Hindu Scriptures

Hindu Scriptures is a unique collection of Hindu texts spanning more than twenty centuries. Two anthologies entitled Hindu Scriptures have previously appeared in the Everyman series alone, that of Nicol MacNicol in 1938 and that of Professor R.C. Zaehner in 1966. This present title is the enlarged edition of R.C. Zaehner’s anthology, with the addition of three fresh translations, its broad range includes arcane hymns of the ancient Aryans, a manual of prescriptions governing every aspect of the daily life of the orthodox, and rich poetry that describes with heady sensuality the dalliance of Krsna and the cowherd women of Vraja in the nights of the autumn moon. The texts are arranged in chronological order and the Introduction explains the reasons for their inclusion, sets them in context, and briefly characterizes their contents. Apart from the new translations one or two extra portions from works that featured in the previous selections have also been added in an attempt to make the selections from the earliest material more representative of what they contain. Of the thirteen Upanisads included in the last Everyman edition only six have been retained here : The two early prose Upanisads, the Brhadaranyaka and the Chandogya, which belong to the last phase of Brahmana literature, and four Upanisads-the Isa, the Katha, the Mandukya, and the Svetasvatara. Some of the archaic passages-omitted from the Brhadaranyaka by Zaehner-that are more typical of an earlier phase of Brahmana literature have been restored.