Tantra Glossary: Sanskrit Terms A to Z

This glossary defines the Sanskrit vocabulary you meet when reading about Tantra — roughly 150 terms covering ritual, the subtle body, philosophy, scripture, initiation and the goddesses. Each entry gives a short, plain-English definition of one to three sentences, notes where schools disagree, and links to the page on this site that treats the term at length.

A note on spelling: this site uses common romanised forms (shakti, chakra, shaktipata) rather than diacritics, with Devanagari given in देवनागरी where the spelling is unambiguous; IAST diacritics appear only in citations of scholarly works, so you will also see śakti, cakra and śaktipāta for the same words elsewhere.

How to Use This Glossary

Jump to a letter using the contents list, or search the page with Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac) if you already know the word. Definitions here are deliberately compact: they are meant to unblock your reading, not to replace it. Where a term carries a whole chapter behind it — kundalini, diksha, yantra, panchamakara — follow the link at the end of the entry for the full treatment, including textual sources and the debates scholars have about them. Terms that mean different things in different schools are marked as such rather than flattened into one meaning, and Buddhist-specific senses are labelled. If a term you need is missing, tell us and we will add it.

A

Abhisheka अभिषेक

Ritual bathing or anointing — of a deity image, a linga or a person — with water, milk, honey, ghee and other substances. In initiation it carries the further sense of consecration, the sprinkling that confers a role or authority within a lineage. Tantric practice

Acharya आचार्य

A teacher qualified to instruct in scripture and ritual and, in Tantric lineages, to confer initiation. The word is also used honorifically for a tradition’s founding or presiding master. Guru & diksha

Agama आगम

Literally “that which has come down”: a class of revealed scripture outside the Vedic corpus. The Shaiva and Shakta Agamas and Tantras prescribe temple construction, ritual, yoga and doctrine; the Vaishnava equivalents are usually called Samhitas. Sacred texts

Aghora अघोर

“Not terrible” — a euphemistic name for the fierce aspect of Shiva and one of his five faces. The Aghori ascetics take their name from it. Aghori

Ahamkara अहंकार

The “I-maker”: the faculty in Samkhya and Tantric cosmology that appropriates experience, turning awareness into “I” and “mine”. It is a principle of mind, not a moral fault, though it is what binds. Tantric philosophy

Ajna आज्ञा

“Command” — the two-petalled chakra at the brow, associated with insight, the union of the two side channels, and with receiving the guru’s command. The subtle body

Anahata अनाहत

“Unstruck” — the twelve-petalled heart chakra, named for the unstruck sound said to be heard there in meditation, sound produced by no physical impact. The subtle body

Ananda आनन्द

Bliss — the third term in the Vedantic formula sat-chit-ananda (being, consciousness, bliss), which non-dual Tantric schools apply to the nature of Shiva-Shakti. It also ends many monastic names. Tantric philosophy

Anukalpa अनुकल्प

A permitted substitute in ritual: the secondary option used when the primary substance is unavailable or unsuitable for the practitioner. In Kaula rites the term covers the standard replacements for the five makaras, such as milk or coconut water in place of wine. Vama marga

Anuttara अनुत्तर

“That beyond which there is nothing” — a name for the absolute in Kashmir Shaivism, associated in its phonic theology with the first vowel, a. Buddhist tantra uses the same word for its highest class of tantras (anuttarayoga). Kashmir Shaivism

Apana अपान

The downward-moving vital breath, governing elimination and the lower body; one of the five pranas. Much of yogic breath practice aims to unite the upward prana with the downward apana. The subtle body

Asana आसन

A seat or posture — both the physical positions of yoga and the mat or seat a practitioner sits on for worship, which ritual texts treat as itself requiring consecration. Tantric practice

Atman आत्मन्

The self — not the personality but the innermost consciousness, which the Upanishads identify with Brahman. Non-dual Tantric schools identify it with Shiva-consciousness present in every being. Tantric philosophy

Avadhuta अवधूत

One who has “shaken off” convention: an ascetic living beyond caste rules, ritual obligation and the ordinary stages of life. The figure is prominent in Nath and Dattatreya lineages. Nath Sampradaya

