Gems from the Ocean of Traditional Hindu Thought - Overview

[Guest guest]

Namaste

 

In continuation of my earlier post, since many may not have the time or patience

to even browse through the book, I give below an overview, which looks a little

propagandist, but still serves the purpose:

 

First, what the book is not. It is not a collection of quotations, not a

glossary of technical terms, not a dictionary for words of spiritualistic

import, not an anthology of scriptures, not a chronological religious history,

not a book on Hinduism for `dummies', not a book for casual reading.

 

It is other than all of these. It is a continuing account of thoughts, though

selective, from the minds of scriptures, writers, expositors, devotees and seers

from ancient times. It is a connected presentation, in about 400 pages, in the

form of a mirror of the spiritual ethos, of concepts and ideas from Hindu

religious eclectic culture. It is a book for serious study, though it can be

read from anywhere to anywhere.

 

It contains

 

• The esoteric meanings and significance of numerous names of Gods as found in

the various stotras and sahasranamas;

• Brief accounts of the lives and achievements of several (again selectively) of

the greatest devotees, Saints and Masters who modelled Hindu thought over the

centuries;

• Various prayer-shlokas in the form of excellent stotras such as Dhruva-stuti

and Prahlada-stuti, from the Bhagavatam, given in the original, translated and

commented in detail;

• A selection of 36 shlokas from `Narayaniyam' explained with meaning;

• The philosophical foundations rooted in the Upanishads, elaborated

simplistically in the chapter on `The Absolute As It is';

• The deeper aspects of Vedantic thought in the sections on Shruti Gita and

Kapila Gita (both from the Bhagavatam), in the unconventional stories of

Jadabharata (again from the Bhagavatam) and of SadASiva Brahmendra and also in

the meanings of Names from the Three hundred names of LalitA;

• A systematic exposition of advaita vedanta through the ten shlokas of

dakshinAmurti-stotra of Shankara, along with the original Sanskrit and Ramana

Maharishi's translation in Tamil verse;

• A touch of the Gita by means of a quick presentation of its 6th and 7th

chapters, along with a capsule overview of the full Gita;

• An appreciation of literary beauties by comparison and contrast of the three

monumental epics Valmiki Ramayana, Kamba Ramayanam (in Tamil) and Tulsi's

RamcharitamAnas (in Hindi) though the discussion centres only around the

Sundarakandas in the three works;

• An appraisal of spiritual revelation being the undercurrent in the unusual

revelry-like story of Krishna's Rasa Leela from the Bhagavatam;

• Two long imaginary conversations concocted for the purpose of clarifying the

nuances of Divine Will and Free Will and the spectrum of all shades of

convictions from extreme rationalism to deep faith;

• A hand-shake with the body of Ancient Scriptures of Hinduism;

• Rock bottom fundamentals through the Sections on `The Animal Passions of Man'

and `The Three fundamental urges of Man'.

• A glimpse of the synthesis of Religion and Art as exhibited by the Divine

Dance in the Nataraja Temple of Chidambaram

• Two small excerpts from Kanchi Mahaswamigal's Tamil Discourses on Soundarya

Lahari and on Advaita SAdhanA, translated into English;

• An exhaustive index of men and materials covered in the book

 

All non-English material is presented in a uniform transliterated form to

facilitate easy reading and also in translation to help easy understanding.

 

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk

[Guest guest]

Namaste Profvkji:

 

It is nice to hear from you with the Gems from the Ocean of traditional Hindu

Thought. You have provided some wise advice for all advaitins for spiritual

sadhana.

 

The overview presented by you will motivate many of us to take some time to read

the book and spiritually enriched. Since this is an important work, I have

added this book in the advaitin.net homepage and here is the link:

 

http://www.advaitin.net/profvk/FinalGems.pdf

 

Hopefully, everyone will be able to access the file for reading and downloading.

I request all readers to provide their feedback to profvk as your Dakshina.

 

With my warm regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

advaitin , " profvk " <profvk wrote:

>

> Namaste

>

> In continuation of my earlier post, since many may not have the time or

patience to even browse through the book, I give below an overview.

[Guest guest]

Dear ProfVK-ji

Sashtang namaskarams!

 

380 pages of the most spiritually uplifting and informative reading, starting

with Lord Ganesha and ending with a entire chapter devoted to the Guru - it is

simply amazing how you have managed to cover the entire tapestry of Hindu

philosophical thought and spiritual wisdom in one sweeing bird's eyeview - what

a gift you have bequeathed unto us!!!

 

I think we all would do well to read 1 page of this book every single day of the

year and dwell on it - would be a wonderful sadhana in of itself.

 

Hari OM

Once again my humble heartfelt prostrations.

Shyam

--- On Thu, 9/3/09, ramvchandran <ramvchandran wrote:

 

 

ramvchandran <ramvchandran

Re: Gems from the Ocean of Traditional Hindu Thought -

Overview

advaitin

Thursday, September 3, 2009, 5:49 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Namaste Profvkji:

 

It is nice to hear from you with the Gems from the Ocean of traditional Hindu

Thought. You have provided some wise advice for all advaitins for spiritual

sadhana.

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

advaitin , " profvk " <profvk wrote:

>

> Namaste

>

> In continuation of my earlier post, since many may not have the time or

patience to even browse through the book, I give below an overview, which looks

a little propagandist, but still serves the purpose:

 

Dear Prof VK,

You have done a great service to spiritual seekers by making these valuable

articles into a book and uploading it. The range of topics it covers is

mind-boggling.

With best wishes,

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

Most respected Professor ji,

 

I think ( having gone through in bits and pieces from Geocities) what you are

providing is a 21 course blow out dinner with 'chappan bhog' of 'sanatana

dharma' .

 

Sooner it will get published with raving reviews and continue to illumine and

enlighten the minds of all 'mumukshus' for all the times to come.

 

I am sure with whatever abilities 'he' had given you have multiplied it many

times over by this single task itself.

 

May 'him' continue to bless you with 'AyurArogyasaukhyaM'

 

Regards

 

Balagopal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the Web & #39;s breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out

Buzz. http://in.buzz./

 

 

[Guest guest]

It is other than all of these. It is a continuing account of thoughts,

though selective, from the minds of scriptures, writers, expositors,

devotees and seers from ancient times. It is a connected presentation, in

about 400 pages, in the form of a mirror of the spiritual ethos, of

concepts and ideas from Hindu religious eclectic culture. It is a book for

serious study, though it can be read from anywhere to anywhere.

 

praNAms Sri Prof. VK prabhuji

Hare Krishna

 

Kindly accept my 'hrutpUrvaka' praNAms for this commendable work of your

goodself prabhuji. Is it available only in printed hardcopy or in soft

format as well?? Kindly let me know. If it is available in cybernet, can

I have a soft copy of the same in a pdf format to my mail ID??

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

 

 

[Guest guest]

Namaste Bhaskarji:

 

You can read download or access the file at:

 

 

http://www.advaitin.net/profvk/FinalGems.pdf

 

With my warm regards,

 

Ram Chandran

> --- On Mon, 9/7/09, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr wrote:

> Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr

> Re: Gems from the Ocean of Traditional Hindu Thought -

Overview

[Guest guest]

praNAms Sri Ramachandra prabhuji

Hare Krishna

 

Thanks for the link prabhuji. Since I donot have the internet access I

had asked for the file attachment...Anyway, Sri Jabali Muni prabhuji has

already sent me the PDF file directly to my E-mail ID.

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar