Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha

Sri Bharati Tirtha

Do not be proud of wealth, people (relations and friends), and youth. All these are
snatched by Time in the blink of an eye. Giving up this illusory world, know and attain
the Supreme.
[Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada]

Daylight and darkness dusk and dawn, winter and springtime come and go. Time
plays and life ebbs away. But the current of desire never leaves. [Jagadguru Sri Adi
Shankara Bhagavatpada]

An object continues to be dear as long as one derives pleasure from it and it is

detested for the duration that it causes pain. The same object cannot be always liked
or disliked. Sometimes, that which is not dear may become dear. Moreover, that
which was loveable can turn unpleasant. The Atma, towards which affection never
wanes, is always the most beloved. [Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada]

Does fire refuse to scorch a person who touches it without knowing that it will scorch
or who refuses to accept its power to scorch? Similarly, if you go against God’s laws
you are bound to suffer.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

Prevention is better than cure. It is easier to be always clean and pure than to dip
your hands in dirt and filth and impurities and then wash them off. Similarly, it is
advisable to be spiritual from the very start than to get entangled in worldly life and
maya and then try to free yourself from it.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

Know that as soon as you come into this world, the quota of pleasure and pain to be
enjoyed by you in this life has already been determined and it is not within your
power, or anybody else’s, to add to or take away from that allotment. [Jagadguru
Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]
It is a waste of time and energy to quarrel about the nature of God. The feet of God
are not visible to you, why do you waste your precious life speculating and wrangling
about the nature of God’s face?
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

The only way a religion can be safeguarded is by strengthening the hands of those
who are entrusted with the duty of seeing that the followers of a particular faith
properly perform their functions.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

It is the duty of parents to safeguard the spiritual interests of their child. As the
parents have to feed a child which cannot feed itself, so have they to look after its
spiritual interests also till it is able to take care of them. [Jagadguru Sri
Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

Make the best use of the opportunities available to you now, for there is no
guarantee that you may have the same opportunities and facilities in the births to
come. Do not delay till tomorrow what can be done today. [Jagadguru Sri
Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

Moksha can be attained by all. Never for a moment think yourself incompetent or
incapable of attaining moksha. [Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati
Mahaswamigal]

The scriptures, which alone are our guides in religious matters, are above everyone
and no one on earth has absolutely any right or justification to interfere with them on
any account.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

The Vedas are beginning-less. They are the revelations of God himself.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

The scriptures have been written for your own good. Their aim is to guide you so that
you can be free from pain and suffering, restlessness and unhappiness, and enjoy
everlasting peace and bliss. By following their commands you stand only to gain and
not lose. Why then do you persist in disobeying the scriptures? [Jagadguru Sri
Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

Tendencies develop, regardless of the characteristic of the action performed. Hence,

he who wishes to lead a proper life will do well to avoid evil deeds and to repeatedly
perform virtuous deeds.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

The nature of the object of worship necessarily depends upon the nature of the
worshipper (i.e. spiritual competency). [Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati
Mahaswamigal]
Guidance can never be the same for all. Countless are the varieties of temperament,
training, environment, hereditary and pre-natal tendencies and so on. So it is
impossible to expect any single stereotyped system of conduct to suit all beings.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

In spite of the knowledge that telling a lie is sinful, many people persist in it. When
people sin, knowing that what they do is sinful, what is the point of teaching them
that many other acts of theirs are also sinful. Such a teaching is not going to make
any difference to their conduct. Now they err in ignorance; after being taught they
will err deliberately. That will be all the difference perhaps. The fault lies with us.
What can any guru do when we have no desire to reform ourselves?
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

To suffer the result of sin, only the capacity to suffer is required; and this capacity,
namely, the sense of pain and pleasure, is present in the baby, even when it is in the
womb. A child cannot distinguish between right and wrong. So until it acquires this
capacity, it incurs no sin. If a child commits no sin, why do so many children
experience pain and suffering? The reason is simple. Children suffer for the sinful
acts done by them as adults in previous births. [Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara
Bharati Mahaswamigal]

