Aranyaka

Chiefly on Hindu mythology and Vedic concepts.

Tat tvam asi is an extraordinary book enveloping the gamut of the Upanishadic insights in all their profundity and splendour. Its author is a literary genius with about40 books and compositions to his credit. The book, which has received over 12 awards from various institutions in India, is written in a style that is quiteUpanishadic and not easily comprehensible to the ordinary man. It also uplifts the imagination of the reader. This translation is an attempt to make Tat tvam asi reach aglobal audience unfamiliar with Upanishadic terms and concepts. It could not have been achieved without a background in Philosophy, both Indian and WesternNevertheless it was an arduous exercise to find suitable words to convey the correct meaning intended by the author. I am grateful to the author for giving me freedom to accomplish it in my own way as well as for accepting the translation as authentic Undertaking the work of translation was a highly satisfying and enrichingexperience. This translation, one hopes, will generate a renaissance in Upanishadic knowledge at an international level, as Tat tvam asi did in Kerala, when it was firstpublished.

In "the very best book about Hindu mythology that anyone has ever written" (The New Republic) Calasso plunges Western readers into the mind of ancient India. He begins with a mystery: Why is the most important god in the Rg Veda, the oldest of India's sacred texts, known by a secret name—"Ka," or Who? What ensues is not an explanation, but an unveiling. Here are the stories of the creation of mind and matter; of the origin of Death, of the first sexual union and the first parricide. We learn why Siva must carry his father's skull, why snakes have forked tongues, and why, as part of a certain sacrifice, the king's wife must copulate with a dead horse. A tour de force of scholarship and seduction, Ka is irresistible.

"This book is an overview of The Vedas, the holy book of Hindus. The most important Hymns are quoted in full; extracts are also included from the Brahmanas, the part of The Rig Veda that guides the Brahmans, the highest class of priests, in Vedic ceremonies. Also included is a section on the Arya Samaj, a later westernized version that is shown to be inaccurate, covered in the Appendix."--The foreward.

Hindus will be valuable on more than one level: as a source of instruction, as a basis for discussion, seminars and further study, even as a challenge for further research. It provides a new perspective on what it means to live as a Hindu and enables readers to appreciate this great and marvellous religious phenomenon, its extraordinary richness, and the way it encompasses the diversity of human experience.