GOSHTI, from Sanskrit gostha (go = cow + stha = place, i.e. cowpen) means, secondarily, an assembly of people engaged in a discourse or debate on some metaphysical, theological or ethical point, thereby seeking to expound their respective views or tenets and revealing in the process their dialectical prowess

SAN GAT, Punjabi form of the Sanskrit term sarigti, means company, fellowship, association. In Sikh vocabulary, the word has a special connotation. It stands for the body of men and women met religiously, especially in (lie presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. Two other expressions carrying the same connotation

GURMUKH (gur = Guru; mukh = face), a word employed in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, in several distinct shades of signification. The gurmukh is, for instance, the Primordial Guru (God) who created all forms; it is He, too, who strings them into one thread oan gurmukhi kio

SHARDHA or Sardha (Skt. sraddha), a conscious positive mental attitude towards a person owing to some special development of a virtue or power in him, is closely connected with faith or bhakti, i.e. loving devotion to God. Etymologically speaking, it is a compound word formed by a combination of

HAUMAI is a term which recurs frequently in the Guru Granth Sahib in reference to the spiritual state of those who .have not discovered the way of liberation and peace. Literally, the word means `I am`, implying egoism reckoned as a spiritual and moral disease. It is, says Guru Amar

VAIRAG, usually bairagor sometimes virag`in Punjabi, is derived from Sanskrit vairagya meaning "change or loss of colour, growing pale ; disgust, aversion, distaste for or loathing of ; freedom from all worldly desire, indifference to worldly objects or to life ; asceticism," or analysed as vi (prefix denoting disunion, separation,

JIVANMUKTA, in Sikhism the ideal and aim or objective of man`s spiritual life. The term is derived from jivanmukti {j`tvan=`ife; mukli=recasc, liberation, emancipation, freedom from bondage), and means one who has attained liberation from human bondage or one who has attained to the highest spiritual slate of being in tune

AHANKAR (hankar as it is commonly pronounced in Punjabi) is a compound of Sanskrit aham (I) and kar (\'maker\') and means I-maker, i.e. what individuates the person as I. It stands for egotism, egoism, self conceit, self centredness, vanity or simply pride. Other synonyms used in the sacred texts of

KAM (Skt. kdmd), meaning desire, longing, concupiscence, sensuality or lasciviousness, is counted among the five cardinal sins or sinful propensities. In common usage, the term stands for passion for sexual pleasure and it is in this sense that it is considered an evil in Sikhism. In Brahrnanical literature kdm

AHIMSA. The term ahimsa is formed by adding the negative prefix a to the word himsa which is derived from the Sanskrit root \'han\', i.e. \'to kill\', \'to harm\', or \'to injure\', and means not killing, not harming, not injuring. The commonly used English equivalent \'non-violence\' is inadequate as it