Updated April/9/2ØØ2.
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Agasthiar

The ever present Siddha manifestation of Siva. See the Agasthiar page for more details.

Agasthiar Ashram

The spiritual center being established by Sathguru Venkataraman at Arunachala. See the Ashram page for more details.

Angaali

The most compassionate form of the Universal Mother. Personally experienced by Sathguru Venkataraman.

Annamalai

Another name for Arunachala. A town 100 miles southwest of the city of Madras in the south of India wherein is located the most holy Arunachala hill.

Arul

God's love for a devotee; God's grace.

Arunachala

The spiritual focal point of the universe. See the Arunachala page for more details.

ashram

A spiritual center established by a Sathguru.

Aum, Om

Same as Om. Click here for more details.

Bagudhaanya

The solar year from mid April 1998 to mid April 1999. See varusham.

bakthi

Divine love; a devotee's love of God and devotion to God.

Chitrabaanu

The solar year from mid April 2ØØ2 to mid April 2ØØ3. Other spelligs: Chitrabhanu, Chitrabanu. See varusham.

Eesa

God.

horai

an hour. Click here for more details.

Idiyaapa Eesa Siddha

Sathguru Venkataraman's great Siddha divine teacher. Sri La Sri Idiyaapa Eesa Siddha is paraapara guru, teacher of the universe. He is the master of masters. He is Siva and Narayana rolled into one.

janma nakshatram

The nakshatram in which the moon is in transit at the moment of one's birth. This nakshatram is referred to as one's janma nakshatram. Click here for more details.

jothi

A well shaped ball of fire/light like the one in an oil lamp. Lighting jothi lamps is an important daily spiritual practice. All jothis have their origin in Arunachala.

kalpa

A sequence of one thousand Maha Yugas is called a Kalpa. A kalpa is one day in the life of Brahma, the Creator aspect of the Trimoorthi Trinity. The universe exists during Brahma's day and is dissolved during Brahma's night. See wheel of time for more details.

karma

The spiritual bank account of the soul. Baggage it carries with it from body to body. Click here for more details.

Lobha Matha

Sri Agasthiar's consort.

maasam

a solar month. Click here for more details.

maha

great.

maha mantra

great mantra.

maha yuga

great yuga. See wheel of time.

Manivaasaga

A perfect devotee saint. Author of Thiruvaasagam which along with works like Dhevaaram, Thirupugazh and Divya Prabandham constitutes the pinnacle of bakthi literature.

mantra

The divine name; a potent vibration that resonates with the universal Truth and can reveal the same to those who meditate on it constantly. See the mantra page for more details.

Manu

Click here for more details.

manvantara

A fourteenth part of a kalpa. Click here for more details.

nakshatram

The moon revolves around the earth in roughly 27 days. During this period, the moon traces a path around the sky. The ancients split this path of the moon into 27 units and gave each unit the name of a star, star group or constellation. These 27 units are known as nakshatrams. They are also referred to as brides of Chandra. Click here for more details. Also see janma nakshatram.

nama

name. Click here for more details.

nama japam

meditation on the name of God. Click here for more details.

nama keerthanam

singing the name of God. Click here for more details.

Narayana

God

Om, Aum

The primordial sound vibration. The Great Cause.

-	The Beginingless Beginning. The Endless End.
-	The scriptures refer to Om as the monosyllabic mantra (Om ith ekaaksharam brahma).
-	Om is an auspicious prefix of other mantras.
-	It's the spiritual substitute for Hello and Goodbye. Greet your spiritual brethren with Om and take leave of the them with Om, thereby acknowledging Om as the beginingless beginning and the endless end.
-	Om is the union of three sounds, namely a, u and ma. Hence it's also written as aum. Thus it is both a monosyllabic mantra and a three syllabled mantra.
-	Though sometimes written as aum, it's pronounced Óm with the leading Ó sound.

The symbol for Om.

paavam

Bad karma. Click here for more details.

paksham

a period of 15 days covering one phase of the moon. Click here for more details.

