Glossary to the Record of Yoga Introductory Note Status. Work on this glossary is in progress. Some definitions are provisional and will be revised before the glossary is published. Scope. Most words from languages other than English (primarily San- skrit), and some English words used in special senses in the Record of Yoga, are included. Transliteration. Words in italics are Sanskrit unless otherwise indi- cated. Sanskrit words are spelled according to the standard interna- tional system of transliteration. This has been adopted because the same Sanskrit word is often spelled in more than one way in the text. The spellings that occur in the text, if they differ from the transliter- ation (ignoring any diacritical marks over and under the letters), are mentioned in parentheses. The sounds represented by c, r.,ands´ or s. in the standard transliteration are commonly represented by “ch”, “ri”, and “sh” in the anglicised spellings normally used in the Record of Yoga. Order. All entries, regardless of language, are arranged in English al- phabetical order. Words and phrases are alphabetised letter by letter, disregarding diacritics, spaces and hyphens. Compounds and phrases. A compound or phrase composed of words that do not occur separately in the text is normally listed as a unit and the words are not defined individually. Compound expressions consisting of words that also occur by themselves, and thus are defined separately, are listed in the glossary only if they occur frequently or have a special significance. Definitions. The definition of each term is intended only as an aid to understanding its occurrences in the Record of Yoga. It may not include all the meanings a word has in the original language. On the other hand, it may include meanings that are not found in dictionaries of the language, since Sri Aurobindo adapted many words to his own needs in referring to his yogic experiences. The definitions take into account Sri 2 Glossary to the Record of Yoga Aurobindo’s own explanations, the contexts in which the terms occur, and the relations between the Record of Yoga and his other writings. Quotations. Direct quotations from Sri Aurobindo’s writings are indi- cated by quotation marks. Cross-references. Words in bold type in the definitions are defined in the glossary. Searching. When searching for a definition, enter the term in either of two ways: 1. Type the term as it is spelled in the text. This should find either (a) the definition you are looking for, or (b) an entry that will show the transliteration of the term under which the definition can be found using the next method. 2. Type a period / full stop (.) and the transliterated spelling without diacritical marks. Typing a period / full stop before the transliteration will find the entry where the term is defined rather than occurrences of it in compounds or in definitions of other terms. Example: Searching for “sparsha” (as it is spelled in the text) finds the entry for the compound “agneya-spar¯ sa´ (agneya-sparsha)”, which shows that the transliteration of “sparsha” is “sparsa´ ”. Searching for “.sparsa” finds the definition of sparsa´ , skipping over other expressions containing this word. A .abhasaabh¯ asa¯ — appearance; (in Bengali) glimmer, hint. .abhavaabh¯ ava¯ — entry into the being from outside. .abhaya (abhaya; abhayam) — fearlessness; passive courage, “freedom from fear which with a bold calmness meets and receives every menace of danger and shock of misfortune”, an attribute of the ks.atriya. .abhayam —seeabhaya. .abhayaabhayam,m,˙ ssahasa,ahasa,¯ atma atmaslagha,¯ sl´ agh¯ a,¯ yayasolipsasolips´ a¯ (abhayam, sahasa, atmasla- gha, yasholipsa) — fearlessness, daring, self-confidence, the urge to- wards victory (the attributes of the ks.atriya). .abhayaabhayam,m,˙ ssahasam,ahasa¯ m,˙ yayasolipsa,solips´ a,¯ atma atmaslagha,¯ sl´ agh¯ a,¯ iti ksksatratejah.atratejah. (abhayam, sahasam, yasholipsa, atmaslagha, iti kshatratejah) — fearlessness, dar- ing, the urge towards victory, self-confidence: these express the energy of the ks.atriya temperament. Glossary to the Record of Yoga 3 .abhimanaabhimana¯ — pride; egoism. .abhisastihabhisastih´ . — hostile expression. .abhistiabhis.t.i — invasion. .abhyasaabhyasa¯ — repetition; exercise; discipline; practice. .acchanna¯ — covered, concealed. .active brahman — same as sagun. a brahman, the dynamic aspect of brahman which is expressed in the cosmic movement, “a universal Divine, one in being, multiple in personality and power, who conveys to us, when we enter into the consciousness of his universal forces, a sense of infinite quality and will and act and world-wide knowledge and a one yet innumerable delight”; realised by the mind separately from the s´anta¯ m˙ brahma or silent brahman, it is an aspect of