of war and pestilence, son of Śiva from seed which was thrown into fire, the ashes of which were then cast into the Gaṅgā, from which he emerged. ...
Kaula
The name applied to a complex of Kāpālika-derived, early medieval Tantric traditions (also known as ‘Kaulism’), involving the worship of families of ferocious goddesses (yoginīs). Of its four lines ...
