Indian Wisdom: Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus (Cambridge Library Collection: Religion (Paperback))

Politics & Social Sciences

Williams, Monier

Philosophy

Cambridge University Press

<p>First published in 1875, this book reflects a growing nineteenth-century British interest in South Asian culture and literature. In it Monier Williams, the Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, outlines the patterns of thought and customs of the Hindu religion. He also describes the character and content of Sanskrit literature, which had not previously been attempted in English. According to Williams, Sanskrit literature holds the key to a full understanding of Hinduism. He makes it unequivocally clear that Britain's colonial hold over India involves a particular responsibility and indeed opportunity to study the three religions confronting Christianity there, namely Brahmanism, Buddhism and Islam. Monier Williams writes about the Vedas (the sacred texts of Hinduism), the different traditions of philosophy and the five schools of Hindu law. He elaborates on the epic poems and the doctrine of incarnation embedded in them, and compares this ancient poetry with that of Homer.</p>

Indian Wisdom: Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus (Cambridge Library Collection - Religion)

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Religious thought and life in India: an account of the religions of the Indian peoples, based on a

BiblioLife

Hinduism

History

Excerpt from Indian Wisdom: Or Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the HindusThe increasing interest felt in India and Indian literature has led to such a demand for the present work, that it was found necessary to begin printing a second edition almost immediately after the issue of the first. I have, therefore, been unable to avail myself of the suggestions contained in the Reviews which have hitherto appeared. Nevertheless, a few unimportant alterations have been made in the present edition; and through the kindness of Professor W. D. Whitney, who lost no time in sending me some valuable notes, I have been able to improve the chapter on Astronomy at p. 180.Being on the eve of quitting England for a visit to the principal seats of learning in India, I have for obvious reasons deferred addressing myself to the fuller treatment of those portions of Sanskrit literature of which I have merely given a summary in Lecture XV.India, with all its immutability, is now making such rapid strides in education, that a Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, if he is to keep himself up to the level of advancing knowledge and attainments, ought to communicate personally with some of those remarkable native Pandits whose intellects have been developed at our great Indian Colleges and Universities, and who owe their eminence in various branches of learning to the advantages they have enjoyed under our Government.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Indian Wisdom: Or Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus (Classic Reprint)

Forgotten Books

Hinduism (Classic Reprint)

Religion & Spirituality

<p>The present Index of Sanskrit Terms applies to the single-volume unabridged edition (978-1541294714) of the Vedas (Rig, White and Black Yajur, Sama and Atharva). Dictionary definitions are drawn from "A Sanskrit-English Dictionary" by M. Monier-Williams (1899). Four of the translations in the main volume are from Ralph Griffith, with the remaining (black yajur) from Arthur Keith. The texts have been proofed and all Sanskrit terms updated and synced between versions. From the foreword to the main volume: The Vedas (from the root vid, “to know,” or “divine knowledge”) are the most ancient of all the Hindu scriptures. There were originally three Vedas—the Laws of Manu always speaks of the three, as do the oldest (Mukhya) Upanishads—but a later work called the Atharvaveda has been added to these, to now constitute the fourth. The name Rigveda signifies “Veda of verses,” from rig, a spoken stanza; Samaveda, the “Veda of chants,” from saman, a song or chant; Yajurveda, the “Veda of sacrificial formulas,” from yajus, a sacrificial text. The Atharvaveda derives its name from the sage Atharvan, who is represented as a Prajapati, the edlest son of Brahma, and who is said to have been the first to institute the fire-sacrifices. The complex nature of the Vedas and the array of texts associated with them may be briefly outlined as follows: “The Rig-Veda is the original work, the Yajur-Veda and Sama-Veda in their mantric portions are different arrangements of its hymns for special purposes. The Vedas are divided into two parts, the Mantra and Brahmana. The Mantra part is composed of suktas (hymns in verse); the Brahmana part consists of liturgical, ritualistic, exegetical, and mystic treatises in prose. The Mantra or verse portion is considered more ancient than the prose works; and the books in which the hymns are collected are called samhitas (collections). More or less closely connected with the Brahmanans (and in a few exceptional cases with the Mantra part) are two classes of treatises in prose and verse called Aranyaka and Upanishad. The Vedic writings are again divided into two great divisions, exoteric and esoteric, the former called the karma-kanda (the section of works) and the latter the jnana-kanda (section of wisdom).” (Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary) The great antiquity of the Vedas is sufficiently proven by the fact that they are written in such an ancient form of Sanskrit, so different from the Sanskrit now used, that there is no other work like them in the literature of this “eldest sister” of all the known languages, as Prof. Max Muller calls it. Only the most learned of the Brahman Pundits can read the Vedas in their original. Furthermore, the Vedas cannot be viewed as singular works by singular authors, but rather as compilations, assembled over a great and unknown period of time. “Almost every hymn or division of a Veda is ascribed to various authors. It is generally believed that these subdivisions were revealed orally to the rishis or sages whose respective names they bear; hence the body of the Veda is known as sruti (what was heard) or divine revelation. The very names of these Vedic sages, such as Vasishtha, Visvamitra, and Narada, all of which belong to men born in far distant ages, shows that millennia must have elapsed between the different dates of their composition.” (Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary) It is generally agreed that the Vedas were finally arranged and compiled around fourteen centuries before our era; but this interferes in no way with their great antiquity, as they are acknowledged to have been long taught and passed down orally, perhaps for thousands of years, perhaps for far longer, before being finally compiled and recorded (the latter is traditionally said to have occurred on the shores of Lake Manasarovara, beyond the Himalayas).</p>

The Vedas (Index-Dictionary): For the Samhitas of the Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva [single volume, unabridged]

Fergus, Jon W

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