JAIDEV (JAYADEVA), saint and poet, two of whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, is chiefly known to the literary world as the author of the Gita Govinda, a lyrical poem in which the love of Radha (soul or devotee) for Govinda (the Supreme Being) is described

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

KAMAL, also wrinen as kanvalm Punjabi, is a flower, lotus, bearing the richest symbolic and philosophical significance in Indian lore. Its use in Indian romantic and spiritual literature goes back to ancient times. It carries, in Sanskrit, a multiplicity of names such as saroj, jalaj, vdrij, mraj (grown in

MUL MANTRA. This is the title commonly given to the opening lines of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh scripture, or to these lines when they or a portion of them are repeated at the beginning of each new raga section as contained in the Holy text. This is the primary

ONKAR, generally written down as Oankar in Sikh Scriptural writings, is derived from the Upanisadic word Oankara (om+kara) originally signifying pronouncing or rendering into writing the syllable Om. Known as synonym of Om it has been used in the Vedic literature and, in particular in its religio philosophical texts known

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

RAMANANDA (1300-1410?), promoter of Vaisnav Bhakti in North India and founder of the Bairagi sect of anchorites, was born at Prayaga (Allahabad) in a Kanyakubja Brahman family. He studied in Kasi (Banaras), the ancient seat of learning, and it was here that he became a disciple of Raghavananda, the

RAMKAIJ SADU, by Sundar, is an "elegy" (sadd, in Punjabi) included in the Guru Granth Sahib in Raga Ramkali, eighteenth of the thirty-one musical measures used in Sikh Scripture. Sadd is a form of folk poetry prevalent in rural Punjab. Literally the term means an invocation call, hark or