| Introduction | |
| Religion in General | |
| Dharma Alone Protects | p. 1 |
| Punya (Virtuous Action) | p. 2 |
| The Purpose of Religion | p. 5 |
| To Be a True Man | p. 6 |
| Devotion Common to All Faiths | p. 6 |
| The Unity of Religions | p. 7 |
| Qualities of Religious Teachers | p. 9 |
| The Vedic Religion: Introductory | |
| The Religion without a Name | p. 13 |
| Distinctive Features of Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Code of Conduct) | p. 14 |
| The Vedas, the Root of All | p. 19 |
| The Vedas in their Original Form | p. 19 |
| The Vedic Religion and Varna (Caste) Dharma | |
| What is Varna (Caste) Dharma? | p. 21 |
| Divided by Work but Still of One Heart | p. 22 |
| Why Only in This Country? | p. 25 |
| The Conflict between Tradition and Modernity | p. 26 |
| The Least Expected of Brahmins | p. 30 |
| Preserving the Vedas: Why it Is a Lifetime Mission | p. 31 |
| My Work | p. 36 |
| The Sastras (Scriptures) and Modern Life | |
| The Cure for the Disease Called Modern Civilization | p. 39 |
| Religion and Society | p. 40 |
| Neither too much Ease nor too many Comforts | p. 40 |
| Sastra or Conscience? | p. 41 |
| The Vedas | |
| The Basic Texts of Hinduism: Our Ignorance of Them | p. 44 |
| Eternal | p. 44 |
| Sound and Creation (Sruti) | p. 45 |
| Western Vedic Research | p. 46 |
| Sound and Meaning | p. 46 |
| Yajna or Sacrifice | p. 48 |
| What is Advaita (Non-dualism)? | p. 49 |
| The Threefold Purpose of Yajna (Sacrifice) | p. 49 |
| To Discover the One Truth | p. 51 |
| The Upanishads | p. 52 |
| The Brahmasutra (Basic Text for All Vedantic Schools) | p. 54 |
| Veda and Vedanta: Are They Opposed to One Another? | p. 55 |
| Upanishadic Commentary on the Nature of the Self | p. 61 |
| What do the Vedas Teach Us? | p. 64 |
| Essence of Upanishadic Teaching | p. 65 |
| Nyaya (Science of Reasoning) | |
| Rational Way to Know God | p. 66 |
| We Need All Types of Knowledge | p. 66 |
| Puranas (Traditional Stories) | |
| Magnifying Glass of the Vedas | p. 69 |
| Itihasas (Two Great Epics) and Puranas (Traditional Stories) | p. 69 |
| The Epics and their Greatness | p. 70 |
| Why Differences among the Gods? | p. 70 |
| Dharmasastra (Scripture on Code of Conduct) | |
| Realizing the Ideals of the Puranas | p. 74 |
| Freedom and Discipline | p. 75 |
| The Forty Samskaras (Actions that Purify) | |
| Samskaras (Actions that Purify) | p. 79 |
| Paradise or the Path of Atmajnana (Self-realization) | p. 79 |
| The Eight Qualities (Gunas) | p. 79 |
| Gunas in Practical Life | p. 82 |
| Samskaras Performed by Parents | p. 82 |
| Why not All Samskaras for All? | p. 83 |
| Brahmacaryasrama (Student-Bachelorhood) | |
| Upanayana (Leading a Child to the Guru) | p. 85 |
| Qualities of a Brahmacarin (Student-Bachelor) | p. 85 |
| Naishtika Brahmacarya (Lifelong Student-Bachelorhood) and Family Life | p. 86 |
| Domestic Life and Carnal Desire | p. 89 |
| The Brahmin must Keep his Body Pure | p. 89 |
| Gayatri (Invocatory Prayer) and Sandhyavandana (Daily Prayer) | p. 91 |
| What About Women? | p. 93 |
| The High Status of our Women | p. 95 |
| Marriage | |
| For the Practice of Dharma | p. 96 |
| Make Marriages Simple | p. 97 |
| Gruhasth-asrama (Householder Stage of Life) | |
| Gruhastha (Householder), Gruhini (Wife of the Householder) | p. 99 |
| Can a New Brahmin Caste be Created? | p. 99 |
| Aupasana (Daily Rites with Sacrificial Fire) and Women | p. 100 |
| Sacrifices | p. 100 |
| Varna (Caste) Dharma for Universal Well-Being | |
| Jatis (Sub-divisions of Caste) - Why so many Differences? | p. 101 |
| Innate Quality and Vocation by Birth | p. 103 |
| Vocations according to Guna (Character and Natural Inclination) - not in Practice | p. 105 |
| A Wrong Notion about Brahmins | p. 105 |
| The Eternal Religion | p. 106 |
| The Fourth Varna (Sudras) has Its Own Advantages | p. 106 |
| Removal of the Ego | p. 109 |
| Cry "Grow" - Don't Cry "Perish" | p. 110 |
| From Action to the Actionless State | |
| Outward Karma - Inward Meditation | p. 111 |
| How to Cultivate Character and Good Conduct | p. 114 |
| What is the Meaning of Worldly Existence? | p. 114 |
| Do We Need Rituals? | p. 117 |
| The Starting Point of Yoga | p. 117 |
| Dharmas Common to All | |
| How to Control the Mind | p. 120 |
| Guru-Bhakti (Devotion to the Guru) | p. 120 |
| Ahimsa (Non-violence) | p. 123 |
| Truthfulness | p. 124 |
| To Serve Others Is to Feel Blessed | p. 127 |
| Towards Mental Purity | p. 127 |
| Fault-finding | p. 128 |
| Anger | p. 129 |
| Are We Worthy of Being Angry? | p. 131 |
| Love and Sorrow | p. 131 |
| Love | p. 132 |
| The State and Religion | |
| True Secularism | p. 134 |
| Responsibilities of the State in Elevating the People's Mind | p. 134 |
| Limitations of the Role of the State in Matters of Religion | p. 134 |
| Independent Body of Representatives of All Religions | p. 135 |
| Religious Leaders Should Not Involve Themselves in Politics | p. 135 |
| What the Government Gains by Nurturing Religion | p. 136 |
| Selected Wisdom | p. 137 |
| Notes | p. 140 |
| Biographical Notes | p. 142 |
| Glossary and Index | p. 143 |
| Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved. |
