by Tulsidas
Jabali: A Brahman, and a priest of King Dasharath. He is also called Javall.
Jadu: One of the sons of King Yayati, from his wife Devyani. Jadu (or Yadu) refused to relieve his father of the curse of old age passed on to him by the Rishi Sukra, and was therefore cursed in turn by Yayati that his children will not have a kingdom to rule. He was the founder of the line of Jadavas (or Yadavas), in which Krishna was born. He did ultimately receive the southern part of his father’s kingdom, which the Jadavas went on to successfully rule.
Jagbalik: A celebrated sage. To him is attributed the code of law called Yajnavalkyasmriti (from ‘Yajnavalkya’, the Sanskrit rendering of his name). He is believed to have flourished at the court of Janak, king of Videha and Sita’s father.
Jam, Jamraj; Yam, Yamraj: The god of death. He is the son of the sun god Surya and his wife Saranyu, and twin brother of the river Jamuna. He is represented as a man green in colour and clothed in red; he is armed with a huge mace and a noose. He rides upon a buffalo, because of which he is also called as Mahishesh, ‘the god whose steed is a mahish, or buffalo’. He is sometimes also called Shaman, ‘the destroyer’.
jamana: From the Sanskrit yavana; originally denoted a Greek, an Ionian, and then came to mean any barbaric foreigner from the West.
jambu: The rose-apple tree, also called jamun in Hindi.
Jamuna; Yamuna: The river Jamuna (or Yamuna) is the daughter of the sun god Surya and his wife Saranyu, and the twin sister of Jam (or Yama), the god of death. While Jamraj is death, Jamuna is life and bathing in her waters absolves one of sin.
Jamvant: King of the bears. With his army of bears, he helped Ram in his war against Ravan and was always ready with sage advice and good counsel. He is also called Jambavat.
Janak: A prince of the solar dynasty, king of Mithila/Videha, and the father of Sita. Amongst his ancestors are the kings Ishkvaku and Nimi. Janak was known for his great knowledge and good works. It is said that Janak refused to submit to the hierarchical superiority of the Brahmans and insisted upon his right to perform fire-sacrifices without their intervention. He is also called Siradhwaja, ‘he whose banner is the plough’, because his daughter Sita appeared as a baby in the furrow he was ploughing in preparation for a fire-sacrifice to obtain children. He is also known as Videh, the title used for the kings of Videha. ‘Janak’ is also the name of a royal dynasty of Mithila to which he belonged. He is therefore also called Janakpati, or ‘lord of the Janak dynasty’.
Jatayu: King of the vultures, and son of Garud, Vishnu’s steed. He is a friend of King Dasharath, and became an ally of Ram. He saw Ravan carrying away Sita and tried to stop him. In the ensuing battle, he was mortally wounded. Ram found him in time to hear his dying words and learn what had happened to Sita. Ram and Lakshman performed his last rites, and he ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire.
javas: The camel thorn. A small and prickly plant, it grows to about four feet in height. It has long spines along its branches and bright pink or reddish flowers. It is said to wilt at the coming of the rains and flourish only in dry soil.
Jayant: Son of Indra, also called Jaya.
jiva: The individual soul.
jubaraj: Literally ‘young king’; an heir-apparent associated with the reigning sovereign, who assumes kingly duties while the king is still living.
Kabandh: A hideous Rakshasa killed by Ram. He was originally a Gandharva, the son of the goddess Lakshmi. He is described as being covered with hair, as huge as a mountain, without head or neck, a mouth full of immense teeth in the middle of his belly and a single eye in his breast. According to some accounts, he was turned into this hideous monster as the result of a quarrel with Indra, who struck him with his thunderbolt and drove his head and thighs into his body. Another account says that he was cursed by the sage Durvasa. When mortally wounded, he asked Ram to burn him, and from that fire he came out in his original form as a Gandharva. He is also called Danu.
kadamb: A tall, evergreen tree, with fragrant, globe-shaped orange flowers which are used in the preparation of perfumes; the tree also has great mythological and religious significance in India.
