jagat

Jagat is a Sanskrit term meaning world, universe, or cosmos. In many Indian languages, it is used to refer to the worldly or phenomenal realm. The word appears across philosophical, religious, and literary contexts, often to denote the created order or the realm of phenomena in contrast with ultimate reality.

In Hindu philosophy, jagat denotes the changing, perceptible world of appearances. Different schools interpret its status differently: many Advaita Vedanta texts describe jagat as mithya (illusion or appearance) or as dependently arisen, while other schools treat the world as real but transient, governed by divine will and cosmic order. In devotional and cosmological literature, jagat is sometimes treated as a manifestation of the divine play or lila.

The term also appears in various compound forms and titles. Jagadguru, literally meaning “world teacher,” is an honorific title given to senior spiritual leaders in certain Hindu monastic orders. Jagannath, meaning “lord of the world,” is an epithet of Krishna and the name of the famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, as well as its associated festival.

Geographically, Jagat is used as a toponym in parts of the Indian subcontinent; several villages and towns bear the name, reflecting its meaning of world or cosmos. In literature and devotional poetry, jagat is invoked to express cosmological, metaphysical, and human-condition themes, and the term remains common in Sanskrit, Hindi, and other South Asian languages.