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Words Starting with K

 

Kabandha (कबन्ध) – the torso-shaped demon with long arms, slayed by Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa to free him from the curse

 

kacchapa (कच्चप) – see Kurma

 

kahervā (कहेर्वा) – a commonly used eight beat cycle

 

Kaikasī (कैकसी) – wife of Viśravā, mother of Kumbhakarṇa, Rāvaṇa, Sūrpanakhā, and Vibhiṣaṇa

 

Kaikeyī (कैकेयी) – mother of Bharata; extracted the two boons from Daśaratha to make Bharata the king and exile Lord Rāma for fourteen years

 

Kaiṭabha (कैटभ) – a demon killed by Lord Viṣṇu

 

kāla (काल) – eternal time

 

kalam (कलम) – the hammer like tool used to strike strings on the santūr

 

Kālanemi (कालनेमि) – 1) demon killed by Viṣṇu 2) demon sent by Rāvaṇa to distract Hanumān from finding the saρjīvanī plant

 

Kālī (काली) – 1) the fiercest form of Durgā 2) wife of Bhīma and mother of Sarvagata

 

Kāliyā (कालिया) – cobra who lived in the Yamuna with his wife; subdued by Kṛṣṇa

 

Kaliyuga (कलियुग) – the present age of quarrel and hypocrisy; started roughly five thousand years ago

 

kalpa-taru (कल्पतरु) – desire tree

 

Kalyāna (कल्यान) – 1) benediction 2) one of the ten thāṭs of North Indian music

 

Kalyāna Kalpataru (कल्यान कल्पतरु) – one of Bhaktivinoda Thākura’s songbook describing the process of bhakti as a desire tree with important thematic branches

 

kāma (काम) – material desire; lust

 

Kāmadeva (कामदेव) – demigod of material desire; “cupid”

 

Kāmadhenu (कामधेनु) – the cow of Paraśurāma

 

Kaḿsa (कंस) – the demoniac tyrant king of Mathurā who tortured the pious citizens and imprisoned his sister Devakī and friend, Vasudeva, for an oracle that their eighth would kill him; after instigating many attempts to kill Kṛṣṇa, he was killed by Kṛṣṇa

 

kaρjirā (कञ्जिरा) – a frame drum made of lizard skin used in South Indian music

 

kansa-svara (कन्स-स्वर) – a quick light touch of a note

 

karatāla (करताल) – (lit. “to make rhythm”) 1) wooden blocks struck together in a similar fashion that castanets would be played 2) Bengali fine tuned cymbals

 

Kareṇumatī (करेणुमती) – wife of Nakula and mother of Naramitra

 

karma (कर्म) – action in the material world which results in some sort or reaction, good or bad

 

karma-kāṇḍa (कर्म काण्ड) – rituals recommended in the Vedas for those interested in material benefits

 

karma-yoga (कर्म योग) – performing action towards service to the Supreme Lord without expecting any fruits of the action

 

karmī (कर्मी) – one who performs actions and enjoys the results of them

 

Karṇa (कर्ण) – the son of Kuntī and Suryadeva, but was raised by the charioteer, Adhiratha, and his wife, Rādhā. One of the commander-in-chiefs of the Kaurava army.

 

Karṇa Parvana (कर्ण पर्वण) – the eighth book of the Mahābhārata discussing the war when Karṇa was the commander-in-chief

 

Kārtika (कार्तिक) – October-November

 

Kārtikeya (कार्तिकेय) – commander-in-chief of the army of demigods; son of Lord Siva and Pārvatī

 

karuṇā (करुणा) – mercy

 

Kātyāyanī (कत्यायनी) – form of Durgā who the gopis worshipped in order to get Lord Kṛṣṇa as their husband

 

Kauśalyā (कौशल्या) – mother of Lord Rāma

 

Kesari (केसरि) – father of Hanumān, a general of the ape army

 

Keśava (केशव) – name of Kṛṣṇa; killer of Keśi

 

Keśava Kāśmīrī (केशव काश्मीरी) – a famous scholar who was defeated in a poetry competition by Lord Caitanya

 

Keśi (केशि) – the horse-demon who was killed by Kṛṣṇa

 

Keśi-ghaṭā (केशिघटा) – the location where Keśi was killed

 

khālī (खाली) – 1) lit. “empty” in Hindi 2) the start of the deaccented vibhag; denoted by a “0” in Bhātkhāṇḍe notation

 

khamak (खमक) – (khomok) a stringed instrument where there is simultaneous action between pulling the string and plucking it which produces a unique pitch fluctuations

 

