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Glossary of Sanskrit Terms

Tamas - (see tamo-guna).
Tamasika - of the nature of tamo-guna.
Tamo-guna - the quality or nature of tamasika jivas which is characterized by indolence and ignorance.
Tantras - the verbal root tan means “to expand”, so tantra is that which expands the meaning of the Vedas. A class of Vedic literature dealing with a variety of spiritual topics and divided into three branches: the Agamas, Yamala, and principal Tantras; a class of works teaching magical and mystical formularies, mostly in the form of dialogues between Siva and Durga. These are said to expound upon five subjects: (1) the creation, (2) the destruction of the world, (3) the worship of the gods, (4) the attainment of all objects, especially of six superhuman faculties, and (5) the four methods of union with the supreme spirit by meditation.
Tantrika - one who is completely versed in the mystical science of the Tantras.
Tapasya - asceticism; austerity.
Tarkibi - an Islamic term for the conditioned soul.
Tata - the border region between land and water; a shore. A marginal state.
Tatastha-sakti - the marginal or jiva potency of Sri Bhagavan. Because the jiva-sakti is included neither within the svarupa-sakti nor within maya-sakti, it is known as tatastha-sakti, the marginal potency. The word tata means a shore or bank, like the shoreline of an ocean; and the verbal root stha means to be situated. The shore is not part of the ocean, yet it is not part of the land which borders the ocean. One situated on the shoreline is known as tatastha. He is situated neither within the ocean, nor on the land. In his Paramatma-sandarbha, Jiva Gosvami has described the tatastha-sakti as follows: “The jiva-sakti is known as tatastha-sakti for two reasons. First of all it cannot be included within mayasakti for it is beyond maya-sakti. Secondly, although jiva-sakti is overcome by ignorance, the defect of being overcome in this way cannot touch the Paramatma situated in his heart. This is understood by the following analogy. We see that some portion of the sun’s rays can be covered by shade or clouds, but the sun itself cannot be covered. Similarly, the individual soul, who is vibhinnamsa, a separated part of Him, can be covered by maya, but Krsna Himself can never be covered. “From this it may be understood that the jiva-sakti is separate from the svarupa-sakti also for the following reason. Svarupa-sakti is present in the Paramatma. If the jiva-sakti were included within the svarupa-sakti, then the defect of the jivas being overcome by ignorance would be transposed upon the svarupa-sakti situated within the Paramatma as well, and ultimately upon the Paramatma Himself. Since that is not the case, it is evident that the jiva-sakti is not included within svarupa-sakti. Consequently, because the jiva-sakti is included neither within svarupa-sakti nor within mayasakti, it is known as tatastha-sakti.”
Tatastha-vikrama - see tatastha-sakti.
Tatkalika - activities which are relative to a particular period of time.
Tattva - truth, reality, philosophical principle; the essence or substance of anything.
Tattvika-sraddha - real faith; faith which is based on the understanding of tattva and which prompts one to dedicate one’s entire being to attain the Supreme Lord.
Thakura - a term addressing Sri Bhagavan and the Deity. Other great personalities such as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are sometimes so called, implying that they have become saksad-dharitva, qualitatively as good as God through their full dedication to Bhagavan.
Tilaka - clay markings worn on the forehead and other parts of the body by Vaisnavas, signifying their devotion to Lord Krsna or Visnu, and consecrating the body as the Lord’s temple.
Tridansa - a staff which is carried by the Vaisnava sannyasis. It consists of three rods symbolizing engagement of body, mind, and words in the service of the Lord. These three rods may also signify the eternal existence of the servitor (the bhakta), the object of service (Bhagavan), and service, thus distinguishing aisnava-sannyasa from the mayavada ekadansa sannyasa.
Tulasi - a sacred plant whose leaves and blossoms are used by Vaisnavas in the worship of Lord Krsna; a partial expansion of Vrnda-devi.
Tulasi-mala - a strand of wooden beads made of the tulasi plant, used like a rosary by Vaisnavas for counting their chanting of harinama; a necklace of small tulasi beads, known as kanthi-mala, worn on the neck by Vaisnavas to indicate their devotion to Sri Krsna and acceptance of diksa.
Tyagi - a renunciate or ascetic.

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Uddipana-vibhava - an aspect of vibhava which refers to those things which stimulate remembrance of Sri Krsna, such as His dress and ornaments, the spring season, the bank of the Yamuna, forest groves, cows, peacocks, and so on. Vibhava is one of the five essential ingredients of rasa (see vibhava).
Udita-viveka - one whose spiritual discrimination has been awakened; the spiritually awake.
Upacara - a figurative expression; assignment of meaning, quality, or appellation to something, metaphor.
Upakarana - (1) ingredient, constituting material, instrument. (2) the upakaranas of rasa are the ingredients which combine to produce rasa; namely, sthayibhava, vibhava, anubhava, sattvika-bhava, and vyabhicari-bhava. (3) upakarana may also refer to the paraphernalia which is offered to the Deity.
Upanayana - a ceremony in which a guru initiates a boy into one of the three twice-born classes by investing the boy with the sacred thread, and teaching him the Brahma-gayatri mantra, whereupon he becomes eligible to study the Vedas under his guru. This is one of the Vedic samskaras, or purificatory ceremonies.
Upasana - spiritual practices, especially worship of the Deity. Upasana literally means ‘to sit near’. Thus upasana refers to all those activities by which one approaches the Lord in order to offer worship.
Urddhva-punsra-tilaka - the vertical clay markings of the Vaisnavas worn on the forehead and other parts of the body to symbolize their devotion to Lord Krsna or Visnu.
Uttama-bhakta - the topmost practitioner of bhakti.
Uttara-mimamsa - the philosophy established by Vyasadeva dealing with the latter division of the Vedas (see Vyasa in the Glossary of Names). After thorough analysis of the Upanisads, which comprise the latter portion of the Vedas, and the smrti-sastras which are supplements to the Upanisads, Vyasadeva summarized the philosophical conclusions of those treatises in his Brahma-sutra. This Brahma-sutra, or Vedanta-sutra, is also known as vedanta-darsana or uttara-mimamsa. Like the other philosophical systems, vedanta-darsana accepts certain fundamental principles. The principles of the vedantadarsana are not the imagination of Vyasadeva, but are established on the basis of the apauruseya-veda-sastras, which are understood to have been spoken directly by Sri Bhagavan. The statements of Bhagavan are by definition completely free from the defects of mistakes, illusion, cheating, and imperfect senses. On the other hand, the fundamental principles which are accepted in the other systems are products of their authors’ imaginations. The other systems are based on man-made sastras, composed by greatly learned sages. As a result they are subject to the defects of human limitation. The vedanta-darsana accepts brahma as the supreme fundamental truth. What is the nature of that brahma? The first sutra of vedantadarsana states: athato brahma-jijnasa - “Now, therefore, inquiry should be made into brahma.” The entire vedanta-darsana is presented in order to answer this inquiry. In the course of analyzing what brahma is, one also becomes acquainted with the truths of the jivas, the creation, liberation, and other such topics. As this is a vast subject matter, only a brief introduction has been given here.