universal being which “though wonderfully freed, uplifted and illumined, sup- ports only the present self-expression of the Cosmic Spirit and does not transform, as would a transcendental Descent, the ambiguous symbols and veiled mysteries of a world of Ignorance”. .active samatasamata¯ — equality in one’s response to the contacts of the world, consisting of (sama) rasa, (sama) bhoga and (sama) ananda¯ ,also called positive samata¯: an “active equality which will enable us not only to draw back from or confront the world in a detached and separated calm, but to return upon it and possess it in the power of the calm and equal Spirit”. .actual gnosis — same as actualistic ideality. .actualistic — characterised by a working of intuition which, in dealing with the movement in time, lays “stress on the stream of immediate actualities”. .actualistic ideality —anintuitional form of logistic ideality which, ap- plied to the field of trikaladr¯ .s.t.i and tapas, “depends upon the existent actuality, illumines it, goes a little beyond it but from it”. .actualistic logistis — same as actualistic ideality. .actualistic seer tapas — tapas acting in the actualist intuitional revela- tion, the lowest form of seer tapas. .actualistic seer trikaladrstitrikaladr¯ .s.t.i (trikaldrishti) — trikaladr¯ .s.t.i in the actualist intuitional revelation. .actualist intuitional revelation — actualistic ideality raised to the intu- itive revelatory logistis. .adasyaadasya¯ — inability to surrender, “insubmission”, absence of dasya¯ . 4 Glossary to the Record of Yoga .adequate —(vak¯ ) having the qualities of the lowest level of style,which “has the power to make us . see the object or idea in a certain tem- perate lucidity of vision”; most often combined with a higher level, as in the effective-adequate style or the inevitable form of the adequate. .adesaade¯ sa´ (adesha; adesh) — command; a voice (van¯ . ı¯) heard inwardly as “the command of the Divine Guide of the Yoga”; especially, “the Adesha given in the jail”, the inner command received by Sri Auro- bindo in Alipur jail giving him a mission to accomplish a certain work, karma, with four principal parts: literary (sahitya¯ ), religious (daiva or 1 dharma), political (kr.ti) and social (samaja¯ or kama¯ ). .adesasiddhiade¯ sasiddhi´ (adeshasiddhi; adesha-siddhi; adesha siddhi; adeshsid- dhi; adesh-siddhi; adesh siddhi) — fulfilment of the divine command (ade¯ sa´ ) enjoining the accomplishment of a certain mission (karma), a work for the world with literary, political, social and spiritual aspects. .adesavaniade¯ sav´ an¯ . ı¯ (adeshavani) — “speech of supreme command”, the highest form of van¯ . ı¯, which “is clear and irresistible, the mind has to obey and there is no question possible, even if what comes is contrary to the preconceived ideas of the mental intelligence”. .adharaadh¯ ara¯ (adhara; adhar) — vessel, receptacle; support; “that in which the consciousness is now contained — mind-life-body”, the psycho- physical system comprising the antah. karan. a and the sthula¯ deha;a physical object or sensation serving as a support or background for rupadr¯ .s.t.i or any other kind of vis.ayadr.s.t.i. .adharadrstiadh¯ aradr¯ .s.t.i (adhardrishti; adhar drishti) — vision of images on a back- ground (sadh¯ ara¯ rupa¯ ). .adhara-siddhiadh¯ ara-siddhi¯ — the perfection of the mental-vital-physical system, consisting of the siddhi of the first four catus.t.ayas, so that the adh¯ ara¯ “becomes a perfect instrument for the Purushottama, the Purusha and Shakti to carry on their Lila”. .adharma — not dharma; lawlessness. .adhogati — literally “downward movement”; the negation of utthapa-¯ na¯, especially due to defective laghima¯ and mahima¯. .adhyaksatvaadhyaks.atva (adhyakshatwa) — the status of the Divine Being “as the adhyaks.a, he who seated over all in the supreme ether over-sees things, views and controls them from above”. .adhyaropaadhyaropa¯ — superimposition. .adhyaropitaadhyaropita¯ — superimposed. Glossary to the Record of Yoga 5 .adhyayaadhyaya¯ — chapter. .adinataadınat¯ a¯ — freedom from depression; the opposite of dainyam. .adadinataınat¯ aks¯ ksiprata.iprata¯ sthairyam ı isvarabhava¯svarabh´ ava¯ (adinata kshiprata sthairyam ishwarabhava) — non-depression, swiftness, steadiness, mastery: the second general formula of the sakti´ catus.t.aya, consisting of qualities needed for the perfection of all parts of the psycho-physical system. .Aditi — the Vedic goddess of infinite being, the mother of the gods, 2 manifested here as the earth-goddess (Pr.thivı¯ ); the ady¯ a-¯ sakti´ ,the indivisible consciousness (cit), force (tapas) and bliss (ananda¯ )ofthe Supreme. .adri — rock; hill; a Vedic symbol of “formal existence and especially of the physical nature”. .adrstamadr.s.t.am (adrishtam) — literally