Books on Vedas and Upanishads

About the Book

India’s cultural traditions have their in diverse sources embedded in the life style of various pre-and proto-historic communities occupying different parts of the sub-continent in the various periods of their existence. Despite high antiquity of several archaeological finds, one has to admit that the earliest recorded references of India’s cultural philosophy and ideological concepts are found only in the textual data of Rgveda, which show an already developed stage of thought. The importance of Vedic philosophy and religious concepts especially those defining the form of divinities lies in the fact that they preserve in them the seeds of later Hinduism to a considerable extent.

The Rgveda contains references to various types of divinities which have been classified into three broad groups viz., (i) Terrestrial deities like Prthivi, Soma, Agni, (ii) Atmospheric gods like Indra, Vayu, Maruts, Parjanya, and (iii) Heavenly divinities like Varuna, Dyaus, Asvins, Surya, Savitr, Mitra, Pusana and Visnu. Of these the last five were regarded as different phases of sun’s movements. Varuna, who has been extolled in many hymns, is also associated with the concept of Rta, i.e. the cosmic and, oral order.

The Rgveda mentions some goddess too like Prthivi, Usas or the dawn, Ratri, Ila Bharati or Sarasvati. A few gods like Dyava-Prthivi (i.e. the sky and the earth) are vitally significant for latre iconographic development. To propitiate these gods the Rgvedic people made offerings of milk, ghee grains, etc. through sacrificial oblations and chanted hymns in their praise which, undoubtedly. Suggest presence of the elements of Bhakti (deep devotional urge) in the Vedic religion.

The present work is conditioned by a kind of unconventional approach to the study of Vedic elements of iconic forms from time to time to meet the demand of the people. In her view these developments are well attested to by the literature of historical times, e.g. the Smrtis and the Puranas.

About the Author

According to Chawla the early idea of image-making can be traced back in the hymns of the Rgveda particularly in the poetic imagery of early Vedic seers. She agrees that most of the Vedic deities, no doubt, originally represented the forces of nature but in the couse of time, during the Rgvedic age itself, she feels that iconic concepts in regard to at least some divinities had already come into vogue.

The author has also located and analysed certain Vedic terms prrserving in them clues pertaining to bodily features of some deities. The representation of form as reflected in the expressions like rupani pimsatu and rupam sukrtam, is an indication of some kind of artistic activity in Rgvedic times. Perhaps emergence of the concept of Tvastr, the divine craftsman/artist, was a result of constantly growing creative urge of Rgvedic societies.

Dr. Chawla views the whole growth of Hindu iconography as a continuous process of development from the period of the Rgveda onwards under the cover of religious philosophies. Yet, she does not deny the role of Indus civilization and external mythological import.

Jyotsna Chawla further invites our attention to the iconographic parallelism between the concept of Dyava-Prthivi, the eternal parents, and the one reflected in the unified form available in the Puranic iconography of Ardhanarisvara. She traces the growth of the iconic forms of Rgvedic deities like Siva, Surya, Some, Yama, Asvins, etc. in the later periods when the Puranas were compiled. She has beautifully analysed the Vedic symbolism and the attributes held by various gods in the form of vajra, pasa, danda, sruk and sruva in an logical manner.

Atharva - Veda means 'the Veda of the Atharvan' or 'the knowledge of Magic Formulas'. Originally, however, the word meaning 'fire priest', dates back to the Indo-Iranian period. It is a collection of 731 hymns, which contain about 6,000 verses, in the recension which is best preserved. The great importance of the Atharva - Veda Samhita lies in the very fact that it is an invaluable source of knowledge of the real popular belief as yet uninfluenced by the priestly religion, of the faith in numberless spirits, imps, ghosts, and demons of every kind, and of the witchcraft, so eminently important to ethnology and for the history of religion.

This work includes in the first place, critical notes upon the text, giving the various readings of the manuscripts, and not alone of those collated by Whiney in Europe, but also of those of the apparatus used by S. P. Pandit in the great Bombay edition; second, the readings of Paippalada of Kashmere version, furnished by the late Professor Roth; further, notice of the corresponding passages in all the other Vedic texts, with report of the various readings; the data of the Hindu scholiast respecting authorship, divinity, and metre of each verse; also references to the ancillary literature, especially to the well-edited Kausika and Vaitana Sutras, with account of the ritualistic use therein made of the hymns or parts of hymns, so far as this appears to cast any light upon their meaning; also, extracts from the printed commentary; and finally, a simple literal translation with introduction and indices.

William Dwight Whitney (1827-1894) studied Sanskrit for three years in Germany, and gained wide reputation for his scholarship in this field. At Yale University, he became professor of Sanskrit in 1854, adding comparative philology in 1869. He became secretary to the American Oriental Society in 1857 and its president in 1884. He was editor-in-chief of the first edition of the respected Century Dictionary, published in 1889.

Whitney revised definitions for the 1864 edition of Webster’s American Dictionary, and in 1869 became a founder and first president of the American Philological Association. He wrote metrical translations of the Vedas, and numerous papers on the Vedas and linguistics, many of which were collected in the Oriental and Linguistic Studies Series (1872-74). He wrote several books on language, and grammar textbooks of English, French, German, and Sanskrit.

