Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: James (English → Sanskrit)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the entire book of James, chapter 1 through chapter 5. It extends — and never contradicts — the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. Terms already present in the Romans baseline are marked (TM reuse) and repeated here verbatim for completeness; all other terms are NEW proposals for this curriculum, pending the same theologian/Sanskrit-scholar review process specified in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s exact definitions (Critical / High / Medium / Low), and routing follows the baseline’s review-routing convention: Critical and High → human theologian; Medium → Sanskrit-philosophically-literate scholar; Low → automated review.
Section A — Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | James Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| faith | विश्वासः | viśvāsaḥ | High | Faith | 1:3,6; 2:1,5,14–26 (core); 5:15 |
| grace | अनुग्रहः | anugrahaḥ | High | Grace | 4:6 |
| sin | पापम् | pāpam | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15,16,20 |
| law | विधिः | vidhiḥ | High | Law/Covenant | 1:25; 2:8–12; 4:11 |
| lord | प्रभुः | prabhuḥ | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1:1,7; 5:4,7–8,10–11,14–15 |
| god | सर्वेश्वरः | sarveśvaraḥ | Critical | Deity | 1:1,5,13,20,27; 2:19,23; 4:4,6–8 |
| father (of God) | पिता | pitā | Critical | God as Father | 1:17,27; 3:9 |
| peace | शान्तिः | śāntiḥ | Medium (contextual — see 2:16 note) | Peace | 2:16; 3:18 |
| righteousness | धार्मिकता | dhārmikatā | Critical | Salvation | 1:20; 2:23,24; 3:18; 5:6,16 |
| justification | धर्मीति निर्णयः | dharmīti nirṇayaḥ | Critical | Salvation | 2:21,24,25 (core passage) |
| imputed righteousness | आरोपिता धार्मिकता | āropitā dhārmikatā | Critical | Justification by Faith | 2:23 (exact Genesis 15:6 quotation, shared with Romans 4:3) |
| called | आहूतः | āhūtaḥ | High | Divine Calling | 2:7,23 |
| prophet | भविष्यद्वक्ता | bhaviṣyadvaktā | Low | Inspiration of Scripture | 5:10 |
| prophecy / fulfillment | भविष्यवाणी | bhaviṣyavāṇī | Low/Medium | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 2:23 |
| church (institutional reference) | मण्डली | maṇḍalī | Medium | Church | 5:14 |
| power (of God/prayer) | सामर्थ्यम् | sāmarthyam | High | Power of God | 5:16 |
| abraham | अब्राहामः | abrāhāmaḥ | Low | Proper name (per 12_ai transliteration table) | 2:21,23 |
Section B — New Terms Proposed for James (Not Present in Romans Baseline)
Faith and Works (Core Doctrine)
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| works (ἔργα) | कर्माणि | karmāṇi | Critical | (none available that fully escapes the collision — see notes) | The unavoidable Sanskrit word for “deeds/actions” is कर्म, which is simultaneously the ordinary word for “action” AND the technical name of the entire karma-mīमांसा/karmaphala doctrinal system (automatic, impersonal moral-causal result of action across lives). Exactly as धार्मिकता cannot escape dharma’s weight, कर्माणि cannot escape karma’s weight. Mandatory explicit redefinition at every occurrence, especially throughout James 2:14–26: “concrete deeds of love and obedience that give visible evidence of a faith already granted by grace, not ritual or moral action that automatically generates its own merit or reward (karmaphala) independent of a personal God’s grace.” |
| justified (demonstrative sense, ἐδικαιώθη/δικαιοῦται in 2:21,24,25) | धर्मीति निर्णयः-आधारित रूपम् (same TM root, e.g. धर्मतः दर्शितः) | dharmataḥ darśitaḥ | Critical | — | Same Sanskrit vocabulary as Romans’ “justification,” but requires the single most extensive translator note in this Language Package, harmonizing James’s demonstrative/vindicating sense of δικαιόω with Romans’ initial forensic sense. See full note in 07_semantic_analysis.md, James 2:21 and 2:24. |
| dead (of faith) | मृतः (masc.) | mṛtaḥ | Medium | मृता (feminine — REJECTED) | विश्वासः is grammatically masculine; every “faith…is dead” occurrence (2:17, 2:26) requires the masculine predicate. |
| show/demonstrate (faith by works) | दर्शय | darśaya | Medium | — | Emphasizes works as evidentiary, not constitutive, of faith. |
| perfected/completed (faith, by works) | पूर्णत्वं प्राप्ता / पूर्णः | pūrṇatvaṃ prāptā / pūrṇaḥ | Critical | सिद्धः (REJECTED — see “perfect” below) | Faith’s organic maturation into visible fruit, never faith achieving self-realized liberation through effortful practice. |
| friend of God / friendship | मित्रम् / मित्रता | mitram / mitratā | High | सखा / सख्यम् (REJECTED) | सखा is the technical term for sakhya-bhāva, the “friendship” devotional mood in Vaiṣṇava bhakti-rasa theology (Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna/the gopas). मित्रम् is the safer, non-rasa-theorized noun. Applies to both 2:23 and 4:4. |
| altar | यज्ञवेदी | yajñavedī | Medium | — | Genuinely resonant with Vedic yajña-altar imagery; must be footnoted as Abraham’s one-time historical covenant-test, not an ongoing ritual system. |
Trials and the Testing of Faith
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trial (external difficulty) | परीक्षा | parīkṣā | High | — | Context-sensitive with “temptation” below; disambiguate at every occurrence. |
| temptation (internal enticement to sin) | प्रलोभनम् | pralobhanam | High | — | See above. |
| testing/proving (δοκίμιον) | परीक्षा (shared) | parīkṣā | Medium | — | — |
| endurance/steadfastness (ὑπομονή) | सहिष्णुता | sahiṣṇutā | Medium | तितिक्षा (REJECTED) | तितिक्षा is the named Vedāntic sādhaka virtue, one of Śaṅkara’s six prescribed qualifications (ṣaḍ-sampat) for a seeker of Brahman-knowledge. |
| perfect/complete/mature (τέλειος) | पूर्णः | pūrṇaḥ | High | सिद्धः (REJECTED — FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION) | सिद्ध names the yogic “perfected being” who has attained the aṣṭasiddhi and the Purāṇic class of semi-divine perfected sages. This is a book-wide forbidden substitution, on par with the baseline’s own “never मोक्षः/मुक्तिः/निर्वाणम्” rule. |
| double-minded | द्विमनस्कः | dvimanaskaḥ | Medium | — | Distinguish from Yoga Sūtra 1.2’s citta-vṛtti (mental fluctuation); James condemns instability of trust, not mental activity per se. |
| blessed | धन्यः | dhanyaḥ | Medium | पुण्यवान् (REJECTED) | पुण्यवान् would frame blessedness as accumulated karmic merit rather than gracious divine favor. |
| Father of lights | ज्योतिषां पिता | jyotiṣāṃ pitā | Medium-High | — | Apologetic point of contact/contrast with jyotiṣa (Vedic astrology): God, unlike the celestial lights he made, is unchanging. |
| firstfruits | प्रथमफलम् | prathamaphalam | Medium | — | Positive resonance with the Vedic agrayaṇa firstfruits-offering rite; note the reframing (people, not produce). |
Wisdom from Above
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wisdom (σοφία) | विद्या | vidyā | High | ज्ञानम्, प्रज्ञा, बुद्धिः (all REJECTED) | ज्ञानम् = Vedānta’s soteriological jñāna-mārga; प्रज्ञा = Buddhist liberating wisdom/Yoga’s viveka-khyāti; बुद्धिः = the named Sāṅkhya tattva. विद्या still requires mandatory redefinition each occurrence as practical, God-given wisdom for righteous living, not liberating metaphysical knowledge. |
| word (implanted gospel-message, λόγος) | वचनम् | vacanam | High | वाक्, शब्द-ब्रह्म framing (REJECTED) | Avoids Vāc cosmology and Mīमांसा’s śabda-brahman (eternal Veda-sound) doctrine. |
| earthly/unspiritual (ψυχική) | लौकिकः | laukikaḥ | Medium | — | — |
| demonic (δαιμονιώδης) | पैशाचिकः | paiśācikaḥ | Medium | — | Built on पिशाच-, established under “demon” below. |
