PREFACE: The following is taken directly from the video lectures of HD Goswami, on his YouTube channel. Most are cognates, some are just literal definitions in English. Anyone is welcome to use this information however they like. I compiled this simply by watching every lecture in chronological order from the beginning of that YouTube channel, up until February 2018. Will update this page when I’m done! -Ys, Vidyananda
Abi – direct
Abhyasa-yoga means repetition ch12 means same as sadhana
Adhikari – one who takes on responsibility
Ahaituka – “causeless” – psychological cause or motive (hetu). Literally means something that doesn’t have a selfish cause. E. G. Guru gives mercy for your benefit not his. But this is a didactic redundancy because Mercy already has that meaning embellished within it.
Aham – means pronoun I, where we get ego the pronoun I in Greek. Root of ahankara.
Ajnata sukriti – unknown good deeds
Agni > ignite
Akasha – space or sky
Amrta – not mrta
Anga – body
Anu – following – (anukampa – shaking with someone else, compassion)
Arya – cognate with Ireland (land of Aryans) and Iran
Asa – placing. See Asana
Asti – is. Cognate with is in English, es in Spanish, German, etc.
Atmavan – one who possesses himself
Ayur means life, especially the duration of. Ayurveda means the knowledge of prolonging the duration of life
Avatar – ava means downward, Tara means crossing
Bhagavan – bhaga – opulence. -van suffix means one who holds.
Bhaj – to glorify, originally to share. Also can simply mean devotion. See bhajan, like kirtan, and Bhakta Bhakti.
Bhakti – literally it is bhaj-ti.
Bhava – becoming, that which comes to be. The opposite of that which is eternal. Bhava is basically short and for the material world.
Bhoga – enjoyment, sense grat.
Bhu – be or becoming (cognate with English – to be)
Bhava – the world of beconing (Maya)
Bhuta means creature (created being with a body)
Bhutaste – aste means sit or remain as in asana
Bhut means above
Budh – awaken, understand (Buddhi – feminine noun)
Brh – to expand, increase (Brahman – the absolute or supreme)
Daiva – from deva, means the power of God or destiny or providence
-dha (sraddha) means -dom in English; to place, e.g. kingdom, the place of the king
Deha – body (conjugate it to get ‘the embodied’)
Desa – a place
Devaka – a little God – root is dr
Dhyana – meditation (cognate with zen in Japanese)
Dish – a direction, to point out
Divya – divine (literally) – root is dyu
Dvandva – duality, dvan means 2, also duo, and dos, etc.
Gaura – golden or light
Gera – old age – cognate is geriatric
Hrd – heart
Huta – invoked. Cognate with German gott which led to English God
Idam – demonstrative pronoun (this)
īśa – “Oh Lord” – holy name of Christ? – the root is īh – means to govern or exert power over. See; iso in isopanisad and isvara
Jana – means people cognate of gentile (latin) in Spanish too Gente
Jiva means life
Jnana – big picture/worldview knowledge. Is cognate of gnosis and agnostic (and prognosis)
jnanavan – a wise person
Karma – intentional act
Karana – cause and effect
Kanistha – the lowest. -st suffix here means the same in English, make an adj superlative; highest, loveliest, etc. (called prakriti Bhakta in SB – materialistic devotee)
Kavi – originally meant sage but now means poem and poetics.
Kirt – verbal root meaning to glorify or praise – can end as kirtanam or Kirti
Kri, krita – create, increase, see karma
Krsna – krs – to attract (krsi means ‘traction’ coincidental? Comparison with english)
Ma, matra – to measure (metric)
Maj? – merge (cognate)
Martya – mortal
Maicanam? – sexuality, literally translated as mutuality, from mitas – mutual
Muh – confusion, be bewildered. See moha, muddha
Mukha – face (noun and verb like in English)
Mr (dot under the r) – to die
Mriyate – he or she died
Mrta – dead. Cognate with mortal and murder.
Na – short for nan, or ananda: the source of all pleasure
Nam – to bend (bow)
Nama – to curve (nambra – curved, penumbra cognate?)
Nir – without
Nirvana means without flow (samsara)
Nirvishesha – without proper distinctions, esp about tattva
Pad – go (see pada meaning foot, the thing that goes)
Pari – all around (peri- prefix in English)
Pramana – (evidence) – the measure of something (see Ma)
Pra- prefix meaning same as pro- in English
Prati – counter
Priti – cognate with pleasure in English
Pure – city, cognate with Greek polis, English metropolis, politics, etc.
Purva – before, cognate with previous
Raaja – king, cognate with royal and reign
Sam – same – together/completely – same as sum or syn- prefix in English and San in sankirtan. Also homo in English (from Greek) comes from samo in Sanskrit
Samadhi – Sam – same, a – intensifier dhi (dha) – to place
Samasa – bringing together (opposite of vyasa)
Samadarshana – seeing with equal vision
Sankhya – Sam prefix plus khya – to tell or narrate, describe
Satyam – truth (as in true vs false) different from tattva truth. See also; Satyam eva jayate – the truth alone prevails.
Siddhanta – a philosophical conclusion (e.g. raja Vidya)
Sraddha – placing (dha) all your heart/trust into something.
Sthi – as in avasthitah 9.4 – situated. Cognate with stand, status, etc.
Su – prefix in sukriti that means good. Cognate with eu in eugenics, eudaimonia?, Euphoria, etc. Also means good
Tan – to extend (tantra)
Tat – that
Tantra – (vaishnava) Puranas and other literatures
Tari – means savior, one who takes them across. Avatar has same root. (tarine means unto the Tari)
Thanum – standing
Tva/tvam – cognate with suffix -ty (generousi-ty, equali-ty, etc.)
Ut – up
Upa – near – cognate with Hypo- prefix as in hypothermia not enough heat
Upama – comparison (putting two things near each other to measure)
Upapurana – junior purana (nearly a Purana)
Vaidika – Vedic (compared with tantrika) sruti literature
Vaahana – vehicle. Cognate with wagon
Vana – forest
Vart – to turn (cognate with -vert, introvert, pervert, etc.) Turn like going through life cycles. See vriti (fem noun, turning)
Veda – comes from vid which means wit, video, vision and basically, to know
Vibhuti – conducting majesty, triquandrantal, BS 2
Viddhi – 2nd person singular imperative “know…!’ also means imperative to do something (chant Japa,etc)
Virshesha – a distinction, distinguishing (good vishesha means knowing the tattvas)
Virsheshana – an adjective
-vit – suffix meaning a knower of, e.g. yogavit or tattvavit. Cognate with English wit.
Vrata – is cognate of vow and devotee
Vrindaa – tulasi
Vy (sometimes Vi?) – a prefix (not always?) that means away or separating or expanding (vyasa, vibhuti) opposite of sam – together
Yatam ati – according to my realization
Yoga – yuj – (link, engage, union) cognates are yoke and con-jug-ate, con-jug-al. When conjugated to yoga can mean application or practice. Patanjali calls yoga citta vriti virodha – stopping the turnings of the mind.
Yukta – linked. (In a state of yoga, instead of merely practicing it)