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Epics and Puranas 9
The Valmiki RamayanaSelected retelling · By the Tamasa, a hunter kills the male of a krauncha pair, and Valmiki's grief becomes the first shloka. Seven kandas, 34 continuous chapters, true to Valmiki's original.RamcharitmanasHindi onlyKanda by kanda, prasang by prasang · All seven books, with the original Awadhi verse and a detailed Hindi retelling.
The MahabharataSelected retelling · Ganesha writes on one condition, that the dictation never stop; Vyasa asks him to grasp each shloka first. All eighteen parvas, 41 main chapters and 11 supplementary.
The HarivamshaSelected retelling · Janamejaya, having heard the whole Mahabharata, asks Vaishampayana for the Yadava story from its start. Twenty selected episodes, fifteen on Krishna from birth to the Bana war.
Stories of the BhagavatamSelected retelling · With seven days to live, Parikshit sits by the Ganga and asks Shukadeva what a dying man should hear. Sixty-five stories; begin wherever a title pulls you.
Shiva PuranaSelected retelling · Suta tells Shaunaka what hearing this Purana can do; the first tale opens near Prayaga. Thirty-two stories from the Gita Press abridged text, Sati to the twelve jyotirlingas.
Vishnu PuranaSelected retelling · Twenty-six selected readings across the six books; Book Five includes the birth of Krishna, Govardhana, and the Yadava ending.
Shrimad Devi BhagavataSelected retelling · The three worlds lie lost in one ocean and Vishnu sleeps; Suta tells the sages of Naimisharanya. Twenty-seven stories, Gita Press text, from Savitri to the Devi Gita.
Devi MahatmyaComplete text with meaning · A deposed king and an exiled merchant come to the sage Medha, and three acts unfold: Madhu and Kaitabha, Mahishasura, Shumbha and Nishumbha. All thirteen chapters, 588 shlokas.The Gitas 5
The Bhagavad GitaChapter commentary · all 700 verses · Between the armies at Kurukshetra, Arjuna sees his uncles, teachers, and kin; his hands tremble and the bow slips. Eighteen chapters, until he lifts it again.
The Ashtavakra GitaReading and commentary · Bent in eight places, the young Ashtavakra answers King Janaka's question at Mithila: how does knowledge come, how will liberation come? Twenty chapters, 298 shlokas.
The Avadhuta GitaReading and commentary · Dattatreya the avadhuta sings his own song of the Self, every shloka returning to one center: I am, I am That. Eight chapters, 264 shlokas.
The Rama GitaDialogue and commentary · After the coronation Lakshmana asks his brother for the knowledge of Brahman, and Rama answers as teacher. Sixty-two shlokas in eight parts from the Adhyatma Ramayana, with commentary.
The Vibhishana GitaEpisode and commentary · On Lanka's battlefield Ravana rides a chariot and Rama stands on foot; Vibhishana doubts, and Rama describes the chariot of dharma. Six parts from Tulsidas's Lanka Kanda.
The Ashtavakra GitaReading and commentary · Bent in eight places, the young Ashtavakra answers King Janaka's question at Mithila: how does knowledge come, how will liberation come? Twenty chapters, 298 shlokas.The Avadhuta GitaReading and commentary · Dattatreya the avadhuta sings his own song of the Self, every shloka returning to one center: I am, I am That. Eight chapters, 264 shlokas.The Rama GitaDialogue and commentary · After the coronation Lakshmana asks his brother for the knowledge of Brahman, and Rama answers as teacher. Sixty-two shlokas in eight parts from the Adhyatma Ramayana, with commentary.The Vibhishana GitaEpisode and commentary · On Lanka's battlefield Ravana rides a chariot and Rama stands on foot; Vibhishana doubts, and Rama describes the chariot of dharma. Six parts from Tulsidas's Lanka Kanda.Vedanta and darshana 6
The Brahma SutraReading and commentary · Now, therefore, the inquiry into Brahman: Badarayana's 555 sutras open with these words, in four chapters and sixteen padas, read through Shankaracharya's commentary.
The VivekachudamaniReading and commentary · A disciple asks what bondage is and how it came, and the guru's answer is the whole of Advaita: 580 verses ascribed to Adi Shankara, in nineteen parts.
The MahavakyasReading and commentary · Prajnanam brahma, aham brahmasmi, tat tvam asi, ayam atma brahma: the four great sayings of Vedanta, one from each Veda, with their Upanishad sources and meaning.
The Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliReading and commentary · Patanjali's 196 sutras tie the whole tangle of the mind into short threads: what the mind is and how it grows still. Four padas with commentary.
The Stories of VasisthaStories and dialogues · King Lavana mounts a horse, closes his eyes, and a whole lifetime passes in one night. Thirty-nine stories from Vasistha's dialogue with the young Rama, in any order.
Tripura RahasyaSelected retelling · Three selected readings from the Jnana Khanda, with passage-specific sources.The Upanishads 13
The UpanishadsReading and commentary · Under a banyan or before the fire, a student sits close and the teacher speaks. Twelve Upanishads with commentary, eleven read whole, the Isha in selected mantras.
The Isha UpanishadSelected thematic commentary · Six discussion sections · mantras 1, 2, 4 to 7, 9 to 11, 15 to 18; not the full 18-mantra text.
The Kena UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · A long Sama chant has just ended, and in the silence someone asks who sends the mind. All four khandas, verse then story, with commentary.The Katha UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · A boy sits three nights unfed at Yama's door and asks, with his third boon, what nobody asks. Both chapters and all six vallis, with commentary.
The Prashna UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · Six seekers arrive with firewood in hand, wait a year, then receive Pippalada's answers. All six questions, from the edge of creation to the purusha of sixteen parts.
The Mundaka UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · Shaunaka sits by Angiras and asks what, once known, makes everything known. All three mundakas and six khandas, Om as the bow, two birds on one tree.
The Mandukya UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · In the third watch of the night one sleeper passes through three worlds in turn. All twelve mantras, waking, dream, deep sleep and the fourth, mapped onto Om.
The Taittiriya UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · A student's farewell day after years in the teacher's house: speak the truth, walk in dharma. All three vallis, from the five sheaths to Bhrigu's five returns.
The Aitareya UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · Homeless gods in a great ocean refuse a cow and a horse, then accept the human being. All three chapters, closing on four words for who am I.
The Chandogya UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · Shvetaketu comes home proud after twelve years of study, and his father asks one question. All eight chapters, from three Sama singers before dawn to Prajapati's door.
The Brihadaranyaka UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · Yajnavalkya, who silences a full assembly, faces eight questioners in Janaka's court for a thousand gold-horned cows. All six chapters, opening with the sacrificial horse at dawn.
The Shvetashvatara UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · At the forest's edge an assembly asks what causes everything: time, nature, necessity or chance. All six chapters, through maya and Rudra to the first note of bhakti.
The Kaivalya UpanishadComplete reading and commentary · Ashvalayana comes before the grandfather Parameshthin and asks for the highest knowledge; the answer begins with faith, devotion, meditation. Both sections, twenty-six mantras, ending in identity with Sadashiva.Bhakti and Stotra 10
The Vishnu SahasranamaText, meaning and commentary · Bhishma on his bed of arrows gives Yudhishthira the thousand names after the war. The whole hymn with meaning: nyasa, dhyana, 108 name-verses, phalashruti and uttara-pithika.
The Lalita SahasranamaText, meaning and commentary · Agastya asks and Hayagriva answers with the Goddess's thousand names. All 1000 names in ten parts with commentary, a hundred of them telling the war against Bhandasura.
The Narada Bhakti SutraText, meaning and commentary · The Sanakadi rishis ask Narada what bhakti is, and he answers in short sutras: supreme love for God. All eighty-four sutras in five chapters, with explanation.
The Saundarya LahariText, meaning and commentary · The tale opens at Kailasa: Shankara receives the hymn from Shiva, a gatekeeper snatches it, forty-one verses survive. All 100 verses and a three-verse appendix, in two parts.
The Purusha SuktaGuided introduction · A body larger than the earth, thousand-headed, made the offering of the first yajna. An introduction to the sixteen verses of Rigveda 10.90, with diagram and reading list.
The Hanuman ChalisaText, meaning and commentary · A folk tale has Tulsidas composing it in a prison cell, in Awadhi anyone could learn by heart. Two opening dohas, forty chaupais and a closing doha, with meaning.
The Shiva Mahimna StotraText, meaning and commentary · The gandharva Pushpadanta, invisible, steals flowers for Shiva from a king's garden; caught, he composes this hymn in remorse. All forty-three verses with meaning and their Puranic stories.
