Core Glossary
1 John — Core Glossary
PRD Phase 1, Step 1 (companion to 07_semantic_analysis.md)
Governing rule: Every term marked [REUSED] below is copied verbatim from the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json and MUST be rendered identically in all 1 John Phase 2 output. Every term marked [NEW] is introduced by this document for the 1 John curriculum and must be added to translation_memory.json before Phase 2 segment translation begins, per 12_ai_translation_requirements.md’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions.
Table 1 — Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| English term | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | 1 John doctrine link | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | सर्वेश्वरः | sarveśvaraḥ | Critical | God is Light / God is Love (ontological predications) | [REUSED] |
| Jesus | यीशुः | yīśuḥ | Critical | Incarnation, Antichrist (denial of) | [REUSED] |
| Christ | ख्रीष्टः | khrīṣṭaḥ | Critical | Incarnation, Antichrist, Confession (2:22–23; 4:2,15; 5:1) | [REUSED — 12_ai_translation_requirements.md transliteration table] |
| Lord | प्रभुः | prabhuḥ | Critical | (Implicit; Christ’s authority) | [REUSED] |
| Son of God | परमेश्वरस्य पुत्रः | parameśvarasya putraḥ | Critical | Incarnation and Antichrist; Assurance (5:5,10–13,20) | [REUSED] |
| Father | पिता | pitā | Critical | Fellowship with God; Adoption/new birth family language | [REUSED] |
| Holy Spirit | पवित्र आत्मा | pavitra ātmā | Critical | Testing the Spirits; Assurance (3:24; 4:2,13) | [REUSED — mandatory personhood note applies at every occurrence] |
| Faith | विश्वासः | viśvāsaḥ | High | Overcoming the World (5:4–5); Confession (5:1) | [REUSED] |
| Righteousness / righteous | धार्मिकता / धार्मिकः | dhārmikatā / dhārmikaḥ | Critical | Christ “the Righteous One” (2:1); practicing righteousness as evidence (2:29; 3:7,10) | [REUSED] |
| Sin | पापम् | pāpam | High | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin (throughout) | [REUSED] |
| Holy | पवित्रम् | pavitram | High | (Root of पवित्र आत्मा; general holiness background) | [REUSED] |
| Saints | पवित्राः जनाः | pavitrāḥ janāḥ | High | (Not directly named in 1 John but same underlying category as “brethren”/community) | [REUSED] |
| Salvation | त्राणम् | trāṇam | Critical | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life; root of “Savior” (त्राता) | [REUSED] |
| Fellowship | सहभागिता | sahabhāgitā | Low | Fellowship with God and One Another (1:3,6–7) | [REUSED] |
| Incarnation | देहधारणम् | dehadhāraṇam | Critical | The Incarnation and Antichrist (4:2–3) | [REUSED — mandatory Gītā 4:7–8 note] |
| Law | विधिः | vidhiḥ | High | Background to “lawlessness” (ἀνομία, 3:4) | [REUSED] |
| Apostle (root) | प्रेषितः / √preṣ | preṣitaḥ | Medium | Root reused for “sent” (God sending the Son, 4:9,14) | [REUSED root] |
| Intercession (root) | मध्यस्थता / √madhyastha | madhyasthatā | Medium | Root reused for “Advocate” (παράκλητος, 2:1) | [REUSED root] |
| Spiritual gifts (root) | आत्मिकं वरदानम् / आत्मिक- | ātmikaṃ varadānam | Medium | Root reused for “test the spirits” (आत्मिकप्रेरणाः, 4:1) | [REUSED root] |
| Justification (root) | धर्मीति निर्णयः / निर्णय- | dharmīti nirṇayaḥ | Critical | Root reused for “day of judgment” (निर्णयदिनम्, 4:17) | [REUSED root] |
| Messiah | मसीहः | masīhaḥ | Critical | Background to “Antichrist” coinage pattern | [REUSED — coinage precedent] |
| Prophet | भविष्यद्वक्ता | bhaviṣyadvaktā | Low | ”False prophets” (ψευδοπροφῆται, 4:1) | [REUSED root] |
Table 2 — New Terms Introduced for 1 John
| # | English term | Greek | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Key rejected alternatives (rationale) | First occurrence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love (noun/verb) | ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω | प्रेम | prema | Critical | God is Light and God is Love; Love for the Brethren | भक्तिः (names bhakti-mārga, a full soteriological path); कामः (erotic/desire love, a puruṣārtha); स्नेहः (too weak). Retained प्रेम despite Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava prema-bhakti-rasa taxonomy weight (Rūpa Gosvāmī, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu); mandatory note every occurrence. | 1 John 2:5 (loosely); central from 3:1 onward; core passage 4:7–21 |
| 2 | Light | φῶς | ज्योतिः | jyotiḥ | Critical | God is Light and God is Love | प्रकाशः (Kashmir Śaiva prakāśa-vimarśa). Direct citable collision with Bhagavad Gītā 13:17 (“light of lights… beyond darkness,” of impersonal Paramātman/Brahman). Mandatory note every occurrence. | 1:5 |
| 3 | Darkness | σκοτία | अन्धकारः | andhakāraḥ | High | God is Light and God is Love | तमः (rejected: names the tamas guṇa of Sāṃkhya-Yoga cosmology, an impersonal material constituent of prakṛti). | 1:5–6 |
| 4 | World | κόσμος | जगत् | jagat | Critical | Overcoming the World | संसारः (rejected: the technical term for the transmigration cycle itself). Note Advaita’s jagat mithyā (“the world is unreal”) as an opposite metaphysical claim requiring contrast. | 2:15 |
| 5 | Word (of life) | λόγος (τῆς ζωῆς) | वचनम् | vacanam | Critical | Incarnation Christology | वाच्/वाक् (Vāc theology, śabda-brahman — already flagged in Romans baseline’s “covenant” entry); शब्दः (Nyāya/Mīmāṃsā śabda-pramāṇa). | 1:1 |
| 6 | Advocate (title for Christ) | παράκλητος | मध्यस्थः | madhyasthaḥ | High | Assurance of Salvation | Personified form of already-established मध्यस्थता (intercession); must exclude any human ritual-intermediary reading (purohita, guru-mediated access). | 2:1 |
| 7 | Propitiation / atoning sacrifice | ἱλασμός | पापार्थं बलिदानम् | pāpārthaṃ balidānam | Critical | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | प्रायश्चित्तम् (dharmaśāstra self-performed ritual penance — wrong agent-direction); यज्ञः (Vedic sacrifice bound to Mīmāṃsā’s apūrva automatic-efficacy mechanics). Cross-reference Romans 3:25 atonement flag. | 2:2; 4:10 |
| 8 | Confess | ὁμολογέω | स्वीकरणम् / स्वीकरोति | svīkaraṇam / svīkaroti | High | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin; Testing the Spirits | Distinguish from prāyaścitta ritual confession-formula procedures. | 1:9; 4:2–3,15 |
| 9 | Forgive / forgiveness | ἀφίημι / ἄφεσις | क्षमा | kṣamā | High | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Distinguish from धर्मीति निर्णयः’s fuller forensic sense (forgiveness = guilt removed; justification = positive status declared). | 1:9 |
| 10 | Cleanse | καθαρίζω | शोधनम् / शुद्धिः | śodhanam | High | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Distinguish from dharmaśāstra śuddhi ritual-purification procedures for specific impurity-events (same risk family as baseline “sanctification”). | 1:7,9 |
| 11 | Blood (of Jesus) | αἷμα | रक्तम् | raktam | Medium/High | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Cultural-sensitivity note re: live blood-offering practices to certain Devī/Śākta deities in some regional traditions; teach as unique, completed, substitutionary atonement. | 1:7 |