Khammāja (खमाज) – one of the ten thāṭs of North Indian music

 

khaṇḍa (खण्ड) – the class of rhythmic cycles having properties of a five-beat count

 

Khāṇḍava (खाण्डव / खाण्डवप्रस्थ) – (Khāṇḍavaprastha) the dense forestland which was given to the Pāṇḍavas during the partition of the land of the Kurus; constructed to form Indraprastha

 

Khara (खर) – one of Rāvaṇa’s distant brothers

 

khemtā (खेम्ता) – a six beat folk rhythm

 

khīr (खीर) – (kheer) see kṣīra

 

khol (खोल) – (lit. “open”) two-headed clay drum used commonly in Bengali bhajanas and kīrtanas

 

Kīcaka (कीचक) – the brother of the king of Virāṭa who tried to harass and abuse Draupadī, killed by Bhīma

 

kināra (किनार) – 1) bank of a river 2) the outer rim on the head of the tabla, pakhawaj, or khol

 

kinnara (किन्नर) – a celestial being

 

kīrtana (कीर्तन) – congregational chanting or speaking of the Lord’s name or glories

 

kīrtī (कीर्ती) – fame

 

Kīrtīdā (कीर्तीदा) – mother of Srīmatī Rādhārāṇī

 

Kiṣkindhā (किष्किन्धा) – the city consisting of bears and apes, ruled once by Vāli, then Sugrīva

 

Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa (किष्किन्धा काण्ड) – canto describing pastimes and the friendship of Lord Rāma and Sugrīva

 

kiśora (किशोर) – the peak of youth (male); (female kiśorī)

 

konnakol (कोन्नकोल) – the names used to describe sounds produced on South Indian percussion instruments; South Indian analog for bols

 

kṛpā (कृपा) – mercy

 

Kṛpā (कृपा/कृपाचार्य) – (Kṛpācārya) the royal priest of the Kuru dynasty from the end of Sāntanu’s reign; fought on the Kaurava side and was one of the few survivors of the Mahābhārata war

 

Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) – 1) the Supreme Personality of Godhead (lit. “All-Attractive”) 2) a twenty-beat cycle 3) the dark-phase within the month

 

Kṛṣṇā (कृष्णा) – 1) Druapadī 2) a name of one of the gopīs 3) “dark”

 

Kṛṣṇa Consciousness (कृष्ण भावनामृत) – (Kṛṣṇa bhāvanāmṛta) the state of constantly remembering and loving Kṛṣṇa

 

Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa (कृष्ण द्वैपायन व्यास) – see Vyāsadeva

 

Kṛṣṇaloka (कृष्णलोक) – see Goloka

 

kṛta (कृत) – written work

 

Kṛtavarmā (कृतवर्मा) – a chief of the Yadu race; aided in the theft of the Syāmāntaka jewel; joined the Kauravas during the Mahābhārata War; one of the three survivors of the Kauravas

 

kṣatriya (क्षत्रिय) – the administrative class

 

kṣīra (क्षीर) – (kheer) (lit. “milk”) a rice-milk sweet

 

Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu (क्षीरदोकशायी विष्णु) – the expansion of Viṣṇu that enters into the heart of every created being and into every atom; the Supersoul

 

kumāra (कुमार) – the middle age of youth

 

Kumāra sampradāya (कुमार सम्प्रदाय) – one of the four original sampradayas; founded by the four Sanat-kumāras

 

Kumbhakarṇa (कुम्भकर्ण) – younger brother of Rāvaṇa and elder brother of Vibhiṣaṇa

 

Kumbha-mela (कुम्भमेला) – a festival where many pilgrims gather

 

kumkum (कुंकुम) – red decorative tempera

 

Kuntī (कुन्ती) – wife of Pāṇḍu and the mother of Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, and Arjuna; mother of Karṇa; aunt of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa

 

Kuntībhoja (कुन्तीभोज) – foster-father of Kuntī

 

Kurma (कुर्म) – the tortoise incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa

 

Kuru (कुरु) – the dynasty of the Bharatas; the Lunar dynasty

 

Kurukṣetra (कुरुक्षेत्र) – the pilgrimage site where the Mahābhārata war took place and the place where the Bhagavad-Gītā was spoken

 

Kuśa (कुश) – son of Lord Rāma, elder brother of Lava

 

kuśā (कुशा) – special grass used in rituals by brāhmaṇas

 

Kuśadhvaja (कुशध्वज) – father of Maṇḍavī and Srutakīrtī; father-in-law of Bharata and Satrughna

 

Kuvalayāpīḍa (कुवलयापीड) – the angry-elephant that was charged by his keeper to kill Kṛṣṇa

 

UPDATED: July 4, 2009