Word origins

• HidimbāThe sister of rakshasa Hidimba, who became the wife of Bhima and mother of Ghatotkacha in the Mahabharata. Also known as Hidimbi.
• HimavatA Hindu deity, the personification of the Himalayas.
• HimmalehSynonym of Himalayas: the Central Asian mountain range.
• HiranyagarbhaA name of Brahma, so called because he was born from a golden egg (Manu Smṛti 1.9).
• HiranyakashipuHiranyakashipu, son of Kashyapa and Diti, father of Prahlada, slain by the Narasimha avatar of Vishnu.
• hotrThe priest who recites invocations and litanies during the yajna service.
• IcchaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• icchantikaA non-Buddhist person who lacks Buddha-nature, and is therefore incapable of achieving nirvana.
• IkshvakuThe first king of Ayodhya, one of the sons of Vaivasvata Manu, and ancestor of Rāma.
• IndrajeetAn epithet of Meghnada, the eldest son of Ravana and the crown prince of Lanka.
• IndraneelA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• Iravana village deity, character in Mahabharata; son of Arjuna and Ulupi.
• IshaanA male given name from Sanskrit, of Indian origin.
• ItihasaThe collection of written descriptions of important events in Hinduism, including the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Ramayana.
• JagapatiA male given name from Sanskrit.
• JahnaviA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• JahnuA king and rishi of the Lunar dynasty who drank the river Ganga and then released her through his ear.
• JahnviA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• JalajaA female given name from Sanskrit, of Indian usage.
• Jamadagnione of the Saptarishis and the father of Lord Parashurama.
• JambavanName of an immortal sloth-bear (or sometimes a monkey) in Hindu mythology, often stylized as "king of the bears".
• Jambhalaa deity in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism
• jambulAn evergreen tropical tree, Syzygium cumini.
• JambumālīA rakshasa warrior in the Ramayana, son of Ravana's minister Prahasta, killed by Hanuman in Ashoka Vatika.
• JanamejayaSon of Parikshit, who performed Sarpayaga in Mahabharata.
• JananiA female given name from Sanskrit.
• JanardanaAn epithet of Shri Vishnu.
• janeuA sacred thread or cord received as a rite of passage by someone studying under a guru.
• JaratkaruA rishi, husband of the snake-goddess Manasa and father of rishi Āstīka.
• JatayuThe son of Aruna and king of vultures, who tried to rescue Sita from Ravana in the Ramayana.
• jatraAn annual village festival in Maharashtra, India.
• JayasriA female given name from Sanskrit commonly used in India.
• JhankaradhvaniName of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 19th melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.
• jivanmuktaA person who, in the Advaita philosophy of Hinduism, has attained nirvikalpa samadhi — the realization of the Self, Parasiva — and is liberated from rebirth while living in a human body.
• jivanmuktiIn Hinduism, the process of achieving complete self-realisation, attaining moksha during one's own life.
• jivatmaAn individual soul.
• jvaraFever in ayurvedic medicine.
• JyeshtaThe third month in the Hindu lunar calendar.
• JyothisA male given name from Sanskrit.
• jyotirlingaA shrine where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam or "Lingam (pillar) of light."
• JyotisA female given name from India.
• KabandhaA rakshasa slain and liberated by Rāma and Lakshmana in the Dandakaranya forest.
• KadambariA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KaikasiThe daughter of Sumali, wife of Vishrava, and mother of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana, and Shurpanakha.
• KaikeyiThe second queen of King Dasharatha and mother of Bharata in Ramayana.
• KalakutaHalahala
• kalashaA metal pot with a large base and small mouth, used in Hindu rites, in which it is filled with water, coins, grain, etc. and topped with a coconut.
• KalavatiA female given name from Sanskrit.
• Kali PujaA festival celebrating the goddess Kali, held at around October and November.
• Kali YugaIn Hinduism, the fourth and most evil of four stages of development that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas, traditionally thought to have begun at midnight (00:00) on 18 February, 3102 B.C.E. under the Julian calendar (23 January under the Gregorian calendar), and lasts for 432,000 years.