| 12 | Born of God / new birth | γεννάω ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ | परमेश्वरात् जातः | parameśvarāt jātaḥ | Critical | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | पुनर्जन्म (transmigration mechanism, already forbidden for resurrection); द्विजः (dharmaśāstra “twice-born” ritual/caste status via upanayana — a specific, well-grounded, high-stakes collision unique to this term). Mandatory note every occurrence. | 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18 |
| 13 | Children of God | τέκνα θεοῦ | परमेश्वरस्य सन्तानः | parameśvarasya santānaḥ | High | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Distinguish from Romans’ legal-adoption emphasis (पुत्रत्वेन स्वीकरणम्) and from Purāṇic literal divine-parentage narratives (e.g., heroes born of a deva). | 3:1–2,10 |
| 14 | Devil / Satan / the evil one | διάβολος / ὁ πονηρός | अपवादकः / शैतानः / दुष्टः | apavādakaḥ / śaitānaḥ / duṣṭaḥ | Medium | The Incarnation and Antichrist | पिशाचः, राक्षसः (rejected: both name specific Purāṇic/folk demon-classes with their own mythology, not the singular biblical cosmic Adversary). अपवादकः (literal “slanderer/accuser”) preserves the Greek’s own etymology. | 3:8,10; 5:18–19 |
| 15 | Antichrist | ἀντίχριστος | अन्तिख्रीष्टः | antikhrīṣṭaḥ | High | The Incarnation and Antichrist | Coined by prefixing “anti-” onto the established ख्रीष्टः, following the मसीहः transliteration-preservation precedent. Must be defined specifically as denial of the Incarnation/Messiahship, not a generic opponent. | 2:18,22; 4:3 |
| 16 | Anointing | χρῖσμα | अभिषेकः | abhiṣekaḥ | Critical | Testing the Spirits; Assurance | Direct, highly visible collision with mūrti-abhiṣeka (temple deity-image ritual anointing) and rājyābhiṣeka (royal consecration). Mandatory note every occurrence: internal, permanent, universal Spirit-given teaching presence, not external repeatable ritual or conferred status. | 2:20,27 |
| 17 | Abide / dwell | μένω | निवासः / निवसति | nivāsaḥ / nivasati | High | Fellowship with God and One Another; Assurance | स्थिति/स्थित (rejected: Bhagavad Gītā 2:54’s sthitaprajña, a self-achieved yogic steadiness, not mutual relational indwelling with a personal God). Highest-frequency term in the epistle (~24 occurrences); vigilance required throughout. | 2:6,24,27–28; 3:24; 4:12–16 |
| 18 | Truth | ἀλήθεια | सत्यम् | satyam | High | Testing the Spirits; general epistemic frame | Unavoidable weight (comparable to धार्मिकता): सत्य is a core Sat-Cit-Ānanda attribute of Brahman (Taittirīya Upaniṣad, “satyaṃ jñānam anantaṃ brahma”) and a Mīmāṃsā/Nyāya epistemological category. No less-encumbered alternative exists (ऋतम् is more loaded still); mandatory redefinition per occurrence as God’s revealed reality in Christ and apostolic testimony, not the impersonal metaphysical Absolute-attribute. | 1:6,8; 2:4,21; 3:18–19; 4:6; 5:6 |
| 19 | Know / knowledge | γινώσκω / γνῶσις / οἶδα | ज्ञानम् / जानाति / जानीमः | jñānam / jānāti / jānīmaḥ | Critical | Testing the Spirits; Assurance of Salvation | Names the central term of Advaita’s jñāna-mārga (knowing Brahman via the mahāvākyas tat tvam asi, ayam ātmā brahma, ahaṃ brahmāsmi as self-effected liberating realization, not relational knowledge of a distinct personal God). Comparable stakes to पवित्र आत्मा given ~30+ occurrences, esp. the repeated “we know” refrains of ch.5. Mandatory note every occurrence. | 2:3–4,13–14; throughout; climactic in 5:13,18–20 |
| 20 | Savior | σωτήρ | त्राता | trātā | Critical | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Built on the same √trā root as त्राणम् (baseline “salvation”), deliberately avoiding मोक्षदाता/मुक्तिदाता (“giver of mokṣa”). | 4:14 |
| 21 | Only Son / only-begotten | μονογενής | एकजातः | ekajātaḥ | Critical | The Incarnation and Antichrist | अद्वितीयः (rejected: Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1’s “ekam eva advitīyam,” describing non-dual Brahman — would recast unique Sonship as a claim about metaphysical non-duality); अंशः (already rejected under baseline “son_of_god,” avatāra-portion language). | 4:9 |
| 22 | Commandment | ἐντολή | आज्ञा | ājñā | Medium | Love for the Brethren; general obedience | Deliberately distinguished from विधिः (Mosaic Law/Torah scriptural-injunction sense); reuses the आज्ञा root already present in baseline’s विश्वासस्य आज्ञापालनम्. | 2:3–4,7–8; 3:22–24; 4:21 |
| 23 | Confidence / boldness | παρρησία | निर्भीकता | nirbhīkatā | Medium | Assurance of Salvation | Straightforward; no major named-school collision identified. | 3:21; 4:17; 5:14 |
| 24 | Day of judgment | ἡμέρα κρίσεως | निर्णयदिनम् | nirṇayadinam | High | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Deliberately reuses निर्णय root from baseline “justification” (धर्मीति निर्णयः) for forensic consistency; न्याय-based compounds explicitly rejected (न्यायः is a darśana proper name, already excluded under baseline “righteousness”). | 4:17 |
| 25 | Punishment | κόλασις | दण्डः | daṇḍaḥ | Medium | Assurance of Salvation (fear removed) | Note dharmaśāstra/arthaśāstra daṇḍanīti (king’s rod upholding social dharma, Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra, Manusmṛti) as a this-worldly socio-legal category distinct from 1 John’s eschatological, divine, final punishment. | 4:18 |
| 26 | Fear | φόβος | भयम् | bhayam | Medium | Assurance of Salvation | Distinguish from saṃsāra-bhaya (fear of continued transmigration), a related but structurally different classical anxiety. | 4:18 |
| 27 | Perfect / perfected | τέλειος / τελειόω | पूर्णः / पूर्णा भवति | pūrṇaḥ / pūrṇā bhavati | Medium | God is Love; Assurance | सिद्धः/सिद्धिः (rejected: already flagged in baseline “spiritual_gifts” as the yogic aṣṭasiddhi earned-attainment category). Light echo of Īśa Upaniṣad’s pūrṇam-invocation noted but not blocking. | 4:12,17–18 |
| 28 | Hate | μισέω | द्वेषः | dveṣaḥ | Medium/High | Love for the Brethren | Note: one of Patañjali’s five kleśas (Yoga Sūtra 2.3) — an impersonal psychological-affliction category, distinct from 1 John’s morally culpable relational sin against a brother. | 2:9–11; 3:15; 4:20 |
| 29 | Liar | ψεύστης | मृषावादी / असत्यवादी | mṣāvādī / asatyavādī | Low/Medium | Testing the Spirits; Love for the Brethren | Fairly plain; ties to सत्यम् (see #18). | 1:10; 2:4,22; 4:20 |
| 30 | Brother / brethren | ἀδελφός | भ्राता | bhrātā | Medium | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Extended kinship metaphor; distinguish from varṇa/jāti/gotra-bound biological brotherhood — new spiritual family transcending those categories, continuous with baseline’s “unity_of_jews_and_gentiles.” | 2:9–11; 3:10–17; 4:20–21 |
