200 Key Sanskrit Yoga Terms

Discerning dharma from kharma or bhakti from shakti is an important lesson for all yoga students—whether you are a beginner or a long-time yogi.

By Georg Feuerstein

a b c d g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v

Kaivalya ("isolation"): the state of absolute freedom from conditioned existence, as explained in ashta-anga-yoga; in the nondualistic (advaita) traditions of India, this is usually called moksha or mukti (meaning "release" from the fetters of ignorance, or avidya)

Kali: a Goddess embodying the fierce (dissolving) aspect of the Divine

Kali-yuga: the dark age of spiritual and moral decline, said to be current now; kali does not refer to the Goddess Kali but to the losing throw of a die

Kama ("desire"): the appetite for sensual pleasure blocking the path to true bliss (ananda); the only desire conducive to freedom is the impulse toward liberation, called mumukshutva

Kapila ("He who is red"): a great sage, the quasi-mythical founder of the Samkhya tradition, who is said to have composed the Samkhya-Sutra (which, however, appears to be of a much later date)

Karman, karma ("action"): activity of any kind, including ritual acts; said to be binding only so long as engaged in a self-centered way; the "karmic" consequence of one's actions; destiny

Karma Yoga ("Yoga of action"): the liberating path of self-transcending action

Karuna ("compassion"): universal sympathy; in Buddhist yoga the complement of wisdom (prajna)

Khecari-mudra ("space-walking seal"): the Tantric practice of curling the tongue back against the upper palate in order to seal the life energy (prana); see also mudra

Kosha ("casing"): any one of five "envelopes" surrounding the transcendental Self (atman) and thus blocking its light: anna-maya-kosha ("envelope made of food," the physical body), prana-maya-kosha ("envelope made of life force"), mano-maya-kosha ("envelope made of mind"), vijnana-maya-kosha ("envelope made of consciousness"), and ananda-maya-kosha ("envelope made of bliss"); some older traditions regard the last kosha as identical with the Self (atman)

Krishna ("Puller"): an incarnation of God Vishnu, the God-man whose teachings can be found in the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata-Purana/p>

Kumbhaka ("potlike"): breath retention; cf. puraka, recaka

Kundalini-shakti ("coiled power"): according to Tantra and hatha yoga, the serpent power or spiritual energy, which exists in potential form at the lowest psycho-energetic center of the body (i.e., the mula-adhara-cakra) and which must be awakened and guided to the center at the crown (i.e., the sahasrara-cakra) for full enlightenment to occur

Kundalini-Yoga: the yogic path focusing on the kundalini process as a means of liberation

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19