The Vetala
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ashoka (aśoka): a tree common in Maharashtra
ashrama (āśrama): “hermitage”; also one of the four stages of life of traditional Hindu thought (of which the third is retirement to a hermitage)
Avinashalatacharita (Avināśalatācarita): “The Story of Avinasha and Lata”, a fictitious Sanskrit text
bhel (bheḷ) (Marathi): a popular snack food
bhut (bhūt) (Marathi): “ghoul, ghost”
brahmamuhurta (brahmamuhūrta): “the holy hour”, the last period of night before dawn
desh (deś) (Marathi): “country, nation”
dosha (doṣa): “fault, sin”
Ganapati (Gaṇapati; Gaṇpati in Marathi): an elephant-headed god, also known as Ganesha (Gaṇeśa)
gav (gāv) (Marathi): “village”
gore (Marathi): “white person” (in the insulting neuter form, so “whitey”)
gori (gorī) (Marathi): “white woman”
hutatma (hutātmā): “self-sacrificing”, a martyr
idli sambar (idlī sāmbar) (Marathi): a popular snack food
Kadambari (Kādambarī): a Sanskrit novel by Bāṇa, renowned for the difficulty of its style
Kali: “Confusion” or “Destruction”, a divinity
Kaliyuga: “Age of Confusion or Decline”, the last and worst of the four ages of Hindu cosmology
kamarupi (kāmarūpī): “changing form at will”
kokil (kokiḷ) (Marathi): the “Indian cuckoo”, a bird with an exuberant, laughing cry
lingam (liṅgam): a phallic idol
Mahabharata (Mahābhārata): a Sanskrit epic
makad (mākaḍ) (Marathi): “monkey”
Manyu: “Rage”, a fictitious divinity
maushi (mauśī) (Marathi): “maternal aunt, auntie”, a common term of respectful address to an older woman
moksha (mokṣa): “release, liberation”
Nala and Damayanti (Damayantī): a king and queen who are the subject of a famous story in the Mahabharata
namaskar (namaskār) (Marathi and Hindi, from Sanskrit namaskāra): a common greeting, “hello”
nishachari (niśācārī): “night-walker”, a demon
Pandavas and Draupadi (Pāṇḍava, Draupadī): the five princes and their common wife who are the protagonists of the epic Mahabharata
pandita (paṇḍita): “learned man, scholar”, an expert in traditional Sanskrit learning
panditya (pāṇḍitya): “scholarship, learning”
pret (Marathi): a reanimated corpse
punya (puṇya): “religious merit”
rakshasa (rākṣasa): “demon”
Ramayana (Rāmāyaṇa): a Sanskrit epic
shloka (śloka): “verse, couplet”
vatavaghul (vaṭavāghūḷ) (Marathi): a fruit bat
Veda: the fundamental sacred writings of Hinduism, constituting a large and various body of texts
vetala (vetāla): a vampire- or zombie-like supernatural being, variously described in various Sanskrit texts, but generally considered to be neither properly living nor dead
Vetalajyotsna (Vetālajyotsnā): “Moonlight of the Vampire”, a fictitious Sanskrit text
vetalaraja (vetālarāja): “king of vampires”
vetalashastra (vetālaśāstra): “the lore, science, or study of vampires”
Vetalaviveka (Vetālaviveka): “Definition of the Vampire”, a fictitious Sanskrit text
Yadnya (Marathi form of Sanskrit yajña): “sacrifice, act of worship or sacrifice”, name of the house of Professor Suresh Kshirasagar
Acknowledgements
I want to thank my friend Darryl Sterk for buying me this laptop at Vijay Sales in Pune with the express purpose of enabling me to write this novel, and for then passing on the manuscript, on his own initiative, to Linda Leith. I thank Linda for giving the novel a chance. And I thank her and Kodi Scheer for guiding me in putting it into a publishable form.