Jnana Yoga

When Duryodhana planned to burn Pandavas in a lac house, Vidura warned Yudhishthira in coded Mleccha language about fire that doesnt burn those who dwell underground. He sent a miner to build an escape tunnel, saving the Pandavas.

On a sleepless night, Dhritarashtra summoned Vidura who delivered extensive teachings on statecraft, ethics, and dharma. He warned against lust, anger, and greed, urging return of Pandavas kingdom. Though impressed, Dhritarashtra could not act.

After beheadings, a wife accidentally places heads on wrong bodies during resurrection. Betal asks who is her true husband. Vikram answers the body with her husbands head - since identity resides in the mind, not body.

This philosophical retelling introduces Maya Sita - a shadow who was abducted while the real Sita was hidden. Ravana never actually captured the true Sita. The entire epic is framed through Advaita Vedanta, presenting Rama as Brahman in human form.

When Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva tested Anasuyas virtue by demanding she serve them nude, she sprinkled water transforming them into infants, then nursed them. Pleased, they were born as her children: Dattatreya, Durvasa, and Chandra.

Queen Madalasa was a self-realized yogini who taught Vedantic wisdom through lullabies. Her first three sons became renunciants; when the king requested otherwise, her fourth son Alarka became a righteous warrior-king, showing both spiritual and worldly paths.

Svetaketu returns arrogant after Vedic study. His father Uddalaka teaches through analogies - the invisible essence in a banyan seed, salt dissolved in water. The teaching culminates in Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art) repeated nine times.

After Vishnu and Shiva embrace, Shiva expounds 11 chapters on Advaita Vedanta, the nature of Atman and Brahman, linga worship, and eight-fold yoga - a Shaiva adaptation of the Bhagavad Gitas format.

Sage Vasugupta received a divine dream directing him to a rock on Mount Mahadeva. Upon touching it, he found 77 Shiva Sutras inscribed - the foundational aphorisms of Kashmir Shaivism. The rock is still visited by devotees.

King pays 5000 gold to a trader for horses that never arrive. Tenali shows the King a list naming him the biggest fool. When asked what if trader returns, Tenali says then the trader becomes the bigger fool.

Parikshit was saved in the womb when Krishna protected him from Ashwatthamas Brahmastra aimed at destroying the Pandava lineage. Crowned by Yudhishthira, he allowed Kali to reside in places of vice, marking Kali Yugas beginning. Cursed to die by snakebite, he spent his last seven days hearing Bhagavata Purana from sage Shuka, attaining liberation.

After Neminatha abandoned their wedding to become a monk, Princess Rajimati followed and took initiation as a nun. When Neminathas brother Rathanemi tried to seduce her in a cave, she admonished him powerfully, saying succumbing to desire would be like consuming vomit. Her words awakened his spirituality, and she achieved liberation.

A crow who witnessed multiple cycles of creation and heard the Ramayana directly from Shiva. He retained divine knowledge across lifetimes, teaching that spiritual wisdom transcends physical form.

Monk Metarya, born as an untouchable but accepted as equal in the Jain order, came for alms at a goldsmiths house. When a bird swallowed golden grains and he was accused of theft, Metarya chose to endure torture and death rather than expose the innocent bird to harm. His martyrdom demonstrates that protecting even the smallest creatures life surpasses ones own existence.

Ramana Maharshi taught primarily through silence, guiding seekers to reflect on the source of their inquiries rather than answering questions directly. Visitors received spiritual instruction simply by sitting in his presence. When asked about his death, he said: I am not going away, I am here! The body is not the guru.

Ritualist Mandana Mishra challenged young Shankaracharya to a debate - the loser would adopt the winners path. Mandanas wife Ubhaya Bharati served as judge using flower garlands - the one whose flowers wilted first from anger would lose. After months of discourse, Mandanas garland withered. He became Shankaras disciple, later heading Sringeri Math.

In Vishnumangalam, Madhvacharya faced Trivikramacharya, a brilliant logician, in fifteen intense days of philosophical contest. Trivikrama deployed every logical weapon but was so convinced by Madhvas Tattvavada that he surrendered at his feet. The irony: the defeated scholars son later wrote the Madhva-vijaya, glorifying his fathers conqueror.

During the Shraddha ceremony for his ancestors, Eknath prepared a feast traditionally meant for Brahmins. Instead, he invited hungry Chandalas and served them with reverence, seeing Lord Vishnu in all beings. The enraged Brahmins left, but Eknaths ancestors appeared in visible form and partook of the offerings themselves, vindicating his actions.

At sixteen, young Venkataraman was suddenly gripped by intense fear of death. He lay down like a corpse and inquired: With the death of this body, am I dead? In that moment, he realized: I am a spirit transcending the body. The material body dies, but the spirit cannot be touched by death. Fear vanished forever, leading him to Arunachala where he remained until death.

Ramakrishna declared: I see that God is walking in every human form, manifesting through the sage and the sinner, the virtuous and the vicious. When meeting different people, he would say: God in the form of the saint, God in the form of the sinner. This vision of unity transcended all distinctions and became central to his teaching that all religions lead to the same goal.