| 31 | Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | अनन्तं जीवनम् | anantaṃ jīvanam | Critical | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | मोक्षः/मुक्तिः/निर्वाणम् (globally forbidden, per baseline “salvation”); अमृतत्वम् (rejected: Upaniṣadic self-realized immortality-through-knowledge goal, e.g. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Up. 4.4.7). Mandatory note every occurrence. | 5:11–13,20; cf. 2:25; 3:15 |
| 32 | Sin unto death / not unto death | ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον | मृत्युजनकं पापम् / अमृत्युजनकं पापम् | mṛtyujanakaṃ pāpam | Medium | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Primarily an exegetical (not Sanskrit-specific) difficulty; flag for theologian review on interpretive grounds. | 5:16–17 |
| 33 | Idols | εἴδωλον | मिथ्यादेवप्रतिमा | mithyādevapratimā | Critical | (Closing exhortation; implicit across “God is Light/Love” exclusivity) | मूर्तिः/प्रतिमा alone (rejected as unqualified: these are the standard, revered terms for consecrated devotional images central to the destination culture’s dominant practice — using them bare risks a blanket, offensive misreading rather than 1 John’s narrower target of false-god worship). Highest cultural-sensitivity flag in this glossary; requires theologian review plus explicit pastoral guidance. | 5:21 |
| 34 | Water (witness) | ὕδωρ | जलम् | jalam | Low | Overcoming the World / Testimony | Plain; symbolic of baptism. | 5:6,8 |
| 35 | Testimony / witness | μαρτυρία / μαρτυρέω | साक्ष्यम् | sākṣyam | High | Overcoming the World; Assurance | Distinguish साक्ष्यम् (abstract testimony-noun) from साक्षिन् (sākṣin, Sāṃkhya/Vedānta “witness-consciousness” of the ātman) — avoid drift toward the latter. | 1:2; 4:14; 5:6–11 |
| 36 | Promise | ἐπαγγελία | प्रतिज्ञा | pratijñā | Medium | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Mild echo of Nyāya syllogism’s first member (pratijñā, the thesis-statement); no stronger unencumbered alternative available. | 2:25 |
| 37 | Lawlessness | ἀνομία | विधिलङ्घनम् | vidhilaṅghanam | Medium | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Built on baseline विधिः; must mean transgression of God’s revealed commands, not violation of varṇāśrama dharma broadly. | 3:4 |
| 38 | False prophet | ψευδοπροφήτης | मिथ्याभविष्यद्वक्ता | mithyābhaviṣyadvaktā | Medium | Testing the Spirits | Built on baseline भविष्यद्वक्ता + मिथ्या qualifier; no added risk beyond underlying term. | 4:1 |
| 39 | Desire of flesh/eyes; pride of life | ἐπιθυμία σαρκός/ὀφθαλμῶν; ἀλαζονεία βίου | देहेच्छा, नेत्रेच्छा, जीवनदर्पः | deheccā, netrecchā, jīvanadarpaḥ | Medium | Overcoming the World | Plain descriptive compounds; light, non-blocking echo of Gītā’s kāma/ahaṃkāra warnings. | 2:16 |
| 40 | Laying down [one’s] life | τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν | प्राणत्यागः | prāṇatyāgaḥ | Medium | Love for the Brethren | Deliberately avoids आत्मा for “soul/life” per baseline’s strict reservation of that noun for पवित्र आत्मा alone. | 3:16 |
| 41 | Compassion | σπλάγχνα | करुणा | karuṇā | Low/Medium | Love for the Brethren | Shared with Buddhist brahmavihāra vocabulary; not exclusively tied to a rival soteriological mechanism. | 3:17 |
| 42 | Walk / conduct | περιπατέω | आचरणम् | ācaraṇam | Low/Medium | Fellowship with God and One Another | General; mild dharmaśāstra ācāra echo, non-blocking. | 1:6–7; 2:6 |
Risk Summary (1 John New Terms Only)
| Risk Tier | Count | Requires |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 9 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 17 | Sanskrit-philosophically-literate scholar review |
| Low | 4 | Automated review |
Note: Combined with the 21 baseline Romans terms reused exactly (Table 1), this curriculum carries a higher proportion of Critical-tier new coinages than the Romans baseline, driven chiefly by 1 John’s concentrated, repetitive vocabulary of love, light, world, abiding, and knowing — each colliding with a specific, citable classical Sanskrit philosophical or devotional-ritual doctrine (Bhagavad Gītā 13:17; Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1; Yoga Sūtra 2:3; Bhagavad Gītā 2:54; Advaita’s jñāna-mārga and jagat-mithyā; Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava prema-bhakti-rasa theology; dharmaśāstra dvija/upanayana; and mūrti-abhiṣeka/mūrti-pūjā devotional practice). Phase 2 must route every Critical-tier segment to human theologian review before acceptance, per 12_ai_translation_requirements.md’s escalation rules, extended here to cover this curriculum’s new Critical terms in addition to the baseline’s original list.
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json (new terms added, version incremented) before Phase 2 segment translation of 1 John begins.
See analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter argumentation supporting each entry.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: सर्वेश्वरः
Transliteration: sarveśvaraḥ
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: ईश्वरः, ब्रह्मन्, भगवान्, देवः
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; enforce exactly as baseline. In 1 John this term grounds the epistle’s two central ontological predications — ‘God is light’ (1:5) and ‘God is love’ (4:8,16) — both of which must use the identical copula construction सर्वेश्वरः…अस्ति so their structural parallelism is visible in Sanskrit as it is in Greek.
Jesus
Approved rendering: यीशुः
Transliteration: yīśuḥ
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John this name is the subject of the epistle’s repeated confessional test: whether ‘Yīśuḥ’ is confessed as ख्रीष्टः come in the flesh (4:2-3) and as परमेश्वरस्य पुत्रः (4:15; 5:1).
Christ
Approved rendering: ख्रीष्टः
Transliteration: khrīṣṭaḥ
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from the Romans-package transliteration table in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md (not previously a separate translation_memory.json key in the baseline, but fixed there as ख्रीष्टः). Added here as its own entry because 1 John’s confession/denial formulas (2:22-23; 4:2-3,15; 5:1) and the coinage अन्तिख्रीष्टः both depend on this exact form being fixed and citable.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभुः
Transliteration: prabhuḥ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ (implicit throughout 1 John’s high Christology)
Rejected alternatives: ईश्वरः, स्वामी
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; same Advaita-subordination-to-māyā reasoning applies. 1 John does not use ‘Lord’ as densely as Romans, but the term must remain fixed and available wherever Christ’s authority is implied.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य पुत्रः
Transliteration: parameśvarasya putraḥ
Doctrine: Incarnation and Antichrist; Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: ईश्वरांशः, देवपुरुषः
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John this full phrase is the object of confession that grounds assurance (5:5,10-13,20) and whose denial defines the antichrist (2:22-23). Must never be abbreviated to bare पुत्रः in a way that loses the परमेश्वर- qualifier.
