Art & science of good health, wealth happiness & perfect spiritual life

Niyama = Regularity, discipline, obedience, codes of proper conduct. 2nd step of Patanjali Yoga. Punctuality and observance of rules.

Nyaya = Justice. Another Darshana like Yoga in Indian Philosophy.

Om (AUM) = Pranava or a long sound made by human phonatory system.

Pad = step, foot.

Padma = Lotus

Padmasana = A sitting meditation posture. Two feet crossed make a lotus like look.

Pancha Mahabhutas = 5 basic elements of gross body, namely earth, water, air, fire or light (energy) and Space (Akasha).

Pragna = Wisdom or perfect knowledge gained by self experience.

Praja = People, children and grand children

Prajapati = Creator, God of people and children (Parents). Imaginary God of Sex. Refereed to as 'Kamadev' in some scriptures.

Prakruti = Mother Nature; Universe; Inborn nature of any individual.

Prana = Spark of Life or spirit. Breathing activity.

Pranayamas = 4th step of Yoga. Regulation and control of respiration.

Pratyahara = 5th step of Yoga. Controlling sensual desires by will power.

Purusha = Literal meaning a male being. Used in different meaning in different Scriptures e.g., Supreme one God, perfect creator of mother nature, pure soul or spirit etc. This creates great confusions in minds of students of Gita and Yoga.

Purushartha = Efforts done to achieve four goals (Dharanas) in life. The 4 goals given to a Hindu are Dharma (Duties), Artha (money), Kama (Desires) and Moksha (liberty).

Rachaka = Withholding breath after exhaling in the Pranayama practice (See 4th step of Raj Yoga).

Ragas = Attachments to objects of temporary sensual pleasures, and joys. (Opp. word is Dwesha).

Raja = A king. A boss, a president, chairman etc., in present times. God is the king of this universe. Uniting with this King is Raj Yoga.

Rajas = One of the three Gunas of Prakruti. Actions done with a desire or a definite purpose.

Rajasik = A quality of human nature (Svabhava) or Prakruti. A Rajasik person does activities for achieving dictating and commanding position in life.

Rasa = Taste. Six different tastes in foods like sweet, sour, salty, pungent, hot (Chilies) and bitter. Tongue gets attached to these in course of time.

Roop = Form, shape, beauty.

Rudra = Another name of Shiva = merciful God. Angry Shiva is called Rudra.

Sadhaka = Student of Yoga. Mumukshu, Shishya, Vidyarthi etc.,. are other words used for a student of Yoga.

Sadhana = Practice, study, search and research.

Sakshi = A witness or a seer.

Samadhi = Thoughtless consciousness or awareness. The last, 8th step of Raj Yoga. The state of Nirvana or Moksha is reached by prophets like Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed who give religious commandments and sermons after self realization.

Sankhya = Number. An important Philosophy (Darshan), to be studied with Yoga.

Sanskara = Moral training given to children during childhood.

Sanskrit = An Ancient and very rich language of Aryans. Most Hindu scriptures are written in Sanskrit language.

Sanskruti = Culture: noble, moral or religious heritage.

Santosha = Satisfaction, contentment, compromising attitude.

Sanyamas.= Mental control or restrains, developed by Tapas, Good company, Yogas and Sanskaras.

Sat = truthfulness, true, real. One of three tree Gunas in human nature. Good qualities.

Satva = Pure essence, good qualities (Goona) in any human being. Sajjana = Gentle people.

Satyam = Truth or absolute changeless reality. e.g., God is truth.

Shaastra = A book of science. (Puranas are books of mythology). Yoga is a Shaastra, not a Purana. Bhagavatum is a Purana which describes 10 major incarnations of Lord Vishnu a mythological deity of all gross matter seen in universe.

Shabda = Word. Speech and a language arises from Shabdas. All spoken words root from OM.

Shakti = Psychic power, mental strength, universal cosmic energy, also means Shiva’s cosmic Shakti.

Sharira = Physical gross body; also called 'Karana Sharira'; Karma are done by Sharira.

Shaucham = Cleanliness of body and mind and intellect. Sub-step of Niyama.

Shravan = Listening. Hearing with full attention (Dhyana) is listening.

Shri = Wealth, money, respect worthy, auspicious, gorgeous.

Shrotrum = Ears. Important sense organ of learning or gaining knowledge by hearing words.

Shruties = Audio knowledge. Another name of the earliest Hindu scriptures, the Vedas.

Shubha = Good, virtuous, benevolent, joy giving.

