* Indicates that the entry was obtained from the VedaBase glossary.
All other entries were obtained from the krishna.com glossary.

Vedic Sanskrit Glossary - Y -

Yādava dynastysee: Yadu dynasty below.

Yādava — a name for the Supreme Personality of Godhead meaning “He who appears in the Yadu dynasty.”

Yadavadri — town of Melkot in South India.

Yādavas — (Yadus) The royal dynasty led by Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā and Dvārakā, descended from the ancient King Yadu, son of Yayāti. The dynasty included hundreds of thousands of valiant warriors and princes, all fully devoted to Kṛṣṇa.

Yādavendra — Kṛṣṇa, “Lord of the Yādavas.”

Yadu (Yādava) dynasty — the dynasty in which Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared.

 Yadu dynasty — The dynasty in which Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared.

Yadu — one of the sons of King Yayāti. He was the founder of the Yadu dynasty.

Yadu — One of the five sons of Yayāti and the forefather of the Yadu dynasty.

Yadu-kumāra — Kṛṣṇa as the young darling of the Yadus in Mathurā and Dvārakā.

Yadupati — the name of Kṛṣṇa meaning “King of the Yadu dynasty.”

Yadus — the descendants of Yadu.

 Yadus — See Yādavas.

yadvā-tadvā kavi — one who writes poetry without proper knowledge.

yajamānas — those for whom a priest executes sacrifices.

yajana — the duty of a brāhmaṇa to perform Vedic rituals.

yajña — a Vedic sacrifice; also, a name for the Supreme Lord meaning “the personification of sacrifice”; the goal and enjoyer of all sacrifices.

yajña — Vedic sacrifice, or any work done for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.

yajña-puruṣa — the supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices.

Yajñeśvara — an epithet of Kṛṣṇa, “Lord of sacrifice.”

Yajñeśvara — The Supreme Lord appearing as “the Lord of sacrifice.”

Yajur Veda — one of the four Vedas, the original revealed scriptures spoken by the Lord Himself. It extensively describes various medical procedures.

Yakṣa — ghostly followers of the demigod Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods. They were born from the feet of Lord Brahmā.

Yakṣas — A militant class of celestial beings, obedient to the treasurer of the demigods, Kuvera. Although frequently grouped with the man-eating Rākṣasas, they are also called the puṇya-janas ( “righteous persons”).

yama — the process of controlling the senses.

Yama — (-rāja) The judge of sinful persons at death.

Yamadūtas — the messengers of Yamarāja, the lord of death.

Yamadūtas — The agents of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death and karmic justice.

Yamarāja — the demigod of death, who passes judgment on non-devotees at the time of death. He is the son of the sun-god and the brother of the sacred river Yamunā.

yamas — The first eight regulations observed from the beginning of the aṣṭāṅga-yoga system.

Yamunā — the sacred river where Kṛṣṇa performed many pastimes. One of the holy rivers of India, flowing through Vṛndāvana. It was here that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa sported when He was a young child. The personification of the Yamunā River, known as Kālindī, is the daughter of the sun god and the sister of Yamarāja, the god of death. She is also called Yamī. In Krṣṇa-līlā she became one of Krṣṇa's queens at Dvārakā.

Yāmunā — (-ācārya) A prominent teacher in the Śrī Vaiṣṇava sampradāya. He was the guru of the initiating guru of Rāmanujācārya. Śrī Yāmunācārya composed important books explaining the philosophy of Vedānta in the light of pure devotion to the Supreme Lord.

Yamunā — The holiest of rivers, flowing through Vraja-bhūmi and thus touched by the dust of Kṛṣṇa’s feet. The Yamunā personified is also known as Kālindī. After Kṛṣṇa established his capital at Dvārakā, she became one of His eight principal queens.

Yāmunācārya — a great Vaiṣṇava spiritual master and author in the Śrī-sampradāya, one of the important disciplic lines.

Yaśodā — the foster mother of Kṛṣṇa, who was the Queen of Vraja and wife of Mahārāja Nanda.

Yaśodā — (-devī) Kṛṣṇa’s mother in Vraja. She raised Him from infancy until He moved to Mathura. She is the most exalted of all of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees in the mood of parental love.

Yaśodā-nandana — the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, who played as the son of Yaśodā.

Yaśodā-nandana, Yaśodā-vatsala — Kṛṣṇa, “the darling son of Yaśodā.”

yātrā — a journey.

Yavana — the servant of Yamarāja.

yavana — a class of humans fallen from the Vedic culture; a low-class person, generally a meat-eater; a barbarian.

yavanas — A barbarian race, descended from Turvasu, one of the sons of Yayāti. They have been identified with the Turks.