| from above (ἄνωθεν) | ऊर्ध्वात् | ūrdhvāt | Medium | — | Not to be conflated with avatāra “descent” language; wisdom’s origin, not a descent-event. |
| wheel/course of life (τροχὸς τῆς γενέσεως) | जीवनयात्रा | jīvanayātrā | High | भवचक्रम्, संसारचक्रम् (both REJECTED) | The single most easily mis-translated image-phrase in the book: भवचक्र is the specific Buddhist “Wheel of Existence” (twelve nidānas, six rebirth-realms); संसारचक्र is the Hindu transmigration-cycle image. |
| hell/Gehenna (γέεννα) | गेहेना (transliteration) | gehenā | Critical | नरकः (REJECTED — FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION) | Hindu naraka is one or more temporary hell-realms within the rebirth cycle; Gehenna’s NT use as an image of final judgment is structurally incompatible. Follows the “messiah” transliteration method. |
| tongue / bridle / tame | जिह्वा / संयमनम् / दमनम् | jihvā / saṃyamanam / damanam | Low | — | — |
| blessing / cursing | आशीर्वादः / शापः | āśīrvādaḥ / śāpaḥ | Low-Medium | — | Positive resonance: śāpa carries strong causal-efficacy weight in itihāsa/purāṇa narrative, reinforcing James’s point about speech’s real power. |
Favoritism and the Poor
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| favoritism/partiality | पक्षपातः | pakṣapātaḥ | High | — | Directly challenges varṇa-based differential treatment codified as proper (prescribed sva-dharma) in dharmaśāstra; extends the baseline’s “unity_of_jews_and_gentiles” doctrine into economic terms. |
| poor | दरिद्रः | daridraḥ | High | — | Flag the cultural association of poverty with karmaphala outworking; James’s argument must not be read as a claim about karmic merit/demerit. |
| rich | धनवान् | dhanavān | High | — | Same caution. |
| heir | उत्तराधिकारी | uttarādhikārī | Medium | — | Connects to the baseline’s “adoption” doctrine of full inheritance rights. |
| royal law | राजकीयः विधिः | rājakīyaḥ vidhiḥ | High | — | Built on विधिः TM. |
| law of liberty | स्वातन्त्र्यस्य विधिः | svātantryasya vidhiḥ | High | — | Requires mandatory redefinition against Pūrva Mīमांसा’s ordinary sense of vidhi as purely binding injunction. |
| judge (human) | विचारकः | vicārakaḥ | Medium | न्यायाधीशः (REJECTED) | न्याय-root would invoke the Nyāya darśana itself, already flagged unusable for “righteousness”/“justice” in the baseline. |
| mercy | दया / कृपा | dayā / kṛpā | Medium-High | — | कृपा was rejected as the primary term for grace specifically to keep grace and mercy distinct; using it here for “mercy” is correct and reinforces that distinction — flag to prevent confusion. |
| judgment | विचारणा | vicāraṇā | Medium | — | Distinct from धर्मीति निर्णयः (justification); do not conflate. |
Taming the Tongue (additional terms not listed above)
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| teacher | उपदेशकः | upadeśakaḥ | High | REJECTS गुरुः (guru-śiṣya-paramparā lineage-authority collision, per the baseline’s “apostle” precedent) |
| poison/rust (ἰός, polysemous) | विषम् (3:8) / कलङ्कः (5:3) | viṣam / kalaṅkaḥ | Low | Same Greek word, two senses — do not use one Sanskrit term for both |
| fruit of righteousness | धार्मिकतायाः फलम् | dhārmikatāyāḥ phalam | High | Reuses धार्मिकता; mandatory redefinition rule applies |
Worldliness versus Friendship with God
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| world (κόσμος, moral sense) | जगत् | jagat | High | संसारः, माया/मायाः (both REJECTED) | संसार would collapse “the world” into the karmic rebirth-cycle doctrine (already the rejected framework for salvation/resurrection in the baseline); माया would invoke Advaita’s provisional-reality-of-phenomena doctrine. |
| desire/lust (ἐπιθυμία, negative sense) | दुष्टाभिलाषः | duṣṭābhilāṣaḥ | High | कामः, तृष्णा, वासना (all REJECTED) | कामः is a legitimate puruṣārtha (positive life-goal) and the god Kāma’s name; तृष्णा is the precise Buddhist Second-Noble-Truth craving-mechanism; वासना is the Sāṅkhya-Yoga technical term for latent karmic impressions. |
| pride/arrogance (ὑπερήφανος) | गर्वः | garvaḥ | High | अहंकारः, अभिमानः (both REJECTED) | अहंकार is the named Sāṅकhya tattva (ego/individuation-principle); अभिमान is Vedānta’s “I-am-the-doer” false self-identification. |
| humble/humility (ταπεινός) | नम्रता / नम्रः | namratā / namraḥ | Medium | विनयः (REJECTED) | विनय names the codified Buddhist Vinaya-piṭaka monastic discipline. |
| submit (to God) | परमेश्वरस्य अधीनाः भवत | paramesvarasya adhīnāḥ bhavata | Medium | आत्मसमर्पणम् (flagged, not rejected) | The bhakti-resonant आत्मसमर्पणम्/आत्मनिवेदन (navadha-bhakti’s self-surrender) is a possible dialogue-context alternative but carries the same आत्म-compound caution flagged elsewhere; should not become the silent default. |
| devil | शैतान् (transliteration) | śaitān | Medium | — | No exact singular-cosmic-adversary parallel in Hindu cosmology (asuras/rākṣasas are plural classes); transliteration avoids false-equivalence, follows the “messiah” precedent. |
| draw near (to God) | परमेश्वरम् उपसर्पत | paramesvaraṃ upasarpata | Medium | — | Positive resonance with upāsanā (“sitting near,” devotional approach/worship-practice). |
| purify hearts | निर्मलं कुरुत | nirmalaṃ kuruta | Medium | शुद्धिः (REJECTED) | Already rejected in the baseline’s “sanctification” entry for its ritual-purification/prāyaścitta-adjacent connotation. |
| lawgiver | विधिदातृ | vidhidātṛ | High | — | Positive doctrinal contrast: directly contradicts Pūrva Mīमांसा’s apauruṣeya (authorless-Veda) premise; parallels the baseline’s “inspiration_of_scripture” entry. Should be taught explicitly. |
| ”if the Lord wills” | यदि प्रभोः इच्छा भवेत् | yadi prabhoḥ icchā bhavet | Medium-High | — | Reinforces baseline providence doctrine; cross-reference daiva-puruṣakāra debate already noted under baseline’s “providence”/“election” entries. |
| spirit (disputed referent, 4:5) | प्राणः (default, pending review) | prāṇaḥ | Critical | पवित्र आत्मा / bare आत्मा (both flagged — do not default here) | Genuinely disputed referent among interpreters (human spirit vs. Holy Spirit); default to the less doctrinally loaded rendering pending explicit review. |
Prayer and Healing
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lord of hosts | सेनानां प्रभुः | senānāṃ prabhuḥ | High | देवसेनापतिः-framing (flagged, not used) | Resonates with Skanda’s Purāṇic title devasenāpati and Indra as army-leader of the devas; must be paired with the same “sovereignty over all beings, not a superior general within a pantheon” caution given to सर्वेश्वरः in the baseline. |
| elders (church office) | प्राचीनाः | prācīnāḥ | High | गुरुः, ब्राह्मणः (both REJECTED) | गुरुः invokes guru-lineage authority (per “apostle” precedent); ब्राह्मणः would wrongly recast a functional office as a hereditary priestly-caste status. |
| anointing with oil | तैलेन अभ्यञ्जनम् | tailena abhyañjanam | High | अभिषेकः (REJECTED) | अभिषेक is the specific Sanskrit term for ritual consecration-anointing of deity images or kings at coronation; James’s anointing is a simple pastoral/medicinal-symbolic act, not a sacramental consecration rite. |
| save/heal (σῴζω, physical-healing sense, 5:15) | स्वस्थं करिष्यति | svasthaṃ kariṣyati | Critical | त्राणं दास्यति (context-inappropriate HERE) | σῴζω is context-sensitive across 2:14 (soteriological), 5:15 (physical healing — this entry), and 5:20 (soteriological, see below); never collapse all three into one fixed rendering. |
| save (σῴζω, soteriological sense, 5:20) | त्राणं दास्यति | trāṇaṃ dāsyati | Critical | — | त्राणम् (TM reuse) is appropriate here, unlike 5:15. |
| raise up (from sickbed, ἐγερεῖ) | उत्थापयिष्यति | utthāpayiṣyati | High | — | Shares a Greek verb-root with resurrection language (ἐγείρω) but a distinct referent (recovery, not resurrection); do not conflate with पुनरुत्थानम्. |
