Brahma

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near,
Shadow and sunlight are the same,
The vanished gods to me appear,
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

The Bengal Renaissance - pg. 38

Rammohun urged for the restoration of the ancient right of
Hindu daughter to a share of their patrimony. He considered
this restoration to be an important check to the social and
moral degradation of women. In his view, because of lack of such
economic support: "To these women there left only three modes
of conduct to pursue after the death of their husbands. 1. To live
a miserable life as entire slaves to others, without indulging any
hope of support from another husband. 2. To walk in the paths
of unrighteousness for their maintenance and independence. 3.
To die on the funeral pyre of their husbands, loaded with the
applause and honour of their neighbours."

The Ego And His Own - pg. 39

If one should smile compassionately at the whole struggle over a highest essence, as a Christian might at the war of words between a Shiite and a Sunnite or between a Brahman and a Buddhist, then the hypothesis of a highest essence would be null in his eyes, and the conflict on this basis an idle play. Whether then the one God or the three in one, whether the Lutheran God or the etre supreme or not God at all, but "Man," may represent the highest essence, that makes no difference at all for him who denies the highest essence, that makes no difference at all for him who denies the highest essence itself, for in his eyes those servants of a highest essence are one and all - pious people, the most raging atheist not less than the most faith-filled Christian.

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter XII

Bhakti Yoga
"I love the one who is beyond 'I' and 'mine,' unperturbed by pain and not elated by pleasure."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter XI

Visvarupa Darsana Yoga
"Everywhere I look, there You are."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter - X

Vibhuti Yoga
"I am the silence of things secret, the wisdom of the wise."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter IX

Rajavidya Rajaguhya Yoga
"I accept with joy whatever I am offered in true devotion: fruit or water, leaf or flower. The gift is love, the dedication of your heart."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter VIII

Akshara Brahma Yoga
"The point is not to hope for a good birth but to aim for a good death."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter VI

Dhyana Yoga
"...not simply to know God, but to literally become one with God! This is the profound plan and purpose of creation that is hidden from most people."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter IV

Jnana-Karma-Sanyasa Yoga
"Whatever path a person travels to Me is My path.... All paths lead to Me."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter III

"Remember, Arjuna, that life in the body and senses is not an end in itself, but only a passing phase. Truly, if the eye does not help one visualize God in everything it sees, it is better to be blind. If the ear drags one into filthy cacophony, it is better to be deaf. The senses should not be instruments that plunge you into muck; they should serve your interests, control your appetites, and help you dwell in Divinity.

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter III

Karma Yoga
"Do your worldly duty, but without any attachment to it or desire for its fruit. Keep your mind always on the Divine.... Make it as automatic as your breath or heartbeat."

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter II

"The downward spiral to one's ruin consists of the following process: Brooding on (or merely thinking about) worldly attractions develops attachments to them. From attachments to sense objects come selfish desires. Thwarted desires cause anger to erupt. From anger arises delusion. This causes confusion of the mind and makes one forget the lessons of experience. Forgotten lessons of experience cloud the reason, which results in loss of discrimination (between Truth and non-Truth, Real and not-Real). Finally, losing the faculty of discrimination makes one veer from life's only purpose, achieving union with the Divinity within. Then, unfortunately, one's life itself is wasted.

"But when you can move about in a world that surrounds you with sense attractions, and yet be free of either attachment or aversion to them, tranquility comes and sits in your heart -- and you are absorbed in the peace and wisdom of the Self within. Serenity, Arjuna, is the point at which all sorrow ends!

The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter II

Sankhya Yoga
"... the cessation of your pain and sorrow will depend on how well you overcome your ignorance of your True Self that lives within you."

The Bhagavad Gita - Opening

ARJUNA'S ANGUISH
(Arjuna Vishada Yoga)


"Why should I wage a bloody war?...
Death would be better for me!"


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