Hanuman Hanuman (हनुमान्, Hanumān) is a Hindu god and divine vanara companion of the god Rama. Lord Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is a ardent devotee (for Lord Rama) and one of the chiranjeevis. He is also mentioned in several other texts, such as the epic Mahabharata and the various Puranas. Hanuman is...
Lakshmi In Hinduism, Lakshmi (लक्ष्मी, lakṣhmī) is the Goddess who leads to one’s goal (lakshya in Sanskrit), hence her name Lakshmi. For mankind, 8 types of goals are necessary – Spiritual enlightenment, food, knowledge, resources, progeny, abundance, patience and success, hence there are 8 or Ashta Lakshmis – Aadi Lakshmi, Dhaanya Lakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi, Dhana...
Shakti Shakti (शक्ति, Śakti; lit. “Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability”) is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism, and especially Shaktism, a major tradition of Hinduism. Shakti is the personification of the energy that is creative,...
Shiva Shiva (शिव, Śiva, lit. ”the auspicious one”), also known as Mahadeva (lit. ”the great god”), is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Shiva is known as “The Destroyer” within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In...
Trimurti The Trimurti or Trimūrti ( त्रिमूर्ति, trimūrti, “three forms”) is the Triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities, typically Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, though individual denominations may vary from that particular...
Dashavatara The Dashavatara (दशावतार, daśāvatāra) refers to the ten primary (i.e. full or complete) incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation which has Rigvedic origins. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word Dashavatara derives from daśa, meaning ‘ten’, and avatar (avatāra), roughly equivalent to ‘incarnation‘. The list of...
Kalki Kalki, also called Kalkin or Karki, is the tenth avatar of Hindu god Vishnu to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of existence (krita) in Vaishnavism cosmology. He is described in the Puranas as the avatar who rejuvenates existence by ending the darkest and destructive period to remove adharma and ushering in the Satya Yuga,...
Japa Japa (जप) is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Shintōism. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken within the reciter’s mind. Japa may be performed while...
Ik Onkar Ik Onkar or Ek Onkar (ੴ, ਇੱਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ is the symbol that represents the one supreme reality and is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy. Ik Onkar has a prominent position at the head of the Mul Mantar and the opening words of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Ik (ਇੱਕ) means one and only...
Manitou Manitou, akin to the Iroquois orenda, is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in Native American theology. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. Aashaa monetoo means “good spirit“, while otshee monetoo means “bad spirit“. When the world was created, the Great Spirit, Aasha Monetoo, gave the land to...
Tian Tian (天; Tiān) is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17–11th centuries BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as Shàngdì (上帝, “Lord on High”) or Dì (帝,”Lord”). During the following Zhou dynasty, Tiān became synonymous with this...
What Is Shekhinah? The Shekhinah (שכינה, šekīnah, Shekina(h)) is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “dwelling” or “settling” and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature. Etymology The word shekhinah is not...
Naam Japo In Sikhism, Naam Japo or Nām Japō (ਨਾਮ ਜਪੋ), Naam Japna, or Naam Simran refers to the meditation, vocal singing of hymns from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib or contemplating the various Names of God (or qualities of God), especially the chanting of the word Waheguru, which means “Wonderful Lord”...
What Is Avatar? An avatar (अवतार, avatāra), a concept in Hinduism that means “descent”, refers to the material appearance or incarnation of a deity on earth. The relative verb to “alight, to make one’s appearance” is sometimes used to refer to any guru or revered human being. The word avatar does not appear in the Vedic...
Ishvara Ishvara (ईश्वर) is a concept in Hinduism, with a wide range of meanings that depend on the era and the school of Hinduism. In ancient texts of Indian philosophy, depending on the context, Ishvara can mean supreme soul, ruler, lord, king, queen or husband. In medieval era Hindu texts, depending on the...
Devi Devī (देवी) is the Sanskrit word for “goddess“; the masculine form is Deva. Devi – the feminine form, and Deva – the masculine form, mean “heavenly, divine, anything of excellence”, and are also gender specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept and reverence for goddesses appear in the Vedas, which...
Tetragrammaton The tetragrammaton (meaning “[consisting of] four letters”), יהוה in Hebrew and YHWH in Latin script, is the four-letter biblical name of the God of Israel. The books of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible (with the exception of Esther and Song of Songs) contain this Hebrew name. Religiously observant Jews...
What Is Ilah? Ilah (إله; plural: آلهة ʾālihah) is an Arabic term meaning “deity” or “god“. The feminine is ʾilāhah (إلاهة, meaning “goddess“); with the article, it appears as al-ʾilāhah – الإلاهة. The Arabic word for God (al-Lāh) is thought to be derived from it. Ilah is cognate to Northwest Semitic ʾēl and Akkadian ilum. The...
Elohim Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) in the Hebrew Bible refers to deities, and is one of the many names or titles for God in the Hebrew Bible. The word is identical to the usual plural of el, meaning gods or magistrates, and is cognate to the ‘l-h-m found in Ugaritic, where it is used for the pantheon of Canaanite gods, the children of El, and...
El Shaddai El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי) or just Shaddai is one of the names of the God of Israel. El Shaddai is conventionally translated as God Almighty (Deus Omnipotens in Latin) but the construction of the phrase fits the pattern of the divine appellations in the Ancient Near East and as such can convey...