Tad-ekātma-rūpa

forms of the Lord which are nondifferent from His original form, but which have different bodily features and specific activities.

Tadīya

everything belonging to the Lord.

Takṣaka

the king of the snakes. He killed Mahārāja Parīkṣit.

Takuwan

Japanese white daikon radish, pickled in rice bran and salt.

Tamāla

a tree whose color resembles Lord Kṛṣṇa’s. It is found mostly in Vṛndāvana, India.

Tamasaḥ

the coverings of the universe.

Tamas

the material mode of ignorance.

Tamo-guṇa

the mode of ignorance, or darkness of material nature. It is controlled by Lord Śiva. See Glossary M.

Tānava

the ecstatic symptom of thinness.

Tāṇḍava-nṛtya

Lord Śiva’s dance, which he performs at the time of universal devastation, and at other times also.

Tan-mātras

The five qualities of the mahā-bhūtas that subtly manifest in the mind as sound, touch, form, taste and smell. See Glossary M, Glossary M, Glossary P.

Tantras

minor scriptures describing various rituals, mostly for persons in the mode of ignorance; Vedic literatures consisting mostly of dialogues between Lord Śiva and Durgā. They contain instructions on Deity worship and other aspects of spiritual practice; special hymns for conjuring magic or producing mystical effects.

Tapasvīs

persons who undergo severe penances for elevation to higher planets.

Tapasya

austerity; voluntary acceptance of some material trouble for progress in spiritual life.

Tapas

austerity or penance. There are many rules and regulations in the Vedas which apply here, like rising early in the morning and taking a bath. Sometimes it is very troublesome to rise early in the morning, but whatever voluntary trouble one may suffer in this way is called penance. Similarly, there are prescriptions for fasting on certain days of the month. One may not be inclined to practice such fasting, but because of his determination to make advancement in the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he should accept such bodily troubles when they are recommended.

Tapaḥ

the acceptance of hardships for spiritual realization.

Tapoloka

a heavenly planet.

Tārā

the wife of Bṛhaspati. She was kidnapped by the moon-god.

Tāruṇyāmṛta

the nectar of youth.

Taṭastha-śakti

the living entities, the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord.

Tattva-darśī

one who has seen the truth.

Tattvas

the Absolute Truth’s multifarious categories.

Tattvavādīs

the followers of Madhvācārya.

Tattvavit

one who knows the Absolute Truth in His three different features.

Tattva

truth, reality. According to Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, Vedic knowledge categorizes reality into five tattvas, or ontological truths: īśvara (the Supreme Lord), jīva (the living entity), prakṛti (nature), kāla (eternal time) and karma (activity).

Tava

a slightly concave cast-iron frying pan used for cooking capatis and other flat Indian breads.

Technology

This term is derived from the Greek tchne, handicraft, skill, and that term in turn is derived from takṣa (cutting through), the Sanskrit word for the work of a carpenter. Thus modern technology is glorified carpentry.

Teleology

From the Greek tlos, purpose, goal and lgos, knowledge of. The logic of teleology is that one can know the purpose of something by deducing it from its origin. See Glossary D.

Theism

According to the Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy, p. 120, the philosophy of theism in most interpretations is, God is partly immanent in the universe and partly transcendent. In essence, this definition is the Vedic philosophy of the Supreme Person. As stated in Puruṣa-śukta (Ṛg-Veda 10.90.4): With three-fourths of Himself, the Puruṣa ascended; the other fourth was born here. From here on all sides He moved, toward the living and the non-living. Again and again in the Vedic literatures we find references to tripāda-vibhūti and ekapāda-vibhūti, the three-fourths of the Lord’s splendor displayed as the spiritual world, and the one-fourth by which He pervades the material world. About the material manifestation, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bg. 10.41: yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ mama tejo-‘ṁśa-sambhavam. Know that all these opulent, beautiful and glorious creations are born from a part of My total splendor. Because they oppose theism, the theories of deism, monism, pantheism and dualism are actually atheism. Deism separates God completely from His material creation. Monism renders God partless. Pantheism confines Him to the material universe. And dualism divides creation against Him, placing part of it in the hands of a rival. Even major religious traditions like Christianity are influenced by deism and dualism. The English natural theologian Robert Boyle (1627-1691) expressed open contempt for theism as a doctrine of infidels. When he drew up his last will and testament, he bequeathed fifty pounds per annum for ever, or at least for a considerable number of years in order to institute a series of lectures for proving the Christian Religion, against notorious Infidels, viz. Atheists, Theists, Pagans, Jews, and Mahometans. Monotheism and panentheism are synonyms for theism. Monotheism means belief in one God. In the Vedic religion, there is only one God, though He empowers servants who act as demigods on His command. These demigods are worshiped as God only by foolish people. Panentheism teaches that all things are imbued with God’s presence, because all things are in God. God is more than all there is. He is all-conscious and the supreme unifying factor. See Old Revisions.