| forgive/forgiveness (ἀφίημι) | क्षमा | kṣamā | Medium | — | Was passed over as a substitute for justification in the baseline; correct and useful here for plain “forgiveness,” provided the two concepts (forgiveness vs. justification) remain terminologically distinct. |
| oath/swear | प्रतिज्ञा / शपथः | pratijñā / śapathaḥ | Medium | — | Positive point of contact with dharmaśāstra’s high valuation of satya (truthfulness). |
| heal (ἰάομαι) | आरोग्यं कारयति | ārogyaṃ kārayati | Medium | — | — |
| prayer’s power/effectiveness | सामर्थ्यवती (प्रार्थना) | sāmarthyavatī | Medium-High | शक्तिः (REJECTED) | Extends the baseline’s power_of_god forbidden-substitution rule (never शक्तिः, the hypostasized Śākta-Tantric divine feminine creative power) to this new context. |
Patience and the Lord’s Return
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| patience/long-suffering (μακροθυμία) | धैर्यम् | dhairyam | Medium | — | Distinct from ὑπομονή/सहिष्णुता above, though related. |
| the Lord’s coming/return (παρουσία) | प्रभोः आगमनम् / पुनरागमनम् | prabhoḥ āgamanam / punarāgamanam | Critical | — | Sharper version of the baseline’s incarnation/avatāra risk: structurally parallels the still-awaited Kalki avatāra (Gītā 4.7-8; baseline’s “messianic_promise” entry). MANDATORY note: this is the same eternal, once-incarnate Son returning to consummate his accomplished work, not a fresh periodic avatāra-descent within a repeating yuga-cycle. |
Confession and Restoration
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| confess sins to one another | परस्परं पापस्वीकारः | parasparaṃ pāpasvīkāraḥ | High | प्रायश्चित्तम् (REJECTED) | प्रायश्चित्त is dharmaśāstra’s prescribed, often priest-mediated, ritual atonement for cataloged sins; mutual peer confession has no exact analog in that system — a point of genuine theological distinctiveness to preserve. |
| turn back/restore (a wanderer) | प्रतिनिवर्तनम् | pratinivartanam | Medium | पुनरागमनम् (reserved for Parousia — do not reuse here) | Deliberately kept distinct from the Lord’s-return term to avoid confusing categories. |
| wander from the truth | पथभ्रष्टः भवति | pathabhraṣṭaḥ bhavati | Medium | — | — |
| soul (ψυχή, “save a soul”) | जीवः / जीवितम् | jīvaḥ / jīvitam | High | आत्मा (REJECTED — FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION for this use) | Direct application of the baseline’s Holy Spirit forbidden-substitution rule to a new context: आत्मा must never render generic “soul/self,” since it risks an Advaita-trained reader hearing “save your ātman” as pointing toward Self-realization rather than personal rescue. |
| spirit/breath (πνεῦμα, “body without spirit,” 2:26) | प्राणः | prāṇaḥ | Critical | पवित्र आत्मा / आत्मा (REJECTED — FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION) | This is ordinary life-breath animating a body, textually and doctrinally unrelated to the Holy Spirit; the baseline’s own rule (“must never be used to render generic ‘spirit’ language…”) applies directly and by name here. |
| covers a multitude of sins | पापानां बहुत्वम् आच्छादयिष्यति | pāpānāṃ bahutvam ācchādayiṣyati | Medium | — | Wisdom-literature idiom (Proverbs); avoid overclaiming a developed atonement doctrine from this single verse. |
Demons, Monotheism, and Related Terms
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| demon (δαιμόνιον) | पिशाचः | piśācaḥ | High | असुराः, राक्षसाः (both REJECTED) | असुर invokes the deva-asura cosmic-battle mythology; राक्षस invokes the Rāmāyaṇa demon-race narrative. Both import elaborate rival narrative-theologies; पिशाच is a lower malevolent-spirit class without an attached grand cosmic-dualism narrative. |
| one God (monotheistic confession) | एकः सर्वेश्वरः | ekaḥ sarveśvaraḥ | High | — | Reinforces, does not newly introduce, the baseline’s Critical “god” doctrine. |
| synagogue/assembly (historical reference, 2:2) | सभा | sabhā | Medium | मण्डली (reserved for general “church” concept) | Do not substitute one for the other; distinct referents in this verse. |
| prostitute (Rahab) | वेश्या | veśyā | Low-Medium | — | Reinforces universal-scope-of-gospel doctrine. |
| messengers/spies (Rahab’s, 2:25) | दूताः | dūtāḥ | Medium | — | MANDATORY disambiguation: human spies (Joshua 2), not angelic beings, despite ἄγγελος being the same word used for “angel.” |
| servant (δοῦλος) | दासः | dāsaḥ | Medium | — | Resonant with (not colliding with) dāsya-bhāva, the “servant” devotional mood in bhakti-rasa theology. |
Proper Names (New Transliterations for James)
| English | Sanskrit | Transliteration | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James (author) | याकोबः | yākobaḥ | Low | Cognate with Jacob’s Hebrew form |
| Isaac | इसहाकः | isahākaḥ | Low | — |
| Rahab | राहाब् | rāhāb | Low | — |
| Job | ईयोब् | īyob | Low | — |
| Elijah | एलीयः | elīyaḥ | Low | — |
Risk Summary for the James Curriculum
| Tier | Count (new terms/phrases in Section B) | Notable Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 9 | works (κर्माणि), demonstrative justification (2:21/24/25), τελειόω at 2:22, Gehenna, Parousia, context-sensitive σῴζω (×2 senses), the 4:5 πνεῦμα ambiguity, the 2:26 πνεῦμα-as-breath rendering |
| High | 21 | wisdom, desire, world, friendship/friend-of-God, favoritism, poor, rich, law-of-liberty/royal-law, pride, teacher, wheel-of-becoming image, lawgiver, Lord of hosts, elders, anointing with oil, confession to one another, soul, demon, perfect/τέλειος, righteousness-reuses, justification-reuses |
| Medium | ~24 | endurance, blessed, Father of lights, firstfruits, earthly/demonic wisdom qualifiers, mercy, judgment, humility, submit, draw near, purify hearts, devil, “if the Lord wills,” oath, forgive, heal, prayer’s power, patience, turn back, servant, synagogue, messengers, prostitute, wander |
| Low | ~15 | tongue, bridle, tame, poison/rust, blessing/cursing, wages, sick, Job, Elijah, James, Isaac, Rahab, hearer/doer, orphan/widow, judge-standing-at-door image |
All Critical and High risk terms above require human theologian review before Phase 2 translation begins, per the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json routing convention. Medium risk terms require review by a Sanskrit-philosophically-literate scholar. This glossary should be merged into an updated translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json for the James curriculum as a follow-on Phase 1 deliverable.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: धार्मिकता
Transliteration: dhārmikatā
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: धर्मः, न्यायः, पुण्यम्
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:20; 2:23,24; 3:18; 5:6,16. Mandatory redefinition at every occurrence per the baseline rule; dharma’s weight cannot be escaped by word choice alone.
Justification
Approved rendering: धर्मीति निर्णयः
Transliteration: dharmīti nirṇayaḥ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: क्षमा, पुण्यार्जनम्
Original: δικαιόω (ἐδικαιώθη, δικαιοῦται)
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package, reused for lexical consistency across both epistles. James 2:21,24,25 use δικαιόω in a DEMONSTRATIVE/VINDICATING sense (a faith already reckoned righteous in Genesis 15:6 is shown genuine by obedience), NOT Romans’ initial forensic sense. MANDATORY extended translator note at every occurrence: James addresses a claimed-but-inactive faith (νεκρά πίστις); Paul addresses whether works of the law can be the ground of standing before God apart from faith. Same Sanskrit root, different sense, must be explicitly harmonized — the single highest-stakes cross-document requirement in this Language Package.
