glossary

Glossary

 

Abba	Loving respectful term for father
Acharya	Literally, one who observes the rules of his order title of a Vedic preceptor or teacher
Adhyayan	Reading, studying
Adivasis	Literally, aboriginals. Term applied to the primitive hill tribes who were living outside the Hindi social system
Advaita	School of Vedanta philosophy. Advaita is a monist system of epistemology and ontology and holds that the phenomenal universe as viewed by man is maya or illusion. Not-two-ness
Ahimsa	Non-violence Sanskrit ‘to do no harm’
Akashic records	Astral records, from akash ‘sky’
Ambalal Patel	Friend of Osho’s father. Osho called him Bapuji. Father of Ma, Anand Sheela
Ambedkar, Doctor (1893-1953)	Untouchable educated in England.
Anirvachana	That which cannot be said – Gautam Buddha
Anna	Former monetary unit, coin, 1/16 rupee
Aparigraha	Jain term meaning to limit possessions to what is necessary and important
Appa deepo bhava	Be a light unto yourself
Apsara	Heavenly nymph courtesans and dancing girls of Hindu gods dispensing erotic bliss
Arhat, arhata(s)	Introvert enlightened master
Arunachal	Holy mountain in South India where Raman Maharshi used to live
Arya Samaj	A Hindu social reform organization founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in Bombay on 7 April 1875. It was advocating a return to Vedic ideals, and its purpose was to move the Hindu Dharma away from fictitious beliefs. One section of the Samaj also favorued Westernization and English education.
Ashoka chakra	Wheel motif of cosmic order on the Lion Pillar at Sarnath; adopted as the national emblem of India in 1947.
Ashram	From Sanskrit ‘to counsel’ or ‘to seek counsel within oneself’. A place with a spiritual master to which one retreats for guidance.
Audholia, B.S.	Principal of college in Jabalpur
Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)	Revolutionary and spiritual leader. Author of many religious and literary works including The Life Divine
Aes dhammo sanantano	‘This is the eternal law’
Babasaheb	He became a lawyer and wrote the Indian constitution
Babu	Lit. ‘smelling of fish’ was British colonists’ contemptuous name for their Bengali clerks, later became title of respect
Badri Prasad Gupta	Principal 1947
Baksheesh	Tip, gift, or bribe
Bapu Dad	Nickname of Mahatma Gandhi
Baul	Peripatetic rustic bard of Bengal who traveled from village to village singing devotional hymns and folk songs on small drums ‘dugi’ and one-stringed fiddles known as ektaras. Means ‘mad’ or ‘possessed’ in Bengali.
Begum	Indian Muslim noblewomen. A title of rank and respect: ‘Madam’
Bhabhi	‘Elder brother’s wife’, Osho’s nickname for his mother
Bhagavad Gita	The sixth book of the Mahabharata, assigned by scholars to the fourth century. Its philosophy is eclectic, combining elements of the Sankhya, Yoga, and Vedanta systems with the later theory of bhakti
Bhai	Brother
Bhakti	Devotion, focus of worship on a beloved deity
Bhagwan	The Exhalted, the Blessed One, the Lord, the personal God, as compared with the undifferentiated Being which is Brahman
Bhagwandin Mahatma	Jaina scholar, friend and guest of Osho
Bhajan	Devotional song
Bhang	A traditionally, mildly narcotic drink in which milk, or lassi, and spices are mixed with marijuana
Bharat	Full form: Bharatavarsha. Literally, the land of the descendants of the sage Bharata. Sanskrit term applied to the Indian subcontinent in Hindu traditions alternative official name for India in the Constitution
Bhikha	Indian ecstatic mystic
Bikkhu	A fully ordained monk
Bhole	Hindi for ‘innocent’, nickname for one of Osho’s teachers
Bhonsla	Dynasty of Maratha rulers of Nagpur founded about 1730 by Raghuji Bhonsla. Last ruler Pratap Singh 1810
Bhoora	The white one’ name of Osho’s father’s servant, Osho’s faithful childhood guardian
Bhopal	1. State in central India fief carved out of the kingdom of Rani Durgawati of gondwana and placed under a Nawab by Akbar became independent in 1761 but later submitted to the British Raj.
