Word origins

• sutteeThe traditional custom of a Hindu woman giving herself up to be cremated on her husband’s funeral pyre as a sign of her devotion.
• svaritaFalling accent, which usually follows the acute udātta, in Vedic Sanskrit.
• SvetambaraOne of the two main branches of Jainism (the other being the Digambara), in which the ascetics wear white clothes and are not obliged to practise nudity.
• tadasanaA position in which one stands straight upright with feet together and hands by one's sides.
• tagadhariThe people who wear the Hindu holy thread (yagyopavita) given after the upanayana initiation ceremony.
• TanarupiName of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the sixth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.
• ThrayodashiThe thirteenth day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.
• tratakaA form of meditation that involves staring at a single point or object.
• tri-Three.
• trichiliocosmA concept in cosmology of a "third-order" universe containing one thousand second-order clusters, which are made of one thousand first-order clusters, which are in turn made of a thousand worlds each. Billion-fold universe.
• trikonasanaA pose in which the legs are kept straight and wide apart, in the shape of a triangle, while the upper body bends.
• trisulaA trident, seen as a religious symbol of Hinduism and Buddhism.
• TritaA mythical hero in the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion and its descendants
• TritiyaThe third day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.
• TukharSynonym of Tocharian (“any member of the Tochari, a people who inhabited Bactria”)
• TungabhadraA river in South India formed by the union of Tunga and Bhadra rivers, which flows through Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• upanayanaAn initiation ceremony undergone by Hindu boys over the age of seven belonging to the highest three castes, marking the start of their formal education.
• UshasVedic and Hindu female deity, personifying the dawn, usually mentioned in plural. She is portrayed as welcoming birds and warding off evil spirits, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a golden chariot on her path across the sky.
• utkatasanaAn asana that exercises the hamstrings, quadriceps, gluteal muscles, and erector spinae.
• uttanasanaA pose wherein the body of stretched forward.
• VācThe goddess of speech, the written word, and language.
• VaisnavaraA name of the fire-god Agni, in his function as a benevolent power.
• VajravārāhīA wrathful form of Vajrayogini
• vamacharaA follower of the vamachara path.
• VanajaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• vanaprasthaThe third of four ashrama (stages) in a human life, characterised by a gradual transition of one's social and economic responsibilities to the next generation, and a move away from worldly and sexual pursuits to more spiritual concerns.
• VasantiA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• vayutaA weighted, geometric cloth or handkerchief that is spun, tossed, and manipulated in the air as a skill toy, flow art, or moving meditation.
• Vedangalimbs of the Veda.
• VenkatayyaA male given name.
• VidyarthiA surname from Sanskrit.
• virabhadrasanaAny of three standing poses (usually specified with a numeral) which involve stretching the upper body.
• vivartaA turning or whirling.
• vrikshasanA particular yoga pose, balancing on one leg with arms raised.
• VriskaA (typically female) fictional character that sharply divides audience opinion due to their abrasive personality, toxic or manipulative tendencies, and/or antiheroic actions.
• vyakaranaThe grammar or linguistic analysis of Vedic Sanskrit, as the language of the Hindu scriptures.
• YadavaAn ancient Indian people who believed themselves to be descended from Yadu.
• YajurvedaThe third of the four Vedas, or canonical texts of Hinduism, containing the liturgy (mantras) needed to perform the sacrifices of the religion of the Vedic period.
• YamantakaA Buddhist deity who represents the end of the cycle of rebirth, samsara.
• YathiA male given name from India, of Indian usage.
• yonicIn the shape of a vulva (yoni).