Lotus flower is one of the important symbols in the Hindu religion. The significance of the Lotus is mentioned in the fifth chapter of Gita by Lord Krishna: "One who does all works as an offering to the Lord, abandoning attachment of the results, is as untouched by sin as a Lotus Leaf is untouched by water"…….Yoga or Renunciation.

So, the ultimate goal of the human kind is to aim to be like a Lotus leaf, perform the karmas without being attached to the world.

Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says: -

This book brings out the essentials of Hinduism which, I believe, would bring the desired change and prosperity to our people particularly, the younger generation. This book has been presented in a magnificent manner.

This book, among other recent books, would be like a prominent precious jewel in a crown.

I wish the author Sri G.S. Nilakantan all the best in all his future literary works.

The author worked in the electric utility industry for 45 years as an engineer. Mr. G.S.Nilakantan lives in U.S.A. for the past four decades.

After retirement, the author got involved with curiosity about the spirituality. The interesting fact is, when you pursue spirituality in-depth, the worldly interests gradually take a lesser priority. Eventually, the author’s interests translated to a deep desire to produce something useful for people with spiritual interests. After a while, these desires matured and culminated to publish a book that shall awaken a common person, raise him[her] to a higher level and pursue in-depth spirituality-not just acquire knowledge, but also apply that knowledge in everyday life. Therefore, Mr. Nilakantan came up with the idea of developing this book to give a good basic understanding of our Hinduism essentials-learn as well as practice in real life.

Hindu society enjoys the incessant flow of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion, through the length and breadth of this sacred land. The seeming variations are at best sporadic. The Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata belong to the land and are held in high esteem and veneration. The basic beliefs and traditions remain the same throughout the land.

Bharath is highly esteemed for its age-old Hindu tradition and for having a rich treasure of knowledge on various fields. But, there are a few attempts to systematically classify them into known branches of knowledge in an illustrative manner to familiarize a lay reader with the richness of the ancient past. Here comes the painstaking effort of Sri G.S. Nilakantan in compiling them and bringing out in a book form.

I have gone through the pages of the book ‘ESSENTIALS OF HINDUISM - A PRACTICAL GUIDE’ and found it very interesting. He has covered several aspects including Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Ithihasa, Puranas, Panchangam and a few topics on the essentials of Hinduism. The reader will find some FAQs also.

Hinduism itself is about life and how we go through the spiritual progression to a higher plane of consciousness. Along this path of progression are the guiding values and traditions that keep on course. Today’s world has plenty of seekers, who need inputs on spirituality and human values in a de-mystified manner. This book by Sri Nilakantan may help to know just that. Sri Nilakantan has done a commendable work. This book is a useful reference guide for all those who want to know the basics of our Hindu scriptures.

I congratulate him for this nice work and my best wishes for all-round success.