Shukra = Semen, Virile; Planet Venus. Shukracharya is a mystic character in Hindu Puranas who is able to bring life in dead bodies.

Shunya = Zero, Void.

Siddhas = Rishi; Famous person; Successful businessman; Sports champion, Film star; famous singer; noble politician; pious religious leader, celebrity.

Siddhis = Successes or victories.

Smruti = Memory, knowledge stored in brain. (Opposite Vismruti = loss of memory, Amnesia). A Hindu scripture of Manu Smruti (2500 BC) indicates duties and punishments for the four classes at different age periods for both the sexes.

Sparsha = Touch sense. Ability of skin to perceive hot, cold, sharp, hard, soft etc.,.

Sthita Pragna = A man of firm judgment, wisdom and free from all attachments.

Surya = Sun. Pingla Nadi's other name is Surya Nadi.

Susupti avastha = Dreamless state of mind during sleep. Deep sleep. Sound sleep.

Swabhava = In born nature of an individual. (Human nature = Prakruti).

Swadhyaya = Self study, unfoldment of inner self (Anter Atma), soul or ATMAN.

Swapna avastha = Dreaming state of mind. During light sleep a person sees dreams.

Tamas = Darkness, ignorance; Inborn Guna of human nature. Our knowledge is very little in fact.

Tamasik = Quickly getting upset and angry type of personality. Does actions in ignorance.

Tapa = Penances done for purification of body, mind and intellect by strict restrains and discipline. This develops obedience, tolerance, endurance, austerities etc.

Tat = That. Nameless address to spirit or God.

Tatva = Essence of a thing or a short summary of a subject of study.

Tejus = Light, Luster, Brilliance, Glory.

Tratak = Glazing or fixing eyes at some object without blinking of eyelids.

Turya avastha = Thoughtless conscious state of Mind, very close to Samadi.

Tyagi = A man who has renounced wealth, high positions, political powers etc.

Upanishads = Spiritual Hindu scriptures dealing with the subject of soul, spirit and body, mind and self-search.

Uttama = Best, excellent, top most, highest.

Vac, Vacha = Speech, Act of speaking (One of the Karma Indriya, Vani).

Vairagi = Whose desires of wealth, power or position are satisfied and over.

Varuna = Deity God of water. Water is deity God near us. One of the 5 basic elements.

Vasana = Ego centric desires and passions. Kama is general term for all types of desires, hopes, wants wishes, ambitions, expectations etc.

Vasudev = Name of Lord Vishnu; Father of Krishna in Bhagavat stories. 5 basic elements make Vishnu's universal body. All forms of material bodies of plants and animals are also made up of these 5 basic elements.

Vayu = Air. One of the 5 basic elements of body and visible universe. A Deity God.

Vedanta = Literally means END of knowledge. It is one of the popular Darshan or Philosophy which is studied as supplement to Yoga.

Vedas = Most ancient Hindu scriptures, books of knowledge. Also called Shruties because knowledge is revealed by speaking and preserved by listening and memorizing.

Vibhooti = A person born with adversities, but achieves great heights in any field; a great celebrity.

Vichara = Thought. Thoughts are mostly expressed by speech or writings.

Vidya = Knowledge, skill or technique learned by practice.

Vigyana = Science. The relationship between cause and effects are searched, studied and confirmed by intellect, reason and repeated self experiences.

Vishaya = Subject of study; 5 senses have 5 Vishayas, namely form, word, taste, touch and smell. A person gets attached to these Vishayas when objects make contact with 5 senses. By meditation one recognizes the attachments and tries to get liberated.

Vishnu = Puranic God of life preservation and visible material universe.

Viveka = Discrimination, reason, logic, judgment ability.

Vrutti = Desires, instincts which lead to do activities (Pravutti). Hunger, thirst, desire to pass urine, sex urge, are natural Vrutties. Greed of money, political power, material things etc., are un-natural desires, wants and wishes or Vasanas.

Vyadhi = Disease, illness, sickness.

Yagna = Sacrifice; A fire ritual of Hindus; Giving knowledge free is Gyana Yagna. Serving and helping others without expectation of rewards is Seva-Yagna.

Yama = An imaginary or mystic Deity God of death. The Supreme God's accountant for all people's good (Punya) and bad or evil deeds (sins). The 1st step of Raj Yoga starts with understanding of this deity.

Yoga = To Join; To meet; To unite, to get welded to; To marry, to remain in family and social bondage and cooperation etc.