Word origins

• 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.
• vanaraForest dwellers, monkeys or apes.
• VanshA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VanshikaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VardhamanA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VardhmanA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VarkshiThe mother of Daksha and wife of the ten Prachetas.
• VartikaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VarunapriyaA rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 24th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.
• VaruniThe daughter of Lord Varuna and Goddess of liquor
• VasantiA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VasishthaVasishtha, husband of Arundhati, attributed as the author of the 7th Mandala of the Rigveda and one of the seven Saptarshis.
• VasudhaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• Vasudhārāa bodhisattva in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism
• VatsalA male 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.
• vedanafeeling; sensation
• Vedangalimbs of the Veda.
• VedantA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VedantinAn adherent or follower of Vedanta.
• VeerasenaThe king of Nishada and father of Nala in Mahabharata.
• VenkatayyaA male given name.
• vetalaA vampire-like being in Hindu mythology that inhabits corpses.
• VibhavariA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VibhawariA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VibhishanaA king of Lanka in the legendary epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the Rakshasa (demon) king Ravana of Lanka.
• VibhorA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VibhuA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VichitraviryaKuru king of Hastinapura, younger son of Shantanu and Satyavati, husband of Ambika and Ambalika, and the father of Dhritarashtra and Pandu in the Mahabharata.
• VidhuA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• ViduraA brother of Dritarashtra in the Mahabharata.
• VidyarthiA surname from Sanskrit.
• VijayadashamiA Hindu festival marking the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura.
• vijnanaconsciousness; life force
• VikarnaThe third Kaurava brother, known for opposing the disrobing of Draupadi in the Mahabharata.
• VikhyatA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• vilomahA parent whose child has died.
• vilwaThe bael tree.
• vimanaA mythological flying palace or chariot described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics.
• VimarshA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VinamraA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• VinataOne of the wives of Kashyapa and daughter of Daksha.
• ViplavA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• ViraatA king of the Matsya kingdom in the Mahabharata, in whose court the Pandavas spent their year of exile in disguise.
• VirabahuA name of Lord Vishnu.
• virabhadrasanaAny of three standing poses (usually specified with a numeral) which involve stretching the upper body.
• viramaA diacritic used in most writing systems of the Indian subcontinent to signify the lack of an inherent vowel.
• ViratA king of the Matsya kingdom in the Mahabharata, in whose court the Pandavas spent their year of exile in disguise.
• VirātaA king of the Matsya kingdom in the Mahabharata, in whose court the Pandavas spent their year of exile in disguise.
• VirūpaA mahasattva in Vajrayana Buddhism.
• VirupakshaA rakshasa killed by Sugriva in the Ramayana.
• visargathe voiceless terminal h in Sanskrit
• Vishakhathe 14th (later 16th) lunar asterism (figured by a decorated arch and containing four or originally two stars under the regency of a dual divinity, इन्द्र and अग्नि ; it is probably to be connected with the quadrangle of stars ι, α, β, γ Librae.
• VishravaThe son of Pulastya and father of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha through Kaikasi, and Kubera through Idavidā.
• Vishvakarmathe architect of Swarga
• VishwamitraA celebrated king who became a Brahmarshi through intense penance; the preceptor of Rāma and Lakshmana as well as the composer of the Gayatri Mantra.
• Viśiṣṭacāritraa bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism
• Viśuddhacāritraa bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism
• VisuvabharathyA male given name from India.
• vivartaA turning or whirling.
• vṛddhiThe strongest ablaut-grade in a series of vowel alternations in certain Indo-European languages, most notably Sanskrit, as well as in Proto-Indo-European.
• vrikshasanA particular yoga pose, balancing on one leg with arms raised.
• VrishparvaThe danava king and father of Sharmishtha in Mahabharata.
• VriskaA (typically female) fictional character that sharply divides audience opinion due to their abrasive personality, toxic or manipulative tendencies, and/or antiheroic actions.
• VritraAn Asura and also a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi ("snake"), and he is said to have had three heads.
• vyakaranaThe grammar or linguistic analysis of Vedic Sanskrit, as the language of the Hindu scriptures.
• vyanjanabhaktiThe epenthesis of a consonant, as in the p in consumption; excrescence.
• VyomeshA male given name from Sanskrit used in Hindu communities.
• YadavaAn ancient Indian people who believed themselves to be descended from Yadu.
• yaduA Burmese form of poetry consisting of up to three stanzas of five lines, with certain constraints on syllables and rhyme.
• yajnopavitaA sacred thread worn during the upanayana ritual.
• 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.
• yakshaA kind of supernatural being; can be a malevolent demon or a beneficent tutelary deity.
• yakshiniA female yaksha.
• YamadutaAn officer of Yamaloka whose duty is to bring a dead person before Lord Yama for trial.
• YamalokaThe underworld or Hell according to Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, where souls are sent for the expiation of their sins.
• YamantakaA Buddhist deity who represents the end of the cycle of rebirth, samsara.
• YamikaA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• YaminiA female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• YashasviA male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
• YashodaThe foster mother of Krishna.
• YathiA male given name from India, of Indian usage.
• yatriA Hindu pilgrim, one taking part in yatra.
• YayatiThe fifth king of the Lunar dynasty, son of Nahusha, the husband of Devayani and Sharmishtha, and the progenitor of the lineages of the Yadavas and the Pandavas.
• YogacharyaA teacher of yoga used as a respectful title
• yogalikeResembling yoga or its techniques.
• yogasanaA position or posture (asana).
• yonicIn the shape of a vulva (yoni).
• YuddhonmattaA rakshasa, and brother of Ravana, slain by Nila in the Ramayana, also known as Mahodara.