Kṛttika-Rohiṇi-Mṛgaśira Nakṣatras🔗

Nakṣatra: 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 India, among the oldest sacred texts

Ṛg Veda: an ancient Indian sacred collection of hymns, among the four canonical sacred texts of Vedic tradition known as the Vedas

Āryabhaṭa: one of the first astronomer and great mathematician of India, 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 India, between 6 to 15 km (4 and 9 miles).

Ṛṣi: 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 known as yoga.

Parāśara: author of many ancient Indian texts and important astrological texts, known as a traveling Master.

Bṛhat Parāśara Hora Śāstra: a prominent astrological scientific text, written as a recorded dialogue between Parāśara and his disciple Maitreya

Vaśiṣṭa: Rāma's guru, a great Ṛṣi who had complete knowledge of the whole cosmos and the gods

Veda Vyāsa: a sage of ancient India, compiler of the Vedas and great epics like the Māhābhārata

Māhābhārata: one of the major Sanskrit epic of India and philosophical scripture, depicting a great war that happened in India; written in 250 000 verses

_Saṁskāras:_ 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

_Āyurveda:_ is a system of traditional medicine native to the Indian Subcontinent. The word _Āyurveda_ consists of the words 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 _yogāsana_, relating to body postures

_Rudrākṣa:_ a large broad-leaved tree whose seed is traditionally revered and used for prayer beads, or malā. Rudrākṣa mainly grows in foothills of the Himalayas up to South-East Asia

Sanskrit: the language of the Ṛg 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. They are 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

Maṇipūraka: third energy center, meaning ‘the city of jewels’, in reference to the treasures it holds

Pitta: one of the three dośas (or attributes) of the body in Āyurveda, principle of heat

Lakṣmi: the goddess of prosperity, wealth, purity, generosity, and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm, consort of Lord Viṣṇu

_Guru:_ master, literally one who leads from gu (darkness) to ru (light)

_Cakra:_ literally a 'wheel': refers to energy centers in the mind-body system

_Mūlādhāra cakra:_ the first energy center, mula is root; adhara is foundation, here of existence

_Anāhata cakra:_ the fourth energy center, literally 'that which cannot be created', referring to love

_Kapha:_ one of the three _dośas_ or attributes of the body in _Āyurveda_, related to the element of water and earth and the structure and lubrication of the body

_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 ritual worship

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

Aṣṭāṅga namaskār: 'cobra posture' in yoga, in which the head and chest are raised while lying down

Bhujangāsana: 'cobra posture' in yoga, in which the head and chest are raised while lying down

Pranic layer: the energy sheath of the body related to prana, or life energy

Viśuddhi cakra: the fifth cakra, or subtle energy center located in the throat region, locked by comparing ourselves with others

Lord Śiva: the Supreme God, generally represented as immersed in deep meditation or dancing the Tandava upon māya (ignorance) in his manifestation of Nataraja, the Lord of the dance

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

_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

_Bīja mantra_: refers to the single syllable mantra used to invoke certain deities

_Śakti_: energy, intelligent energy, considered feminine aspect of Śiva

Rajas: one of the three gunas or attributes of nature. Attribute of activity and aggression

Jīvan Mukti: the state of achieving liberation from the cycle of birth and death during one’s lifetime