Hindu Scrips

The Soul:
" It is never born, nor does it die: after coming to be, it does not cease to be; it is without birth, eternal, imperishable and timeless; it is not destroyed with the destruction of the body."
- Lord Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita.

"The universe is the outpouring of the majesty of God, the auspicious one, radiant love. Every face you see belongs to Him. He is present in everyone without exception." - Yajur Veda.

God:
"He is the One, the One alone. In Him all deities become one."
- declares the Artha Veda.

Incarnation:
"Whenever there is decline of righteousness and predominance of unrighteousness, I embody Myself. For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil-doers and for the re-establishment of dharma (righteousness) I am born from age to age."
- Lord Krishna from the Bhagvad-Gita.

Liberation:
O Lord, liberate our souls
From the shadows of birth and death,
Not from our aspirations
of existence i.e. immortality.
— Yajurveda, 3.60

One reality:
" Tat twam asi" meaning "That thou art."
- from the Upanishads.

"After a cycle of universal dissolution, the Supreme Being decides to recreate the cosmos so that we souls can experience worlds of shape and solidity. Very subtle atoms begin to combine, eventually generating a cosmic wind that blows heavier and heavier atoms together. Souls depending on their karma earned in previous world systems, spontaneously draw to themselves atoms that coalesce into an appropriate body." - The Prashasta Pada.

Sin:
"Even if thou art the worst of sinners, thou shalt cross the ocean of sin by the bark of wisdom."
- Lord Krishna from Bhagvad Gita.

Creation:
"None knoweth whence creation has arisen, and whether He has or has not produced it. He who surveys it in the highest heavens, he only knows, or perhaps he knows not."
- from the Hymn of Creation, Rig Veda.

Sun

"You shine, all living things emerge. You disappear, they go to rest. Recognizing our innocence, O golden-haired Sun, arise; let each day be better than the last." Rig Veda (X, 37, 9)

Humanity

"To you, I declare this holy mystery,
there is nothing nobler than humanity"

Guhyam brahma tad idam vo bravini
Na manusat sresthataram hi kincit.

- Mahabharat XII, 300-20)

Life:
"Life is a bridge, enjoy while crossing but don't build a castle on it."
- Upanishads.

"Do good deeds with a sense of urgency, Before death's approaching rattle strangles the tongue.

What wondrous greatness this world possesses that yesterday a man was, and today he is not."
— From the Tirukural, 335-36

Happiness:
"In the finite there is no happiness. The Infinite alone is happiness."
- Upanishads

"That Light which is
residing in the Sun and
which illumines the whole world, and that which is in the moon and in the
fire - know that
Light to be Mine.
- Lord Krishna in Gita 12

River Sindhu

"Sindhu in might surpasses all the streams that flow.... His roar is lifted up to heaven above the earth; he puts forth endless vigour with a flash of light .... Even as cows with milk rush to their calves, so other rivers roar into the Sindhu. As a warrior- king leads other warriors, so does Sindhu lead other rivers.... Rich in good steeds is Sindhu, rich in gold, nobly fashioned, rich in ample wealth.''
- Rig Veda

River Ganges:
" The Ganges fell from Heaven and her fall was softened by the long locks of Lord Shiva."

Seeking God:
Who sees me in all things, and all things in me, he is never far from me, and I am never far from him."
Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita

The City of Benares:
Are there not many holy places on this earth?
Yet which of them would equal in the balance one speck of Kashi's dust?
Are there not many rivers running to the sea?
Yet whcih of them is like the River of Heaven in Kashi?
Are there not many fields of liberation on earth?
Yet not one equals the smallest part of the city never forsaken by Shiva
The Ganges, Shiva, and Kashi: Where this Trinity is watchful, no wonder here is found the grace tha leads one on to perfect blisss.
- Kashi Khanda

DA-DA-DA: datta, dayadhvam, damyata
Be Self Controlled!
Give!
Be Compassionate!
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Chapter 5)

Faith and Belief

A man of faith, absorbed in faith, his senses controlled, attains knowledge, and, knowledge attained, quickly finds supreme peace. But the ignorant man, who is without faith, goes doubting to destruction. For the doubting self there is neither this world, nor the next, nor joy.
- Bhagavad Gita 4.39-40

"If men thought of God as much as they think of the world, who would not attain liberation (moksha)."
- Maitri Upanishad 6.24

Yugas:

One who lies down is Kali
One who awakes is Dvãpara
One who stands up becomes Tretã
And one who moves on realises the Satya Yuga.
Therefore move on!
- Aitareya Brãhmana

divine:

By divine, we mean the following --
Absolute (Eternal) Existence
Absolute Knowledge
Absolute Bliss
Absolute Freedom

Message from the Gita:

Whenever there is a decline in
Dharma,
And a rise in Adharma,
I incarnate Myself,
For the protection of the good,
For the destruction of the wicked.
For the establishment of Dharma,
I come into Being from age to age.
- Bhagavad Gita IV, 8

Karma:

It is karma that brings joy or sorrow
Willing or unwilling, we live by our karma.
Observe the potter shaping his pots:
Some break on the wheel,
Some crack after removal from the wheel,
Some spoil when wet, some when dry,
Some burst while being fired
Some after removal from the kiln,
Some shatter in use...
So some of us die in the womb
Some immediately after birth,
Some a fortnight later, some a month,
Some in youth, some in middle age, some in old.
Their karma determines it all.
This is the way of the world is -
So what is the point of grieving?
Swimmers dive,
then emerge from the water;
So creatures sink into
and emerge from the stream of life.

