As the fog before the Sun, Ignorance melts away before Knowledge’. Knowledge is acquired by uninterrupted inquiry. One should constantly be engaged in the inquiry of the nature of Brahman: the reality of the I. As you remove the husk that covers up the rice, so too the Ignorance that adheres to the mind has to be removed by the frequent application of the abrasive, atmic inquiry. (JV, p. 1)

All agitations will cease, the moment one enters on the Inquiry, ‘Who am I?’ This was the sadhana that Ramana Maharshi achieved and taught to his disciples. (JV, p. 15)

The Yogavasistha says that Shri Ramachandra asked the sage Vashistha the question, ‘Divine Master! Is there a way by which death can be avoided?’ This same problem drove Gautama Buddha along the path of renunciation, and forced him to give up all traces of attachment; it showered on him eternal fame, as supreme among men. Prahlada, foremost among the devotees of the Lord, addressed his fellow-pupils, even as a boy, ‘Friends! Have you not observed some boys of our own age fall dead and get burnt or buried?’ Thus, he drew their attention to the event of death and invited them to draw lessons from that inevitable fact. He taught them the higher wisdom. Those who have the inner urge to achieve the higher wisdom, which confers liberation, have, therefore, to reflect upon and investigate the phenomenon of death. Death should arouse no fear. It should not be regarded as inauspicious. You should not run away from the problem, imagining that death happens only to others, and that it will not happen to you. Neither should you postpone reflections on death, judging that they are inappropriate now, and profitless. For, inquiry into death is really inquiry into one’s own Reality. This truth has to be recognised. (SV, pp. 100-101)

All great teachers exhort the seekers, ‘Know Thyself’, ‘Inquire into yourself, that alone can give you release’. The Shastras too confirm this exhortation. ‘yasmin vijnate sarvam evam vijnatam bhavati (Mundaka Upanishad 1.3) - That, which when known, everything becomes known’. The Shastras extol the importance and value of this inquiry, and make it clear that the inquiry into the Atma is essential. The assurance is given that the Atma is you, yourself, as in the sacred axiom, ‘Tat Tvam Asi. That thou art’. (SV, p. 108)

Many preceptors and teachers declare that the path of inquiry into oneself is the path of liberation for man, ‘Sva vimarso mokshah - Self inquiry leads to Liberation’ is the assurance. ‘That is the Atma; that is my self ‘. ‘I and the Atma are not different’. ‘The Atma and the Paramatma are not separate’. (SV, pp. 109-110)

‘Athato Karma Jijnasa’. ‘Now, for the inquiry into activity’ - thus begins the intellectual probe into the mystery ofkarma, which in our scriptures extends over vast fields. (SV, p. 147)