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Ashtanga (8 branches) of Ayurveda

• Kayachikitsa (Internal medicine)

• Kaumara Bhritya/Bala Tantra (Pediatrics)

• Bhuta Vidya (Psychiatry)

• Shalya Tantra (Surgery)

• Shalakya Tantra (Ear, Nose, Throat and Head)

• Agad Tantra (Toxicology)

• Rasayana (Rejuvenation)

• Vajikarana (Aphrodisiacs)

As described in the texts of the Bhriat -trya (Great Trio) of Classical scholars: Charaka, Susruta & Vaghbata,

  “That science which teaches the correct maintanence of life,
which is the Upaveda (first or foremost) of Atharva Veda (Vedic scripture dealing with longevity), which is having eight branches - Kaya, Bala, Grahodhva, Anga, Shalya, Damstra, Jara and Vrushehaila.” [AS.Su.1/8]

Atman (Soul)

The Supreme Soul or Brahman (cf: Index - Brahma/n).
 
Paramatma (Soul as Pure Consciouness)
Jeevatma (Soul present in every organism)
"There are two selves, the separate ego and the indivisible Atman. When one rises above I and me and mine, the Atman is revealed as one's real Self."
  [Timeline of Hinudism, www.timelineofhindudism.com]
"The essential meaning of ritual is identified with Self. Process, an undivided whole and the fundamental reality, is beyond logic and language. Deities are the symbols of the forces of life."
  [Timeline of Hinudism, www.timelineofhindudism.com]

Ayurveda (Science of Life)

Ayus (Life) + Veda (Knowledge)

The science of health or medicine.
An holistic health system, the most ancient & comprehensive system in the known world of Medicine.

This system of Health & Healing, an extinct people's exploration of Life & Longevity, is known as Ayurveda.

Brahma (Creator God)

The Supreme Being: the Creator.

Brahman (Supreme Being)
The Supreme Being, the cause of the Universe, the all pervading spirit of the universe.

Chakra (rings of vital energy)

Chakra means a wheel, a ring. Chakras are flying wheels, radiating energy, located at vital centres along the spine, connecting the nadis (channels or arteries) to the various kosas (sheaths or 3 frames/types of body enveloping the soul).

As antennae pick up radio waves & transform them into sound through receiving sets, Chakras pick up cosmic vibrations & distribute them throughout the body in the nadis & dhamanis & siras (channels of the body)

The body is a counterpart of the universe, a microcosm within the macrocosm on the gross (material), subtle (imperceptible) & spiritual levels. [Iyengar, B. K. S. 1981]

Please Note: Compare the sites of the 7 Chakras of the body with the sites of the 7 Gandular Lymph Nodes of the body.

Chitta (Consciouness)

The mind in its total or collective sense. Man is endowed with mind (manas), intellect (buddhi) & ahamkara (ego), collectively known as Chitta, which is a source of thinking, understanding & acting.

Chitta is like fire, fuelled by vasanas (desires), without which the fire dies out. Chitta in that pure state becomes a source of enlightenment.

Dhyana (Meditation, Absorption or Uniting with Reality)

“Meditation is the art of uniting with Reality...
The more does the mind succeed in abstracting itself from sensory information in terms of objects, the more also is the success in meditation.

For this purpose Sadhakas (aspirants) develop a series of techniques to draw the mind away from the objects of sense and direct it slowly to the wholeness of the soul.

The main forms of this method, to put them serially, in an ascending order, would be (1) concentration on an external point, symbol, image or picture; (2) concentration on an internal point, symbol, image or picture; (3) concentration on universal existence." [Swami Krishnananda, www.dlshq.org]