Home/Glossary

Glossary

Sanskrit and Vraj philosophical terms used across the Vachanamrut, Shikshapatri, and Bhaktachintamani, sourced verbatim from Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Bhuj-Kutch's own published Vachanamrut glossary appendix — not written by us.

13 resultsfor “antah-karan” · clear

ahankãr: 1) Ego. The sense of ‘I-ness’. 2) One of the four antah-karans, with the functions of giving rise to the sense of self and individual existence. It is a product of maha-tattva from which the remaining tattvas are produced. By nature, it is passive, dense, and totally ignorant.
ãkãsh: Space. One of the five bhuts, from which the physical world (Virãt-Purush) is formed. It provides space for all jeevs, is the cause of the internal and external activities of their bodies, and is also where the prãns, indriyas, and antah-karans reside. Ãkãsh is the greatest of the five bhuts, as it supports and pervades all of the other four bhuts, yet remains unaffected by them.
antah-karan: Inner ability. The complete mind which is made up of four parts: man (generating thoughts and desires); buddhi (consolidating thoughts, making decisions and resolutions, forming convictions, or discriminating); chitt (repeatedly contemplating or focusing); and the ahankãr (forming a sense of being). It is also referred to as a singular as all four are parts make up one antah-karan, but usually referred to as being four different antah- karans.
ãtmã: 1) The pure jeev, which is distinct from the three bodies and three mental states, and distinct from the indriyas, the antah-karans, worldly desires, or any other traces of Mãyã. It is imperishable and eternal, does not undergo births or deaths, and it leaves a physical body after that body dies and assumes another physical body. Infinite in number. 2) That which pervades, inspires, and controls.

buddhi: 1) Intellect. Intelligence. 2) One of the four antah-karans, with the functions of consolidating thoughts, making decisions and resolutions, forming beliefs, or discriminating. It possesses the knowledge of all objects and is also the reason for the specific knowledge which all of the indriyas possess. Its inherent features are doubts, belief, sleep and memory.

chitt: Consciousness. One of the four antah-karans, with the functions of contemplating or pondering and especially focusing. Mental impressions and experiences are recorded and recalled from it. The entire world inherently resides in a subtle form within it, and it is itself unchanging, luminous, pure, full of pure sattva-gun and passive.

man: Mind. One of the four antah-karans, with the function of (pronounced mun) generating thoughts and desires, and governing all of the indriyas.

rajo-gun: Quality of passion. One of the three gun of Mãyã (Prakruti) characterised by incoherence and desires for the vishays. When rajo-gun prevails, the antah-karan becomes polluted and many disturbing thoughts regarding desires for the vishays arise, making it difficult to worship Bhagvãn’s murti. Also, when rajo-gun is predominant, the rewards of any karmas performed by a jeev are experienced in the svapna state. The products of rajo-gun include lust, and desires for enjoying sense pleasures. [Kãriyãni – 1] [Gadhadã II – 43].

sukshma: Subtle. One of the three bodies of the jeev. It is the subtle body of the jeev, which is composed of nineteen tattvas: the five gnãn-indriyas, the five karma-indriyas, the five prãns, and the four antah-karans. Unlike the sthul body, the sukshma body is not visible and is commonly thought of as the mental body.

tamo-gun: Quality of darkness. One of the three gun of Mãyã (Prakruti) characterised by unconsciousness and ignorance. When tamo-gun prevails, no thoughts arise in the antah-karan, and a person experiences a feeling of emptiness. Also, when tamo-gun is predominant, the rewards of any karmas performed by a jeev are experienced during the state of sushupti. The products of tamo-gun include laziness, sleep, anger, and greed. [Kãriyãni – 1] [Gadhadã II – 43].
tattva: An element. That which is produced from Mãyã. There are twenty-four tattvas that have evolved from Mãyã: the five gnãn-indriyas, the five karma-indriyas, the five prãns, and the four antah-karans.

vãsnã: Desire. A desire within the antah-karans to enjoy vishays that have been previously seen, heard, or encountered, and those that have not yet been encountered. It remains
vrutti: Concentration. Focus. The jeev’s vrutti can be thought of as the jeev’s focus of attention. The jeev can experience the physical world (Virãt-Purush) through the indriyas. Similarly the jeev can think about, or have a desire about the world through the antah-karans. When the jeev’s attention is focused on a physical object through the indriyas, it can be said that the vruttis of the indriyas are focused on that object. Similarly, when the jeev’s attention is focused on an object via the antah-karans, it can be said that the vruttis of the antah-karans are focused on that object. Also, like the focus of attention, the vrutti can be focused on many things at once with different levels of intensity. Also, just as the jeev can focus its vrutti outwards, it can also focus it inwards on itself or on Paramãtmã residing within.