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Jada Bharata

See Bharata.

jada-yoga

a process of self-realization by which the yogi completely withdraws his senses and consciousness from all material engagements, exhibiting a total disregard for the safety and maintenance of his material body.

Jagai and Madhai

two debauchees whom Lord Nityananda converted into Vaishnavas.

Jagannatha (-deva)

“Lord of the universe,” an ancient Deity of Krishna. He was established along with His brother Balarama and sister Subhadra in the holy city of Puri, on the coast of Orissa. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu resided in Puri and worshiped Lord Jagannatha.

Jagannatha Puri

See Puri.

Jagannatha-ratha

a chariot (ratha) on which the Deity of Jagannatha rides, used in a festival celebrating Krishna’s return to Vrindavana from Dvaraka.

Jaimini

A prominent sage, a disciple of Dvaipayana Vyasa. Jaimini wrote the Mimamsa-sutras, which established the philosophical school of Vedic textual interpretation.

jalebi

A syrupy fried pastry in the shape of a tubular swirl.

Jambavan

One of the principal devotees of Lord Ramachandra who helped Him defeat Ravana. He had a bearlike body.

Jambavati

The daughter of Jambavan. After Krishna fought Jambavan over the Syamantaka jewel, Jambavan surrendered to Krishna and offered Him Jambavati, who became one of Krishna’s eight principal queens.

jambu

Eugenia jambos L, rose apple, an evergreen tree with large, creamy-white flowers and oval fruits that smell like roses.

Janaki

Sita, the daughter of King Janaka and wife of Lord Ramachandra.

Janaloka

The planet above Svarga and Mahar that is inhabited by altruistic celibates.

Janmajaya

Parikshit’s eldest son, the next emperor of the Kuru dynasty. After Parikshit died, Janamejaya heard the Mahabharata from Dvaipayana Vyasa’s disciple Vaishampayana.

Janardana

Lord Vishnu, the protector of His devotees and destroyer of their enemies.

Janasharma

A poor, greedy brahmana who became a pure devotee of Krishna by the good association of Gopa-kumara. This is described in Part Two of Brihad-bhagavatamrita.

Janmashtami

the festival of Krishna’s birth.

japa

Chanting of a mantra quietly to oneself.

Jarasandha

A powerful enemy of Krishna’s, the emperor of the Magadha kingdom. Yudhishthira could not perform the Rajasuya sacrifice without first neutralizing Jarasandha’s opposition, so Krishna arranged for Jarasandha to be killed by Bhima.

jari

ornate embroidery with silver or gold thread.

Jatayu

A vulture who tried to stop Ravana from kidnapping Sitadevi. Mortally wounded by Ravana, he died in the arms of the grateful Lord Ramachandra.

Jaya and Vijaya

The guards of a main gate of Vaikuntha. When the four Kumara sages tried to enter Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya stopped them and were cursed to fall down into the material world. Thus they were successively born as the demons Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and Sishupala and Dantavakra.

jaya

“Victory!” or “All glories!”

Jaya

a gatekeeper in one of the Vaikuntha planets who, along with another gatekeeper (Vijaya), was cursed to take birth as a demon.

Jayadratha

The king of Sindhu-desha and brother-in-law of Duryodhana. He once kidnapped Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, and so the Pandavas captured and humiliated him. He was a commander in the Kuru army at Kurukshetra and was killed by Arjuna.

jiva

An eternal finite spirit soul, qualitatively equal with the Supreme Soul.

Jiva Gosvami

One of the six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, principal followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who rediscovered the forgotten places of Krishna’s pastimes in Vraja, reestablished the worship of the principal Vraja Deities, and made literary contributions to establish the science of Krishna consciousness for the modern age. Sri Jiva Gosvami was the greatest scholar of the Gaudiya sampradaya. His most important works were his six Sandharbhas and Gopala-campu.

jivatma

see jiva.

jnana

Knowledge.

jnana-bhakta

A worshiper of God whose devotion is mixed with the motive of acquiring knowledge for his own liberation.

jnana-yoga

The spiritual discipline of cultivating knowledge of pure spirit.

jnani

A practitioner of jnana-yoga, or, more generally, any learned person.

Juhu Beach

location of the ISKCON temple in Mumbai, India.