A STUDY OF RATNAPRABHA

Vedanta Philosophy ,the philosophy based on the concluding part of the Vedas, i.e. . Upanishads occupies a prominent place among the orthodox systems of Indian Philosophy. The edifice of the entire Vedanta system is built mainly upon the trio of works, viz. The Upanishads, The Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad-Gita which are also known as Prasthana Traya.

Taking the above works as the basis, Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva and others established their own theories such as Advaita , Visistadvaita, Dwaita. The greatness of Advaita is well known. The essence of Advaita Vedanta can be summarized as

“Brahman is the reality

The world is unreal and

Jiva is not other than Brahman Itself”

The commentary of Sankara on Brahma-sutras was itself commentated by many scholars. Padmapada wrote a commentary, viz, Panchapadika which was further elaborated by Prakasatmayati of Vivarana school of thought. Vachaspati Misra wrote an excellent commentary, viz. Bhamati which was later commentated by many scholars and which also stands as a main source of Bhamati school of thought. Though there a re some theoretical differences between these two schools they are one in respect of the uniqueness of Brahman.

Among the many Commentaries on Sankara’s Bhasya on the Brahma Sutras, Ramananda’s Ratnaprabha is unique. Ramananda the author of Ratnaprabha was a versatile Scholar in many disciplines such as Nyaya, Mimansa, and Vedanta. His Ratnaprabha, being a comprehensive commentary, is studied with appreciation by both students and scholars of Advaita Vedanta. Ramananda studied all the commentaries of his time and he himself wrote a treatise meant for those who cannot study all the works in order to understand for the doctrine of Advaita. In writing Ratnaprabha the VIVARANA school of thought was followed. The author not only appears to be a follower of Vivarana but also an opponent of Bhamati.

In this present work a humble attempt was made to bring out the origin and development of Advaita Vedanta , the main concepts of Advaita like Adhyasa, Khyati, nature of Maya and Avidya, removal of Avidya, means of knowledge ,Concepts of Moksha and Jivanmukthi in the light of Ratnaprabha Confining to chatussutri portion. The commentaries on Ratnaprabha, Purnandiya and Bhagadipika are also introduced.

Dr. ch. Durga Prasada Rao

WINNERS

WINNERS are
too BUSY to be SAD,
too POSITIVE to be DOUBTFUL,
too OPTIMISTIC to be FEARFUL,
and too DETERMINED to be DEFEATED.

Inspirational Story - V

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to
know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious
disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived
the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to
combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little
brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood
to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and
saying, "Yes I'll do it, if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed,
he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the
color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile
faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start
to die right away?"

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he
was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

"Work like you don't need the money, Love like you've never been hurt,
and dance like you do when nobody's watching."

Inspirational Story - IV

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he
hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.
Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and
simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping
the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the
way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon
approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to
move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and
straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of
vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King
indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder
from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never
understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Inspirational Story - III

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a
10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A
waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied
the waitress. The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied
the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was
growing impatient.

"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked
away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When
the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table.
There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five
pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough
left to leave her a tip.

Inspirational Story - II

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was
standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing
rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a
ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white
man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled
1960s. The MN took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put
her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and
thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door.
To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..

It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other
night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then
you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for
helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole.

Inspirational story - I

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I
was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions
until I read the last one:

"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?

"Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman
several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I
know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class
ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our
quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many
people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if
all you do is smile and say "hello.

"I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

ABC of Excellence

ABC of motivation


A void negative sources, people, places, things and habits.

B elieve in yourself.

C onsider things from every angle.

D on't give up and don't give in.

E njoy life today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come.

F amily and friends are hidden treasures; enjoy their riches.

G ive more than you planned to.

H ang on to your dreams.

I gnore those who try to discourage you.

J ust do it.

K eep trying no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier.

L ove yourself first and most.

M ake it happen.

N ever lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal.

O pen your eyes and see things as they really are.

P ractice makes perfect.

Q uitters never win and winners never quit.

R ead, study and learn about everything important in your life.

S top procrastinating.

T ake control of your own destiny.

U nderstand yourself in order to better understand others.

V isualize it.

W ant it more than anything.

E X cellerate your efforts.

Y ou are unique of all God's creations, nothing can replace YOU.

Z ero in on your target and go for it!

Value!!

"What is most valuable is not
what you have in your life
but who you have in your life."

