| yagna |
‘Sacrificial
worship’. Ceremonial ritual performed as a form of worship
to seek the good favour and receive the blessings of the demigods.
Oblations – ghee, grains, wood, spices, etc. – are
offered into a sacred pit of fire in accordance with strict scriptural
injunctions amid the chanting of definite mantras – all
prescribed in the Samhitã and Brãhman portion of
the Vedas, and propounded by the system of Purva Mimãnsã.
|
| Yãgnavalkya
Smruti |
One
of the principal ancient Smruti scriptures, second in authority
only to the earlier Manu Smruti. Ascribed to Yãgnavalkya
Rishi. One of the eight scriptures accepted as authoritative by
Bhagwãn Swãminãrãyan.
|
| yam |
‘Restraint’,
derived from verb-root ‘yam’ – to restrain.
First of the eight steps of ashtãng-yoga, entailing virtuous
and moral living for purity of mind and unobstructed concentration.
|
| Yampuri |
‘City
of Yam’ – the god of death. Narak. Where non-believers
and sinners are consigned to after death to suffer for their wrongdoings.
After suffering for their wrongdoings, these souls continue to
migrate through the cycle of births and deaths.
|
| Yoga |
‘Union’
derived from verb-root ‘yuj’ – to yoke or join.
School of philosophy focusing on quieting the fluctuations of
the mind through various physical and mental practices and ultimately
aiming at the transcendental experience of union with God.
|
| yojan |
Measure of distance
equaling four gãus, i.e., approximately 6-7 km (3 3/4-4
1/2 miles).
|
| yug |
‘Age’.
Division of time used to outline the time-scale of the world.
There are four progressive ages that chart this time-scale: Satya-yug
(Age of Goodness), Tretã-yug (Age of Three), Dwãpar-yug
(Third Age), and finally, the present age, Kali-yug (Age of Darkness).
The dharmas of the yugs exist externally as well as internally
in the heart {Gadhada-I; Sarangpur-9}.
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