Ramayana Book Five: Sundara (Clay Sanskrit Library) (Bk. 5) [Hardcover]

Valmiki (Author), Robert Goldman (Translator), Sally Sutherland Goldman (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0814731783 | ISBN-13: 978-0814731789 | Publication Date: November 15, 2006

The fifth and most popular book of the Ramáyana of Valmíki, Súndara recounts the adventures of the monkey hero Hánuman leaping across the ocean to the island citadel of Lanka. Once there, he scours the city for the abducted Princess Sita. The poet vividly describes the opulence of the court of the demon king, Rávana, the beauty of his harem, and the hideous deformity of Sita's wardresses. After witnessing Sita’s stern rejection of Rávana's blandishments, Hánuman reveals himself to the princess, shows her Rama's signet ring as proof of identity, and offers to carry her back to Rama.

Co-published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation

For more on this title and other titles in the Clay Sanskrit series, please visit http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The books line up on my shelf like bright Bodhisattvas ready to take tough questions or keep quiet company. They stake out a vast territory, with works from two millennia in multiple genres: aphorism, lyric, epic, theater, and romance.”
-Willis G. Regier,The Chronicle Review

“No effort has been spared to make these little volumes as attractive as possible to readers: the paper is of high quality, the typesetting immaculate. The founders of the series are John and Jennifer Clay, and Sanskritists can only thank them for an initiative intended to make the classics of an ancient Indian language accessible to a modern international audience.”
-The Times Higher Education Supplement

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“The Clay Sanskrit Library represents one of the most admirable publishing projects now afoot. . . . Anyone who loves the look and feel and heft of books will delight in these elegant little volumes.”
-New Criterion

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“Published in the geek-chic format.”
-BookForum

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“Very few collections of Sanskrit deep enough for research are housed anywhere in North America. Now, twenty-five hundred years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha, the ambitious Clay Sanskrit Library may remedy this state of affairs.”
-Tricycle

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About the Author

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (November 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814731783
• ISBN-13: 978-0814731789
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #689,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism > Sanskrit

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent bilingual edition of a beautiful story, April 12, 2010

By 

K G R "K G R" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Ramayana Book Five: Sundara (Clay Sanskrit Library) (Bk. 5) (Hardcover)

The Goldmans' translation of the Ramayana is both beautiful and accurate. The Sundara-kanda or "beautiful section" deals with the aftermath of Sita's abduction and Rama's meeting with Hanuman. There is no definitive reasoning behind the name of this section, but most believe that it is because this section details many "beautiful" persons and places, e.g. Lanka, Sita, Hanuman, the reunion between Hanuman and Sita, etc. The translators really help the English speaking reader understand the poetics and emotion of the Sanskrit original.

The Clay Sanskrit library is a wonderful first step in righting the woefully inadequate attention afforded to Sanskrit vis a vis Greek and Latin. If you are a Hindu who is not fluent in Sanskrit, but is in English, this will be an excellent opportunity for you to see the text in the original language with the English side by side. I personally would have preferred that the Sanskrit text be in the standard Devanagari, but I suppose that for those who are unable to read Devanagari this choice is better.

I highly recommend the Goldmans' Ramayana translation, and the entire Clay Sanskrit library for serious students of Hinduism, Indology, and Sanskrit.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ripping Yarn!, July 9, 2010

By 

Mjoy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ramayana Book Five: Sundara (Clay Sanskrit Library) (Bk. 5) (Hardcover)

Beautiful dynamic imagery. I can't keep this book on my shelf: I buy a copy, read it, give it away, buy another, read it again, give it away . . .