Glossary
Naksatra: the constellation in which the moon sits in the heaven at a particular time, commonly called as 'birth Star'
Vedic sciences: refer to a number of disciplines found in the Vedas, a large body of texts originating in ancient Bharat, one among the oldest sacred texts
Rg Veda: an ancient Hindu sacred collection of hymns, counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas
Āryabhaṭa: one of the first astronomer and great mathematician of Bharat, born in 476
Copernicus: (1473-1543) the first astronomer to formulate a heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe
Galileo: (1564-1642) Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and important astronomical observations
Yojana: a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient Bharat, between 6 to 15 km (4 and 9 miles)
Rsi: a sage through whom the Vedic hymns flowed, a "seer" able to reach states of higher consciousness
Yogi: a practitioner of various forms of spiritual discipline, as yoga
Parāśara : author of many ancient Hindu texts and important astrological texts, known as a traveling Master
Brhat Parāśara Hora Śāstra: a prominent astrological scientific text written as a recorded dialogue between Parāśara and his disciple Maitreya
Vaśiṣṭaː Rāma's guru; a great Rs who had complete knowledge of the whole cosmos and the gods
Veda Vyasa: a sage of ancient Bharat, compiler of the Vedas and great epics like the Māhābhārata
Māhābhārata: one of the major Sanskrit epic of Bharat and philosophical scripture, depicting a great war that happened in Bharat, written in 250 000 verses
Samskāras: engraved memories stored in the subconscious part of the mind. They are continually interfering with our decision making process
Grahas: energy centers, energy fields that planets exert in the universe, generally assimilated to 'planets'
Karmas: the collection of unfulfilled experiences and actions that stay in us and constantly pull us to fulfill them
Āyurveda: a system of traditional medicine native to the Hindu Subcontinent, ayus meaning 'life', and veda, meaning 'related to knowledge' or 'science'
Yoga: literally union, union of the individual self and the divine Self, often taken to mean Hatha yoga, which is one of the components of yogasana, relating to body postures
Rudrākṣa: a large broad-leaved tree whose seed is traditionally revered and used for prayer beads, or mala, mainly growing in foothills of the Himalayas up to South-East Asia
Sanskrit: the Indo-Aryan language, language of the Rg Veda and of many scriptures, as well as mantras
Mantra: a sound, a formula, sometimes a word or set of words, which because of their inherent sounds, have energizing properties, an approach to spiritual evolution
Unclutching: understanding that each thought is completely independent, unconnected to the precedent; which leads to disengage oneself from the mind, resulting in experiencing the no-mind state
Cakra: literally a 'wheel': refers to energy centers in the mind-body system
Maṇipūraka cakra: third energy center, meaning 'the city of jewels' in reference to the treasures it holds
Tamas: the behavior of laziness or inaction.
Pitta: one of the three dośas (or attributes) of the body in Ayurveda, principle of heat
Subramaniya: Śiva and his consort Pārvati had two famous offspring Gaṇeśa and Subrahmaṇya. Subrahmaṇya represents the innocent, vigorous energy associated with the planet Mars
Lord Śiva: rejuvenator in the trinity also means 'causeless auspiciousness'
Mount Kailāś: abode of Lord Śiva, where he practices intense yogic austerities
Kāśi: refers to Varanasi, the holy city located on the bank of the River Ganges, in the Hindu State of Uttar Pradesh; one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world
Jaṭarāgni: Inner fire that sustains life
Dośa: in Ayurvedic medicine, one of the three biological humors or energies (kapha, pitta, vata) which combine in various proportions to determine individual constitution, mental and physical disorders
Lassi: a popular and traditional yoghurt-based drink
Vajrāsana: common yoga and meditation posture, where the person sits on his heels
Cin mudra: palms upraised with thumb and forefinger forming a circle and other three fingers outstretched
Guru pūja: form of worship offered to the master āsana: body postures performed in yoga, literally means 'seat'
Aṣṭānga namaskār: prostrating to a deity or master by lying on the floor with all eight limbs of the body touching the earth
Bhujangāsana: 'cobra posture' in yoga, in which the head and chest are raised while lying down
Pranic layer: the second layer of energy of the body, related to prana or life energy
Brahman:the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality, the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe
Hrīm mantra: refers to the single syllable mantra used to invoke certain deities
Pūja: a ritual made of different offerings related to the deity propitiated
Navagraha dośa: literally means 'planetary defects' or inauspicious alignment of planets
Homa: ancestral Vedic fire ritual
Nirvanic layer: seventh subtle body that we have and last layer of energy which is the space where one experiences intense bliss
Physical layer: the gross body made of flesh and bones
Aum: the primordial cosmic sound from which the whole Universe emerged
Hrīm: bīja, or seed mantra relating to feminine energy
ട്ടakti: energy, intelligent energy, considered as the feminine aspect of Śiva
Jīvan Mukti: the state of achieving liberation from the cycle of birth and death during one's lifetime