Hinduism reading list?

[Anonymous No.17364695]

Hey /lit/

I'm interested in Hinduism and am looking for book recommendations to learn more about it. Particularly the pantheon, myths, stories etc.
I've read a translation of the Baghavad Gita and am beginning to read the Mahabharta and the Ramayana.
Other than these, the Vedas and the Upanishads, are there any good sources to learn more about Hinduism.

I recognise this is a large undertaking so what would you recommend as an introductory, academic source to get a general idea of the religion and where to go from there.

Thanks for your engagement.

[Anonymous No.17364985]

The Essentials of Indian Philosophy by Hiriyanna is less than 300 pages and is a pretty good overview.

The six main schools are Mimansa, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, and Vedanta. All of them or the earliest text associated with them had already emerged roughly by the beginning of the first millennium AD, and from the middle of that millennium onwards Hindu philosophy gets more and more sophisticated with the flowering of Vedanta, Tantric philosophy, and the development of Nyaya into Navya-Nyāya etc. This is when more and more lengthy texts and historical philosophers/theologians begin to emerge with large bodies of work which survive to the present day. You don't need to read the foundational text of every earlier Hindu school (i.e. like the Mimansa-sutra) before reading the more advanced later stuff, reading a summary of it such as in Hiriyanna's book is fine.

Once you've read an intro to Hindu philosophy, I think it's best to begin with studying Vedanta, as it draws from and integrates a lot from the previous schools and from the first millennium onwards becomes fairly central to Hinduism. Advaita Vedanta is the first Vedanta school and its founder Shankara also wrote many lengthy Upanishad commentaries, whereas many other Vedanta school founders didn't. You can start off with studying one or multiple of the Vedanta schools, Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita have some of the largest bodies of literature, although there are other smaller Vedanta schools as well. After Vedanta you can move on to studying Tantric Hinduism including the literature of Kashmir Shaivism and Shaktism. And you can also read the various Puranas alongside studying Vedanta and Tantra, the Puranas contain the background myths of various gods while also having philosophical context woven into them throughout. There is also a long tradition of Hindu poet-saints who have some great poems and philosophical works which have been translated, like those of Jnanadeva, Kabir, Tukaram and Namdev.

[Anonymous No.17365006]

>>17364985
I would be careful about reading Advaita Vedanta interpretations such as Shankara's as a commentary to the Upanishads, they are extremely reliant on Buddhist philosophy (Shankara is called a "cryptobuddhist" by most Hindus, and most scholars agree). If you want to read the Upanishads, work through them with editions and commentaries that aren't sectarian, or at least read an interpretation that is closer to the original meaning of the Upanishads, rather than Shankara's 9th century AD quasi-buddhism.

[Anonymous No.17365217]

>>17364985
[OP]
Thank you, I really appreciate the effort you put into this reply. I'll be sure to investigate the sources which you have suggested.

My main concern with Hinduism, and indeed any "spiritual" tradition/practice, is the revisionism of teachings and various New Age bullshit which seeps through, namely the Hare Krishna movement. Is there any way to avoid these practices or is it just best to stick to the sources you've suggested.

One last question, are you a practitioner of Hinduism yourself or are you just knowledgeable about it? I only ask as an interest rather than checking your credentials haha. If you are a practitioner then how does Hinduism influence your everyday life?

Once again, thanks for your engagement.

[Anonymous No.17365310]

>>17365217
>My main concern with Hinduism, and indeed any "spiritual" tradition/practice, is the revisionism of teachings and various New Age bullshit which seeps through, namely the Hare Krishna movement. Is there any way to avoid these practices or is it just best to stick to the sources you've suggested.
Just try not to read anything written after the 16th or 17th century in most cases. Some of the last major Hindu philosophers who wrote in Sanskrit were Vijnanabikshu (15th century) and Bhaskararaya (18th century). Know a bit about the history of the text you are thinking about reading, by what school it comes from, so you know it comes from an actual Hindu sect or school with a long tradition behind it instead of being some new-age garbage or something else that was similarly dumbed down and inauthentic.
>One last question, are you a practitioner of Hinduism yourself or are you just knowledgeable about it?
just knowledgeable, for now...

[Anonymous No.17365942]

>>17364695
Sigh. Hi Guenonfag, no meds today?