Trust!!

"It takes years to build trust
and a few seconds
to destroy it."

Marriage!

"Do not marry a person
that you know
that you can live with;
only marry someone
that you
cannot live without."

Live Today !

"There are two entities
that can really
break you down .
Yesterday and Tomorrow
One is goen and the
other doesn't exist......
so live today."

Don't Hurt Anyone

" It only takes a few seconds
to hurt people you love,
and it can take years to heal."

Do remember to share

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find
his
5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a
thing?"
the man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you
make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make Rs.100 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow Rs.50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so
you
can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other
nonsense,then
you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think
about
why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such
this
childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the
little
boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get
some
money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and
started to
think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that
Rs.50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to
the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said
the man.

"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.
Here's the
Rs.50 you asked for.

"The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled
up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get
angry
again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then
looked up
at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the
father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy
replied.

"Daddy, I have Rs.100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?
Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have
dinner with you.

"The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son,
and he
begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We
should not let time slip through our fingers without having
spent some
time with those who really matter to us, those close to our
hearts.

Do remember to share that Rs.100 worth of your time with
someone you love.



If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could
easily
replace us in a matter of days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for
the
rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves
more
into work than to our family.

salt-camphor

salt and camphor will have the same appearance
you will get to know the difference only when you taste

similarly even though so many persons look similarly good but you can only know their real traits if you get nearer to them . so never trust a stranger only by the looks.
their real motives may not be good for you. act with caution.

Beautiful life

Life is a wonderful process. Only living happily can bring contentment.

Do not spoil the present moment by thinking about the past.

Always Learn from the PAST
Live in the PRESENT
Plan for the FUTURE

strange but true

Most women set out to try to change a man and when they have changed him they do not like him

-Marlene Dietrich

Never Explain

Never explain yourself to anyone.
Because the person who likes you doesn't need it,
and the person who dislikes you won't believe it.

truth of life

We make them cry who care for us.
We cry for those who never care for us.
And we care for those who will never cry for us.

This is the truth of life., its strange but true.
Once you realise this, its never too late to change.

love people

if you start judging
people you wil be
having no time to love
them ....

- mother Teresa

four things in life

Never break four things
in your life - Trust,
Promise, Relation &
Heart because when they
break they don't make
noise but pains a lot

try new things

If someone feels that
they had never made a
mistake in their life,
then it means thay had
never tried a new thing
in their life....


-- EINSTEIN

Belief

believing everybody is

dangerous;

believing nobody is very

dangerous.....

- - Abraham Lincoln

change

Everyone thinks of

changing the world,

but no one thinks of

changing himself

- Leo Tolstoy

never say i have failed

I will never say I failed
1000 times, I will say
that I discovered there
are 1000 ways that can
cause failure-----




thomas edison

winning

winning doesn't always
mean being first,
winning means you're
doing better than you've
doen before

love each other

if we cannot love the
person whom we see,
how can we love god
whom we cannot see?


- mother teresa

believe in self

don't compare yourself
with anyone in this
world. if you do so, you
are insulting yourself

a different view

if you win you need not
explain...... but if you lose
you should not be there
to explain

- adolph hitler

to get success

three sentences for
getting SUCCESS:

a) know more than other

b) work more than other

c) expect less than other


- william shakesphere

path of life

In a day, when you don't
come across any problems
- you can be sure that
you are travelling in a
wrong path - swami vivekananda

leadership

leadership is not about the size of your
office or title on your business card
Its about the depth of your
commitment& your passion to get things done

dare to be

Everyone wishes to have truth on his side
But only a few dare to be on the side of the truth

good judgement

Good Judgement comes from
bad experience
and a lot of that comes from
bad judgement

secret for success

Never mind what others doDo better than yourself
Beat your own records from day to day &
pray to GOD fora better tomorrow.
Succes will chase you.

human tendency

It is human tendency to run
behind people whom we LOVE
and neglect the ones who love us
b'coz we are sure we will never lose them

it is we who affect our lives

Without your involvement you cannot succeed
With your involvement you cannot fail

Three dimensions of health

Hi

A person is not healthy if he is only physically healthy. For complete and overall personality development a person should try to improve all the three dimensions of health.

The three dimensions are

Physical
Mental
Spiritual

Here in this space i am going to tell the whole world about the above three things to my best knowledge.

kishore