Aranyakas: Collection of texts from the Vedas compiled by forest ascetics, these texts offer reflections on the meaning of ritual symbols and practices.

Aryans: Traditional name of the people who settled in northern India and whose religious beliefs and practices were recorded in the Vedas.

Brahman: Name for ultimate reality or source of power behind all of the gods and rituals spoken of in the Vedas.

Brahmanas: Collection of texts from the Vedas that explain the meaning and purpose of the Vedic rituals.

Dasyus: Name for one of the groups or tribes of people from northern India who were assimilated by the Aryans.

Interdependent arising: One English translation of the Pali and Sanskrit terms Paticca-Samuppada and Pratitya-Samutpada, these terms have been variously translated as, “dependent origination,” “conditioned co-production,” “co-dependent origination,” “inter-dependent-origination,” or “interdependent arising.” Each of these is an attempt to capture the Buddha's account of causality.

Kamma/Karma: Pali and Sanskrit terms for “act” or “action,” they refer to the connection between actions and their consequences that affect one's life both in this world and after death.

Moksa: The ultimate goal of many forms of Indian religious and philosophical practices, this term means liberation or release from the cycle of samsara.

Nibbana/Nirvana: Literally, “to extinguish” or “blow out,” these Pali and Sanskrit terms refer initially to release from samsara and the end of suffering. The Buddha reinterprets these terms to mean the extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion.

Rta: Name for the underlying structure and ordering of the universe and events taking place in it. It is the law-like regularity and harmony of both the moral and physical aspects of the universe. […]