Salvation
Approved rendering: त्राणम्
Transliteration: trāṇam
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: मोक्षः, मुक्तिः, निर्वाणम्
Inherited from Romans package. In James this term is CONTEXT-SENSITIVE: active at 2:14 (‘can that faith save him?’) and 5:20 (‘will save a soul from death’) in its soteriological sense. NEVER use for James 5:15’s physical-healing sense of σῴζω — see ‘salvation_physical_healing’ below. NEVER मोक्षः/मुक्तिः/निर्वाणम्.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: पुनरुत्थानम्
Transliteration: punarutthānam
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly discussed in James but retained for cross-reference: James 5:15’s ‘raise up’ (ἐγερεῖ, उत्थापयिष्यति) shares a Greek verb-root with resurrection language but refers to recovery from sickness, not resurrection, and must never be confused with or footnoted alongside पुनरुत्थानम्. NEVER पुनर्जन्म.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभुः
Transliteration: prabhuḥ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ईश्वरः, स्वामी
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:1,7 (James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ); 2:1 (‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory’ — as direct a Lordship confession as Romans 10:9); 5:4,7-8,10-11,14-15. Always प्रभुः, never ईश्वरः, per the baseline’s Advaita-subordination-to-māyā reasoning.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: देहधारणम्
Transliteration: dehadhāraṇam
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: अवतारः
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly discussed in James’s extant text but essential background for James 5:7-8’s Parousia doctrine, which must be explicitly taught as the SAME once-incarnate (देहधारणम्, never अवतारः) Son returning, not a fresh avatāra-descent. NEVER अवतारः; must cite Bhagavad Gītā 4.7-8 distinction at first occurrence of any incarnation-adjacent discussion.
Jesus
Approved rendering: यीशुः
Transliteration: yīśuḥ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:1; 2:1.
God
Approved rendering: सर्वेश्वरः
Transliteration: sarveśvaraḥ
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ईश्वरः, ब्रह्मन्, भगवान्, देवः
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:1,5,13,20,27; 2:19,23; 4:4,6-8. James 2:19’s ‘God is one’ (एकः सर्वेश्वरः) must retain full ‘Lord OF ALL’ force — bare correct monotheistic assent, even by demons, is insufficient without transformed trust and action.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: pavitra ātmā
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मन्, परमात्मा
Inherited from Romans package. THE SINGLE MOST FAR-REACHING FORBIDDEN-SUBSTITUTION RULE IN THE JAMES CURRICULUM: आत्मा/पवित्र आत्मा must NEVER render James’s generic ‘soul’ (ψυχή, 1:21; 5:20 — use जीवः/जीवितम्) or generic ‘spirit/breath’ language (πνεῦμα, 2:26’s body-without-spirit analogy — use प्राणः; and 4:5’s disputed referent — default to प्राणः pending review). This rule recurs at FOUR distinct James occurrences under three different English source words and must be individually verified at each, not assumed covered by one blanket check.
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: pitā
Doctrine: God as Father
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मा, प्रजापतिः
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:17,27; 3:9. James 1:17’s ‘Father of lights’ (ज्योतिषां पिता) is a deliberate apologetic point of contact/contrast with jyotiṣa (Vedic astrology): God, unlike the celestial lights he made, does not vary — flag explicitly for the dialogue-audience.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: आरोपिता धार्मिकता
Transliteration: āropitā dhārmikatā
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: अर्जिता धार्मिकता
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package, EXACT reuse mandatory. James 2:23 quotes Genesis 15:6 with the identical construction used at Romans 4:3 (‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’). This verbatim shared citation is the strongest textual proof that James and Romans share one doctrine of justification-by-faith, James adding vindication-by-works rather than replacing the ground of justification.
Works
Approved rendering: कर्माणि
Transliteration: karmāṇi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἔργα
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. No available Sanskrit alternative escapes this collision: कर्म is simultaneously the plain word for ‘deed/action’ and the technical name of the entire karma-mīmāṃsā/karmaphala system (action automatically generating its own merit/result across lives, independent of a personal God’s grace). Structurally identical in kind to धार्मिकता’s unavoidable dharma-weight in the Romans baseline. MANDATORY explicit redefinition at every occurrence in James 2:14-26 and 1:22-25: ‘visible deeds of love and obedience that evidence a faith already granted by grace, not ritual or moral action that automatically produces its own merit apart from a personal God.‘
Hell Gehenna
Approved rendering: गेहेना
Transliteration: gehenā
Doctrine: Eschatological Judgment and Hell
Rejected alternatives: नरकः
Original: γέεννα
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW, TRANSLITERATED (following the ‘messiah’ precedent). γέεννα: James 3:6. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER नरकः. Hindu naraka names one or more TEMPORARY hell-realms within the rebirth cycle, from which a being eventually re-emerges once karma is exhausted — structurally incompatible with Gehenna’s use as an image of final, decisive judgment.
Salvation Physical Healing
Approved rendering: स्वस्थं करिष्यति
Transliteration: svasthaṃ kariṣyati
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: त्राणं दास्यति (context-inappropriate here)
Original: σῴζω (physical-healing sense)
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. σῴζω (physical-healing sense): James 5:15, ‘the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.’ MUST NOT use त्राणम् here — σῴζω is context-sensitive across James (soteriological at 2:14 and 5:20; physical-healing here), requiring the same per-occurrence discipline the baseline already applies to κλητός/‘called.‘
Parousia
Approved rendering: प्रभोः आगमनम् / पुनरागमनम्
Transliteration: prabhoḥ āgamanam / punarāgamanam
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: παρουσία (τοῦ κυρίου)
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
NEW. παρουσία: James 5:7-8. THE SHARPEST DOCTRINAL-COLLISION RISK IN THE ENTIRE LETTER, structurally HARDER than the baseline’s Incarnation entry: Christ’s future, awaited coming to execute judgment and consummate his work structurally parallels the still-awaited Kalki avatāra, the tenth and final daśāvatāra expected to end the kali-yuga and restore dharma (Bhagavad Gītā 4.7-8). Being still-future (unlike the completed, unrepeatable past Incarnation), the avatāra parallel is structurally CLOSER, not more distant. MANDATORY note at every occurrence: this is the SAME eternal, once-incarnate Son (देहधारणम्, never अवतारः) returning to consummate his already-accomplished work, not a fresh periodic avatāra-descent within a repeating yuga-cycle. No ‘second Kalki’ exists in Christian theology; the number and finality of Christ’s comings (one incarnation, one return) must be stated explicitly against the daśāvatāra’s open-ended, cyclical structure.
Spirit Breath
Approved rendering: प्राणः
Transliteration: prāṇaḥ
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: पवित्र आत्मा, आत्मा
Original: πνεῦμα (life-breath sense)
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. πνεῦμα (life-breath sense): James 2:26, ‘as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.’ FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER पवित्र आत्मा or bare आत्मा. This is a direct, textually located application of the baseline’s own forbidden-substitution rule for generic ‘spirit’ language. प्राणः (ordinary life-breath) safely renders the analogy without invoking either the Holy Spirit or the ātman-Brahman identity claim.
Spirit Disputed
Approved rendering: प्राणः (pending theological review)
Transliteration: prāṇaḥ
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: पवित्र आत्मा, आत्मा
Original: πνεῦμα (4:5, disputed referent)
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. πνεῦμα (4:5, disputed referent): ‘the spirit that he caused to dwell in us’ — a textually and theologically disputed clause among interpreters (human spirit’s inclination vs. the Holy Spirit). Because the referent is genuinely disputed, default to the LESS doctrinally loaded rendering (प्राणः) pending explicit theological review determining whether a Holy-Spirit sense is intended. NEVER let ambiguity default silently to पवित्र आत्मा.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: सुसमाचारः
Transliteration: susamācāraḥ
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: शुभवार्ता
Original: εὐαγγέλιον (implied, cf. 1:18 λόγος ἀληθείας)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James does not use εὐαγγέλιον directly but assumes the same gospel content (cf. 1:18’s ‘word of truth,’ 1:21’s ‘implanted word’); reuse सुसमाचारः wherever the gospel proclamation itself, rather than the implanted-word image, is the referent.
Grace
Approved rendering: अनुग्रहः
Transliteration: anugrahaḥ
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कृपा, प्रसादः, पुण्यम्
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James 4:6 (‘God gives grace to the humble,’ quoting Proverbs 3:34): must preserve unmerited-favor sense against a karmaphala-style reading in which humility automatically triggers a deserved reward. See James-specific doctrine ‘Grace Given to the Humble.‘
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वासः
Transliteration: viśvāsaḥ
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्तिः
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:3,6; 2:1,5,14-26 (core passage); 5:15. Note: विश्वासः is grammatically masculine; every ‘faith…is dead’ predicate (2:17, 2:26) must use मृतः, never मृता.
Called
Approved rendering: आहूतः
Transliteration: āhūtaḥ
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: निमन्त्रितः
Original: κλητός / καλέω (implied, cf. 2:7,23)
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:7 (the honorable name by which believers are called) and 2:23 (Abraham ‘called’ a friend of God). Retains the Vedic āhvāna-reversal caution: God’s/Scripture’s naming of a person, not human ritual invocation of a deity.
Calling
Approved rendering: आह्वानम्
Transliteration: āhvānam
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: निमन्त्रणम्
Inherited from Romans package. Noun form; included for cross-curriculum consistency though James’s usage is verbal (आहूतः) rather than nominal.