Kadru: A daughter of Daksh, and one of the thirteen wives of the sage Kashyap. She is the mother of the serpents, including Sheshnag. Her offspring bear the metronymic Kadraveya.
Kaikeya: A kingdom in the west, beyond the rivers Saraswati and Beas, and from which came Dasharath’s queen, Kaikeyi.
Kaikeyi: A princess of Kaikeya, King Dasharath’s favourite queen, and the mother of Bharat, his second son.
Kailash: A mountain in the Himalayas, north of the Mansarovar; it is the abode of Shiv, and also of Kuber, the god of wealth.
Kalnemi: A Rakshasa, and Ravan’s uncle. At Ravan’s behest, he attempts to kill Hanuman.
kalpa: A period of 4,320,000,000 years, equal to a day for Brahma. This is one cosmic cycle of creation, and is made up of a thousand cycles of the four ages, or yugas. (See also ‘ages of the world’.) According to the Puranas, there are innumerable such cycles of creation, and within them, in each cycle of the four yugas, there occurs one incarnation of Ram.
Kalpataru: A tree in Indra’s paradise that grants all desires. It is also called Kamtaru, ‘tree of desire’.
Kam: Literally, wish, desire, longing; affection, love, passion; sexual passion; lust; love of pleasure; and personified, the god of love, Kamdev. He is the son of Vishnu by Rukmini, and the husband of Rati, the goddess of desire. He is lord of the celestial nymphs, the apsaras. He is armed with a bow and five arrows: the bow is of sugarcane, the bowstring a line of bees, and each of his five arrows is tipped with a particular flower (the white lotus, the ashok flower, the mango blossom, the jasmine and the blue lotus), which pierce the heart through the five senses; his favourite arrow is the one tipped with the mango blossom. His helpers are Vasant or Spring, and Malayanil, the southern winds or the cool and fragrant winds that blow from the Malay mountain. He is usually represented as a handsome young man riding on a parrot, and attended by apsaras; one of the apsaras bears his banner, which displays the Makar (a fabulous sea creature that represents Capricorn in the Hindu zodiac, and is depicted with the head and forelegs of an antelope and the body and tail of a fish), or a fish on a red background. He is therefore also called Jhashketu, ‘one with a fish on his banner’. Once, as Shiv sat in meditation, Kamdev inspired him with thoughts of Parvati; Shiv, greatly angered by this impertinence, opened his third eye and reduced Kamdev to ashes. Later, Shiv relented and allowed him to be reborn as feelings. Kamdev therefore does not have a substantial form or body. He is thus called Anang and Atanu, or ‘bodiless’. He is also known as Hridayniket, ‘one whose abode is the heart’; Mayan or Madan, ‘passion, lust or love (or the act of intoxicating or exhilarating, or gladdening)’; Manmath, ‘he who churns the heart’; Manobhav, ‘mind-born’; Manoj, ‘born of the mind’; Mansij, ‘born or generated in the mind, mind-born, heart-born’; Mar, the passion of love, personified. As husband to Rati, he is known as Ratinath, ‘Rati’s lord’. He is also called Kandarp.
Kamadgiri: Literally, ‘the mountain that fulfils all desires’; the hill in Chitrakut upon which Ram stayed.
Kamdhenu: ‘The cow that grants all desires’; she belongs to the sage Vasishtha and was one of the fourteen precious objects recovered at the churning of the ocean.
Kanakakasipu: ‘Golden-robed’; a powerful Daitya chief, son of the sage Kashyap and his wife Diti, and twin brother to Hataklochan. As the result of practising severe austerities, he obtained from Shiv sovereignty over the three worlds for a million years, as well as immunity from death by man and beast. He grew so arrogant in his power that he declared that no one may worship any god but him. When his son, Prahlad, remained steadfastly devoted to Vishnu, he punished him and tried to kill him several times, but in vain. He was finally killed by Vishnu in his fourth avatar as Narsingh or Narkeshari, who was half-man, half-lion, and thus neither man nor beast. He is also called Hiranyakashipu.
kanji: A sour
drink made by steeping mustard seeds in water and letting it ferment.