Avarana आवरण

“Covering, enclosure” — the concentric circuits of a yantra and the retinue deities (avarana devatas) worshipped in each as one moves inward. In doctrine the same word names the veiling power that hides reality. Sri Yantra

Avidya अविद्या

Ignorance — not a lack of information but a mistaken self-understanding, taking oneself to be a limited being. It is the root of bondage in both Vedantic and Tantric analysis. Tantric philosophy

B

Bandha बन्ध

A yogic “lock” that seals and redirects the breath — chiefly mula (root), uddiyana (abdominal) and jalandhara (throat) bandha. In doctrinal contexts the same word means bondage. Tantric practice

Bhairava भैरव

The fierce form of Shiva, presiding deity of the Bhairava Tantras and guardian of sacred sites. In Kashmir Shaivism “Bhairava” also names the absolute itself, consciousness in its all-devouring fullness. Bhairava

Bhakti भक्ति

Devotion: loving participation in a deity. Tantric worship is ritually precise, but its hymns and its emphasis on grace are thoroughly devotional, and the two streams have shaped each other for centuries. Tantric philosophy

Bhava भाव

“State, mood, disposition” — and the sense shifts by school. The Kularnava Tantra classifies practitioners by three bhavas, pashu (bound), vira (heroic) and divya (divine); in devotional contexts bhava instead means the emotional mood a worshipper cultivates toward the deity. Vama marga

Bhuta shuddhi भूतशुद्धि

“Purification of the elements” — the preparatory rite in which the five elements of the body are visualised dissolving one into the next until only consciousness remains, after which a purified, divine body is imagined in their place. Tantric practice

Bija बीज

“Seed” — a single-syllable mantra such as Hrim, Shrim, Aim or Klim, treated as the concentrated sound-form of a deity or principle rather than as a word with a dictionary meaning. Bija mantras

Bindu बिन्दु

“Drop, point” — the central point of a yantra, the undivided source from which the whole diagram unfolds. It is also the dot written above a bija mantra to mark its nasal resonance, and in hatha yoga texts the vital drop certain practices aim to conserve. Sri Yantra

Brahman ब्रह्मन्

The absolute of the Upanishads: the single reality underlying everything, beyond description. Tantric theologies generally identify it with Shiva, with Shakti, or with their inseparable union. Tantric philosophy

C

Chakra चक्र

“Wheel, circle.” Best known as the subtle-body centres arranged along the central channel, but the word equally means a circle of worshippers seated for a rite (chakra puja) and a yantra such as the Sri Chakra. The subtle body

Chandi चण्डी

“The fierce one” — the warrior goddess of the Devi Mahatmya, and by extension the text itself, recited as the Chandi Path. She is closely linked with Durga and with Chamunda. Mahavidya vs Navadurga

Chit चित्

Consciousness as such — not a mental state but awareness itself, the second term of sat-chit-ananda and the foundation of non-dual Tantric metaphysics, in which the universe is consciousness appearing as world. Tantric philosophy

D

Dakini डाकिनी

The sense differs sharply between traditions. In Hindu Tantric and Puranic texts a dakini is a fierce female attendant spirit associated with Kali and the cremation ground; in Buddhist tantra (Tibetan khandroma) the dakini is an enlightened female figure who embodies wisdom and prompts the practitioner forward. Buddhist tantra

Darshana दर्शन

“Seeing” — both the auspicious sight of a deity or teacher, in which seeing and being seen are mutual, and a philosophical “viewpoint” or school, as in the six classical darshanas. Tantric philosophy

Devi देवी

“Goddess” — used both for a particular goddess and, in Shakta theology, for the supreme Goddess of whom all others are forms. Dasha Mahavidya

Dharana धारणा

Concentration — holding attention on a single point, the sixth limb of Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga. The Vijnana Bhairava is built of 112 such dharanas, each a different doorway into awareness. Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

Dharma धर्म

Duty, moral order, the way things properly are — what upholds a person, a society or the cosmos. In Buddhist usage the same word names the Buddha’s teaching, and in the plural the constituents of experience. Tantric philosophy

