Terms of Service

By registering for an account, making a payment, or otherwise accessing the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, and capable of entering into a legally binding contract to create an account. By registering, you represent that you meet this requirement. If you are accessing the Platform on behalf of a minor with appropriate parental or guardian consent, you accept full responsibility for that use.

To access course content, you must create an account by providing accurate and current information, including your name, email address, and other details requested at registration. You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account credentials;
• All activity that occurs under your account;
• Notifying us promptly at mail.iivst@gmail.com if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.

New accounts may be subject to review and approval by a moderator before full access is granted. We reserve the right to refuse, suspend, or revoke registration at our discretion, including where information provided is inaccurate or where these Terms have been violated.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms and, where applicable, payment of the applicable fee, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and view the course content on Rigveda Essence for your own individual educational use.

You may not:

• Share your login credentials with any other person, or allow another person to access the Platform using your account;
• Copy, download, record, reproduce, distribute, publicly display, sell, sublicense, or otherwise make available any course content — including video, audio, text, translations, commentary, images, or the AI-narrated mantra recitations — to any third party;
• Use any automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to access or extract content from the Platform;
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of the Platform.

Module 1 is made available for free preview. Full access to all 18 modules requires a one-time payment as described in Section 5 and our Refund Policy. Modules unlock progressively as you complete each preceding module, as described within the Platform.

Full course access is available for a one-time fee, displayed in Indian Rupees (₹) at the time of purchase, processed securely through our payment partner, Razorpay. By making a payment, you agree to provide accurate billing information and authorise us (via Razorpay) to charge the applicable amount.

All fees are inclusive or exclusive of applicable taxes as indicated at checkout. Once payment is verified, access to all 18 modules is unlocked on your account. Please see our Refund & Cancellation Policy for information about refunds.

All course content on Rigveda Essence — including text, translations, commentary (traditional and symbolic), audio narration, illustrations, infographics, video, course structure, and the Rigveda Essence name and logo — is the intellectual property of IIVST or its licensors, and is protected by applicable copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership of that content to you.

Where you submit content to the Platform — such as written reflections, quiz responses, or messages to moderators — you retain ownership of that content, but grant IIVST a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to store, display, and use it as reasonably necessary to operate and improve the Platform (for example, to show you your own past reflections, or to generate anonymised, aggregate progress statistics).

You agree not to:

• Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law;
• Upload or transmit any content that is defamatory, obscene, harassing, hateful, or otherwise objectionable, including as a profile photo or in messages to moderators;
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform, other users' accounts, or our systems;
• Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Platform;
• Use the Platform to send unsolicited communications (spam) to other users or moderators.

We reserve the right to remove content, suspend, or terminate accounts that violate this Section, at our sole discretion and without prior notice where circumstances warrant.

The Platform includes a messaging feature that allows communication between students and course moderators. Please communicate respectfully. Moderators may review messages sent through the Platform for the purposes of providing support, ensuring safety, and maintaining the quality of the learning environment. We reserve the right to restrict or revoke access to the messaging feature, or to a student's account, in cases of abuse, harassment, or misuse.

Upon completing the required coursework, you may receive a Certificate of Completion bearing your name and a unique enrolment number, issued by IIVST. This certificate recognises your completion of the Rigveda Essence course as offered by IIVST. It is not an accredited university degree or diploma, and does not by itself confer any formal academic qualification or equivalence with any degree-granting institution (including IGNOU or any university), unless expressly stated otherwise in writing by IIVST.

The Platform relies on third-party service providers, including Razorpay (payments) and Brevo (email delivery), and may link to third-party websites or social media pages (such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or Telegram). We are not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of any third-party service or website. Your use of such third-party services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

The Platform and all course content are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Course content — including translations, transliterations, and commentary from both traditional (e.g. Sāyaṇācārya) and symbolic (e.g. Sri Aurobindo) perspectives — reflects scholarly interpretation and is presented for educational purposes. While we take reasonable care in preparing this content, we do not guarantee that it is free of error, and it should not be treated as the sole or definitive authority on any subject. We do not guarantee any particular learning outcome, academic result, or professional benefit from completing the course.

We do not guarantee that the Platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, IIVST and its officers, employees, and moderators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, revenue, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of, or inability to use, the Platform. Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform shall not exceed the amount you paid to us for course access in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable Indian law.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless IIVST, its officers, employees, and moderators from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with your violation of these Terms or your misuse of the Platform.

You may stop using the Platform and request deletion of your account at any time by emailing mail.iivst@gmail.com. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or unlawful activity, or for any other reason at our discretion, subject to applicable law. Termination does not entitle you to a refund except as set out in our Refund Policy.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the revised Terms on this page with an updated "Last updated" date, and where changes are material, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you (for example, by email or an in-platform notice). Your continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Subject to applicable law, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of India.

Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Refund Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and IIVST regarding the Platform, and supersede any prior agreements.

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

No Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not be considered a waiver of that right or provision.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.