Hinduism Book Recommendations

[Gaura Priya]

SWAMINARAYAN VAISHNAVISM


* Shikshapatri: Here are three versions; this first one is just the straight Shikshapatri written by Sri Swaminarayan and translated into English. This one is decent, with a commentary, but this one is better Englished with commentary, although less format-friendly!

* Vachanamrut, second of the two main Scriptures for Swaminarayan satsangis!


NEO-VAISHNAVISM, EKASARANA DHARMA

This site has many good essays about Srimanta Sankardeva and his aniconic, culturally-inclined, for-the-people Vaishnavism. The major Scriptures of this sect of Vaishnavism include the Kirttana-Ghosa, the Gunamala, and his devotional songs, called Borgits (or bargit).


SRI VAISHNAVISM

"The Vedanta-sutras With Commentary by Ramanuja" translated by George Thibaut

Two websites for .pdf e-books and commentaries are srihayagrivan.org and sadagopan.org. However, the formatting is distracting, and the English is difficult (mainly their transliteration scheme). But they are valuable gems for resources, especially for Sri Vaishnava perspectives!


PUSHTIMARG

Unfortunately there are barely any downloads; it is only online reading. The only English Pushti literature for free is here, or specifically, here and here. You can probably order hard-copies of Shyamdas's commentaries and translation work on his website though!

 

[Sumit]

*edit*

I will suggest you to read Darshans and Upanishads and than Vedas. Purans are self contradictory and corrupted from time to time.

 

[Vinayaka]

The basic texts of Hinduism are The Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavat Gita.

Hinduism is monothesim.

Although you acknowledged the many differences in the Hindu sects, there are a couple of points that I felt needed clarifying.

The basic texts of Hinduism are the Vedas. The BG is a Vaishnava scripture, although other schools do acknowledge it in varying degrees.

The monotheism in Hinduism is not the same as the monotheism in Abrahamic thought. Often its called inclusive monotheism, which means God and gods. So there is a Supreme God but also other gods. This is different than the Abrahamic idea of monotheism, which excludes all others. So there is no Ganesha in Abrahamic ideas, but there sure is in Hinduism.

The idea that Jesus has anything at all to do with Hinduism is a modern construct by comparative or syncretic groups, including Yogananda's Self-Realisation fellowship.

 

[Sumit]

Dear Sir,
Hinduism is not one religion(belief system) but congregation of many religions

Hinduism is like an inverted tree, as you move upwards you will see all belief system (branches) within Hinduism forming a single belief system.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

So there is a Supreme God but also other gods. This is different than the Abrahamic idea of monotheism, which excludes all others. So there is no Ganesha in Abrahamic ideas, but there sure is in Hinduism.

The idea that Jesus has anything at all to do with Hinduism is a modern construct by comparative or syncretic groups, including Yogananda's Self-Realisation fellowship.

Would not the angels and archangels of the Abrahamic tradition be considered as manifested gods of Brahman from a Hindu perspective?

With respect to the teaching of Jesus, I totally agree with John Martin that the sayings of Jesus referred to are perfectly in accordance to the Hindu teaching of the potential for realization of union with God. This teaching is timeless and is not a modern construct.

 

[Vinayaka]

Would not the angels and archangels of the Abrahamic tradition be considered as manifested gods of Brahman from a Hindu perspective?

With respect to the teaching of Jesus, I totally agree with John Martin that the sayings of Jesus referred to are perfectly in accordance to the Hindu teaching of the potential for realization of union with God. This teaching is timeless and is not a modern construct.

The concept of angels and archangels is similar, close enough for Hindus to use those terms when explaining the Gods to non-Hindus, but not quite the same. The gods of Hinduism take on greater powers.

As for Jesus, it was discussed at length here http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/hinduism-dir/134756-jesus-hinduism.html and I'm in the minority on the view, but it's all good. This thread is on Hinduism Book recommendations so I would encourage you to post anything on the topic of Christ on that thread instead.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

As for Jesus, it was discussed at length here http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/hinduism-dir/134756-jesus-hinduism.html and I'm in the minority on the view, but it's all good. This thread is on Hinduism Book recommendations so I would encourage you to post anything on the topic of Christ on that thread instead.

Ok, I now see where you are coming from wrt to Jesus and the Hindu tradition. But John Martin, so far as I understood his post, wasn't primarily making a case for that, but just pointing out that Jesus taught the same teaching of union with God as the Hindu tradition.

