V

Vachyansha     Spoken topics.

Vaikhari     Repeating (chanting) the Name aloud, with effort. This is the first stage on the path of repeating The Lord's Name.

Vali     Vali is the monkey King of the epic Ramayana. He was famous for receiving the boon that anyone who came before him lost half his strength to Vali, thereby making Vali invulnerable to any enemy. Finally, he was killed by Lord Rama, Who shot him in the back with an arrow.

Vaishnav     A Hindu sect that worships Lord Vishnu.

Vaishya     A seeker who serves God by offering wealth earned through righteous means.

Vaman Pandit     A renowned Indian religious scholar.

Vanaprasthashrama     Stage of life of a retired householder.

Varkari sect     A sect in the Hindu Religion. The presiding deity of this sect founded by Saint Dnyaneshvar seven hundred years ago, is Lord Viththal, a form of Lord Vishnu (Principle of Sustainance).

Varna     Class. The four classes are Shudra, Vaishya, Kshatriya and Brahmin. The four classes signify the four ways a seeker can serve God: by offering his body, wealth, life and knowledge (through the spread of Spirituality).

Saint Vasiliye Ostroshki     A Saint Whose relics are preserved at the Ostrog monastery in Montenegro.

Sage Vasishtha     A great sage and Guru of Lord Rama Who practiced the path of devotion. Sage Vasishtha's guidance to Lord Rama on the nature of the universe is given in the Holy text, the Yoga Vasishtha.

H. H. Vastad Maharaj     A Saint from Goa, India. He is a devotee of Lord Hanuman and specializes in removal of negative energies.

Vastu (Vaastu)     A premise (vastu) refers to an open space enclosed by four walls irrespective of whether it has a roof or not. The presiding deity of this place is called the deity of the premise (vastudevta or vastupurush).

Vastu Purification     Vastu purification refers to spiritual cleansing of a premises with specific chants/mantras and rituals to protect it from any negative energies and increase its sattvikta. To this end, seekers can daily charge a cupful of water as follows: After taking a shower/bath, mentally chant 'Om namaha Shivaya' 108 times while keeping the ring finger - one next to the small finger - dipped in the water. Sprinkle this spiritually charged water around all the corners and cabinets/closets in the home.

Vastushanti     Shanti is a ritual that is performed to remove obstacles. Ritualistic worship of a premise performed to appease the deity of the place (Vastupurush) and to make the constructed home propitious to the owner with respect to longevity, health, overcoming obstacles, wealth, etc.

Vasuki     A snake that was used like a rope while churning the sea to find divine ambrosia.

Vayu     Absolute air. One of the five cosmic elements (Panchmahabhutas).

Vedanta     Another name for the holy texts, the Upanishads.

Vedas     The most sacred Hindu scriptures, regarded as revealed by God. They contain hymns in praise of God, sacrificial prayer and sacrificial ceremonies and the mystic teachings of the ancient sages. The four Vedas are the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.

Vedic Period     The period when the famous Hindu scriptures, the Vedas were documented.

Vibhuti     Holy ash procured from the Hanuman Kavach sacrificial fire performed at the Sanatan's ashram in Goa, India.

Vidya     Knowledge

H. H. Dr. Vinayak Kulkarni     A Saint from Pune, India.

H. H. Swami Vinay Vinekar     A Saint on the Path of Action (Karmayoga). He resides in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. As a child, He was a good son. He had a keen spiritual interest right from childhood and had retreated to the Himalayas for 10 years in His pursuit of Spirituality. During this time, He had many spiritual experiences. One day, while in a high spiritual state, He received guidance from within to go back to people and dedicate His life to the betterment of His fellow beings' life. In 1981, He spent some time with H. H. Mother Theresa, Who taught Him how to attend to others without expectations of result, the essence of the Path of Action.     For the past 20 years, He has dedicated Himself to helping others by sharing with them mental healing techniques and assisting mentally retarded children worldwide. Special camps are set up, where children and adults alike can learn these healing techniques from Him.

Viramaruti     Form of Maruti as a Warrior.

Lord Vishnu     The sustenance principle. One of the five principle deities (Panchadevata). (More information given in the book ‘Science of Spirituality Vol. 8 - Vishnu and His Forms’).

Vishnu panchayatam     A group of five deities in which Lord Vishnu is the main deity.

H. H. Swami Vishnudevananda     (1927-1993) Born in South India in 1927, Swami Vishnudevananda entered the ashram of Swami Sivananda at the age of 18. A world famous authority on Hatha and Raja Yoga, Swami Vishnudevananda founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and authored The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, Meditation and Mantras, a commentary on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and Karma and Diseases. He entered Mahasamadhi on November 9, 1993.

Sage Vishvamitra     A very famous sage who practiced the path of penance.

Vital Energy     See pran shakti.

Lord Vitthal     A form of Lord Vishnu.

Vivek     Discrimination between untruth and the Absolute Truth (Sat).

Swami Vivekananda     (1863-1902) Disciple of Ramkrishna Paramhansa (another great Saint of India). He introduced the teachings of the Vedanta (Upanishadas) to the West.

Vrata     A religious festival, when observed individually, with a resolve, it is called a vowed religious observance. The spiritual significance of performing a vowed religious observance is a Saint's resolve (sankalpa) behind it.      From a seeker's viewpoint though spiritual practice with the physical body (Path of Ritualistic Worship) is inferior to mental spiritual practice (such as chanting), yet the former is important in gradually inducing non-seekers towards spiritual practice. In spiritual practice with the physical body, holy festivals, religious festivals and vowed religious observances are so important that at least one of these falls on 75% of the dates (tithis) in a year. Recognizing the spiritual significance of a holy festival, religious festival or a vowed religious observance, if one performs it with intense devotion it brings maximum benefit. Performing these also helps develop the quality of discipline. Being disciplined at least through the performance of holy/religious festivals or observances helps in gradually building personal discipline.      Like religious/holy festivals, a vowed religious observance is performed for any of the following reasons: Seasonal changes, spiritual significance of a time-period in a year, birthday of an Incarnation, death anniversary of a Saint, historic or mythological (puranic) events, or spiritual teachings.

Vyan     One of the five vital energies.

Sage Vyas     The founder of the Guru-disciple lineage.

Vyashti sadhana     Individual spiritual practice that benefits only the seeker undertaking it.