Dictionary of Proper Names
Selected from Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works (1989/1996)
Y
Yādavas descendants of Yadu. Yādava is used as an epithet of Krishna, who was born in the Yadu line. Under him the Yādavas established a kingdom at Dwārkā. The city was submerged by the ocean after Krishna withdrew from the body, & all the Yādavas who were present in the city perished. A few who were absent perpetuated the race, from which many princes & chiefs still claim their descent. [See Devagiri]
Yadu (1) in Veda, adorer of Indra & enemy of Sudāsa; (2) first son of Yayāti of the Chandra-Vamshi race & founder the Yādava dynasty.
Yajvalkya Vedic Rishi author of Shukla (White) Yajur-Veda, Shatapatha Brāhmaṇa, the Brihad Aranyaka (with its Upanishad) & the Yajñavalkya-Smṛti.
Yajur (Veda) has two Saṁhitās commonly known as the Krishna & the Shukla; each of their mantras is called a Yajus.
Yaksha(s)/ Yuksha attendant(s) of Kuvera, god of Wealth.
Yama/ Dharma/ Critanta (Kṛtanta) an aspect of Surya & the Lord of Truth.
Yami daughter of Surya, & twin-sister of Yama.
Yam(o)una/ Jamouna/ Jamuna/ Jumna/ Kālindi/ Calindie Yamunā rises in Himalayas near Jamnotri & joins the Ganga near Allahabad, she is personifies Yami.
Yanaon Yanam, since 1954 one of the four constituents of Union Territory of Pondicherry. It is situated on the principal mouth of river Godāvari.
Yaska author of the Nirukta, the oldest known but not the first commentator on Vedic hymns, for he refers to earlier commentators.
Yātudhāna sons of Kashyapa & Sūras. His descendants are called Yātudhānas.
Yavan(a) In the Puranas Yavanas are descendants of Turvāśa, son of King Yayāti by Devayāni, daughter of Shukrāchārya, the high priest of the Asūras. The term first used to describe Greek & Bactrian invaders was then used for all invaders [s/a. Feringhee].
Yayāti son of Nahūsha, 5th king of the Chandravamsha. He had two wives, Devayāni & Sharmishthā (q.v.). The former gave birth to Yadu & the latter to Puru.
Yeats William Butler (1865-1939), Irish poet, playwright, & nationalist politician
Yildiz Palace Yildiz Kiosk (Pavilion) palace of Ottoman Sultans of Turkey. It is located north of Pera on the Bosporus. The sultans shifted their residence from Istanbul to this Kiosk & the Dolma Bagtche palace in 19th century. (See Young Turks)
Yoga-Sutras popular name of Yoga Darśnam by Patanjali
Yoga-Vasishtha or Vasishtha Ramayana, a dialogue between Brahmarshi Vasishtha & his pupil Lord Rama on the way to obtain happiness & liberation.
Young Edward (1683-1765), English poet & dramatist, author of Night Thoughts.
Younghusband, Sir Francis Francis Edward (1863-1942), joined 1st Dragoon Guards 1882, Indian Staff Corps 1889: travelled through Manchuria via Long White Mountain & Chinese Turkistan 1886, to Pamirs 1889-90: Political Agent at Hunza 1892 & at Chitral 1893-5: special correspondent of Times in the Chitral expedition 1895 & in South Africa 1903: Political Agent at Harauti & Tonk 1898: Resident of Indore: Commissioner to Tibet 1903-4, forced Anglo-Tibetan Treaty at Lhasa Sept. 1904 to extract trade concessions. [Buckland]
Young Italy Italian journal Glovine Italia, published by Mazzini in 1832-34, it was also the name of the movement he founded.
Young Turks the Young Turk movement brought together various intellectuals & dissidents, many living in exile & officers in the army, especially those based at the headquarters of the Third Army Corps in Salonika. The overall goal of early Young Turks such as Abdullah Cevdet (1869-1932, a Turkish intellectual & physician of ethnic Kurdish origin, who graduated from the Military College in Constantinople) was to bring to end the absolutist regime of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II (q.v.). Their Revolution started in 1908, & restored the Ottoman Parliament, which had been suspended by the Sultan in 1878. Their movement’s initial goal was “modernization & strengthening of the Empire, under Western constitutional principles, & these included the equality of all races”, beginning with a democratic solution to the Empire’s problems, which included the need for economic reform, tax reform & halting any further disintegration. Its vision of a democratic multi-national multi-ethnic empire was supported by some like-minded Bulgarian, Arab, Jewish, Armenian & Greek groups. By granting greater autonomy to these ethnic groups it hoped to preserve the Ottoman Empire. However, the process of replacing existing institutions with constitutional institutions proved much more difficult than expected. It wanted to modernize & democratize on the one hand while on the other it wanted to preserve what was left of the empire. It promised racial-harmony & equality & participation in the state by all ethnic groups, but ended up abandoning decentralisation when the leaders realized that this compromised security. As a result, the periphery of the Empire continued to splinter under pressure from local revolutions. As ethno-linguistic nationalism swept through Europe, this became the basis for the emergence of many new states, including those that broke free in the Balkans from Ottoman rule (see Balkan Wars). Indifference from former allies such as the British which, as did France, had ambitions in the region, compelled the Young Turks to embrace Germany (which had been invited by Abdul Hamid) as an ally in the hope that this would preserve the empire. Instead, World War I saw two multi-ethnic empires disintegrate: the Ottoman & the Austro-Hungarian; both fractured into a series of independent, homogeneous nation-states. However, they laid some of the ground on which the new nation-state of Turkey would be built under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938). A ‘Young Turk’ & an army officer, Atatürk founded the independent Republic of Turkey out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. A new peace treaty was then signed in July 1923 that recognized an independent Turkish state. That October, the Grand National Assembly proclaimed the Republic of Turkey & elected Mustafa Kemal as its first president. Even before he became president, Greece agreed to send some 380,000 Muslims to Turkey in exchange for over 1 million Greek Orthodox practitioners. Although Turkey was now almost homogeneously Muslim, Mustafa Kemal deposed the caliph, the theoretical successor to the prophet Muhammad & spiritual leader of the worldwide Muslim community (see Khilafat Agitation). His government espoused industrialization & adopted new law codes based on European models. “The civilized world is far ahead of us,” he told an audience in October 1926. “We have no choice but to catch up.” Eight years later, he required all Turks to choose a surname, selecting Atatürk (literally Father Turk) as his own. By that time, Atatürk’s government had joined the League of Nations, improved literacy rates & given women the right to vote, though in practice he essentially imposed single-party rule. He also closed opposition newspapers, suppressed leftist workers’ organizations & bottled up any attempts at Kurdish autonomy.
