Guest guest Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 I am interested in learning more about hinduism, can someone please suggest a good starting point for a clueless newbee. I am looking for the bible equivalent. please can someone help in suggesting the best book to buy. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrahma Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 The 'Hindu' bible if you want to call it that is the Bhagavad-Gita. I would recommend the 'Bhagavad Gita As It Is' by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhativedanta Swami Prabhupada. I am interested in learning more about hinduism, can someone please suggest a good starting point for a clueless newbee. I am looking for the bible equivalent. please can someone help in suggesting the best book to buy. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 Thanks, I will give it a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avinash Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 Thanks, I will give it a try I personally like reading a book in its printed form and not from Internet. I use Internet version of a book only sometimes for quick reference. But, in case, you want to see the Internet version of Bhagavad Gita As It Is (the book which cbrahma suggested), then you can see it on www.asitis.com However, Gita is a scripture of Hinduism. It is not just any scripture but a highly sacred scripture. So, it should not just be read but studied thoroughly and should be treated with reverence. I do not think all this is possible just by reading it on your computer. But still I have given the URL in case you need it sometime for some quick reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomasso Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 In addition to the Gita, I would recommend The Vedic Experience, by Raimon Panikkar. In fact, the book is online: just do a google search for "vedic experience panikkar" and go to the first search entry (it should be the "himalayanacademy" site). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 I am interested in learning more about hinduism, can someone please suggest a good starting point for a clueless newbee. I am looking for the bible equivalent. please can someone help in suggesting the best book to buy. Thanks To begin with, there is no bible equivalent in Hinduism. Hinduism is a combination of several different beliefs and the Gita is only one tiny part of it. To learn about Hinduism you should read a general writing that covers the different stream of Hinduism in some detail. Following that, you can then pick the most interesting one and go into detail. I recommend the excellent <i>History of Indian Philosophy</i> by S.N.Dasgupta. This extensive work is published in five volumes by Motilal Banarsidass. The five volumes contain, I -> Buddhism, Jainism, the old 6 schools of Hindu thought II -> Advaita, Bhagavad Gita III -> Vishistadvaita, Puranas, Pancharatra and other Vaishnava schools IV -> Dvaita, Bhagavata Purana, Gaudiya Vaishnava V -> Shaivism - primarily South Indian As one can see, there is a lot more going on in Hinduism than just the Gita. There are other smaller introductory texts available on Amazon, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Some possibilities: Ten Questions People Ask About Hinduism (full color sixteen page booklet) $1.50 Yoga's Forgotten Foundation (224 pages) $19.95 from Himalayan Academy Publications all books online at their website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 In South India this scripture is sworn on in courts of law: The Tirukural by Saint Tiruvalluvar 1,080 verses 2,200 years old "The world's ultimate ethical guide" -- Albert Schweitzer There are many versions, one is available online published by Himalayan Academy or at many libraries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Also spelled Thirukkural. Just google it. Wikipedia says this: "It finds a widespread acceptance as the gospel of the Tamils among followers of all religions, creeds, and castes..." "Every major tradition in Tamil Nadu tries to say that it belongs to their religion (Jain, Shaivite, Vaishnavism, Buddhism)..." Non-sectarian; Discusses Universal human virtues embraced by many religions "I wanted to learn Tamil, only to enable me to study [saint] Valluvar's [original] Thirukkural...There is no one who has given such a treasure of wisdom like him" --Gandhi "There hardly exists in the literature of the world a collection of maxims such as the lofty wisdom as in Thirukkural" --Dr. Albert Schweitzer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brahmanyan Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 There are a number of Books published by Sri Ramakrishna Mission on Hunduism. I would suggest you to find the details in their Listing of Publications. To start with you can get a copy of The Hinduism by Swami Nikhilananda. This is a good book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitai16108 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Hare Krishna All glories to Srila Prabhupad Read the books of authors who is authorised and received the knowledge from Lord Krishna directly. I recommend strongly first read The book named "The science of self realization" written by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Firstly 1.one should know who he is really. 2.He should enquire why is he is here in this material world and suffering much with diseases and more... Hare Krishna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.