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्रम्
Transliteration: pavitram
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धम्
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly lexicalized in James’s extant text but retained for cross-reference to ‘saints’/‘sanctification’ doctrine implicit in James’s ethical demands (1:27, 4:8).
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्राः जनाः
Transliteration: pavitrāḥ janāḥ
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: ऋषयः, संन्यासिनः
Inherited from Romans package. Included for cross-curriculum consistency; James addresses ‘brothers’ rather than using this specific noun, but the underlying corporate-believer concept is presupposed throughout.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्रीकरणम्
Transliteration: pavitrīkaraṇam
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धिः
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant background doctrine for James’s call to ‘purify your hearts’ (4:8, rendered निर्मलं कुरुत, deliberately NOT शुद्धिः) and ‘pure and undefiled religion’ (1:26-27).
Law
Approved rendering: विधिः
Transliteration: vidhiḥ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy / Law of Liberty
Rejected alternatives: धर्मः, धर्मशास्त्रम्
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:25 (‘law of liberty’); 2:8-12 (‘royal law,’ ‘whole law’); 4:11. Retains the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā-precise ‘binding scriptural injunction’ sense established in Romans, now placed under new pressure by James’s paradoxical pairing with ‘liberty’ — see ‘law_of_liberty’ below.
Sin
Approved rendering: पापम्
Transliteration: pāpam
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: अधर्मः
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15,16,20. Guard against a ritual-impurity/prāyaścitta-resolvable reading, especially at 5:15-16 where forgiveness and mutual confession are in view.
Glory
Approved rendering: महिमा
Transliteration: mahimā
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: तेजस्
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:1: ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory’ — applies exclusive divine glory to Christ as directly as any Romans Christology text. Never तेजस् (Devī Māhātmyam substance-metaphysics).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य सामर्थ्यम्
Transliteration: parameśvarasya sāmarthyam
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: शक्तिः
Inherited from Romans package. Root सामर्थ्यम् extended to a new James-specific context: the power/effectiveness of righteous prayer (5:16). NEVER शक्तिः (the hypostasized Śākta-Tantric divine feminine creative power) in either context.
Election
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य वरणम्
Transliteration: parameśvarasya varaṇam
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: भाग्यम्, दैवम्
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant background for James 2:5: ‘has not God chosen the poor… to be rich in faith?’ God’s sovereign personal choice, not भाग्यम्/दैवम् (fortune/fate) and not to be read through a karmaphala lens implying the poor’s status is deserved or their choosing is a reward.
Providence
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य विधानम्
Transliteration: parameśvarasya vidhānam
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: भाग्यम्, दैवम्, कर्मफलम्
Inherited from Romans package. James 4:13-17 (‘if the Lord wills’): God’s personal, purposive governance, not भाग्यम्/दैवम् or कर्मफलम् (impersonal karmic causal law). Natural cross-reference to the daiva-puruṣakāra (fate vs. effort) debate.
Perfect Mature
Approved rendering: पूर्णः
Transliteration: pūrṇaḥ
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: सिद्धः
Original: τέλειος / τελειόω
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. τέλειος/τελειόω: James 1:4,17,25 and 2:22 (faith ‘perfected’/‘completed’ by works). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER सिद्धः, the yogic ‘perfected being’ who has attained the aṣṭasiddhi (Yoga Sūtra 3) and the Purāṇic semi-divine perfected-sage class — catastrophic especially at 2:22, adjacent to ‘faith,’ where it could be heard as ‘faith attains siddhi through works.’ This is a book-wide forbidden substitution on par with the baseline’s मोक्ष/मुक्ति/निर्वाण rule. Verbal form: पूर्णत्वं प्राप्ता (feminine agreeing with विश्वासः-derived context as needed; verify agreement per occurrence).
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: मित्रम्
Transliteration: mitram
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: सखा, सख्यम्
Original: φίλος θεοῦ / φιλία
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. James 2:23 (‘called a friend of God’) and 4:4 (‘friendship with the world is enmity with God’). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER सखा/सख्यम्, the precise technical term for sakhya-bhāva, the ‘friendship’ devotional-mood category within Vaiṣṇava bhakti-rasa theology (Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna/the gopas). Risk is asymmetric: सखा would import positive devotional connotations at 2:23 but would be actively confusing at 4:4, where friendship-with-the-world is condemned as enmity with God. Noun form for the relationship: मित्रता (mitratā).
Trial
Approved rendering: परीक्षा
Transliteration: parīkṣā
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειρασμός (external sense)
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. External difficulty testing faith (James 1:2-3,12), and the testing/proving process (δοκίμιον). Context-sensitive against ‘temptation’ below; disambiguate every occurrence.
Temptation
Approved rendering: प्रलोभनम्
Transliteration: pralobhanam
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειρασμός (internal sense)
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. Internal enticement toward sin (James 1:13-14). Must be kept lexically distinct from परीक्षा so that God’s testing of faith is never confused with God tempting toward sin, which James explicitly denies (1:13).
Wisdom
Approved rendering: विद्या
Transliteration: vidyā
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: ज्ञानम्, प्रज्ञा, बुद्धिः
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. σοφία: James 1:5; 3:13-18. The letter’s most crowded semantic neighborhood. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: ज्ञानम् (Vedānta’s soteriological jñāna-mārga), प्रज्ञा (Buddhist liberating insight / Yoga’s viveka-khyāti), बुद्धिः (the named Sāṅkhya tattva, the discriminating-intellect evolute of prakṛti). विद्या is least-encumbered but still requires MANDATORY redefinition at every occurrence: practical, God-given wisdom for righteous living, never liberating metaphysical knowledge.
Word Implanted
Approved rendering: वचनम्
Transliteration: vacanam
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: वाक्, शब्द-ब्रह्म framing
Original: λόγος (ἔμφυτος, τῆς ἀληθείας)
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. λόγος ἔμφυτος, τῆς ἀληθείας: James 1:18,21-23,25. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER वाक् or any शब्द-ब्रह्म-adjacent framing, which activates Vāc cosmology and Mīmāṃsā’s śabda-brahman doctrine of the Veda’s eternal, uncreated sound-form (already a rejected alternative under the baseline’s ‘covenant’ entry).
Wheel Of Life
Approved rendering: जीवनयात्रा
Transliteration: jīvanayātrā
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Rejected alternatives: भवचक्रम्, संसारचक्रम्
Original: τροχὸς τῆς γενέσεως
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. τροχὸς τῆς γενέσεως: James 3:6, the tongue ‘sets on fire the whole course of life.’ FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: NEVER भवचक्रम् (the specific Buddhist ‘Wheel of Existence,’ twelve nidānas and six rebirth-realms) or संसारचक्रम् (the Hindu transmigratory-cycle image). Any wheel-image at all in this semantic space risks activating one of these; जीवनयात्रा deliberately avoids wheel-imagery entirely.
Teacher
Approved rendering: उपदेशकः
Transliteration: upadeśakaḥ
Doctrine: Teachers and Greater Accountability
Rejected alternatives: गुरुः
Original: διδάσκαλος
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. διδάσκαλος: James 3:1. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER गुरुः, which would invoke the guru-śiṣya-paramparā lineage-authority system and its near-infallibility conventions, exactly as flagged for ‘apostle’ in the Romans baseline. James’s point is heightened, not diminished, accountability for teachers.
Fruit Of Righteousness
Approved rendering: धार्मिकतायाः फलम्
Transliteration: dhārmikatāyāḥ phalam
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
NEW. James 3:18. Built on धार्मिकता (TM); the baseline’s mandatory redefinition rule for righteousness applies wherever this compound appears.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: पक्षपातः
Transliteration: pakṣapātaḥ
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. προσωπολημψία: James 2:1,9. The term itself is uncontested, but the doctrine directly challenges varṇa-based differential treatment codified as prescribed sva-dharma (not partiality) in classical dharmaśāstra social theory — the risk is doctrinal-explanatory, not lexical, and must not be softened.
Poor
Approved rendering: दरिद्रः
Transliteration: daridraḥ
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πτωχός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. πτωχός: James 2:5. Flag the widespread cultural association of poverty with karmaphala outworking of past-life demerit; James’s argument (God specifically honors the poor) must not be read as a claim about the poor’s karmic merit or demerit.
