On this page
Reading paths
Begin with the time you have, what you feel, or the tradition that calls you.
How to choose a path
Reading guides
The most common mistake with long texts is starting just anywhere. Each guide below lays out a set path, by the time you have and by the theme you want. Start with whatever time you have.
By time
30 minutes · beginner
If you have 30 minutes
Six short passages from the Gita, Japji, and the Hanuman Chalisa. Allow about 5 minutes to read and reflect on each. You will come away with a map, and then you can decide for yourself where to go next.
Gita 2.47, Japji pauri 1, Chalisa doha 1, …
90 minutes · practitioner
Karma Yoga for decision-makers
Seven shlokas from the second and third chapters of the Gita, set in the context of teams, products, and trade-offs. Making decisions without attachment to the fruit.
Gita 2.47, 2.48, 2.50, 3.19, 3.21, 3.25, 3.30
2 hours · scholar
Twelve selected passages from Japji Sahib
Twelve selected passages with original Gurmukhi, an English rendering, and reflections. Several selections are excerpts, partial stanzas taken from a longer whole.
Mool Mantra; Pauris 1, 3, 7, 12, 17, 18, 21, 27, 32, 38; closing salok
By feeling and need
By feeling · compassion
When you are in sorrow
Move from Arjuna’s question to Nachiketa’s inquiry and Chitraketu’s grieving household. Three readings with room for your own question.
Three stops · a reading, a question, and a way onward.
By feeling · fearlessness
Facing fear
Arjuna before the cosmic form, Hanuman facing Surasa, and the question of one’s own work. Three readings about different responses to fear.
Three stops · a reading, a question, and a way onward.
By feeling · dharma
Leadership and hard decisions
Three stops on one’s work, the example others see, and Karna’s conflicting obligations. Follow the Gita into a Mahabharata episode.
Three stops · a reading, a question, and a way onward.
By feeling · love
Love and devotion
When the heart is full. From bhakti yoga, the Rasa Lila, and the Song of the Gopis to Hanuman.
Seven stops, from several texts.
By feeling · beginning
Where to begin
Hear Arjuna’s uncertainty, his request for guidance, and his answer near the conversation’s end. Three stops in the Gita for a first visit.
Three stops · a reading, a question, and a way onward.
By feeling · the deathless
Death, and what lies beyond
When the question of death arises. From the Katha Upanishad, Sankhya Yoga, and the Yaksha’s questions.
Seven stops, from several texts.
By feeling · peace
Anger and peace
Trace the link before anger, hear Arjuna’s question about desire, and consider a way of treating others. Three selected readings from the Gita.
Three stops · a reading, a question, and a way onward.
By life question
If you have read none of these
Where to begin
Entering the Indian tradition for the first time? This is the gentlest road. Finish one short text first, then decide which one comes next. Don’t be afraid, this is not a two-hundred-page textbook.
To begin: Hanuman Chalisa (40 chaupais), then Kenopanishad (34 mantras), then Ashtavakra chapter 1.
Death and grief
Death, grief, the deathless
Lost someone of your own? Or started thinking about your own death? These texts step straight into that conversation. No consolation, no dodging.
Kathopanishad (Nachiketa and Yama), Salok Mahalla 9 · Vadhans raagHindi (alahania, songs of mourning), Anand Sahib.
The melting of ego
Letting the ego go
Texts that take the ego seriously. Examining the construction of “I” calmly, without putting yourself down.
Ashtavakra Gita (20 chapters), Kabir vaniHindi · Sukhmani ashtapadi 8Hindi.
Decisions under uncertainty
Decisions under uncertainty
Founder, doctor, lawyer, or parent, everyone has to make uncertain decisions daily. These texts strike exactly that state of mind.
Bhakti (devotion), without creed
Bhakti, without creed
Is bhakti still relevant, in this argument-driven twenty-first century? These texts say: yes, and here is how.
Narada Bhakti Sutra · Gita chapter 12 · Saundarya Lahari · Chalisa deep dive.
Stories, not philosophy
The story road
Does a bare philosophy text feel intimidating? These are all stories, deep understanding in the form of a tale. Each one carries its own lesson within it.
65 stories of the Bhagavatam · Selected stories of Vasistha.
A daily 10-minute practice
A daily 10-minute routine
No pre-dawn discipline? This is the smallest vow there is. 10 minutes a day, just to keep hold of one thread.
Daily: spend ten minutes with a Bhagavatam story, or with an ang from the Adi Granth in the Hindi edition. Longer readings can continue on another day; the time is for your practice, and a whole story can take as many sittings as it needs.
Householder life and practice
Householder life and practice
How does practice fit among family, work, friends, and responsibilities? These texts speak specifically from the householder’s context.
Sri Rama Gita (Rama on the throne), Sukhmani SahibHindi · the Sudama story.
By tradition
Vedanta
The Advaita Vedanta path
Shankaracharya’s tradition, Advaita Vedanta. One connected course of reading.
Yoga
The Yoga path
Starting with Patanjali, on to chapter 6 of the Gita (the yoga of meditation) and the stories of Vasistha.
Patanjali Yoga Sutras → Gita chapter 6 → the stories of Vasistha.
The Sikh tradition
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib path
The Sikh tradition: the foundational compositions of five Gurus, then wherever you like among the 1430 angs.
Japji SahibHindi (M1) → Anand Sahib (M3) → Asa di VaarHindi (M1) → Sukhmani SahibHindi (M5) → Salok Mahalla 9 → 1430 angsHindi.
Bhakti and stotra
The bhakti-stotra path
Bhakti poetry, classical stotras (hymns), and folk bhajans. For recitation and for meditation, both.
Hanuman Chalisa → Vishnu Sahasranam → Saundarya Lahari → Narada Bhakti Sutra.
More guides will keep coming, with time. Want a particular path that is not on this list? More routes will be added as the library grows.
Begin a Sikh reading in English
Start with the opening of the Guru Granth Sahib and Japji’s question about living truthfully. The original Gurmukhi, compact English senses, and named sources are together on this page.
A first reading from the Guru Granth Sahib
This is a selected English entrance. The larger Ang collection uses Devanagari transliteration and Hindi meanings.