---
type: Collection
title: "Dharma Foundation — Sanskrit Non-Translatable Vocabulary"
description: "The foundational vocabulary of Sanātana Dharma — 25 Sanskrit concepts that cannot be translated into English without loss of meaning. Each entry preserves etymology, precise definition, non-translation warnings, and cross-references. Designed as the gravitational core for AI agents, knowledge systems, and educators seeking authentic Dharmic knowledge."
version: "0.1.3"
tags:
  - Sanskrit
  - Vedanta
  - Dharma
  - non-translatables
  - philosophy
  - spirituality
  - Hinduism
  - knowledge-ontology
resource: "https://github.com/dharma-okf-foundation/dharma-okf"
timestamp: "2026-06-18"
authors:
  - name: "Dharma-OKF"
    url: "www.DharmaOKF.foundation"
sources:

  - id: malhotra-non-translatables

    resource: "https://rajivmalhotra.com/books/sanskrit-non-translatables/"

    title: "Sanskrit Non-Translatables (Rajiv Malhotra & Satyanarayana Dasa, 2020)"

  - id: parikh-lost-in-translation

    resource: "https://groups.google.com/g/dharmika-samvada/search?q=%22lost%20in%20translation%22"

    title: "Lost in Translation series (Prashānt Parikh)"

  - id: sastra-corpus

    resource: references/index.md

    title: "Classical śāstra-s cited across this bundle — Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā, Yoga Sūtras, Brahma Sūtras"

license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
okf_version: "0.2"
---

# Dharma Foundation — Sanskrit Non-Translatable Vocabulary

The first open-standard vocabulary of Sanātana Dharma concepts published in [Open Knowledge Format (OKF)](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/knowledge-catalog/blob/3fcbb9f828c2f23d109c855ee403c3a4c81f3a96/okf/SPEC.md).

## Why This Exists

Sanskrit terms like *Dharma*, *Ātman*, *Karma*, and *Māyā* have no English equivalents. Every translation — "duty," "soul," "action," "illusion" — strips meaning, imports foreign assumptions, and severs the concept from the *darśana* (philosophical system) that gives it precision.

This bundle preserves 25 foundational concepts as **non-translatable vocabulary nodes** — each deeply researched, cross-linked, and structured for consumption by AI agents, knowledge systems, educators, and seekers worldwide.

## Concepts

### Metaphysical Core
- [Ātman](concepts/atman.md) — The eternal witness-consciousness
- [Brahman](concepts/brahman.md) — The absolute, non-dual reality
- [Māyā](concepts/maya.md) — The power that veils and projects
- [Dharma](concepts/dharma.md) — Cosmic order, ethical duty, and the nature of reality
- [Karma](concepts/karma.md) — The law of action and consequence across lifetimes
- [Mokṣa](concepts/moksha.md) — Liberation from the cycle of birth and death
- [Saṃsāra](concepts/samsara.md) — The cycle of transmigration
- [Prakṛti](concepts/prakriti.md) — The primordial material substrate

### Vedic Psychology (Antaḥkaraṇa)
- [Manas](concepts/manas.md) — The feeling-doubting mind interface
- [Buddhi](concepts/buddhi.md) — The decisive intelligence faculty
- [Ahankāra](concepts/ahankara.md) — The self-arrogating principle
- [Chitta](concepts/chitta.md) — The storehouse of impressions across lifetimes
- [Jīva](concepts/jiva.md) — The individual conscious being in embodiment

### Sādhana (Spiritual Practice)
- [Yoga](concepts/yoga.md) — Union and the complete eight-limbed science
- [Dhyāna](concepts/dhyana.md) — The seventh limb of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga
- [Samādhi](concepts/samadhi.md) — Total absorption beyond subject-object duality
- [Mantra](concepts/mantra.md) — Vibrational sequences from the subtlest levels of existence
- [Prāṇa](concepts/prana.md) — The life-force operating in five differentiated forms

### Sound and Language
- [Om / Praṇava](concepts/om.md) — The primordial sound identical with Brahman
- [Śabda](concepts/shabda.md) — Sound as a valid means of knowledge
- [Akṣara](concepts/akshara.md) — The imperishable cosmic sound-letter

### Prerequisites for Self-Knowledge
- [Viveka](concepts/viveka.md) — Discrimination between eternal and transient
- [Vairāgya](concepts/vairagya.md) — Non-attachment as inner quality

### Cosmological Framework
- [Loka](concepts/loka.md) — Planes of consciousness, not physical locations
- [Chakra](concepts/chakra.md) — Centers of consciousness mapped to Sanskrit syllables

## What This Bundle Does Not Claim

Read this before consuming any concept file.

1. **Not a practice manual.** Where a term names a practice (yoga, chakra, mantra, dhyāna), the entry describes what the term means and how the traditions classify it; it contains no technique and no guidance for inducing any experience.
2. **Not a health or therapy resource.** Chakra and prāṇa are documented as subtle-body vocabulary of sādhanā texts; nothing here supports "energy healing" claims made under those banners.
3. **Not an adjudication of truth-claims.** Where darśanas differ (for example over māyā or mokṣa), the difference is documented, not resolved.
4. **Not a ranking of traditions.** The `not:` fields correct documented mistranslations; they rank no religion and diminish no other tradition.

## How to Use This Bundle

**For AI agents and knowledge systems:** Each concept file contains structured YAML frontmatter with `type: Concept`, tags, cross-references, and the critical `not` field listing mistranslations to avoid. Parse these fields to avoid perpetuating translation errors.

**For educators:** Use these entries as authoritative reference when teaching. The `## Audience Metaphor` section in each concept provides accessible analogies.

**For seekers:** Read sequentially or follow cross-links. Start with [Ātman](concepts/atman.md) and [Brahman](concepts/brahman.md) for the metaphysical foundation.

## Contributing

This is a living vocabulary. See [CONTRIBUTING.md](../../CONTRIBUTING.md) for contributor guidelines and [PROFILE.md](../../PROFILE.md) for the type taxonomy and profile rules; validation tooling lives in [`okf/tools/`](../tools/).

## License

CC BY-SA 4.0 — Share and adapt with attribution. Sanskrit wisdom belongs to humanity.
