The Philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita
Glossary
Sanskrit and Theosophical terms of the lectures. The first column gives each word exactly as the book prints it — the 1921 edition has its own transliteration (Kṛṣhṇa, Avaṭār, Manvanṭara); next to it, the standard scholarly spelling (IAST) and Devanagari. Page numbers lead to the places in the text.
- adhyātma अध्यात्म
In the book: Adhyātma
The condition of the Logos as Pratyagātma.
Pages: 55
- advaitin अद्वैतिन्
In the book: Adwaiti, Adwaitis, Aḍwaiṭis, Adwaita, Aḍwaita
A follower of Advaita (‘non-dual’) Vedānta.
- ahaṃkāra अहङ्कार
In the book: ahaṅkāram, ahaṅkāra
‘I-making’, egotism, the sense of a separate self.
- Arjuna अर्जुन
In the book: Arjuna
Arjuna, who was called Nara (‘man’), represents the human monad.
- ātman आत्मन्
In the book: ātmā, āṭmā, aṭmā, ātma, Ātman
The self. In the lectures, that which in man is ultimately one with the Logos and, through it, with Parabrahmam.
Pages: xvi, 9, 18, 27, 55, 56, 57, 59, 69, 70, 71, 72, 87, 90, 97, 103
- avatāra अवतार
In the book: Avaṭār, Avatār, Avaṭārs, Avatārs
‘Descent’: the Logos descends to the plane of the soul and associates itself for a time with a particular soul in order to act through it — as in Rāma and Kṛṣhṇa. The lecturer distinguishes this from a Jīvanmukṭa.
- avyakta अव्यक्त
In the book: Avyaktam, Avyakṭam
‘The unmanifested’. For Subba Row, one of the names of Mūlaprakṛti. The Sāṅkhyas, who take no notice of the Logos, put Avyaktam in the place of the highest principle; Kṛṣhṇa, says the lecturer, constantly distinguishes his own nature from this Avyaktam.
- Bhagavadgītā भगवद्गीता
In the book: Bhagavad-Gītā, Bhagavaḍ-Gīṭā, Bhagavad-Gita, Gīṭā, Gītā
‘The Song of the Lord’, part of the Mahābhārata. For Subba Row, a practical teaching resting on the philosophy of the Logos, whose premises the Gītā only alludes to and the lectures set out.
Pages: vii, xiv, xvi, 2, 3, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 31, 40, 44, 92, 105, 106, 125
- bimba बिम्ब
In the book: bimbam, bimbams
‘Reflection, image’: the reflected image of the Logos in each upādhi, taken for the time being as the self.
- Christos Χριστός
In the book: Christos
For the Christians the Logos is the Verbum, the Word, ‘the divine Christos who is eternally in the bosom of his father’. The lecturer calls the Light of the Logos the ‘mother’ of the Christos in man.
- Daivīprakṛti दैवीप्रकृति
In the book: Daivīprakṛti, Ḍaivīprakṛṭi, Ḍaivīprakṛti, Daiviprakṛti, Ḍaivī-prakṛti
‘Divine nature’: the Light of the Logos. It is the one life by which the whole universe is supported, the one energy of the cosmos (Mahāchaitanyam) from which spring all forces; Buddhist books call it Fohat. This light is the link between objective matter and the thought of Īshvara.
- deva देव
In the book: Devas, Ḍevas
Beings of swargam (the world of the Devas); man’s kāraṇa sharīra is related to them as the astral body is to the elementals.
- Fohat
In the book: Fohat
A term of Buddhist (Tibetan) books, given by the lecturer as another name of Daivīprakṛti — the Light of the Logos in its aspect of force.
- Gāyatrī गायत्री
In the book: Gāyatrī, Gāyaṭrī
The sacred Vedic mantra which Subba Row advised repeating at dawn (S. Subramaniam’s memoir).
