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).
Quotations
Scriptures
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.
Devotion to God’s Name is my lamp; In this lamp is poured the oil of suffering. The light of realisation burns away this oil…Vast loads of firewood are reduced to ashes by a tiny spark of fire.
Delusion is a sort of demonic force. People’s original mind is pure but it becomes perverted due to delusion and other karmas.
He is the true hero who fights to protect the helpless; though cut limb from limb, flees not the field.
Our body in Kali Yuga is a field of action: As a man sows, so is his reward. Nothing by empty talk is determined: Anyone swallowing poison must die. Brother! Behold the Creator’s justice: As are a man’s actions, so is his recompense.
Behold the man who shields his family from all suffering. Has not his body become a willing vessel for affliction? Without good men to hold it up, the family house will fall when misfortune descends.
One who identifies himself with his soul regards bodily transmigration of his soul at death fearlessly, like changing one cloth for another.
The evil ruler spoils the word, the plan of life, by his teachings. He, indeed, deprives me of the exalted goal of good thought. With the word of my spirit, I pray to You, O Wise One, and to truth!
Ignorance is the failure to discriminate between permanent and impermanent, pure and impure, bliss and suffering, Self and non-Self.
