Excerpt from Prabôdha Chandrôdaya, or Rise of the Moon of Intellect: A Spiritual Drama; And Âtma Bodha, or the Knowledge of Self The word Prabôdha is derived from pra - meaning forth, or before, and bodha - knowledge, hence, it signifies the knowledge which dispels ignorance. In Professor H. H. Wilson's Dictionary, we find the following equivalents: - wakefulness, active or vigilant state of being; intellect, understanding, knowledge, wisdom. In the Marathi Dictionary, published under the direction of the Board of Education, in Bombay, the learned shastrîs and pandits say that Prabôdha means the knowledge which removes the darkness of ignorance caused by the illusion of Mâya, and shows the relationship of self, or soul, with the Universe of matter and spirit. Mr. J. Taylor, the author of the work uses the word "Intellect" for Prabodha; but it does not convey the full and comprehensive meaning as explained in Marathi Dictionary. The word Chandrôdaya. - from Chandra, the Moon, and udaya, the dawn, means - 'The dawn or rising of the Moon.' The word 'Moon' is also used to express the God presiding over the mind, and sometimes the mind itself. There is such a close relation between the Moon and man's mind that the changes in her position affect the mind, either physically or morally, and produce either good or bad results. Prabôdha Chandrôdaya, - The Title of this book, may, therefore, be properly said to imply either "The dawn of the light, or knowledge dispelling the darkness resulting from the ignorance of mind, caused by the illusion of Maya" or "The spiritual awakening of the mind." This volume being simply a reprint of the translation, we retain the original Title of the book though, in our humble opinion, it does not convey fully the sense. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.