Customer Reviews

The Rig Veda: An Anthology of One Hundred Eight Hymns (Penguin Classics)

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For this anthology, Dr. Doniger chose some of the more well-known hymns from the Rigveda, the ones that many Indian sages have commented on. In that sense, for those who are familiar with this subject, this book does not add anything new. This book also has many serious faults. For example, I find the translation of Purusha as Man (even with capital M) as disrespectful and improper. The RigVeda does NOT say that Man is his own creator. Of course, why would that bother Dr. Doniger?

If anyone wants to read a proper anthology of the RigVeda, I recommend the english rendition of a Sanskrit anthological (121 hymns) work of T.V. Kapali Sastry by Prof. R.L. Kashyap. This book is available in the US.

Amazon listing for this book has at times contained a possibly confusing abundance of Wendys. Keeping it simple; Wendy Doniger used Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty on her earlier books, and uses Wendy Doniger for books published after her divorce; a few older printings of some of them have "Wendy O'Flaherty" on them somewhere. Hence the variants, which can leave some works (like this one) in bibliographic purgatory. (To add to the possible confusion, she is now the "Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions" at the University of Chicago, and has reported receiving mail with interesting combinations of names.)

A re-issue by Penguin, listed by Amazon with the simpler title of "The Rig Veda," and a new cover design and art, but no other changes, has appeared (September 2005) as by Wendy Doniger; I have offered a new version of this review with it, with some different emphases, and have also reviewed a Kessinger e-book of the old R.T.H. Griffiths "complete" translation. (Well, really complete, IF you can read Latin, and if you find an unlisted appendix -- Griffiths took some care not to offend Victorian sensibilities, and Kessinger was a little careless.)

Secondly, under any form of the names, Wendy Doniger is a distinguished interpreter and translator of Vedic and classical Sanskrit texts, and of Indian religions in general. Her books are often witty, and at times quite dense with detail. She fully appreciates the playfulness of many versions of Hindu stories of the gods. ("Play" being in fact an explicit theme in some of them.)

In this volume she presents a selection of very ancient poems, in quite readable translations, and backs them up with detailed interpretive and bibliographic notes. It is a first-rate introduction to a very difficult body of literature, which, like the Bible and the Koran, is held sacred by a very large number of people.

Unfortunately, like the Koran, the Vedas are traditionally memorized, recited, cited, and sometimes explained, but not translated. Turning the mystical sounds of Sanskrit into readily intelligible words seems to strike some as sacrilege. At best, devotional readings are the only acceptable renderings. To the apparent distress of some true believers, Wendy Doniger tries to reconstruct what the poems meant when they were first recited (mainly, but not exclusively, to accompany rituals). This is not their meaning to present-day Hindus, over three thousand years later. (Which would be an interesting topic in itself.) This is exactly what critical scholarship is supposed to be about. Anyone who finds in it a specific bias against Hinduism might take a close look at an issue of, say, "The Journal of Biblical Literature" before complaining. This is what Christians and Jews having been doing with their own sacred texts for a couple of hundred years (actually, although sporadically, rather longer).

The main problem with the volume, as the translator would probably acknowledge, is that it will leave the reader hungry for more. There are only 108 (a sacred number) out of a canon of 1,028. She chose some of the most attractive poems, including most of the famous ones, presented them in language free of late-Victorian pseudo-Biblical idiom. Unfortunately, most of the other English versions, and all of the complete ones, belong to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and readers without Sanskrit, like me, can neither rely upon them nor easily find corrections for specific passages, so anything that isn't included is likely to be missed by someone.

I *have* compared her versions of a number of famous hymns to earlier English translations, to relatively recent treatments of passages in academic journals, and to transliterated Sanskrit texts (and also citations and variants outside the Rig Veda, traced in the digital version of Bloomfield's "Vedic Concordance"), and even to the highly regarded German translation by Geldner (not a lot of help for me there...). I found that her renderings tend to be a bit sparse, or at least concise, compared to most, but she uses headnotes and end notes to fill up gaps by explaining implications, instead of interpolating extra words or phrases to make clear her understandings of passages.

This is an intriguing and attractive look at the hymns and songs of ancient India, although this volume is at best an adjunct to an appreciation of the living religion.

108 - is a number of great hindu religious significance. Seeing this number in the title, I picked this book up for enlightening myself. I was asked a question about vedas by my white friend and I was ashamed that he knew more about my culture than me. Hence, my search for a good book on vedas resulted in buying this book The Rig Veda: An anthology from a half-price bookstore.

I approached this book with higher anticipations because the publisher 'Penguin classics' has never let me down before. But now it has. The author is not to be blamed. A subject as complex as the vedas not only needs an in-depth knowledge about devanagiri (sanskrit) script, but also cultural, social and religious connections to the verses. A mere analytical translation with the help of previous (more complex) translations is not going to do any justice. That's what has been done in this book. The verses have been mis-interpreted, verses have been taken out of context and the end result is a very skewed vision of Rig veda.