	2. Town in central India capital of the former state of Bhopal and the modern state of Madhya Pradesh
Biryani	Rice and meat dish
Bodh-Gaya	Buddhist holy place six miles south of modern Gaya in Bihar where Gautama Buddha received enlightenment under a Bo-tree site of a Buddhist monastery in ancient times. The Bo-tree was dug up and destroyed by Sasanka, the Hindu king of Gauda, to signify his hatred of Buddhism
Bodhisattva	In Mahayana Buddhism an arat (saint) who has attained nirvana in this life or is considered likely to become, in a future incarnation, a Buddha
Bombay	1. City in western India capital of the state of Maharashtra also known as Gateway of India. It was a Portuguese possession from 1510 to 1661, when it was ceded to Charles II as part of the dowry of Princess Catharine of Braganza. In 1668 Cherles II transferred the place to the East India Company for an annual rent of ten pounds. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 it became the first port of call for ships coming from Europe.
	2. Former presidency and state which at one time included modern Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sindh
Bose, Subhas Chandra (1897-1945)	Indian and Bengali nationalist leader who advocated violent means to expel the British imprisoned 11 times. Fled India in 1941 during WW II and secured German and Japanese support for an Indian provisional Government called Azad Hind. Died in an air accident in 1945
Brahma	Major Hindu deity considered as the creator of the universe
Brahman	The Universal Soul or the Absolute that dwells in every living thing and guiders every being
Brahmin	The Hindu priestly caste and the top of the caste pyramid. Every Brahmin is a descendent of the rishis and his duties include the performance of sacrificial rites and the teaching of the Vedas
Buddha, Gautama	Also called Siddhartha (He who has accomplished his purpose), Sakya-Muni (Sage of the Sakyas) and Tathagata (He who has arrived at the truth). 563-483 B.C. Founder of Buddhism
Calcutta	City on the Hooghly River capital of West Bengal former capital of Bengal Presidency and Indian Empire. Founded in 1690, Calcutta became in 1772 the capital of British possessions in India and remained so until 1912. Now Kolkata
Central Provinces	Former province in British India containing four divisions Nagpur, Jabalpur, Narbada and Chhattisgarh. Berar became a part of the province in 1903. Name changed to Madhya Pradesh in 1950
Chakra	The spinning wheel, used as a symbol of the Indian National Congress used to emphasize the importance of cottage industries and swadesi goods
Chakravarti	Universal emperor
Chappals	Sandals
Charaiveti	Buddha’s words to his disciples, ‘go on, go on’
Charpoy	Rope-strung bed
Chaturmasa	Four-month monsoon break when all ascetics cease their wanderings and stay in one place
Chowkidar	Guard or nightwatchman
Choli	Short Indian bodice, sometimes transparent
Chotelal Munde	Osho’s geography teacher
Crore	Indian term for 10 million, 100 lakh
Dadda	Father
Dak	Bungalows built by the British to house traveling officials. Mail posts
Dandekar	Professor of psychology
Darshan	Spiritual experience or blessing conferred by the sight of a great personality or teacher. Used to refer to audience granted by king or holy man
Das	Suffix, meaning ‘slave of the Lord’
Dasgupta, Doctor	Professor of philosophy
Delhi	City on the Yamuna River ancient capital of India. The city was sacked many times during its history and it remained the center of Muslim power until 1857. From 1912 capital of British possessions in India and capital of India from 1947
Delwara	Jaina temple in Mount Abu
Desai, Morarji	Prime minister of India, 1977-1979
Devadasi	A woman serving as a dancer and courtesan in a Hindu temple
Devi	Great goddess like Shakti, female divinity
Dharma	Duty, righteousness, faith (for Hindus)
Dharamsala	1. Rest house.