Kapil: A celebrated sage, the founder of the Sankhya philosophy. He reduced the sixty-thousand sons of King Sagar to ashes with a single glance.
kapila cow: A brown or reddish-coloured cow, considered in Hinduism to be the most sacred of all cows. A number of Hindu pilgrimage sites are linked to cows, some specifically to the brown cow. Several of these sites are mentioned in the Mahabharata and the Puranas. According to the Puranas, the gift of a kapila cow is equal to the giving away of a whole world in charity and confers upon the giver an assured place in Vishnu’s heaven for as many thousand years as there are hairs upon the body of that cow and her calf, and after that time is over, it guarantees rebirth into a rich and wealthy family. Gifts of land, horses, gold, etc., do not equal in virtue even a sixteenth of the gift of a kapila cow.
Karamnasa: A river that flows through the holy city of Kashi; bathing in its waters destroys all merit (as opposed to bathing in the waters of the Ganga, which destroys all sin).
karila: A thorny, leafless shrub that grows in arid regions.
karma: Fate, or the certain consequence of previous acts; destiny.
Kashi: The city of Varanasi. It is sacred to Shiv, and one of the most holy of all pilgrimage places for Hindus. It is believed that those who die in Kashi immediately attain liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
Kashyap: A Vedic sage, to whom are attributed some of the Vedic hymns. According to the Atharva Veda, he was ‘self-born’ and sprang into existence from Time. According to the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas, he was descended from Brahma. All authorities agree that he played a significant role in creation. The Mahabharata and later sources say that he married Aditi, and twelve other daughters of Daksh. From Aditi were born the celestial Adityas, headed by Indra, and also Visaswat, from whom was born Manu, the progenitor of all mankind. The Ramayana and Vishnu Purana state that Vishnu in his dwarf incarnation was the son of Aditi and Kashyap. From Kashyap’s twelve other wives were born demons, serpents, reptiles, birds and all living things. He is also one of the Saptarishi, the seven great sages.
Kaushalya: King Dasharath’s chief queen, and Ram’s mother.
Kaustubh: A precious jewel, obtained at the churning of the ocean and worn by Vishnu upon his breast.
Ketu: A comet or meteor, and the ninth of the planets; and in Vedic astronomy, the descending lunar node, represented by a dragon’s tail. He is personified in mythology as the lower half of the Danav, Rahu. See Rahu.
Khar: A man-eating Rakshasa, the younger brother of Ravan; he was killed by Ram.
Khasiya: A tribal, hill people of northern India.
Kinnara: Literally, ‘What men?’ in Sanskrit; they are mythical beings with the body of a man and the head of a horse. They are singers and musicians, and live in the paradise of Kuber, the god of wealth, on Mt Kailash. According to some sources, they sprang from the toe of Brahma together with the Yakshas; but others say that they are the sons of Kashyap.
kinshuk: A tree native to India. When in bloom, it is covered with a profusion of bright red, flame-coloured flowers. It is also known as the palash, the dhak, or the flame-of-the-forest.
Kirat: A mountain tribe that lives by hunting; a man of that tribe.
kodo: A kind of small grain (like millet), considered inferior to rice and usually eaten by the poor.
kok; koki (f.): These birds are a symbol of love and fidelity. Legend says that they are doomed to spend every night apart because of a curse pronounced upon them by a sadhu. They spend the day together, but every night they must separate; the birds spend the night calling to each in sad and mournful tones. Since they can be together only during the day, the birds are full of joy in the light of the sun, and grow sorrowful in the light of the moon. They are also called chakravak birds, or chakwa (male) and chakwi (female). They are also identified with the rathang birds, the ruddy or Brahmany geese.
kokil; koel: The black or Indian cuckoo. This bird is prominent in Indian poetry; its musical cry is supposed to inspire pleasing and tender emotions.