• KamadevaThe Hindu deity of love, son of the goddess Sri and the incarnation of Pradyumna, Krishna's son.
• Kamadhenuthe wish-fulfilling cow of plenty who emerged from the churning of the cosmic ocean.
• KamakshiThe Hindu goddess, a form of Parvati.
• kamalamSynonym of dragonfruit, pitaya, pitahaya (a fruit)
• Kama SutraA Sanskrit treatise (sutra) setting forth rules for sensuous and sensual pleasure, love, and marriage in accordance with Hindu law.
• KambojaA member of an Iranian people from this region.
• KamnaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KanakangiName of a raga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the first melakarta raga in the 72 melakarta raga system of Carnatic music.
• kanjikaSour gruel made from fermented rice or pulses.
• kans grassSaccharum spontaneum, a tall perennial grass native to the Indian subcontinent, with spreading rhizomatous roots.
• KanvaA Vedic Rishi and the foster father of Shakuntala.
• KapilāThe wife of Pundarīka, the Ashtadiggaja of southeast direction.
• KapilavastuKapilavastu, a city of ancient India, capital of the Shakyas in late Iron Age India, around the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Early residence of Gautama Buddha and that of his parents Suddhodana and Maya. Modern ruins located at either Piprahwa in Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India or Tilaurakot in Kapilvastu Municipality, Lumbini Province, Nepal.
• kapotasanaAn asana, or pose, consisting essentially of a backbend with knees on the ground.
• karmadharayaA form of tatpuruṣa in which the relation of the first member to the last is appositional, attributive, or adverbial, e.g. uluka-yatu (owl + demon) for a demon in the shape of an owl. Most typically this involves an adjective which modifies a following substantive.
• karsevakA person who freely offers their service to a religious cause; particularly in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
• kartavyaA duty, obligation, task.
• KartikeyA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• Kartikeyawar god, the son of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati, and the commander of Deva army.
• kasamardacoffee senna
• kasayaA monastic robe worn by ordained Buddhist monks and nuns.
• kashayaA native Californian people who traditionally live on the Sonoma County coastline, who are a subgroup of the Pomo people.
• KashyapaA revered Vedic sage who is considered to be the author of some of the hymns of the Rigveda; one of the seven Saptarishis; the father of the Adityas.
• KaunteyaA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KauravaAny descendant of King Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many characters of the Mahabharata.
• KausalyaThe eldest wife of King Dasharatha; queen of Ayodhya and the mother of Rāma; a character in Ramayana
• KaushalyaThe eldest wife of King Dasharatha; queen of Ayodhya and the mother of Rāma
• KaustubhA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• kayadandacomplete control over one's bodys
• KeeravaniName of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 21st melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.
• Keshavaan epithet of Shri Krishna.
• khakkharaa monk's staff used especially by a Buddhist mendicant as a tool for begging or as a weapon
• KharaharapriyaName of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 22nd melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system.
• KharoshthiA script used in ancient Gandhara (primarily modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) to write the Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit.
• KhasaA member of a northern tribe mentioned in Indian literature
• KhyatiKhyati, one of the twenty four daughters of Prajapati Daksha from his wife Prasuti.
• kirtankarOne who performs a kirtan.
• KishkindhaThe kingdom of the vanaras ruled by Bali and later Sugriva in the Ramayana, traditionally identified with the region around modern Hampi.
• kleshaA mental state, such as fear or ignorance, that clouds the mind and leads to unwholesome actions.
• KokilaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KosalamName of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 71st melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.
• koshaAny of five sheaths that are thought to cover the Atman, or True Self, according to Vedantic philosophy.
• KovidA male given name of Sanskrit origin, used in South Asia and among diaspora communities.
• KoyalA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KratagyaA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KratarthaA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KripacharyaThe royal guru of the Kauravas and Pandavas in the Mahabharata and one of the Chiranjeevi.
• KripiThe sister of Kripa, wife of Drona, and mother of Ashwatthama in the Mahabharata.
• KritagyaA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• KritarthaA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.