Random Hindu Text Excerpts

Random Hindu Text Excerpts
Quora

māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [BG - 14.26]

Meaning
One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.

yajante sāttvikā devān yakṣa-rakṣāṁsi rājasāḥ
pretān bhūta-gaṇāṁś cānye yajante tāmasā janāḥ [BG - 17.4]

Meaning
Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.

sattvaṃ rajastama iti prakṛterguṇāstair [SB - 1.2.23]
- Satva, raja, tama — these three are the qualities of prakruti or material nature.

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ [BG - 14.5]
- Satva, raja, tama — these three originate from prakruti.

Quora

I will Speak for Vaishnavism, Who holds Para Brahman Paratatpar Akhilbrahmand Nayaka Sacchidanand Bhagava Narayana as the supreme authority, right from Vedas to Itihasa, Purana and Panchratra Agama Texts. No entity is beyond Sriman Narayana, Sri Ramchandra Bhagvana or Leela Purushottam Bhagvan Sri Krishna, No entity has been beyond him, rather he along with "Sri" Maiya , who is eternally present in his chest is the Sole shelter of each and every entity or ‘Jeeva.’

Sri Bhagvana is "Seshi" and We Jeevas are his "Sesh." Moreover those who worship other Devtas, are worshipping Sri Hari, Only.

First Coming to Vedas, let us see How Narayana is glorified there:

nārāyaṇaḥ paraṁ brahma tattvaṁ nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ,
nārāyaṇaḥ paro jyotirātmā nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ.
nārāyaṇaḥ paro dhyātā dhyānam nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ.

The Lord Narayana is the Supreme Absolute; Narayana is the Supreme Reality; Narayana is the Supreme Light; Narayana is the Supreme Self; Narayana is the Supreme Meditator; Narayana is the Supreme Meditation.

yacca kiñcijjagatsarvaṁ dṛśyate śrūyate'pi vā,
antarbahiśca tatsarvaṁ vyāpya nārāyaṇaḥ sthitaḥ.

Whatever all this universe is, seen or heard of—pervading all this, from inside and outside alike, stands supreme the Eternal Divine Being (Narayana). - [Narayana Suktam]

Then Let's move to Itihasa, Ramayana and Mahabharata.

When All Gods appear to pray to Lord Rama, Shri Brahma glorifies him with a Stuti and this is a part of that Stuti, as given in Valmiki Ramayana :

sahasrashR^iN^go vedaatmaa shatashiirSho maharShabhaH || 6-117-18
tvaM trayaaNaaM hi lokaanaamaadikartaa svayaMprabhuH |
siddhaanaamapi saadhyaanaamaashrayashchaasi puurvajaH || 6-117-19

"In the form of the Vedas, you are the great Bull with hundred heads (rules) and thousand horns (precepts). You are the first creator of all, the three worlds, and the self constituted Lord of all. You are the refuge and the forbear of Siddhas (a class of demi-gods endowed with mystic powers by virtue of their very birth) and Sadhyas (a class of celestial beings.)"

tvaM yajJNstvaM vaShaTkaarastvamoMkaaraH paraatparaH || 6-117-20
prabhavaM nidhanaM vaa te no viduH ko bhavaaniti |

"You are the sacrificial performance. You are the sacred syllable 'Vashat' (on hearing which the Adhvaryu priest casts the oblation to a deity into the sacrificial fire). You are the mystic syllable 'OM'. You are higher than the highest. People neither know your end nor your origin nor who you are in reality."

dR^ishyase sarvabhuuteShu goShu cha braahmaNeShu cha || 6-117-21
dikShu sarvaasu gagane parvateShu nadiiShu cha |

"You appear in all created beings in the cattle and in brahmanas. You exist in all quarters, in the sky, in mountains and in rivers."

sahasracharaNaH shriimaan shatashiirShaH sahasradR^ik || 6-117-22
tvaM dhaarayasi bhuutaani pR^ithiviiM cha saparvataam |

"With thousand feet, with hundred heads and with thousand eyes along with Lakshmi the goddess of wealth, you bear the earth with all its created beings along with its mountains."

Now Similarly, Mahabharata at many places glorifies Lord Krishna, But I am taking Lord Krishna's words from Bhagvat Geeta where he declares there is nothing greater than him.

mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva

O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread. - [BG 7.7]

I hope it is clear that In Itihasa and Vedas, Sriman Narayana is declared Supreme. Now coming to Puranas, Bhagvad Puran, Vishnu Puran, Padma Puran, Garuda Purana declare Sri Hari as Supreme, unquestionably. But its not restricted to these Puranas alone and other Puranas also Declare Sri Hari Suprme. But coming to Quotes, Quoting verse from Vishnu Puran and Skanda Puran:

Purushottama is both the agitator and the thing to be agitated; being present in the essence of matter, both when it is contracted and expanded . Vishńu, supreme over the supreme, is of the nature of discrete forms in the atomic productions, Brahmá and the rest (gods, men, &c.)Then from that equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhána), presided over by soul, proceeds the unequal developement of those qualities (constituting the principle Mahat or Intellect) at the time of creation - [Vishnu Puran, Book I, Chapter 2]

The world was produced from Vishńu: it exists in him: he is the cause of its continuance and cessation: he is the world. - [Vishnu Puran,Book I, Chapter 1]

May he who is called the supreme god, who is not in need of assistance, Hari, the soul of all embodied substance, be favourable unto us. May that Hari, who is both cause and effect; who is the cause of cause, the effect of effect; he who is the effect of successive effect; who is the effect of the effect of the effect himself; the product of the effect of the effect of the effect, or elemental substance; to him I bow . The cause of the cause; the cause of the cause of the cause; the cause of them all; to him I bow. To him who is the enjoyer and thing to be enjoyed; the creator and thing to be created; who is the agent and the effect; to that supreme being I bow. The infinite nature of Vishńu is pure, intelligent, perpetual, unborn, undecayable, inexhaustible, inscrutable, immutable; it is neither gross nor subtile, nor capable of being defined: to that ever holy nature of Vishńu I bow. - [Vishnu Puran, Book 1, Chapter 9]

I bow down to the immutable Rāma, the Supreme Brahman whose eyes resemble lotus, who is as dark-blue as a flower of flax (in complexion) and who killed Rāvaṇa. - [Skanda Purana, Ayodhya Mahatmya]

I hope its now clear that No one is superior than Sri Narayana himself. Yes Durga Maa is supreme in Hinduism because Shaktism is also a part of Hinduism but she is Not the only supreme, and she being Greater than Tridev is Only philosophy of some schools of Shaktism as far as my limited knowledge is there.