Guest guest Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 THE HINDUS An Alternative History By Wendy Doniger Penguin Press. 779 pp. $35 Any of us might make the same mistake: I didn't really notice the subtitle of Wendy Doniger's massive study, " The Hindus. " I knew that she was an eminent Sanskrit scholar at the University of Chicago, author of many books about cultural, religious and folkloric beliefs, and a translator of several Indian classics, including " The Rig Veda " and " The Kamasutra. " Her annotations to the latter, that notorious manual of sexual practice, are, I can attest, as entertaining and informative as the book itself. The entire article is quite interesting:See the link below http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/18/AR2009031803924.\ html Please make sure to cut and paste the entire two lines onto the Webbrowser window if the link is broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran wrote: > > THE HINDUS > > An Alternative History > > By Wendy Doniger Namaste Shri Ram Chandran-ji, I am sincerely hoping you are posting this review, not as a moderator, with the small accompanying hope that you have an idea of her view of sanAtana-dharma, which can euphemistically be described as overly simplistic. Please clarify. praNAms Ramakrishna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Namaste Ramakrishnaji: First all my posts to this list should be taken as to be coming a from a member unless I state my moderator responsibilities in the message. This is also true for all moderators and we all work behind the scene and all of us enjoy the same privileges and follow the list guidelines, etc. I hope this clarification helps. Today morning, while browsing through the Washington Post (my daily ritual), I noticed this book reivew and I wanted to bring it to the attention of the members as an information. This definitely does not mean that I agree with everything that is written in the book. As you have noticed that this book appears to cover a vast amount of topics which include Rig Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharat and the upanishads. The author has attempted to cover a vast amount of literature and that may partly explain the noticed problems. With my warm regards, Ram Chandran advaitin , " Ramakrishna Upadrasta " <uramakrishna wrote: > > > Namaste Shri Ram Chandran-ji, > > I am sincerely hoping you are posting this review, > not as a moderator, with the small accompanying hope > that you have an idea of her view of sanAtana-dharma, > which can euphemistically be described as overly > simplistic. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Namaste Shri Ram Chandran-ji, advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran wrote: > > Namaste Ramakrishnaji: > > First all my posts to this list should be taken as to be coming a from a > member unless I state my moderator responsibilities in the message. This Thanks for the clarification that the message does not have the endorsement of the moderators. > The author has attempted to cover a vast amount of literature and that may > partly explain the noticed problems. Even if one had sent the message at a personal level, I would be surprised by it, because the author is well known to be the leader of a group, that have the habit of misrepresenting sanAtana-dharma that goes beyond what is allowed through partial knowledge or ignorance or plain-incompetence, and hence some scholars and critics attribute the group's intentions to malice. Since this topic is orthogonal to our agenda, I will not be posting on it anymore. If anyone wants more links on this, please mail me. praNAms Ramakrishna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Namaste Sri Ramakrishna: You have raised some valid points and I agree with you on what you have said. What I have reported is a book review by the Washington Post daily newspaper. The review brings some highlights from a specific book recently written by Prof. Wendy Doniger. Those who are familiar with the works of Prof. Wendy Doniger should come forward and post all the relevant facts so that those who are thinking about buying the book will get more facts about the author and her bias. Interestingly Wikepedia contains several pages of information on Prof. Wendy Doniger which also flaws in her works. According to Wikepedia article, Professor Michael Witzel of Harvard University has claimed that Wendy Doniger's of Vedic Sanskrit is severely flawed. When Witzel was publicly challenged to prove this claim, he published examples of Doniger's mistranslations and termed her translation as " UNRELIABLE and idiosyncratic " . (1) ^ [http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9511 & L=indology & P=R1167 [Mail from Witzel, subject " W.D.O'Flaherty's Rgveda " ] (2) ^ [http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9511 & L=indology & P=R1031 [Mail from Witzel, subject " W.D.O'Flaherty's Jaiminiya Brahmana " ] I also recommend those interested to read an article published in Suleka.com blogs (reference provided by Shyamji) http://rajivmalhotra.sulekha.com/blog/post/2002/09/risa-lila-1-wendy-s-child-syn\ drome.htm#2#2 With my warmest regards, Ram Chandran Note: Please note that what I have posted is only the review by Michael Dirda who discusses some highlights from the book. That is his openion and others like you do have the right and responsiblity to provide all the facts so that we can find out truth about the book and the author's intentions. advaitin , " Ramakrishna Upadrasta " <uramakrishna wrote: > > Thanks for the clarification that the message does not have the endorsement of the moderators. > > Even if one had sent the message at a personal level, I would be surprised > by it, because the author is well known to be the leader of a group, that > have the habit of misrepresenting sanAtana-dharma that goes beyond what is > allowed through partial knowledge or ignorance or plain-incompetence, and > hence some scholars and critics attribute the group's intentions to malice. