SELECTED GLOSSARY OF WORDS IN GURU KABIR’S TEACHINGS

Courtesy of Dr. Das, Kabir Association, Canada

achint   unthinkable

achinta  free from cares and worries

adhār  support; God is our support

ādi   from the beginning; first

ādi adal  full of justice

agni   fire; god of fire

ahankār  ego; a great stumbling block to God realization

ahimsā   non-violence in thought, word and deed. The first prerequisite in     Yoga, and a cardinal teaching of Guru Kabir

ajapā   which cannot be uttered

ajapā jāpa automatic repetition of mantra or God’s name

ajar amar  not subject to decay or death; God

akāsh   ether; space; one of the five basic elements in creation

alakh purush invisible Being. God the Absolute

allāh  name of God in Islam

amrit  nectar; state of bliss in meditation

anahad   limitless

anahad nād  divine melody in meditation

anjāwan  birthless; refers to God

antar jyoti  inner light of the soul

antaryāmī one knowing the thoughts of others; God

• āshramas four stages of life – brahmcharya (student), grihasta (householder), vanaprashta (partial renunciation), sanyasa (full renunciation of material and family ties)

avadhu   a class of ascetics

• avatār God taking on form and attributes to come to the world; incarnation

avināshi  indestructible; eternal

āwā gawan recurrent birth and death due to karmas

bandagi sāheb  salutation to the Master within; also Saheb Bandagi (from     vandana-to salute respectfully, and Saheb-master) 

bandhan  bondage; cause of rebirths according to karmas

bāt  path; eg. path to God

behad  limitless

bhajan   devotional song; hymn

bhaktī   devotion full of love

bhowjāl  trap of this world of re-incarnation

bhowsāgar  ocean of re-births; this world

bhram  doubt; not knowing the real nature of oneself; religious doubt

bihisht  heaven; paradise

bījak  map leading to hidden treasure; title of the book with the teachings     of Guru Kabir

brahm  Absolute Reality; God

brahmā   god the creator, on of the trinity

brahmand universe

brāhmin priestly class in Hinduism

buddhi   intellect

chakras  seven energy centres in the spinal cord to the brain

charkhā  a pinning wheel; Guru Kabir used it to weave cloth; he also     compares this to the chakras (energy centres) around which God    wove the body 

• charnāmrit nectar of the guru’s feet; a bit of water (second washing) from the previously washed feet of the guru sometimes sipped by a disciple

chit   consciousness

• chowkā (chaukā) a religious ceremony symbolizing worship of guru Kabir and other gurus for the liberation of the soul

darshan  philosophy; sight, presence of God

dharam dāss chief disciple of Guru Kabir, he handed down the teachings;    had countless spiritual dialogues with his Master

dharamrāi  same as Yama; also upholder of dharma, and dispenser of justice

dhyān  meditation; seventh step in Yoga philosophy

dīdār  presence; having presence of God

dojakh   hell

dukh   suffering

fakīr  unattached, wandering devotee

gambhīr  unfathomable, as mystery of God

ghat   body; every cell of the body

gudadi   a quilt; Guru Kabir was a weaver, so he used the word ‘gudadi’ as     a metaphor for the body

gunas  inherent qualities of all manifestations - sattva, rajas, tamas

guru   teacher; applied mostly to spiritual teacher

gyān  spiritual knowledge or wisdom

hansā   swan; symbolic of realized soul

hari   name of God

idā (ingalā)  sympathetic nerves along the right side of spine; right nostril

indriyas five organs of perception and five of action

ishwar   God

jagat  this world

jāl  trap

japa   repetition of mantra

jīva   individual soul

julahā   weaver caste; Guru Kabir was a weaver

jyoti  light; light of soul; light of God

• kabīr mystic saint of India (1398-1518); one of 99 names of Allah; the very great; his transcendental teachings form the basis of the Kabir Panth

kāgā   crow; spiritually ignorant person

kāl  time; god of death

kām  lust; one of five deadly passions

karma  action or deeds; leads to bondage or liberation

karunāmai  full of compassion; Guru Kabir’s name in Treta Yuga (Bronze     Age)

khalak   universe

khālik   God

khand  part or division of a whole

krodh  anger; one of five deadly passions

kudrat   God; nature

lobh   greed; one of five deadly passions

makkartār  spider’s thread; mystical ‘thread’ by which the realized soul climbs    to Sat Lok

