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.
If a piece of burning charcoal be placed on a man's head, see how he struggles to throw it off. Similar will be the struggle for freedom of those who really understand that they are slaves of nature.
-Swami Vivekananda