A discussion of the rich symbolism of Hinduism, ranging from the familiar symbols of Om and lotus to the representation of India?s great deities, incarnations and saints, and including such scriptures as the Adhyatma Ramayana. The practical implications of the forms and traditions are stressed in a volume of interest to both beginners and advanced students.
Those who die, merely suffering the woes of life like cats and dogs, are they human beings? The worthy are those who, even when agitated by the sharp interaction of pleasure and pain, are discriminating and, knowing them to be of an evanescent nature, become passionately devoted to the Atman. This is all the difference between human beings and animals.
-Swami Vivekananda