	2. Town in Himarchal Pradesh
Dhoti	Ankle-length loincloth, men’s loose pants of fine cotton. Traditional male attire.
Digambara	A Jain sect whose tenets in its purest form required its members to go without clothes
Diksha	Initiation ritual
Diwali	Annual festival in India with lights, fireworks and gifts
Divan	A collection of poetry by a single author
Dube, Shambhu	Vice-president of Gadarwara and friend of Osho full name Shambhuratan Dube
Durbar	Court
Dubash	Interpreter
Durgavati	Widowed rani of Raja Dalpat Sa of Gondwana and regent of her son Bir Narayan. Defeated and slain by Akbar’s general Asaf Khan in 1564
Ekagrata	Concentration, one pointedness
Ektara	Single-stringed instument, popular among Bauls
Fa Hien (or, Fa-Hsian).	Chinese Buddhist monk who made a pilgrimage to India, 401-410, to carry back to China complete copies of the Vinaya-pitaka. He wrote a valuable account of his travels
Fakir	Sufi holy man, dervish or wandering Muslim ascetic (lit. ‘poor’)
Firangi	Foreigner
Gadi	The throne of an Indian ruler a cushion or padded seat on which the king sits. regarded as the seat of royalty
Gandhi, Indira Priyadarshini (1917-1984)	Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. Third prime minister of India 1965-77 and again 1980-1984 when she was assassinated by her sikh bodyguards. Both her sons Sanjay and Rajiv were to be killed too
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, Mahatma (1869-1948)	Surname: Bapu. Indian nationalist leader and architect of Indian independence. He rejected not only the British Empire but also much of western civilization and sought to reconstruct Indian society on the basis of Ram Rajya, the ideal Hindu social and religious policy
Ganja	Marijuana
Gate, gate	Sanskrit for ‘finished, gone’
Gazal	Popular short rimed lyric
Gautama Siddharta (c563-483 BC)	Original name of Buddha, aka Sakyamuni, Sakya, Tathagata etc
Ghats	River front, usually reached by steps built for the benefit of bathers and washer men. Place for funeral pyres
Ghazal	Urdu poetry set to music
Ghee	Clarified butter
Girnar	Holy place of Jainas
Gokuldas, Raja	Indian freedom fighter, father of seth Govind Das
Gondwana	Territory of the Gonds, a Kolarian aboriginal tribe, in northern Madhya Pradesh
Gopi	Milkmaid, in Krishna myth
Governor General	Title and office created by the Regulating Act of 1773 Warren Hastings was the first of 13 governors to hold the office. From 1848 until 1943 the title was governor general and viceroy of India from 1943 until 1947, governor general of India and crown representative
Guru	Gu’ (darkness) and ‘ru’ (remover) hence any teacher removing darkness
Gwalior	City in Madhya Pradesh known for its Jain and Hindu antiquities and for its fortress. It became the capital of the Sindhias in 1771 but passed under British rule after the Sepoy Mutiny. It was returned to the Sindhias in 1866 in return for Jhansi district
Haji Baba	110-year-old friend of Osho
Hardikar, Dr.	Poona physician
Hari Baba	Osho’s uncle’s guru
Hari Prasad Chaurasia	Indian flutist
Hathi dwar	Elephant Gate in Gadarwara
Haveli	Courtyard house or traditional mansion
Himalayas	Literally, the abode of snow. Classical name: Emodus, Imaus. Mountain system containing the highest mountains of the world and the sources of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra
Hindi	Official language of India based on Sanskrit and written in Devanagiri script. Used as a literary language from the 16th century. Western division has five subdialects, Eastern three subdialects
Hinduism	Religion of India based on the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Known as Brahminism in the pre-Buddhist period. Three main sects are the Saivas, the Saktas and the Vaishnavas
Hindustan	Region of North India with Delhi as its political centre
