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Glossary: M

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listen Madana-gopala
Krishna, the transcendental Cupid appearing as a young cowherd.
listen Madhava
Krishna or Vishnu; Also, a famous Deity of Vishnu worshiped at Dashashvamedha-ghata, Prayaga.
listen Madhavendra Puri
the spiritual master of Ishvara Puri.
listen madhavi
Hiptage madhablota, a shrubby vine, herald of spring and lover of the mango tree.
listen Madhu
See Kaitabha.
listen Madhudvit
Lord Vishnu, enemy of the demon Madhu.
listen Madhumangala
A young brahmana boy who was among Krishna’s closest playmates. He was the son of Sandipani Muni (Krishna and Balarama’s teacher in Avanti) and the grandson of Paurnamasi. When Paurnamasi moved to Vraja, Madhumangala came with her.
listen Madhupuri
See Mathura.
listen madhuram
sweet.
listen Madhurya
lit., “sweetness.” Refers to the sweet conjugal pastimes of Krishna and the gopis.
listen Madhurya-lila
the sweet conjugal pastimes of Krishna and the gopis.
listen madhurya-rasa
Devotional service to Krishna in conjugal love.
listen Madhuvana
a sacred forest in Vrindavana.
listen Madhvacharya
The founding acharya of one of the four Vaishnava sampradayas in Kali-yuga. He appeared in the thirteenth century as a Karnataka brahmana, taught a strictly theistic version of Vedanta philosophy, vigorously opposed the Advaita-vada of Sankaracharya, and established the worship of Sri Krishna at Udupi.
listen madhya-lila
the pastimes Lord Chaitanya performed during the middle part of His manifest presence, while He was traveling throughout India; the portion of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita recounting those pastimes.
listen madhyama-adhikari
a devotee whose advancement in spiritual life is midway between the neophyte (kanishtha) and advanced (uttama) levels.
listen Magha
The lunar month that usually begins in January and ends in February.
listen maha
a Sanskrit prefix meaning “great” or “large.”
listen maha-bhagavata
a devotee in the highest stage of devotional life.
listen Mahabharata
The epic history of “greater India” composed by Dvaipayana Vyasa. One chapter is the Bhagavad-gita.
listen maha-bhava
The ultimate limit of devotional ecstasy, found only in Sri Radha and some of Her intimate servants. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who was Sri Krishna in the mood of Sri Radha, also displayed such ecstasy.
listen maha-bhuta
any one of the gross elements of material creation (earth, water, fire, air, or ether).
listen Mahadeva
“The great god,” Siva.
listen mahajanas
“Great persons,” refers to the twelve authorized agents of the Lord whose duty it is to preach the path of devotional service to the people in general.
listen Maha-lakshmi
See Lakshmi.
listen maha-mantra
the great chant for deliverance: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
listen Maha-maya
See Maya.
listen Mahaprabhu
supreme master of all masters; refers to Lord Chaitanya.
listen maha-prasada
Food directly from the plate that has been offered to the Supreme Lord. Such food from Lord Jagannatha at Puri is especially known as maha-prasada, but Srila Sanatana Gosvami uses the term to refer to Krishna’s prasada in general.
listen Maha-puranas
The eighteen major Puranas, six for people in each of the three modes of material nature.
listen Mahapurusha
“The Supreme Person” or “supreme enjoyer,” Lord Vishnu. More specifically, an expansion of Maha-vishnu who resides on the planet of Brahma.
listen Mahar (-loka)
The first of the planets where sages reside above the heaven of Indra. The residents of Maharloka are sages who have not renounced family life.
listen maharaja
“Great ruler,” a term of address to kings and renounced holy men.
listen mahatma
A “great soul,” a saint who has broad intelligence by dint of his full Krishna consciousness.
listen mahat-tattva
The first transformation of primordial nature. It contains all the other elements in their subtle, unmanifest forms.
listen maha-vakya
a principal Vedic mantra or verse.
listen Mahavana
One of the twelve main forests of Vraja. See Gokula.
listen Maha-varaha
See Varaha.
listen Maha-vishnu
The first of the three Purushas, incarnations of the Supreme Lord for the creation of the material universe. He lies down in the Causal Ocean on the bed of Ananta Sesha and initiates the creation by glancing at His personified material energy, Maya.
listen Mahayoga
See Yogamaya.
listen Mahendra
See Indra.
listen Mahesha
“The great lord,” Siva.
listen Maitreya
A sage who was a friend of Dvaipayana Vyasa. Maitreya heard Krishna’s discussions with Uddhava just before Krishna’s disappearance and passed on what he learned to Vidura. The conversations of Maitreya and Vidura comprise the Third and Fourth Cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
listen makara
A celestial species of crocodile, considered auspicious. Also, the sign of the zodiac corresponding to the Greek Capricorn.
listen malati
Jasminium grandiflorum, a twining shrub with fragrant white flowers.
listen Manasa-sarovara
A sacred lake on Kailasa Mountain. Indra tried to hide within the lake from his sins, and Ambarisha meditated by its shore. The lotuses growing in this lake are prized even by the residents of heaven.
listen Manasi-ganga
The most sacred of lakes, located at the midpoint of Govardhana Hill. Krishna created it from His mind and filled it with the waters of the Ganga and all other holy rivers and lakes to dissuade His father from leaving Vraja to go on pilgrimage.
listen mandala
A district, a subdivision of a province.
