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purna

पूर्ण pūrṇa

Full, whole, complete, lacking nothing. In Vedanta, Brahman is purna, and because it lacks nothing its very nature is bliss (ananda); sorrow and craving arise only from lack.

Where this term appears

  • Lila: The World as Divine Play Essentials

    Lila (leela) means play or sport, and it is the tradition's answer to the deepest question of all: why does a universe exist? The reasoning is this. The ultimate…

  • Sat-Chit-Ananda: Being, Consciousness, Bliss Essentials

    But Brahman is purna , whole, complete, lacking nothing, since there is nothing outside it that it could want.

  • The Kumbh Mela Temples

    The terms Maha (great), Purna (full), and Ardha (half) Kumbh are applied unevenly, and the much-publicized framing of a special "Maha Kumbh" once every 144 years is a modern usage that official bodies themselve…

  • What is an Avatar? Deities

    …which the divine takes a complete embodiment as Rama or Krishna, is a purna-avatara ; the tradition also speaks of partial descents, an amsa or a kala , in which only a portion of the divine power enters a bein…

  • Aniconic Forms: Shaligrama and Yantra Deities

    The purna-kumbha , a plain pot filled with water and topped with mango leaves and a coconut, is installed and honoured as the deity at the threshold of countless rites.

  • Why is a coconut broken in Hindu ceremonies? Journal

    Whole and unbroken, set on the mouth of a pot filled with water and crowned with mango leaves, it becomes the purna-kumbha or kalasha , the vessel of fullness, and in that form it is not smashed at all.

  • The Name Treatise

    She did not have to descend into the Maha Yagna fire and emerge as Lalita. She is, in her own nature, purna - complete, beyond all need.

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