Ananda Gita (The Song of Bliss)
by Swami Sivananda
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Paperback: 128 + xii pages
Book Dimensions: 7.0 x 5.0 x 0.25 inches
Shipping Weight: 130 grams
Table of Contents
Publishers’ Note | vii |
Introduction | viii |
Chapter I WHAT IS DIVINE LIFE |
|
Divine Life | 3 |
Religion | 4 |
Essence of Gita | 6 |
Chapter II |
|
Sadhana | 9 |
Satsanga | 10 |
Guru Is Necessary | 12 |
Virtue and Vice | 13 |
Pleasure and Pain | 15 |
All about Mind | 16 |
How to Control the Mind? | 18 |
Sankalpa and Its Destruction | 20 |
Ahamkara or Egoism | 22 |
Way to Peace | 24 |
Special Instructions | 25 |
Chapter III |
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Practice of Karma Yoga | 28 |
Anasakti Yoga | 29 |
Chapter IV |
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What Is Bhakti Yoga | 32 |
Power of Prayer | 34 |
Surrender and Grace | 35 |
Chapter V RAJA YOGA |
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Elements of Raja Yoga | 38 |
Vrittis | 39 |
Ahimsa | 41 |
Satya | 43 |
Brahmacharya | 45 |
Kriya Yoga | 47 |
Pranayama | 48 |
Concentration | 50 |
Meditation | 52 |
Obstacles in Meditation | 54 |
Experiences in Meditation | 56 |
Samadhi | 57 |
Sleep and Samadhi | 59 |
Chapter VI |
|
Hatha Yoga | 61 |
Asana Yoga | 63 |
Benefits of Asanas | 71 |
Kundalini Yoga | 72 |
Lambika Yoga | 74 |
Nada Yoga | 76 |
Japa Yoga | 77 |
Yogas of Synthesis | 79 |
Chapter VII |
|
Yoga of Wisdom | 82 |
Nature of the Atman | 84 |
Thy Real Nature | 85 |
Maya | 87 |
Nature and Workings of Maya | 89 |
Avidya | 90 |
Good and Evil | 91 |
Puriashtaka Body | 93 |
Bondage and Liberation | 94 |
Bliss, Immortality, Freedom | 96 |
Vivarta Vada | 98 |
Vichara | 99 |
Discrimination | 100 |
Vairagya | 101 |
Who am I? | 103 |
Pranava or OM | 105 |
Asparsa Yoga | 106 |
Moksha or Final Blessedness | 109 |
Immortality | 110 |
Bliss Absolute | 111 |
What Is Jivanmukti | 113 |
Who Is a Jivanmukta | 115 |
Essence of Upanishads | 116 |
Essence of Yoga Vasishtha | 118 |
Gist of Vedanta | 122 |
Chapter VIII |
|
Mokshapriya Addresses His Guru | 124 |
Swami Sivananda to Mokshapriya | 125 |
Publishers’ Note
This small volume written by Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, is appearing in print for the fourth time.
A study and, what is more important, diligent practice of the lessons, would convince the reader beyond all doubt that this small volume gives the essence of Yoga Sadhana in a most practical manner.
The simple, lucid, direct and forceful style that characterises Sri Swamiji’s writings is born of more than a quarter of a century of Tapas, meditation, intense practical application of Yoga Sadhana, and sympathetic understanding of the aspirant’s problems that Sri Swamiji Maharaj has been solving by his spiritual preceptorship to thousands all over the world.
May all the readers be spiritually illumined and be blessed with this unique book come from one great saint.
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
Introduction
Who is Mokshapriya?
Mokshapriya is a young seeker after Truth. He is a practical illustration of Sri Swami Sivanandaji’s principle that one should renounce the world in youth. He has negatived the temptations of the flesh, the beckoning of Mara or Satan. He is a very quiet and peace-loving Sadhaka; and he has controlled the innate Rajas in man. He loves seclusion, and has set at naught the theory that man is a sociable animal. He is a thorough-going introvert; he has blinded himself to the false glittering of the sense-objects. He is convinced of the futility of seeking after anything mundane, and of the glory of seeking after a Brahma Vidya Guru. He has, therefore, resorted to the Bhumandala Sad Guru Sri Swami Sivanandaji; and today he shines in the lovely apparel of Tapas, Svadhyaya and Guru Seva.
