YUGAS (AGES): In all the four ages, the True Bani (Divine hymns) is the ambrosia.(Dhanasan M. 3, p- 665) In all the four ages, they are seiled and full of dilt, whose mouths do not utter the Name of the Lord.(Sri Raga M. l, p. 57) The Yugas (ages)

ANAND (Skt. Anand, from nand meaning "to rejoice" or "to delight") denotes mystical experience, spiritual bliss or a state of consciousness such as that ofaJi`van mukta, i.e. one released while still in body. Anand in the Upanisadic texts istaken to be one of the three inherent attributes of atman

GURU, a spiritual guide or preceptor. The term, long used in the Indian religious tradition, has a special connotation in the Sikh system. The Sikh faith itself signifies discipleship, the word sikh (sisya in Sanskrit and sissa or sekha in Pali) meaning pupil or learner. The concept of Guru,

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

AKHAND PATH: Aakhand Path is nonstop recitation of Guru Granth Sahib. It is completed in approximately 48 hours. Several readers perform this recitation in a relay system. The reading goes, in a relay manner, continuously, day and night. At given intervals (usually two hours per turn) the next reciter

KAUR, from Sanskrit human or kunvdr`i meaning a princess, young girl, or virgin, is a suffix which, by tradition and under stipulated code of conduct, is added to the names of all Sikh females, so that like their male counterpart, Singhs, they all have a common surname.

RAHRASI is the name given to the main evening prayer of the Sikhs. The word itself implies supplication, though some traditionalist scholars have interpreted it as rahirdst which, in Persian, means the straight path, the path of faith and devotion as against that. of mere ritual practices or yogic

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.

KRODH (Ski. krodh(i) or wrath is an emotion recognised in the Sikh system as a spring of co-nation and is as such counted as one of the Five Evils. It expresses itself in several forms from silent sullenness to hysterical tantrums and violence. In Sikli Scripture krodh usually appears

AJAMILA This name occurs singly and with others in several verses of the Sikh Scripture. Where it occurs singly, there is pointed reference to his life-incident, e.g. At the time of his death, Ajamila grew conscious of Narayan (God); he attained in an instant that state, which the great

BHANDARA from bhandar (Skt. bhandara = bhanda, vessel, implement, + agara, house, meaning storehouse, depository, treasure house) has been used in this literal sense in Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Book of the Sikhs. In extended connotation the term stands for a feast given especially for yogis and sannyasins, or