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: pitā
Doctrine: Fellowship with God; Children of God (new birth family language)
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मा, प्रजापतिः
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John this term underlies the epistle’s ‘children of God’ family language (परमेश्वरस्य सन्तानः, 3:1-2) even more pervasively than Romans’ legal-adoption vocabulary.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: pavitra ātmā
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits; Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मन्, परमात्मा
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; mandatory personhood note applies at every occurrence (3:24; 4:2,13). CRITICAL 1 John-specific discipline: the bare noun आत्मा must NEVER be used for the tested/false ‘spirits’ of 4:1 or the ‘spirit of error’ of 4:6, which occur in the same paragraphs as this term — see testing_spirits and spirit_of_error entries below. This proximity risk is unique to 1 John within this Language Package and must be enforced with zero exceptions.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: धार्मिकता
Transliteration: dhārmikatā
Doctrine: Christ the Righteous One; practicing righteousness as evidence of new birth
Rejected alternatives: धर्मः, न्यायः, पुण्यम्
Original: δικαιοσύνη / δίκαιος
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; mandatory redefinition at every occurrence. 1 John applies this term both to Christ himself (‘the Righteous One,’ 2:1) and to believers’ righteous practice as evidence of new birth (2:29; 3:7,10) — a usage that sits alongside, and must not collapse into, Romans’ forensic ‘righteous standing’ emphasis; both senses use the same Sanskrit term but require different surrounding explanation.
Salvation
Approved rendering: त्राणम्
Transliteration: trāṇam
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: मोक्षः, मुक्तिः, निर्वाणम्
Original: σωτηρία (cognate concept; not a separate noun in 1 John but underlying σωτήρ, ζωὴ αἰώνιος)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; NEVER मोक्षः, मुक्तिः, or निर्वाणम्. In 1 John this underlying category is not stated as a separate noun but is the root for ‘Savior’ (त्राता) and closely tied to ‘eternal life’ (अनन्तं जीवनम्).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: देहधारणम्
Transliteration: dehadhāraṇam
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: अवतारः
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο / Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; NEVER अवतारः. In 1 John this is not background narration (as in Romans 1:3) but the epistle’s explicit confessional test of true versus false spirits (4:2-3) and the content denied by the antichrist (2:22). The mandatory Bhagavad Gītā 4:7-8 contrast note must therefore be applied at EVERY occurrence in this book (1:1-2 implicitly via वचनम्; 4:2; 4:9 via एकजातः), not merely at first use.
Justification
Approved rendering: धर्मीति निर्णयः
Transliteration: dharmīti nirṇayaḥ
Doctrine: Justification by Faith (root reused for ‘day of judgment’)
Rejected alternatives: क्षमा, पुण्यार्जनम्
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John the निर्णय root is deliberately reused for निर्णयदिनम् (‘day of judgment,’ 4:17) to preserve forensic consistency across both curricula; never a न्याय-based compound, since न्यायः is a darśana proper name already excluded under this baseline entry.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीहः
Transliteration: masīhaḥ
Doctrine: Messianic Promise (coinage precedent for ‘antichrist’)
Rejected alternatives: अवतारपुरुषः
Inherited from Romans package. Not itself used in 1 John’s text, but this term’s transliteration-plus-prefixation coinage method is the direct precedent for अन्तिख्रीष्टः (‘antichrist’), coined by prefixing negation onto the established transliteration ख्रीष्टः.
Word Of Life
Approved rendering: वचनम्
Transliteration: vacanam
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: वाच्/वाक्, शब्दः
Original: ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
New term. Never वाच्/वाक् — activates Vāc theology and Mīmāṃsā’s śabda-brahman doctrine, already flagged in the Romans baseline’s ‘covenant’ entry. Never शब्दः — the Nyāya/Mīmāṃsā śabda-pramāṇa technical term for verbal testimony as a formal means of knowledge. वचनम् is a plain, minimally-encumbered action-noun. Requires the same Gītā 4:7-8 contrast note as देहधारणम् wherever this term functions Christologically (1:1-2), since it names the same incarnate reality under a different image.
Only Son
Approved rendering: एकजातः
Transliteration: ekajātaḥ
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: अद्वितीयः, अंशः
Original: μονογενής
Category: Christology
New term (renders μονογενής, 4:9). Never अद्वितीयः — the exact phrase of Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1 (‘ekam eva advitīyam,’ describing non-dual Brahman), which would recast unique Sonship as a claim about metaphysical non-duality. Never अंशः — already rejected under the Romans baseline’s ‘son_of_god’ entry as avatāra-portion language. Must carry the same Gītā 4:7-8 contrast note as देहधारणम् at every occurrence, not only first use, given the confessional stakes of 4:9 and 5:1.
Propitiation
Approved rendering: पापार्थं बलिदानम्
Transliteration: pāpārthaṃ balidānam
Doctrine: Propitiation / Atoning Sacrifice
Rejected alternatives: प्रायश्चित्तम्, यज्ञः
Original: ἱλασμός
Category: Christology
New term (renders ἱλασμός, 2:2; 4:10). Never प्रायश्चित्तम् — the dharmaśāstra term for self-performed ritual penance, which exactly reverses this doctrine’s God-initiated structure. Never यज्ञः — the general Vedic sacrifice term bound to Mīmāṃsā’s apūrva doctrine of automatic ritual efficacy through correct performance. This is a genuine lexical gap requiring a descriptive, non-ritual compound rather than any existing procedural term. Cross-reference Romans 3:25 (ἱλαστήριον), already flagged there for mandatory theologian review.
Savior
Approved rendering: त्राता
Transliteration: trātā
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life (Savior of the World)
Rejected alternatives: मोक्षदाता, मुक्तिदाता
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Christology
New term (renders σωτήρ, 4:14), built on the same √trā root as the baseline’s fixed त्राणम् (‘salvation’), deliberately avoiding मोक्षदाता/मुक्तिदाता (‘giver of mokṣa/mukti’), which would reintroduce exactly the forbidden liberation-theology the baseline’s ‘salvation’ entry excludes. Combines with the already-Critical जगत् (‘world’) at 4:14, requiring the same jagat-mithyā contrast note.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: अनन्तं जीवनम्
Transliteration: anantaṃ jīvanam
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: मोक्षः, मुक्तिः, निर्वाणम्, अमृतत्वम्
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
New term (renders ζωὴ αἰώνιος). Never मोक्षः, मुक्तिः, or निर्वाणम् (globally forbidden per the Romans baseline’s ‘salvation’ entry). Never अमृतत्वम् — the specific Upaniṣadic goal-term (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.7) attained through Self-knowledge dissolving the ātman-Brahman distinction, a self-realized state rather than a relationally given gift from a personal God. Mandatory note required at every occurrence given this term’s centrality to the epistle’s closing argument (5:11-13,20).
Know
Approved rendering: ज्ञानम् / जानाति / जानीमः
Transliteration: jñānam / jānāti / jānīmaḥ
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits; Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Original: γινώσκω / γνῶσις / οἶδα
Category: Faith
New term, but with no viable philosophically-unencumbered alternative available (renders both γινώσκω, relational knowing, and οἶδα, confident epistemic certainty — both collapse to the same Sanskrit root). Names the central term of Advaita Vedānta’s jñāna-mārga, in which ‘knowing’ Brahman via the mahāvākyas (tat tvam asi, ayam ātmā brahma, ahaṃ brahmāsmi) is not evidence of relationship but the self-effected liberating dissolution of the knower/known distinction. Given ~30+ occurrences and the climactic ‘we know’ refrains of chapter 5, this term carries stakes comparable to पवित्र आत्मा and requires a mandatory note at every occurrence distinguishing relational, confident, covenantal knowledge of a distinct personal God from Advaita’s self-realized gnosis. A single canonical footnote formula may be referenced (not fully restated) after its first full statement per document, provided the full statement appears at least once per chapter in which this term recurs.