Dhyana ध्यान

Meditation: sustained contemplation, the seventh limb of yoga. In ritual, a dhyana shloka is the verse describing a deity’s form in detail so the worshipper can build the visualisation. Tantric practice

Diksha दीक्षा

Initiation — the rite in which a teacher transmits a mantra and admits a student into a lineage. Most Tantric traditions treat diksha as the point at which practice properly begins, and regard uninitiated use of a mantra as incomplete. Guru & diksha

G

Gayatri गायत्री

A Vedic metre of twenty-four syllables, the celebrated verse to the sun-god Savitri composed in it, and the goddess who personifies that verse. Tantric worship gives many deities their own “gayatri” verses on the same pattern. Tantra vs the Vedas

Granthi ग्रन्थि

“Knot” — three points (brahma, vishnu and rudra granthi) that hatha yoga texts describe as blockages which rising kundalini must pierce before it can continue. Kundalini awakening

Guna गुण

“Strand, quality” — the three constituents of nature in Samkhya: sattva (clarity), rajas (activity) and tamas (inertia). Everything material is a shifting mixture of them, and much Tantric symbolism, including the trident, is read in threes on this basis. Tantric philosophy

Guru गुरु

Literally “heavy, weighty” — a spiritual teacher qualified to initiate and to guide practice. Tantric texts treat the guru as the living channel of grace, which is also why they warn at length about unqualified ones. Guru & diksha

H

Hamsa हंस

The goose or swan of Indian poetry, and the mantra hamsa / so’ham that yogic texts say the breath repeats by itself, without effort — hence ajapa japa, “unrecited recitation”. As an honorific (paramahamsa) it marks a realised renunciant. Notable masters

Hatha हठ

“Force” — the yoga of posture, breath control, locks and seals taught in the Nath-linked hatha corpus. The tradition also glosses the word as the joining of ha (sun) and tha (moon), a symbolic reading rather than a linguistic derivation. Nath Sampradaya

Homa होम

Fire offering: ghee, grain and other substances poured into a consecrated fire with mantras. An old Vedic rite absorbed into Tantric worship, where it typically completes an intensive mantra vow. Tantric practice

I

Ida इडा

The left channel of the subtle body, associated with the moon, coolness and the mental faculties; it winds around the central channel together with pingala. The subtle body

Ishta devata इष्टदेवता

“Chosen deity” — the particular form of the divine a practitioner worships and meditates on, usually settled at initiation rather than picked by preference. Dasha Mahavidya

J

Japa जप

Repetition of a mantra, usually counted on a mala of 108 beads. Manuals grade it as audible (vachika), whispered (upamshu) and mental (manasa), ranking the mental form highest. Tantric practice

Jiva जीव

The individual living being — the self as limited by a body, by karma and by ignorance. Non-dual Tantra holds that the jiva is Shiva who has forgotten himself. Tantric philosophy

Jnana ज्ञान

Knowledge — specifically the liberating insight that ends ignorance, as distinct from information. It names one of the classical paths alongside devotion and action, and one of the sections of Shaiva scripture. Tantric philosophy

K

Karma कर्म

Action, and the moral consequence an action carries into the future. In ritual texts the same word simply means “rite”, so karma kanda is the ritual portion of scripture. Tantric philosophy

Kaula कौल

The tradition “of the kula”: a family of Tantric lineages centred on clan deities and yoginis, known for rites using substances and acts that brahmanical orthodoxy considered impure, restricted to qualified initiates. Three traditions

Kavacha कवच

“Armour” — a protective hymn that assigns deities or mantras to the parts of the body one by one, so that the reciter is imagined as enclosed by them. The Devi Kavacha is the best-known example. Tantric practice

Khechari खेचरी

“Moving in space.” In hatha yoga, a mudra in which the tongue is drawn back and upward toward the nasal cavity; in Kashmir Shaivism, khechari instead names a state of consciousness moving freely in the “sky” of awareness. A physical practice not to be attempted from a written description. Tantric practice

Kosha कोश

“Sheath” — the five layers the Taittiriya Upanishad describes as enveloping the self: food, breath, mind, intellect and bliss. Yogic and Tantric writers use them as a map of increasing subtlety. The subtle body

