Ashtakam or Astakam is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Asta’ which means ‘eight’. Ashtakam is basically a poetic composition consisting of 8 stanzas. Each stanza has 4 lines and so an ashtakam consists of 32 lines. These lines follow a strict rhyme scheme. Adi Sankaracharya the great Indian philosopher and

Slokas Sloka : A pair of successive lines of verse, typically rhyming and of the same length. Most Hindu scriptures are written in forms of slokas. Mahabharata, Ramayana & Upanishads are written in the form of slokas. The first sloka of Mahabharata is “Narayanam namaskrutya naram chaiva narottamam Daivim sarasvatim