I wouldn't recommend it to any of my hindu or non-hindu friends. If your quest is knowledge, I would advise you to learn sanskrit, go to the original text and interpret it yourself (which is what i intend to do). An easy alternative is to read a translation by an Indian scholar (preferably sanskrit pundit). A translation by an Indian scholar would put you in perspective if you don't mind the crudeness of the english.

If the Rigveda is a tree with a grand plan, Wendy Doniger doesn't know it. Her translation has a Freudian slant that does violence to the vision of the Vedic hymnmakers.

Compared to other selections of Rig Vedic Hymns, this book is quite different. Most Indologists, esp. the Indian Vedic scholars, only select more "philosophically sophisticated" hymns. But this selection is more representative of the actual content of the Rig Veda.

The problem with most translations of ancient religious books, is that they are usually translated by devotees, who give their own "spiritual spin" to things, and who definitely have an "agenda".

The author not only avoids this, but she explains what she did and why. Most translators never explain this or any of the problems of translating. And since things like the Rig Veda are huge, she expalins her slections quite well.

The translation is plain not flowery religious language. Some examples are like: "mom's a doctor..." and " Oh Wondferful Agni..." and I believe this preserves the flavor of the Rig Veda. That can be appreciated by someone who feels that accuracy in translation is useful.

If you are looking for a flowery "spirtitual" translation this is not it. However if you want a translation that is good in inspired moments, and also good with pizza and beer this is for you.

This is quite a good book, as far as it goes. Readers who would like to find a far fuller selection taken from the entire corpus of the Vedas, one that carries us beyond the merely scholarly into an approach which sees the Vedas as a revelation of our shared humanity, as "a disclosure of something that enriches the human experience," might care to take a look at Raimundo Panikkar's magisterial 'THE VEDIC EXPERIENCE - MANTRAMANJARI - AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE VEDAS FOR MODERN MAN AND CONTEMPORARY CELEBRATION' (ISBN 8120812808).

Pannikar's edition, at almost 1000 pages, with full introductions to each beautifully translated text, and with detailed annotations for those who are interested in precise sources and in the original Sanskrit terminology, must be one of the best bargains going. Even the most hard-boiled could open his edition at any page and immediately become enthralled. There is a freshness and purity to these songs and chants that is irresistible. It's like coming across a blossom-filled meadow in spring.

These vigorous and life-affirmative songs give us what men and women once were, and what we may yet become once again, for it is what deep down we still are though we have forgotten. Life, despite its hardships, is supposed to be joyous, something to be celebrated. And one is intensely grateful to anyone who undertakes the hard labor of devoting a book, of no matter what size, to a literature which can enrich us all.

Readers may also be interested to note that an abridgement of Pannikar's THE VEDIC EXPERIENCE has recently appeared as:

INITIATION TO THE VEDAS : AN ABRIDGED EDITION OF THE VEDIC EXPERIENCE - MANTRAMANJARI by Raimon Pannikar. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2006. 102 pp. Color Plates. ISBN: 8120829549.

I know nothing about the Rig Veda outside this book so cannot comment on whether the hymns selected or the translation were appropriate. However, the lack of introductory material means that each hymn is followed by a lengthy notes section. Flipping backward and forward detracts from the fluidity and understanding of the text. The hymns are pregnant with symbolism but if it's introduced in the notes on an as-you-go basis it isn't absorbed.

Some of the shorter hymns I found read quite well so the translation isn't all bad. Furthermore, it chooses to present some of the more "mundane" aspects of life during the time of the Rig Veda, which I found interesting.

Overall, there are probably far better translations but this one isn't all bad.

The author does not quite undertand the text itself and comes through as being very biased. The author has wasted her efforts to put through incorrect views of her own, much better if she had researched some other texts perhaps the bible? However, knowing her knack for misinterpreting ancient texts I shudder to even think about it.

In ending I think anyone who commented the following on the most sacred Indian text as follows should not have tried interpreting a religious text of the relgion that she is biased against:

The Bhagavad Gita is not as nice a book as some Americans think," the good professor informed her audience. "Throughout the Mahabharata ... Krishna goads human beings into all sorts of murderous and self-destructive behaviours such as war.... The Gita is a dishonest book ; it justifies war." Prof. Doniger added for good measure : "I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in `good' wars." (Philadelphia Inquirer of 19 November.)

It's unfortunate that there's no complete modern translation of the Rig Veda into English. Doniger's selection is a lovely starting point for readers coming to this text for the first time. She is an excellent scholar with a detailed knowledge of the Sanskrit language and the ancient culture that it documents. Moreover, her affection for ancient India comes through clearly, here as in all of her works.

All the obvious hymns are here, with useful notes. Although this is only a selection from the Rig Veda, it's enough to give students a sense of the work and of the ancient rituals and stories that go with it. (And, perhaps, to pique their interest in studying Sanskrit for themselves!)