Kriya क्रिया

Action or rite. In Shaiva scriptural classification it names the ritual section of a text; in yoga it means a cleansing or energetic technique; and kriya shakti is the divine power of action, paired with the powers of will and knowledge. Tantric practice

Kula कुल

“Family, clan” — and among the most school-dependent words in Tantra. It can mean a lineage of practitioners, the network of yoginis into which an initiate is adopted, the body as the Goddess’s family of powers, or Shakti herself as against akula, Shiva. Three traditions

Kumbhaka कुम्भक

Breath retention in pranayama, held either after inhalation or after exhalation. Forceful retention is taught under supervision in every tradition that teaches it at all. Tantric practice

Kundalini कुण्डलिनी

“She who is coiled” — the goddess-power described as resting, coiled, at the base of the spine, and as rising through the central channel to the crown when awakened. Texts treat her as Shakti within the individual body. Kundalini awakening

L

Laya लय

Dissolution or absorption. Laya yoga is the path of dissolving mind and breath into the inner sound and light of the subtle body, rather than into any external object. Nath Sampradaya

Linga लिङ्ग

“Mark, sign” — the aniconic column that represents Shiva and is the object of worship in Shaiva temples. In Samkhya the same word names the subtle body that carries impressions between lives, and in grammar it means gender. Bhairava

M

Mahavidya महाविद्या

“Great wisdom” — a goddess whose mantra is itself a liberating knowledge. The standard group is the ten Mahavidyas, from Kali to Kamala, worshipped as ten faces of one Goddess. Dasha Mahavidya

Maithuna मैथुन

Ritual sexual union, the fifth of the five makaras. Historically it was restricted to qualified initiates within a tightly prescribed rite; many lineages read it symbolically, as the union of Shiva and Shakti within the practitioner, and substitute other offerings. Vama marga

Mala माला

A rosary, normally of 108 beads, used to count mantra repetitions; also a garland offered to a deity. Rudraksha and tulsi beads are the most common materials. Tantric practice

Mandala मण्डल

“Circle” — a diagram that maps a sacred space and the deities arranged within it, used to establish and enter that space in ritual. Mandalas are central to Buddhist tantra; Hindu Tantra uses both mandalas and the more linear yantras. Buddhist tantra

Manipura मणिपूर

“City of jewels” — the ten-petalled chakra at the navel, associated with fire and the digestive heat. The subtle body

Mantra मन्त्र

A formula of sacred sound. Tantric thought treats a mantra not as a description of a deity but as the deity’s sound-body, which is why its transmission, pronunciation and repetition are regulated so carefully. Tantra, mantra & yantra

Marga मार्ग

“Path” — used for the broad routes of Tantric practice, above all dakshina marga (right-hand, using conventional offerings) and vama marga (left-hand, using ritually impure substances). Three traditions

Matrika मातृका

“Little mother.” In phonic theology, the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet regarded as goddesses and as the matrix from which speech and the world are woven; in iconography, the group of Mother goddesses (the Sapta Matrikas). Bija mantras

Maya माया

The power by which the one appears as many. Advaita Vedanta tends to treat maya as concealment or illusion; non-dual Tantric schools treat it as the Goddess’s real creative power, which is a central difference between them. Tantric philosophy

Moksha मोक्ष

Liberation from bondage and rebirth, from the root much, “to release”. Tantric traditions characteristically claim to offer both liberation (mukti) and worldly enjoyment (bhukti), rather than requiring a choice. Tantric philosophy

Mudra मुद्रा

“Seal” — a hand gesture used in worship and meditation, a whole-body yogic seal such as khechari, or, in the list of five makaras, the parched grain offering. Buddhist tantra also uses the word for a female consort in ritual. Tantric practice

Muladhara मूलाधार

“Root support” — the four-petalled chakra at the base of the spine, where kundalini is described as resting before awakening. The subtle body

N

Nada नाद

Sound — especially the subtle inner sound a meditator learns to listen for, and the resonance that trails the end of a bija mantra as it fades into silence. Bija mantras

