J - Definitions
Jambavan or Jamvanta is a bear in Hinduism and believe to lived from Treta Yuga to kaliYuga.
Jambavan (Malay: Jambuwana, Burmese: Zabaman, Tamil: Sambuvan, Thai: Chomphuphan) also known as Jamvanta, Jambavantha, Jambavat, or Jambuvan the King of the Bears, is a asiatic or sloth bear in Indian epic tradition (though he is also described as a monkey in other scriptures), immortal to all but his father Vishnu. Several times he is mentioned as Kapishreshtha (Foremost among the monkeys) and other epithets generally given to the Vanaras. He is known as Riksharaj (King of the Rikshas). Rikshas are described as something like Vanaras but in later versions of Ramayana Rikshas are described as bears. He was created by Brahma, to assist Rama in his struggle against Ravana. Jambavan was present at the churning of the ocean, and is supposed to have circled Vamana seven times when he was acquiring the three worlds from Mahabali.
Jambudvīpa is the dvipa ("island" or "continent") of the terrestrial world,, as envisioned in the cosmologies of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, which is the realm where ordinary human beings live. Its name is said to derive from a Jambu tree.
The word Jambudvipa literally refers to "the land of Jambu trees" where Jambu is the name of the species (also called Jambul or Indian Blackberry) and dvipa means "island" or "continent".
The warrior Ravana sends to slay Hanuman when Hanuman not satisfied with finding Sita dashed about the Asoka grove and broke the trees and spoiled the pavilions.
King of Mithila, a great Rajarishi; father of Sita, wife of Rama. Janaka (also spelled Janak) is the name used to refer to the kings of Videha. The Janaka Dynasty ruled the Videha kingdom from their capital, Mithila, identified with modern Janakpur in Nepal. A certain King Janaka, who probably reigned during the 7th century BCE, is mentioned in the late Vedic literature as a great philosopher-king. A King Janaka is also mentioned in the Ramayana epic.
A king who conducted a great sacrifice for the well being of the human race. Janmejay was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th or 11th century BCE). Along with his predecessor Parikshit, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns into collections and the development of the orthodox srauta ritual, transforming the Kuru realm into the dominant political and cultural center of northern Iron Age India. He also appears as an important figure in many later legends and traditions, such as the Mahabharata, where he appears as the listener of the first narration of the great epic.
Janardana (IAST /janārdana/) is another name of Vishnu or God and appears as the 126th name in the Vishnu sahasranama. It is also a common name of Krishna being address as such by Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.
According to Adi Sankara' s commentary on the Vishnu sahasranama, translated by Swami Tapasyananda, Janardana means "One who inflicts suffering on evil men." Alternatively, it means, "He to whom all devotees pray for worldly success and liberation,".
Japa is a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of a mantra or name of a divine power. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken purely within the reciter's mind. Japa may be performed while sitting in a meditation posture, while performing other activities, or as part of formal worship in group settings. The practice of repetitive prayer is present in varied forms within most religions in the world, although the religions of India generally give more emphasis to it as a specific discipline.
A rākshasa father-in-law of Kamsa, Son of Brihadratha. Mighty king of Magadha of whose prowess all Kshatriyas were afraid. Killed by Bhima in a thirteen-day non-stop physical combat: with Sri Krishna and Arjuna as witnesses.
As per the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Jarasandha was the king of Magadha. He was a descendant of the king Brihadratha, the founder of the Barhadratha dynasty of Magadha. He was also a great devotee of the Hindu god Shiva. But he is generally held in negative light owing to his enmity with the Yadava clan in the Mahabharata.
Jarita (Sanskrit: जरित) was a certain female bird of the species called Sarngika, whose story is told in the Mahabharata. The saint Mandapala, who returned from the shades because he had no son, assumed the form of a male bird, and by her had four sons. He then abandoned her. In the conflagration of the Khandava Forest she showed great devotion in the protection of her children, and they were eventually saved through the influence of Mandapala over the god of fire. Their names were Jaritari, Sarisrikta, Stambamitra, and Drona. They were "interpreters of the Vedas;" and there are hymns of the Rigveda bearing the names of the second and the third.
The Jātaka tales refer to a voluminous body of folklore and mythic literature native to India, primarily associated with the Theravada Buddhist tradition written in the Pali language (from about the 3rd century, C.E.), concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha. These are the stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form. The future Buddha may appear in them as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant—but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates.
In Theravada Buddhism, the Jatakas are a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. The term Jātaka may also refer to a traditional commentary on this book. The story of Rama is told in one of Jātakas.
Jatāsura was a Rakshasa who disguised himself as a Brahman and carried Yudhishthira, Sahadeva, Nakula, and Draupadi. He was overtaken and killed by Bhima.
According to the Mahabharata (Book III: Varna Parva, Section 156), Jatasura used his powers of illusion to appear in the guise of a Brahmana to the Pandavas. His objective was to gain their confidence in order to seize their weapons, ravish their wife Draupadi, and take some captives. He lay in wait "like unto a fire covered with ashes." One day when Bhima was gone, Jatasura took on a monstrous form, seized the weapons and Draupadi, and fled with three of the Pandavas, including Yudhishthira, as his captives. Yudhishthira, however, confused him by showering him with moral accusations, and Jatasura slowed down enough for Bhima to catch up. The doomed Jatasura fought valiantly, but in the end Bhima knocked him out with a punch to the neck, lifted him up and dashed him to the ground, and severed his head from his neck.
