Page 118 - SBV (English)

492 Glossary

Ärya—(1) respectable, righteous person; (2) one interested in higher values of
life and in advancing spiritually; (3) upper-caste person of North India;
(4) member of the Ärya Samäj.
Äsana—sitting mat, sitting place, seat, place.
Asat—incorrect, improper, bad, false, ephemeral, non-existent, untrue.

Asat-saìga—unholy association.
Äçérväda-patra—certificate of blessing.
Äçrama—any of the four spiritual orders in the Vedic social system: brahmacarya,
gåhastha, vänaprastha, and sannyäsa. See also Varëäçrama-dharma.
Äçraya—(1) shelter; (2) a receptacle or recipient in which any quality or article
is retained or received.

Äçraya-vigraha—“the form of the recipient,” the receptacle of prema; (1) Çré
Rädhä; (2) one’s own guru; (3) any advanced devotee. See also Viñaya-
*
vigraha.
Añöa-käléya-lélä—pastimes of Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa during the eight periods of
the day, different activities being performed during different periods, as
outlined in Govinda-lélämåta and other confidential works; the highest
object of contemplation for Gauòéya Vaiñëavas.
Añöottara-çata—“108.” It is considered an auspicious number and appears in many
contexts. For instance, there are 108 principal Upaniñads, 108 principal
gopés, 108 beads in the standard rosary of Gauòéya Vaiñëavas, and many
compilations of 108 names for various deities.
Asura—(1) person of demonic mentality, specifically one who is opposed to Viñëu
and Viñëu-bhakti; (2) one of the cosmic demonic beings often referred to
in the Vedic literature.
Avatar—(Sanskrit: avatära—descent) (1) descent from the spiritual world of
the Supreme Lord or a special devotee; (2) a personage thus descended.

Avidyä—ignorance.
Ävirbhäva—Vaiñëava terminology for the apparent birth of a Viñëu-avatar or
an exalted devotee, in contradistinction to the birth of conditioned souls

* Äçraya and viñaya are terms adopted from vyäkaraëa-çästra, or grammar. The aspect
of Sanskrit grammar that deals with the syntactical relationships within a sentence
(käraka) describes that the locative case is of two types, äçraya-saptamé and viñaya-
saptamé, meaning respectively that the location is either (depending upon context) the
shelter for the doer or object, or their destination. Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé employed these
terms in Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu to describe the dynamics of rasa. It appears that Çréla
Sarasvaté Öhäkura introduced the terms äçraya-vigraha and viñaya-vigraha.