Back of the Book
Sadhna is the personal efforts one makes to evolve oneself and who one is. The wisdom contained in this book takes the concept of sadhana from the confines of mysticism and philosophy to a practical reality for everyone and provides in invaluable link between the practitioner of sadhana and the revealed knowledge of enlightened beings. The teachings explain how sadhana leads to inner transformation and evolution of consciousness and inspire the reader with practical ways to merge higher spiritual ideals into daily life for the benefit of all.
Sadhana: The Path of Transformation is compiled from the teachings of two great Indian sages, Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, and his disciple, Swami Satyananda. It is offered with their blessings to all spiritual aspirants who seek the means to permanently improve their way of life by uplifting the quality of their mind, perception and awareness.
Introduction
This book about sadhana is compiled from the enlightened teachings of two great Indian sages, Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, and his disciple, Swami Satyananda. It offers a deep understanding into sadhana and provides an invaluable link between the practitioner of sadhana and the revealed knowledge of the spiritual masters.
In these teachings, Swami Sivananda and Swami Satyananda clearly explain that the basis for all spiritual sadhana is the personal evolution of the sadhaka. They talk about sadhana as a spiritual quest, as. a means of shifting one's superficial perspective of life into a higher dimension so that every moment of life can be dedicated to higher ideals. The ultimate purpose of sadhana is concerned only with practical ways of unfolding and awakening the potential already existing in every person's being and transforming life into an expression of joy. Sadhana aims at developing an integrated personality, developing better control over the mind and making it more creative. These teachings illustrate how sadhana is a practical method to completely overhaul the instinctive nature and to gain mastery over all circumstances by facing them and learning how to resolve them in a positive, uplifting and peaceful manner. The details of how this process of transformation unfolds are also discussed.
Inspiration, guidance and advice relevant to the various temperaments of aspirants interested in sadhana are an integral feature of these teachings. Furthermore, the teachings are down to earth and realistic; they are a special gift to all who practice sadhana as they encourage proper understanding and support all who take up the spiritual quest to reach higher stages of sadhana.
Each chapter reveals a wealth of insight into the important aspects of the purpose, necessity and practice of sadhana. The foundations of sadhana are considered, including faith, satsang, self-study, transcending the intellect and mental equilibrium. The fundamental requisites of heightened awareness, inner silence, strength of will and endurance, regularity and continuity of practice, and the gift of God's grace are explained in a manner that will enhance the sadhana of the experienced and provide valuable essentials for the beginner.
A sincere aspirant will definitely come across obstacles which are a natural outcome of the mind's entry into spiritual life. In the face of such obstacles even the most experienced sadhakas may falter, become disillusioned and waver in their convictions. However, the perspective of the enlightened masters gives insight into the meaning of purification and such obstacles are viewed as divine chances that help to purge foreign matter from the soul. Whatever experiences are undergone are all a part of sadhana, not detrimental to it. Sadhakas are reminded that God creates every event with a great purpose behind it.
Specific sadhanas illustrate the teachings, and a variety of sadhanas are also explained, including remembering God's name, japa, prayer, mouna, kirtan, the four yogas, keeping a spiritual diary, etc. However, the recommendation that all sadhana practices be learnt from an experienced teacher is also given to ensure that harmful side effects are avoided. Welcome words of warning and caution highlight both the major and minor pitfalls on the path of sadhana. Patience, perseverance, vigilance, sincerity and earnestness are required at every step of the way. However, special emphasis is given to the role of guru who initiates one into sadhana and then gives the inspiration to remain on the path. The teachings explain how the process of sadhana takes the aspirant through the deepest layers of the mind, where all the impressions of past experiences are encountered. To maintain equilibrium at this point of sadhana, the guidance of an experienced guru is essential. However, remember that the guidance and advice of experienced masters is always available to those who seek it.
Every sadhaka has a particular karma, personality, desires, passions, idiosyncrasies and infirmities. In the scheme of evolution, everyone is standing at a particular point. It is from that point that sadhana must be begun. Aspirants are encouraged not to be in too much of a hurry. Rather progress should be slow but sure, which will allow the body, mind and emotions to adjust to new and more refined levels of functioning. After all is said and done, sadhana is a sacred act, something to be held in great reverence.