Hiuen Tsang (or, Yan Chwang).	The most famous of Chinese Buddhist pilgrim-scholars. He came to India in 630 and remained there until 643. Stayed in Nalanda University as a student before he left bringing with him 657 volumes of manuscripts. His observations are recorded in Travels or Record of Western Lands in 12 books
Holi	Major Hindu festival, believed to be once a fertility rite of aboriginal origin. Celebrated in February-March by throwing coloured powders and sprinkling colored liquids at people
Homa	Sacrificial fire for making offerings
Hukumchand Seth, Sir	A rich friend of Osho’s
Imperial Gazetteer of India	Monumental work in 26 volumes initiated in 1869 and completed 1907-09 under William W. Hunter based on a statistical survey of the topography, ethnology, agriculture, industry and administration of 240 districts under British and native rule. Reissued 1908-1909 in a Provincial Series in 25 volumes
Indian National Congress	Indian nationalist organization founded and held its first session in Bombay 1885 with W.C. Banerjee as president. It gradually escalated from a moderate body until it came to espouse purna swaraj (complete independence) under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. It always encompassed extremists and moderates, socialists and nonsocialists, Hindus and Muslims within its ranks. It has remained the dominant ruling political party in India since independence and is now often referred to as the Congress Party
Jadoo	Magic
Jagatguru	World teacher
Jethmalani, Ram	Leading Indian attorney, Osho’s lawyer
Jhansi	State in Bundelkhand a Maratha dependency until 1819 when it became a British protectorate. Annexed to the British Empire in 1853 the disaffected dowager Rani Lakshmi Bai – the Rani of Jhansi – lent her support to the mutineers during the Sepoy Mutiny. It was recaptured by the British in 1858 and ceded to Gwalior in 1861
Ji	Ji is a common addition to a name in India, a courtly suffix denoting respect. From Sanskrit Arya and Prakit ajja.
Jinas	The liberators Tirthankaras or Ford-Makers showing Jains the crossing place between samsara and liberation
Jinnah, Muhammad Ali (1876-1948)	Muslim statesman who advocated the creation of Pakistan and served (1947-48) as its first governor general
Jog, Dr.	One of Osho’s doctors
Jyot	Lamp
Juhu	Suburb and beach in Bombay. Nehru as well as Gandhi have spent their holidays there
Kabir (1488-1512)	Hindu religious reformer of Muslim birth who lived in Varanasi. He taught a monotheistic Vaishnavism rejecting every distinction of caste, religion and sect.
Kaka	Uncle
Kali Yuga (also, Yudhishira Era).	The present Hindu era is dated from 3102 B.C.
Kama	Sexual desire
Kar Sevak	RSS volunteer/activist
Karma	Fate or destiny
Kantar Master	Osho’s first teacher at school
Khadi, khaddar.	Cloth hand spun on a chakra popularized by Mahatma Gandhi to symbolize freedom from foreign textiles famous for its temples and erotic sculptures
Khajuraho	Chandella city in Bundelkhand, built in the 10th and 11th centuries
Khakki, Master (aka Rajaram, Rajju Khakki)	one of Osho’s high school teachers
Khan	Title of a Muslim lord or prince introduced by the Mughals
Khana	Food, a meal
Khomok	Tension drum of the Bauls its skin head is pierced by a string attached to a small brass handle
Kirtan	Devotional gathering singing and praising the Lord
Krishna	Hindu god, the eighth avatar of Vishnu
Krishnamurti, Jiddu (1895-1986)	Indian enlightened master
Kumbh Mela	Literally, pot festival. The largest of the religious Hindu gatherings held periodically in northern India every three years at Hardwar, Nasik and Ujjain and every 12 years at Allahabad
Kumkum	Red powder, to show the sexual power of goddesses
Kurta	Loose and long collarless Indian shirt
Laddu	Milk-based sweet
Lajpat Rai, Lala (1856-1928)	Indian extremist nationalist leader and president of the Indian National Congress in 1919. Author of England’s Debt to India, Unhappy India and other works. Depicted on Gadarwara Public Libray.
