AesopsFables = '<i>Aesop&#39;s Fables</i>, a collection of children&#39;s stories told by Aesop, a slave who lived in Greece\
 (620&ndash;560 BCE). The stories, such as, The Fox and the Grapes, The Lion and the Mouse, The Tortoise and the Hare,\
 The Boy Who Cried Wolf, etc. are well-known and are very popular for moral education of children all over the world.'

BhagavadGita = 'In short, Gita; &quot;The Song of God&quot; &mdash; a sacred scripture of the Hindus, one of the basic texts\
 of the Vedanta and Yoga philosophies, the other two being <i>Upanisads,</i> and the <i>Brahma&ndash;Sutra</i>.'

Bhagavata = 'Translated by Swami Tapasyananda, pub. Dec, 1980, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India.  <i>Bhagavata</i> in short,\
 a well&ndash;known Hindu scripture dealing mainly with the life of Sri Krishna.'

BrahmaSutra = 'One of the three texts of the Vedanta and Yoga philosophies (the other two being the <i>Upanisads</i>, and the\
 <i>Bhagavad-Gita</i>) in which the author Badarayana-Vyasa compiles the leading concepts of Vedanta in an orderly manner.'

CW = '<i>The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda</i> (Nine Volumes), Mayavati Memorial Edition, pub. 1986, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati,\
 Pithoragarh, Himalayas, India.'

EV = '<i>Eternal Values of a Changing Society</i> (Four Volumes) by Swami Ranganathananda, pub. 1986, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai,\
 400007, India.'  

GospelRK = '<i>The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna</i>, originally recorded in Bengali by &#39;M.&#39;, a disciple of the Master,\
 <i>tr.</i> by Swami Nikhilananda, pub. 1942, Ramakrishna&ndash;Vivekananda Center, New York, USA.'

Hitopadesha = '12th century C.E. <i>Sanskrit</i> fables in prose and verse similar to Aesop&#39;s Fables.' 

Mahabharata = 'The Hindu epic; the <i>Bhagavad-Gita</i> is part of this epic.'

MedSpirLife = '<i>Meditation and Spiritual Life</i>, pub. 1998, Swami Yatiswarananda, Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore, India.'

MsgOfUpa = '<i>The Message of the Upanisads:</i> an exposition of the Isa, Kena, and Katha Upanisads by Swami Ranganathananda,\
 pub. 1985, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.' 

NabaKallol = '<i>Ganesh O Taanr Vahan</i> by Swami Purnatmananda (President, Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Viveknagar and\
 Agartala, Tripura, India), pub. Autumn, 2006, in the Bengali magazine <i>Sharadiya Naba Kallol</i>, Kolkata, India. I am presenting\
 on this site only a couple of striking thoughts in this long article by the Swami.'

Puranas = 'Hindu religious literature (c. 500 BCE) comprising &quot;traditions about the origin of Vedic Mantras\
 and sacrifices, traditional lore about creation, ancient histories and anecdotes, proverbial sayings and\
 genealogies of kings and Rishis.&quot;'

Ramayana = 'One of the two most popular Hindu epics the other being the <i>Mahabharata</i>.' 

RKandHisDisciples = '<i>Ramakrishna and His Disciples</i>, pub. 1998, Christopher Isherwood, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati,\
 Himalayas, India.'

RKGM = '<i>Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master,</i> Swami Saradananda, pub. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India.'

Smriti = 'Scriptures seconadry to Srutis that were written or compiled by ancient sages of India. The Bhagavad&ndash;Gita is\
         considered to be a Smriti.' 

Sruti = 'Scriptures that are revealed by God. In the Sanatan Dharma (Eternal Relgion) tradition Vedas are Srutis. In other words,\
        they were revealed to the ancient Seers or Rishis &mdash; no one wrote them.'   

UniBG = '<i>Uhniversal Message of the Bhagavad-Gita:</i> an exposition of the Gita in the light of modern thought and modern\
 needs by Swami Ranganathananda, pub. July, 2000, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Champawat, Uttranchal, India.' 

Upanishads = 'The concluding portions, or the culmination of the four <b><i>Vedas</i></b>. More than 200 Upanishads exist today, though\
 Indian tradition accepts only 108 of them, each ranging in length from a few verses to several hundred verses. Only ten of these\
 are considered to be the principal Upanishads. Shankara (788 CE &ndash; 822 CE) commented on eleven; they are <i>Isa, Kena, Katha,\
 Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka,</i> and <i>Svetasvatar</i>a. Mughal Prince Dara Shiko.\
 with the help of Kashmiri Pundits got 50 of them translated (1656 CE &ndash; 1657 CE) into Persian, which were later translated into\
 Latin by the Frenchman and Sanskrit scholar Anquetil Duperron (1801 CE &ndash; 1802 CE) under the title <i>Opunekhat</i>.'

Vedas = '<i>Vedas</i> are the most sacred scripture(s) of Hinduism that date back to 2500 BCE. There are four Vedas:\
 <i>Rig, Sama, Yajur,</i>, and <i>Atharva.</i> Scholars consider the <i>Rig Veda</i> as the oldest scripture of the world.'

YogaSutra = 'Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (c. 400 B.C.E). For more information, refer to the book <i>How to Know God:\
 Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, tr.</i> Prabhavananda and Isherwood.'