Born Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरात् जातः
Transliteration: parameśvarāt jātaḥ
Doctrine: New Birth
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म, द्विजः
Original: γεννάω ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Church
New term (renders γεννάω ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ). Never पुनर्जन्म — the fully theorized Sāṃkhya-Yoga/Vedānta transmigration mechanism (karmāśaya, liṅga-śarīra), already forbidden for ‘resurrection’ in the Romans baseline; the collision is sharper here because this phrase functions as a repeated refrain across the whole epistle (2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18). Never द्विजः (‘twice-born’) — the dharmaśāstra/saṃskāra term for a ritual, caste-restricted, male-only second birth via upanayana, which would import a hierarchy this doctrine’s universal new birth by grace explicitly excludes. Mandatory note required at first occurrence per document, with vigilance re-applied at each of the six recurrences.
Love
Approved rendering: प्रेम
Transliteration: prema
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love; Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: भक्तिः, कामः, स्नेहः
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: God
New term (renders ἀγάπη/ἀγαπάω, ~50+ occurrences). Never भक्तिः — names an entire theorized soteriological path (bhakti-mārga, Gītā 9-12). Never कामः — one of the four puruṣārthas, explicitly erotic/desire love. Never स्नेहः — too weak to bear ‘God is love.’ प्रेम is retained despite real weight: Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theology (Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, building on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa) systematizes prema as the fully ripened, highest stage of a graded bhakti taxonomy (bhāva → rati → prema), further classified by rasa-relationship type (dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya, mādhurya). MANDATORY note at every occurrence: this is God’s own uncaused, universally-directed, self-giving nature and the corresponding love commanded of believers — not the devotee’s cultivated, aesthetically-graded emotional attainment within a rasa taxonomy.
Light
Approved rendering: ज्योतिः
Transliteration: jyotiḥ
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: प्रकाशः
Original: φῶς
Category: God
New term (renders φῶς, 1:5, background to 1:6-7; 2:8-11). Sharpest citable collision in this glossary: Bhagavad Gītā 13:17, of the impersonal Paramātman/Brahman, states ‘jyotiṣām api tad jyotiḥ tamasaḥ param ucyate’ — ‘That is the light of lights, said to be beyond darkness’ — an almost verbatim structural echo of 1 John 1:5. प्रकाशः is rejected as primary term because in Kashmir Śaivism prakāśa (paired with vimarśa) names Śiva-consciousness’s self-luminous nature — a comparably specific technical collision; retained only as a secondary descriptive gloss, never as the fixed term. MANDATORY note citing Gītā 13:17 required at EVERY occurrence, and the copula construction सर्वेश्वरः ज्योतिः अस्ति must remain identical to सर्वेश्वरः प्रेमास्ति to preserve the two doctrines’ visible parallelism.
Anointing
Approved rendering: अभिषेकः
Transliteration: abhiṣekaḥ
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits; Anointing of the Holy Spirit
Original: χρῖσμα
Category: Church
New term (renders χρῖσμα, 2:20,27). One of the sharpest culturally-live collisions in this glossary: अभिषेकः is the standard term for the ritual bathing/anointing of a consecrated temple deity-image (mūrti-abhiṣeka) and for royal consecration (rājyābhiṣeka), both central and highly visible destination-culture practices. Retained for its direct etymological link to Χριστός/ख्रीष्टः only with a MANDATORY note at every occurrence: this is the Spirit’s internal, permanent, universally-given teaching presence in every believer, not a repeatable external ritual ceremony performed upon an image or a status conferred by royal/priestly consecration.
Testing Spirits
Approved rendering: आत्मिकप्रेरणाः
Transliteration: ātmikapreraṇāḥ
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: आत्मा (bare noun)
Original: δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα
Category: Testing the Spirits
New term (renders δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα, 4:1). This verse’s πνεῦμα denotes tested, possibly false spiritual influences, structurally parallel to but referentially distinct from ‘the Spirit of God’ in the very next clause. To keep the baseline’s strict reservation of पवित्र आत्मा exclusively for the Holy Spirit absolute, this plural, tested ‘spirits’ is rendered with the adjectival compound आत्मिक- (already safely established in the baseline’s ‘spiritual_gifts’ = आत्मिकं वरदानम्) plus a plain noun (प्रेरणा, ‘prompting’). ABSOLUTE RULE: the bare noun आत्मा must never be used here, with zero exceptions.
Spirit Of Error
Approved rendering: वञ्चकभावः
Transliteration: vañcakabhāvaḥ
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: आत्मा (bare noun)
Original: πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης
Category: Testing the Spirits
New term (renders πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης, 4:6), the counterfeit spiritual influence opposed to the Spirit of truth. Rendered descriptively rather than with any आत्मा-based parallel construction, so that आत्मा never appears attached to a false or demonic referent, protecting the term’s exclusive reservation for the Holy Spirit’s distinct personhood.
World
Approved rendering: जगत्
Transliteration: jagat
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Rejected alternatives: संसारः
Original: κόσμος
Category: Overcoming the World
New term (renders κόσμος, ~23 occurrences: 2:15-17; 4:1-6,14; 5:4-5,19). Never संसारः — the precise technical term for the cycle of rebirth/transmigration itself; using it would silently import reincarnation metaphysics into every occurrence. जगत् avoids that mechanism but carries its own established Advaita association: jagat mithyā (‘the world is [ultimately] unreal,’ a core Śaṅkara Advaita formula) — the OPPOSITE metaphysical claim from 1 John’s real, morally fallen order opposed to God that must be actively resisted by faith, not dissolved through realization of its unreality. Mandatory contrastive note required at first occurrence per document, re-invoked briefly at each subsequent major occurrence (4:4; 5:4-5).
Idols
Approved rendering: मिथ्यादेवप्रतिमा
Transliteration: mithyādevapratimā
Doctrine: Warning Against Idolatry (implicit exclusivity background to God is Light/Love)
Rejected alternatives: मूर्तिः, प्रतिमा (bare, unqualified)
Original: εἴδωλον
Category: Overcoming the World
New term (renders εἴδωλον, 5:21). HIGHEST CULTURAL-SENSITIVITY FLAG IN THIS GLOSSARY: प्रतिमा/मूर्ति (pratimā/mūrti) is the standard, revered, and doctrinally central term for a consecrated deity-image in the destination culture’s dominant devotional practice (mūrti-pūjā), not an inherently pejorative word as ‘idol’ is in biblical usage. A bare मूर्तिः or प्रतिमा for εἴδωλον risks reading as a blanket condemnation of image-veneration as such, a direct and highly sensitive collision with majority devotional practice rather than 1 John’s narrower target: worship of false gods as rivals to सर्वेश्वरः. The compound मिथ्यादेवप्रतिमा (‘image of a false god’) keeps the qualifier explicit and load-bearing and must NEVER be abbreviated to bare प्रतिमा/मूर्तिः. Requires escalation to human theologian review PLUS explicit pastoral/cultural-sensitivity guidance beyond the standard Critical-tier review.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वासः
Transliteration: viśvāsaḥ
Doctrine: Overcoming the World; Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्तिः
Original: πίστις / πιστεύω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John, faith is explicitly named the instrument of victory over the world (5:4-5) and the content of confession (5:1); never श्रद्धा (Gītā 17’s guṇa-classified doctrine) or भक्तिः (bhakti-mārga soteriological path).
