Prarthana: A Book of Hindu Psalms (Perfect Paperback)

~ Arun Shanbhag (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Popular Sanskrit prayers from the Vedas & Upanishads!
Devanagiri Script, Transcription and English Translations!
English commentary offers reflections on how each prayer applies to daily life.

A must have for every family!
Perfect gift for Grads!
Safe gift for friends or colleagues!

Inside:
Gayatri Mantra: Enlightenment
Ganesha Vandana: Tribute to Ganesha
Krishna Vandana: Tribute to Krishna
Prayers to Devi: The Feminine Divine
Vande Mataram: Glorious Mother
and many more

About the Author

Arun Sudhakar Shanbhag was born in the rural Karnataka town of Bhatkal, India and completed his schooling in Mumbai, in a traditional Konkani family. He spent summers with grandparents in Bhatkal, and visiting relatives in nearby towns and villages along the Konkan coast. There he developed a deep admiration for the traditional Indian lifestyle and heritage.

Arun studied engineering at the Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India. In the USA he completed graduate studies in Bioengineering (MS, PhD) and later an MBA. Dr Shanbhag is an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. He has published extensively in scientific and medical journals, and also compiled a textbook.

Arun lives in the Boston suburb of Arlington with his wife Manashi. They both love to travel. Arun is fitness conscious and has run the Boston and Chicago Marathons.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Arun Shanbhag; 1st edition (September 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979008107
• ISBN-13: 978-0979008108
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 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 (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,454,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A UU inspired by the author finds common spiritual impulse in Hindu prayers , September 24, 2007

By	Ellen Duranceau - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What's a Unitarian Universalist Buddhist doing reading Arun Shanbhag's ew translation of Hindu Psalms: Prarthana? A reasonable question, unless you'd ever met the author. If you had, you'd know that Arun is the kind of person you see and think to yourself "I'll have whatever he's having, thanks very much!" A positive energy surrounds him, and his smile just glows with peace and contentment. A scientist, athlete, blogger, avid reader and photographer, Arun's engagement with the world inspires people -- I ran a half marathon yesterday because of him -- and connects people.

So when Arun told me he was working on a book of Hindu prayers, to make them interpretable to those who don't know Sanskrit, I was intrigued. My UU faith draws from Eastern religions, and I've already incorporated Buddhism into my spiritual life. I wondered what Hindu prayers might offer, since they have so clearly benefited Arun.

What I found is that these prayers speak to something common to all of humanity: a spiritual impulse for light to dispel darkness; for connection to nature, to other people, and to the universe itself; for the courage to rise above our anguish or fears, to find hope and the best within ourselves, and to share our best selves with the world. In a time of great divisions, it is heart-warming to dip into another faith tradition and find common bonds, rather than alienation.

As a UU, I responded in particular to the tribute to the earth and the sun, and the Gayatri mantra that calls upon "that quintessence of earth, air and heaven; May it bestow wisdom, enlighten our thoughts, and energize our consciousness!" I was moved by the Invocation of Peace: "May She protect us friends; May she nourish us; May we work together, And learn with purpose. May we never quarrel. May we be blessed with peace, peace, and perfect peace!" These words reach all of us, regardless of our faith tradition.

In his engaging interpretations of the psalms, Arun calls for faith to remain a grounding force, but a flexible one that changes with human development. He weaves vivid story-telling about the Hindi gods with his own childhood experiences of the prayers, making them richer and more accessible to those not familiar with them.

Arun, you've given us all another gift. Thank you for sharing yourself and your understanding of these ancient prayers with the world. We need people like you -- the glue that unites us.

Ellen Duranceau

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grateful for your Translation, November 6, 2007

By	G. Prabhu "G. M. Prabhu" (Ames, IA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those who practice it everyday, the hope is that the ritual of prayer releases love energy and uplifts the entire human race. Arun Shanbhag has reinforced this hope in his book, "Prarthana," in which he has done a superb job of transliterating and translating many prayers from their Sanskrit version into English. I was particularly impressed by his mastery in translating the Suprabhatam - a prayer that most of us awake to in South India and is actually intended to awake the divine presence within each of us. The Gayatri mantra, a prayer that is simple and easy to recite, is explained as a way to "invoke the Sun from within oneself."

The essence of the Sanatana Dharma from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

"From the unreal lead me to the real,
From darkness lead me to light,
From death lead me to immortality."

shows us how we can attain final emancipation or `moksha.' These are but a few of the gems contained in Shanbhag's rendering of Hindu prayers and psalms. The explanations that go hand-in-hand with the actual Sanskrit verses are so easy to read and understand and at the level where I could easily explain them to my children who were both born in the US.

The author has done a great service to the Indian diaspora living abroad, and also to Indians living in India who are not well-versed in Sanskrit. I would recommend this book to everyone who believes in the power of prayer and wants to understand a little bit of the meaning and significance of many popular Hindu hymns.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for the family, September 26, 2007

By	Neeta (OR) - See all my reviews

My husband bought this book because he liked the author's blog...and the book also turned out to be very well-written. The explanations are simple - he read some of the smaller ones with our 9 yr old - and yet have an adequate level of interpretation and background provided. Attention to pronunciation is excellent. A great book to have in the family. Wonderful job.

Neeta