Pramaadhi

The solar year from mid April 1999 to mid April 2ØØØ. See varusham.

Parabrahman

Absolute, Ultimate Reality

punniyam

Good karma. Click here for more details.

punyam

Same as punniyam.

Ramalingam

A perfect devotee saint. Author of Thiru Arutpaa, a monumental devotional work.

Saaktha, Saiva, Vaishnava

God is One but we approach Him in many ways. One who approaches God as Sakthi, the Universal Mother, is known as a Saaktha. One who approaches God as Siva is known as a Saiva. One who approaches God as Narayana (Vishnu) is known as a Vaishnava. These paths are respectively called Saaktham, Saivam and Vaishnavam. There are other paths too, e.g., Souram, the worship of Soorya, Gaanapathyam, the worship of Ganapathi, Koumaaram, the worship of Kumara (Muruga, Skandha). All these paths lead us to the same Supreme Absolute One. As the Sathguru has said many a time, the means may be different, but the end is the same.

Saiva

See Saaktha, Saiva, Vaishnava.

Sakthi

The Universal Mother.

Sarabesvara

The Great Protector, Motivator and Well Wisher manifestation of Lord Siva. Refer to Issue 5 of AUMzine in this website for more details on Lord Sarabesvara and His divine consorts Mother Ugraha Prathyankira and Mother Soolini Durga. (Other spellings: Sarabeswara Sarabeshwara Sarabeswarar Sharabeswara.)

Sathguru

One who teaches knowledge of God. See the Sathguru page for more details.

Siddha

A spiritually perfect being. See the Siddha page for more details.

Siva

God; The Universal Father.

Sri

A prefix denoting auspiciousness.

Sri La Sri

A prefix denoting utmost auspiciousness.

Thiru

A prefix denoting auspiciousness.

Thiru Annamalai

Same as Annamalai.

Thirumoolar

A great Siddha. Author of the epic Thirumanthiram, a 3000 verse poem wherein he gives one of the most lucid explanations of spirituality.

Thithi

A lunation is the interval between new moons, roughly 29.5 days. Each lunation is divided into 30 thithis or lunar days with each thithi defined as the time required for the longitude of the moon to increase by 12 degrees over the longitude of the sun. Thus there are 14 thithis between every new moon and full moon and vice versa. The zeroth and the fifteenth thithis are of course the new moon and the full moon respectively. Click here for more details.

Tithi

Same as thithi.

Vaishnava

See Saaktha, Saiva, Vaishnava.

varusham

A varusham is a solar year. A varusham starts roughly in the middle of April each year. Mid April 1999 to mid April 2ØØØ is the Pramaadhi varusham. Mid April 1998 to mid April 1999 was the Bagudhaanya varusham. The varushams repeat in a 60 year cycle. So the next Bagudhaanya varusham will occur in 2058-59 A.D. and the next Pramaadhi varusham will occur in 2059-60 A.D. Click here for more details.

Venkataraman

The Sathguru, Guru Mangala Gandharva Venkataraman, the founder of the Agasthiar Ashram and this Website. The 1001^st divine teacher in Sri Agasthiar's lineage of Sathgurus. Click here for more details.

Vikrama

The solar year from mid April 2ØØØ to mid April 2ØØ1. See varusham.

Vrisha

The solar year from mid April 2ØØ1 to mid April 2ØØ2. See varusham.

Wheel Of Time

The present age is known as the Kali Yuga. The scriptures divide the endless passage of time into a cycle of Maha Yugas or aeons. A Maha Yuga lasts 4.32 million years and is made up of a sequence of four different yugas, each with its own characteristics. These four yugas are the Sathya Yuga, Trétha Yuga, Dvaapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. In the Sathya Yuga, the age of Truth, righteousness is at its peak. As time passes by, there's a gradual decline in virtue which reaches its nadir in the Kali Yuga. At the end of the Kali Yuga, the Divine Will intervenes and restores the universe to its original state of virtue. This marks the beginning of the next Maha Yuga and the cycle thus continues. Click here for more details.

yuga

An age in the wheel of time. Click here for more details.

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