Mokshapriya, in his (previous) life, comes of a very respectable family of Hyderabad. He is a Graduate in Mathematics. He stood first in the whole State. His teachers loved him; he captured their heart by his studiousness, keen intelligence, quick grasp and intense application. Even as a student he was considered a genius by his professors. He worked for sometime as a Mathematics teacher; and all students were eager to be his pupils! Then he gave up the job and devoted all his time to the study of philosophy and Yoga. This took him to the feet of Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.
Glory to Sri Mokshapriya through whom Sri Swamiji has given to the world his priceless Ananda Gita, even as Lord Krishna gave the Gita through Sri Arjuna. May all young men follow his example and become Mokshapriyas!
Swami Chidananda
Chapter I
What is Divine Life
Divine Life
What is Divine Life? To shed the animal in Man, and to sublimate the human in him into the Divine; to express this sublimation in his daily, hourly life, in thought, word and deed–that is Divine life.
Mokshapriya said:
Tell me, Swamiji, what is divine life?
Swami Sivananda replied:
O Mokshapriya, divine life is life in God or Brahman or the pure Spirit.
To pray, to do Japa or recite the names of the Lord at all times, to sing His glory, to do Kirtan, to meditate on His form, Lilas and attributes, is divine life.
To speak the truth at all costs, to speak sweetly with love, to practise non-violence, celibacy, to behold the Lord in all forms is divine life.
To be ever in communion with the Lord by annihilating mine-ness and egoism through faith, devotion and self-surrender is divine life.
To study the Gita, the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, the Yoga-Vasishtha, the Koran, the Bible, the Zend Avesta, and to follow the teachings contained therein is divine life.
O beloved disciple, feel His presence everywhere. Love all. Serve all. Be kind to all. Be tolerant. Be humble. Be pure. Be patient. Be forgiving. This is divine life.
Drive away Rajas (passion) and Tamas (inertia) and fill the mind with Sattva (purity). This is divine life.
Cultivate the divine virtues, straightforwardness; courage, serenity, generosity, mercy, self-restraint. This is divine life.
Keep up a balanced mind in success and failure, censure and praise, honour and dishonour, gain or loss, heat and cold. This is divine life.
O Mokshapriya, give up identification with the body, wife, children and property; identify yourself with the All-pervading, Immortal Brahman, and rest peacefully in Brahman. This is divine life.
Religion
Religion unites the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. Real religion is Self-realisation. Essentials of all religions are the same. Different religions are essential. Universal religion is LOVE.
Mokshapriya said:
O adorable Swamiji, speak to me on Religion.
Swami Sivananda answered:
O Mokshapriya, religion shows the way to Self-realisation of eternal life in Brahman.
O beloved aspirant, religion unites the individual soul with the Supreme Soul.
Real religion, O Mokshapriya, is above mind and senses. Real religion is Self-realisation.
Know that life without religion, O Jijnasu, is a dreary waste and is real death.
O Mokshapriya, the fundamentals or the essentials of all religions are the same. Non-essentials or rituals only differ.
Each religion, O seeker after Emancipation, is suitable to that particular man who is in a particular state of evolution. Different religions are, therefore, essential.
O Mokshapriya, the universal religion is the religion of heart or love, the religion of Vedanta or Oneness.
O Adhyatmic hero, every religion teaches: there is one eternal, all-pervading, immortal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, self-luminous, timeless, spaceless, formless, birthless, deathless, all-blissful, all-peaceful, Supreme Being. Speak the truth. Love all. Serve all. Purify your heart. Never hurt others’ feelings. Do not kill any creature. Be pure, observe celibacy. Be generous. Be merciful. Be charitable. Forgive the mistakes of others. Be tolerant. Control the senses and the mind. Concentrate. Meditate and attain God-realisation. Then alone, O Mokshapriya, can you be ever blissful and peaceful.