Customer Reviews

Principle Upanisads (Humanities Paperback Library)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is worth to seek this reasonably priced translation of eighteen of the Upanishads out. There are several reasons for this: The translation is excellent, each Section is also rendered in Sanskrit Transliteration, and the 145 page long introduction is most helpful as are the short Bibliography and Index. The main drawback is that the Sanskirt Devanagari text should have been included along with the transliterated text. This would have made this volume ideal. It was probably omited for reasons of length as this volume is already 951 pages long. --- A word of advice: Do not rely on any single translation. Instead use several side by side. I recommend R.E. Hume: "The Thirteen Prinicipal Upanishads", and if you read German, even better, Paul Deussen: "Sechzig Upanishad's des Veda", in my opinion still the best translation of all time.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), Indian philosopher and statesman, was the first Vice-President of India (1952-1962) and its second President (1962-1967). Coming as he did from a country wise enough to choose highly intelligent and accomplished men for its leaders, it's no surprise to find him treating the traditional wisdom of his country with artistry, insight, and an impressive and scholarly thoroughness, and giving us a book that still remains the best edition of the Upanishads ever published for English readers.

After a 130-page Introduction, we are then given the complete texts of eighteen Upanishads, verse-by-verse, in Romanized Sanskrit and an English translation that reads very well indeed and in which one detects the author's desire to capture something of the poetic beauty of these texts.

Many of the verses are followed by further explanations of the Sanskrit terms along with an abundance of extremely interesting and useful notes which throw light on the text from various angles and which are based mainly upon, and often quote passages in Sanskrit from, the commentarial literature (especially Shankara). The book is rounded out with a Bibliography and a General Index.

Perhaps enough has been said to indicate that Radhakrishnan's 'The Principal Upanishads' is an edition for the serious student. Newcomers to the Upanishads who have no previous exposure to Sanskrit would probably be better off starting with a simpler treatment such as Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal. This too, in its own way, is an excellent edition and I think they would find it much more approachable. Another excellent edition that would require less of a commitment in time and energy is Swami Nikhilananda's The Principal Upanishads. See my Listmania list: The Upanishads - Breath of the Eternal.