1. ANAHATA-SABDA

ANAHATASABDA figures variously in the Guru Granth Sahib as anahadasabad, anahadatura, anahadajhunkara, anahadabain, anahatanada, anahadabani and anahadadhumand in the Dasam Granth as anahadabani and anahadabaja. The word anahata is from the Sanskrit language. It occurs in Pali and Prakrit texts as well. In the Sanskrit original, it implies unstruck; it stands for pure or immaculate in Pali and for eternal in the Prakrit. The suffix words like sabad or sabda, tura, jhunkara, bani and dhuni stand for word, rhythm, sound or speech. Thus, anahatasabda would mean the unstruck or pure or eternal sound. In a theistic system, anahatasabda would signify an eternal voice symbolizing the reality of God.

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2. ATMA,

ATMA, Sanskrit at man, originally meant `breath`. Later the term came to connote `soul` or `principle of life`. The different systems of Indian philosophy gave it further semantic shades. Nyaya Visesaka considered atma a substance and endowed it with qualities of cognition, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion and effort. Sarikhya recognized it as an object of inference. Bhatta Mimansa held it as the object of internal perception (manaspratyaksa). Prabhakara Mimansa considered it to be the knowing ego revealed in the very act of knowledge and held it to be the subject and not the object of perception.

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3. DEATH,

DEATH, the primordial mystery and one of the cardinal conditions of existence. Scientifically, death is defined as "the permanent cessation of the vital function in the bodies of animals and plants" or, simply, as the end of life caused by senescence or by stoppage of the means of sustenance to body cells. In Sikhism the universal fact of mortality is juxtaposed to immortality (amarapad) as the ultimate objective (paramartha) of life. As a biological reality death is the inevitable destiny of everyone. Even the divines and prophets have no immunity from it. Mortality reigns over the realms of the gods as well.

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4. MUL MANTRA

MUL MANTRA. This is the title commonly given to the opening lines of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh scripture, or to these lines when they or a portion of them are repeated at the beginning of each new raga section as contained in the Holy text. This is the primary or fundamental formula of the Sikh faith. Transliterated into Roman script it would read: (ik) oankar satinam karta purakhu nirbhau nirvairu akal murati ajum saibhan gurprasd di. The English paraphrase, given the inherent inadequacies of the genre translation, would read, "God is one; call Him Eternal truth; He is the Supreme creator; He knows no fear and is at enmity with none.

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5. QUDRAT

QUDRAT (spelled qudrati in gurbani), a term adopted by Guru Nanak from the Arabic and given a philosophical signification and connotation which, to some extent but with different shades of sense, had till then been conveyed by the milenniaold Indian words prakriti and mdyd. Qudrat, in Arabic, literally means power, might. In the Turkish language, the word came to mean power, strength, omnipotence of God, as also Creation. The same term, in Persian, denotes power, potency, authority of God, the Creation, Universe, Nature.

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6. SATI

SATI or sachch, Punjabi form of the Sanskrit satya or sat, lit. truth, in the philosophical sense is essential and ultimate reality as against inessential or partial truth. Rooted in Sanskrit as meaning "to be, live, exist, be present, to abide, dwell, stay", satya means " true, real, pure," as also the "quality of being abidingly true, real, existent." Satya or satyam is a widely used term in the philosophical thought of India. It signifies eternality, continuity and unicity. In the Upanisads sat (truth) is the first of the three essential characteristics of Brahman, the other two being chit (intelligence) and anand (bliss). In Vedanta philosophy, the one permanent reality, Brahman, is called Sat, while the phenomenal fluxional world is named asat (nonreal).

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7. SIKH COSMOLOGY

SIKH COSMOLOGY. From the very beginning man has been curious to know about the structure and constitution of the Universe and its origin. To locate the stable base of this universe and to fix his own place in it have been the subjects of his constant search and speculation for him. The Gurus brought their own mystical and philosophical powers to solving the riddle. In their poetry in the Guru Granth Sahib, they have expressed their sense of wonder and sung paeans of praise for the Almighty. A minute observation of the phenomenon of nature forms an important part of the Sikh metaphysical insight.

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8. TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL

TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL. doctrine of rebirth based on the theory that an individual soul passes at death into a new body or new form of life. Central to the concept is the principle of universal causality, i.e. a person must receive reward or punishment if not here and now then in a subsequent birth, for his actions in the present one. The soul, it is held, does not cease with the physical body, but takes on a new birth in consequence of the person`s actions comprising thoughts, words and deeds. The cumulative effect of these determines his next existence. Attached to worldly objects, man will continue in the circuit of birth death rebirth until he attains spiritual liberation, annulling the effect of his past actions.

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