Vivekacudamani by Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Book: Vivekacudamani

Author: Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Publisher : Shri Gangadhareshwar Trust (Rishikesh : Phone: India 0135-430769) ( www.sastraprakasika.org )

Swami Dayanand Saraswati is a living enlightened human being. He is well versed in the Vedas and Upaniishads and also has a grasp of the modern world, sciences and society. His discourses are structured to suit the modern life and individual and yet adhere to the immutable fundamentals of atma and moksha.

Vivekacudamani is an ancient treatise. Vivekacudamani is a book addressed to the jignasu (one seeking knowledge) who desires to become a mumukshu (one seeking liberation) and desires to attain Moksha (liberation) which being an attribute of atma (soul) is therefore already attained and just to be understood.

Vivekacudamani is a collection of 108 verses selected from the Upanishads. The Lord was the creator of the 4 Vedas. The Upanishads are the treatises of various saints upon what they thought was relevant or important from these Vedas. Hence each Upanishad usually carries the name of its creator saint. This is the basis of Sanatana Dharma ( a philosophy) which is loosely (and falsely) called as Hinduism.

Any Indian sage or spiritual Guru worth his salt has written a treatise upon the Vivekacudamani.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati is very lucid and precise with his words and thoughts and is able to convey the intricacies of our Upanishads in a very clear fashion and language.

A must read for any person wishing to understand the basis of Sanatana Dharma ……. Or Hinduism.

In fact I recommend each and every book of Shri Dayanand Saraswati for his clarity of thought and his precise knowledge about your quest towards finding Moksha or Atma.

With much humility and taking the excuse of my ignorance, I find some of his books and thoughts very repetitive. But the Truth is just one and hence is bound to be repetitive.   Please persevere in your quest for the ultimate truth. 

The discourses of Swami Dayananda Saraswati are in English. Available on audio CDs.

The Bottom Line by author Sonu V C

Life and its perennial question: Does this Life have a purpose or is it a flash in the pan- one time journey?

The West has always seen this life as an isolated incident and hence to be enjoyed to the hilt with all materialistic and sensual pleasures. The East has an almost inbred-into-blood culture of Karma-Rebirth-Soul theology.

Author Sonu V C tries to bridge the gap between these two philosophies in his book “The Bottom Line”  ( ISBN code:,978-93-82417-19-4)  and published by World Book Company Pvt Limited (www.worldbookcompany.com). The author writes from the perspective of a born Eastern and educated in the Western outlook. He clearly states that he is not a ‘Guru’ and so this book is not a know it all solution to your grief and angst.

Usually Self Help and Philosophy genre books come with a step by step guide on how to change your life pattern. Not so with this book. Here the author poses the questions, points to his experiences and encourages you to do your own introspection.

First Section: Why Birth?, The author starts the book with questioning the purpose of our births and the absence of a definitive answer to the same.  Along with the perennial question of purpose of life, the author also juxtaposes the futility of all the various frenzied activity a human being indulges in through a life time, without understanding the end goal.

Second section: Avatar or Angel, flounders around trying to amalgamate the philosophy of East with the practical approach of west. Needs more exploration.

Third section: Practical lines, tries to put the solutions towards resolution of the angst into a MBA type terminological approach.

Fourth section: Bottom Line, further divided into 4 subsections, tries to give you a practical approach life style analysis and rearrangement encouragement.

This book is a definite must read for the youngsters of today, especially our educated ones…. And if possible the message be spread via the practical approaches suggested in the book. This book seriously encourages you to introspect.

Author Sonu V C

Book: “The Bottom Line”

ISBN code:,978-93-82417-19-4

Publisher: World Book Company Pvt Limited (www.worldbookcompany.com).