Rich
Approved rendering: धनवान्
Transliteration: dhanavān
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor / Rich Oppressors and Social Justice
Original: πλούσιος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. πλούσιος: James 2:6-7; 5:1-6. Same karmaphala-merit caution as ‘poor’: wealth must not be read as evidence of accumulated karmic merit, especially at 5:1-6 where James issues a direct moral indictment of oppressive rich landowners.
Royal Law
Approved rendering: राजकीयः विधिः
Transliteration: rājakīyaḥ vidhiḥ
Doctrine: Law of Liberty and the Royal Law
Original: νόμος βασιλικός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. νόμος βασιλικός: James 2:8, ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ Built on विधिः (TM), preserving its Pūrva Mīmāṃsā-precise binding-injunction force.
Law Of Liberty
Approved rendering: स्वातन्त्र्यस्य विधिः
Transliteration: svātantryasya vidhiḥ
Doctrine: Law of Liberty and the Royal Law
Original: νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας: James 1:25; 2:12. Requires MANDATORY redefinition at every occurrence: this law liberates rather than merely binds, in direct tension with Pūrva Mīmāṃsā’s ordinary sense of vidhi as a purely binding scriptural injunction. Preserve the paradox; do not smooth it away with a softer word.
World Kosmos
Approved rendering: जगत्
Transliteration: jagat
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: संसारः, माया
Original: κόσμος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. κόσμος: James 1:27; 4:4. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: NEVER संसारः (the technical cyclic-transmigration term, already the explicitly rejected framework for ‘salvation’/‘resurrection’ in the Romans baseline) or माया (Advaita’s provisional-reality-of-phenomena doctrine). James’s ‘world’ is a morally opposed system, not an ontologically illusory or karmically cyclical one.
Desire Epithymia
Approved rendering: दुष्टाभिलाषः
Transliteration: duṣṭābhilāṣaḥ
Doctrine: Sin and Disordered Desire
Rejected alternatives: कामः, तृष्णा, वासना
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. ἐπιθυμία (negative sense): James 1:14-15; 4:1-3. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: NEVER कामः (a legitimate puruṣārtha and the god Kāma’s proper name), तृष्णा (the precise Buddhist Second-Noble-Truth craving-mechanism driving pratītyasamutpāda), or वासना (Sāṅkhya-Yoga’s technical latent karmic impression, already rejected under the baseline’s resurrection entry). This is a four-way crowded neighborhood; कामः especially will tempt translators seeking elegance and must be actively fenced against.
Pride
Approved rendering: गर्वः
Transliteration: garvaḥ
Doctrine: Grace Given to the Humble
Rejected alternatives: अहंकारः, अभिमानः
Original: ὑπερήφανος / ὑπερηφανία
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. ὑπερήφανος: James 4:6. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: NEVER अहंकारः (the named Sāṅkhya tattva, the ego/individuation-principle in the mahat→buddhi→ahaṃkāra sequence) or अभिमानः (Vedānta’s ‘I-am-the-doer’ false self-identification). गर्वः is the safer, purely moral term.
Lawgiver
Approved rendering: विधिदातृ
Transliteration: vidhidātṛ
Doctrine: The One Lawgiver and Scriptural Authority
Original: νομοθέτης
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. νομοθέτης: James 4:12, ‘there is only one lawgiver and judge.’ Built on विधिः (TM). A genuinely important POSITIVE doctrinal contrast point, not merely a risk: directly contradicts Pūrva Mīmāṃsā’s apauruṣeya premise (Vedic vidhi as authorless, with no personal lawgiver at all). MUST be explicitly cross-referenced with the baseline’s Critical ‘inspiration_of_scripture’ doctrine, not translated past unremarked.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: सेनानां प्रभुः
Transliteration: senānāṃ prabhuḥ
Doctrine: Rich Oppressors and Social Justice
Rejected alternatives: देवसेनापतिः framing
Original: Κύριος Σαβαώθ
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. Κύριος Σαβαώθ: James 5:4. Resonates specifically with Skanda/Kārtikeya’s Purāṇic title devasenāpati (‘commander of the gods’ army’) and with Indra as army-leader of the devas in cosmic-battle narratives. Must be paired with the same ‘sovereignty over every other being,’ not ‘superior general within a pantheon,’ caution already applied to सर्वेश्वरः in the baseline’s ‘god’ entry.
Elders
Approved rendering: प्राचीनाः
Transliteration: prācīnāḥ
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: गुरुः, ब्राह्मणः
Original: πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας: James 5:14. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: NEVER गुरुः (guru-lineage-authority collision, per the ‘apostle’ precedent) or ब्राह्मणः, which would wrongly recast a functional church office as hereditary priestly-caste status, importing varṇa-system assumptions absent from the text. ब्राह्मणः is a particularly dangerous ‘ordinary-sounding’ wrong choice since it is not obviously incorrect to an untrained translator.
Anointing With Oil
Approved rendering: तैलेन अभ्यञ्जनम्
Transliteration: tailena abhyañjanam
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: अभिषेकः
Original: ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ: James 5:14. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER अभिषेकः, the specific term for ritual consecration-anointing of deity images or kings at coronation. James’s anointing is a simple pastoral/medicinal-symbolic act accompanying prayer, not a sacramental consecration rite. Another ‘ordinary-sounding wrong word’ risk requiring explicit flagging.
Raise Up Sickbed
Approved rendering: उत्थापयिष्यति
Transliteration: utthāpayiṣyati
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος: James 5:15. Shares a Greek verb-root with resurrection language (ἐγείρω) but a distinct referent (physical recovery, not resurrection); must not be confused with, or footnoted alongside, पुनरुत्थानम्.
Confess Sins To One Another
Approved rendering: परस्परं पापस्वीकारः
Transliteration: parasparaṃ pāpasvīkāraḥ
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: प्रायश्चित्तम्
Original: ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας
Category: Confession and Restoration
NEW. ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας: James 5:16. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER प्रायश्चित्तम्, the dharmaśāstra term for prescribed, often priest-mediated, ritual atonement for cataloged sins. Mutual, non-priestly, peer-level confession has NO exact analog in the prāyaścitta system — preserve this as a point of genuine theological distinctiveness, not a gap to smooth over.
Soul Psyche
Approved rendering: जीवः / जीवितम्
Transliteration: jīvaḥ / jīvitam
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: आत्मा
Original: ψυχή
Category: Confession and Restoration
NEW. ψυχή: James 1:21 (‘save your souls’); 5:20 (‘save a soul from death’). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER आत्मा — direct application of the baseline’s Holy Spirit forbidden-substitution rule to this new context, since an Advaita-trained reader could hear ‘save your ātman’ as pointing toward Self-realization (ātman=Brahman) rather than personal rescue by another. जीव carries far less identity-collapse risk though it remains a real Vedāntic technical term in jīva-Brahman discussion; keep the plain ‘life/living being’ sense foregrounded.
Demon
Approved rendering: पिशाचाः
Transliteration: piśācāḥ
Doctrine: Demons and Bare Monotheism
Rejected alternatives: असुराः, राक्षसाः
Original: δαιμόνια
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. δαιμόνια: James 2:19. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS: NEVER असुराः (deva-asura cosmic-battle mythology) or राक्षसाः (Rāmāyaṇa demon-race narrative) — both import elaborate rival narrative-theologies. पिशाचाः is a lower malevolent-spirit class without an attached grand cosmic-dualism narrative.
One God
Approved rendering: एकः सर्वेश्वरः
Transliteration: ekaḥ sarveśvaraḥ
Doctrine: Demons and Bare Monotheism
Original: εἷς θεός
Category: Faith and Works
NEW (compound built on inherited सर्वेश्वरः). εἷς θεός: James 2:19. Reinforces, does not newly introduce, the baseline’s Critical ‘god’ doctrine; must retain full ‘Lord OF ALL’ force.
Religion Pure
Approved rendering: अनुष्ठानम्
Transliteration: anuṣṭhānam
Doctrine: Pure Religion and Care for the Vulnerable
Rejected alternatives: धर्मः, पूजा
Original: θρησκεία
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. θρησκεία: James 1:26-27. Deliberately drawn from ritual-performance vocabulary (like the baseline’s ‘law’→विधिः precedent) rather than bare धर्मः (too broad, varṇāśrama-tied) or पूजा (too narrowly cultic-devotional). James’s own redefinition — true religious observance is ethical compassion toward orphans and widows, not correct ritual performance alone — must be preserved explicitly, not softened into generic piety language.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: शान्तिः
Transliteration: śāntiḥ
Doctrine: Peace
Rejected alternatives: निर्वृत्तिः
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Wisdom from Above
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:16 uses this in its ORDINARY social farewell-blessing sense (‘go in peace, be warmed and filled’), exposed as empty without accompanying action — MUST NOT be footnoted with the Romans 5:1 forensic peace-with-God doctrinal note here. James 3:18 (‘fruit of righteousness sown in peace’) is closer to the fuller relational sense and may carry a lighter version of the doctrinal note.
