Roberto Calasso - Ka

sūtra

Thread, rule enounced with a minimum number of words, in somewhat algebraic formulas, often with no verb: in Buddhism, the word takes on the larger connotation “discourse” of the Buddha

sra

-

From self, of self, auto-. one’s own

srakīyā

One’s own woman. legitimate wife

srargaloka

Bright world

srásṛ

Sister

Svasti

Well-being; one of the names of Dev

ī

sraytamātṛṇṇa

Term for the “naturally perforated” stones used in the altar of fire

svayaṃbhū

Self-existing

Svaya

ṃ

prabh

ā

Name of an Apsaras

svayaṃvara

Independent choice; ceremony in which the future bride chooses one of her suitors, after they have undergone a trial of ability

Tak

ṣ

aka

King of the N

ā

gas, lives in the Forest of Kh

ā

ṇ

ḍ

ava

T

ā

ṇ

ḍ

ava

Ś

iva’s cosmic dance

Tantr

ī

Daughter of M

ā

ra

tapas

Heat: ardor: from the Indo-European root

tap

-, which gives the Latin

tepeo

Long translated with a range of tenns (

austérités, penance, Kasteinng, ascèse

). tapas means at once the cosmie heat and the heat within the mind, that which broods, in the sense of incubates (

Brütung

, occasionally, in Deussen)

tapasrinī

A woman who practices

topas

T

ā

raka

A powerful Ausra

tathā

Thus

Tath

ā

gata

He-who-came-thus; name the Buddha gave himself

tathatā

Being thus

tat tram asi

“You are that” (

Chāndogya Upanisad

, 6.8.7); one of the “great sentences,”

mahārākyas

, of the Upanisads

Taurus

A constellation between Orion and the Pleiades

Tawny One

Rohin

ī

, U

ṣ

as

Taxila

Tak

ṣ

a

ś

il

ā

, a city in northwest India, now Pakistan, near Rawalpindi

tejas

Flame; luminous force, manifestation of

tapas

telestêrion

Rectangular building, with columns, where part of the Eleusinian mysteries were enacted

Ten Sisters

The ten fingers

Thirty-three

The Devas: the twelve

Ā

dityas, the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, and the two A

ś

vins (or, in other traditions. Dyaus and Prthiv

ī

, Sky and Earth)

Three Baskets

Tripiṭaka

, into which the teaching of the Buddha is divided

Time

K

ā

la

Tiresias

Seer of Thebes

Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy, 1828–1910

Tree of Awakening

The fig tree in Gay

ā

under which the awakening,

bodhi

, of the Buddha occurred. Today the place of the awakening is known as Bodhgay

ā

Tremendous

Bhairava; epithet of

Ś

iva

tretā

When playing dice the throw that gives a remainder of three; in the sequence of the

yugas

, the

tretāyuga

follows the

kṛtayuga

Trial, The

Franz Kafka’s novel

Tricephalous

Tri

ś

iras

Tri

ś

a

ṇ

ku

King of the solar dynasty, favorite of Vi

ś

v

ā

mitra

Tri

ś

iras

The Tricephalous: son of Tva

ṣ

ṭ

ṛ

, twin brother of Sara

ṇ

y

ū

: also called Vi

ś

var

ū

pa

triṣṭubh

A Vedic meter made up of four verses of eleven syllables

Truth

Satya; ṛta

Turtle

K

ū

rma

Tu

ṣ

ita

Celestial home of the various Bodhisattvas

Tva

ṣ

ṭ

ṛ

Carpenter, Craftsman; father of Sarany

ū

and Tri

ś

iras, one of the

Ā

dityas

Twelve

The

Ā

dityas

Twisted Goddess

Devi Kundalin

ī

tyád

That

Uccaih

ś

ravas

He who neighs loudly; the White Horse, one of the

ratnas

, “gems,” that appeared during the churning of the ocean

udgātṛ

One of the four main officiants; the chanter, his task is to sing the ritual hymns (

stotras

) of the Sama Veda

udgītha

The second and most important part of the

stotra

; a trio for voices sung by the

udgātṛ

and his assistants

udumbara

Ficus glomerata

; according to legend, it flowers every three thousand years

Ugradeva

Terrifying God; one of the names of Rudra

Ugra

ś

ravas

A bard who tells the story of the

Māhābhārata

, which he hears from Vai

ś

amp

ā

yana

Ul

ū

p

ī

Daughter of the king of the N

ā

gas, wife of Arjuna

Um

ā

From u m

ā

, “oh, no”; another name of P

ā

rvat

ī

Unlimited One

Aditi

Up

ā

li

Palace barber at Kapilavastu, who joins the Buddha’s disciples

Upani

ṣ

ads

Treatises around correspondences; metaphysical texts, the oldest of which are in prose, the later in prose and verse

Uparicara

King from whose seed, swallowed by a large fish, Satyavat

ī

is born

Upav

ā

ṇ

a

Monk, disciple of the Buddha, his servant before

Ā

nanda

Orj

ā

Daughter of Dak

ṣ

a and V

ī

rin

ī

ūru

Thigh

Uruvilv

ā

Locality in Magadha, near Bodhgay

ā

Urva

ś

ī

The first of the Apsaras, ancestor of the lunar dynasty, into which the P

ā

ṇ

ḍ

avas and the Kauravas were born

U

ṣ

as

Dawn

Uttar

ā

Extreme; daughter of Vir

ā

ṭ

a, wife of Abhimanyu

Uttarakuru

A fabulous and inaccessible country in the far north

V

ā

c

The goddess Word

rāc

Word, voice (Latin:

rox

)

Va

ḍ

av

ā

The Submarine Mare: from her mouth issues a blaze of heat,

rāḍarāgni

, that ends up consuming the waters of the ocean

Vaijayanta

Indra’s standard

Vai

ś

ā

l

ī

The ancient city of the Liechave clan, in Bihar

Vai

ś

ampáyana

A

ṛṣi

, disciple of Vy

ā

sa

rajra

Thunderbolt; supreme weapon forged by Tva

ṣ

ṭ

ṛ

for Indra

Vaku

ḍ

a

Place where the last of the

Ś

ā

kyas find refuge

Vala

Cave; the rock that conceals the Cows and the Waters

V

ā

lakhilyas

A race of

ṛṣis

the height of a thumb, born from Praj

ā

pati’s hair: Hymns 49–59 of the eighth book of the

Ṛ

g Veda are attributed to them

Var

ā

ha

Boar; third

avatāra

of Vi

ṣ

ṇ

u

V

ā

r

ā

ṇ

as

ī

The capital of the kingdom of K

ā

ś

ī

, whence derived the Hindi Ban