Swami Sivananda and Swami Satyananda remind practitioners of sadhana that they have a responsibility to try their utmost to maintain the spiritual meaning of sadhana. Sadhakas must aspire to eventually carry the higher spiritual values of life, cultivated in sadhana, into every situation. Sadhana is to be practised for the sake of all creation. Although the aspiration for self-perfection is necessary, it must be combined with an interest in the welfare of other beings and the environment in which one lives. There has to be regard for oneself and others.
1
Sadhana
From the Teaching of Swami Srivananda Saraswati
Path of Samarpan
7
2
Supreme Surrender
17
3
Cultivation of Surrender
29
4
Preparation and Qualifications
41
5
The Four Jewels
50
6
Transcendence of Desire
62
Faith, Grace and Divine Will
76
8
Guru – Disciple Relationship
85
From the teachings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati
9
Origin of Sadhana
101
10
Culmination of All Sadhana
105
11
An evolutionary Process
109
12
Awakening Positive Forces
118
13
Stepping into Samarpan
128
14
Power of Faith
142
15
Follow the Higher Will
153
16
Role of the Guru
163
Descent of Grace
175
18
Living Sadhana
182
19
Divine Communion
195
Glossary
207
Om Salutations to that adorable Lord Hari, than Whom there is nothing greater, and Who is above all this universe.
The term "Sadhana" comes from the root "Sadh," which means to "exert," "to endeavour to get a particular result or Siddhi." He who does th practices or attempts is called a Sadhaka. If he achieves the desired result, Siddhi, he is called Siddha. A fully-developed siddha is one who has attained full knowledge of Brahman. Self-realisation or Darshan of God is not possible without Sadhana. Any Spiritual practice is called Sadhana is obtained through Sadhana is Sadhya or Goal the realisation of God or Brahman. Most comprehensive in its scope, this book presents almost every known form of Sadhana for the Experience of the Divine of Brahman.
If you want to evolve quickly you must have the right kind of Sadhana. If you are a student of the path of Self-reliance, you can yourself select the Sadhana for your daily Practice. If you are a student of the path of self-surrender, you should get the right kind of Sadhana from a Guru and practise the same with intense faith. < P> Why should you prolong the bondage unnecessarily? Why should you not claim your divine birthright right now? Why should you not break you bondage now? Delay means prolongation of your sufferings. You can break it at any moment. This is in our power. Do it now. Stand up. Gird up your loins. Do rigorous and vigorous Sadhana and attain freedom, which is immortality or eternal bliss.
Make the lower nature the servant of the higher through discipline, Tapas, self-restraint and meditation. This is the beginning of your freedom.
The divine within you is stronger than anything that is without you. Therefore, be not afraid of anything. Rely on your own Inner Self the Divinity within you. Tap the source through looking within.
Without renunciation you can never be happy. Without renunciation you can never be at your ease. Therefore renounce everything. Make happiness your own. Hold renunciation as the foremost of things.
Improve yourself. Build your character. Purify your heart. Develop divine virtues. Eradicate evil traits. Conquer all that is worthy and noble.
Only when you have purified the heart, silenced the mind, stilled the thoughts and surging emotions, withdrawn the outgoing senses, thinned out the Vasanas, you can behold the glorious Atman during deep meditation.
There are five means by which perfect tranquility or emancipation can be attained. These from the highest happiness. They are Satsanga or association with the wise, discrimination between the real and unreal, dispassion, enquiry of 'Who am I?' and meditation. These are called heaven. These are religion. These form the highest happiness.
Become a good man first. Then control the senses. Then subdue the lower mind by the higher mind. Then the divine light will descend. Only then the vessel will be able to receive and hold the divine light.
Practise meditation persistently and calmly without haste. You will soon attain Samadhi or the Nirvikalpa state.
Spiritual life is toilsome and laborious. It demands constant vigilance and long perseverance before substantial progress is made.
You have yourself built the walls of your prison-house through ignorance. You can demolish the walls through discrimination and enquiry of 'Who am I?'
Sufferings purify the soul. They burn up the gross material, sins and impurities. The Divinity becomes more and more manifest. They give inner spiritual strength and develop the will-force, the power of endurance. Hence sufferings are blessings in disguise.
Even a ray of inner light during meditation will lighten your path. It will give you great deal of encouragement and inner strength. It will goad you to do more Sadhana. You will experience this ray of light when the meditation becomes more deep and when you rise above body-consciousness.
Life is the unfolding of the latent capacities of the soul. Lead of the divine life. Generate sublime divine thoughts in your mind through meditation, Japa, Kirtan and study of sacred scriptures.