Nadi नाडी

A channel of the subtle body along which prana is said to flow. Texts count them in the tens of thousands; ida, pingala and sushumna are the three that matter for practice. The subtle body

Nirguna निर्गुण

“Without qualities” — the absolute considered as beyond all attributes and forms, the counterpart of saguna. Most Tantric worship approaches the nirguna through the saguna rather than rejecting form. Tantric philosophy

Nirvana निर्वाण

“Blowing out” — in Buddhism, the extinction of craving and release from rebirth. Hindu texts borrow the word more loosely for final liberation, which is not quite the same idea. Buddhist tantra

Nyasa न्यास

“Placing” — touching or mentally focusing on parts of the body while reciting mantras, so as to install the deity’s powers there. Common forms are kara nyasa on the fingers, anga nyasa on six parts of the body, and matrika nyasa, which places the whole alphabet across it. Tantric practice

O

Ojas ओजस्

Vital essence or vigour. In Ayurveda it is the refined end-product of the bodily tissues, held to underlie vitality and resistance to illness; yogic literature uses it for the energy said to be conserved through continence. It is a traditional category, not a physiological one.

Om ॐ

The primordial syllable, also written aum. The Mandukya Upanishad analyses it into three sounds — a, u, m — corresponding to waking, dream and deep sleep, plus a silent fourth answering to turiya. Bija mantras

P

Panchamakara पञ्चमकार

The “five m-words” of Kaula rite: madya (wine), mamsa (meat), matsya (fish), mudra (parched grain) and maithuna (union), also called the panchatattva. Lineages differ over literal use, substitution (anukalpa) and purely symbolic reading. Vama marga

Para परा

“Supreme” — the highest of the four levels of speech in Tantric linguistics, before sound has differentiated at all, and also the name of the supreme goddess of the Trika. Kashmir Shaivism

Parampara परम्परा

“One after another” — an unbroken succession of teachers through which a teaching is passed down. A lineage’s authority in Tantra rests on its parampara rather than on a text alone. Guru & diksha

Pingala पिङ्गला

The right channel of the subtle body, associated with the sun, heat and outward activity; the complement of ida. The subtle body

Pitha पीठ

“Seat” — a site where the Goddess is established, most famously the Shakti Pithas; also the pedestal of an image and, by extension, a division of scripture such as the Vidyapitha. Sacred geography

Prakriti प्रकृति

Nature, or primordial matter: in Samkhya the unconscious source of everything experienced, made of the three gunas, and the counterpart of the witnessing purusha. Shakta theology reworks prakriti as the Goddess herself. Tantric philosophy

Prana प्राण

The vital breath or life-force that animates the body, and specifically the first and upward-moving of its five divisions. The subtle body

Pranayama प्राणायाम

Regulation of the breath, the fourth limb of Patanjali’s yoga and a central Tantric technique for steadying the mind. Intensive breath practices are traditionally learned in person and are not suitable for unsupervised experiment. Tantric practice

Prasada प्रसाद

“Grace, favour” — and so the food or other offerings returned to worshippers once a deity has accepted them, carrying that grace with them. Tantric practice

Pratyahara प्रत्याहार

Withdrawal of the senses from their objects, the fifth limb of yoga and the hinge between the outward and inward halves of the path. Tantric practice

Puja पूजा

Worship: inviting a deity to be present, offering hospitality — seat, water, incense, lamp, food — and then taking leave. Tantric puja adds purification of the worshipper, nyasa and mantra to this domestic pattern. Tantric practice

Purashcharana पुरश्चरण

An intensive mantra vow: a fixed number of repetitions — manuals commonly specify 100,000 for each syllable of the mantra — completed with fire offerings, water libations and the feeding of others in set proportions. Tantric practice

Purusha पुरुष

“Person” — in Samkhya the witnessing consciousness, wholly distinct from prakriti and unaffected by what it observes. Non-dual Tantra rejects that strict separation. Tantric philosophy

R

Rasa रस

“Juice, taste, essence” — the savour of an aesthetic experience in Indian poetics, a subject Abhinavagupta treated alongside his Tantric philosophy, so that the two bodies of work illuminate each other. In alchemy the same word means mercury. Kashmir Shaivism

