Vedic–Upanishadic Glossary: Simple, Clear, and 100% Scripture-Rooted | VedaSeek Blog

How to read: Each entry gives a plain meaning, a scripture anchor (Vedas/Upanishads), and a one‑line takeaway. Where a term is later-yogic, we cite Yoga/Minor Upanishads (e.g., Nada‑Bindu, Hamsa, Yoga‑Kundalī).

Non‑Dual Ground

Brahman / Parabrahman

Meaning: Absolute reality—changeless, limitless. (Para = supreme)
Texts: Chāndogya 6.2.1 “Ekam evādvitīyam” (One without a second); Bṛhadāraṇyaka 2.3 “neti neti.”
Takeaway: The screen behind every scene.

Ātman / Paramātman

Meaning: Ātman = innermost Self; Paramātman = Supreme Self (Brahman seen as all‑Self).
Texts: Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1.4.10 “Aham Brahmāsmi”; Chāndogya 6.8 “Tat Tvam Asi.”
Takeaway: Your core is not a part of truth—it is truth.

Nirguṇa / Saguṇa

Meaning: Brahman beyond attributes (nirguṇa); Brahman as the cosmic Lord with attributes (saguṇa/Īśvara).
Texts: Śvetāśvatara 3–4 (Lord as cause, yet beyond); Māṇḍūkya Kārikā 3.
Takeaway: Same ocean: silent depth (nirguṇa), rolling waves (saguṇa).

Māyā

Meaning: Power by which One appears as many—mis‑taking the changing for the absolute.
Texts: Śvetāśvatara 4.10 “Māyin creates by Māyā.”
Takeaway: Real appearance—but not absolute reality.

Triguṇa (sattva, rajas, tamas)

Meaning: Three strands of nature shaping mind and matter.
Texts: Śvetāśvatara 6; echoed across later Vedānta rooted in Veda.
Takeaway: Your mood is often guṇa‑weather.

Pañca Tattva / Pañca Bhūta

Meaning: Five elements: space (ākāśa), air (vāyu), fire (agni/tejas), water (ap), earth (pṛthvī).
Texts: Taittirīya 2.1 “Ākāśād vāyuḥ…”; Praśna 4.
Takeaway: The universe’s basic “five‑ingredient” recipe.

Inner Instruments & Mind

Antaḥkaraṇa

Meaning: Inner instrument—mind apparatus as a whole.
Texts: Maitrī Up. 2, 6 (mind’s functions).
Takeaway: The dashboard of experience.

Manas / Buddhi / Ahaṅkāra / Citta

Meaning: Manas (thought flow), Buddhi (discernment), Ahaṅkāra (I‑maker), Citta (memory/mental field).
Texts: Praśna 4 (prāṇa & mind); Maitrī Up.; implied across major Upanishads.
Takeaway: Four functions, one toolkit—learn who should drive (buddhi).

Karma

Meaning: Action and its fruit; binds when done in ignorance, purifies when selfless.
Texts: Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4.4; Īśa 2.
Takeaway: Do clean work; drop the sticky doer‑ness.

Janma–Maraṇa (birth–death)

Meaning: Cycle of embodiment driven by karma and ignorance.
Texts: Kaṭha 2.18–20; Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4.4.
Takeaway: Bodies come‑go; the Seer does not.

Mukti / Mokṣa / Jīvan‑mukta

Meaning: Freedom from ignorance; living‑liberation while still embodied.
Texts: Kaṭha 2.3.14; Māṇḍūkya 7; Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4.4.6.
Takeaway: Not going somewhere—knowing what you are.

Order, Word, and Sound

Ṛta (Vedic Order) ← (Vedic parallel for Hukam/Razā/Bhāṇā)

Meaning: Cosmic order; law by which sun rises and truth stands.
Texts: Ṛg Veda 1.164; 10.190.
Takeaway: Align with ṛta → inner weather calms.

Om (Praṇava)

Meaning: Sound‑symbol of Brahman; the whole of waking‑dream‑deep sleep and the fourth.
Texts: Māṇḍūkya Up. entire.
Takeaway: One syllable, all reality.

“Ekam” Perspective (Ik Oankar parallel)

Meaning: One reality expressed in many names/forms.
Texts: Ṛg Veda 1.164.46 “Ekam sat viprā bahudhā vadanti.”
Takeaway: Many labels, one light.

Śabda / Śabda‑Brahman

Meaning: Ultimate known through sacred sound/revelation.
Texts: Taittirīya Āraṇyaka; Maitrī; minor Upanishads on nāda.
Takeaway: Sound can point beyond sound.

Anāhata Nāda / Pañca Śabda / Ajapa Japa

Meaning: Unstruck inner sound; five inner tones; effortless mantra‑flow.
Texts: Nāda‑Bindu, Dhyāna‑Bindu, Hamsa Up. (Yoga/Minor).
Takeaway: When mind quiets, inner music plays itself.

Channels, Energy, Centers

Idā – Piṅgalā – Suṣumnā

Meaning: Lunar, solar, and central channels of subtle body.
Texts: Yoga‑Śikhā, Hamsa, Varāha, Yoga‑Kundalī Up.
Takeaway: Balance the sides; the middle wakes.

Kuṇḍalinī

Meaning: Coiled potential at the base; rises as system purifies.
Texts: Yoga‑Kundalī, Ṣaṭ‑cakra‑nirūpaṇa tradition (Upanishadic subset alludes).
Takeaway: Less forcing, more clearing.

Chakras (Sahasrāra, Ājñā, Hṛd, Nābhi…)

Meaning: Subtle “lotuses” correlated with functions.
Texts: Ṣaḍ‑cakra, Yoga‑Kundalī, Hamsa Up.
Takeaway: Petals open as life simplifies.