Lakh	One hundred thousand. 10 lakhs are equal to one crore
Lathi	Bamboo or wooden stave used by policemen
Lingam	Phallic symbol for Shiva as Divine Creator
Lion Pillar	Stone pillar erected by Ashoka at Sarnath, near Varanasi, to commemorate the first sermon of Gautama Buddha delivered here. The pillar is surmounted by a lion capital. The wheel or chakra motif which appears on the pillar has been adopted as the symbol of the Republic of India
Lok Sabha	Literally, House of the People lower house of the Indian Parliament
Lungi	Indian-type sarong, longer version of the dhoti
Mackwan	Principal, theological college in Jabalpur
Madhya Pradesh	State in the Indian Union formed in 1956 comprising 17 districts of the state of the same name formed in 1947, the former state of Madhya Bharat with Gwalior and Indore, the former states of Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh and the Sironj subdevision of Kotah district. Capital: Bhopal
Magga Baba	Enlightened man Osho met in Jabalpur
Maharaja	Title of a sovereign prince of a large state
Maharani	Queen of a maharaja
Maharishi	Means ‘great seer’
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi	Originator of Transendental Meditation
Maharshi, Shree Ramana	Enlightened man, lived in the hills of Arunachal; died of cancer
Mahatma	Literally, great soul title applied to a a social and religious leader regarded as an extraordinary or holy person. Mohandas K. Gandhi notably
Mahavir Jayanti	Jaina festival celebrating birthday of Mahavira
Mahavira, Vardhamana	Founder of Jainism and the 24th and last Jina or conqueror who lived about 500 B.C. Renounced the world and practiced severe ascetic penances and attained enlightenment at the age of 42. His legendary history is given in the Kalpasutra and Mahaviracharita
Maidan	Playing-field
Marg	Way or path
Masta Baba	Remarkable enlightened man who traveled with Osho and introduced him to prominent persons
Mataji	White-clad Digambara nun ‘respected mother’
Math	A monastery
Maya	Illusion
Mehta	Osho’s professor in psychology
Mela	Religious gathering, festival or fair
MLA	Member of the Legislative Assembly (of a state, rather than the national Parliament in Delhi whose members are called MPs)
Moksha	Enlightenment, liberation ‘absolute freedom’
Mountbatten, Lord Louis (1900-1979)	Last viceroy of British India March-August 1947 and first govenor general of the Dominion of India (1947-48). Presided over the historic transfer of power from the Crown to the people of India
Mudra	Symbolic or ritual gestures of hands, used to differentiate the images of Buddha
Mughal	Dynasty of 26 sovereigns founded in 1526 by Babur which ruled India until 1957 when the last Mughal emperor was exiled from India for taking part in the Sepoy Mutiny
Muktananda, Baba	Contemporary Indian guru
Mullah	Muslim priest
Mullah Nasruddin	Mythical Sufi mystic, appears in jokes
Munnu Mian	Photographer in Gadarvara
Muni	Jain monk or nun who has taken the vow of mouna or silence and is credited with preternatural powers. Osho was using the pet name Mounu when addressing Ma Yoga Kranti in Jabalpur
Munshi	Language teacher, translator, secretary
Nadana	Steps in ritual dance
Nalanda	Seat of a Buddhist university from the first to the twelfth century in Bihar. Hiuen Tsang recorded in 635 that 300 lecture rooms and a library that occupied three buildings served 150 teachers and 3000 students from all over Asia
Namaskar	Respectful Hindu greeting ‘I bow to thee’
Nana	Maternal grandfather
Nani	Maternal grandmother
