Avadhuta Gita


Book Description




Avadhuta Gita of Dattatreya


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Poem propounding Vedantism from the Advaita viewpoint.




Avadhuta Gita


Book Description







Dattātreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatāra


Book Description

This book presents the multi-faceted Hindu deity Dattatreya from his Puranic emergence up to modern times. Dattatreya's Brahmanical portrayal, as well as his even more archaic characterization as a Tantric antinomian figure, combines both Vaisnava Saiva motifs. Over the course of time, Dattatreya has come to embody the roles of the immortal guru, yogin and avatara in a paradigmatic manner. From the sixteenth century Dattatreya's glorious characterization emerged as the incarnation of the trimurti of Brahma, Visnu, and Siva. Although Maharastra is the heartland of Dattatreya devotion, his presence is attested to throughout India and extends beyond the boundaries of Hinduism, being met with in Sufi circles and even in Buddhism and Jainism via Nathism. The scarce attention which most Western scholars of Indian religions have paid to this deity contrasts with its ubiquitousness and social permeability. Devotion to Dattatreya cuts through all social and religious strata of Indian society: among his adepts we find yogis, Brahmans, faqirs, Devi worshippers, untouchables, thieves, and prostitutes. This book explores all primary religious dimensions: myth, doctrine, ritual, philosophy, mysticism, and iconography. The comprehensive result offers a rich fresco of Hindu religion as well as an understanding of Marathi integrative spirituality: precisely this complexity of themes constitutes Dattatreya's uniqueness.




Song of the Free


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A collection of true events, Song of the Free illustrates beautifully the life of Dattatreyaji, a monk, a syncretic deity, who is considered to be an incarnation of Trimurti, blessed with the qualities of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. An avatar and a wandering ascetic, Dattatreyaji's life stressed on the importance of learning. He taught us to recognise wisdom from even the smallest creature of nature, like the honey bee. The book gathers the profound cognisance of Dattatreyaji. The 24 gurus, as accepted by him, are individually described, each forming a chapter. The guru is a source of divinity and the true guru guides us to attain our divine attributes. The book portrays the supreme consciousness of Dattatreyaji as he acknowledged the true guru found in nature-animals, birds and humans. He emphasised that if you have the desire to learn you can derive inspiration from anything. Moreover, his teachings inspire us to be in harmony with nature and other elements of the environment. Song of the Free acts as a true guru who will lead you to wisdom, allowing youto thrive on your own. Influenced by spirituality and philosophy, the book is a guide to learning-learning to live and live with wisdom.




The Uddhava Gita


Book Description

Widely read, The Bhagavad Gita is a classic of world spirituality while The essential companion to The Bhagavad Gita, The Uddhava Gita has remained overlooked. This new accessible and only English translation in print of The Uddhava Gita offers a previously unexplored path to understanding Hinduism and Krishna’s wisdom. Written centuries apart, the ideas of the two dialogues are similar although their approach and contexts differ. The Bhagavad Gita is filled with the urgency of battle while The Uddhava Gita takes place on the eve of Krishna’s departure from the world. The Uddhava Gita offers the reader philosophy, sublime poetry, practical guidance, and, ultimately, hope for a more complete consciousness in which the life of the body better reflects the life of the spirit.




Ashtavakra Gita


Book Description

Authored by Maharishi Vyasa, this lucid dialogue between Rajarshi Janak and Astavakra systematically deals with mystical experiences of the spiritual reality. To all advanced students of meditation, Ashtavakra Geeta directly points out the way and the goal.




Lord Śiva's Song


Book Description

While the Bhagavad Gītā is an acknowledged treasure of world spiritual literature, few people know a parallel text, theĪśvara Gītā. This lesser-known work is also dedicated to a god, but in this case it is Śiva, rather than Kṛṣṇa, who is depicted as the omniscient creator of the world. Andrew J. Nicholson's Lord Śiva's Song makes this text available in English in an accessible new translation. A work of both poetry and philosophy, the Īśvara Gītā builds on the insights of Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra and foreshadows later developments in tantric yoga. It deals with the pluralistic religious environment of early medieval India through an exploration of the relationship between the gods Śiva and Viṣṇu. The work condemns sectarianism and violence and provides a strategy for accommodating conflicting religious claims in its own day and in our own.




Tripura Rahasya


Book Description

A beautifully realized synthesis of the ancient tradition of Advaita Vedanta and Tantra.