S

Sadhaka साधक

One who undertakes a sadhana; a practitioner. The feminine is sadhika. Tantric practice

Sadhana साधना

Disciplined spiritual practice, from the root sadh, “to accomplish” — the whole programme of mantra, ritual, meditation, yoga and conduct a practitioner follows. In Tantra it normally begins with initiation and is meant to be daily. Tantric practice

Sadhu साधु

“Good, accomplished” — a general word for a renunciant or holy man; the feminine is sadhvi. It covers a huge range of orders and does not by itself imply any Tantric affiliation. Aghori

Saguna सगुण

“With qualities” — the absolute conceived as a deity with form, name and attributes, which is how Tantric worship approaches it. Tantric philosophy

Sahaja सहज

“Born together, innate” — the spontaneous, natural condition of realisation that requires no contrivance. The term is central to Buddhist tantric songs and later to the Bengali Sahajiya and Baul traditions. Buddhist tantra

Sahasrara सहस्रार

The thousand-petalled centre at the crown of the head, where the ascent of kundalini is said to culminate in the union of Shakti with Shiva. The subtle body

Samadhi समाधि

Meditative absorption in which the distinction between meditator and object falls away; the eighth limb of Patanjali’s yoga. The same word names the tomb-shrine of a realised teacher. Tantric practice

Samaya समय

“Convention, pledge” — and the sense varies by tradition. In Buddhist tantra samaya is the set of vows binding an initiate to teacher and deity; in Sri Vidya, samayachara names the internalised, brahmanically orthodox style of worship contrasted with Kaula practice. Sri Vidya

Sampradaya सम्प्रदाय

A tradition of transmission: an established lineage with its own scriptures, deities, initiation and rules of practice. Guru & diksha

Samsara संसार

“Flowing together” — the round of birth, death and rebirth, driven by karma and ignorance, which liberation brings to an end. Tantric philosophy

Samskara संस्कार

Two related senses: a life-cycle rite that refines a person (birth, naming, initiation, marriage, funeral), and the mental imprint left by past experience which shapes later tendencies. Tantric philosophy

Sankalpa सङ्कल्प

The formal statement of intention made at the start of a rite, naming the time, place, practitioner and purpose. It is what turns an action into a ritual act. Tantric practice

Sannyasa संन्यास

Formal renunciation, the fourth stage of life in brahmanical reckoning, in which ritual obligations and property are laid aside. Tantric lineages include both renunciants and householders, and several explicitly favour the householder.

Shabda शब्द

Sound or word. Tantric thought treats shabda as a form of divine power rather than a conventional sign, which is the basis of its whole theory of mantra. Bija mantras

Shakti शक्ति

Power — and the Goddess as the dynamic power of consciousness. In non-dual Tantra, Shiva and Shakti are not two beings but the still and active aspects of one reality, “inseparable as fire and its heat”. Tantric philosophy

Shakti Pitha शक्तिपीठ

A site where, according to the Sati myth, part of the Goddess’s body fell, each with its own goddess and guardian Bhairava. Lists vary widely between texts, from four principal seats to more than a hundred. Sacred geography

Shaktipata शक्तिपात

“Descent of power” — the arrival of divine grace that turns a person toward liberation. Shaiva texts grade it by intensity and describe it as transmitted by a teacher’s touch, word, glance or thought, or as occurring without visible cause. Guru & diksha

Shastra शास्त्र

An authoritative treatise, or the whole body of teaching on a subject — from ritual and grammar to statecraft. Sacred texts

Shava sadhana शवसाधना

A rite in which the practitioner sits on a corpse in a cremation ground and performs mantra practice through the night, described in Shakta texts and associated with Tarapith and with Aghori ascetics. It is rare, restricted and not a general Tantric practice. Aghori

Shiva शिव

“Auspicious” — the god who, in Shaiva and Tantric theology, is pure consciousness: the still ground of which Shakti is the moving power. Tantric philosophy

Shmashana श्मशान

The cremation ground — the setting of fierce goddesses and of ascetic practices that deliberately confront death, impurity and fear. Aghori

Shodashi षोडशी

“The sixteen-year-old” — a name of Tripurasundari among the Mahavidyas, also used for her sixteen-syllable mantra. Tripurasundari

Shraddha श्रद्धा

Faith, in the sense of trusting confidence that makes practice possible. Do not confuse it with the near-identical English spelling of shraddha (श्राद्ध), the quite separate rite of offerings to the ancestors.