- Īśvara ईश्वर
In the book: Īshvara, Īshvāra, Ishvara
‘The Lord’: the Logos in the language of old writers. Subba Row warns that the word may mislead, and for one of the planes prefers the name Sūtrātmā.
Pages: 10, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 42, 46, 53, 55, 57, 59, 66, 68, 77, 78, 82, 84, 89, 111
- jīva जीव
In the book: jīva
Life, the living self: the Light of the Logos manifested in the upādhis as the real ego of man; it continues as an individual monad from birth to birth.
- jīvanmukta जीवन्मुक्त
In the book: Jīvanmukṭa, Jīvanmukta
‘Liberated while living’: a Mahātma whose soul has become united with the Logos. Unlike an Avaṭār, here the soul of a man rises to the Logos, rather than the Logos descending to the soul.
- kāraṇa śarīra कारणशरीर
In the book: kāraṇa sharīra
‘Causal body’ — the most important upādhi of man, the seat of his individuality, which can exist independently of the astral body; it results from the action of the Light of the Logos. The lecturer compares it to a clear mirror.
Pages: 18, 24, 25, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 70, 74, 75, 90, 95, 99, 100, 110, 117 …
- Kṛṣṇa कृष्ण
In the book: Kṛṣhṇa, Kṛshṇa
In the lectures Kṛṣhṇa represents the Logos and speaks from the standpoint of Pratyagātma, the inner self of the cosmos.
Pages: 2, 3, 14, 15, 27, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64 …
- kūṭastha कूटस्थ
In the book: Kūtastham, Kūṭastham, Kūtasṭham
‘That which stands unchanged’: in the lectures, another name of Mūlaprakṛti, ‘simply the undifferentiated Element’.
- Logos Λόγος
In the book: Logos
The first manifestation of Parabrahmam, a centre of consciousness and energy from which the cosmos evolves; ‘the only true self’ in the cosmos. In the language of old writers it is Īshvara, Pratyagātma or Shabda Brahmam. In the Bhagavad-Gītā the Logos is Kṛṣhṇa; there are innumerable Logoi in the universe.
Pages: 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 35, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47 …
- mahācaitanya महाचैतन्य
In the book: Mahāchaitanyam, Mahāchaiṭanyam
‘Great consciousness’: the Light of the Logos as the life and the one energy of the whole cosmos.
- mahātman महात्मन्
In the book: Mahātma, Mahāṭma, Mahātmas, Mahāṭmas
‘Great soul’, an adept.
- Mahāviṣṇu महाविष्णु
In the book: Mahāvishṇu, Mahāviṣhṇu
A name of the Logos descending in the Avaṭārs (Rāma, Kṛṣhṇa).
- manvantara मन्वन्तर
In the book: Manvanṭara, Manvantara
The period of one Manu, a cycle of manifested existence. ‘We are now in the seventh Manvanṭara — that of Vaivasvaṭa.’
Pages: 85
- māyā माया
In the book: Māyā
The power of manifestation, the substratum of all that is manifested; in the lectures also Daivīprakṛti, the Light of the Logos — ‘mother’ of the Logos in man and its ‘daughter’ in the cosmos.
- Mūlaprakṛti मूलप्रकृति
In the book: Mūlaprakṛti, Mūlaprakṛṭi, Mulāprakṛṭi
‘Root nature’: the veil thrown over Parabrahmam, as the Logos sees it; the undifferentiated element from which everything objective evolves. It is also called Avyaktam and Kūtastham.
Pages: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 28, 30, 35, 58, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 78, 89, 94, 95, 96, 98 …
- nirvāṇa निर्वाण
In the book: Nirvāṇa, Nirvana
‘The abode of bliss’ (paḍam). The lecturer argues against those who take Nirvāṇa to be layam, the annihilation of individuality: this doctrine, he says, has ‘spoilt the Adwaita philosophy’ and Buddhism.
