Ignorance is the failure to discriminate between permanent and impermanent, pure and impure, bliss and suffering, Self and non-Self.
Those who are ignorant of the supreme purpose of life will never be able to attain nirvana (liberation) in spite of their observance of the vratas (vows) and niyamas (rules) of religious conduct and practice of shila (celibacy) and tapas (penance).
Birth does not lead to greatness; but cultivation of numerous virtues by a man leads him to greatness.
Perceiving her son endowed with the characteristics of Vishnu, Devaki prayed: You are the Illuminator of all psycho-physical organisms, the indefinable Reality, which the Vedas declare as the unmanifest cause… When the universe is dissolved by force of Time, the gross elements are ultimately merged in ahankara (their cause)…
Since, O Mazda, from the beginning, Thou didst create soul and body; mental power and knowledge and since Thou didst place life within the corporeal body and didst bestow to mankind the power to act, speak and guide, you wished that everyone should choose his or her own faith and path freely.
This is peace, this is excellent, namely the calm of all impulses, the casting out of all “basis”, the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping-nirvana.
Where egoism exists, Thou are not experienced. Where Thou art, is not egoism. You who are learned, expound in your mind, this inexpressible proposition.
One who identifies himself with his soul regards bodily transmigration of his soul at death fearlessly, like changing one cloth for another.
The essence of the offering is that it be analogous to the sin, and that a man offer to God his desires and passions, for this is more acceptable than all.
Success is the result of foresight and resolution; foresight depends upon deep thinking and planning to keep your secrets to yourself.