Daśama Dvāra (Tenth Gate)

Meaning: Crown opening/brahma‑randhra—apex of ascent.
Texts: Yoga‑Kundalī and related minor Upanishads.
Takeaway: Quiet head, open sky.

Śūnya / Śūnya‑samādhi / Śūnya‑maṇḍala

Meaning: Void‑like stillness—not nihilism; fertile quiet beyond words.
Texts: Māṇḍūkya (Turiya “amātra”), Kaṭha 2.18 hints, Yoga minors.
Takeaway: The pause where truth becomes obvious.

Bindu – Nāda

Meaning: Seed‑point and primal sound; subtle origins of manifestation.
Texts: Nāda‑Bindu Up.
Takeaway: From still point to living symphony.

Turiya

Meaning: The “Fourth”—beyond waking, dream, deep sleep.
Texts: Māṇḍūkya Up. 7.
Takeaway: You are the light of all three states.

Sahaja Avasthā

Meaning: Natural ease of abiding as Self; effortless steadiness.
Texts: Implied in Bṛhadāraṇyaka’s jīvan‑mukta ideal; stated in later Upanishadic tradition.
Takeaway: Peace that doesn’t try to be peaceful.

Prāṇa, Apāna, Samāna, Udāna, Vyāna

Meaning: Five vital airs governing life‑processes.
Texts: Praśna 3; Chāndogya 1.11.5.
Takeaway: Breath is physics of life; Self is the witness of breath.

Nāḍī / “Surat” (Attention)

Meaning: Subtle channels / steadyed attention (mapped to citta/manas).
Texts: Praśna 3–4; Yoga/Minor Upanishads for nāḍīs.
Takeaway: Where attention flows, prāṇa goes.

Gagan Maṇḍal / Ākāśa Tattva

Meaning: Inner sky / element of space.
Texts: Taittirīya 2.1–2; Chāndogya 8.1.1.
Takeaway: Spaciousness is spiritual oxygen.

Values, Ways, and World‑Order

Yajña / Havan

Meaning: Sacrifice/offering—outer ritual and inner attitude of consecration.
Texts: All Vedas; Bṛhadāraṇyaka internalizes offering.
Takeaway: Turn acts into offerings; ash becomes light.

Tapas

Meaning: Heat/austerity—focused effort that clarifies.
Texts: Ṛg Veda 10.190; Taittirīya 3.
Takeaway: Gentle heat ripens insight.

Vrat(a)

Meaning: Sacred vow to anchor life in truth.
Texts: Vedic hymns across Saṃhitās.
Takeaway: Commit small, keep it big.

Sannyāsa

Meaning: Renunciate life or inner renunciation amid duties.
Texts: Jābāla, Sannyāsa Upanishads.
Takeaway: Let go outside or inside—goal is the same seeing.

Varṇa / Jāti

Meaning: Varṇa = classical four orders (Purusha Sūkta); Jāti = many birth‑groups (later social reality).
Texts: Ṛg Veda 10.90.
Takeaway: Upanishads pivot from birth‑roles to Self‑knowledge.

Avatāra

Meaning: Descent of the divine; explicit lists are later, but Veda affirms One appearing in many forms.
Texts: Ṛg Veda 1.164 (One in many).
Takeaway: The limitless shows up as the limited—without becoming limited.

Yuga(s)

Meaning: Ages/cycles of time; four‑yuga scheme is later, “yuga” occurs in Veda as epoch.
Texts: Ṛg Veda usage; detailed system is post‑Vedic.
Takeaway: Time turns like a wheel; truth doesn’t.

Sat‑Cit‑Ānanda

Meaning: Being‑Consciousness‑Bliss—pointer to Brahman’s nature.
Texts: Taittirīya 2.7–8 “Raso vai saḥ (He is bliss)”, layers of self.
Takeaway: What you are is real, aware, and quietly joyful.

Antaryāmin (Inner Ruler)

Meaning: The indwelling controller present in all.
Texts: Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3.7 “Antaryāmin Brāhmaṇa.”
Takeaway: The One sits within the many.

Vairāgya / Viraha

Meaning: Vairāgya = dispassion; Viraha = aching longing (devotional idiom).
Texts: Dispassion across Upanishads; longing is echoed in later bhakti‑colored Upanishads.
Takeaway: Let go of clinging; let love deepen seeing.

Rasa / Prema‑rasa / “Nāma‑rasa” (as Om‑rasa)

Meaning: Essence/juice of reality; bliss of the Self; savor of sacred sound (Om).
Texts: Taittirīya “Raso vai saḥ”; Māṇḍūkya (Om).
Takeaway: The taste behind all tastes.

Indriyas

Meaning: Senses and organs of action.
Texts: Kaṭha 1.3 chariot model.
Takeaway: Great servants, terrible masters.

Nāma (Name) — via Om

Meaning: The sacred “name” as Om, symbol of Brahman.
Texts: Māṇḍūkya Up.
Takeaway: Remembering Om steadies the compass.

Quick Practice (All Upanishad‑Friendly)

Om Awareness (2 min): Inhale–exhale while humming Om softly; notice the quiet after sound—Māṇḍūkya’s “fourth.”
Chariot Check (1 min): Ask: “Is buddhi (driver) awake? Are manas reins steady?” (Kaṭha 1.3)
Neti‑Neti (60s): “Not body, not thought—still aware.” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3.9)
Offer & Release (1 min): Begin a task with “This is an offering.” End with “Results to ṛta.” (Vedic yajña → innerized)

Final Line

Upanishads don’t add beliefs—they remove confusion. Learn the terms, then look past the terms to the seer they point to.