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Krishna Dvaipayana (Sanskrit: कृष्णद्वैपायन, romanized: Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; Sanskrit: व्यासः, romanized: Vyāsaḥ, lit. ‘compiler’) or Veda Vyasa (वेदव्यासः, Veda-vyāsaḥ, “the one who classified the Vedas”), was a legendary sage portrayed in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and regarded by Hindu-tradition as the compiler of that work. As a Shaktyavesha Avatar (śaktyāveśa-avatāra) of Vishnu, he is also regarded by tradition as the arranger of the mantras of the Vedas, as well as the author of the eighteen Puranas and the Brahma Sutras....

Vyāsatīrtha (c.. 1460 – c. 1539), also called Vyasaraja or Chandrikacharya, was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya’s Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vijayanagara Empire, Vyasatirtha was at the forefront of a golden age in Dvaita which saw new developments in dialectical thought, growth of the Haridasa literature under bards like Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa and an amplified spread of Dvaita across the subcontinent....

Yajnavalkya or Yagyavlkya (Sanskrit: याज्ञवल्क्य, Yājñavalkya) is a Hindu Vedic sage figuring in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 700 BCE). Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti (“not this, not this”) to discover the universal Self and Ātman. Texts attributed to him include the Yajnavalkya Smriti, Yoga Yajnavalkya and some texts of the Vedanta school. He is also mentioned in various Brahmanas and Aranyakas....

Introduction The root of the term “Veda” is “Vid,” which means “to know” in Sanskrit. It is commonly interpreted as “the source or means of knowledge” or “the treasure of knowledge.” Apaurusheya Jnanam is the name given to the Vedas. Jnanam signifies knowledge, and Apaurusheya means not of human origin. It is knowledge that has been disclosed (Shruti). This is significant because it implies that the Vedas were not written by humans using logical and intellectual reasoning....

Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893 – March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India, and who lived his last 32 years in America. A chief disciple of the Bengali yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the West, to prove the unity between Eastern and Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality....

Text: ॐ आत्मा वा इदमेक एवाग्र आसीन्नान्यत्किंचन मिषत् । स ईक्षत लोकान्नु सृजा इति ॥ १ ॥ (All) this was only one A’tman at first. There was nothing else active. He thought He thought I shall create worlds. Shankara’s Commentary: A’tman is from the root which means ’to obtain;’ ’to eat,’ or ’to enjoy;’ or ’to pervade all.' The A’tman is the highest, omniscient, omnipotent, devoid of all the attributes of Samsûra, such as hunger etc....

PDF: Sanātana Dharma

Text: ओं सहनावितिशान्तिः । ओं उशन्ह वै वाजश्रवसः सर्ववेदसंददौ । तस्य ह नचिकेता नाम पुत्र आस ॥ १ ॥ oṃ sahanāvitiśāntiḥ | oṃ uśanha vai vājaśravasaḥ sarvavedasaṃdadau | tasya ha naciketā nāma putra āsa || 1 || 1. From desire, as story tells, the son of Vajasrava made a gift of all his wealth; he had a son, so the story goes, by name Nachiketas. Shankara’s Commentary: Ushan, desiring for the fruits of the sacrifice....

Text: अन्यच्छ्रेयोऽन्यदुतैव प्रेयस्ते उभे नानार्थे पुरुषँ सिनीतः । तयोः श्रेय आददानस्य साधुर्भवति हीयतेऽर्थाद्य उ प्रेयो वृणीते ॥ १ ॥ anyacchreyo’nyadutaiva preyaste ubhe nānārthe puruṣam̐ sinītaḥ | tayoḥ śreya ādadānasya sādhurbhavati hīyate’rthādya u preyo vṛṇīte || 1 || 1. (Death said) One is good while another is pleasant. These two, serving different ends, bind men; happiness comes to him, who, of these, chooses the good; whoso chooses the pleasant forfeits the true end....

Text: ऋतं पिबन्तौ सुकृतस्य लोके गुहां प्रविष्टौ परमे परार्धे । छायातपौ ब्रह्मविदो वदन्ति पञ्चाग्नयो ये च त्रिणाचिकेताः ॥ १ ॥ ṛtaṃ pibantau sukṛtasya loke guhāṃ praviṣṭau parame parārdhe | chāyātapau brahmavido vadanti pañcāgnayo ye ca triṇāciketāḥ || 1 || 1. The two, who enjoy the fruits of their good deeds, being lodged in the cavity of the seat of the supreme, the knowers of Brahman call shadow and light, as also those who maintain five fires and have thrice propitiated the Nachiketa fire....

Text: पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत्स्वयम्भूस्तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यति नान्तरात्मन् । कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्षदावृत्तचक्शुरमृतत्वमिच्छन् ॥ १ ॥ parāñci khāni vyatṛṇatsvayambhūstasmātparāṅpaśyati nāntarātman | kaściddhīraḥ pratyagātmānamaikṣadāvṛttacakśuramṛtatvamicchan || 1 || 1. The self-existent created the senses out-going: therefore, one sees outside and not the atman within. Some intelligent man, with his senses turned away, (from their object), desirous of immortality, sees the atman within. Shankara’s Commentary: It was stated that this atman concealed in all living beings does not shine but is seen by the subtle intellect....

Text: पुरमेकादशद्वारमजस्यावक्रचेतसः । अनुष्ठाय न शोचति विमुक्तश्च विमुच्यते । एतद्वैतत् ॥ १ ॥ puramekādaśadvāramajasyāvakracetasaḥ | anuṣṭhāya na śocati vimuktaśca vimucyate | etadvaitat || 1 || 1. The city of the unborn, whose knowledge is permanent, has eleven gates; thinking on him, one does not grieve and being freed, becomes free. This verily is that. Shankara’s Commentary: As Brahman is not easily knowable, this if commenced for the purpose of ascertaining the entity of the Brahman, again by another method....

Text: ऊर्ध्वमूलोऽवाक्शाख एषोऽश्वत्थः सनातनः । तदेव शुक्रं तद्ब्रह्म तदेवामृतमुच्यते । तस्मिंल्लोकाः श्रिताः सर्वे तदु नात्येति कश्चन । एतद्वैतत् ॥ १ ॥ ūrdhvamūlo’vākśākha eṣo’śvatthaḥ sanātanaḥ | tadeva śukraṃ tadbrahma tadevāmṛtamucyate | tasmiṃllokāḥ śritāḥ sarve tadu nātyeti kaścana | etadvaitat || 1 || 1. Root up and branches down is this ancient asvattha tree, that (its source) is pure. That is Brahman and that alone is called immortal. On that, do all worlds depend and none passes beyond that....

Practice Of Bhakti Yoga by Sivananda Saraswati

Text: Rig Veda Book 1 Hymn 1 अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवं रत्वीजम | होतारं रत्नधातमम || अग्निः पूर्वेभिर्र्षिभिरीड्यो नूतनैरुत | स देवानेह वक्षति || अग्निना रयिमश्नवत पोषमेव दिवे-दिवे | यशसं वीरवत्तमम || अग्ने यं यज्ञमध्वरं विश्वतः परिभूरसि | स इद्देवेषु गछति || अग्निर्होता कविक्रतुः सत्यश्चित्रश्रवस्तमः | देवो देवेभिरा गमत || यदङग दाशुषे तवमग्ने भद्रं करिष्यसि | तवेत तत सत्यमङगिरः || उप तवाग्ने दिवे-दिवे दोषावस्तर्धिया वयम | नमो भरन्त एमसि || राजन्तमध्वराणां गोपां रतस्य दीदिविम | वर्धमानंस्वे दमे || स नः पितेव सूनवे....