First Ebook Edition - March 2016

The Bhagawat Purana sings of the glory of Vishnu and his incarnations. It is one of the most popular of the eighteen major puranas, and its recitations lasting for a week, called Bhagawat Saptaha, are held all over India. The special collection of nine vo

Losing sleep over what others think about you? Or can't care less? Happiness in life nonetheless depends on what you think about yourself. Social media has certainly given us individual authorship over how we present ourselves to the world. Susceptible to live by the dictates of 'likes' and 'comments' of others, we network with the world in a carefully filtered image of ourselves. But is it truly our authentic self that we are presenting to the world? Can it cater lasting happiness and honest relationships? In this first volume of Yoga Stories, Gauranga Das takes you on an inner journey to explore your inner self, beyond the hills of expectation, through the valleys of disapprovals and beneath the layers of self-deception. Thus, bringing you closer to the home of your heart, enabling you to open the door and introduce yourself, to finally meet, the real you.

In the forest of insecurities, is it possible to discover humanity through pleasure? Can we stop seeing each other as predator, prey, rival or mate, and rediscover ourselves as lovers? Does the divine reside in sensual delight, in emotional intimacy and in aesthetic experience? Yes, yes, yes. That is the promise of the Bhagavata. The Bhagavata is the story of Krishna, known as Shyam to those who find beauty, wisdom and love in his dark complexion. It is the third great Hindu epic after the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. However, this narration was composed in fragments over thousands of years, first as the Harivamsa, then as the Bhagavata Purana, and finally as the passionate songs of poet-sages in various regional languages. This book seamlessly weaves the story from Krishna's birth to his death, or rather from his descent to the butter-smeared world of happy women to his ascent from the blood-soaked world of angry men.

Weaving together Srimad-Bhagavatam's first four cantos into a flowing narrative of story and philosophy, and incorporating relevant commentary from Vaisnava acaryas, this summary study assists readers in assimilating the Bhagavatam's profound message. As Suta Gosvami declares: "Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless Purana. It is most dear to the Vaisnavas because it describes the pure and supreme knowledge of the paramahamsas…Anyone who seriously tries to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam, who properly hears and chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated."