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Sanskrit terms

Der Prana, das Asana, die Mudra

Many words that have become second nature in yoga come from Sanskrit: asana, prana, mantra, mudra. In German they need an article, and that article is not always clear-cut. On our pages we go by the gender a word has in Sanskrit. This page explains why, and lists every term we use.

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The decision

Why we follow the Sanskrit

Sanskrit, like German, has three grammatical genders. When a word travels into another language it receives a new gender there, and there is no fixed rule for that. Sometimes the original one survives: der Yoga, from yogaḥ, masculine. Sometimes the gender of a German counterpart wins out: das Mantra after das Wort, although der Spruch would have been just as close. Often foreign words simply receive the neuter, because in German it is the least conspicuous choice: das Prana, das Pranayama, das Bandha.

The Duden follows usage and therefore often lists the neuter. That is not wrong. We have nevertheless decided on a different rule: We take over the gender a word has in Sanskrit. That is unambiguous, verifiable for every word, and treats the language of origin with the same care as the terms themselves. That it has long been handled this way with Yoga shows that the rule is already latent in German.

The consequence: we say der Prana, der Mantra and der Bandha, but das Asana and die Mudra. Where our form departs from common usage, the table says so. If you are used to “das Mantra”, you mean the same thing, and we understand you just the same.

How to tell the gender

Ending -aḥmostly masculine: yogaḥ, prāṇaḥ, mantraḥ, bandhaḥ

Ending -amneuter: āsanam, sūtram, kīrtanam, cakram

Ending -ā, -īmostly feminine: mudrā, gītā, nāḍī, yoginī

Ending -iḥ, -uḥmasculine or feminine: samādhiḥ (m.), bhaktiḥ (f.), guruḥ (m.)

Consonantlook it up: ātman (m.), brahman (n.), karman (n.), upaniṣad (f.)

From A to Y

All terms at a glance

Listed are the Sanskrit terms that occur on our pages. The Sanskrit column shows Devanagari and the scholarly transliteration in the nominative; the ending usually gives away the gender. Terms with a wiki article of their own are linked.