The Sri RudramGuided introduction · Rudra as the Rig Veda sees him: storm, mountain, physician of physicians. An introduction to the Namakam and Chamakam, eleven anuvakas each, with the story of Daksha's yajna.The Ganesha AtharvashirshaText, meaning and commentary · An Upanishad of the Atharva Veda that names Ganesha as Brahman itself. All fourteen sections between two peace invocations, each explained, with the fruit of recitation.Bhaja GovindamText, meaning and commentary · In Kashi, Shankara hears a pandit of eighty drilling a grammar rule, and the hammer that breaks delusion is born. All thirty-three verses in titled pairs, with commentary.Characters and reference 2
The CharactersCharacter profiles · Hanuman on Mount Mahendra, Sita at the pyre in Lanka, Krishna in the Mathura prison at midnight. Nine selected profiles with episodes, relationships and paths into the readings.GlossaryTerms and meanings · Amrita: that which does not die. Terms that recur across the texts, 965 in all, sorted A to Z, each with the original and a one-line meaning.
More teachings 3
Yaksha Prashna · Vana ParvaSingle episode, retold · Four brothers lie fallen beside a forest lake; Yudhishthira alone answers the unseen voice, question after question, the greatest wonder among them. One Vana Parva episode retold as story.
Vidura Niti · Udyoga ParvaCounsel retold as story · War one step away, the blind king, sleepless at midnight, summons the brother who never feared to speak truth. Vidura's counsel from the Udyoga Parva, retold as story.
Anugita · Ashvamedha ParvaTeaching retold as story · After the war, in the Indraprastha hall, Arjuna admits he has forgotten the Gita's teaching; Krishna returns its essence through old stories. From the Ashvamedha Parva, retold as story.Sikh scripture 6
Anand SahibComplete bani with meaning · Guru Amardas, seated as guru at seventy-three, calls to the mother: bliss has come, the guru is found. All forty pauris in Raga Ramkali, angs 917 to 922.Salok Mahalla 9Complete bani with meaning · Guru Tegh Bahadur's saloks: the world passes, only the Name stays, a refrain that keeps returning. All fifty-seven, the last five turning from counsel to prayer.
Japji SahibHindi onlyBani and reading guides · Guru Nanak's morning prayer, the opening of the Guru Granth Sahib, asking how one becomes true. Mool Mantar, all thirty-eight pauris and the closing salok, in Hindi only.
Sukhmani SahibHindi onlyComplete bani with commentary · Guru Arjan Dev's composition beside the Ramsar pool, opening on the line that simran brings peace. All twenty-four ashtapadis, 192 pauris, each with commentary, in Hindi only.Asa di VaarHindi onlyComplete bani with meaning · Sung by the sangat each morning in Raga Asa; Nanak offers himself to his guru a hundred times daily. All twenty-four pauris and fifty-nine saloks, in Hindi only.
Adi GranthHindi onlyFull text with Hindi meaning · The first ang holds the Mool Mantar and Japu's opening; compiled under Guru Arjan Dev in 1604. All 1430 angs with Hindi meaning, by ang, author or raga.
Japji SahibHindi onlyBani and reading guides · Guru Nanak's morning prayer, the opening of the Guru Granth Sahib, asking how one becomes true. Mool Mantar, all thirty-eight pauris and the closing salok, in Hindi only.Sukhmani SahibHindi onlyComplete bani with commentary · Guru Arjan Dev's composition beside the Ramsar pool, opening on the line that simran brings peace. All twenty-four ashtapadis, 192 pauris, each with commentary, in Hindi only.Asa di VaarHindi onlyComplete bani with meaning · Sung by the sangat each morning in Raga Asa; Nanak offers himself to his guru a hundred times daily. All twenty-four pauris and fifty-nine saloks, in Hindi only.Adi GranthHindi onlyFull text with Hindi meaning · The first ang holds the Mool Mantar and Japu's opening; compiled under Guru Arjan Dev in 1604. All 1430 angs with Hindi meaning, by ang, author or raga.Foundations and reading paths 4
FoundationsOrientation and maps · A first course in four sittings, from the canon map to one question taken back to its source. Groundwork readings on dharma, canon and the Puranas, plus two reflections.A Map of the CanonAnnotated map · A library of palm-leaf bundles on stepped shelves, and one first dividing line: shruti, the heard, and smriti, the remembered. Four streams and a bridge, drawn and explained.The Canon in TimeAnnotated timeline · A long shoreline marked wherever a text was set down, every date held as approximate. Thirty-eight texts placed in order, with the second clock of kalpa and yuga.Reading guidesGuided reading paths · The sorrow path, three stops: Arjuna's question, Nachiketa, Chitraketu's grieving house. Seven feeling-paths, timed guides of thirty minutes to two hours, eight theme routes, four text-family paths.
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