Bathe in the river of life everlasting. Plunge in it. Take a dip in it. Swim in it. Float in it. Rejoice.
Bask the body in the physical sunlight. Bask the soul in the sunlight of the Eternal. You will have good health and everlasting life.
Worship is the unfolding of the bud of the flower of the soul. Worship is life. Worship bestows life eternal. You may conquer millions of persons in a battle, but you will become the greatest conqueror only if you can conquer your own lower self or mind.
So long as your senses are not subdued or weakened you will have to practise Tapas or self-restraint, Dama or Pratyahara.
When the electric lamp is covered by many wrappings of cloth, there will be no bright light. When the cloth is removed one by one, the light grows brighter and brighter. Even so, when the self-resplendent Atman which is covered by the five sheaths is stripped off the sheaths by meditation on the pure Self and the practice of 'Neti Neti' doctrine, the Self-luminous Atman reveals itself to the meditator.
Sit down with a composed mind. Assert your mastery over the body and mind. Plunge deep into the chambers of your heart, and enter into the stupendous ocean of Silence. Listen to the voice which is soundless.
Purify the heart first and then climb the ladder of Yoga steadily with courage and undaunted spirit. Climb onwards swiftly. Attain Ritambhara Prajna and reach the summit of the ladder, the temple of wisdom, where the cloud of virtue of nectar dribbles from Dharmamegha Samadhi.
Build your spiritual life on a sure foundation, on the rock of the divine grace and strength of character. Take refuge in the Lord and His eternal Law. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can bar your path now. Success in Self-realisation is certain. Failure exists not for you. There is light on your path. All is brilliant.
Sadhana means any spiritual practice that helps the Sadhaka to realize God. Abhyasa and Sadhana are synonymous terms. Sadhana is a means to attain the Goal of human lie. Without Sadhana no one can achieve the purpose of life. Sadhana differs in different individuals according to the capacity, temperament and taste. Every one must take to some kind of Sadhana to attain the state of final beatitude. Sadhya is hat which is attained through Sadhana. It is God or Atman or Purusha. If you want to evolve quickly you must have the right kind of Sadhana. If you are a student of the path of self-reliance, you can yourself select the Sadhana for your daily practice. If you are a student of the path of self-surrender, you should ge right kind of Sadhana from a Guru and practise the same with intense faith.
Those who follow the path of devotion should do Japa, read the holy scriptures such as the Bhagavata or the Ramayana. By the practice of Nava Vidha Bhakti, the Bhakta should develop Bhakti to a very high degree. Sravana, Smarana, Kirtana, Vandana, Archana, Padasevana, Sakhya, Dasya and Atma-Nivedana are the nine methods to develop Bhakti. Bhaktas should observe Vrata, Anushthana and do prayers and Manasic Puja. They should serve others, realising that the Lord recites in the hearts of all. This is the Sadhana for those who tread the path of Bhakti Yoga.
Those who follow the path of Karma Yoga should do disinterested selfless service to the suffering humanity and society in various ways. They should surrender the fruits of action to the Lord as Isvararpana. They should give up agency by realising that they are the instruments in the hands of God. They should get rid of their selfishness and control their Indriyas. They should completely consecrate their lives in the service of humanity. They should consider that the whole world is a manifestation of the Lord. If they serve people with such a Bhava, their hearts get purified in the long run. Eventually they get knowledge of the Self through Chitta Suddhi.
This is the Sadhana for the Karma Yogins. This is very important for all beginners in the spiritual path. This is not the goal itself. Many erroneously think so and neglect the higher courses of Sadhana. They should advance still further and through Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi reach the highest goal.
A Raja Yogi slowly ascends the Yogic ladder through the eight steps. He gets ethical training in the beginning to purify himself by the practice of Yama and Niyama. Then he steadies his posture. Then he practises Pranayama to steady his mind and to purify the Nadis. Then by the practice of Pratyahara, Dharana and Dhyana, he gets Samadhi. Through Samyama, he gets different Siddhis. He restrains all the mental modification that arise from the mind.
