Author: Swami Tejomayananda
Publisher: Chinmaya Mission Trust
Year: 2014
Language: English
Pages: 93
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788175971950
Description
Upadesa Sara - the essence of all teaching - is one of the most popular Vendatic texts. It explains the paths of Action (Karma Yoga), Yoga (Astanga Yoga) and Knowledge (Jnana Yoga) and how they lead to the final goal of Self Knowledge. The great sage, Bhagvan Ramana Maharishi presents the subject in a simple and beautiful way.
Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda's commentary further simplifies the text and brings out its essence in an appealing way.
Upadesa Sara is a short text but it contains the highest Knowledge. It propounds the four main prevalent paths to the Truth. They are Karma Yoga (Path of Action), Bhakti Yoga (Path of Devotion), Astanga Yoga (Path of Yoga) and Jnana Yoga (Path of Knowledge). The first three verses explain the essence of the Path of Action.
Karma Yoga is not doing a good lot of action or doing ‘good acts’. It is an attitude of the mind while performing actions and receiving results. This attitude is marked by performance of actions as an offering to the Lord and receiving the results as his gift. The actions are therefore done without ego and ego-centric desires, with dedication and a desire to please the Lord.
Contents
Publisher’s Note
Commentator’s note
A Brief Life-sketch of the Author-Bhagavan Ramana Maharsi
UPADESA SARA
Introduction
I. KARMA YOGA (PATH OF ACTION)
1. Action is Inert
2. Barrier to Progress
3. Means to Liberation
II. BHAKTI YOGA (PATH OF DEVOTION)
4. Practice of Devotion
5. Worship (puja)
6. Repetition of Mantra (Japa)
7. Contemplation (dhyana)
8. Contemplation without Duality
9. Supreme Devotion
10. The Goal of all Paths
III. ASTANGA YOGA (PATH OF YOGA)
11. Restraint of Prana
12. The Source of Power
13. Two States of Mind
14. Means to Reach These States
15. State of Exalted Yogi
16. Vision of Reality
IV. JNANA YOGA (PATH OF KNOWLEDGE)
17. What is Mind?
18. I-thought is Mind
19. Self-enquiry
20. Destruction of Ego
21. The True Self
22. Who am I?
23. Existence-Consciousness am I
24. Relation between Individual and Total
25. Vision of the Lord
26. Vision of the Self
27. Self-Knowledge
28. Self-Realization
29. Bondage and Liberation
30. Austerity – A means to Realization