Glossary

Nak¾atra: 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, among the oldest sacred texts

§g Veda: an ancient Hindu sacred collection of hymns, one among the four canonical sacred texts of Vedic tradition known as the Vedas

¡ryabha°a: 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

Yojanas: a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient Bharat, between 6 to 15 km (4 and 9 miles)

§¾i: a sage through whom the Vedic hymns flowed, a "seer" able to reach states of higher consciousness

Yogis: a practitioner of various forms of spiritual discipline, as yoga

Par¢ºara: author of many ancient Hindu texts and important astrological texts, known as a traveling Master

B¨hat Par¢ºara Hora ¹¢stra: a prominent astrological scientific text, written as a recorded dialogue between Par¢ºara and his disciple Maitreya

Vaºi¾°a: R¢ma's guru, a great §¾i who had complete knowledge of the whole cosmos and the gods

Veda Vy¢sa: a sage of ancient Bharat, compiler of the Vedas and great epics like the M¢h¢bh¢rata

M¢h¢bh¢rata: one of the major Sanskrit epic of Bharat and philosophical scripture, depicting a great war that happened in Bharat, written in 250 000 verses

Sa¼sk¢ras: engraved memories, 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

¡yurveda: 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

Rudr¢k¾a: 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: language of the §g 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

Sv¢dhi¾°¢na: second cakra, means 'where the Self is established', the groin or spleen energy center

Sattva: a state of mind in which the mind is steady, calm and peaceful

P¢rvati: consort of Lord ¹iva, mother to Ga´eºa

Ga´eºa: the very revered elephant god who removes obstacles

Kapha: One of the three doºas or attributes of the body in ¡yurveda, related to the element of water and earth; the structure and lubrication of the body

Vajr¢sana: 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 p¦ja: form of worship offered to the master

Asana: body postures performed in yoga, literally means 'seat'

Nitya ¢nanda: eternal bliss

A¾°¢nga namask¢r: prostrating to a deity or master by lying on the floor with all eight limbs of the body touching the earth

Bhujang¢sana: '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

Lord ¹iva: rejuvenator in the trinity also means 'causeless auspiciousness'

Brahman: the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality, the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe

B¤ja mantra: refers to the single syllable mantra used to invoke certain deities

P¦ja: a ritual made of different offerings related to the deity propitiated

Navagraha doºa: 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

¹akti: energy, intelligent energy, considered feminine aspect of ¹iva

J¤van Mukti: the state of achieving liberation from the cycle of birth and death during one's lifetime

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