Those who take up the path of Vedanta or Jnana Yoga should acquire first the four means of salvation (Sadhana Chatushtaya)- Viveka, Vairagya, Shat-Sampat and Mumukshutva, Viveka is discrimination between the real and unreal. Vairagya is indifference to sensual enjoyments. Shat-Sampat is the sixfold virtues, Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha, Sraddha and Samadhana. Then they approach a Brahma-Nishtha Guru who has realized the Supreme Self and hear the Srutis from him. Then they reflect and mediate on the Self and attain eventually Atma-Sakshatkara. Then the Jnani exclaim with joy: "The Atman alone is, one without a second. Atman alone is the one Reality. I am Brahman, Aham Brahma Asmi. Sivoham Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma." The liberated Jivanmukta sees the Self in all beings all beings in the Self.
The student of Hatha Yoga should try to awaken the Kundalini Sakti that lies dormant in the Muladhara Chakra by Mudras, Bandhas, Asanas and Pranayamas. They should try to unite the Prana and Apana and send the united Prana-Apana through the Sushumna Nadi. Heat is increased by retention of breath and Vayu ascends up along with Kundalini to the Sahasrara Chakra through the different Chakras. When Kundalini is united with Lord Siva at the Sahasrara Chakra, the Yogi attains supreme peace, bliss and immortality.
Born on the 8th September, 1887, in the illustrious family of Sage Appayya Dikshita and several other renowned saints and savants, Sri Swami Sivananda had a natural flair for a life devoted to the study and practice of Vedanta. Added to this was an inborn eagerness to serve all and an innate feeling of unity with all mankind
His Passion for service drew him to the medical career; and soon he gravitated to where he thought that his service was most needed. Malaya claimed him. He had earlier been editing a Health Journal and wrote extensively on health problems. He discovered that people needed right knowledge most all; dissemination of that knowledge he espoused as his own mission.
It was divine dispensation and the blessing of God upon mankind that the doctor of body and mind renounced his career and took to a life of renunciation to qualify himself for ministering to the soul of man. He settled down at Rishikesh in 1924, practised intense austerities and shone as a great Yogi, saint, sage and Jivanmukta.
In 1932 he started the Sivanandashram. In 1936 was born The Divine Life Society. In 1948 the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy was organised. Dissemination of spiritual knowledge and training of people in Yoga and Vedanta were their aim and object. In 1950 he undertook a lightning tour of India and Ceylon. In 1953 he convened a 'World Parliament of Religions'. He is the author of over 300 volumes and has disciples all over the world, belonging to all nationalities, religions and creeds. To read his works is to drink at the Fountain of Wisdom Supreme. On 14th July 1963 he entered Mahasamadhi.
About the Book
If atavism gains, you go down; if evolution gains, you go on. Therefore, we must not allow atavism to take place. Here, in my own body, is the first work of the study. We are too busy trying to mend the ways of our neighbours that is the difficulty. We must begin with our own bodies. The heart, the liver, etc., are all atavistic; bring them back into consciousness, control them, so that they will obey your commands and act up to your wishes. There was a time when we had control of the liver; we could shake the whole skin, as can the cow. I have seen many people bring the control back by sheer hard practice. Once an impress is made, it is there. Bring back all the submerged activities - the vast ocean of action. This is the first part of the great study, and it is absolutely necessary for our social well-being. On the other hand, only the consciousness need not be studied all the time.
Then there is the other part of the study, not so necessary in our social life, which tends to liberation. Its direct action is to free the soul, to take the torch into the gloom, to clean out what is behind, to shake it up or even defy it, and to make us march onward piercing the gloom. That is the goal - the superconscious. Then when that state is reached, this very man becomes divine, becomes free. And to the mind thus trained to transcend all, gradually this universe will begin to give up its secrets; the book of nature will be read, chapter after chapter, till the goal is attained, and we pass from this valley of life and death to that One, where death and life do not exist, and we know that Real and become the Real.
Advaitic Sadhana is an inspired trilogy that constitutes a thorough, practical guide on the path to Self-realisation. Book I has particular relevance to spiritual aspirants visiting Sri Ramanasramam, as it was written by the author in the 1940s for the sole purpose of making their visits meaningful. It throws much light on the practice of sadhana, especially meditation, and the insights and guidelines presented are as applicable now as when they were written.
Book II contains the well known Mandukya Upanisad with brief notes. This Upanisad is said to offer the briefest, clearest, and most practical study of the nature of man, or Atman (Self). Atma Bodha of Book III was composed by Acarya Sankara, the greatest expounder of the Upanisads. In sixty-eight short stanzas the celebrated author delivers the cream of Vedanta.
