My Hindu Page Glossary - K

Kali,Goddess, Kamandalu, Karma, Kavadi, Know God from personal experience, Knowing your Self by yourself, Kodi Yeatram, Kolam, Krishna,Lord, Kumbha, Kundalini,  Kungkumum, Kurukshetra

Kali, Goddess: The form of Goddess as the Destroyer. Kali has a gruesome form, with Her mouth open showing fanged teeth and tongue stuck out, often holding decapitated head of demons and wearing a necklace of skulls. Same as the male representation of God as the Destroyer, Rudra, Goddess Kali is worshipped as a protector and an annihilator of ignorance and hatred.

Kamandalu: A vessel that is usually used to carry water. It can usually hold between two to four cups of water. Sages and itenerant monks usually carry their water supply in kamandalus. It is also used to contain religious sacrements such as vibhuti or holy ash. Some kamandalus are made with a decorative water spout. These kamandalus are specific for performing abhishegams and the sandhya vandanam ritual.

Karma: The law of cause and effect. The law of karma governs situations in our life. It states that whatever the effect of an action one performs, he or she will consequently receive similar situations in return in the present or a future life. A simple way to understand karma is, if you do good, you get good. If you do bad, you get bad. Karma is our creation. If our actions are good we create good karma for ourself. Bad action begets bad karma. We may reap our good or bad karmas in the present lifetime, or we may face them in a future lifetime. It is through creating karmas that we shape our future.

Kavadi: A wooden structure used to carry pots of milk for abishegam to Lord Murugan on His festival days such as Thaipusam. It consists of a piece of wood to which pots of milk is tied to at either end and is decorated with a wooden arch, flowers and peacock’s tail feathers. Devotees carry the kavadi on their shoulders over a prescribed distance, usually a few miles from the temple, as an act of penance. ( Penance: The deliberate act of performing spiritual disciplines that cause hardship on oneself. These disciplines include fasting, carrying kavadi, prostrating before God 108 times and so forth. The reason for doing penance is to beseech God’s Grace to help rid bad karmas that we may be facing or that we may face in the future. Gurus explain that God absorbs the effort we put out and devotion we express during the penance, and uses it to dissolve or reduce the impact of bad karmas.) 

‘Know God from personal experience’: To have direct experiences of God, such as seeing God's Holy form through worship or experiencing God's presence or form through meditation. Such experience affirms a devotees belief of God's existence, thus creating a profound change in the devotees life. The perspective of the devotee changes from a materialistic base to a spiritual one. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is to guide its devotees to have personal experiences of God. Hindu Scriptures and gurus urge devotees to strive for such experiences. The Scriptures explain that the soul is born on Earth countless times until it experiences God or in other words achieves God realization It is the experience required for the soul to achieve moksha. Knowledge of God from personal experience is differentiated from understanding the nature of God through the process of study or learning, which is academic and not personal. It is however helpful to first have an understanding of God academically before seeking God Realization. ( God Realization: The meditative experience of the meditator’s awareness merging into God’s Being. At the point of God Realization the meditator's awareness and God's Pure Consciousness are One. There are many levels or experiences in God Realization, such as experiencing God as Divine Light, or Pure Love, or Infinite Vastness, or as Absolute Reality–the experience most yearned after by ardent spiritual seekers. The ultimate goal of the practice of Hinduism is to guide its devotees to the experience of God Realization. After the seeker has achieved God Realization he or she is said to be enlightened. According to Hinduism, God Realization is a required experience for each soul in order to achieve moksha. Hinduism also recommends that a seeker be under the guidance of a guru to learn to achieve God Realization. The Sanskrit word equivalent to God Realization is samadhi.   Moksha: Liberation. In Hinduism the salvation of the soul is defined as freedom from the cycle of reincarnation on the physical plane, or Earth. After moksha the soul abides eternally in heaven. Before moksha the soul will enter heaven or hell temporarily between births, depending on the merits or demerits it accrues in the form of karmas during it’s life on Earth. Moksha is in a sense a graduation from having to live life on Earth anymore. It is achieved after the soul has fulfilled all of it’s desires for life on Earth and has Realized God. It is synonymous with mukti.)

‘Knowing your Self by yourself’: A popular saying of Sage Yogaswami. He often uses this phrase to urge his devotees to strive for God Realization. Self with the capital S, stands for God within oneself. God realized gurus teach that at the core of our being we are one with God. Therefore God Realization is sometimes substituted with Self Realization. 

Kodi Yeatram: “Flag raising,” it refers to the 10 day annual festival of a temple that marks the anniversary of the temple’s consecration or kumbha abishegam. This festival is a South Indian tradition and it is marked by grand and elaborate ceremonies and deity parades around the city or village of the temple.

Kolam: Intricate geometric designs drawn on the floor infront of the entrance of homes or temples. Kolams are signs of auspiciousness. It is part of Hindu culture that the womenfolk of the household draw simple kolams at the entrance to their homes every morning. On festival days, or happy occasions in the household such as marriage or birthdays, more intricate and colourful kolams are drawn. Kolam is a Tamil word. In Hindi it is called ranggoli.

Krishna, Lord: A form of Lord Vishnu, also affectionately called Kannan, the Child Lord, in His form as Krishna the toddler. Lord Krishna is the Lord who expounded the Bhagavad Gita which is part of epic Mahabharata. Lord Krishna was the charioteer for Arjuna, a Pandava prince, one of the heros in the battle of the Mahabharata.

Kumbha: A type of vessel used to hold water. When a kumbha is arranged a certain way with a coconut and mango leaves, it is used to represent God. Kumbhas are usually used in prayer ceremonies conducted by priests outside the temple, or when they perform kumbha abishegams. Kumbhas are also setup at the entrance to religious or cultural events as a sign of auspiciousness and also to represent Lord Ganesha. (Maha Kumbha Abishegam: The conseceration ceremony done to open a new, or newly renovated temple for public worship. The ceremony energizes the temple and the deity within it through forging connections between the temple and the heavens. A temple’s maha kumbha abishegam can last anywhere between two weeks to a month, depending on how many deities are enshrined within the temple. It involves many priest who perform long hours of elaborate homas–fire ceremonies. On the final day, the kumbhas that were setup for the homas to represent the different deities in the temple are dismantled and the sanctified water within them are poured over the deities and the temple towers to empower them with spiritual energy. The final day of the ceremony is considered the most auspicious and devotees throng to the temple on this day to be sprinkled by the water from the kumbhas especially as it flows down from the temple towers.)

Kundalini: In yoga philosophy, kundalini is a potent spiritual force that is resident within all humans. Unless personally awakened, either by the trained guidance of an adept spiritual master or by the Grace of God, the kundalini energy lies in a dormant state. When awakened, this energy which has its source at the base of the spine, rises through the spiritual chakras within the length of the spine and in the brain, and elevates awareness into wonderful states of God Realization. Kundalini energy's most essential function is to charge awareness with enough force so it can break through certain mystical barriers within the  highest chakras to allow awareness to reach the heights of nirvikalpa samadhis (the experience of God in the Transcendent state of Absolute Reality). Kundalini energy can also confer an adept yogi with occult mystical abilities such as seeing auras, premonitions of the future and so forth.

Kungkumum: Red powder made from mixing turmeric powder with lime juice and other substances. It is used as a religious sacrement. It is the main substance used for the pottu or tilak.

Kurukshetra: One of the holy cities in India. It is about 160km North of New Delhi. It is the scene of many Hindu epics, most notably, it is the battlefield where the major war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in the epic Mahabharata.