Customer Reviews

The Principal Upanishads

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I arranged a return authorization for this book within minutes of receiving it.

Typical of what used to be the norm a few decades ago for books printed in India, this book, which bears a 1998 copyright, is printed on cheap, darkened paper that bleeds through and has an unmistakable moldy or otherwise "off" odor; the spine is very poorly bound with flimsy ersatz cloth-like material and is completely blank with no titling on it (the paper jacket has this requisite information); and the binding in general looks as if it might fall apart as soon as the book is read, with front and back boards that are very flimsy. However, the Devanagari (Sanskrit) font in which the actual verses are printed is quite legible, although there is no Romanized transliteration of the actual text as written. But individual words are transliterated and glossed, so that someone who wishes to work with the original text and the commentary might find this volume useful in spite of the serious production problems.

My comments on the quality of this book and this publisher should not be taken to reflect on recent Indian publications in general; for example, a series of paperbacks I've recently purchased distributed by the Yoga Publications Trust are really rather gorgeously produced.

I have Easwarans book, that Amazon displays as its first when i looked for upanishads, however i find that this book is authentic and much better, when it comes to translation (as Easwarans book only provides English text), Translations can be advantageous since it doesnt pollute readers mind with authors Bias.I am of firm opinion that religious text should never ever have commentaries, if they do (this one too follows it), i would advise people not read them, since when you read translations only, you will gradually realize things yourself that author himself may have overlooked.

Vyas,Anirudh