Jatāyū was king of all the eagles-tribes, the son of Aruna and nephew of Garuda. A demi-god who has the form of an (eagle), he tries to rescue Sita from Ravana, when Ravana is on his way to Lanka after kidnapping Sita. His brother was Sampatī.
In the Indian epic Ramayana, Jatayu (Sanskrit: Jatāyu, Telugu: Jatayuvu, Tamil: Chatayu, Thai: Sadayu, Malay: Jentayu or Chentayu, Indonesian: Burung Jatayu meaning "Jatayu bird") is the youngest son of Aruna and also have a brother called Sampaati. A demi-god who has the form of a Vulture, he was an old friend of Dasharatha (Rama's father). He tries to rescue Sita from Ravana when Ravana is on his way to Lanka after kidnapping Sita. Jatayu fought valiantly with Ravana, but as Jatayu was very old Ravana soon got the better of him. As Rama and Lakshmana chanced upon the stricken and dying Jatayu in their search for Sita, he informs them of the fight between him and Ravana and the direction in which Ravana had gone (i.e., south).
Jatayu and his brother Sampati, when young, used to compete as to who could fly higher. On one such instance Jatayu flew so high that he was about to get seared by the sun's flames. Sampati saved his brother by spreading his own wings and thus shielding Jatayu from the hot flames. In the process, Sampati himself got injured and lost his wings. As a result, Sampati lived wingless for the rest of his life.
While Jatayu was wounded and lying on the ground when Lord Rama arrived, Lord Rama sensed the end result and decided that Jatayu get moksha. Lord Rama hit an arrow in the ground so as to call all seven sacred rivers, called teertha. Six rivers' waters arrived, one river water failing to obey Lord Rama's call. Since Lord Rama was himself an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, He forced the Gaya teertha to arrive at the spot.
According to legend, Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh, India is the place where Jatayu fell after being wounded by Ravana, and Ramarkal Mettu is the place where the last rites were performed. Rama is said to have commanded the bird to rise Le Pakshi, and hence the name for that town.
In the epic Mahābhārata, Jayadratha was the king of Sindhu Kingdom (so he is also called as Saindhava). He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the 100 Kaurava brothers. He was the son of the king Vridhakshtra.
A warrior on the side of Kauravas who closed the breach effected by Abhimanyu in the Chakravyuha military formation by Dronacharya and trapped him inside.
Meditative contemplation; more often associated with śamatha practices than vipaśyana. Dhyāna (Sanskrit) or Jhāna (Pali) means meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it is a series of cultivated states of mind, which lead to "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhii-sati-piirisuddhl)."
Dhyana may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, but became appended with other forms of meditation throughout its development.
Example via www.mindpodnetwork.com: Training Psychic Ability
In Zen, a senior priest's attendant. Jisha (侍者?), along with the titles inji and sannō, are Japanese terms used in reference to the personal attendant of a monastery's abbot or teacher in Zen Buddhism. In the Rinzai school, the term is usually either inji or sannō. According to the book 3 Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery, "While the jikijitsu is the stern father of the zendo, the jisha is the den mother, balancing the strictness that his counterpoint establishes. The jisha prepares for and greets all guests, tends to the needs of the students, takes care of the sick, and organizes the cleaning of the monastery." According to author Victor Sōgen Hori, "In the Northern Sung period, a master of a large monastery had two attendants, but by the Yüan period the number of attendants had increased to five: an incense attendant, a secretary attendant, a guest attendant, a robe attendant, and a 'hot water and medicine' attendant who cooked for him."
Knowledge of the eternal and real. Jnana (Sanskrit jñāna; Pali: ñāṇa) a term for "knowledge" in Indian religions and Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.
The idea of jnana centers on a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced. It is knowledge inseparable from the total experience of reality, especially a total or divine reality (Brahma).
The root jñā- is cognate to English know, as well as to the Greek γνώ- (as in γνῶσις gnosis). Its antonym is ajñāna "ignorance".
Jñāna yoga or "union due to pure knowledge" is one of the types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies. Jñāna in Sanskrit means "knowledge".
Jñāna yoga is knowing beyond name and form through pure understanding of the nature of doer, who when seen in clarity results in liberation. This path is different from other forms of Yoga in a sense that other form emphasizes on a structured way of experiencing reality through a process of crystallization carried by doing different forms of meditation. However this path simply states that only knowing is enough. It many a times draw parallels to Samkhya as well. As used in the Bhagavad Gita, the Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara gave primary importance to jñāna yoga as "knowledge of the absolute" (Brahman), while the Vishishtadvaita commentator Ramanuja regarded knowledge only as a condition of devotion. In the Bhagavad Gita (13.3) Krishna says that jñāna consists of properly understanding kshetra (the field of activity—that is, the body) and kshetrajna (the knower of the body—that is, the soul). Later in the Gita (13.35) Krishna emphasizes that a transcendentalist must understand the difference between these two.
Zen public ordination ceremony wherein a lay student receives certain Buddhist precepts. The lay Buddhist ordination refers to the public ordination ceremony wherein a lay student of Buddhism receives certain Buddhist precepts. The particulars of the ceremony differ widely by country and by school of Buddhism.