My Read: Chanakya, The master of statecraft

   It seems we Bharatiya (Indians) have revolt, reign, and renounce in our blood stream. May be we inherit from sages who believe in Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa.

    In history of India, the kingdom of Magadh  and its time period has played crucial role. It has produced kings of valour and sages of wisdom. Kings like Bimbisaar, Chandrgupta Maurya, Ashoka to name a few. Buddha, Chanakya lived in that age.

     Both Chanakya and Chandrgupta (teacher and disciple) fought with wit and valour against all of their enemies, especially Dhana Nanda of Magadh. Thus they dethroned him and Chandrgupta initiated the Maurya dynasty. They expanded their territory in west as far as till today's Afghanistan and in east till Assam.

   When everything was in place in Magadh,  a severe famine struck the kingdom for couple of consecutive years. People of kingdom were in despair in search of food and water. Mighty Chandragupta's all backup plans for food for his citizens were going in vain. Thus forcing him towards spiritual journey to pray for his kingdom. He renounced his kingdom went towards Sharavanabelgola as part of his spiritual quest. He chose to do fast unto death as prescribed in Jainism. 
    
    Here, Chanakya too after completion of his great work Arthashastra, chose to do fast unto death. Finally, the thought which passes is Revolt - Reign - Renounce. Is it true till today? 

   Happy reading.

My Read: The Journey Home

This book is an autobiography of a yogi and saint Radhanath Swami. It is a story of a 18 year old american teenager Richard who traveled from Chicago, USA across Europe and Middle East and finally to India, in search of true love of God and inner satisfaction.
He narrates his insightful journey from Chicago to India, covered in almost 6 months of time. What a journey it was! Journey composed of meetings with intellectuals, saints and seers, near to death circumstances and above all positive insights drawn from every event he came across.

 Finally, Richard found goal of his life in Bhakti Yoga and guru in his holiness Srila Prabhupada of ISKCON.

I don't want to steal the suspense by narrating more on this.

For sure, reading this book itself is a great journey. This book is a treasure for a seeker irrespective of his field of work.
Great journey comes to an end to start another!

In one sentence the essence of this book is

"If a person does not have an ideal he's ready to die for, he has nothing really meaningful to live for."

My Read: The Alchemist

Probably this is the first fictional book which I read from end-to-end. Truly captivates and inspires the reader till the end.
It is a story of a shepherd boy from Spain who travels all the way to pyramids of Egypt in search of hidden treasure. Finally he finds the treasure in a surprising place which no one would have thought. Story is a mix of suspence, thrill, mysticism, and ofcourse inspiration. Good read for youth and also for other ages.
Few highlights of the book include:

• Listen to your heart, which are usually informed through omens
• Whole universe conspires to help you to achieve your heart ‘s wish
• Every true journey for treasure hunt, starts with beginner’s luck
• During the journey, real test for persistence is taken. True people live through this period and emerge victorious
• Journey is more important than destination

My Read: Turning Points

Currently reading inspiring sequel to Wings of Fire, “Turning Points – A Journey Through Challenges” by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. It is an second sequel autobiography of Dr. Kalam.

Some of the inspiring abstracts from the book:

Keep loving nature and care for its blessings

Then you can see divinity all over

 

The ignited mind of the youth is

the most powerful resource

on the earth, above the earth

and under the earth