Siddha सिद्ध

An “accomplished one”: a perfected master. The word also names a class of semi-divine beings, the eighty-four Siddhas of the Nath and Buddhist tantric lists, and the Siddhar alchemical tradition of Tamil country. Notable masters

Siddhi सिद्धि

Attainment — both the successful completion of a practice (a mantra is siddha when mastered) and the extraordinary powers tradition says may accompany it. Texts warn repeatedly that pursuing powers derails the practitioner. Notable masters

Smarta स्मार्त

“Based on smriti” — the mainstream brahmanical tradition of domestic and public ritual, often set in contrast to Tantric practice although in fact the two borrowed heavily from each other. Tantra vs the Vedas

Soma सोम

The pressed plant and its juice offered in Vedic sacrifice; also the moon. Yogic texts reuse the word for the “nectar” said to drip from the head and be consumed by the inner fire. Tantra vs the Vedas

Sphota स्फोट

In Sanskrit grammatical philosophy, the indivisible meaning-bearing whole that “bursts” into awareness when a word or sentence is heard, as against the sequence of sounds. Tantric theorists of mantra drew on the idea. Bija mantras

Sri Chakra श्रीचक्र

The yantra of Tripurasundari, formed by nine interlocking triangles that generate forty-three smaller triangles arranged in nine enclosures around a central bindu. Also called the Sri Yantra. Sri Yantra

Sri Vidya श्रीविद्या

The Shakta tradition centred on Tripurasundari, her Sri Chakra and her fifteen-syllable mantra, the panchadashi. It is the most textually elaborate surviving Tantric school in India. Sri Vidya

Sthula स्थूल

“Gross” — the physical, material level of body and world, contrasted with the subtle (sukshma) and causal levels. The subtle body

Stotra स्तोत्र

A hymn of praise. Common forms include the sahasranama, a litany of a thousand names, and the ashtaka, a hymn of eight verses. Lalita Sahasranama

Sukshma सूक्ष्म

“Subtle” — the level of body and world made of breath, mind and impressions rather than matter, where chakras and nadis are located. The subtle body

Sushumna सुषुम्णा

The central channel, running through the axis of the spine, along which kundalini is said to rise once ida and pingala are balanced. The subtle body

Sutra सूत्र

“Thread” — a compressed aphorism designed to be memorised and unpacked by commentary, or a whole text made of such aphorisms, like the Shiva Sutras or the Yoga Sutras. Shiva Sutras

Svadhisthana स्वाधिष्ठान

The six-petalled chakra below the navel, associated with water and with the reproductive and emotional faculties. The subtle body

T

Tantra तन्त्र

From the root tan, “to stretch, to weave”: a loom, and so a framework or system. It names both a class of scriptures revealed as the words of Shiva, Shakti or the Buddhas, and the ritual and yogic traditions built on them. Tantra, mantra & yantra

Tapas तपस्

“Heat” — ascetic discipline, and the power Indian tradition holds it generates. Fasting, vigils, silence and exposure are all forms of tapas. Aghori

Tarpana तर्पण

“Satisfying” — libations of water offered to deities, sages or ancestors, and a standard component of an intensive mantra vow. Tantric practice

Tattva तत्त्व

“Thatness” — a principle or level of reality. Samkhya counts twenty-five, from matter up to purusha; the Shaiva systems extend the list to thirty-six, adding the levels from maya up to Shiva. Tantric philosophy

Tirtha तीर्थ

A “crossing place” — a pilgrimage site, classically at a river ford, where the passage between this world and the divine is held to be easier. Sacred geography

Trika त्रिक

“Triad” — the non-dual Kashmiri school centred on the three goddesses Para, Parapara and Apara, given its classic synthesis by Abhinavagupta around the turn of the eleventh century. Kashmir Shaivism