mandir   temple in Hinduism

masjid   Mosque

māyā   illusion; thinking the unreal to be real; the creative energy of God

mehar  mercy

moha   attachment to perishable things

moksha final liberation after all karmas are ‘burnt’; immersion into the    being of God, and losing all identities; Self realization

moulvī   a learned Muslim versed in Arabic scripture

mukti  liberation while alive

munindra pious and holy one; Guru Kabir’s name in Dwapar Yug (Silver    Age)

nād  the divine melody heard in meditation

nām  name; Name of God; Shabda; Word

nij nām  one’s true ‘name’; the Reality within, the soul that is beyond name     and form

niranjan emissary of God; source of Trinity

nirbhai  fearless; attribute of God realized person

nirgun   without attributes or limiting adjuncts; God beyond all attributes

nirvāna   liberation of salvation

onkār  word symbol of the Supreme Being; Guru Kabir states that what    can be written and erased is not Onkar; the Reality is beyond     words

owgun  evil qualities

pākhand  hypocrisy, especially in religious matters

pandit   a priest

pāp  sin; evil

param  eternal

parmātmā God

pind   the body contrasted to the brahmand or the cosmos; microcosm    contrasted to macrocosm

prākriti  nature; original subtle, undifferentiated  matter that formed      universe

pralai   dissolution of the world into original matter; maha pralai is the     dissolution of all matter in the universe into an unmanifested state

prāna  universal energy permeating every atom of the universe; also     refers to the breath

pranām  salutation with folded hands

prem   love

prithvi  earth

pujā   ceremonial worship

punya  virtue

purnimā vrat fasting on the date of the full moon each month

purush   male; also used for soul and God

rām  name of formless God as used by Guru Kabir, the Absolute

ramainī a type of poetical composition

sagun  with attributes; God with attributes coming into the world as    avatars; also refers to gods and deities

sahaj  easy; natural; state of continuous universal realization of God

sākhī   couplet; testimony of eternal truths

samadhī meditative absorption in God

samrath  Guru Kabir uses it to refer to God, capable of creation

sankādik Sanak etc.; refers to the four sons of Lord Brahma – Sanak,      Sanandan, Sanatan and Sanatkumar

sant   a saint or a religious person upholding spiritual values

sanyāsī   a renunciate, dedicated to spiritual life

sār shabda essence of Word; inner mystic sound

sat  existence; the Eternal, the Self-Existent Being

sat chit ānand existence, consciousness and bliss; applied to the soul and God

sat lok  eternal abode; heaven where soul not subject to rebirths

sat nām  the Eternal Name; Guru Kabir was the first to use it to refer to God    the Absolute; also used for greeting one another

sat purush eternal, self-existent Being; God the Absolute; Brahm

sat sukrit supreme virtue. Guru Kabir’s name in Sat Yug (Golden Age)

satya  truth

shabda   Word; creative power of God

sharan   refuge; eg. refuge in Guru or God

shiva  god the destroyer; one of Trinity

siddhi   perfection or spiritual attainment

sirjanhār  God the creator of world

soham  mantra “I am That”; soul identity with God

sumati   good and noble thinking

sumiran  prayer; recitation of prayer

sunya Mahal  palace of the void; the state of perfect stillness and peace in     meditation when realization is possible

surat  meditation; mind fixed absolutely on God

sushumnā central canal in spinal cord for flow of psychic energy

swarga   heaven; paradise

tana   body

tat  God or Brahm, the Absolute

tattva   five gross elements – earth, water, fire, air, ether or space; they     compose the body and matter; param tattva refers to soul or God

trikuti  spiritual eye between eyebrows used in meditation

triveni  the confluence of Ida, Pingala and Sushumna at the spiritual eye     centre; in India, the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and    Saraswati

ultabani (ultbansi) contrary or upside down language; Guru Kabir was famous for    these to startle and challenge the people to understand the inner    teachings, eg. “the elephant is tied to the feet of the ant”

• varnas four castes – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra; these are to be based on profession, not on birth

vivek  spiritual discrimination of real from unreal

yama   god of death; he assures rebirths according to karmas

yogi   one who practices yoga to realize union with God