Yudhāmanyu prince of Pāñchāla (q.v.), Draupadi’s, he fought for the Pandavas..
Yudhishthīra/ Yudhishthere/ Yudhisthere/ Yudhisthir(a) eldest of the five Pāndavas, also called Dharmarāj as he was conceived by Kūnti because she invoked Lord of Dharma (by the mantra granted her by Mahā-rishi Durvāsā) who is also Yamarāj. At the end of the War, Sri Krishna persuaded the great Bhīṣma to teach Yudhishthīra the art & science of administration.
The Yuga(s) Sri Aurobindo: When in His cosmic circling movement He establishes some stable worldwide harmony, that is man’s Satya Yuga. When harmony falters, is maintained with difficulty, not in the nature of men, but by an accepted force or political instrument, that is his Tretā. When the faltering becomes stumbling & the harmony has to be maintained at every step by a careful & laborious regulation, that is his Dwāpara. When there is disintegration, & all descends in collapse & ruin, nothing can stay farther the cataclysm that is his Kali. This is the natural law of progress of all human ideas & institutions. It applies always in the mass, continually though less perfectly in the detail. One may almost say that each human religion, society, civilisation has its four Ages. For this movement is not only the most natural, but the most salutary…. If each Satya has its Kali, equally does each Kali prepare its Satya. Destruction is necessary for new creation, & the new harmony, when it is perfected, will be better than the old; it is therefore more profitable for us to discover & help what He is building.... For in the Kali too, say the secret & ancient traditions of the Yogins, there is a perpetual minor repetition of Satya-Tretā-Dwāpara-Kali subcycles, the subSatya a temporary & imperfect harmony which in the subTreta & subDwapara breaks down & disappears in the subKali…. Already ended are the first five thousand years of the Kali which were necessary to prepare for final destruction the relics of the ancient Satya. Weakness & violence, error & ignorance & oblivion rushing with an increasing speed & rhythm over the whole earth have done for us that work. The morning of the first Kali-Satya is ready to break, the first few streaks dimly visible. So runs the not incredible tradition. [Vide CWSA vol.12:56-57]
Yugantar the name Sri Aurobindo gave to the Bengali weekly started under his inspiration in March 1906 by Barindra, Abinash Bhattacharya & others. He wrote articles for some of the earlier issues of the paper & always exercised general control over it. Abinash: “The whole responsibility of looking after Yugāntar fell on me. In the very beginning the respected Abinash Chandra Chakravarti from time to time gave considerable help with the finances…. Yugāntar was involved again & again in sedition cases…. C.I.D. officers & policemen used to come in the evening of the day before the Yugāntar was issued & confiscate all the printed copies of the paper as well as all the forms, so that the paper could not hit the streets. But even this ploy proved futile. Yugāntar hit the streets in time…. Before the police came I used to take a few copies of Yugāntar & keep them elsewhere. As soon as the forms & so forth were taken away, we would get the paper printed late at night, usually at the Hitabādi office, & send it out to the streets on time. Unable to stop us, either by charging us with sedition or by seizing the printed newspapers & forms, they finally confiscated the Sādhanā Press where Yugāntar was printed…. Barrister Asutosh Chaudhuri fought the case on my behalf. At 9.30 at night on the day I won the case, the Inspector summoned me to the station…. When I was getting ready to go, Aurobindo-babu said: “Take ten or twelve boys with you when you go; I think they may arrest you….” I went to the police station with an escort. As soon as I arrived, the Inspector showed me an arrest-warrant & said: “You are under arrest. You may be released on bail by furnishing two securities of Rs. 20,000 for a total bail of Rs. 40,000....” My companions went to Aurobindo-babu with this news; he wrote a letter & sent it to Krishnakumar Mitra, editor of Sanjivani, & wrote letters to several other men too. Krishnakumar Mitra presented himself at the police station. The well-known detective Inspector Puma Lahiri was there at that time. He accepted Krishnakumar Mitra’s surety of twenty thousand rupees. When the second security did not arrive…they were getting ready to send me to Lal Bazar police station. Just then a gentleman arrived to stand security for me…. The gentleman took an Imperial Bank cheque book out of his pocket & said: “I’m giving you this cheque for twenty thousand rupees.” …Later I came to know the gentleman’s name: Bhupati Basu.” [“Sri Aurobindo”, Mother India, July 2012, pp.528-39]
Yuvanas(h)wa king of the Suryavamsha (q.v.), father of Māndhātā (q.v.).