Sin
Approved rendering: पापम्
Transliteration: pāpam
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: अधर्मः
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John, sin is explicitly defined as lawlessness (विधिलङ्घनम्, 3:4) and is the universal condition requiring confession (1:9) and cleansing (1:7,9); distinguish from ritual impurity resolvable through dharmaśāstra prāyaścitta.
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्रम्
Transliteration: pavitram
Doctrine: Sanctification (background to पवित्र आत्मा and general holiness language)
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धम्
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Root underlying पवित्र आत्मा and पवित्राः जनाः; the Vedic ritual-instrument sense (kuśa-grass soma-strainer) must be deliberately redefined toward moral/relational set-apartness at every occurrence, per baseline.
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्राः जनाः
Transliteration: pavitrāḥ janāḥ
Doctrine: Church as God’s People (underlying category for ‘brethren’/community in 1 John)
Rejected alternatives: ऋषयः, संन्यासिनः
Original: ἅγιοι (implicit; underlies the epistle’s community of ‘brethren’)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly named in 1 John’s text, but the same underlying corporate category as ‘brethren’ (भ्राता) and ‘children of God’ (परमेश्वरस्य सन्तानः); retained in translation memory for cross-document consistency.
Law
Approved rendering: विधिः
Transliteration: vidhiḥ
Doctrine: Sin and Lawlessness (background to ἀνομία, 3:4)
Rejected alternatives: धर्मः, धर्मशास्त्रम्
Original: νόμος (implicit background to ἀνομία, 3:4)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John this term is the root for विधिलङ्घनम् (‘lawlessness,’ 3:4) and must be kept distinct from Christ’s own specific commandments (आज्ञा, 2:3-4,7-8; 3:22-24; 4:21), which are not Torah scriptural-injunction but new directives from Christ himself.
Grace
Approved rendering: अनुग्रहः
Transliteration: anugrahaḥ
Doctrine: Grace (undergirding ‘we love because he first loved us,’ 4:19)
Rejected alternatives: कृपा, प्रसादः, पुण्यम्
Inherited from Romans package; not a heavily thematized separate noun in 1 John’s Greek text, but retained in translation memory because it names the theological logic beneath 4:19’s causal priority (‘he first loved us’) — love, like grace, precedes and produces the believer’s response rather than the reverse.
Adoption
Approved rendering: पुत्रत्वेन स्वीकरणम्
Transliteration: putratvena svīkaraṇam
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family (contrast term for 1 John’s ‘children of God’)
Rejected alternatives: दत्तकग्रहणम्
Inherited from Romans package. Retained here specifically as the CONTRAST term for 1 John’s preferred ‘children of God’ (τέκνα θεοῦ, परमेश्वरस्य सन्तानः): 1 John emphasizes organic new-birth relationship rather than Romans’ legal adoption-and-inheritance emphasis. Both terms remain valid but must not be conflated; see children_of_god entry below.
Antichrist
Approved rendering: अन्तिख्रीष्टः
Transliteration: antikhrīṣṭaḥ
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: ἀντίχριστος
Category: Christology
New coinage, formed by prefixing negation onto the established transliteration ख्रीष्टः, following the मसीहः coinage precedent. This is a genuine lexical gap, not a crowded-neighborhood collision: no existing Sanskrit term names ‘one who denies the Incarnation/Messiahship of Jesus.’ Because it is a bare coinage, it carries ZERO inherent semantic content on its own and must be explicitly glossed at EVERY occurrence (2:18,22; 4:3), not only the first: ‘one who denies that Yīśuḥ is the Khrīṣṭaḥ come in the flesh,’ never a generic theological opponent.
Advocate
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थः
Transliteration: madhyasthaḥ
Doctrine: Christ’s Advocacy for Believers
Rejected alternatives: गुरुः, पुरोहितः
Original: παράκλητος
Category: Christology
New term (renders παράκλητος, 2:1), personifying the baseline’s intercession root (मध्यस्थता). Must exclude any reading of Christ as one ritual intermediary among available options — a purohita performing sacrificial mediation, or guru-mediated access to the divine. Christ is the sole, unique, personal Advocate before the Father, not one mediating figure among several.
Day Of Judgment
Approved rendering: निर्णयदिनम्
Transliteration: nirṇayadinam
Doctrine: Confidence Before God at the Day of Judgment
Rejected alternatives: न्यायदिनम्
Original: ἡμέρα κρίσεως
Category: Eschatology
New term (renders ἡμέρα κρίσεως, 4:17), deliberately reusing the निर्णय root already fixed in the Romans baseline for ‘justification’ (धर्मीति निर्णयः), where निर्णय names Mīmāṃsā/Nyāya’s definitively ascertained conclusion (siddhānta). Never a न्याय-based compound, since न्यायः is the proper name of an entire darśana, already excluded for ‘righteousness’ in the baseline.
Testimony
Approved rendering: साक्ष्यम्
Transliteration: sākṣyam
Doctrine: Testimony Concerning Christ
Rejected alternatives: साक्षिन्
Original: μαρτυρία / μαρτυρέω
Category: Faith
New term (renders μαρτυρία/μαρτυρέω, 1:1-2; 4:14; 5:6-11). साक्ष्यम् (the abstract action-noun ‘testimony/evidence’) must not drift toward साक्षिन् (sākṣin), the major Sāṃkhya/Vedānta technical term for the ātman as silent, uninvolved ‘witness-consciousness’ underlying all experience — a drift that would suggest God as impersonal witnessing-consciousness rather than the personal subject of a historical, verifiable, eyewitness claim.
Truth
Approved rendering: सत्यम्
Transliteration: satyam
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits; general epistemic frame
Rejected alternatives: ऋतम्
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Faith
New term, load-bearing though implicitly present in Romans. Unavoidable weight comparable to धार्मिकता in the baseline: सत्य is a core Sat-Cit-Ānanda attribute of Brahman (Taittirīya Upaniṣad, ‘satyaṃ jñānam anantaṃ brahma’) and a Mīmāṃsā/Nyāya epistemological category. No less-encumbered alternative exists (ऋतम् is more loaded still). Mandatory redefinition per occurrence as God’s revealed reality in Christ and apostolic testimony, not the impersonal metaphysical Absolute-attribute.
Darkness
Approved rendering: अन्धकारः
Transliteration: andhakāraḥ
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: तमः
Original: σκοτία
Category: Sin
New term (renders σκοτία, 1:5-7; 2:8-11). Never तमः — one of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) of classical Sāṃkhya-Yoga cosmology, an impersonal material constituent of prakṛti associated with inertia/ignorance. Using तमस् risks ‘walking in darkness’ being heard as a description of one’s guṇa-composition rather than a chosen moral state before a personal, accountable God.
Confess
Approved rendering: स्वीकरणम् / स्वीकरोति
Transliteration: svīkaraṇam / svīkaroti
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin; Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: प्रायश्चित्तविधिः
Original: ὁμολογέω
Category: Sin
New term (renders ὁμολογέω, 1:9; 4:2-3,15). Distinguish from dharmaśāstra prāyaścitta procedures, which prescribe specific ritual confession-and-penance formulas for particular impurity-events performed by the guilty party upon themselves. Here it is a simple, sincere, verbal act trusting God’s own prior promise (1:9), not a step within a self-administered ritual purification sequence.
Forgive
Approved rendering: क्षमा
Transliteration: kṣamā
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: प्रायश्चित्तम्
Original: ἀφίημι / ἄφεσις
Category: Sin
New term (renders ἀφίημι/ἄφεσις, 1:9). Distinguish from the fuller forensic धर्मीति निर्णयः (‘justification’) already fixed in the Romans baseline: forgiveness (removal of guilt) is part of, but not identical to, the positive declared-righteous status justification names. Not to be confused with dharmaśāstra prāyaścitta’s prescribed ritual remedies for impurity.
