Vinoba was a devout person. He was spirituality personified. His rigorous effort to explore and unearth the hidden values of these ancient scriptures led him to select one eight of the entire Rig-veda which contained its in-depth meaning. This was brought out in a book-form under the title 'Rig-veda-Sar (The essence of Rig-veda). Just few days before the end of his earthly sojourn, Vinoba underlined the importance of the selected eighty-three mantras (verses) from 'Rig-veda Sar' and suggested regular recitation of these mantras along with 'Gitai' (the Marathi rendition of the Bhagwad Gita). The publisher found his comments on some of them scattered in his voluminous literary works. These comments have been compiled and edited into a book titled 'Vedamrut' in Hindi and now translated in English. This is a small book, rich in spiritual wisdom handed down by one who exemplified the tradition of the Vedic seers in this modern material age. It is certain that even a small drop of this wisdom will benefit every one of us in our spiritual quest.

Living Mantra is an anthropology of mantra-experience among Hindu-tantric practitioners. In ancient Indian doctrine and legends, mantras perceived by rishis (seers) invoke deities and have transformative powers. Adopting a methodology that combines scholarship and practice, Mani Rao discovers a continuing tradition of visionaries (rishis/seers) and revelations in south India’s Andhra-Telangana. Both deeply researched and replete with fascinating narratives, the book reformulates the poetics of mantra-practice as it probes practical questions. Can one know if a vision is real or imagined? Is vision visual? Are deity-visions mediated by culture? If mantras are effective, what is the role of devotion? Are mantras language? Living Mantra interrogates not only theoretical questions, but also those a practitioner would ask: how does one choose a deity, for example, or what might bind one to a guru? Rao breaks fresh ground in redirecting attention to the moments that precede systematization and canon-formation, showing how authoritative sources are formed.