Mahanarayana Upanishad...

Mahanarayana Upanishad: (Sanskrit) A philosophical text of the Krishna Yajur Veda. Mahanirvana Tantra: (Sanskrit) "Treatise on the great emancipation." An 11th-century advaita scripture dealing with mantra and esoteric rituals. mahapralaya: (Sanskrit) "Great dissolution." Total annihilation of the universe at the end of a mahakalpa.

It is the absorption of all existence, including time, space and individual consciousness, all the lokas and their inhabitants into God Siva, as the water of a river returns to its source, the sea. Then Siva alone exists in His three perfections, until He again issues forth creation. During this incredibly vast period there are many partial dissolutions, pralayas, when either the Bhuloka or the Bhuloka and the Antarloka are destroyed. See: cosmic cycle, pralaya.

mahaprasthana: (Sanskrit) "Great departure." Death. See: death, transition. maharaja: (Sanskrit) "Great king." Indian monarch. Title of respect for political or (in modern times) spiritual leaders. Maharashtra: (Sanskrit) Central state of modern India whose capital is Mumbai. Area 118,717 square miles, population 63 million. maharishi (maharshi): (Sanskrit) "Great seer." Title for the greatest and most influential of siddhas.

Maharloka: (Sanskrit) "Plane of greatness." From mahas, "greatness, might, power, glory." Also called the Devaloka, this fourth highest of the seven upper worlds is the mental plane, realm of anahata chakra. See: loka. mahasakara-pinda: (Sanskrit) "Great manifest body." In Siddha Siddhanta Saivism, the first manifestation of Siva out of the transcendent state. From it all of existence issues forth. See: pinda.

mahasamadhi: (Sanskrit) "Great enstasy." The death, or dropping off of the physical body, of a great soul, an event occasioned by tremendous blessings. Also names the shrine in which the remains of a great soul are entombed. mahasamadhi day: Anniversary of the transition of a great soul. See: cremation, death, reincarnation, samadhi, transition. Mahasivaratri: (Sanskrit) "Siva's great night." Saivism's foremost festival, celebrated on the night before the new moon in February-March.

Fasting and an all-night vigil are observed as well as other disciplines: chanting, praying, meditating and worshiping Siva as the Source and Self of all that exists. See: festival. mahatala: (Sanskrit) "Vast netherworld." The sixth lowest astral world. Region of consciencelessness. See: chakra.