1. AGAMPUR

AGAMPUR or AGAMPURA, lit. city unapproachable or inaccessible (Skt. agamya plus pur or pura). The word appears in one of the hymns of Guru Nanak in Asa measure where it is used to signify God`s abode or the ultimate state or stage of spiritual enlightenment and bliss. Another term used synonymously in the same hymn is nijaghar, lit. one`s own real home signifying the ultimate sphere of jivatma.

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2. AMAR PAD

AMAR PAD or amarapad, also called parampada (highest step), tunapada or turiavastha, is the stage of deathlessness or immortality. In the Guru Granth Sahib the term has been used for the highest stage of spiritual enlightenment which is also the highest state of self realization, equivalent of Godrealization. This is the stage of ultimate release. See MUKTI and JIVANMUKT

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3. AMAVAS (AMAVASYA),

AMAVAS (AMAVASYA), massia in Punjabi, lit. a combination of ama, i.e. together, and vasya, i.e. stationing, signifying coming of the sun and the moon together in one line, is the last day of the dark half of the lunar month when the moon remains entirely hidden from our view. The twenty-eight naksatras, considered to be the wives of the moon, are the lunar mansions or stations through which the moon passes as does the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac.The life of an individual is believed to be deeply influenced by the naksatra through which the moon passed at the time of his birth.Thus, different days such as panchami (fifth), ekadasi (eleventh), puranmashi (the fifteenth day when the moon is full) and amavas assumed a special significance in the Hindu tradition.

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4. ARATI

ARATI, from Sanskrit aratrik, meaning the light or the vessel containing it which is waved before an idol, generally in the clockwise direction, accompanied by the chanting of mantras. This is also the name given the ceremony which for the Hindus is a mode of ritual worship to propitiate the deity. In the Sikh system, which totally rejects image worship, there is no sanction for this form of worship. An incident in this regard is often summoned from the Janam Sakhis, traditional accounts of Guru Nanak`s life. During his travels across Eastern India, Guru Nanak accompanied by the ministrel, Mardana, stopped near the temple of Jagannath, Lord of the Earth, which is the title of Lord Visnu, second god of the Hindu Triad.

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5. ASAVARI

ASAVARI See ASA ASCETICISM, derived from the Greek word askesis, connotes the `training` or `exercise` of the body and the mind. Asceticism or ascetic practices belong to the domain of religious culture, and fasts, pilgrimages, ablutions, purificatory rituals, vigils, abstinence from certain foods and drinks, primitive and strange dress, nudity, uncut hair, tonsure. shaving the head, circumcision, cavedwelling, silence, meditation, vegetarianism, celibacy, virginity, inflicting pain upon oneself by whips and chains, mutilation, begging alms, owning no wealth or possessions, forbearance and patience, equanimity or impartiality towards friends and foes, eradication of desires and passions, treating the body as something evil or treating human life as a means of achieving ultimate release or union with God all these are subsumed under ascetic practices. The history of Indian religiousness presents the ultimate in the development of the theory and practice of asceticism.

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6. AMRIT

AMRIT, derived from Sanskrit amrta, defined variously as not dead, immortal, imperishable; beautiful, beloved; world of immortality, heaven; immortality, eternity; final emancipation; nectar, ambrosia; nectarlike food; antidote against poison; or anything sweet, commonly means a liquid or drink by consuming which one attains everlasting life or immortality. It is in this sense that the word was first used in the Vedic hymns. According to Hindu mythology, amrit was extracted by the gods by churning the ocean with the assistance of the demons and it was by drinking it that the gods became immortal. A similar concept of an immortalizing drink also exists in Greek and Semitic mythologies wherein it is variously called ambrosia, nectar or abihayat.

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7. ABHICH

ABHICH,According to Indian astrology 'Abhich' is the name of a certain conjunction of planets which is regarded as auspicious by the Hindus. On this day, Hindus take a bath in one of the holy rivers. On this festive day. which fell on January 14. 1553 Guru Amardas visited Kurukshetra to enlighten the people on spiritual matters, as a lot of pilgrims had gathered there. There is a reference to the Abhich festival in a hymn of Guru Ramdas on page 1116 of the Guru Granth Sahib.He wrote that the sight of the Guru is more blessed and blissful than a bath on this festival, which is also called 'Abhijit'.

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8. ABDHUT/AUDHUT/AVADHUT

  ABDHUT/AUDHUT/AVADHUT A kind of Hindu devotee who worships Shiva. neglects the ceremonies of religion, and goes naked, with the body besmeared with ashes. Guru Nanak defines the Abdhut as a person who renounces vice and is imbued with the Holy Name. Such a person not only liberates himself front the chain of transmigration and thus is linked to God, but also enables others to attain the same God. (Adi Granth, p.877)

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9. ANJALI

ANJALI:Literally,Anjali means an offering of a palmful of water or a few grams of rice to a deity as a mark of respect or devotion. Anjali is also a form of poetry. Guru Arjan wrote four 'chhands' in Raga Maru (GGS, p. 1019) in the form of 'Anjali'. In this hymn, he dwells on the transitory nature of human life and the need of detachment. Anjali also means the cupshaped hollow formed by joining of the two palms.

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10. ANT KAL

ANT KAL,means the few moments before a person's death. A person feeling the approach (if death thinks of many things, his wife, children, wealth and home which he will leave shortly and then begins to worry about them and after a while he is no more. Bhagat Trilochan realised the importance of these moments preceding death and advised his associates that this short time is better utilised by remembrance of God or meditation of the Holy Name.

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