Karthik Govil's Reviews > Aghora II: Kundalini

Aghora II explains various aspects of Sanatan, as asked by Svoboda to Vimalananda.

This book too, while great, and also somehow the most popular, is personally the least underwhelming. While it makes the effort to explain material aspects of Sanatan Dharm, it is not what Vimalananda's life was about.

The book is still engaging, and tells us various insights into rituals, practices, and other aspects of Dharma. However, this is not what Vimalananda's idea of life is.

The book, once again, shines, when Vimalananda explains the differences between satvik, rajsik and tamsik items, and how their effects are different, and why emphasised on satvik lifestyle is given in Bharatiyas (so people can slow down and learn things the proper way instead of generating more tapas than one can handle and then fall off the edge permanently, unable to recover from it), and why sadhanas are kept secret, and so on. These aspects are very insightful and perspectives on them are evolving, but one needs to find a good guru for these to be in reach.

Other aspects discussed are marriage and sex, various stories such as those of Adi Shankaracharya (but from Vimalananda's perspective), sadhanas, karma, mantras, and so on. It is what you'd expect from a book on spirituality; it is the content which makes it more intriguing than others.

There is even a great section on various sampradayas like the Gorakhnath (Yogi Adityanath sect) and its parent sect Mastyendranath, and even has many tantra symbols in it, explained.

Still, this book shines through in the unique way it explains more supposedly "orthodox" things. Although, without the context of the first book, and the conclusion of the third book, this book as an independent entity can be very misleading to read. One should go through all three.

8/10