Tempo

three-wheeler vehicle used like a small bus.

Theogony

A poem written around 700 BC by the Greek shepherd Hesiod who was inspired by the angelic Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. The Theogony, along with the works of Homer, formed the scriptural basis of the historical Greek religion. There was a religious culture in Greece long before this historical period, but from the empirical point of view, it is largely shrouded in mystery.

Thes

God.

Ṭhākura Haridāsa

Haridāsa Ṭhākura-although born in a Muslim family, he was a confidential associate of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was so absorbed in the nectar of the Holy Name that he chanted day and night, and it was his regular practice to chant 300,000 names of the Lord daily. Lord Caitanya made him the nāmācārya (teacher of chanting of the holy name).The Muslim government and caste-conscious Hindus attempted to persecute him, but all of their efforts failed, as he was under the direct protection of the Lord.

Ṭhākurāṇīs

the wives of devotees.

Thali

vegetarian meal which includes many different preparations, usually all you can eat; a low-rimmed metal plate.

Theodore Parker (1810-1860)

an American Unitarian clergyman and social reformer who promoted the antislavery cause.

Ṭīkā

a commentary.

Tilaka

sacred clay markings placed on the forehead and other parts of the body to designate one as a follower of Viṣṇu, Rāma, Śiva, Vedic culture, etc.

Timiṅgila

a huge aquatic monster that can swallow whales.

Tīrtha (teertha)

a sacred place of pilgrimage associated with a pastime of an incarnation of God, such as a holy river, a temple of the Lord, or the residence or place of meditation of a holy sage or saintly person.

Tithis

days of the Vedic calendar measured according to the phases of the moon.

Titikṣā

tolerance; endurance of unhappiness.

Tonga

two-wheeled horse carriage.

Toovar dal

also called arhar dal, toor dal, or pigeon peas, these cream-coloured split lentils, which are paler in colour, flatter, and larger than yellow split peas, are widely used for cooking in Northern and Southwestern India. They have a delightful, slightly sweet flavour and are easy to digest, especially in the famous South Indian soup-like dishes rasam and sambar. Toovar dal is available at Indian grocers.

Ṭoṭā-gopīnātha temple

a temple in Jagannātha Purī housing a Deity which was found by Lord Caitanya and given to Gadādhara Prabhu to worship. He also gave Gadādhara a place to live in the garden of Yameśvara, where the temple was later built. Gadādhara Prabhu stayed there for the duration of his life, absorbing himself in the service of Lord Caitanya and Gopīnātha.

Trāsa

shock, a vyabhicāri-bhāva.

Trayī

the three Vedas. (Ṛg, Sāma and Yajur), which explain fruitive activities for material benefits.

Trayodaśī

the thirteenth day after the new and full moons.

Threefold miseries

This is another feature of the influence of the three modes of material nature. All living entities within this material world are controlled by material nature (prakṛti), who subjects them to threefold miseries: adhidaivika-kleśa (sufferings caused by the demigods, such as droughts, earthquakes and storms), adhibhautika-kleśa (sufferings caused by other living entities like insects or enemies), and adhyātmika-kleśa (sufferings caused by one’s own body and mind, such as mental and physical infirmities). Daiva-bhūtātma-hetavaḥ: the conditioned souls, subjected to these three miseries by the control of the external energy, suffer various difficulties. This suffering is the impetus for seeking answers to the fundemental questions of life: Who am I? Why am I suffering? How can I get free of suffering? See Glossary M, Glossary P.

