Life: 5 definitions

Introduction
Image gallery
In Hinduism
1. Yoga
2. Jyotisha
India history
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Introduction:

Life means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Christianity, the history of ancient India. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

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In Hinduism

Yoga (school of philosophy)

Source: ORA: Amanaska (king of all yogas): A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation by Jason Birch

Life (i.e., “that state of being alive”) is denoted by the Sanskrit term Jīvita, according to the Yogatārāvalī: a short Yoga text of twenty-nine verses presenting Haṭhayoga as the means to Rājayoga (i.e., Samādhi).—Accordingly, while describing the states of waking, sleep, life and death: “For those [Yogins] situated in [the state of] Rājayoga whose gaze is free from all sense objects, here there is no waking, no state of sleep, no life (jīvita), no death and no mind”.

context information

Yoga is originally considered a branch of Hindu philosophy (astika), but both ancient and modern Yoga combine the physical, mental and spiritual. Yoga teaches various physical techniques also known as āsanas (postures), used for various purposes (eg., meditation, contemplation, relaxation).

Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)

Source: Journal of South Asian Intellectual History: Samarasiṃha and the Early Transmission of Tājika Astrology

Life refers to one the “thirty-two astrological lots” (sahamas), as discussed in the fourth chapter of the Karmaprakāśa—one of the earliest preserved Sanskrit works on Perso-Arabic (Tājika) astrology authored by Samarasiṃha in the 13th century.—The so-called lots (Sanskrit: sahamas; Arabic: sahm, translating κλῆρος) are derived by measuring the longitudinal distance between two predefined points in a horoscope (typically two planets) and projecting it from a third point (typically the ascendant degree). Of these 32 lots [e.g., Life], all but two are present in what has become the most widespread list of Tājika sahamas, compiled some three centuries later by Nīlakaṇṭha and comprising 50 items.

context information

Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.

India history and geography

Source: Suomen Antropologi: Sacred Trees among the Tamil people of South India

For the Hindus all life is sacred. The divine soul is believed to permeate all that exists in nature: stones, plants, animals and humans. [...] Before the Vedic period, forests were experienced as the home of wild forces of animal and vegetative life, beyond the control of village life guided by the priests. A division was perceived between orderly village life controlled by the Brahmins (priests) who guided the people in the practice of dharma (the cosmic law that refers to the duty of human beings to their family, to society, humanity, nature and towards God), and the adharmic world of the forests (that which is not in accord with the law of dharma) over which the priests had no control. The Brahmins were seen as the transformers of the forces between men and gods, heaven and earth that have been awakened by the power of ritual sacrifices.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

Relevant text

Search found 692 books and stories containing Life, The life; (plurals include: Lives, The lives). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Chapter I.b - Meaning of the term Tīrthaṅkara < [Chapter I - Introduction]

Chapter I.c - The lives of the Tīrthaṅkaras < [Chapter I - Introduction]

Chapter V.d - Nature of liberation (mokṣa) < [Chapter V - Bondage and Liberation]

+ 14 more chapters / show preview

Introduction to volume 5 < [Introductions]

Part 3: Sermon on saṃsāra < [Chapter V - Mahāvīra’s omniscience and the originating of the fourfold congregation]

Introduction to volume 4 < [Introductions]

+ 394 more chapters / show preview

Verse 7.112 < [Section IX - Art of Government]

Verse 2.244 < [Section XXXI - Acquiring of Learning from the Lowest]

Verse 4.1 < [Section I - General Remarks]

+ 384 more chapters / show preview