Yoga Ayush Portal

S.No.	Word - V	Sound	Description	Key Word
1	vahni	See Agni	See Agni	v
2	vajrasanam	Vajrāsana (āsana)	Vajrāsana is a kind of āsana. Haṭhayoga Pradīpikā holds that this is the same as the siddhāsana, although some authors say that it is a variant (see siddhāsana).	v
3	vajroli	Vajrolī (mudrā)	Vajrolī is the name given to a kind of mudrā. Sahajolī and Amarolī are variants. In the Haṭhayoga Pradīpikā, it is one of the ten mudrās that help defeat old age and death. The method given therein is provided as follows: one must practice constriction which moves upwards in the urethra. At the time of intercourse, in case of a man, if the semen is falling, it should be pulled back through practice. If already fallen, the man should draw it up by pulling it upwards, and thus preserve it. A woman, with adequate practice, takes up the semen of a man and preserves it through the same method. Through this practice, nāda and bindu join up and cause kuṇḍalinī to move upwards (see kuṇḍalinī). Commentators explain that the instructions given above are not to be taken literally, and provide various details with regard to the meaning of the respective verses. A verse quoted to show that this is not literal is translated as “When the mind attains equilibrium and prāṇa enters the Suṣumnā, then there is Amarolī, Vajrolī and Sahajolī.” It is suggested that the reader refer to commentaries in order to gain correct understanding of all aspects. A practitioner of this mudrā who does follow the other aspects of yoga such as yama, etc., is also said to attain siddhis.	v
4	vak	Speech; Sarasvatī	Vāk means ‘speech’. It is one of the karmendriyas (q.v.). Vāk is also a synonym of Sarasvatī (q.v.).	v
5	varnam	Colour	Varṇa is the most common way of saying ‘colour’. In philosophy, the term rūpa is often used instead (see rūpa).	v
6	varsha	Rain; year	Varṣa means ‘rain’ or metaphorically ‘shower’ (of flowers, arrows, etc.). It is often used to mean ‘year’ since the monsoon in India occurs yearly. Varṣā also means rain, however refers to the monsoon season more often.	v
7	vartamana	Present; existing	Vartamāna means ‘existing’ and refers to the ‘present’ (as opposed to ‘past’ or ‘future’).	v
8	varuna	Varuṇa (God)	Varuṇa is the name of deity who is responsible for water bodies that exist on earth, esp. the sea (as opposed to rain which is Indra’s responsibility). He is one of the Devas (q.v.) and a presiding deity over some nāḍīs.	v
9	varuni	Alcohol	Vāruṇī is the name of a kind of alcohol and is often applied to any kind of liquour. In Haṭhayoga, this word is interpreted differently – it refers to amarī (q.v.). This meaning is unique to Haṭhayoga and not used elsewhere (see gomāṃsa).	v
10	vasana	See saṃskāra	See saṃskāra	v
11	vasanta	Spring	Vasanta means ‘spring’. The Ancient Indian calendar is divided into six seasons: śiśira (winter), vasanta (spring), grīṣma (summer), varṣā (monsoon), śarat (autumn) and hemanta (dewy), each of which lasts two months. The order given above commences on the day of the winter solstice (solar reckoning) or in the month of Māgha (lunar reckoning). Vasanta is the time when flowers bloom and the heat first appears after the cold months of winter, but when the strong and often dry heat of summer has not yet begun.	v
12	vasti	Bladder; enema	Vasti has two meanings: it can refer to the ‘bladder’ (or the region of the stomach around the bladder) or to ‘enema’, i.e. medicines inserted through the anus. In the context of Haṭhayoga, vasti is one of the six methods (ṣaṭkarma or ṣaṭkriyā) by which kapha in the body is reduced. In this context, it is often done with regular water.	v
13	vastu	Thing; object; substance (see dravya)	Thing; object; substance (see dravya)	v
14	vasudeva	Kṛṣṇa	Vāsudeva is a patronymic derived from the name Vasudeva, the father of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa, the incarnation of Viṣṇu, is widely worshipped across India and elsewhere. He is one of the main interlocutors in the Bhagavadgītā, in which he converses with Arjuna and teaches him several principles in philosophy and yoga. He is equated with Brahman.	v
15	vata	See vāyu	See vāyu	v
16	vayu	Air; wind; Air (element); Vāyu (doṣa); prāṇa	Vāyu, in general, means ‘air’ and ‘wind’. In philosophy, it is one of the five elements (see pañcabhūta), the others being pṛthivī (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire) and ākāśa (ether). Elemental air is connected to touch (sparśa). The interpretation of these elements is different from that of the current Western system, and represents a model (see ākāśa for details). Vāyu is responsible for motion and ensures that all objects are in the place that they should be in. It is propelled by agni (elemental fire) in order to move well. In the human body, vāyu is also the name given to one of the three doṣas (q.v.). Its roles here overlap largely with those of elemental vāyu and ākāśa. Vāyu is split into five based on the tasks it undertakes: prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna and samāna. Their main roles are sustaining life, excretion, movement, strength and speech (for udāna) and supporing digestion and metabolism (for samāna), respectively, although each has several tasks. Since prāṇa is the most important out of these, these may be called the five prāṇas. In another system that is common in Haṭhayoga, there are ten vāyus, each of which has its own set of responsibilities. These are: prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna, samāna, nāga, kūrma, kṛkara, devadatta and dhanañjaya. These may also be called the ten prāṇas. When the subject is known to be prāṇāyāma, authors often use vāyu to refer to just prāṇa or to breath. Someone who is said to ‘be in control of vāyu’, is infact in control of prāṇa (see prāṇāyāma).	v
17	vicara	Deliberation; consideration; Vicāra (state)	Vicāra in general parlance, means ‘deliberation’ or ‘consideration’. In yoga, it is one of the four states that occur during saṃprajñāta samādhi. It refers to the understanding of the internal objects (i.e. the mind and others). It is preceded by vitarka (q.v.) and succeeded by ānanda (q.v.).	v
18	vijnanam	In philosophical works	In philosophical works,vijñāna and jñāna are distinguished from each other in some cases. Jñāna refers to ‘knowledge’, esp. that which pertains to Brahman. Vijñāna refers to the understanding of the Brahman (or puruṣa) in its true form, as opposed to simply knowing. Such understanding is acquired by going through the same experience.	v
19	vikalpa	Choice; alternative; variation; diversity; indecision; imagination	The general meanings of vikalpa are ‘choice’, ‘diversity’ and ‘indecision’. In the context of yoga, this is a technical word that means ‘imagination’. Vṛttis (mental states) are of five kinds: pramāṇa (correct notion), viparyaya (false notion), vikalpa (imagination), nidrā (sleep) and smṛti (memory). Words that discuss something does not exist, are still capable of generating a picture in the mind. A notion thus created is neither true nor false since the object in question does not exist in the first place. Hence, such thoughts are treated separately as vikalpa	v
20	vikara	Change; modification; disease; modified objects; evolutes of prakṛti	Vikāra has similar meanings to vikṛti (q.v.); however it is more commonly used to refer to modified objects (see also prakṛti). ‘Disease’ is also a very common meaning.	v
21	vikruti	Change; modification; modified objects; evolutes of prakṛti	Prakṛti refers to the original state of some object while vikṛti refers to its modified form (see prakṛti). Because of this, ‘change’ and ‘modification’ are also called vikṛti. In the context of Sāṅkhya, the evolutes of prakṛti are called vikṛti.	v
22	vikshipta	The distracted mental state (see bhūmi)	The distracted mental state (see bhūmi)	v

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