- Parabrahman परब्रह्मन्
In the book: Parabrahmam
The one foundation of all that exists, the ‘first cause’ of the lectures. It is neither ego nor non-ego, neither consciousness nor matter; Parabrahmam is unknowable, and even the Logos sees it only through its veil, Mūlaprakṛti. When the Adwaitis say ‘Ahameva Parabrahmam’ they mean that the only true self of the cosmos, the Logos, is a manifestation of Parabrahmam.
Pages: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 45, 46, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 …
- prakṛti प्रकृति
In the book: Prakṛti, Prakṛṭi
‘Nature’, the material basis of manifestation; in the Gītā, the lower prakṛti (matter) and the higher, divine one (Daivīprakṛti).
Pages: 13, 16, 67, 68, 76, 94, 97, 98, 99, 102, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 121
- pralaya प्रलय
In the book: pralaya
Dissolution, the period of rest between cycles of manifestation. During pralaya the Logos exists latent in the bosom of Parabrahmam, as the sense of ego is latent in deep sleep (sushupti).
- Pratyagātman प्रत्यगात्मन्
In the book: Pratyagātma, Pratyagātman, Pratyagātmā, Praṭyagātma
‘The inner self’: the Logos as the only true self of the cosmos. When Kṛṣhṇa speaks of himself he never uses the word Parabrahmam, but speaks from the standpoint of Pratyagātma.
- puruṣa पुरुष
In the book: Purusha, Purushas
‘Spirit’, ‘man’. The Gītā speaks of two Purushas, the perishable and the imperishable, and the lecturer examines the interpretations of the verse.
- Śabdabrahman शब्दब्रह्मन्
In the book: Shabda Brahmam
‘Brahman as sound’, the Word: a name of the Logos in old writers (compare the Verbum of the Christians).
- sāṃkhya साङ्ख्य
In the book: Sāṅkhya, Sāṅkhyas, Sāṅkhyan
One of the six darśanas of Indian philosophy. The lecturer reproaches the ‘nirīshwara sāṅkhyas’ for taking no notice of the Logos and its Light, and shows how Kṛṣhṇa distinguishes concentration on the avyaktam of the Sāṅkhyas from reliance on the Logos.
Pages: 15, 21, 27, 30, 31, 44, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 93, 94, 95, 96, 102, 104, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 121 …
- sthūla śarīra स्थूलशरीर
In the book: sthūla sharīra
‘Gross body’, the physical body of man.
- sūkṣma śarīra सूक्ष्मशरीर
In the book: sūkṣhma sharīra, sūkshma sharīra
‘Subtle body’; in the lectures, the astral body of man.
- Sūtrātman सूत्रात्मन्
In the book: Sūṭrātmā, Sūtrātmā, Sūṭrāṭmā
‘The thread-self’: the name the lecturer uses instead of ‘Īshvara’ for one of the planes of Mūlaprakṛti, lest the word mislead.
- upādhi उपाधि
In the book: upādhi, upāḍhi
A vehicle or basis through which consciousness is manifested. The four principles of man are associated with four upādhis and four states of consciousness: the Light of the Logos is reflected in each upādhi, more feebly from the clearer to the denser, like the sun in a mirror, on a metal plate and on a wall.
Pages: 7, 9, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 43, 67, 69, 70, 71, 87, 94, 96, 97, 105, 106, 109, 110, 111, 114, 115
- Vāc वाच्
In the book: Vāch, Vach
‘Speech’, the Word, in four forms: parā — Parabrahmam, pashyanṭi — the Logos, maḍhyamā — the Light of the Logos, vaikhari — the whole objective cosmos (‘the world is the word made manifest’).
- vedānta वेदान्त
In the book: Vedānta, Vedāntic, Vedāntists, Veḍānta
The philosophy founded on the ‘Prasthānatrayam’: the Bhagavad-Gītā, the ten Upanishads and the Brahmasūtras. Subba Row was an Adwaiti and reads the Gītā as Vedānta, against the doctrine of Nirvāṇa as annihilation.
Pages: xiv, 10, 13, 18, 26, 27, 29, 30, 44, 69, 70, 71, 73, 77, 93, 114