Yayāti — the king who, because of his lust, was cursed by Śukrācārya to prematurely accept old age.

Yayāti — An ancient king, cursed to become prematurely old. He begged his five sons to exchange his age for their youth, but only one, Puru, agreed. The others he cursed, including Yadu, the forefather of the dynasty in which Kṛṣṇa later appeared. Because the Yadus were cursed never to occupy an imperial throne, Kṛṣṇa, after killing Kaṁsa, declined the throne in favor of Ugrasena, who belonged to the Bhoja clan.

yeast — yeast used for baking commonly comes in two forms — compressed, or fresh, yeast; and dried or dehydrated yeast. When used in breadmaking, both varieties produce enzymes which act on simple sugars to make carbon dioxide gas. This aerates the bread dough, causing it to rise, giving the bread its characteristic light texture.

yoga — a spiritual discipline meant for linking one’s consciousness with the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.

yoga — Spiritual discipline to link oneself with the Supreme. There are various kinds of yoga, including karma-yoga (the offering of the fruits of one’s work for the pleasure of the Supreme), jñāna-yoga (the cultivation of spiritual knowledge of the soul and Supersoul), aṣṭāṅga-yoga (the eightfold process of meditation taught by Patanjali), and bhakti-yoga (pure devotional service to the Personality of Godhead).

yoga-mārga — the path of developing mystic powers.

Yoga-māyā — the internal, spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord, to which the external energy, mahā-mayā, is subordinate, and which hides Him from non devotees..

Yoga-nidrā — mystic slumber in which Mahā-Viṣṇu creates universes.

yoga-nidrā — The mystic slumber of Lord Viṣṇu.

yoga-siddhis — mystic perfections; mystic powers.

Yogamāyā — (Mahāyoga) The aspect of Kṛṣṇa’s personal energy who enhances His loving pastimes with His devotees by putting the devotees in benign illusion, making them forget that He is God. When Kṛṣṇa descended to earth, Yogamāyā appeared as His sister, Subhadrā. Mahāmāyā, the material energy of illusion, is her partial expansion.

yogarudha — the highest stage of yoga.

yogarurukṣa — the beginning stage of yoga.

Yogendras — nine devotee sons of Ṛṣabhadeva.

Yogeśvara — the supreme master of all mystic powers, Kṛṣṇa.

yogeśvaras — Masters of yoga practice.

yogī — a transcendentalist who practices one of the many authorized forms of yoga, or processes of spiritual purification; those who practice the eight-fold mystic yoga process to gain mystic siddhis or Paramātmā realization.

yogi — A practitioner of yoga.

yogurt — this versatile and healthful cultured dairy product is a staple food found in many cuisines of the world. Its pleasantly tangy flavour and smooth, refreshing texture give it great appeal.

yojana — a standard Vedic measurement equal to eight miles.

yojana — A distance of about eight miles.

yuddha — the Sanskrit word for war.

Yudhāmanyu — a prince of Pāñcāla. He fought on the side of the Pāṇḍavas and was killed on the last night of the battle when Aśvatthāmā entered his tent severed his head.

Yudhiṣṭhira — the eldest of the Pāṇḍavas in the Mahābhārata, and the son of Dharmarāja or Yamarāja, the god of death. It was the dispute over his succession to the throne in India that led to the Battle of Kurukṣetra; he ruled the earth after the Kurukṣetra war.

Yudhiṣṭhira — The eldest of the five sons of Pāṇḍu. He was actually begotten in Pāṇḍu’s wife Kuntī by Yamarāja, the maintainer of religious principles. Thus Yudhiṣṭhira strictly performed religious duties all his life and could never say anything untrue. He was installed as emperor of the world at the end of the Battle of Kurukṣetra.

Yuga — one of the four ages of the universe, which differ in length and which rotate like calendar months. See also: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga and Kali-yuga.

Yuga-avatāra — an incarnation of the Lord in each millennium who prescribes the appropriate process of self-realization for that age.

yuga-dharma — the religion for the age.

yuga-dharma — Specific practice of self-realization recommended in the Vedas for a particular yuga.

Yugala-pirīti — the conjugal love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

yugas — Ages in the cycle of universal history. See Kṛta (Satya), Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali.

yukta-vairāgya — befitting, real renunciation, in which one utilizes everything in the service of the Supreme Lord.

yukta-vairāgya — Real renunciation by utilizing everything in the service of God.

Yuyutsu — a son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra by a Vaiśya wife. He took the side of the Pāṇḍavas during the Kurukṣetra war. He lived through the battle and performed the last funeral rites for the slain warriors on the side of the Kurus.

 

Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra


Lotus