DasaDasa (Dāsa) is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the Rigveda and Arthasastra. The term may mean "enemy" or "servant," but Dasa or Das can also have the following connotations: "servant of God", "devotee," "votary" or "one who has surrendered to God." Dasa may be a suffix of a given name to indicate a "servant" of a revered person or a particular deity. Dasa, in some contexts, is also related to dasyu and asura, which have been translated by some scholars as "demon", "harmful supernatural forces," "slave," "servant," or "barbarian," depending on the context in which the word is used.
YamasThe Yamas (यम), and their complement, the Niyamas, represent a series of "right living" or ethical rules within Yoga philosophy. It means "reining in" or "control". These are restraints for proper conduct as given in the Vedas and the Yoga Sutras. They are a form of moral imperatives, commandments, rules or goals. The Yamas are the "don't do these" list of self-restraints, typically representing commitments that affect one's relations with others and self.
KshatriyaKshatriya (क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit kṣatra, "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term kṣatriyaḥ is used in the context of later Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra. The administrative machinery in the Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called Rajan whose position may or may not have been hereditary.
ŚrautaŚrauta is a Sanskrit word that means "belonging to śruti", that is, anything based on the Vedas of Hinduism. It is an adjective and prefix for texts, ceremonies or person associated with śruti. The term, for example, refers to Brahmins who specialise in the śruti corpus of texts, and Śrauta Brahmin traditions in modern times can be seen in Kerala and Coastal Andhra. The Sanskrit word śrauta is rooted in śruti ("that which is heard", referring to scriptures of Hinduism).
Cemetery H cultureThe Cemetery H culture was a Bronze Age culture in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from about 1900 BC until about 1300 BC. It is regarded as a regional form of the late phase of the Harappan (Indus Valley) civilisation (alongside the Jhukar culture of Sindh and Rangpur culture of Gujarat), but also as the manifestation of a first wave of Indo-Aryan migrations, predating the migrations of the proto-Rig Vedic people. The Cemetery H culture was located in and around the Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan.
HindustanHindūstān (), along with its shortened form Hind, is the Persian-language name for India, broadly the Indian subcontinent, that later became the commonly used name of the region in the Hindustani language. Since the Partition of India in 1947, Hindustan continues to be used to the present day as a historic name for the Republic of India. Hindustan was the classical Persian word for India, but when introduced to the subjects under Persianate rule, the subsequent culture which resulted from these events gave it another specific meaning that of the cultural region between the river Sutlej (end of Northwestern India) and the city Varanasi (start of Eastern India).
BhagaBhaga is the Vedic god of wealth, as well as a term for "lord, patron" and "wealth, prosperity". He is an Āditya, a group of societal deities who are the sons of Aditi. Bhaga's responsibility was to make sure that people received a share of the goods in life. He is associated with his brother, Aryaman, regarding the expectation of a successful marriage. The cognate term in Avestan and Old Persian is baga, of uncertain meaning but used in a sense in which "lord, patron, sharer/distributor of good fortune" might also apply.
ChhathChhath is an ancient Hindu festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, more specifically, the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and the Nepalese provinces of Madhesh and Lumbini. Prayers during Chhath puja are dedicated to the solar deity, Surya, to show gratitude and thankfulness for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request that certain wishes be granted. Chhathi Maiya, the sixth form of Devi Prakriti and Lord Surya's sister is worshipped as the Goddess of the festival.
Kalash peopleThe Kalasha (Kalasha: کالؕاشؕا, romanised: Kaḷaṣa), or Kalash, are an Indo-Aryan indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They are considered unique among the people of Pakistan. They are also considered to be Pakistan's smallest ethnoreligious group, and traditionally practice what authors characterise as a form of Animism. During the mid-20th century an attempt was made to force a few Kalasha villages in Pakistan to convert to Islam, but the people fought the conversion and, once official pressure was removed, the vast majority resumed the practice of their own religion.
Sanskrit grammarThe grammar of the Sanskrit language has a complex verbal system, rich nominal declension, and extensive use of compound nouns. It was studied and codified by Sanskrit grammarians from the later Vedic period (roughly 8th century BCE), culminating in the Pāṇinian grammar of the 4th century BCE. Vyākaraṇa Sanskrit grammatical tradition (vyākaraṇa, one of the six Vedanga disciplines) began in late Vedic India and culminated in the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini.