Kol: A tribe that lives the hills and forests of central India; a man of that tribe.
kos: A measure of distance, equivalent to about 2 miles.
Koshal: A country on the Sarju river, with Avadh its capital city. This was the kingdom ruled by Dasharath, and later by Ram.
Kshatriya: The second of the four castes of Hinduism. It is the regal or warrior caste.
Kuber: The god of wealth, and the king of the Yakshas. He is also regent of the north, and the keeper of gold and silver, pearls and precious stones, and all the treasures of the earth. He is the son of Vishravas (the son of the sage Pulastya), and the half-brother of Ravan. His consort is called Yakshi. Kuber’s city is Alaka in the Himalayas, and his garden is on Mount Mandar, where he is waited upon by the Kinnaras. Some authorities place his abode on Mount Kailash, in a palace built by the divine architect, Vishvakarma. According to the Ramayana and Mahabharata, he once ruled in the city of Lanka, also built by Vishvakarma, and from which he was thrown out by Ravan. He is the owner of the self-moving flying chariot, Pushpak, given to him by Brahma. He is also the keeper of the nine Nidhis, nine treasures considered precious beyond compare. They are called padma or the lotus flower, maha-padma, sankha, makar, kachhapa, mukunda, kunda, nila, kharba. Their nature and purpose are not clearly defined. Each treasure is also personified as a spirit that is also the guardian of that particular treasure. These guardian spirits are worshipped by some tantrics. Kuber is represented as a fair-skinned man, deformed in body, with three legs and only eight teeth. His body is covered with jewelled ornaments. He receives no worship. He is also known as Dhanesh, ‘god of wealth’; Dhandhari, ‘holder of wealth’; and ‘Dhanad, ‘one who grants wealth, the munificent’.
Kumbhakaran: A Rakshasa, the son of Vishravas (the son of the sage Pulastya), and brother of Ravan. As the result of a boon (or, as variously told, a curse) by Brahma, he slept for six months at a time and remained awake for only a single day.
kush: A kind of grass used in sacrifices and rituals. It is also called darbh.
Kushaketu: King Janak’s younger brother, the father of the princesses Mandavi and Shrutakirti. He is also known as Kushadhvaja.
Lakshman: ‘Possessed of lucky signs or marks, fortunate, prosperous’; son of Dasharath and Sumitra, Ram’s younger brother and Shatrughna’s twin. For his mother, Sumitra, he is also called Saumitri, ‘Sumitra’s son’. He is often considered to be the incarnation of the celestial serpent, Sheshnag.
Lakshmi: The goddess of wealth and beauty, Vishnu’s consort, and the mother of Kamdev, the god of love. According to the Ramayana, she sprang from the the froth of the ocean, in all her beauty, when it was churned by the gods and the Asurs. The Vishnu Purana says that she accompanied Vishnu in all his incarnations, and when Vishnu was born as Ram, she became Sita. She is also known as Shri; Indira; and Ramaa, ‘Ram’s consort’.
Lanka: Ravan’s kingdom. Also known as Singhal.
life, ends, fruits, rewards of: These are four: (i) kama or sensual pleasure; (ii) artha or wealth; (iii) dharma or religious merit; and (iv) moksha or nirvana, i.e., liberation from worldly existence and rebirth.
life, four stages of: For traditional Hindus, life is divided into four stages: (i) Brahmacharya, the student life, spent in study and obedience to one’s guru; (ii) Grihastha, the stage of a householder, the married man living with his wife, and engaged in the ordinary duties of everyday life; (iii) Vanaprastha, the phase of a ‘forest-dweller’, who has discharged his duties in this world, and who, handing over his responsibilities to the next generation, has retired to the forest to devote himself to a life of simplicity and contemplation of the divine; and (iv) Sannyas, the period spent as a religious mendicant, who has renounced all worldly goods and desires and attained complete detachment from this material existence; freed from all forms and observances, he wanders about, subsisting only on alms, and striv
ing for ultimate absorption into the divine.