listen mandara
The flower of the coral tree, one of the five special trees of heaven.
listen mandira
temple.
listen mangala-arati
the first Deity worship of the day, performed an hour and a half before sunrise.
listen mangalacarana
Verses an author composes as an invocation with which to begin a book. The three aims of such an invocation are to offer respects to one’s worshipable Deity, to offer blessings to the readers, and to set forth the topic of the book.
listen Manikarnika
One of the principal bathing ghatas on the Ganga in Kashi.
listen manjari
an intimate gopi maidservant of Radha and Krishna.
listen mantra
A short expression in sacred language chanted to purify the mind and fulfill various aspirations.
listen mantra-japa
Chanting of a mantra quietly to oneself.
listen Manus
The original progenitors and lawgivers of the human race. In each day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus. The current Manu is Vaivasvata, son of the sun-god Vivasvan.
listen manvantara
The period of a Manu’s reign, lasting 306,720,000 years.
listen manvantara-avatara
Special incarnations of the Supreme Lord who appear in each manvantara to assist Indra and the other demigods in subduing demons and maintaining the principles of religion.
listen marakata
emerald.
listen marga
path.
listen Martyaloka
“The world of mortals,” the lower parts of the universe, below Svarga. Demigods are also mortal, but they are called “immortals” because their span of life is much longer than that of humans.
listen Maruts
The forty-nine expansions of the wind-god, who are friends of Indra.
listen mataji
mother.
listen math
a religious institution.
listen Mathura (-dhama, -mandala, -puri)
The eternal abode in which Krishna manifests Himself as the Lord of the Yadavas. During His descent to earth, Krishna reclaimed Mathura for the Yadavas by killing Kamsa and installing Ugrasena on the throne. Krishna resided in Mathura for thirty-three years before relocating the Yadavas to Dvaraka.
listen Mathuranatha
Krishna, “the Lord of Mathura.”
listen Matsya
Lord Vishnu’s form as a huge fish, one of the dasha-avataras, the ten most famous incarnations of the Lord. Matsya appeared at the end of the Cakshusha manvantara to save the next Manu, the seven sages, and the Vedas from the universal deluge.
listen mauna
silence.
listen maya
The Supreme Lord’s inferior, material energy. She creates and controls the material world, keeping its inhabitants in countless varieties of illusion.
Maya
The chief architect of the demons. When Krishna and Arjuna saved him from the fire in the Khandava forest, he became their friend and built a wonderful assembly hall for the Pandavas at Indraprastha.
listen Mayadevi
see Maya.
listen Mayapur
a town in West Bengal, India, where Lord Chaitanya appeared.
listen Mayavada
The impersonal philosophy of “oneness,” which holds that the Absolute Truth, one without a second, is formless and changeless, and that whatever has name and form is an illusion falsely imposed on that Truth. The most influential proponent of Mayavada in the current age was Sankaracharya.
listen Mayavadis (Advaita-vadis)
Proponents of the impersonal philosophy of “oneness,” which holds that the Absolute Truth, one without a second, is formless and changeless, and that whatever has name and form is an illusion falsely imposed on that Truth. The most influential Mayavadi in the current age was Sankaracharya.
listen mayayapahrita-jnana
a person whose knowledge is stolen by illusion.
listen Meru
The great mountain that is the axis of the universe. It is also called Sumeru and Mahameru. It extends upward through the center of the earthly planetary system, and on its upper peak lies Satyaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma.
Milk Ocean
See Ocean of Milk.
listen Mimamsa
“Systematic study” of the meaning of the Vedas. The earlier Mimamsa (Purva-mimamsa), which explains the ritual meaning of the Vedas, was taught by Vyasadeva’s disciple Jaimini. The second Mimamsa (Uttara-mimamsa), which explains the Absolute Truth, was taught in the Vedanta-sutra by Vyasa Himself.
listen mishra
mixed.
listen Mithila
The capital of the kingdom of Videha, since ancient times a center of learning and brahminical culture.
listen mleccha
a class of persons outside the social and spiritual divisions of Vedic culture, whose standards and practices are considered abominable.
listen Mohini (-murti)
The avatara of Lord Vishnu as the most beautiful woman. She appeared from the churning of the Ocean of Milk, deceived the demons, and delivered the nectar of immortality to the demigods.
listen moksha
Liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
listen mridanga
a two-headed clay drum, traditionally used in kirtana.
listen Mrigari
a cruel hunter and torturer of animals who, by the influence of Narada Muni, became a pure devotee.
listen Mucukunda
A son of King Mandhata whose valiant fighting for the demigods won him a boon by which his glance burned to ashes the barbarian Kalayavana, who had been chasing Krishna.
listen Mudha
fool, rascal.
listen mudra
a symbolic hand gesture.
listen mukti (moksha)
Liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
listen Mukunda
Krishna or Vishnu, the “giver of liberation.”
listen muni
A thoughtful sage.
listen Mura
A five-headed demon employed by Narakasura to guard the fortress of his capital, Pragjyotisha-pura. When Krishna invaded, He killed Mura and then Naraka.
listen Murari
Krishna, the enemy of the demon Mura.
listen murti
a form, usually referring to a Deity.
listen Mushtika
A wrestler in Mathura ordered by Kamsa to kill Krishna and Balarama. Balarama wrestled him in Kamsa’s arena and killed him.
listen Myrobalan
an Ayurvedic medicinal plant.
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