I'm kinda interested in looking into hinduism. I guess the Vedas would be the way to go but I don't know if I should "trim the fat", let's say, about it. I'm mainly interested in the philosophical concepts of it and the Upanishads apparently cover just that and can be purchased independently.
So, can someone knowledgeable on the matter guide me here? Is there one of those charts around?
I'm kinda interested in looking into hinduism...
Gavin Rivera
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Julian Powell
You might want to start with the itiahasa (means ramayana and mahabharata) and then the upanishads.
Camden James
Sounds cool but I don't know which translation to get (I'm French) and I guess ample annotation could be useful for something so old. Is it really necessary to appreciate the upanishads?
Camden Wood
Sort of. The itihasa is so you can get an example of a society based on vedic principles. The upanishads would be the theological part of the veda. Concerned with spiritual matters. The bhagavad gita is also called gita upanishad and though it's part of the mahabharata(also called the fifth veda) it can be read on it's own. It's also a good place to start
Julian Lee
I'd suggest reading the Upanishads (The philosophy of Hinduism) first, and then move on to the smritis (the literature of Hinduism). Epics like Mahabharata, Ramayana and the puranas are part of the smritis. For the Upanishads I'd suggest the English translation "The Principal Upanishads" by S. Radhakrishnan. As for the smritis, only go with the Geeta Press books coz all the Western translations look at the literature with a marxist lense.
Logan Flores
So I guess I should first read the Bhagavadgita, then the Upanishads, and maybe the rest of Mahabharata after?
Easton Ramirez
The Bhagvat Gita is one important chapter of the Mahabharata, but it's still a part of the smriti. It presents the knowledge of the Upanishads in a more understandable manner. Along with the Vedas, Upanishads are the revealed texts of Hinduism(The Shruti). Upanishads is where you should start, user.
Carter Kelly
Okay, thanks for the clarification.
Adrian Perry
Start with Sankhya and Yoga. Patanjali and Vyasa are the Socrates and Plato of India.
Kevin Butler
Take a look at India today, why would you look into their ideas and mindset? It obviously didn't work out.
Liam Reyes
user, India has been a victim of two great invasions, and that too by people who wanted to destroy its indigenous culture. Once a great language Sanskrit along with its literature is almost dead in the nation and it was done intentionally by Invaders. A source where people found wisdom was replaced by a foreign literature. A foreign culture was imposed on them, and repercussions of that are still quite vivid in the country. Indigenous people of India don't realize what they've lost, they know nothing about the wisdom of vedas & the Upanishads today. Granted, the society had and still have several faults, but why should only Indians be blamed for it? The state of the Europe, especially countries like Sweden and England, isn't much great, but just because of this I wouldn't say "it hasn't worked out for them", it's their fault, & the work all of the European philosophers and writers has done is all crap.
Samuel Evans
Pajeet I support your noble efforts to improve your country and cast off centuries of your culture being degraded by invaders. I am sorry my ancestors partly contributed to shitting up your land. Please become strong and help us hold back the chinks and muslims.
Lucas Rivera
Sankhya is Kapila though
Xavier Turner
>only go with the Geeta Press books coz all the Western translations look at the literature with a marxist lense.
You guys are worse than Christians. Let's get specific: explain to me how Patrick Olivelle's translation of the Manusmriti is Marxist.
Matthew Martin
there seems to be no complete translation of ithasa in english they all seem to be abridged or liberal translations, do you know some sources I don't?
Nathan Watson
Most of the Western translations* my bad. Plus, I haven't read the work you're talking about and I'll never be able to read every work of every Western orientalist in my life time. Yes, I was generalizing because from what I've read so far of the Western Orientalists namely, Pollock, Doniger, Trushkey, Goldman etc there is an attempt to downplay the atrocities done by the invaders, and paint Hindu culture as barbaric. Every society has its ills, for Hindus it's mainly the caste system, and their literature seems to insert this notion of caste in every aspect of Hinduism while so isn't case at all. Not all Hindu sects believe in the smriti literature or some believe in only specific Dharma granths.
Hudson Cruz
Truschke*
Mason Harris
Roughly analogous:
Nyaya-Vaisheika = Logic & Physics
Sankhya-Yoga = Aristotelianism
Mimamsa-Vedanta = Neoplatonism
Amiright?
Mason Thomas
That's fair enough. Scholars like Doniger explicitly take a Marxist approach, and weirdly combine it with Freudian psychoanalysis. I agree that's a problem in Indology. I chose Olivelle's translation because he's a prolific translator and a well-known textual scholar.
Leo Torres
They don't really match up like that.
Austin Sullivan
Srimad Valmiki Ramayana by Gitapress
The Mahabharata series by Bibek Debroy
Christopher Rodriguez
Incorrect, there are several
>Mahabharata:
Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883-1896)
Manmatha N. Dutt (1895-1905)
Bibek Debroy (2010-2014)
>Ramayana:
Ralph T.H. Griffith (1870-1874)
Manmatha N. Dutt (1891-1894)
C.R.S. Ayyangar (1910-1914[?]; reprinted by Gita Press)
Hari Prasad Shastri (1952-1959)
Robert P. Goldman, et al (2005-2017)
Bibek Debroy (2017)
Jace Adams
I have noticed that problem as well, Coomaraswamy's writings on caste and Indian life were very refreshing for me to read because they weren't tainted by that attitude
Carter White
Carter Hill
>Is there one of those charts around?
I'm working on the Yea Forums guide to Hindu philosophy, so far I've got 94 translated texts from Sanskrit and other Indian languages and various secondary literature; and there will be descriptions of the content and number of pages etc for each one. I will try to buckle down and finish it before July desu