The Vedanta Sutras of philosopher-poet Narayana Guru has 24
beautiful-fluent sutras revealing the essential message of the Vedanta. The
highly-perceptive commentary by Seami Narayana Prasad elucidates the guru`s
interpretation of the Vedantic concept.

The Upanisads from the concluding of the Vedas and are, therefore, called the Vedanta or the end of the Veda. The number of the Upanisads is not fixed. The collection of Upanisads translated by Darashikoh into Persian contained 50 Upanisads. The Muktika Upanisads gives a list of 108 Upanisads. There are about 112 Upanisads published by Nirnaya Sagar Press. But only ten Upanisads which were commented upon by Sankaracarya are taken to be genuine and most authoritative.

The Upanisads, which teach that life and death are only different forms of one and the same being and which aim at the release from mundane existence by the merging of the individual soul in the world soul through correct knowledge, have been hailed as the inspired utterances of the mystics for centuries. In them the whole of the later philosophy of the Indians is rooted.

"The Present volume is part of a series entitled World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest, which seeks to present the spiritual wisdom of the human race in its historical unfolding. Drawing upon the highest level of scholarship around the world, the volume gathers together and presents the richness of the spiritual heritage of the human race, It is designed to reflect the autonomy of the tradition in the historical development. This volume presents the eternal, thielen dimensions of Hinduism. The articles included in this volume are discussed under different eight parts. Each put contains number of articles devoted to the theme of the individual part. These are (1) The Vedic Spirit, (2) The Spiritual Horizon of Dharma, (3) The Sraname Spirituality, (4) The Spiritual Quest for Innortatity and freedom, (5) Vedanta as Reflective Spirituality, (6) Vedanta as Devotion, (7) Spirituality and Human life , (8) Contemporary Expressions of the Classical spirit.

Review:

The articles are both instructive and interesting, authentic and objective. Any reader, a student or a scholar will find in nut-shell a treasure of vital, educative information. - R. T. VYAS"

The term Hindu is referred to the religious life of the people of India, and Spirituality understood as wisdom about the way back into the ground of pluralism of religious forms. These two volumes are structured along the division between the classical and the post classical.Twenty seven scholars from around the world shed light on the spiritual beauty of Hinduisms poetry art and temples, festivals and music, as well as the contributions of modern pioneers such as Swami Vivekananda Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi and others.

The Eternal Upanishads represent the profound essence, the succulent juice and the perennial spiritual philosophy of the Vedas, expounded and elucidated to make them practical and accessible for spiritual aspirants. They are magnificent, stupendous, forceful and powerful instruments in the hands of true seekers that provide spiritual foresight and vision of the ultimate Truth and reality. The Upanishads are integral part of the Vedas: each Veda has a number of Upanishads in it. The present series classifies these Upanishads in ture vedic tradition, i.e. they are listed and separated into different volumes strictly according to the Vedic sequence and the Vedas they appear in. Each verse of each Upanishad has been extensively explained using simple language supplemented by elaborate notes so that these profound metaphysical treatises can be made accessible to even a lay man. Towards this end, extensive appendices have been added to elucidate the different concepts in simple words. Concepts such as OM, Naad, Naadis, Chakras, Yoga, Atma, Viraat, Moksha etc. are all elaborately explained in these separate appendices, a Mantra index in roman is also included. The present volume contains 10 principal Upanishads of the Rig Veda. The Sequence of their listing in this volume strictly follows the sanction of the Upanishads themselves, as is Clear in Muktikopanishad, cant 1, verse no. 53. Volume 2. contains 16 principal Upanishads of the Sam Veda. The sequence of their listing in this volume strictly follows the sanction of the Upanishads themselves, as is clear in Muktikopsnishad, Cantrol, verse no.56.

Advaitamoda the fragrance of Advaitamoda by Mahamahopadhyaya Vasudevasastri Abhyankar is a very useful book for understanding the two great Vedanta tradition. Advaita Vedanta and Visistadvaita Vedanta. Advaitamoda contains four chapters The first two chapters present the teachings of Advaita and of Visistadvaita respectively. Then follows a summation of the differences between these two traditions. The third and fourth chapters enter into a detailed critique of the arguments which Ramanuja advanced against Advaita in the LAGKU and Maha-Sidhanta portions of his great work, theSri Bhasya. The procedure followed in these chapters is that a. passage from theSri Bhasya is firstly cited and then taken up for discussion. In the way . most of the Laghu and Mahasidhania portions ofSri Bhasya systematically quoted and discussed. Dr .Michael Oomans, from the Australian National University, who has studied Advaita Vedanta in traditional manner over a number of years, has translated the Advaitamoda from Sanskrit into English. In addition to the translation, he has written a commentary in English upon much of the text, where he explains- and elaborates various topics as they arise. This commentary is very helpful, especially as it provides an accurate and detailed understanding of Advaita Vedanta. This work for all students of Indian Philosophy and especially those who are interested in the Vedanta traditions. The book contains an Introduction Detailed Table of Contents the Translation of Advaitamoda with Commentary, the Sanskrit text an Index.