Sacred Sanskrit Words

A guide to the key spiritual concepts behind yoga and other branches of Eastern wisdom

Sanskrit Non-Translatables is a path-breaking and audacious attempt at Sanskritizing the English language and enriching it with powerful Sanskrit words. It continues the original and innovative idea of nontranslatability of Sanskrit, first introduced in the book, Being Different. For English readers, this should be the starting point of the movement to resist the digestion of Sanskrit into English, by introducing loanwords into their English vocabulary without translation. The book presents a thorough mechanism of the process of digestion and examines the loss of adhikara for Sanskrit because of translating its core ideas into English. The movement launched by this book will resist this and stop the programs that seek to turn Sanskrit into a dead language by translating all its treasures to render it redundant. It discusses fifty-four non-translatables across various genres that are being commonly mistranslated. It empowers English speakers with the knowledge and arguments to introduce these Sanskrit words into their daily speech with confidence. Every lover of India’s sanskriti will benefit from the book and become a cultural ambassador propagating it through routine communications.

The mantra and kirtan (call-and-response devotional chants) of yoga practice sometimes get short shrift in the West because they aren’t well understood. These chants are an integral part of most every Eastern spiritual practice because they are designed to provide access into the psyche while their underlying mythology helps us understand how our psychology affects daily life. Sacred Sound shares the myths behind the mantras, illuminating their meaning and putting their power and practicality within reach of every practitioner. Each mantra and kirtan includes the Sanskrit, the transliteration, and the translation. Clear retellings of the pertinent myths highlight modern-day applications so that readers discover their own personal connection to the practice. Alanna Kaivalya has refined her teaching over a decade with tens of thousands of diverse audience members. Her unique and popular approach to human connection and self-knowledge turns a time-tested tradition into a versatile and potent tool.

This sanskrit glossary contains full translations and explanations of many of the most commonly used spiritual sanskrit terms, and will help students of the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and other indian scriptures and philosophical works to expand their vocabularies to include the sanskrit terms contained in them, and gain a fuller understanding in their studies.If you are reading the writings of Swami Sivananda you will find a basketful of untranslated Sanskrit words which often have no explanation, as he assumes his readers have a background in Hindu philosophy. For writings like his, this book is invaluable, as it lists frequently used sanskrit terms used in writings on yoga and Hindu philosophical thought.This is not a sanskrit grammar, and those wanting to know sanskrit pronunciation will need other books, as it does not have the diacritical markings sometimes used in books on the sanskrit language.As the title says, this is a spiritual students guidebook, listing not only commonly used spiritual terms, but also giving brief information about spiritual teachers and writers, both modern and ancient.

A fascinating and instantly usable manual on sound, primarily in the form of mantra, which can be used to promote healing and higher states of consciousness. A selection of the more important vocalizations from many cultures are presented in an easy-to-follow manner, with suggested meditations, simple keys to correct pronunciation and detailed explanations of esoteric meanings.