Cleanse
Approved rendering: शोधनम्
Transliteration: śodhanam
Doctrine: Cleansing from Sin by the Blood of Christ
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धिः
Original: καθαρίζω
Category: Sin
New term (renders καθαρίζω, 1:7,9). Parallels the risk already flagged in the Romans baseline’s ‘sanctification’ entry: dharmaśāstra prescribes śuddhi rites for specific ritual-impurity events (post-funerary, post-menstrual, etc.). 1 John’s cleansing is a moral, once-accomplished yet continually applied cleansing from sin’s guilt through Christ’s blood, not a repeatable ritual purification procedure.
Blood
Approved rendering: रक्तम्
Transliteration: raktam
Doctrine: Cleansing from Sin by the Blood of Christ; Testimony Concerning Christ
Original: αἷμα
Category: Sin
New term (renders αἷμα, 1:7; 5:6,8). Cultural-sensitivity note: blood-offering imagery is a live category in the destination culture (e.g. animal sacrifice to certain Devī/Śākta deities in some regional traditions). Must be taught as a unique, once-for-all, substitutionary atoning event completed in history, not assimilated to ongoing ritual blood-offering practice.
Hate
Approved rendering: द्वेषः
Transliteration: dveṣaḥ
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: μισέω
Category: Sin
New term (renders μισέω, 2:9-11; 3:15; 4:20). Note: द्वेष is one of Patañjali’s five kleśas (afflictions) enumerated at Yoga Sūtra 2:3 (avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dveṣa, abhiniveśa) — an impersonal psychological-affliction category to be dissolved through yogic discipline, not a morally culpable relational sin committed against a brother before a personal, accountable God. Remains the best available lexical choice but requires this distinguishing note at every occurrence.
Children Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य सन्तानः
Transliteration: parameśvarasya santānaḥ
Doctrine: Children of God
Original: τέκνα θεοῦ
Category: Church
New term (renders τέκνα θεοῦ, 2:12,28; 3:1-2,10), 1 John’s preferred term alongside Romans’ legal adoption-and-inheritance emphasis (पुत्रत्वेन स्वीकरणम्). Must be distinguished both from that legal emphasis and from Purāṇic literal divine-parentage narratives (e.g. Karṇa as son of Sūrya) — this is a moral-spiritual status available universally by new birth, not a mythic biological/semi-divine parentage restricted to specific heroic figures.
Abide
Approved rendering: निवासः / निवसति
Transliteration: nivāsaḥ / nivasati
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another; Assurance of Salvation
Rejected alternatives: स्थितः, स्थितिः
Original: μένω
Category: Church
New term (renders μένω, the epistle’s single most repeated verb, 20+ occurrences: 2:6,24,27-28; 3:24; 4:12-16). Never स्थितः/स्थितिः — the exact term of Bhagavad Gītā 2:54-72’s sthitaprajña, ‘one of steady wisdom,’ a self-achieved, yogically stabilized state that has transcended dualities through disciplined detachment. Using स्थिति would recast mutual relational indwelling with a personal God as a private, self-attained psychological steadiness. निवास preserves the relational, two-way, hospitality-flavored sense. Given this term’s sheer frequency, vigilance is required at EVERY occurrence, not merely first use — a lapse anywhere among ~24 occurrences risks drifting toward the sthitaprajña register.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेषितः
Transliteration: preṣitaḥ
Doctrine: Apostleship (root reused for ‘sent,’ the Father’s commissioning of the Son)
Rejected alternatives: गुरुः, ऋषिः
Inherited from Romans package as a root, not thematized directly in 1 John, but its √preṣ root is deliberately reused for ‘sent’ (प्रैषीत्/प्रेषितवान्, 4:9,14) to preserve the Greek’s own wordplay between the Father sending the Son and the Son/church sending apostles.
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थता
Transliteration: madhyasthatā
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession (root reused, personified, for ‘Advocate’)
Inherited from Romans package as a root. In 1 John this root is personified into मध्यस्थः as a title for Christ’s advocacy before the Father (2:1) — see advocate entry below.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: आत्मिकं वरदानम्
Transliteration: ātmikaṃ varadānam
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts (root reused for ‘test the spirits’)
Rejected alternatives: सिद्धिः
Inherited from Romans package as a root. In 1 John the आत्मिक- adjectival element of this compound is reused, deliberately without the bare noun आत्मा, to render the tested ‘spirits’ of 4:1 as आत्मिकप्रेराणाः — see testing_spirits entry below.
Sent
Approved rendering: प्रैषीत् / प्रेषितवान्
Transliteration: praiṣīt / preṣitavān
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist (Father sending the Son)
Original: ἀποστέλλω
Category: Christology
New verb-form term (renders ἀποστέλλω, 4:9,14), built on the same √preṣ root already fixed for ‘apostle’ = प्रेषितः in the Romans baseline, deliberately preserving the Greek’s own wordplay between the Father’s authoritative commissioning of the Son and the Son’s/church’s sending of apostles.
Confidence
Approved rendering: निर्भीकता
Transliteration: nirbhīkatā
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation
Original: παρρησία
Category: Faith
New term (renders παρρησία, 3:21; 4:17; 5:14). Straightforward confidence/fearlessness vocabulary; no major named-school collision identified, unlike most terms in this glossary.
Promise
Approved rendering: प्रतिज्ञा
Transliteration: pratijñā
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Original: ἐπαγγελία
Category: Faith
New term (renders ἐπαγγελία, 2:25). प्रतिज्ञा is also the first of five members (pratijñā, hetu, udāharaṇa, upanaya, nigamana) of the classical Nyāya syllogism, the initial thesis-statement to be proven. The echo is mild; no stronger unencumbered alternative is available.
Liar
Approved rendering: मृषावादी / असत्यवादी
Transliteration: mṣāvādī / asatyavādī
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits; Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: ψεύστης
Category: Faith
New term (renders ψεύστης, 1:10; 2:4,22; 4:20). Fairly plain; ties directly to सत्यम् as its structural opposite. A claim to love God contradicted by hatred of a brother is called an outright lie (4:20), not a lesser moral failing — this must not be softened in translation.
Lawlessness
Approved rendering: विधिलङ्घनम्
Transliteration: vidhilaṅghanam
Doctrine: Sin and Lawlessness
Original: ἀνομία
Category: Sin
New term (renders ἀνομία, 3:4), built on the baseline’s विधिः (‘law’). Must mean transgression of God’s revealed commands specifically, not violation of dharma/varṇāśrama social-ritual duty broadly, which would misdirect this definition toward a very different classical category of wrongdoing.
Sin Unto Death
Approved rendering: मृत्युजनकं पापम् / अमृत्युजनकं पापम्
Transliteration: mṛtyujanakaṃ pāpam / amṛtyujanakaṃ pāpam
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Original: ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον / οὐ πρὸς θάνατον
Category: Sin
New term (renders ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον / οὐ πρὸς θάνατον, 5:16-17). The primary difficulty here is exegetical (which sin, which death is meant) rather than a specific Sanskrit-doctrinal collision; nonetheless flagged given the potential for readers trained in karmaphala categories to resolve the ambiguity differently. Requires careful translator notes and theologian/scholar review on interpretive rather than purely lexical grounds.