This essay was drafted many years ago, when the author was residing in Sri Ramanasramam at Tiruvannamalai in the gracious presence of his Master, Sri Ramana Maharshi, where many foreigners used to flock on short visits. He used to watch their comings and goings and the haste with which most of them expected to pluck the plum of Self-realisation, immediate apprehension of the Reality, before even grasping the elementary principles of the Master’s teaching or the Vedantic truth. It is especially for their benefit that this treatise has been written.
The term "Direct Liberation" used in the subtitle seeks, as in the Bhdgavata Purdna, to distinguish the "direct" path of the Jidna Marga (the path of immediate knowledge), whereby Liberation is gained and the essence of bliss tasted by the Paramahamsas in this very life, from the "indirect" path, which is said to take several million years spent in a disembodied state by the Hamsas in a number of subtle spheres and results from the practice of prandydma (breathing exercises), ritualistic and devotional worship (updsanda), etc.
This book is a small trilogy on the science of Self- knowledge, a science which has been from time immemorial inculcated in this country by the great Vedantic Masters to those who sat at their feet, seeking release from the misery of birth and death and succeeded. Its greatest exponent in our own age, who lived more then half a century in our midst, was the celebrated sage Ramana of Arunachala, who left behind him a compendious literature which benefited thousands of truth seekers all the world over and led a number of them to final and complete Emancipation.
The trilogy consists of (1) Advaitic Sadhana or the Yoga of Direct Liberation,which throws much light on the practice of sddhand, especially meditation, (2) The well known Mandiikya Upanisad with brief notes and (3) Atma Bodha of Sankara, the greatest expounder of the Upanisads, with simple comments bringing out the meaning of the stanzas, in simple language, comprehensible even to foreign beginners.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
His holiness Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj did not write text books as such. The books he wrote were outpourings of wisdom from his own direct relation of the Truth.
From his books you will derive not only the benefit of his wisdom and knowledge of both practical and esoteric matters pertaining to Yoga, but also the power of his spiritual force.
Sri Swami Sivanandaji had a unique style simple, direct and compelling. His books are not dull treatises on yoga and philosophy, rather his enthusiasm and eagerness to help all is evident in every page, lifting the reader to new heights of understanding.
During recent years there has been a great spiritual revival and people in India abroad have taken seriously to the study of Yoga and Vedanta. But, in practice, it has been found that there is in keeping with the rapid tempo of life itself in the modern world an unpardonable hurry and neglect of essentials, in the field of the practice of Yoga, too. Seekers after Truth are impatient to enter into the Transcendental Realm of Self-realisation; practitioners of Yoga expect to enter into Samadhi a week after taking up the practice 'concentration and meditation'.
The all-important preparation is woefully neglected. Our ancient scriptures have given the place of greatest prominence to these preparatory steps Yama-Niyama or the Sadhana Chatushtaya. His Holiness Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, too, has been forewarning students of Yoga not to neglect this; and as a matter of fact he has declared that the greater the attention paid to these preparatory steps the cultivation of virtues and the eradication of vices the more rapid would the march of the seeker towards the Goal be.
To the sincere and earnest seeker after Truth therefore, this book is a boon. It gives him the key to success in Yoga.
Born on the 8th September, 1887,in the illustrious family of Sage Appayya Dikshitar and several other renowned saints and savants, Sri Swami Sivananda had a natural flair for a life devoted to the study and practice of Vedanta. Added to this was an inborn eagerness to serve all and an innate feeling of unity with all mankind.
His passion for service drew him to the medical career; and soon he gravitated to where he though that his service was most needed. Malaya claimed him. He had earlier been editing a Health Journal and wrote extensively on health problems. He discovered that people needed right knowledge most of all; dissemination of that knowledge he espoused as his own mission.
It was divine dispensation and the blessing of God upon mankind that the doctor of body and mind renounced his carrier and took a life of renunciation qualify himself for ministering to the soul of man. He settled down at Rishikesh in 1924, practiced intense austerities and shone as a great Yogi, saint, sage and Jivanmukta. In 1932 he started the Sivanandashram. In 1936 was born The Divine Life Society. In 1948 the yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy was organized. Dissemination of spiritual knowledge and training of people in Yoga and Vedanta were there aim and object. In 1950 he undertook a lightning tour of India and Ceylon. In 1953 he convened a 'World Parliament of Religions'. He is the author of over 300 volumes and has disciples all over the world, belonging to all nationalities, religions and creeds. To read his works is to drink at the Foundation of Wisdom Supreme. On 14th July, 1963 he entered Mahasamadhi.