Nanak (1469-1539)	Founder of Sikhism and its first Guru whose sayings and hymns comprise the Adi Granth, the holy book of the Sikhs. Nanak tried to fuse elements of Hinduism and Islam in his new religion and had an impressive following in Punjab
Narmada	Holy river ten kilometres from Gadarwara in central and western India rising in north Madhya Pradesh and flowing west through the Vindhya and Satpura ranges to the Arabian Sea. Length, 800 miles
Nath Bhatt, Shri	Gandhian politician in Gadarwara
National Library	Central library established at Calcutta in 1902 by the amalgamation of the Calcutta Public Library and the Imperial Library
Natthu Nai (Kaka)	Opium-eating haircutter in Gadarwara
Naudra	Name of bridge in Jabalpur
Nawab (also: nazim nabob)	Title of the deputy or viceroy of a Mughal province later adopted as a grand title, usually for men
Nehru, Jawaharlal (1889-1964)	Indian nationalist leader and first prime minister of India (1947-1964). Son of the nationalist Motilal Nehru and father of Indira Gandhi. Joined the non-cooperatio movement in 1920 advocated socialism at home and an anti-imperialist stand abroad. Author of Autobiography, Glimpses of World History and Discovery of India
New Delhi	Capital of India since 1912 situated on the west bank of the Yamuna River southeast of Old Delhi. The entire city was designed by the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens
Nigam, Mirza	High school teacher in Gadarwara
Nirvana	Enlightenment. Properly: nibbana. Literally ‘blown out’, as a candle. Nonexistence considered as the goal of a bodhisattva
Om Mani Padme Hum	Tibetan mantra
Paan	Mildly narcotic, preparation of betel nut
Pagal Baba	Enlightened mystic, friend of Osho
Pali	A Prakit language that developed into the sacred language of Buddhism. It is the parent of Sinhalese
Pandal	Temporary covered structure for outdoor receptions, functions and ceremonies
Pandit	A Hindu scholar of Brahmin caste who is learned enough in the scriptures to interpret and expound them English version ‘pundit’
Parakh, Ramakant	Garage owner in Jabalpur
Paramatma	Supreme soul, atman in Vedantic philosophy
Paramount Power	Term applied to the British Crown in its role as suzerain and protector of Indian native states. It was particularly used in treatises between the British government and Indian rulers
Paranjape	Principal of college where Osho graduated
Parekh, Rekhhcand	Rich friend and supporter of Osho
Parmananda	Friend of Krishnamurti who brought a message to Osho
Patel, Ambalal	Friend of Osho’s father, father of Ma Anand Sheela
Pathak brothers	Business men in Jabalpur
Patkar	Lecture Hall in Bombay
Philosia	Love of seeing, not of knowledge
Poona	City in Maharashtra on the Muta River near the crest of the Western Ghats and commanding one of the passes to Bombay capital of Marathas under Shivaji and Shambuji and from 1749 until 1817 when it fell to the British
Prabhu	The writer caste in Western India
Prakit	Demotic form of Sanskrit which forms the connecting link between Sanskrit and modern Indic languages
Prasad	Blessed food, consecrated offering
Puja	Religious prayer and devotion (for Hindus)
Puranas	Collections of ancient sacred Hindu writings composed in epic couplets and consisting partly of legendary histories and partly of speculative cosmogony including genealogies of gods and heroes. They are 18 in number
Purna	The full moon.
Purnima	The full-moon night
Qalander	Sufi mendicant of Holy fool
Qawwali	Poems and hymns sung at Sufi shrines
Rahimuddin, Maulana	Osho’s Govt. Secondary High School in Gadarwara
Raga	Literally, tint. Class of melodies in Indian music that create a specific emotional mood with their own characteristic signature
Raj	1. A kingdom ruled by a raja.
