When thus the non-existence of the mind is realised, it is seen that the ego-sense, etc. do not exist. One alone exists - the infinite consciousness. All notions cease. The falsity which arose as the mind ceases when the notions cease. I am not nor is there another, nor do you nor do these exist; there is neither mind nor senses. One alone is - pure consciousness.

- The Supreme Yoga - Yoga Vasistha by Swami Venkatesananda

Me or my army?

Krishna, however, has long been a presence more mysterious and powerful than any role he has assumed. His decision to accept a subordinate place for the battle, as Arjuna's suta is the result of wager in which Yudhishthira the Pandava and Duryodhana the Kaurava were offered either Krishna as non-combatant or the force of all of his armies. When Yudhishthira chooses Krishna for his counsel, friendship, and companionship over the mighty armies he might have chosen in alliance, Duryodhana believes he has received yet another boon from the choice of a foolish idealist who places false hope before realpolitik. But there is never anything false about hope and with Krishna, who then chooses to be Arjuna's charioteer, the Pandavas know they cannot lose: by having chosen from the heart than from the mere exigency of practical reality, they have chosen the divine. –

Douglas Renfrew Brooks in Poised for grace: annotations on the Bhagavad Gita from a Tantric view

In Pranatoshini, Kali being blue-complexioned has been named Tara. Truly speaking, Sati being born at Daksha's abode has been known as Eka Jata owing to her divinely benevolent nature. She is ever called Tara as she is famed for giving salvation or moksha. She also spontaneously awards Vak sakti; hence she is befittingly called Nila Sarasvati. She is Ugra Tara due to her rash nature and is known as Ugratarini by way of saving her devotees.

- Dr Vishnu Datta Rakesh in Dasamahavidya Mimamsa.

O daughter of the mountain king, the seers have said that the world is dissolved and created with the closing and opening of your lotus eyes. I suspect that you never blink and always keep your eyes wide open; keeping this universe, that has sprung up with the opening of your lotus eyes, from pralaya, dissolution. -

Adi Shankaracharya addressing the goddess Kameshwari in Saundarya Lahari.

This book gave a possible answer to a core question of mythology - where do stories come from and why do they take the shape they do? They come from Inner Experiences, from strong visual imprinting. This is not just another version of archetypes though it is certainly connected to it. Not just archetypes, but all mythic thinking seems to exist in what Joseph Campbell called the 'inner reaches of outer space.' What this book seems to demonstrate is that such mythic structure is inherent in the condition of being human, which is why tales of Man are so similar all over.
The differences in stories are due to differences in personalities and cultures - they are differences in interpretations of what is fundamentally the same set of inner visions. - Rohit Arya in the Preface to Kundalini Dairy by Santosh Sachdeva


Ardhanarishwara - By Swetha

To collect popular stories is either a most difficult or a most easy task. Everybody who finds nothing better to do thinks he is able at least to write down the stories which his nurse has told him. But this, you know, is a great mistake. First of all, not every story that an old woman may tell deserves to be written down and printed. There is a particular earthy flavour about the genuine home-grown, or, if I may say so, autochthonic Marchen - something like the flavour of the dark-red wild strawberry - which we must learn to appreciate before we can tell whether a story is old or new, genuine or made-up; whether it comes, in fact, from the forest or from the hothouse. This is a matter of taste; but, as tasters of wine or tea will tell you, even taste can be acquired. - F Max Muller

'The picture showman has thrived throughout Indian history..We know the social (namely, low), economic (poor), and religious (lay) status of Indian picture reciters. ..More important, we have learned that they are normally illiterate, that the shape of their narratives is determined by various oral and pictorial formulaic devices, and the printed versions of their tales are the products of local scribes and publishers.' - Victor H. Mair in Tʼang transformation texts.