"We adore the fragrant three-eyed one who promotes prosperity.

"We adore the fragrant three-eyed one who promotes prosperity. May we be freed from the bondage of death as a cucumber from its stalk, but not from immortality." This is a famous verse of the Yajur Veda (from Rudranamaka, or Sri Rudram), considered an essential mantra of Siva worship used in all Siva rites. germinate: To sprout. To begin to develop.

ghanta: (Sanskrit) "Bell." Akin to ghant, "to speak." An important implement in Hindu worship (puja), used to chase away asuras and summon devas and Gods. See: puja. ghee: (Sanskrit) Hindi for clarified butter; ghrita in Sanskrit. Butter that has been boiled and strained. An important sacred substance used in temple lamps and offered in fire ceremony, yajna. It is also used as a food with many ayurvedic virtues. See: yajna.

Gheranda Samhita: i (Sanskrit) A Vaishnava manual on hatha yoga (ca 1675), still influential today, presented as a dialog between Sage Gheranda and a disciple. See: hatha yoga. gloom: Darkness. Deep sadness or despair. go: (Sanskrit) The cow, considered especially sacred for its unbounded generosity and usefulness to humans. It is a symbol of the earth as the abundant provider. For the Hindu, the cow is a representative of all living species, each of which is to be revered and cared for.

Goddess: Female representation or manifestation of Divinity; Shakti or Devi. Goddess can refer to a female perception or depiction of a causal-plane being (Mahadeva) in its natural state, which is genderless, or it can refer to an astral-plane being residing in a female astral body.

To show the Divine's transcendence of sexuality, sometimes God is shown as having qualities of both sexes, e.g., Ardhanarishvara, "Half-woman God;" or Lord Nataraja, who wears a feminine earring in one ear and a masculine one in the other. Godhead: God; Divinity. A term describing the essence or highest aspect of the Supreme Being. God Realization: Direct and personal experience of the Divine within oneself.

It can refer to either 1) savikalpa samadhi ("enstasy with form") in its various levels, from the experience of inner light to the realization of Satchidananda, the pure consciousness or primal substance flowing through all form, or 2) nirvikalpa samadhi ("enstasy without form"), union with the transcendent Absolute, Parasiva, the Self God, beyond time, form and space.

In Dancing with Siva, the expression God Realization is used to name both of the above samadhis, whereas Self Realization refers only to nirvikalpa samadhi.