Trishula त्रिशूल

The trident carried by Shiva and by the fierce goddesses, read symbolically as the three gunas, the three times, or the three powers of will, knowledge and action. Bhairava

Turiya तुरीय

“The fourth” — the state beyond waking, dream and deep sleep: pure awareness, present in all three and identical with none. Some texts add a further turiyatita, “beyond the fourth”. Shiva Sutras

U

Upanishad उपनिषद्

The philosophical texts that close the Vedic corpus, concerned with Brahman, atman and liberation. Much later texts, including Shakta and yoga Upanishads, took the name to claim that authority. Tantra vs the Vedas

Upaya उपाय

“Means, method.” Kashmir Shaivism grades practice into four — anupaya (no method), shambhavopaya, shaktopaya and anavopaya — according to how much effort is required. In Buddhism, upaya is the skilful means by which a teaching is adapted to its hearer. Kashmir Shaivism

V

Vac वाच्

Speech, and the goddess of speech, already hymned in the Rig Veda. Tantric linguistics maps her descent through four levels, from para (supreme, undifferentiated) to vaikhari (audible, uttered). Bija mantras

Vahana वाहन

“Vehicle” — the animal mount of a deity, such as Shiva’s bull or Saraswati’s swan. The mount is part of the deity’s meaning, not decoration. Dasha Mahavidya

Vairagya वैराग्य

Dispassion — the loosening of attachment that the Yoga Sutras pair with sustained practice (abhyasa) as the two things that steady the mind.

Vajra वज्र

“Thunderbolt” and “diamond” — Indra’s weapon in Vedic myth, and in Buddhist tantra the ritual sceptre and the symbol of indestructible reality that gives Vajrayana its name. Buddhist tantra

Vama वाम

“Left” — hence vama marga, the left-hand path: the stream of Tantric practice that uses ritually impure substances and transgressive acts under initiation, as against the right-hand dakshina marga. Vama marga

Vidya विद्या

Knowledge, the opposite of avidya. In Shakta usage the word also means a goddess’s mantra itself — as in Sri Vidya and in the ten Mahavidyas. Sri Vidya

Vidyapitha विद्यापीठ

“Seat of the vidyas” — the division of the Bhairava Tantras centred on goddesses and yoginis, distinguished by scholars from the Mantrapitha, centred on Bhairava himself. Sacred texts

Vijnana विज्ञान

Discriminating knowledge or consciousness. In the Vijnana Bhairava it points to the direct knowing of Bhairava-consciousness; in Buddhist analysis, vijnana is consciousness as one of the five aggregates. Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

Vimarsha विमर्श

Reflective self-awareness: consciousness knowing itself as “I”. Kashmir Shaivism pairs it with prakasha, the light of awareness, and identifies vimarsha with Shakti — the reason that system is not a passive monism. Kashmir Shaivism

Visarga विसर्ग

“Emission, release” — the Sanskrit aspirate written as two dots, which Tantric phonic theology reads as the moment in which consciousness emits the universe out of itself. Bija mantras

Vishuddha विशुद्ध

“Pure” — the sixteen-petalled chakra at the throat, linked with space, hearing and speech. The subtle body

Y

Yajna यज्ञ

Vedic sacrifice: offerings poured into consecrated fires by trained priests. Tantric homa continues the form within a very different theology. Tantra vs the Vedas

Yantra यन्त्र

A geometric diagram that serves as the deity’s seat and visual form in worship, typically built from an outer square with gates, rings of petals, triangles and a central bindu. Sri Yantra

Yoga योग

“Yoking” — the disciplines that still the mind or unite the practitioner with the divine. Tantric yoga works chiefly with mantra, visualisation and the subtle body, alongside posture and breath. Tantric practice

Yogini योगिनी

A female practitioner of yoga, and a class of powerful goddesses — most famously the sixty-four yoginis of the circular open-air temples. In Kaula traditions the yoginis are the clan into which an initiate is adopted, not merely deities to be worshipped. Yogini temples

Yoni योनि

“Womb, source, origin” — in Tantric symbolism the downward-pointing triangle that represents the Goddess’s generative power, and the form of the object of worship at Kamakhya. Kamakhya Temple