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Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, texts, rituals, doctrines, and philosophical ideas mentioned in the provided lecture extracts on the Upaniṣads and early Indian thought.
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Oxford World’s Classics
A series of scholarly editions that make world literature—including texts like the Upaniṣads—available with critical introductions and notes.
Upaniṣads
Ancient Sanskrit texts forming the philosophical end of the Vedas, exploring ultimate reality (Brahman), the self (Ātman), and the nature of the cosmos.
Vedas
The four foundational collections of ancient Hindu sacred knowledge: Ṛg-, Sāma-, Yajur- and Atharva-Veda.
Ṛgveda
The oldest Veda, consisting mainly of hymns (ṛc) praising deities and containing early cosmological speculation.
Sāmaveda
Veda of melodies and chants; its priests (Udgātṛs) sing Sāman hymns used in Soma sacrifices.
Yajurveda
Veda of ritual formulas and prose mantras recited by the Adhvaryu priest while performing sacrifice.
Atharvaveda
Collection of charms, spells, and philosophical hymns; recognized later as the fourth Veda.
Saṁhitā
The mantra collection section of each Veda, made up of hymns or chants used in ritual.
Brāhmaṇa
Prose texts attached to each Saṁhitā that explain and prescribe Vedic sacrifices and their cosmic correspondences.
Āraṇyaka
‘Forest books’ that speculate on the inner meaning of rituals; transitional to the Upaniṣads.
Brahman (metaphysical)
The absolute, imperishable reality underlying and supporting the universe; often described as beyond being and non-being.
Ātman
The innermost self or essence; ultimately identified with Brahman in many Upaniṣadic passages.
Sāman
A melodic chant of the Sāmaveda, central to Soma rituals and heavily analyzed in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.
Udgītha (High Chant)
The principal Sāman syllable ‘OM,’ considered the essence of all sound and a key focus of Upaniṣadic speculation.
Gayatrī (metre)
A Vedic poetic metre of 24 syllables; personified as a goddess and treated as the essence of speech and the earth.
Triṣṭubh (metre)
A Vedic poetic metre of 44 syllables, linked in Chāndogya Upaniṣad with the Rudras and the mid-life ‘midday pressing’ of Soma.
Jagatī (metre)
A Vedic poetic metre of 48 syllables, connected with the Ādityas and the final 'third pressing' of Soma in life-span allegory.
Soma (sacrifice)
A ritual offering and deified plant/juice central to Vedic liturgy; its three pressings are paralleled with stages of human life.
Chāndogya Upaniṣad
A major Sāmaveda-linked Upaniṣad exploring correspondences of chant, cosmos and self; source of ‘tat tvam asi.’
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
A lengthy Yajurvedic Upaniṣad that develops doctrines of Brahman, Ātman, and the ‘inner controller’ (Antaryāmin).
Taittirīya Upaniṣad
Upaniṣad discussing layers of the person (food, breath, mind, intellect, bliss) and the sound OM.
Kena Upaniṣad
Short Upaniṣad asking ‘by whom’ is mind and breath directed, stressing Brahman beyond sense and thought.
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
Dialogue between Naciketas and Yama on death, the self, and liberation; famous for chariot allegory.
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
Theistic Upaniṣad affirming a personal Lord (Īśa) who rules the perishable and imperishable and frees the soul.
Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad
Upaniṣad distinguishing higher (parā) and lower (aparā) knowledge and using two-bird allegory for self and Self.
Praśna Upaniṣad
‘Questions’ Upaniṣad in which six seekers ask Sage Pippalāda about prāṇa, OM, and the paths after death.
Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad
Shortest principal Upaniṣad; analyzes OM into waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and the fourth (turīya) state.
Īśā Upaniṣad
Concise poetic Upaniṣad opening with ‘All this is for dwelling by the Lord (Īśa);’ blends action and renunciation.
Antaryāmin (Inner Controller)
Upaniṣadic concept of a hidden ruler within earth, gods, beings and senses, unseen yet omnipresent.
Prāṇa
Vital breath or life-force; considered one of the supreme functions and often equated with cosmic power.
Vasus
Group of eight deities; in Chāndogya Upaniṣad linked symbolically with the morning Soma pressing (ages 0-24).
Rudras
Eleven deities associated with storms; linked with the Triṣṭubh metre and middle life stage in allegorical sacrifice.
Ādityas
Twelve solar deities; connected to the Jagatī metre and final life stage in Chāndogya’s sacrifice-as-lifespan analogy.
Devayāna (Path of the Gods)
Upaniṣadic route taken by ascetics and meditators after death: flame → day → bright fortnight → northern solstice → sun → moon → lightning → Brahman.
Pitṛyāna (Path of the Fathers)
Route of ritualists and donors: smoke → night → dark fortnight → southern solstice → ancestors → return to earth via rain and food.
Doctrine of Five Fires
Chāndogya teaching that cosmic processes (heaven, rain-cloud, earth, man, woman) are successive ‘fires’ transforming offerings into human birth.
Tantra / Āgama
Non-Vedic revelatory texts of Śaiva, Śākta and Vaiṣṇava traditions, prescribing monotheistic ritual, yoga and meditation.
Smārta Brahmanism
Mainstream orthodox Hinduism that reveres the Vedas and permits worship of multiple deities within a Vedic framework.
Bhakti
Devotional religiosity centered on personal relationship with a chosen deity; later systematized in Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita Vedānta.
Tat Tvam Asi
‘That Thou Art’—Mahāvākya of Chāndogya Upaniṣad declaring identity of individual self with ultimate reality.
OM (Praṇava)
Sacred syllable seen as essence of the Vedas, the universe, and consciousness; used for meditation on Brahman.
Metre (Chandas)
Syllabic pattern of Vedic verses (e.g., Gāyatrī, Triṣṭubh, Jagatī); each linked with deities and cosmic functions.
Karma (in Vedic/Upaniṣadic sense)
Ritual action whose precise performance sustains cosmic order and influences future birth and experience.
Śramaṇa
Renouncer or ascetic who abandons household ritual to pursue liberation through knowledge, meditation, or austerity.
Brahmanism
Religious culture centered on Brahmin priesthood, Vedic ritual, social hierarchy (varṇa) and the authority of revealed scripture.
Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ
The three sacred utterances representing earth, atmosphere, and heaven; invoked for protection in Chāndogya Upaniṣad.