Curated category
Sanskrit words and phrases
- Avidyā (Buddhism)The Sanskrit word avidyā appears in the Rigveda, a collection of ancient hymns dating back to the second millennium BCE.
- Arya (Buddhism)The Sanskrit word ārya and the Pali term ariya appear in ancient Buddhist texts to describe spiritual warriors or heroes.
- DuḥkhaA cart wheel turns unevenly when its axle hole sits off-center. This physical flaw creates a bumpy, uncomfortable ride for anyone traveling inside the…
- ApatrapyaThe Sanskrit word apatrapya appears in ancient texts alongside its Pali counterpart ottappa and the Tibetan Wylie script khrel yod pa. Herbert V.
- Jāti (Buddhism)The Sanskrit word jāti and the Pali term jāti both mean birth within Buddhist doctrine. These words describe physical birth, rebirth as a new living entity…
- SkandhaThe Sanskrit word skandha means heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings, or clusters. This term appears in ancient Vedic literature before Buddhism adopted…
- VedanāThe Pali word vedanā translates simply as feeling or sensation. It refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when internal sense…
- VinayaIn the early years of the Buddha's teaching, the sangha lived together in harmony without any written rules. All disciples were highly realized if not fully…
- AhimsaThe Sanskrit word ahimsa derives from the root hims, meaning to strike or injure. The prefix a- negates this action, creating a term that translates directly…
- DānaThe Rigveda, composed in the second millennium BCE, contains the earliest known discussions of dana. Book 10, Hymn 117 translates to a plea for truth and…
- JarāmaraṇaThe Sanskrit word jarā means to become brittle or decay. Ancient Vedic texts used the root jarati to describe consumption and crumbling.
- VihāraThe Sanskrit word vihara means a form of rest house, temple or monastery in ascetic traditions of India. It particularly referred to a hall that was used as…
- SatyaThe Sanskrit word satya appears in the Rigveda, a text dated to the second millennium BCE. This ancient manuscript contains the earliest known discussion of…
- MaitreyaThe name Maitreya derives from the Sanskrit word maitrī, meaning friendliness or loving-kindness. In Pali, the form becomes Metteyya.
- Prajñā (Buddhism)The Sanskrit word Prajñā appears in ancient Buddhist texts as a term often translated simply as wisdom. Scholars have debated the precise meaning of this…
- SparśaSanskrit texts from the early centuries of the Common Era describe sparśa as a precise coming together of three distinct factors.
- DharmaThe Sanskrit root dhr- means to hold or to support. This linguistic foundation shaped the word dharma into a concept of law that sustains life, society, and…
- VijñānaThe Sanskrit word vijñāna appears in many early Upanishads, where translators have rendered it as understanding, knowledge, and intelligence.
- BhavaThe Sanskrit word bhava appears in Monier Monier-Williams' 1898 dictionary published by Oxford University Press. It carries meanings of being, worldly…
- Om mani padme humThe first known description of the six-syllable mantra appears in the Kāraņavyūha Sūtra, a text dating from the 4th to 5th centuries.
- UpādānaThe Sanskrit word upādāna translates to fuel, material cause, or substrate that keeps an active process energized. Ancient Pali texts define it as the source…