Sacred Hindu Texts Bhagavad Gita Upanishads Vedas

Query: If you know any quotations from Sacred Hindu texts (Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Vedas etc) specifically referring to the sanctity of life; perhaps with regard to Atman? By 'sanctity of life', I mean sources that illustrate (or speak of how) life is sacred and should be cared for...

Vijay Kumar:
Having reached source of all wisdom contained in cosmos... the moment I realized God in 1993 at 37 years of age... one thing is absolutely apparent and clear! The sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism... the doctrine given to mankind by Lord Krishna (an avatar of his era... God manifest in human form) is the foremost of all sacred scriptures of Hinduism.

In present times one need not refer to Vedas and even Upanishads! However some prime Upanishads have many examples to give but in your case that may not be relevant as 700 shlokas verses contained in Bhagavad Gita suffice our requirements! The 700 shlokas verses contained in Bhagavad Gita form the summum bonum of spirituality!

From Hinduism point of view... spirituality is no way linked with religion! Religion is necessitated for human beings to live the earthly manifest life of 70 to 80 years in a meaningful manner! It is following religion human beings maintained ethics and morality in civil life! Spirituality on other hand is introspecting our true inner self, our soul atman... the spirit within!

To reach the cosmic end of life... the 8.4 millionth manifestation... when human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha)... traveling spiritual path is a necessity! None can reach God via path of religion... path of rituals! In present times we needed traveling path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) and not bhakti yoga!

The definition of spirituality as detailed in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is totally distinct from what people understood in the West! From my point of view as of date... not even a single human being in West understands what spirituality is all about. As per Bhagavad Gita... spirit is nothing else but our soul atman... our true inner self! As per Bhagavad Gita there is nothing like Holy Spirit!

As per Bhagavad Gita... the journey of life belongs to our soul atman... the spirit within! Ever since God Almighty exploded self with a big bang... all souls’ atmans in the cosmos scattered all over at unimaginable speeds! In the melee... all souls’ atmans gathered impurities! To cleanse themselves of dross impurities within... started cosmic life cycle of every soul atman!

Every soul atman in its lifetime manifests a maximum of 8.4 million bodies... that entails an earthly journey of 96.4 million years! Out of 8.4 million manifestations... the initial 7.3 million manifestations occurred in insect, plant and animal form! In the remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form we are expected to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)!

And here the phenomenon of sanctity of life comes into play! As the journey of life truly belongs to our soul atman... it is but imperative on human beings to travel spiritual path at the earliest! Dominated by a bloated ego most human beings bid otherwise. Most seemed to pursue a materialistic goal of life rather than spiritual path!

Our soul atman being absolute master and controller of human body... the journey of life also belonged to it! Still, human manifestation... human body is the most pleasant experience for our soul atman within. Why? It is only in human form our soul atman finally regains its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form... that was not possible otherwise!

Human travel... manifestation of human body by our soul atman is no doubt highest form of life in cosmic system! Assisting our soul atman in reaching cosmic end of life at the earliest should be the goal of every human being! When human beings go astray... it is through medium of dreams our soul atman emphasizes upon human body to travel right path!

The 700 shlokas verses contained in Bhagavad Gita are so intense... the gist of which can never be understood literally... it needs reading in between the lines! One thing is very popular about Bhagavad Gita... as many readings... as many different meanings one derives! As of today it can be clearly stated that apart from Bhagavad Gita one need not refer to any other sacred scripture for understanding the very existence of life on mother earth... in the cosmic system!

At this stage... I may not be able to refer to you any particular shloka verse from Bhagavad Gita... but referring to Bhagavad Gita alone would serve your purpose! The sacred Bhagavad Gita encompasses everything worth knowable in whole of cosmos. Right from stage of big bang when the present cosmos started to stage of dissolution of cosmos (termed Pralaya in Hinduism)... everything is detailed in sacred Bhagavad Gita from A-Z!

Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism contains truth but only truth! The original gist of Bhagavad Gita is available in India for mere $.60 (rupees 30/=) at most railway stations of India or directly from Bhagavad Gita press, Gorakhpur, India! They have an edition of Bhagavad Gita with English transliteration! Bhagavad Gita press, Gorakhpur, India also has an online website (I have been receiving a lot of complaints against them as queries are not being attended properly)!

Well... can't help it... India is like that! It is either money power or muscle power that rules the roost!

The entire wisdom of cosmos available for mere $.60... Yet, most human beings tend to look the other way! It is an irony of fate that Indians are far more materialistic than their counterparts in West! For assimilating pearls of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita... the bulldog determination of Winston Churchill... the ferocity of Joan of Arc is necessitated!

One needs possessing willpower demonstrated by Swami Vivekananda to realize what Bhagavad Gita is all about!

As per Bhagavad Gita every form of life is sacrosanct! Even an insect... a tree... or an animal just cannot be discarded as they are inferior to human beings on the evolutionary scale! Truthfully... as per sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism every single insect, tree and animal are our brothers and sisters on the evolutionary scale... in much lower class of evolution then we!

Stated otherwise... the soul atman of every single human being has already manifested every form of insect, plant and animal life before reaching human stage! Similar as a student of class 12 cannot reject a student of class one... the higher species of life (so-called human beings) cannot reject the lower species... insects, plants and animals!

Ever since the beginning of life on mother earth... the whole process of manifestation of life is sacrosanct! Why? Just for a while think that if mother earth did not accept souls' atmans manifesting itself on planet Earth... how would life evolve in cosmic system. It was not to be! Life emanated in cosmic system the moment life supporting planets like mother earth evolved!

Since the occurrence of big bang... it took billions of years for life supporting planets like mother earth to evolve! There are not millions but billions of life supporting planets in whole of cosmos! But as destined by God... life from one life supporting planet is prohibited to travel to other parts of cosmos. (This fact is detailed in various essays on my homepage).

As a soul atman finally gains liberation from cycle of birth and death forever only in human form... life in human form is not only sacrosanct... it is truly a pleasure to be born a human being! Gaining enlightenment and finally salvation cannot be expressed in words... it has to be experienced by individual human beings!

If time and money permits... I intend to start a live website discussing Bhagavad Gita shloka by shloka... verse after verse! This website would absolutely be a free website that can be accessed by one anywhere from world over! Presently I do not have the means... or the money to pursue this venture... but in near future... I hope to accomplish this goal of my life!

For any clarification on any shloka verse contained in Bhagavad Gita... I am always available 24 x 7! So was ordained to me by God Almighty. I am just an instrument in hands of God Almighty doing his bidding! Acting as a true trustee of God... I am imparting wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita to the world community since 1997... The year Internet came to my country!

May God bless you and your students to understand the gist of Bhagavad Gita!

More Sacred Hindu Texts related links...

Always there to clarify your queries (send your query),

Essay by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" ... The Man who Realized God in 1993!

Full text of query: I am wondering if you know any quotations from sacred Hindu texts (Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Vedas etc) specifically referring to the sanctity of life; perhaps with regard to the Atman. I am drowning in the enormity of textual sources and have no idea where to begin.

I would like some textual sources that illustrate the sanctity of life- it doesn't necessarily have to do with the Atman or Jiva (I just thought it might). It seems that with the amount of sources available, it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. On the other hand, such a subject also seems to be everywhere in Hindu sacred texts as one could extrapolate or interpret such meanings in many different verses/quotations.

I should probably mention that by 'sanctity of life', I mean sources that illustrate (or speak of how) life is sacred and should be cared for...

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