The First Part of this book is devoted to the discussion of the function and characteristics of Hindu Sadhana in general. The Second Part deals with the particular forms of Hindu Sadhana-Karma, Jnana and Bhakti. We have included the Yoga form of Sadhana under Karma, and have taken the system propounded by Patanjali as representative of the Yoga line of Sadhana. Although there are other forms of Yoga, such as Hatha-yoga, Laya-yoga etc., still they seem to be of the nature of preparatory disciplines, helping to make the vehicle, the body and the vital processes, fit for the higher processes, and are not possibly meant to be independent methods of realisation. The Tantric method of Sadhana has been included under the Bhakti line, because it emphasises the aspect of upasana or worship.
The theoretical side of Indian Philosophy has been ably presented in the monumental works of Sir Sarbapalli Radhakrishnan and Dr. Surendra Nath Das Gupta. I have attempted in the following pages a presentation of the practical side of Hindu Philosophy as manifested in the different religious systems of the Hindus. It has been my special endeavour to show the essential connection between theory and practice, and to point out the true significance of the course of discipline prescribed by the different religious systems for the attainment of spiritual realisation. The subject is so very wide that it has not been possible for me to deal in detail with everything that ought to fall within its scope, and I have been compelled to remain satisfied, in most cases, with merely a general treatment. I have confined myself to the discussion of the orthodox forms of Hindu Sadhana, and have not included Buddhistic and Jaina Sadhana in this work.
The First Part of this book is devoted to the discussion of the function and characteristics of Hindu Sadhana in general. The Second Part deals with the particular forms of Hindu Sadhana-Karma, Jnana and Bhakti. We have included the Yoga form of Sadhana under Karma, and have taken the system propounded by Patanjali as representative of the Yoga line of Sadhana. Although there are other forms of Yoga, such as Hatha-yoga, Laya-yoga etc., still they seem to be of the nature of preparatory disciplines, helping to make the vehicle,-the body and the vital processes, fit for the higher processes, and are not possibly meant to be independent methods of realisation. The Tantric method of Sadhana has been included under the Bhakti line, because it emphasises the aspect of upasana or worship.
I have avoided technical discussions as far as possible, and it is expected that the book will suit the general reader, excepting a few portions. Those who do not possess special knowledge of philosophy would, however, do well to omit Ch. 11, the concluding pages of Ch. X, and a few pages of Ch. XI.
I have not used italics for the Sanskrit words placed within brackets, as the brackets themselves, I think, mark them out sufficiently. Italics have not been used also for words that have become very familiar through repeated usage.
In the Appendix, I have explained some of the terms and expressions used in the book, which could not be dealt with more elaborately in the places where they occur.
A great deal of difficulty has been felt in judging as to how much of the details of Sadhana ought to be included and how much to be left out. Sometimes I have felt that I am introducing unnecessary details, sometimes, that I have become unjustifiably brief; I do not know whether I have succeeded in steering a middle course between the two. I have to express my gratefulness to Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Jogendranath Tarkatirtha for explaining some of my difficulties. I am deeply indebted to my friends, Professor Gopinath Bhattacharya and Professor Asokenath Vedanta-tirtha, for the ungrudging assistance they have rendered me in various ways in the preparation of this volume.
Foreword
In 'Hindu Sadhana' Dr. Nalini Kanta Brahma contributes a highly interesting and important work to the literature of Hindu Thought and Religion. His training as a student of Philosophy, his extensive studies in religious literature, and above all, his deep faith in the value of the Classical types of devotion and discipline, have enabled him to produce a book which will be invaluable to all students of Religion. The writer insists rightly on those characteristics of Hindu Religion which bring out its kinship with the higher religious thought of the world and also make manifest the attitude of broad toleration characteristic of the Hindu Religion. The book offers an illustration of what may be called the organic unity of higher religions. Though the writer's interest is more on the practical side of Hinduism, there is a very clear discussion of the fundamental philosophical concepts underlying the Hindu Faith. I have no doubt that the book will be read widely by all those interested in Philosophy and Religion.
Contents
Sample Pages
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Vedas (1414)
Upanishads (654)
Puranas (839)
Ramayana (835)
Mahabharata (275)
Dharmasastras (164)
Vedanta (288)
Gita (1005)
Goddess (445)
Bhakti (234)
Saints (1123)
Gods (1307)
Shiva (307)
Journal (132)
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