The Padma Purana (पद्मपुराण) is one of the eighteen Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic…
The Brahma Purana (ब्रह्मपुराण) is one of the eighteen major Puranas collections of Hindu texts in the Sanskrit Language. Another title for this text…
Purana (पुराण) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends and other…
Sannyasa (संन्यास), sometimes spelled Sanyasa or Sanyasi (for the person), is the life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four…
Vairagya (वैराग्य) is a Sanskrit term used in Hinduism as well as Eastern philosophy that roughly translates as dispassion, detachment, or renunciation.…
Maya (माया), literally “illusion” or “magic”, has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies depending on the context. Maya also connotes that which “is constantly…
Introspection (आत्मनिरीक्षण) is the examination of one’s conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process relies on the observation of one’s mental state,…
Sage Ashtavakra (ऋषि अष्टावक्र) or Ushtaavukruhu is a revered Vedic sage in Hinduism. His name literally means “eight deformities”, reflecting…
Atman (आत्मन्) is a Sanskrit word that refers to the (universal) Self or self-existent essence of individuals, as distinct from ego (Ahamkara), mind (Chitta)…
Brahma (ब्रह्मा) is a Hindu God, referred to as “the Creator” within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva. In some Puranas, he created himself…