Apart for its mythological and philosophical significance Vedas have high literary values which demand in depth studies. Being the oldest among all, Veda, as literature, attained great aesthetic height and this critical analysis of the poems/ hymns/ suktas of the first four books of Rig Veda by Shri. Mukhopadhyay, a triple M.A. , M.Phil and Ph.D with various literary accomplishments, certainly is first ever work in the study of literature on Vedas as a book of Literature. The study is a difficult one as the exact date of composition is unknown. The very fact that it is handed down from generation to generation by verbal transmission, sruti , only. The beautiful part that it is still sung which perhaps acts as the most reliable tests whereby we could landed upon the hypothesis that the Vedas are worthwhile for study as literature
"Challenges and revises our understanding of the historical and contemporary role of Dalits in Indian society. A pathbreaking book that rightfully restores the historical agency of and gives voice to Dalits in North India." --Anand A. Yang, University of Washington --
Religion Reexamined is a concise introduction to world religions. It is designed to facilitate a comparative study of religions. It is divided into eight chapters that thoroughly examine the foundations of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Secularism. Following Clifford Geertz, it treats each religion as a cultural system composed of three parts: ethos (character), ethics (way of life), and ethnos (social entity). Using Stephen Prothero’s approach, it identifies each religions’ problem, solutions to the problem, techniques for moving from problem to solution, and exemplars who chart the path from problem to solution. It includes critical reviews of religion by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers from Aristotle to Karen Armstrong.
Deep in lost history, did high civilizations and advanced knowledge thrive? The ancient Vedic literatures of India describe a worldwide civilization that flourished at a time when modern historians insist that humans like us existed simply as hunter-gatherers. This Vedic civilization, centered in India, employed technologies based on a scientific understanding of the physical elements and forces we know today, as well as more subtle conscious elements. Devamrita Swami, who has spent a lifetime in his own search for Vedic India, takes us on a journey of intellectual discovery through the history of the remarkable Vedic civilization and its knowledge, locked in the ancient literatures of India. His wit and wisdom combine to make our search for Vedic India not only illuminating but entertaining. He tells us not only the truths of Vedic India, but how they are again coming to be. Searching for Vedic India thus takes us not only into the past, but into the future.
Modern Science has only recently stumbled upon the truth that the underlying cause for existence is the realisation of Universal Consciousness. Whether it is the contribution of physics, biology, medicine, neurobiology, psychology or other branches of science, the ongoing efforts are entirely an attempt to understand this universal consciousness. However, these ideas are not new: and they have their roots in the Rig Veda, the world’s first book. It deals with Consciousness in entirety. Compiled by the Angirasa Rishis, the Rig Veda is an exposition of the route one can follow to successfully merge the Individual Consciousness and the Universal Consciousness. Gleanings from Rig Veda are an attempt to cull out these transient understandings from centuries ago.
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER I: DISPOSITION OF THE REPEATED VERSES IN TEN CLASSES Classification according to extent and interrelations of the Repeated Matter As stated above (p. 4), the number of repetitions in the EV. which involve metrical lines singly, or in distichs, or in stanzas, or in groups of stanzas is about 2,400. This number is exclusive of repetitions of verse-lines within one and the same hymn; exclusive of refrain pfulus; and exclusive of catenary repetitions. But this number includes the pada pairs or groups, described on p. 10, which show considerable similarity, yet not enough to entitle them to be regarded as full repetitions. These are taken account of only occasionally in the following classification. In the majority of cases repetitions may be said to be sporadic, that is, a single pada appears in two or more different parts of the Sariihits. This class is taken for granted, and is not further considered. But repetition is by no means restricted to repetition of single padas: every conceivable group or mass of padas, even up to an entire hymn (see p. 13), is occasionally repeated, in such a way as to call for arrangement according to the size or nature of this group or mass. Accordingly it has been found convenient to deal with this matter under the following ten heads: 1. Groups of stanzas are repeated. 2. Entire single stanzas are repeated unchanged, as refrains at the end of hymns. 3. Entire single stanzas, not refrains, are repeated in any part of a hymn. 4. Substantially identical stanzas are repeated with changes. 5. Similar stanzas. 6. Distichs are repeated unchanged. 7. Distichs are repeated with changes. 8. Single padas are repeated with an added word or words. 9. Two or more unconnected padas recurrent in the same pair of hymns...