Tretā-yuga

the second in the cycle of the four ages of the universe or mahā-yuga. It lasts 1,296,000 years. In this age Lord Rāmacandra appeared.

Tribunga

Lord Krsna’s famous three-curved stance.

Tri-daṇḍa

a staff, made of three rods, carried by Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs who are devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa, signifying service with mind, body and words.

Tridaṇḍi-sannyāsī

a member of the renounced order of life who accepts the personal nature of the Absolute Truth.

Trigarta

a province in ancient Bharata. The King of this country, Suśarma, fought on the side of Duryodhana and was killed by Arjuna.

Tri-loka

The Sanskrit term tri-loka is often found in Vedic scriptures. Tri-loka means three worlds. The universe is divided into three worlds, or realms of consciousness: bhūr, bhuvaḥ and svaḥ (the gross region, the subtle region and the celestial region). In Svargaloka or the celestial heaven, superhuman beings called demigods (devatas) exist, enjoying a life that in human terms is almost unimaginable. In the subtle region exist ghosts and elemental beings. And in the gross or earthly realm exist human beings and other creatures with tissue-bodies, including the animals and plants. There is also a subterranean region where powerful demons reside. And there is a region known as naraka, hell. As explained in Bg. 3.27, the souls within these regions of material consciousness wrongly identify themselves as the doers of physical and mental activities that are actually carried out by three modes of material nature. This wrong identification is called ahaṅkāra, or false ego, the basis of our entanglement in material existence. See Glossary D, Glossary S.

Time

In his purport of SB 3.10.11, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes as follows about time: The impersonal time factor is the background of the material manifestation as the instrument of the Supreme Lord. It is the ingredient of assistance offered to material nature. No one knows where time began and where it ends, and it is time only which can keep a record of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material manifestation. This time factor is the material cause of creation and is therefore a self expansion of the Personality of Godhead. Time is considered the impersonal feature of the Lord. The time factor is also explained by modern men in various ways. Some accept it almost as it is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. For example, in Hebrew literature time is accepted, in the same spirit, as a representation of God. It is stated therein: God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets… Metaphysically, time is distinguished as absolute and real. Absolute time is continuous and is unaffected by the speed or slowness of material things. Time is astronomically and mathematically calculated in relation to the speed, change and life of a particular object. Factually, however, time has nothing to do with the relativities of things; rather, everything is shaped and calculated in terms of the facility offered by time. Time is the basic measurement of the activity of our senses, by which we calculate past, present and future; but in factual calculation, time has no beginning and no end. Cāṇakya Pāṇḍita says that even a slight fraction of time cannot be purchased with millions of dollars, and therefore even a moment of time lost without profit must be calculated as the greatest loss in life. Time is not subject to any form of psychology, nor are the moments objective realities in themselves, but they are dependent on particular experiences.

Tripura

a large district on the far eastern side of Bengal, just south of the Śrī Hatta (Sylhet) area of Assam. In olden times Tripura was part of Bengal. The kings of Tripura had a long-standing relationship with Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda and later with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.

Triveṇī

the confluence of the three sacred rivers Ganges, Yamunā and Sarasvatī at Prayāga.

Trivikrama

a name for the Supreme Lord indicating His incarnation as the dwarf brāhmaṇa Vāmanadeva. Meaning literally “He who took three big steps,” this name recalls the Lord’s pastime of extending His foot through the coverings of the material universe and into the Causal Ocean.

Triyuga

a name of Viṣṇu meaning one who appears in only three yugas.

Triyugī

a name for the Supreme Personality of Godhead meaning “He who appears in three yugas,” namely Satya, Tretā, and Dvāpara. The Lord appears in a covered incarnation in Kali-yuga, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Tṛṇāvarta

a whirlwind-shaped demon who was sent by Kaṁsa to kill Kṛṣṇa, but whom Kṛṣṇa killed instead.

Try-adhīśvara

the proprietor of the three worlds.

Tulasī

a pure devotee in the form of a basil plant held sacred by the Vaiṣṇavas and is very dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Its leaves and mañjarīs (buds) are always offered to His lotus feet; Mañjarī- the small, purplish flowers of the tulasī plant. Mañjarīs, along with tulasī leaves, are offered only to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They must be fresh.

Tyāga

renunciation of activities performed with material consciousness.