Church
Approved rendering: मण्डली
Transliteration: maṇḍalī
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: मन्दिरम्, मठः
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:14 (elders of the church). Distinct referent from सभा (‘synagogue,’ James 2:2, James’s own Jewish-Christian congregational term) — do not substitute one for the other.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य राज्यम्
Transliteration: parameśvarasya rājyam
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:5: the poor as ‘heirs of the kingdom’ — connects to both this doctrine and the baseline’s ‘adoption’ full-inheritance-rights doctrine.
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थता
Transliteration: madhyasthatā
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:16: ‘pray for one another’ — direct access to God, distinguished from Vedic ritual invocation (āhvāna, homa) requiring precise mantra performance for efficacy.
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: मृतः
Transliteration: mṛtaḥ
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: मृता (feminine, forbidden)
Original: νεκρά (πίστις)
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. James 2:17, 2:26: ‘faith…is dead.’ विश्वासः is grammatically masculine; the predicate MUST be मृतः (masculine), never मृता (feminine), at every occurrence of this refrain.
Demonstrate Faith
Approved rendering: दर्शय
Transliteration: darśaya
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: δεῖξον
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. James 2:18 imperative ‘show [me your faith].’ Must convey works as evidentiary demonstration of faith, never as constituting faith itself.
Altar
Approved rendering: यज्ञवेदी
Transliteration: yajñavedī
Doctrine: Faith and Works
NEW. James 2:21: Abraham offering Isaac ‘on the altar.’ Genuinely resonant with Vedic yajña-altar imagery — a positive point of contact — but must be footnoted as a one-time historical covenant-test, not an ongoing ritual sacrificial system.
Endurance
Approved rendering: सहिष्णुता
Transliteration: sahiṣṇutā
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: तितिक्षा
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. ὑπομονή: James 1:3-4,12; 5:11 (Job’s example). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER तितिक्षा, Śaṅkara’s named ṣaḍ-sampat qualification for a seeker of Brahman-knowledge — would import a liberation-oriented spiritual-discipline curriculum absent from James.
Blessed
Approved rendering: धन्यः
Transliteration: dhanyaḥ
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: पुण्यवान्
Original: μακάριος
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. μακάριος: James 1:12 (endurance-crown), 1:25 (doer of the word). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER पुण्यवान् (‘possessing merit’), which would frame blessedness as accumulated karmic merit rather than God’s gracious favor, echoing the baseline’s rejection of पुण्यम् for grace.
Father Of Lights
Approved rendering: ज्योतिषां पिता
Transliteration: jyotiṣāṃ pitā
Doctrine: God’s Unchanging Character and Good Gifts
NEW. James 1:17. A deliberate apologetic point of contact/contrast with jyotiṣa (Vedic astrology): God, unlike the celestial lights he made and which jyotiṣa holds to directly govern human fortune, does not vary. Flag explicitly for the dialogue-audience rather than treat as ornamental.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: प्रथमफलम्
Transliteration: prathamaphalam
Doctrine: Pure Religion and Care for the Vulnerable
NEW. James 1:18: believers as God’s own set-apart ‘firstfruits.’ Positive resonance with the Vedic agrayaṇa firstfruits-offering rite; note the reframing (people, not produce, as the offering).
Earthly Demonic Wisdom
Approved rendering: लौकिकः
Transliteration: laukikaḥ
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ψυχική / δαιμονιώδης
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. ψυχική: James 3:15, false wisdom’s ‘earthly/unspiritual’ qualifier. Paired term for δαιμονιώδης (‘demonic’): पैशाचिकः, built safely on पिशाच- rather than असुर/राक्षस vocabulary.
Wisdom From Above
Approved rendering: ऊर्ध्वात्
Transliteration: ūrdhvāt
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ἄνωθεν (σοφία)
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. ἄνωθεν: James 3:15,17, true wisdom’s heavenly/divine origin. Must be footnoted as UNRELATED to avatāra ‘descent’ language (Bhagavad Gītā 4.7-8); wisdom’s origin from above is not itself a descent-event and must not be conflated with देहधारणम्’s incarnation doctrine.
Heir
Approved rendering: उत्तराधिकारी
Transliteration: uttarādhikārī
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. κληρονόμος: James 2:5, ‘heirs of the kingdom.’ Connects to the baseline’s ‘adoption’ doctrine of full inheritance rights; no dattaka-grahaṇa partial-share framing should be imported.
Judge Human
Approved rendering: विचारकः
Transliteration: vicārakaḥ
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor / Mercy and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: न्यायाधीशः
Original: κριτής
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. κριτής: James 2:4; also used for ordinary interpersonal/eschatological judging contexts (4:11-12; 5:9). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER न्यायाधीशः, whose न्याय-root names the Nyāya darśana itself, already flagged unusable for ‘righteousness’/‘justice’ in the Romans baseline.
Mercy
Approved rendering: दया / कृपा
Transliteration: dayā / kṛpā
Doctrine: Mercy and Judgment
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. ἔλεος: James 2:13 (‘mercy triumphs over judgment’); 5:11 (God ‘compassionate and merciful’). NOTE: कृपा was explicitly rejected as the PRIMARY term for grace (अनुग्रहः) in the Romans baseline, precisely to keep grace and mercy terminologically distinct. Its correct use here for ‘mercy’ reinforces that very distinction; flag to prevent future confusion between the two related-but-distinct concepts.
Judgment
Approved rendering: विचारणा
Transliteration: vicāraṇā
Doctrine: Mercy and Judgment
Original: κρίσις / κρίμα
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. κρίσις / κρίμα: James 2:13; 3:1; 4:11-12; 5:9. Distinct from धर्मीति निर्णयः (justification) — do not conflate. At 5:9 shades toward the eschatological sense (cf. Eschatological Judgment and Hell doctrine); flag this shift explicitly rather than treating the term as uniformly low-stakes.
Humility
Approved rendering: नम्रता / नम्रः
Transliteration: namratā / namraḥ
Doctrine: Grace Given to the Humble
Rejected alternatives: विनयः
Original: ταπεινός / ταπεινόω
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. ταπεινός / ταπεινόω: James 1:9-10; 4:6,10. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: NEVER विनयः, the specific term for the codified Buddhist Vinaya-piṭaka monastic discipline.
Submit To God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरस्य अधीनाः भवत
Transliteration: parameśvarasya adhīnāḥ bhavata
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: आत्मसमर्पणम्
Original: ὑποτάγητε τῷ θεῷ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. ὑποτάγητε τῷ θεῷ: James 4:7. The bhakti-resonant आत्मसमर्पणम्/आत्मनिवेदन (navadha-bhakti’s self-surrender) is a possible dialogue-context alternative but carries the same आत्म-compound caution flagged for पवित्र आत्मा elsewhere; should not become the silent default.
Devil
Approved rendering: शैतान्
Transliteration: śaitān
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: διάβολος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW, TRANSLITERATED. διάβολος: James 4:7. No exact singular cosmic-adversary parallel exists in classical Hindu cosmology (asuras/rākṣasas are plural classes, not one ultimate adversary dualistically opposed to one supreme God); transliteration avoids false-equivalence, following the ‘messiah’ precedent.
Draw Near To God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरम् उपसर्पत
Transliteration: parameśvaraṃ upasarpata
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ: James 4:8. Genuinely resonant with upāsanā (‘sitting near,’ the standard term for devotional approach/worship-practice) — a promising point of contact for dialogue material rather than a collision.
Purify Hearts
Approved rendering: निर्मलं कुरुत
Transliteration: nirmalaṃ kuruta
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धिः
Original: καθαρίσατε καρδίας
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. καθαρίσατε καρδίας: James 4:8. Deliberately avoids शुद्धिः, already rejected in the baseline’s sanctification entry for its ritual-purification/prāyaścitta-adjacent connotation.
If The Lord Wills
Approved rendering: यदि प्रभोः इच्छा भवेत्
Transliteration: yadi prabhoḥ icchā bhavet
Doctrine: Providence and Human Planning
Original: ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ: James 4:15. Reinforces the baseline’s Providence doctrine; natural cross-reference to the daiva-puruṣakāra (fate-versus-effort) debate already noted under the baseline’s providence/election entries.