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran wrote: > > Interestingly Wikepedia contains several pages of information on Prof. Wendy Doniger which also flaws in her works. According to Wikepedia article, Professor Michael Witzel of Harvard University has claimed that Wendy Doniger's of Vedic Sanskrit is severely flawed. When Witzel was publicly challenged to prove this claim, he published examples of Doniger's mistranslations and termed her translation as " UNRELIABLE and idiosyncratic " . > With my warmest regards, > > Ram Chandran Michael Witzel himself is not a person who presents Hinduism and Indian philosophy in an objective manner. A few years ago there was a running battle between Witzel and David Frawling in the Hindu where the misrepresentations by Witzel were brought out by Frawling. S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Pranams Sastriji: In the western way of life, `freedom' takes precedent over ethics (dharma) where as in the eastern way of life, dharma has fundamental roots and it takes precedent over freedom. In the entire Bhagavad Gita, karmas have to be conducted without violating the dharmas. Those who work in academic institutions (especially universities) have been shielded by `academic freedom' by which they can express their opinions even when they are hurtful. This may partly explain why we see such misrepresentations and inappropriate expressions from professors who are expected to be objective and unbiased. Newspapers also enjoy special protection (freedom of expression) for reporting and they often tend to misuse their privileges. Ethics is the most fundamental part of Sanatana Dharma and is given the place of pride in all its schemes. Dharma was broadly interpreted as the underlying ethics for a stable social order. Dharma is subtle and we can understand the rules by following the role models of characters from Ramayana and Mahabharata. There are plenty of examples in Ramayana and Mahabharat to portray both the good (dharmic) and evil (adharmic) Bhagavad Gita discusses it in a diffused manner. It looks on ethics as a divine manifestation and describes it as the basis of a creative society. In essence Dharma is to be looked upon as the basis of interpersonal relationship in the social context. With my warm regards, Ram Chandran advaitin , " snsastri " <sn.sastri wrote: > > advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran@> wrote: > > > > Interestingly Wikepedia contains several pages of information on Prof. Wendy Doniger which also flaws in her works. According to Wikepedia article, Professor Michael Witzel of Harvard University has claimed that Wendy Doniger's of Vedic Sanskrit is severely flawed. When Witzel was publicly challenged to prove this claim, he published examples of Doniger's mistranslations and termed her translation as " UNRELIABLE and idiosyncratic " . > > With my warmest regards, > > > > Ram Chandran > > Michael Witzel himself is not a person who presents Hinduism and Indian philosophy in an objective manner. A few years ago there was a running battle between Witzel and David Frawling in the Hindu where the misrepresentations by Witzel were brought out by Frawling. > > S.N.Sastri > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Dear all, namaste thank you very much for the various comments about the book " The Hindus " . I had intended to purchase it but meanwhile dismissed the idea. Are there similar books that actually can be recommended? Thank you -- Om Shanti Sitara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 advaitin , "Sitara" <smitali17 wrote:>> Dear all,> > namaste> > thank you very much for the various comments about the book "The Hindus". I had intended to purchase it but meanwhile dismissed the idea. Are there similar books that actually can be recommended?> > Thank you --> > Om Shanti> > Sitara> Namaste! I would recommend 'A Survey of Hinduism' by Klaus Klostermeyer. You can preview the book at the link below:http://books.google.com/books?id=ltn3OuF_i4sC & printsec=frontcover & dq=survey+of+hinduism Neelakantan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 A book I would regard as a must-read is the Sage of Kanchi's "Hindu Dharma". http://www.amazon.com/Hindu-Dharma-Universal-Way-Life/dp/8172760558/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1237581836 & sr=8-1 Hari OM Shyam--- On Fri, 3/20/09, Neelakantan <pneelaka wrote: Neelakantan <pneelaka Re: Passages from India - A Book Reviewadvaitin Date: Friday, March 20, 2009, 4:10 PM advaitin@ s.com, "Sitara" <smitali17@.. .> wrote:>> Dear all,> > namaste> > thank you very much for the various comments about the book "The Hindus". I had intended to purchase it but meanwhile dismissed the idea. Are there similar books that actually can be recommended?> > Thank you --> > Om Shanti> > Sitara> Namaste! I would recommend 'A Survey of Hinduism' by Klaus Klostermeyer. You can preview the book at the link below:http://books. google.com/ books?id= ltn3OuF_i4sC & printsec=frontcover & dq=survey+of+ hinduism Neelakantan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 advaitin , Shyam <shyam_md wrote: > > A book I would regard as a must-read is the Sage of Kanchi's " Hindu Dharma " . > > > http://www.amazon.com/Hindu-Dharma-Universal-Way-Life/dp/8172760558/ref=pd_bbs_s\ r_1?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1237581836 & sr=8-1 Namaste, The complete book is also online at: http://kamakoti.org/newlayout/template/hindudharma.html Regards, Sunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Neelakantanji, Shyamji, Sunderji my pranams thank you for your recommendations. How fortunate that there is a possibility to look at the content of both the books online before buying them. Om Shanti Sitara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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