Brother
Approved rendering: भ्राता
Transliteration: bhrātā
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Church
New term (renders ἀδελφός, 2:9-11; 3:10-17; 4:20-21), extended by context to fellow believers. Unlike biological brotherhood in a dharmaśāstra society, which carries specific varṇa/jāti/gotra inheritance and ritual-obligation implications, this brotherhood is a new spiritual family constituted by faith in Christ, cutting across those categories — directly continuous with the Romans baseline’s ‘unity_of_jews_and_gentiles’ doctrine.
Commandment
Approved rendering: आज्ञा
Transliteration: ājñā
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth; general obedience
Original: ἐντολή
Category: Church
New term (renders ἐντολή, 2:3-4,7-8; 3:22-24; 4:21), deliberately reusing the आज्ञा root already present in the Romans baseline’s विश्वासस्य आज्ञापालनम् (‘obedience of faith’). Chosen over विधिः to keep 1 John’s Christ-given ἐντολαί distinct from Romans’ Mīmāṃsā-inflected treatment of νόμος as scriptural injunction.
Fear
Approved rendering: भयम्
Transliteration: bhayam
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation
Original: φόβος
Category: Eschatology
New term (renders φόβος, 4:18). Classical liberation theology is centrally motivated by saṃsāra-bhaya, fear of continued transmigration; 1 John’s φόβος is fear of divine judgment/punishment removed by assurance of a personal God’s settled love — a related but structurally different anxiety worth distinguishing in teaching notes.
Punishment
Approved rendering: दण्डः
Transliteration: daṇḍaḥ
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation (fear removed)
Original: κόλασις
Category: Eschatology
New term (renders κόλασις, 4:18). दण्ड is the developed dharmaśāstra/arthaśāstra category of the king’s rod of punishment upholding social-ritual dharma order (daṇḍanīti, Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra, Manusmṛti), a this-worldly socio-legal category. 1 John’s κόλασις is specifically eschatological, divine, and final; surrounding clauses must make that scope explicit.
Perfect
Approved rendering: पूर्णः / पूर्णा भवति
Transliteration: pūrṇaḥ / pūrṇā bhavati
Doctrine: God is Love; Assurance of Salvation
Rejected alternatives: सिद्धः, सिद्धिः
Original: τέλειος / τελειόω
Category: God
New term (renders τέλειος/τελειόω, 4:12,17-18). Never सिद्धः/सिद्धिः — already flagged in the Romans baseline’s ‘spiritual_gifts’ entry as the eight classical yogic supernatural attainments (aṣṭasiddhi, Yoga Sūtra 3), earned through disciplined practice. पूर्णः carries a lighter echo of the Īśa Upaniṣad’s plenitude invocation (‘pūrṇam idaḥ pūrṇam adaḥ’) but is far less systematized and is preferred.
False Prophet
Approved rendering: मिथ्याभविष्यद्वक्ता
Transliteration: mithyābhaviṣyadvaktā
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Testing the Spirits
New term (renders ψευδοπροφήτης, 4:1), built on the Romans baseline’s भविष्यद्वक्ता (‘prophet’) with the negating qualifier मिथ्या (‘false’); no new risk beyond the underlying term’s already-assessed Low baseline risk.
Devil
Approved rendering: अपवादकः / शैतानः / दुष्टः
Transliteration: apavādakaḥ / śaitānaḥ / duṣṭaḥ
Doctrine: The Devil and Spiritual Opposition
Rejected alternatives: पिशाचः, राक्षसः
Original: διάβολος / ὁ πονηρός
Category: Testing the Spirits
New term (renders διάβολος/ὁ πονηρός, 3:8,10; 5:18-19). Never पिशाचः or राक्षसः — both name specific Purāṇic/folk demon-classes with their own independent mythology, not the singular biblical cosmic Adversary. अपवादकः (literally ‘slanderer/accuser’) preserves the Greek’s own etymology (διάβολος, ‘one who throws across/accuses’).
Overcome
Approved rendering: जयति / विजयः
Transliteration: jayati / vijayaḥ
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Original: νικάω
Category: Overcoming the World
New term (renders νικάω, 4:4; 5:4-5). Plain victory-vocabulary; not tied to a single named darśana, though it may lightly evoke the Bhagavad Gītā’s battlefield setting — a general martial register acceptable without a blocking risk.
Desire Of Flesh
Approved rendering: देहेच्छा, नेत्रेच्छा, जीवनदर्पः
Transliteration: deheccā, netrecchā, jīvanadarpaḥ
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Original: ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός / τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν; ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου
Category: Overcoming the World
New term (renders the triad ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός / τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν; ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου, 2:16). Fairly plain descriptive compounds; no single named classical school claims this exact triad, though it invites a light, non-blocking comparison with the Bhagavad Gītā’s warnings against kāma and ahaṃkāra (ego/pride).
Laying Down Life
Approved rendering: प्राणत्यागः
Transliteration: prāṇatyāgaḥ
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: आत्मा-based phrasing
Original: τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν
Category: Love for the Brethren
New term (renders τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν, 3:16), Christ’s self-sacrificial death as the model for costly, active love. Deliberately avoids आत्मा for ‘soul/life,’ reserved per the baseline’s strictest rule exclusively for the Holy Spirit. प्राण (vital breath/life-force, an ordinary Sanskrit idiom for physical life) is used here in its non-technical sense, not its fuller Upaniṣadic pañca-kośa technical sense.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सहभागिता
Transliteration: sahabhāgitā
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Rejected alternatives: सत्सङ्गः
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. This is the epistle’s stated purpose (1:3, 1:6-7); never सत्सङ्गः, the specific Vaishnava bhakti devotional-gathering practice. Must not be allowed to blur into a synonym for निवासः (‘abide’) — fellowship names shared participation (a state), abiding names ongoing mutual indwelling (a relational act); distinguish explicitly where both appear together (1:3-6).
Prophet
Approved rendering: भविष्यद्वक्ता
Transliteration: bhaviṣyadvaktā
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture (root reused for ‘false prophet’)
Rejected alternatives: ऋषिः
Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John this root plus the negating qualifier मिथ्या forms मिथ्याभविष्यद्वक्ता (‘false prophet,’ 4:1); no new risk beyond the underlying term’s already-assessed Low baseline risk.
Water
Approved rendering: जलम्
Transliteration: jalam
Doctrine: Overcoming the World / Testimony Concerning Christ
Original: ὕδωρ
Category: Overcoming the World
New term (renders ὕδωρ, 5:6,8), symbolic of Christ’s baptism and/or the water at the cross (Jn 19:34). Plain, non-technical term; no significant doctrinal risk identified.
Compassion
Approved rendering: करुणा
Transliteration: karuṇā
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: σπλάγχνα
Category: Love for the Brethren
New term (renders σπλάγχνα, 3:17). करुणा is a general, widely shared compassion-term (also one of the four Buddhist brahmavihāras), but not tied to a single exclusive soteriological mechanism in the way प्रेम/भक्ति are; acceptable with light awareness of its Buddhist prominence.
Walk
Approved rendering: आचरणम्
Transliteration: ācaraṇam
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Fellowship with God
New term (renders περιπατέω, 1:6-7; 2:6), the governing behavioral metaphor for ‘walking in the light’ vs. ‘walking in darkness.’ Not tied to a single named school’s technical apparatus, though आचार appears broadly in dharmaśāstra ‘conduct’ literature (sadācāra); the risk is mild and general rather than a specific doctrinal collision.
Referenced passages