Customer Reviews

Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook Translated from the Sanskrit (Penguin Classics)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I am a Hindu and am not one bit bothered by the author's translation or her perceived 'agenda', if there is one.

The fact is that the religion she writes about has far longer survived the likes of the Greeks, the Romans etc. who also had many religious and cosmolologial myths. Where are those civilizations now? Hinduism which has not only been around far longer and continues to influence people in positive ways, has its own vitality and needs no defense.

Perhaps it is because Hinduism teaches that all spiritual paths are equally valid. "One God, many paths".Ultimately everyone is pursuing happiness in their own way, however mistaken that path may seem to others. Hinduism is but one spark from the divine Mind. Only those people bother to find shortcomings with others' beliefs who sub-consciously doubt or fear their own, and want comfort and justification (validation) by influencing others to come over to their point of view.


Love to all.

The organization of the book makes it a great reference book, but if you desire to read the vedas from beginning to end, this book is not it. The prose translation captures the facts fairly accurately, though it does lack information on how these Myths manifest itself and how these myths came to be. As the title suggests, it is really meant to be a source book for research and quick reference. Gods and demons are broken into sections, so if you need to find the samsa veda text regarding visnu, this book will make critical writing a joy and allow you to focus on the essay instead of searching the library for a short paragraph.

This is not a book on Hinduism, but on the traditional stories of the Vedic religion. Doniger O'Flaherty is a competent, respected scholar who knows this material inside out and, of course, knows Sanskrit extremely well. Her translations are readable and her notes are good. She gives readers a path through the luxuriant jungles of ancient Sanskrit literature and scholarship.

If you're looking for a devotional aid, this isn't it; if you're looking for modern Hinduism, it's not that either. But if you're interested in what stands behind the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Rig Veda, this is a good place to start. There are copious references to Sanskrit sources and there is a good bibliography (though as the book is now 35 years old, the bibliography is getting a bit dated).

It came on time and it was in very good condition! almost brand new. it came faster than i expected.

I am neither a Sanskritist nor practitioner of Hinduism. I am not qualified to evaluate the author's biases, hidden or revealed, in writing on Hindu traditions and literature. I would just add my voice here on this point: the book is written in an exceedingly dull manner. The prose is stilted, lifeless, and lacking in both content and colour. The bibliographies are useful, and I appreciate references to the original texts from which the tales are (poorly) retold. But overall it's simply too drab to be much more than an anthology of cold prose. I didn't think it was possible to make Kali-Ma sound boring -- but this author succeeded.

The book addresses the diffcult task of giving an overview of hindu myths, with the relevant content. Naturally the book is a part-reference and a part-survey kind of book. The range of the themes are adequate; covers the major aspects- Vedas, Vedic gods, the evolution of purna Gods SIVA, VISHNU, DEVI. The last chapter deals with the objectives of Vedic mythology, Epic myhtology and Puranic mythology. This is an interesting part of the book. No way, such analysis will have acceptance from all.

This book gives an excellent overview of Hindu mythology and it's development. There are sections for each major diety. Numerous notes and comparisons by the translator make it easy to compare aspects of different Hindu texts, highlighting political, philosophical, mythological, societal and ritualistic outlooks and changes in same as the Hindu religion developed from the Vedas of the ancient Aryans to modern Hinduism.

Despite what many small-minded reviewers have said, this book is an excellent compendium of analysis and translation. Dr. Doniger possesses an unbelieveable command of Sanskrit, something which I doubt any of her detractors can even approach.

Inaccurate - but moreover poorly written. Other reviewers have said it well when they expose the bias. It is not a 'sourcebook' by any means; she needs to change the title of the book. It makes me feel sorry for her - clearly she needed a gimmick to get published - unfortunately, that is often how the publishing world works. I am well versed in Sanskrit and am a Hindu - this is not a study - nor a translation - it is a lie. I rarely am offended - but here, I am ... if she cares.

I have just been reading Hindu Myths by Wendy Doniger. I was quite disappointed in reading the translations and analysis in the book. It seems quite obvious to me that Ms. Doniger does not have any love for the hindu scriptures that she's translating, though she professes in the preface that the selection of stories in the book are her favorites. Everything from the choice of the titles to the naming of the characters to the descriptions of the conversations to the conclusions that she draws from the myths seem to be designed to expose hidden sexual/erotic meanings and reduce the tales and myths to rubbish produced by peurile and perverted imbeciles. The book's main contents page cleverly hides the outrageous themes that she has chosen as subheadings in the main text. It is not clear why exactly this was done, probably to increase the sales. At least unsuspecting readers like me would not be discouraged when we look at it before we buy the book. Her narrative rarely evokes the feeling that is intended in the text that she is translating. She has a single minded purpose of nailing the hidden unholy, scandalous message that the tale carries in her opinion. This book is definitely not intended to present any positive view to the readers. It is more like a brief of an investigation specifically designed to malign hindu faith.

Ms. Doniger has spent the better part of her life reading the hindu scriptures and it is sad to see what she has learnt from them and what she has chosen to share with her countrymen.