Millions have come and experienced the wonderful healing and rejuvinating effect of the equal love that she showers on all.

    Examining virtues that include fearlessness, reverence, freedom from anger, and compassion, this text draws on the Bhagavad Gita to illustrate how these virtues assist a seeker in attaining realization.

    Essential for students who want to understand the lineage of Siddhas and the roots of Siddha Yoga meditation, this book introduces many of these great masters and comments on key teachings of Kashmir Shaivism and Vedanta.

    The author discusses all the major concepts and offers valuable corrections for many existing misconceptions. He also introduces the reader to the core Tantric practices of meditation and mantra recitation, focusing on the ten Wisdom Goddesses". --Georg Feuerstein

    This book is a translation of the Tattvartha Sutra. It provides an explanation of the universe, and the path through it to liberation.

    Stories, interviews, and reflections focus on women who are considered by Indian devotees to be incarnations of the Goddess.

    These songs vividly present the mystery of the Feminine Divine, an intimate experience of the Mother, and a vast play of energy sustained by the Goddess Kali.

    The world veda literally means Knowledge. The root is vid, ‘to Know’ The Vedas are thus texts that provide Knowledge.There are four Vedas, known as the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. Many years ago, the Vedas were referred to as trayi or three. There must have been some point of time when there were only three Vedas. These are acknowledged to have been the Rig Vedas, the yajur Veda and the Sama Veda. The Atharva Veda is believed to have a later addition to the sacred canon.The world trayi is also interpreted in a different sense. Although the interpretation does seem to be slightly artificial, it is following. The three paths to salvation are believed to be those of jnana (Knowledge), bhakti (devotion) and karma (action). Since the Vedas teach these three paths to salvation, they are referred to as trayi. The Rig Veda is identified with the path of knowledge, the yajur Veda with the path of action, and the Sama Veda with the path of devotion.Each of the Vedas has two parts, a samhita and the brahmanas. The samhita part consists of mantras or incantations. These were hymns that were used in sacrifies. But these mantras are difficult to interpret without commentaries. This is what the brahmanas set out to do. They explain the hymns and indicate how these are to be used in sacrifices. The brahmanas also have detailed descriptions of sacrifices and how they are to be conducted. The samhita and the brahmanas are often known as karma kanda, that is, the part of the Vedas that deals with rituals.In addition Vedic literature also includes jnana kanda. This is the part that deals with supreme knowledge. Included in jnana kanda are the aranyakas and the Upanishads. These are identified with various Vedas.We can therefore have a narrow definition of a Veda as well as a broad one. The narrow definition would take the word Veda to mean the samhita alone. The broad definition would include, in addition associated brahmanas, aranyakas and Upanishads. By the word Veda, we will mean the samhita alone.When were the Vedas composed and who composed them? Strictly speaking, there is no answer to these questions. The Vedas were revealed; they were shrutis. They were not written down or composed. They were communicated by the supreme godhead or the divine essence (brahman) to the ancient seers (rishis). These rishis did not compose the Vedas; they merely obtained this divine knowledge through their extraordinary powers. In this sense, the Vedas are apourusheya, that is, not the handiwork of men. Their authorship cannot be ascribed to any human author.In the Hindu conception of time, time is divided into four eras. These are known as satya yuga, treat yuga, dvapara yuga and kali yuga. As one moves from satya yuga towards kali yuga, the power of righteousness diminishes and evil starts to rear its ugly head. To bring men back to the righteous path, the sacred knowledge that is in the Vedas must be disseminated amongst them. But the Vedas are abstract and esoteric, often difficult for ordinary mortals to comprehend. To make the dissemination and assimilation easier, the Vedas must be conveniently partitioned and divided into various groups. A person who thus divides (vyasa) the Vedas has the title of Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva conferred on him.In every dvapara yuga, such a Vedavyasa is born to perform this sacred task, The Vedavyasa born in the dvapara yuga tha immediately preceded the present kali, yuga, was Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa. It is he who is credited with having divided the original unified Vedas into the four segments of the Rig Veda, the yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa did not compose the Vedas, he merely recapitulated what was already known. Incidentally, Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa is also credited with the composition of the great epic, the Mahabharata.Just as it is impossible to determine who composed the Vedas, it is also impossible to determine when they were composed. Widely different dates have been suggested by scholars. Tilak suggested a date of around 6000 B.C., while Jacobi’s date was around 4500 B.C. Most scholars would agree that the Vedas were compiled some time between 4000 B.C. and 1000 B. C. and that it is impossible to narrow down the range further. The earliest of the Vedas is clearly the Rig Veda. This reached a stage of final compilation between 1000 B. C. and 900 B. C.

    "A unique discussion of dreams and a very personal book. Swami Radha's own dreams allow the reader to enter into a communion with her. She stands as a splendid role model for the practices she recommends and describes."--Dr. Stanley Krippner, author of Dreamtime and Dreamwork.

    This revised edition provides an inter-linear word-for-word translation along with the devanagari characters and their transliteration.

    Hinduism teaches that every soul is potentially divine, and that its divinity may be manifested through worship, contemplation, unselfish work, and philosophical discrimination. According to Hinduism, Truth is universal and all humankind and all existence are one. It preaches the unity of the Godhead, or ultimate Reality, and accepts every faith as a valid means for its own followers to realize the Truth. INSIDEFLAP: The Upanishads form the concluding portion and contain the essence of the Vedas, which are the Scriptures of the Hindu faith. They record the direct and immediate spiritual experience of the rishis, the seers of truth, and have been passed down orally through a succession of illumined teachers. They treat of the origin and destiny of the soul, the nature of the universe, and the nature of ultimate reality. What are often presented as theological dogmas are in this new translation considered living experiences available to all. The divinity of the soul, the oneness of humanity, and the indivisibility of the Godhead are discussed not as articles of faith, but as truths of spiritual experiences. Schopenhauer once said: "The Upanishads are the most rewarding and elevating reading possible in the world: they have been the solace of my life and will be that of my death."This new translation is both literal and graceful. It has the dignity and flavor of the original. Swami Nikhilananda has based his notes and explanations on the commentaries of Sankaracharya, the great eighth-century philosopher and mystic.Volume I contains the Katha, Isa, Kena, and Mundaka Upanishads. With two introductory chapters dealing with the historical background, the metaphysics, and the psychology of the Upanishads. Of this volume the Contemporary Review wrote: "Swami Nikhilananda has rendered us an unforgettable service. The scholar and the student will certainly find himself fully repaid by a study of this remarkable edition."

    Coomaraswamy this small but wonderful volume is an essay in translation and exegesis in relation to the Vedas in which passages from the Rgveda and the Brhadaranyaka and Maitri Upanisads, dealing with cosmogony, ontology and teleology, have been interpreted in a new perception of the quite extraordinary depth of those ideas and their amazing psychological accuracy. According to Coomaraswamy no great extension of our present measure of understanding of the Vedas can be expected from philological research alone. Further progress in the interpretation of the difficult cycle of liturgies cannot be made until they are more profoundly explained from the viewpoint of the history of religion and translated in accordance with the true spirit of the textual contents. The passages translated and interpreted in this volume reflect their technical significance and at the same time a comparative approach in regard to quality, understanding and depth.

    On the theoretical side it tries to give a brief history of the festivals their meaning and symbology. On the practical side it deals with the know-how connected with the conduct of those festivals. A list of some vratas commonly observed with brief descriptions given in chapter 6 it is hoped will enhance the value of the work. The epilogue contains some reflections and suggestions for the organizers of these festivals in public. The appendix will be especially useful to the devotees of the Ramakrishna tradition.