We have the ability to learn. Materials for knowledge are available to us. Teachers
are available for teaching us. Yet man willingly prefers to live in the darkness of
ignorance. Within man exists an ocean of bliss. Yet he willingly prefers to live a life
full of misery, pain and suffering. This is the tragedy of human life.
[Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal]

When praying to Ishvara it is best not to ask for anything. Asking Ishvara for worldly
things is not a good practice at all. Ishvara knows what is best and one should leave
everything to him. One should love Ishvara purely for the sake of love. By keeping
the company of sages one develops pure devotion. Everything which one does should
be completely dedicated to Ishvara. One should act for His sake and offer the fruits of
all actions to Him. [Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

The need for mind control is quite obvious. Only he who has control over his mind
can be successful in worldly pursuits and be happy. Such being the case what need
be said about the need for mind control in the case of spiritual aspirants? To study, to
work and even to play well the mind must be concentrated on the task in hand and
this is possible only if one has control over the mind.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

By God’s grace, we have obtained a human birth, the power of discrimination and
someone to teach us about the ultimate, truth. If we still remain lazy, we will be
wasting a marvelous opportunity.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

It is ridiculous to suppose that Prarabdha can be more powerful than one’s will. The
reason for this is that Prarabdha itself is a creature of one’s will. What one performed
guided by one’s will in the previous births, is what is now appearing as fate. What
one has brought about due to exercise of one’s will in the previous births can
certainly be overcome by exercise of will power in the present birth, provided one
makes adequate effort. [Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

There is no reason whatsoever to despair about one’s spiritual progress. If one tries
strong enough, one will certainly make much progress. After all, Prarabdha has been
compared by Brahma to seed. Not only the seed determines what one gets out of the
field but also by the effort that one makes to till the land. By proper maturing and the
like the situation can be very much improved. It is meaningless if a man just sits
quiet and expects fate to lead him on in the spiritual path.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

Care should be taken by spiritual aspirants to keep the body healthy. This does not
mean that undue attention should be paid to die body but its health must not be
neglected. It is not good to sleep excessively or to sleep too little. For healthy young
people about six or seven hours of sleep is enough. Going to bed between 10 and
10.30 p.m. and getting up between 4.30 a.m. and 5 a.m. is a very good practice.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

The light of a lamp falls on its surroundings. One may study Sastras in that light.
While another may, paying no attention to it, spend time sleeping. Similarly great
souls are always showering their grace. Each one can derive benefit depending on
one’s mentality. If one takes a big vessel to a pond, one can bring a large quantity of
water, just because it is said that a small vessel can hold little water, it does not
mean that the vessel itself is the limit for the capacity of the pond.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

The source of bliss is not something external but is one’s own true nature, the Atma.
Not realizing this, the man devoid of discrimination seeks happiness in external
objects. It is because of the mistaken feeling that happiness can be got from things
external that the mind goes outward.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

People are often devoid of dispassion. The reason for this is the lack of
discrimination. Dispassion may dawn due to some calamity but that dispassion is
only temporary. Only that dispassion that results from discrimination is lasting. The
importance of burning dispassion can never be over-emphasized. It would not be
wrong to say that much of the trouble which people encounter in controlling the mind
is due to want of Vairagyam.
[Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal]

It is a great blunder not to make proper use of the body and mind that has been
given to us by God.
[Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamigal]

Instead of using the tongue for speaking futile issues, use it to chant the names of
God. God shall then guide you along the right and beneficial path. [Jagadguru Sri
Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamigal]
No man is omniscient. Hence man should not have the ego that he knows all. It is ego
that leads man astray and drives him to commit sins. [Jagadguru Sri Bharati
Tirtha Mahaswamigal]
To err is human. Accepting one’s error and correcting oneself is a mark of nobility.
Humility is the primary path to achieving nobility. [Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha
Mahaswamigal]