	2. Sovereignty or paramount power
Raja	A king or ruler of royal lineage
Rajehandra, Shrimad	Gandhi’s guru
Ram Jethmalani	Osho’s attorney
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1834-1886)	Bengali-born Hindu spiritual leader whose inspired fervor attracted to him a vast following including Swami Vivekananda. He tried to modernize Vedantist philosophy. The social dimensions of his teachings are reflected in the work of Ramakrishna Mission, an international missionary organization
Ranade, doctor	Indian philosopher, Allahabad University, Osho’s censor at Sagar University
Rani	Queen
Resident	Representative of the Crown and Paramount Power in a native state ambassador of the Governor General in Calcutta. Title changed to Agent or Commissioner
Rishi	A Hindu poet-sage possessed of extraordinary spiritual power and wisdom transmitter of ancient Hindu scriptures and Vedic hymns. Rishis generally lived in jungles, alone or with a group of disciples the place where they lived was known as an ashram
Roy, S.S.	Osho’s professor and friend, later head of philosophy department at Allahabad University
Rupee	Indian coin, comes from Hindi ‘rupaiya’ meaning ‘gold’
Sadhana	Spiritual discipline ordered by one’s guru and leading to realization
Sadhu	A holy man who has renounced the world and attained spiritual enlightenment through severe tapas or ascetic practices
Sahib, Dr.	Osho’s nickname when playing doctor as child
Saivism	Hindu sect devoted to the worship of Siva and his symbols
Sakkar	River near Gadarwara, meaning ‘the sweet’
Samadhi	Lit. ‘going beyond all sickness’ Patanjali’s word for enlightenment. The highest stage of meditation, in which one achieves unity with the Absolute. The tomb may be referred to as his samadhi like in Osho’s case
Sammasati	‘Remembering’, Buddha’s word for witnessing
Samsara	The illusory physical world and its cycle of rebirth. Sanskrit for ‘to flow together’.
Sangha	Religious congregation usually in the context of a Buddhist or Jain monastic community
Sankirtan	Religious procession
Sankritanyana, Rahul	Friend of Osho who went to Soviet Union
Sannyasin	Hindu ascetic or wanderer who has entered the last of the four stages of spiritual perfection
Sanskrit	Sacred language of Hinduism written in Devanagiri script belongs to the Indic branch of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of Indo-European languages. Its earlier form was known as Vedic. Sanskrit is a syllabic language with no officially recognized way of transliterating Sanskrit into Roman script
Sarvodaya	Gandhi’s concept of the welfare of all
Satyagraha	Literary ‘truth-force’, used by Mahatma Gandhi to define his non-violent agitation
Satya Yuga	Devanagari, also called Sat Yuga or the Golden age in Hinduism when man is governed by the gods in perfect harmony.
Saxena, Shree Krishna	Professor and friend of Osho
Sepoy	Indian soldier in the service of the East India Company
Shakti	Female counterpart of the Hindu deity embodying the feminine aspect of cosmic energy
Shaktipat	The master’s transfer of cosmic energy
Shankar, Ravi	World-famous Indian sitar maestro
Sharma, Doctor Baijnath	History professor at Jabalpur University
Shastra	Scripture or holy writ also applied to every kind of knowledge or science. Means ‘rules’ in Sanskrit.
Shiv Sena	Militant Hindu organization.
