"Just as those standing in the midst of boisterous people carefully guard their wounds, so those standing in the midst of evil people should always guard the wounds of their minds."

"Once I have forsaken the vow of guarding my mind, of what use are many vows to me?"

"Where would there be leather enough to cover the entire world? With just the leather of my sandals, it is as if the whole world were covered. Likewise, I am unable to restrain external phenomena, but I shall restrain my own mind. What need is there to restrain anything else?"

"The Spirit of Awakening … is the tree of rest for beings exhausted from wandering on the pathways of mundane existence."

"Just as a blind man might find a jewel amongst heaps of rubbish, so this Spirit of Awakening has somehow arisen in me."

"Let those who falsely accuse me, who harm me, and who ridicule me all partake of Awakening."

"Until every being afflicted by pain Has reached nirvanas shores, May I serve only as a condition That encourages progress and joy."

"The Spirit of Awakening is known to be of two kinds: the spirit of aspiring for Awakening, and the spirit of venturing toward awakening. Just as one perceives the difference between a person who yearns to travel and a traveler, so do the learned recognize the corresponding difference between these two."

"May all those languishing in hell come now to perfect joy. And may the stooping animals be freed From fear of being preyed upon, each other's food."

"Those who injure me are really impelled by my actions. For this they will go to the realms of hell. Surely it is they who are harmed by me?"

"His the knife, and mine the body the twofold cause of suffering. He has grasped the knife, I my body. At which is there anger?"

"May I fall as rain to increase The harvests that must feed living beings And in ages of dire famine May I myself serve as food and drink."

"My body, every possession And all goodness, past, present and future Without remorse I dedicate To the well-being of the world."

"Suffering is transcended by total surrender And the mind attains to nirvana. As one day all must be given up, Why not dedicate it now to universal happiness?"

"May no one who encounters me Ever have an insignificant contact."

"Regardless whether those whom I meet Respond towards me with anger or faith, May the mere fact of our meeting Contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes."

"May the slander, harm And all forms of abuse That anyone should direct towards me Act as a cause of their enlightenment."

"May I act as the mighty earth Or like the free and open skies To support and provide the space Whereby I and all others may grow."

"Thus today in the presence of all awakened Ones I invite every living being to this festival Giving both immediate and lasting joy. May the gods and all others rejoice."

"The Bodhimind is a great radiant sun To disperse the darkness of unknowing, And it is the very essence of butters Gained from churning the milks of Dharma. For all guests on the roads of life Who would take the very substance of joy, Here is the actual seat of true happiness, A veritable feast to satiate the world."

"Like a blind man fumbling in garbage Happens to find a rare and precious gem, Likewise I have discovered The jewel of the precious Bodhimind. Thus was found this supreme ambrosia to dispel The Lord of death, destroyer of life; An inexhaustible treasure able to cure The poverty of all sentient beings."

"They who out of wisdom Have seized the supreme Bodhimind Praise, glorify and rejoice in it, That it may grow to fulfilment."

"In the spiritual energy that relieves The anguish of beings in misery and Places depressed beings in eternal joy I lift up my heart and rejoice."

"In the ocean-like virtue of the Bodhimind That brings joy to all beings And in accomplishing the well-being of others, I lift up my heart and rejoice."

"To the Buddhas of the ten directions I join my hands in respect Let blaze the light of Dharmas truth For the beings lost in darkness"

"To the Buddhas considering parinirvarna I join my hands in prayer Do not abandon the beings in sorrow But remain and teach for countless ages."

"May any spiritual energy thus generated By my devotion to the enlightened ones Be dedicated to dispelling the misery Of living beings without exception."

"As long as diseases afflict living beings May I be the doctor, the medicine And also the nurse Who restores them to health."

"Even after killing ninety nine tigers the Maharaja should beware of the hundredth."

"You should be glad that the government has provided for chain and bangles at their own expense, why are you feeling so bad about it?"

"It is natural for a train to run on its tracks. We get into a train because we believe that it will do that. But once in a while the train runs off the rails, and there’s an accident. Those who don’t actually witness such a happening can say, “No train will run off the rails, it is unnatural for it to do so”."

"Listen, You can hear the thunder. Ten cracks in the last five minutes. The thunderstorm is a constant phenomenon, raging alternately over some part of the world or the other. Can a single man or creature escape death if all that charge of lightning strikes the earth? No. And therefore it is natural for thunder to crash, and only in the skies. But once in a long while lightning does strike the earth. Then, instead of killing its victim outright, it snatches his eyes away. Swami, would you say this is a natural phenomenon, or that it is against nature?"

"If it is natural for lightning to strike the earth, why doesn’t it strike each and every one of us? Why does it not blind us all?"

"The reason for his taking "Kalki" as a pen name was based on the myth of the "Kalki Avataram" (the final incarnation of Lord Vishnu, in the age of Kali). Through his writings, he wanted to bring about change in this age."

"Generally, Kalki’s writings are well received by the people. There are two reasons for this. One thing is there will be humour in all his essays. Even in the saddest situation he will find something funny. … There was something very interesting about his writings. Writing the way he did, was something very great at that time, because there were no precedents to his writing style. Neither to his style or genre nor to the way the magazine was written. People talk about it even now. They say there is nothing that Kalki has not done, there is nothing left to be done. There is no scope of starting something new. Because, Kalki had experimented with everything, when it comes to the world of magazines... be it short stories, essays, cartoons, travelogues... he went to Sri Lanka in the 1930s and wrote a travelogue on Sri Lanka. People there were fanatical about Kalki. He was very popular there. Even when he used to deliver a speech somewhere, it used to be full of humor. So people never used to allow him to speak first at any function. Because once he is through with his talk, the audience will walk away. So he used to invariably deliver only the vote of thanks. Even that used to be so funny, people used to be literally rolling on the floor."

"Three reasons can be cited for the phenomenal success of Kalki's novels. First of all, he possessed in abundance the gift of story-telling. Secondly, he introduced healthy humour in his writings. And lastly, he threw light upon the cultural and social aspects of this country as well as the current time."

"Kalki introduced healthy humour as against the dull and the vulgar. His humour does not hurt anybody and so makes everybody laugh."

"Like the great European novelists of the 19th century, Kalki was a master of striking scenes and episodes. With some of the burning patriotic fervour of a Bankim Chandra and a Hari Narayan Apte, something too of the humour of Dickens and the gift of portraiture of a Thackeray Kalki spread out his novels in impressive sequence. Very often he is compared with Dickens and Thackeray for his sense of humour and his gift of portraiture respectively."

"There are many evils in this country. The only remedy for every one of them is freedom for the nation."