Cânakya Pandita: the brâhmin counselor of king Candragupta. Possibly another Candragupta than the one responsible for checking Alexander the Great's invasion of India in the fourth century B.C. Famous for his books about politics and morality (see 12.1: 12).
Câranas: (from carana, 'the feet of') the venerable ones, the ones belonging to a certain vedic school and read the same scripture, the ones of good and moral conduct, those wandering around as singers and actors, those of observance dealing and managing. Also celestial singers or those pasturing and tending.
Cârvâka Muni: the originator of hedonistic philosophy.
Câtuh-hotra: of the four types of sacrifice, see r i t v i k.
Câturmâsya: vow of austerity for a certain period (of about half of July to half of November) of four months within one year during the rainy season in India. For that period one is advised to keep to special vows for personal purification.
- Name for the beginning of a season of four months; or the name for the three sacrifices of vais'vadevam, varuna-praghâsâh and sâkam-edhâh performed at the beginning of the three seasons of four months.
Caitanya: (life force) name of the incarnation of K r i s h n a as K r i s h n a - b h a k ta in 1486 in Navadvîpa, West Bengal. Also named M a h â p r a b h u K r i s h n a - C a i t a n y a and G a u r a n g a. Spoken as: Tsjétanja.
- An a v a t â r a who ± 500 years ago in India appeared to teach mankind the yuga-dharma (the method of realization valid for a certain era or y u g a) of our time, knowing the chanting of the holy names of God, to fight the corrupting influence of k a l i - y u g a. Although He was K r i s h n a Himself, did he play the role of K r i s h n a's devotee, to show us how to awaken our love for Him.
- Reformer of the vedic culture to fight the false authority of dry book wisdom and the caste-system. In de West positioned against impersonalism and voidism.
- The incarnation of the Lord who descended into this world to teach by means of the s a n k î r t a n a - movement how to love God.
Caitanya-caritâmrita: the book of K r i s h n a d â s a K a v i r â j a G o s w â m î about the life and teachings of Lord C a i t a n y a, the Lord of Vedic Reform. The 'New Testament' of the C a i t a n y a - v a i s h n a v a written in the sixteenth century.
Caitanya-vaishnava's: school of devotees of Lord V i s h n u that follow C a i t a n y a. Based on the vedic conclusion: C a i t a n y a is the inscrutable unity in the diversity (a c i n t h y a - b h e d â b h e d a - t a t t v a).
Caittya-guru: (from caitta - belonging to thought, imagined, mental) the internalized g u r u of the Supersoul within mentioned by K r i s h n a in 11.29: 6 in relation to the â c â r y a, the g u r u to the tradition outside.
Cakra: ('wheel, wheel or order of time, cyclic time, circle, totality') term in b h a k t i used for the totality of the celestial sky, or the disc of stars that is our Milky Way, that as a wheel or disc apparently revolves around the polar star but in fact revolves about the center of the galaxy (see S' i s' u m â r a).
- The cyclic, the cyclic of time to the sun and moon and stars, that together with linear time (clock-time, the week-order) and psychological time; the past, the present and the future makes up the basic t r i - k â l i k a, or threefold of time (see also k â l a).
- Also disc of K r i s h n a or S u d a r s' a n a, the acute of His presence or supreme vision of Him; time as the weapon of V i s h n u. A breach with the order of time or the cakra is a fall-down, a betrayal of n i y a m a, or regulation. Consequence: a punishment of the fire of unbounded energy released from the cakra-order, the broken order is the lust that leads to anger and ultimately madness: the head is cut off by the cakra when one remains in offense with K r i s h n a (see S' i s' u p a l a and K â l a, see 6.8: 23 en 9.5, see also the Cakra-order).
- Knots of subtle p r â n i c energies or nâdis located on higher and lowel levels in the body. They, divided in seven serve the meditator in progression opening up the way to the higher destination. The lower centers are: the mûlâdhâra-cakra, at the base of the spine, the svâdhishthhâna-cakra, in the area of the navel, and the manipûra-cakra, in the abdomen or the plexus. The higher centers are that of anâhata-cakra at the heart, the vis'uddhi-cakra in the throat, the ajnâ-cakra between the eyebrows and the sahasâra-cakra at the top of the skull (see 10: 87: 18 and B.G. 6: 13-14). (the M.W. dictionary gives a six division asigning the centres somewhat differently).
Cakravâkî: popular bird, the female crane.
Cakrî: name of the Lord as the wielder of the c a k r a, the disc.
Campaka: the Michelia-Campaka, a very fragrant type of magnolia tree with yellow flowers.
Candâla: 'dog-eaters'. Lowest of man, outcast. V a i s h n a v a term for human trash (see also p a r i a).
- Man of the lowest and most despised kind of a mixed birth (born from a s' û d r a and a b r â h m a n a mother).
Candra: the demigod representing the order of the moon (see also S o m a).
Candrasekhara Âcârya: a great householder devotee of Lord S' r î C a i t a n y a M a h â p r a b h u.
Canto: derivation from k â n d a: part or section, chapter, book. A name for the books or twelve sections of this p u r â n a, the Bhâgavatam.
Catuhsana: 'the four sana's'. The l î l â - a v a t â r a of the Lord in the form of the four K u m â r a s.
Catuh-s'loki: the four essential verses in the B h a g a v a d G î t â and in the S' r î m a d B h â g a v a t a m summarizing the teachings. In the G î t â the verses are found in chapter 10: 8 - 11. For the B h â g a v a t a m these verses are: canto 2.9: 33-36.
Catuh-vidah: the fourfold goals of human life, k â m a, a r t h a, d h a r m a, m o k s h a, see p u r u s h a r t h a s.
Catuh-vidam: the four kinds of foodstuff; carvya (that what is chewed), lehya (that what one licks), cûshya (that what is sucked up) and peya (that what is drunk).
Catur-vyûha: see v y û h a.
Channa-avatâra: name of the covert incarnations of K r i s h n a in K a l i- y u g a: this as opposed to His t r i - y u g a status;
- K r i s h n a as His own devotee: Son, Prophet, s a n n y â s î (see also 7.9: 38).
- Typical example of a channa-incarnation is D a t t a t r e y a appearing as the a v a d h û t a in the first chapters of the U d d h a v a - g î t â discussing the different gurus one may learn from (see 11.7-8).
Chaitya-guru: see c a i t t y a - g u r u.
Cintâmani: "touchstone" with mystical power, mentioned in the v e d i c scriptures (see also K r i s h n a l o k a).
Cit: consciousness. One of the three main characteristics of K r i s h n a (see: s a t - c i t - â n a n d a).
Citi-s'akti: (citi - knowledge; s a k t i - power): The inner or enlightening capacity of the Lord.
Citraketu ('the licht of excellence') a good king, an emperor to all, a king of the v i d y â d a r a s living in Sûrasena, of whom there of the earth was all that one could wish for (see 6.14: 10). Received instruction after his lamentation over a deceased son from N â r a d a and A n g i r â and was blessed by the Lord (in 6.15), but later came to fall down being cursed to be reborn among the demons because of an impudency with mother P â r v a t î (see 6: 17).
Coverings: layers, see k o s h a.
Cupid (K a n d a r p a, K â m a d e v a): the demigod who incites lusty desires in the hearts of the conditioned living entities.
Cyavana: a sage, a recluse, who was disturbed in his meditation by Sukanyâ the daughter of M a n u s' son S'aryâti, who for propitiation forced her to marry him though he was an old man. The a s' v i n s then gave him youth to be a good husband (see 9.3).
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