Shri	Honorific title from Sanskrit meaning holy. Now used as the equivalent for Mr in official correspondence, as a contraction of Shriman for males and Shrimati for females. In Punjab the prefix Lala is preferred, in the North Babu
Shrivastava, Doctor S.N.L.	Osho’s professor of logic at college in Jabalpur
Siva	Third god of the Hindu triad regarded in later mythology as the destroyer with Brahma as the creator and Vishnu as the preserver
Sloka	Stanza in a Sanskrit poem a pair of rhyming lines
Smrati	Less desirable alternative to ‘smriti’ (Mrs)
Smritis	What has been remembered’ religious works whose authority is only exceeded by that of shrutis thus all post-vedic religious writing, the word being synonymous with shastras
Sruti	‘Heard directly from master’, Vedic scripture
Sudra	Member of the lowest Hindu caste
Sufi	Muslim mystic
Sunderbans	Tract of intersecting creeks and channels, swampy islands and jungles which constitute the Gangatic Delta near the Bay of Bengal
Suraj Prakash	Bombay friend of Osho’s in whose house he stayed and lectured after World Tour in 1986
Sutra	Literally ‘a thread’ in Sanskrit, so called because the collection of discourses was a string of rules. Part of Buddhist canon, or body of Hindu sacred writings in four groups dealing with rituals, customs, law and magic
Svetambara	One of the two great sects of the Jain faith
Swadesi	Literally, ‘of one’s own country’, indigenous, i.e. Indian. Political movement launched in Bengal in 1905 to boycott foreign goods. It was developed by Mahatma Gandhi to include a campaign for economic self sufficiency and promotion of cottage industries
Swami	Title of the spiritual preceptor of a cult or religious order
SwarajLiterally,‘one’s own rule’.	Political autonomy as the goal of the Indian nationalist movement
Tabla	Pair of hand drums used in Hindustani music
Tagore, Rabindranath (1861-1941)	Indian poet and playwright awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Author of about 60 works including Gitanjali, The Gardener and Sadhana
Tantrism	Saivite sect which follows the occult rites prescribed in Dattatreya’s Tantras divided into the right-handed sect, so called because it follows the ancient Vedic ritual, and the left-handed sect which concentrates on the worship of the female aspects of the deities known as shaktis
Taran Taran	Taran Swami (The Savior) lived in the sixteenth century as a contemporary of the Indian saints Kabir and Nanak. His family was of the Parwar sect, a subdivision of the Digambara sect. Osho read as a child his complete teachings in 14 books and was influenced by Taran from early age. Taran’s language was shaped by his reading of the books of Acharya Kundakunda. Osho’s first booklets in the 1950s were on Taran Swami
Thakur	Osho’s Bengali friend landowner or squire
Tilak	Sacred mark on the centre of a Hindu forehead
Tirtha	Crossing place or ford hence a sacred place
Tirthankara	Literary, bridge finder. A Jain saint considered as a mode of crossing the dark waters of life
Tripathi, Doctor	Historian, vice-chancellor of Sagar University
Tripitaka	Literally ‘Three Baskets’ (because the palm leaves on which they were written were kept in baskets). Collection of Buddhist writings embodying Buddha’s teachings and oral traditions
Tulsishyam	Meditation camp in Gujarat
Twice-born	Upper-caste Hindu, one who has undergone a ‘second birth’, i.e. a spiritual one generally used to refer to Brahmins
Umakant Joshi	Osho’s friend
Upanishads	Literally ‘sitting close to’, in the sense of a group sitting around a teacher. Over 100 philosophical treatises or metaphysical commentaries attached to the Brahmanas which form the core teachings of Vedanta
Vedanta	Literally ‘the goal of the Vedas’ group of ancient Hindu philosophical traditions concerned with self-realisation and the understanding of the ultimate nature of reality
Vedas	Collections of Hindu sacred writings including hymns, prayers, ritualistic instructions, philosophy, mythology and holy lore in some 100 books
Vedic	Language of the Vedas from which Sanskrit is derived
Viceroy	Title and office created by the Government of India Act of 1858. Earl Canning was the first and Lord Linlithgow the 20th and last
Vihara	A Buddhist monastery originally the hall where the monks met and later extended to the whole building and to the attached shrine
Vindhyachal	Mountain range near Osho’s birthplace
Vishnu	One of the three principal gods of the Hindu pantheon, regarded as the preserver. His preserving and restoring power is believed to have been manifested in ten avatars, of which Rama and Krishna are specially honoured and worshipped
Yaksi	Female Hindu fertility nymphs
Yamuna	White marble, name of river flowing through Delhi
Yashipal	Communist author and friend of Osho
Yatra	Pilgrim on spiritual journey to sacred places
Yoga	One of the six orthodox systems of Hindu philosophy founded by the sage Yajnavalkya and later codified by Patanjali in Yoga-sutra
Zamindar	Landholder or local ruler
Zindabad	Long live

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