Vedic Sanskrit is an Old Indo-Aryan language. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language. Vedic Sanskrit is the oldest attested language of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.

Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, texts compiled over the period of early-to-mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC. Vedic Sanskrit has been orally preserved as a part of the Śrauta tradition of Vedic chanting, predating the advent of alphabetic writing in India by several centuries. For lack of both epigraphic evidence and an unbroken manuscript tradition, Vedic Sanskrit can be considered a reconstructed language. Especially the oldest stage of the language, Rigvedic Sanskrit, the language of the hymns of the Rigveda, is preserved only in a redacted form several centuries younger than the texts' composition. Recovering its original form is a matter of linguistic reconstruction.

From about the 6th century BC, in the classical period of Iron Age Ancient India, Vedic Sanskrit gave way to Classical Sanskrit as defined by the grammar of Pāṇini.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Sanskrit महर्षि महेश योगी maharṣi maheśa^{[disambiguation needed ]}yogī), born Mahesh Prasad Varma (12 January 1917 – 5 February 2008), developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the Transcendental Meditation movement, which has been characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious. The honorifics Maharishi (meaning "enlightened spiritual one") and Yogi were added to his given name, Mahesh.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi became a disciple and assistant of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) of Jyotirmath in the Indian Himalayas. The Maharishi credits Brahmananda Saraswati with inspiring his teachings. By 1955, the Maharishi had introduced the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique and other related programmes and initiatives to the world. His first global tour began in 1958.

He began to be known as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi around the year 1955. His devotees referred to him as His Holiness, and because he often laughed in TV interviews he publicly became known as the "giggling guru".

Willpower may refer to: