Shankara's Vivekachudamani is a popular Vedanta text which gives its basic principles. This translation, a work by a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was transcribed from notes taken by Ida Ansell, an American devotee who attended Swami Turiyananda's classes at the turn of the century. Text in Sanskrit, transliteration, and English translation. A verse index in Sanskrit is included.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and everything shall be added unto you. This is the one great duty, this is renunciation. Live for an ideal, and leave no place in the mind for anything else. Let us put forth all our energies to acquire that which never fails--our spiritual perfection. If we have true yearning for realization, we must struggle, and through struggle growth will come. We shall make mistakes, but they may be angels unawares.
-Swami Vivekananda