Vishnu Purana

Glossary

• anchoret a hermit
• Bauddhas or Buddhas, that is, followers of Buddhism
• Bhagirathi a river in India and the source stream of the Ganges River
• Brahma the ultimate Self
• Brahmins members of the highest of the four Hindu castes; priests
• Daityas demons, foes of god
• Govinda one of the names of Krishna
• Hari another name for Vishnu
• Hiranyagarbha literally, the “golden fetus” or “golden womb,” the source of the creation of the Universe in Indian philosophy
• Indra the king of the gods and the god of the storm
• Kartika a month of the Hindu calendar, named after the Hindu god Karttikeya
• Kesidhwaja a king who shares religious ideas with Khandikya
• Maitreya the person to whom the Vishnu Purana is addressed
• Parashara the narrator of the Vishnu Purana
• Srivatsa mark the “Endless Knot,” a mark on the breast of Vishnu
• Vedas the most ancient sacred writings of Hinduism
• Vishnu the preserver god in Hinduism