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Swami

Swami is a primarily Hindu honorific, loosely akin to the "master". It is derived from the Sanskrit and means "owner of oneself", denoting complete mastery over instinctive and lower urges. It is a title prefixed to a name that connotes learning and, of course, mastery of a specific field of knowledge, most often religious and/or spiritual. Many great yogis and gurus (teachers) of the Hindu tradition have the title Swami appended to their name, two notable of whom are Swami Vivekananda and Swami Sivananda.


Topics in Hinduism
Primary Scriptures:

Vedas | Upanishads | Bhagavad Gita
Itihasa (Ramayana & Mahabharata) | Agamas

Other texts:

Tantras | Sutras | Puranas | Brahma Sutras
Hatha Yoga Pradipika | Smritis | Yoga Sutra | Tirukural

Concepts:

Avatar | Brahman | Dharma | Karma | Moksha | Maya
Ishta-Deva | Murti | Reincarnation | Samsara | Trimurti | Turiya

Schools & Systems:

Early Hinduism | Schools of Hinduism (Overview) | Samkhya | Nyaya | Vaisheshika
Yoga | Mimamsa | Vedanta | Tantra | Bhakti

Traditional Practices:

Jyotish | Ayurveda

Rituals:

Aarti | Bhajans | Darshan | Mantras | Puja | Satsang | Stotras | Yagnya

Gurus and Saints:

Shankara | Ramanuja | Madhwa | Ramakrishna | Vivekananda | Aurobindo | Ramana Maharshi | Sivananda | Chinmayananda | Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

Denominations:

Vaishnavism | Saivism | Shaktism | Smartism
Agama Hindu Dharma | Contemporary Hindu movements | Survey of Hindu organisations


Last updated: 02-09-2005 01:04:26
Last updated: 05-02-2005 11:40:55