-The Mahabharata of Vyasa (The Eleventh book: The Women)

Gayatri Mantra:

OM BHOOR BHUVAHA SWAHA TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI DHIYO YO NAHA PRACHODAYAAT

"O God, Thou art the giver of life, the remover of pain and sorrow, the bestower of happiness; O Creator of the Universe, may we receive thy supreme, sin-destroying light; may Thou guide our intellect in the right direction." Gayatri Mantra is an adoration of the effulgence of the Sun

Moksha:

"Those who meditate on Me and Worship Me without any attachment to anything else, As Lord Krishna said in the Gita: " those I soon lift from the ocean of death".

Creation:

"Creation is only the projection into form of that which already exists... The atoms of the universe may be counted, but not so my manifestations; for eternally I create innumerable worlds." Srimad Bhagavatam, III.2, XI.10

" There is no existence for the unreal and the real can never be non-existent. The Seers of Truth know the nature and final ends of both. Know That to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. No one is ever able to destroy that Immutable. These bodies are perishable; but the dwellers in these bodies are eternal, indestructible and impenetrable. Therefore fight, O descendant of Bharata.

He who considers this Self as a slayer or he who thinks that this Self is slain, neither of these knows the Truth. For It does not slay, nor is It slain. This Self is not born, nor does It die, nor after once having seen, does It go into non-being. This Self is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient. It is never destroyed even when the body is destroyed. - From the Bhagavad Gita II.16-20

As milk is spontaneously changed into curd and water into ice, so Brahma modifies Itself in diverse ways, without the aid of instruments or external means of any kind whatever. Thus the spider spins its web out of its own substance, subtle beings take diverse forms, and the lotus grows from marsh to marsh without organs of locomotion. - From the Brahma Sutra II.1

The yon is fullness, this.
From fullness, fullness doth proceed.
Withdrawing fullness's fullness off,
E'en fullness then itself remains. - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

God's definition:

" God sleeps in the rocks, proclaims the Hindu scriptures, "dreams in the plants, stirs toward wakefulness in the animals, and in mankind is awake to his own ego individuality."

Lord Ganesha

"Vakrathunda Mahakaya Suryakodi Samaprabha Nirvignam Kurumae deva, Sarvakaryeshu Sarvada"

Oh! Lord (Ganesha), of huge form and curved elephant trunk, whose brilliance is equal to billions of suns, always remove all obstacles from my endeavors.

Respect for Mother Earth:

"O Goddess Earth, the consort of Visnu,
you whose garments are the oceans and
whose ornaments are the hills and mountain ranges;
please forgive me as I walk on you this day."

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" One who has attained mastery over his mind is indeed a greater conquerer
than one who has vanquished a thousand enemies."
- Gautama Buddha

Nourishing Steps:

May God come and reside in our hearts;
May our body be the temple of God.
May He feed freely upon the harvest of our actions as the cows graze in the pasture.
May we reap the harvest of our life and dedicate all at His feet,
May we ever remain His true servants.
- Rig Veda 1.91.13

Four Yugas:

" One who lies down is Kali
One who awakes is Dvãpara
One who stands up becomes Tretã
And one who moves on realises the Satya Yuga.
Therefore move on!"
- Aitareya Brãhmana

Shanti Mantrams:

Swasti prajabya paripalayantam nyayena margena mahim mahisha goh brahmananasya subham bhavatu loka samasta sukhino bhavantu. sarve jana sukhino bhavantu.. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti."

" O God - Give the ruler of the Land Good Ideas and make him follow the path of truth. Let the pious animal - cow and pious human - brahmin (Cow is not selfish and a true brahmin is not selfish) live happily.. let all the living organisms in all lokas have a peaceful life. "

Brahma

If the red slayer thinks he slays,
Or if the slain thinks he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near
Shadow and sunlight are the same
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahman sings.

Lord Krishna describes himself:

I am the conscience in the heart of all creatures
I am their beginning, their being, their end;
I am the mind of the senses,
I am the radiant sun among lights;
I am the song in sacred lore;
I am the king of deities;
I am the priest of great seers;
Of words, I am the eternal OM,
the prayer of sacrifices
I am the measure of what endures
I am the chief of divine sages,
leader of celestial musicians.
I am the recluse philosopher among saints.
I am the thunderbolt among weapons
among cattle, the Kamadhenu
I am the procreative god of love
I am the endless cosmic serpent,
the lord of all sea creatures;
I am the chief of the ancestral fathers.
I am gracious Siva among howling storms.
Of restraints, I am death,
Of measures, I am time.
I am the purifying wind.
I am the cleansing Ganga
Of sciences, I am the science of the self;
I am the dispute of orators.
I am victory and resolve,
the lucidity of lucid men.
I am the brilliance of fiery heroes.
I am the morality of ambitious men;
I am the silence of the mystery
I am the seed of all creatures
I am the death destroyer of all.

-- Shrimad Bhagavad Gita

Sacred River:

O Mother Ganga, may your water,
abundant blessing of this world,
treasure of Lord Shiva, playful Lord of all the earth,
essence of the scripture and
embodied goodness of the gods,
May your water, sublime wine of immortality,
Soothe our troubled souls.

Prayer

"Let my every word be a prayer to Thee,
Every movement of my hands a ritual gesture to Thee,
Every step I take a circumambulation of Thy image,
Every morsel I eat a rite of sacrifice to Thee,
Every time I lay down a prostration at Thy feet;
Every act of personal pleasure and all else that I do,
Let it all be a form of worshiping Thee."

- Verse 27 of Shri Aadi Shankara's Saundaryalahari