 

[Vinayaka]

Ok, I now see where you are coming from wrt to Jesus and the Hindu tradition. But John Martin, so far as I understood his post, wasn't primarily making a case for that, but just pointing out that Jesus taught the same teaching of union with God as the Hindu tradition.

And he very well might have, I have no idea. He very well might not have either. Because if he did, then Christians would seemingly have no problem adopting Hinduism, and they don't. At least not what I've seen. Maybe one day there will be a mass exodus.

 

[Vinayaka]

... and it is my opinion that Jesus didn't exist. Please note this is a Hindu DIR, not a comparative section. I won't argue with you, as its pretty obvious that will be a dead end street. The Christian Bible cannot possibly be a Hindu book recommendation.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

I completely agree with Vinayaka, please, this is Hindu DIR and a tread for Hindu books recommendation, the bible doesn't interest us and have not to be mentionned in a tread about Hindu books recommendations.

...Why is there even a debate here ? ô_o

Aum Namah Shivaya

 

[nameless]

Mods are requested to clean this thread by deleting irrelevant posts.

 

[Vinayaka]

Mods are requested to clean this thread by deleting irrelevant posts.

Yes thank you ... hint: starting at post 103. Please delete my responses as well. Sorry for allowing it to go off track. :sorry1:

 

[Satyamavejayanti]

Not a book but a website for good Darshana translations.

Vaisheshika, Vedanta, Sankhya, and Yoga Darshanas: Modern translations and commentaries

Can download PDF of 5 Darshana.

 

[preeti22]

I am currently reading Yatra2Yatra book.

 

[Jainarayan]

This book was recommended to me by of all people, a Buddhist. I am going to look into this.

An excerpt:

Foreword
According to Hinduism, religion is experience and not the mere acceptance of certain time-honoured dogmas or creeds. To know God is to become like God. A man may quote scripture, engage in ritual, perform social service, or pray with regularity, but unless he has realized the divine spirit in his heart, he is still a phenomenal being, a victim of the pairs of opposites. One can experience God as tangibly as "a fruit on the palm of one's hand," which means that in this very life a man can suppress his lower nature, manifest his higher nature, and become perfect. Through the experience of God, a man's doubts disappear and "the knots of his heart are cut asunder." By ridding himself of desires clinging to his heart, a mortal becomes immortal in this very body.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

I am looking for a translation of the main Saiva and eventually Sakta Agamas, I've looked online but didn't find...Only Kirana agama handwritten and scanned, it is hard to read !

Thank you

Aum Namah Sivaya

 

[vibhav123]

Two books are sufficient for the Hinduism such as: Shrimad bhagvat GITA and Shri Ramcharit Manas.

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

Everything I know has been gleaned from The Upanishads (Chhandogya is my favourite), Patanjali's Yoga Sutras/Aphorisms, Swami Svatmarama's Hatha Yoga Pradipkia, Sri Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Shankara's Saundarya Lahari and the Virashaiva texts from South India.

There is nothing else I need.

 

[gnostic]

Which translations would you recommend for Bhagavad Gita & for Ramayana?

I would like English translations to be a balance of accurate (as possible) and readable.

Also, should I just read Bhagavad Gita by itself, or do you recommend that I read Mahabharata in its entirety?

My main concern is the size of Mahabharata. I'm not sure that I can read of this size, so I'm think that I read Bhagavad Gita alone. What do you think?

 

[punkdbass]

Which translations would you recommend for Bhagavad Gita & for Ramayana?

I would like English translations to be a balance of accurate (as possible) and readable.

Also, should I just read Bhagavad Gita by itself, or do you recommend that I read Mahabharata in its entirety?

My main concern is the size of Mahabharata. I'm not sure that I can read of this size, so I'm think that I read Bhagavad Gita alone. What do you think?

I absolutely love Paramahansa Yogananda's translation of the Bhagavad Gita. He has a full commentary on the Bhagavad Gita (1000+ pages) or you can read his staightforward, uninterrupted (minimal commentary) translation of the Bhagavad Gita in his book "The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita." Obviously his translations and works are heavily biased towards the aims of his organization (Self Realization Fellowship)... in which case, depending upon what type of translation you are looking for, this might not be what you want. But if you don't know a whole lot about the Bhagavad Gita and just want an extremely readable, intelligible, English translation, as well as 50 pages that give a general overview of the Bhagavad Gita, I would highly recommend checking out "The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita." You can check out a synopsis I wrote here.

Also, I would like to add a question. What do you guys think of Sri Sankaracharya's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita? My gut tells me that this could be an invaluable resource in trying to understand Advaita Vedanta.