Deism: A doctrine which believes in the existence of God...

Deism: A doctrine which believes in the existence of God based on purely rational grounds; a particular faith prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries adhered to by several founding fathers of the United States, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. It holds that God created the world and its natural laws but is not involved in its functioning. Deity: "God." Can refer to the image or murti installed in a temple or to the Mahadeva the murti represents. See: murti, puja.

delineate: To mark or trace out the boundaries of a thing, concept, etc. delude: To fool as by false promises or improper concepts or thinking. delusion : Moha. False belief, misconception. denial: Saying "no." Opposing or not believing in the existence of something. denomination: A name for a class of things, especially for various religious groupings, sects and subsects. See: parampara, sampradaya. denote: To indicate, signify or refer to.

deplore: To be regretful or sorry about; to lament, disapprove. deploy: To spread out; rearrange into an effective pattern. deportment: The manner of bearing or conducting oneself; behavior. depraved: Immoral; corrupt; bad; perverted. desirous: Having a longing or desire; motivated by desire. despair: The state of having lost or given up hope. despise: To strongly dislike; look down upon with contempt or scorn. destiny: Final outcome. The seemingly inevitable or predetermined course of events.

See: adrishta, fate, karma. Destroyer: Term for God Siva in His aspect of Rudra. See: Nataraja. deva: (Sanskrit) "Shining one." A being living in the higher astral plane, in a subtle, nonphysical body. Deva is also used in scripture to mean "God or Deity." See: Mahadeva. Devaloka: (Sanskrit) "Plane of radiant beings." A synonym of Maharloka, the higher astral plane, realm of anahata chakra. See: loka.

devamandira: (Sanskrit) "Abode of celestial beings." From mand, "to stand or tarry." A Hindu temple; also simply mandira. See: temple. Devanagari: (Sanskrit) "Divine city [script]." The alphabetic script in which Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi and Marathi are written. A descendant of the Northern type of the Brahmi script. It is characterized by the connecting, horizontal line at the top of the letters. See: Sanskrit. Devi: (Sanskrit) "Goddess." A name of Shakti, used especially in Shaktism.

See: Shakti, Shaktism. Devi Bhagavata Purana: (Sanskrit) A subsidiary text of the Siva Puranas.