Term	Sanskrit	Gender (Sanskrit)	German form following the origin
Anuloma Viloma	अनुलोमविलोमः anuloma-vilomaḥ	masculine	der Anuloma Vilomaas a prāṇāyāma; in common use: die or das Anuloma Viloma
Āsana	आसनम् āsanam	neuter	das Āsanaalso in common use: die Asana
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga	अष्टाङ्गयोगः aṣṭāṅgayogaḥ	masculine	der Aṣṭāṅga Yoga
Ātman	आत्मा ātmā (stem ātman)	masculine	der Ātman
Bandha	बन्धः bandhaḥ	masculine	der Bandhain common use: das Bandha
Bhagavadgītā	भगवद्गीता bhagavadgītā	feminine	die Bhagavadgītā
Bhajan	भजनम् bhajanam	neuter	das Bhajan
Bhakti	भक्तिः bhaktiḥ	feminine	die BhaktiBhakti Yoga: masculine, the head word Yoga decides
Brahman	ब्रह्म brahma (stem brahman)	neuter	das Brahman
Chakra	चक्रम् cakram	neuter	das Chakra
Citta	चित्तम् cittam	neuter	das Citta
Dhāraṇā	धारणा dhāraṇā	feminine	die Dhāraṇā
Dharma	धर्मः dharmaḥ	masculine	der Dharmain common use: das Dharma
Dhyāna	ध्यानम् dhyānam	neuter	das Dhyāna
Gaṇeśa	गणेशः gaṇeśaḥ	masculine	der Gaṇeśaalso Gaṇapati; a name
Guru	गुरुः guruḥ	masculine	der Guru
Haṭha Yoga	हठयोगः haṭhayogaḥ	masculine	der Haṭha Yogaalso in common use: das Hatha Yoga
Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā	हठयोगप्रदीपिका haṭhayogapradīpikā	feminine	die Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā
Japa	जपः japaḥ	masculine	der Japain common use: das Japa
Jñāna	ज्ञानम् jñānam	neuter	das JñānaJñāna Yoga: masculine
Kapālabhāti	कपालभातिः kapālabhātiḥ	feminine	die Kapālabhātiin common use: das Kapalabhati
Karma	कर्म karma (stem karman)	neuter	das KarmaKarma Yoga: masculine
Kīrtan	कीर्तनम् kīrtanam	neuter	das Kīrtanin common use: der Kirtan
Kumbhaka	कुम्भकः kumbhakaḥ	masculine	der Kumbhakain common use: das Kumbhaka
Mahābhārata	महाभारतम् mahābhāratam	neuter	das Mahābhārata
Mahāvākya	महावाक्यम् mahāvākyam	neuter	das Mahāvākya
Mantra	मन्त्रः mantraḥ	masculine	der Mantrain common use: das Mantra
Mudrā	मुद्रा mudrā	feminine	die Mudrā
Nāḍī	नाडी nāḍī	feminine	die Nāḍī
Niyama	नियमः niyamaḥ	masculine	der Niyama
Oṃ	ॐ oṃ	invariable syllable	das Oṃno gender in Sanskrit, neuter in German
Prāṇa	प्राणः prāṇaḥ	masculine	der Prāṇain common use: das Prana
Prāṇāyāma	प्राणायामः prāṇāyāmaḥ	masculine	der Prāṇāyāmain common use: das Pranayama
Pratyāhāra	प्रत्याहारः pratyāhāraḥ	masculine	der Pratyāhārain common use: das Pratyahara
Rāja Yoga	राजयोगः rājayogaḥ	masculine	der Rāja Yoga
Ṛṣi	ऋषिः ṛṣiḥ	masculine	der Ṛṣifemale seer: die Ṛṣikā
Sāhitya	साहित्यम् sāhityam	neuter	das Sāhityathe name of our platform
Samādhi	समाधिः samādhiḥ	masculine	der Samādhiin common use: das Samadhi
Sanskrit	संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam	neuter	das Sanskrit
Satya	सत्यम् satyam	neuter	das Satya
Śakti	शक्तिः śaktiḥ	feminine	die Śakti
Śavāsana	शवासनम् śavāsanam	neuter	das Śavāsana
Sūtra	सूत्रम् sūtram	neuter	das Sūtradas Yoga-Sūtra
Svāmī	स्वामी svāmī	masculine	der SvāmīGermanised: der Swami
Tantra	तन्त्रम् tantram	neuter	das Tantra
Tapas	तपस् tapas	neuter	das Tapas
Upaniṣad	उपनिषद् upaniṣad	feminine	die UpaniṣadGermanised: die Upanishade
Vāyu	वायुः vāyuḥ	masculine	der Vāyu
Veda	वेदः vedaḥ	masculine	der Veda
Vedānta	वेदान्तः vedāntaḥ	masculine	der Vedānta
Vināyakī	विनायकी vināyakī	feminine	die Vināyakīthe name in Vinayaki-Yoga
Vinyāsa	विन्यासः vinyāsaḥ	masculine	der Vinyāsain common use: das Vinyasa
Yama	यमः yamaḥ	masculine	der Yama
Yoga	योगः yogaḥ	masculine	der YogaDuden: der or das Yoga
Yogī · Yoginī	योगी yogī · योगिनी yoginī	masculine · feminine	der Yogi, die Yogini

“In common use” names the form that prevails in German usage and mostly in the Duden as well, where it differs from ours. The transliteration follows the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST).

Our rules

Spelling and grammar on our pages

In running text we write the Germanised form without diacritics: Prana, Asana, Mudra. At the first mention in a wiki article, Devanagari and transliteration stand beside it, as in the table.

The article follows the Sanskrit gender from the table. In compounds the head word decides: der Hatha Yoga, der Klangyoga, der Stuhlyoga, but das Yoga-Sutra and die Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

The plural is formed on the German pattern with -s: die Asanas, die Bandhas, die Vayus. For Mantra we say Mantren, as the Duden allows alongside Mantras.

People keep their Sanskrit forms: der Yogi and die Yogini, der Swami, der Rishi and die Rishika.

Two special cases: Om is an invariable syllable without gender in Sanskrit; we say das Om. Reiki is Japanese, and Japanese has no grammatical gender; in German it is das Reiki.

Going deeper

Wiki · yoga knowledgeDer Yoga or das Yoga?How the word came into German and what the Duden says about it.Wiki · yoga knowledgeUpanishadsAtman, brahman, Om: the terms of the early wisdom texts.Wiki · yoga knowledgePranaThe breath of life and its five currents, the vayus.Wiki · yoga knowledgeThe BandhasMula, Uddiyana, Jalandhara: the locks of hatha yoga.

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