ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Hinduism's Online Lexicon - A-z Dictionary C ca: Abbreviation for circa--Latin for "approximately"--used with dates that are not precise, e.g., ca 650 means "around the year 650." cadenced: In measured, modulated, rhythmic voice. callous: Unfeeling, not sensitive, lacking compassion or pity. See: yama-niyama. camphor: Karpura.

An aromatic white crystalline solid derived from the wood of camphor trees (or prepared synthetically from pinene), prized as fuel in temple arati lamps. See: arati, puja. canon: The religious laws governing a sect or a religion. Body of accepted or authorized scriptures.

caste: A hierarchical system, called varna dharma (or jati dharma), established in India in ancient times, which determined the privileges, status, rights and duties of the many occupational groups, wherein status is determined by heredity. There are four main estates (varnas)--brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra--and innumerable castes, called jati. See: varna dharma. catalyst: A person or thing acting as a stimulus upon another, whose presence brings about change.

Difficulties can be a catalyst for spiritual unfoldment. Catalyst is sometimes used to name a teacher or facilitator. causal body: Karana sharira, the inmost body; the soul form, also called anandamaya kosha, "bliss sheath," and actinic causal body. See: kosha, soul. causal plane: Highest plane of existence, Sivaloka. See: loka. cause: Karana. Anything which produces an effect, a result.

-- efficient cause: (nimitta karana) That which directly produces the effect; that which conceives, makes, shapes, etc., such as the potter who fashions a clay pot, or God who creates the world. -- material cause: (upadana karana) The matter from which the effect is formed, as the clay which is shaped into a pot, or God as primal substance becoming the world.

-- instrumental cause: (sahakari karana) That which serves as a means, mechanism or tool in producing the effect, such as the potter's wheel, necessary for making a pot, or God's generative Shakti. See: maya, tattva. ce: Abbreviation for "common era." Equivalent to the abbreviation ad. Following a date, it indicates that the year in question comes after the year zero in the Western, or Gregorian calender, system. E.g., 300 ce is 300 years after the turn of the millennium. Cf: bce.

celestial: "Of the sky or heavens." Of or relating to the heavenly regions or beings. Highly refined, divine.