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: क्षमा
Transliteration: kṣamā
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἀφίημι / ἀφεθήσεται
Category: Salvation
NEW. ἀφίημι / ἀφεθήσεται: James 5:15, ‘if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.’ क्षमा was explicitly passed over in the Romans baseline as an insufficient substitute for justification (a private feeling vs. a forensic declaration); using it here for plain forgiveness is correct, provided forgiveness (removal of guilt) and justification (धर्मीति निर्णयः) remain terminologically distinct.
Oath
Approved rendering: प्रतिज्ञा / शपथः
Transliteration: pratijñā / śapathaḥ
Doctrine: Oaths and Truthful Speech
Original: ὀμνύω / ὅρκος
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. ὀμνύω / ὅρκος: James 5:12, ‘do not swear… let your yes be yes.’ A positive point of contact with dharmaśāstra’s own high valuation of satya (truthfulness) as cardinal virtue — not a collision requiring rejection of any classical term.
Heal
Approved rendering: आरोग्यं कारयति
Transliteration: ārogyaṃ kārayati
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
NEW. ἰάομαι: James 5:16, ‘that you may be healed.‘
Prayer Power
Approved rendering: सामर्थ्यवती प्रार्थना
Transliteration: sāmarthyavatī prārthanā
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: शक्तिः
Original: δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη: James 5:16, ‘the prayer of a righteous person is powerful.’ Built on सामर्थ्यम् (TM root). NEVER शक्तिः, extending the baseline’s power-of-God forbidden substitution (the hypostasized Śākta-Tantric divine feminine creative power) to this new context.
Patience
Approved rendering: धैर्यम्
Transliteration: dhairyam
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: μακροθυμία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
NEW. μακροθυμία: James 5:7,8,10. Must be kept lexically distinct from सहिष्णुता (endurance, ὑπομονή, chapter 1) though the two English glosses often overlap.
Turn Back Restore
Approved rendering: प्रतिनिवर्तनम्
Transliteration: pratinivartanam
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: पुनरागमनम् (reserved for Parousia)
Original: ἐπιστρέψῃ
Category: Confession and Restoration
NEW. ἐπιστρέψῃ: James 5:19-20, the restoring action of a fellow believer. Deliberately kept distinct from पुनरागमनम् (reserved for Christ’s Parousia, 5:7-8) to avoid confusing a wanderer’s restoration with Christ’s eschatological return.
Wander From Truth
Approved rendering: पथभ्रष्टः भवति
Transliteration: pathabhraṣṭaḥ bhavati
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
NEW. πλανηθῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας: James 5:19.
Covers Multitude Of Sins
Approved rendering: पापानां बहुत्वम् आच्छादयिष्यति
Transliteration: pāpānāṃ bahutvam ācchādayiṣyati
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
NEW. καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν: James 5:20. A Proverbs-style wisdom-literature idiom; must not be overclaimed as a developed independent atonement doctrine beyond what this single verse states.
Synagogue
Approved rendering: सभा
Transliteration: sabhā
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Church
NEW. συναγωγή: James 2:2, James’s own Jewish-Christian congregational meeting-place vocabulary. Do NOT substitute मण्डली (reserved for the general ‘church’ concept, James 5:14) here; the two terms serve different referents within James itself.
Messengers Spies
Approved rendering: दूताः
Transliteration: dūtāḥ
Doctrine: Justification Harmonization with Romans
Original: ἄγγελοι
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. ἄγγελοι: James 2:25. MANDATORY disambiguation note at every occurrence: these are the human spies of Joshua 2, NOT angelic beings, despite ἄγγελος being the identical word used elsewhere for ‘angel.‘
Servant
Approved rendering: दासः
Transliteration: dāsaḥ
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: δοῦλος (θεοῦ καὶ κυρίου)
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. δοῦλος: James 1:1, James’s self-designation. Genuinely resonant (not colliding) with dāsya-bhāva, the ‘servant’ devotional mood in Vaiṣṇava bhakti-rasa theology — a useful, largely safe point of contact for the dialogue-audience, but should be noted rather than left unremarked.
Double Minded
Approved rendering: द्विमनस्कः
Transliteration: dvimanaskaḥ
Doctrine: Double-Mindedness and Wavering Faith
Original: δίψυχος
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. δίψυχος: James 1:6-8; 4:8. Note the point of contact (not identity) with Yoga Sūtra 1.2’s citta-vṛtti-nirodha (stilling mental fluctuation); James condemns instability of trust in a personal God, not mental activity as such — do not conflate.
Boast
Approved rendering: आत्मश्लाघा / गर्वोक्तिः
Transliteration: ātmaślāghā / garvoktiḥ
Doctrine: Providence and Human Planning
NEW. καυχάομαι: James 4:13-16, presumptuous boasting about future plans. Related to, but a distinct occurrence from, गर्वः (‘pride,’ 4:6).
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: भविष्यद्वक्ता
Transliteration: bhaviṣyadvaktā
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ऋषिः
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:10: prophets as examples of patient endurance, alongside Job and Elijah.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: भविष्यवाणी
Transliteration: bhaviṣyavāṇī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:23: citation-fulfillment of Genesis 15:6 (‘the Scripture was fulfilled that says…’).
Tongue
Approved rendering: जिह्वा
Transliteration: jihvā
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. γλῶσσα: James 3:1-12. No significant doctrinal risk.
Bridle Tame
Approved rendering: संयमनम् / दमनम्
Transliteration: saṃyamanam / damanam
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: χαλιναγωγέω / δαμάζω
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. χαλιναγωγέω / δαμάζω: James 1:26; 3:2-8. Plain terms; no significant doctrinal risk.
Blessing Cursing
Approved rendering: आशीर्वादः / शापः
Transliteration: āśīrvādaḥ / śāpaḥ
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: εὐλογία / κατάρα
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. εὐλογία / κατάρα: James 3:9-10, blessing and cursing from the same mouth. Positive resonance: śāpa carries strong causal-efficacy weight in itihāsa/purāṇa narrative (a ṛṣi’s curse reliably comes to pass), reinforcing James’s point about speech’s real power.
Poison Rust
Approved rendering: विषम् (3:8) / कलङ्कः (5:3)
Transliteration: viṣam / kalaṅkaḥ
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
NEW. ἰός is polysemous: deadly venom (3:8) vs. metal corrosion/rust (5:3), same Greek word. Do NOT use one Sanskrit term for both senses across chapters 3 and 5.
Prostitute
Approved rendering: वेश्या
Transliteration: veśyā
Doctrine: Justification Harmonization with Romans
Original: πόρνη
Category: Proper Names
NEW. πόρνη: James 2:25, Rahab’s occupational/moral descriptor. Reinforces the baseline’s universal-scope-of-gospel doctrine.
Orphan Widow
Approved rendering: अनाथः / विधवा
Transliteration: anāthaḥ / vidhavā
Doctrine: Pure Religion and Care for the Vulnerable
NEW. ὀρφανός / χήρα: James 1:27. Plain descriptive terms; no significant doctrinal risk.
Wars Fights
Approved rendering: युद्धम् / विवादः
Transliteration: yuddham / vivādaḥ
Doctrine: Sin and Disordered Desire
NEW. πόλεμος / μάχη: James 4:1, interpersonal conflict rooted in ἐπιθυμία.
Wages
Approved rendering: वेतनम्
Transliteration: vetanam
Doctrine: Rich Oppressors and Social Justice
NEW. μισθός: James 5:4, withheld wages of laborers crying out.
James Author
Approved rendering: याकोबः
Transliteration: yākobaḥ
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Ἰάκωβος
Category: Proper Names
NEW transliteration for this curriculum. Ἰάκωβος: the epistle’s author, cognate with the Hebrew form of ‘Jacob.’ Book-name form: याकोबस्य पत्रम् / याकोबः (पत्रम्).
Isaac
Approved rendering: इसहाकः
Transliteration: isahākaḥ
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Ἰσαάκ
Category: Proper Names
NEW transliteration for this curriculum. Ἰσαάκ: James 2:21.
Rahab
Approved rendering: राहाब्
Transliteration: rāhāb
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Ῥαάβ
Category: Proper Names
NEW transliteration for this curriculum. Ῥαάβ: James 2:25.
Job
Approved rendering: ईयोब्
Transliteration: īyob
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Ἰώβ
Category: Proper Names
NEW transliteration for this curriculum. Ἰώβ: James 5:11.
Elijah
Approved rendering: एलीयः
Transliteration: elīyaḥ
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Ἠλίας
Category: Proper Names
NEW transliteration for this curriculum. Ἠλίας: James 5:17-18.
Referenced passages