I come to the palace of the creator. I am the glory of the brahmins, the glory of the kings, and the glory of the commoners. I wish to attain that glory. I am the glory of all glories. May I never go to the place of suffering.
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Hindu
Vedic Sages
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The Vedic Sages, known in Sanskrit as rishis, were the enlightened seers of ancient India who, through deep meditation, perceived and composed the sacred hymns of the Vedas. Revered across Hindu tradition, they are honoured as the original transmitters of eternal spiritual knowledge.
The Vedic Sages, called rishis in Sanskrit, occupy a place of singular reverence in the Hindu tradition. They are remembered as the accomplished and enlightened seers of ancient India who, through intense meditation and inner realisation, perceived the sacred truths that became the hymns of the Vedas. Far more than poets, they are honoured as visionaries who heard the eternal sound of cosmic order and gave it voice, so that later generations might share in the wisdom they had realised. From them flows the deepest current of Indian spiritual life. The Sanskrit word rishi carries a rich layer of meaning. Traditional grammarians connect its root to ideas of movement and flowing, while related interpretations evoke the sense of one who is filled with spiritual inspiration and moves close to the divine. In every reading the rishi is understood as a being attuned to a higher reality. Post-Vedic Hindu tradition came to regard the rishis as great yogis who, through tapas, or sustained spiritual discipline, attained realisation of supreme truth and eternal knowledge, which they then composed into the inspired verses of the Rigveda and the other Vedic collections. Hindu tradition lovingly preserves a hierarchy of sagehood, reflecting the many facets of spiritual attainment. The classical categories include the Brahmarshi, the Maharshi, the Rajarshi, and further distinctions such as the Devarshi, Paramarshi, Shrutarshi, and Kandarshi. The lexicon known as the Amarakosha records seven types of rishi in all. These gradations express a beautiful idea: that the path of wisdom is open in many forms, whether to one born into kingship, one devoted wholly to contemplation, or one who has realised the absolute itself. Among the most celebrated of the Vedic seers are the Saptarshi, the seven great sages extolled in the Vedas and in later Hindu literature. The most widely cherished list names Kashyapa, Atri, Vasishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadvaja, while other revered texts such as the Krishna Yajurveda and the Mahabharata preserve variations that include luminous names like Angiras, Bhrigu, Marichi, Pulaha, Pulastya, and Kratu. An early formal listing appears in the Jaiminiya Brahmana, with further accounts in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The roots of this tradition reach back to the great Family Books of the Rigveda, the hymn-collections associated with sage-lineages and with seers such as Gritsamada and Vamadeva. The tradition also tenderly remembers that wisdom was never the province of one gender alone. The Rigveda preserves the names of revered female seers, the rishikas, including Lopamudra, Apala, Ghosha, Romasha, and Vishvavara. Their inclusion among the composers of the most ancient sacred verses testifies to the openness of the Vedic path to all who sought the truth with sincerity and devotion. The enduring contribution of the Vedic Sages is woven through the very fabric of Hindu civilisation. They are credited as the inspired authors of the Vedic hymns, the foundational scriptures that have nourished countless generations of seekers. Their vision shaped the disciplines of meditation and yoga, the practice of sacred chant, and the contemplative inquiry that would later blossom in the Upanishads. Hindu cosmology frames their work on a vast and uplifting scale, holding that rishis are born anew in each cosmic age, or manvantara, so that the light of sacred knowledge is forever rekindled. In the present age, associated with Vaivasvata Manu, the tradition continues to look to these seers as guiding lights. The memory of the Vedic Sages remains vividly alive. Hindu astronomy identifies the seven bright stars of the Big Dipper with the Saptarshi, and a faint companion star beside Vasishtha is lovingly associated with his devoted wife Arundhati, so that the night sky itself becomes a remembrance of their greatness. Many families to this day trace their ancestry through the gotra system to a founding rishi, carrying the seers' heritage forward as a living link across the centuries. The reverence surrounding these sages reaches widely, with echoes of the Saptarshi tradition appearing in other Indian traditions as well. In celebrating the Vedic Sages, the Hindu tradition honours not merely individuals but the very ideal of the awakened seer, one who turns inward, realises the eternal, and shares that realisation freely with the world. Their legacy is a perennial invitation to seek truth through stillness, discipline, and devotion, and it continues to inspire all who walk the spiritual path.
Wisdom
Everything is indeed Brahman, as declared in the Upanishads. May I never deny Brahman. May Brahman never deny me. May there never be any denial from my side. May all the virtues mentioned in the Upanishads be mine, I who am devoted to the Self.
One who has withdrawn all their senses into the Self, and who has not caused pain to any creature except as permitted by the scriptures, conducts themselves in this way throughout their life. They reach the World of Brahman after death and do not return.
Upon realizing the Atman, which is soundless, intangible, formless, imperishable, tasteless, eternal, and odorless, and realizing that which has no beginning or end, beyond the great and unchanging, one is liberated from the cycle of death.
The wise person sees all beings within the Self and the Self within all beings, and therefore, they do not hate anyone.
If something does not exist at the beginning or the end, it must not exist in the present. The things we see are like illusions, yet they are considered real.
It is the self-luminous Atman that, through the power of its own maya, imagines all the objects that the subject experiences, both within and outside, by itself and within itself.
Everything is Brahman. The universe emerges from Brahman, merges into Brahman, and breathes in Brahman. Therefore, one should meditate on Brahman with a calm mind.
A person is made up of their will. Whatever they will or desire in this world, that is what they become after they leave this world.
A person ripens like grain and is reborn again like grain.
Having left behind both hunger and thirst, and being beyond the reach of sorrow, everyone rejoices in Heaven.
The one who has known the three and performed the Nachiketa sacrifice three times can overcome the chains of death, grief, and rejoice in Heaven.
The one who has known and realized this Fire, born of Brahman, which is all-knowing, radiant, and adorable, attains supreme peace.
The Atman is not easily understood when taught by someone who is not enlightened, as its nature is disputed by many. However, when it is taught by one who has realized the Atman, there can be no more doubt about it.
The knowing Self is neither born nor dies. It has not originated from anything, nor has anything originated from it. It is birthless, eternal, everlasting, and ancient, and it is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
Although it remains still, it travels far; although it is lying down, it goes everywhere.
Beyond the senses lie objects, beyond objects lies the mind, and beyond the mind lies the intellect. Beyond the intellect is the Great Atman, and beyond the Great Atman is the Unmanifest. Beyond the Unmanifest is the Purusha, and beyond the Purusha, there is nothing. This is the ultimate reality.
Children who chase after worldly pleasures fall into the trap of widespread death, but calm souls, having known the unshakable nature of immortality, do not crave anything uncertain in this world.
He is the sun dwelling in the bright heavens.
Eternal happiness belongs to the wise, who perceive Him within themselves, not to others.