Page 54 - Sri Canakya Niti

Glossary

occupation, in the environment, in food, and so on: (1) goodness, or
sattva, (2) passion, or rajas, and (3) ignorance, or tamas. All three
guṇas are extensively described in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Guñjā—(Abrus precatorius) a small white or red berry that is dried
for the purpose of stringing into a simple necklace.
Guru—spiritual master, teacher. The three kinds of gurus are:
dīkṣā-guru (who initiates the disciple), śikṣā-guru (who instructs the
disciple), and vartma-pradarśaka-guru (lit. “he who shows the way”;

who first directs one toward spiritual life).
Guru-dakṣiṇā—a donation given by the disciple to the guru at
initiation or other occasions.

Guru-mahārāja, Guru Mahārāja—an honorific title for one’s
spiritual master.
H

Haṁsāvatāra, Lord—an ancient incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu.
Hari, Lord—a common name for Lord Viṣṇu, meaning “He who
takes away (obstacles to spiritual life).”
Hari-bhakti-vilāsa—a treatise on rules, regulations and rituals for
Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas that was composed in the sixteenth century by
two prominent disciples of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Haridāsa Ṭhākura—a celebrated follower of Lord Caitanya who
was born of Muslim parents. Caitanya Mahāprabhu conferred upon
him the title Nāmācārya out of high regard for his incessant chanting
of the holy names of the Lord.
Hayagrīva, Lord—one of the ancient incarnations of Lord Viṣṇu.
Himavat—another name for the Himalayan mountains.
Hindu—a Persian misspelling for the Sanskrit word sindhu, which
was used by Muslim invaders to denote the original inhabitants of
India and then later appropriated as the general term for followers
of Vedic practices (hence termed “Hinduism”). However, the terms
Hindu and Hinduism are in many ways inadequate.

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