On Hinduism 1st Edition

Born and raised as a Hindu Brahmin, as a young boy, I was often irritated by the relentless demands of rituals and insistence on acceptance without any perceived rationale or evidence. I pacified myself with the bribe of "Prasaad", which invariably accompanied every ritual, the Prize.Growing up, reading a little, and a little more wider, I was increasingly amused by the labyrinth colours of myth and accompanying stories and any number of versions, from each elder who was eager to paint his or her own inference. I generally thought of these as juicy stories, but harmless with some moral strand underneath, not a bad mechanism to transmit ethics and values.Moving on with life, I have observed the excesses and naked race to money and power by the religion and the self-appointed religious leaders, a wholly different and disturbing experience. This was no more benign, but potent and dangerous.In the country which takes pride in Her plurality and tolerance, I have witnessed intolerance of the highest order, in the name of tradition, history and self-righteousness - "Pramparaa".As the author rightly identifies, the ugly head of self righteousness, intolerance and exclusion is on the rise in India.I put it that, banning of this book in India is a clear evidence of failure by the authority or leadership, who do not seem to have the confidence in their own history and ways of life.I earnestly believe that, prescription is only for the sick; where information and accompanying freedom of choice is the right diet for the inclusive, harmonious and healthy society.Great Book and a terrific effort by the Author. Thank you Ms. Doniger.

Wendy Donigers sincerity, scholarship and, indeed, even her faith shines through. Hardly an unputdownable book. But then without trudging through the highs, lows, bogs and whirlpools of this religion it is not possible to define its boundaries (if any) and core values I suppose. An Indian Hindu may find some passages `cheeky` or downright blashphemy (Doniger also incidentally breaks the `we are supremely tolerant `image). I am not exactly a practising Hindu. On the other hand I realise that I am a product of this ancient culture and I like to explore, with an open mind, beyond the comforting myths, rituals and shibboleths of daily Hinduism. I find the book very informative and revealing. In the chapter on Yoga, Doniger illustrates how a patchwork quilt of indigenous and european concepts about physical fitness were forged by the fervor of 19th century Nationalism into a purely Indian discipline whose origins were projected back to the vedic age. Fascinating. All religions and cultures have an all round superiority complex. In India, this is particularly compounded by the very unique ahistoric nature of Hinduism - the complete neglect of objective recording of dates and the obsessive `mythification` of even clearly historic events. For Hinduism to survive in a vibrant form into the future we have to confront the religion as it is -Like Arjun, behold the Vishwaroop form in all its complexity. An bowlderised, simplified Amar Chitra Katha version of Hindusim is being forced on us overtly and covertly. This assault on free thinking not only undermines the foundations of our Indian society, it also, ironically, does a great disservice to Hindusim itself. The deeply rooted pluralism in the Hindu ethos is, according to Doniger, is a feature that is its greatest virtue and differntiator. I have always felt, borrowing an idea from evolutionary biology, that its mind boggling variety and variation have been the keys to its survival despite the absence of a central authority and despite the loss of state sponsorship over the last five centuries. A great book to have on your Kindle or book shelf. One that you end up reading in stages. Education, perhaps some entertainment and a social reality check all rolled into one. One star less for the fact that I cant remember everything I have read !

I found this book insightful and the author erudite. Wendy Doniger takes one on a wonderful and at times beautiful journey through Hinduism.

Highly recommended

instructive, to the point, and makes for an enjoyable read.

A really fascinating book, which is highly detailed.

One thing that becomes clear after reading the book is that Wendy Doniger knows more about Hinduism than the chest thumping pseudo-nationalist internet trolls. Perhaps because their source of education is those WhatsApp forwards asking you to forward that post to many other dim wits and feeling PROUDD. Only if they had spent their time googling Schools of Hindu Philosophy instead of trolling Doniger they would know better. This book is one of the best scholarly works on Hinduism.Covers almost all aspects of Indian way of interpreting life and religion . U dont have to follow any order of chapters.Just dip in and dip out of any chapter feeling enlightened about our complex past.And this book is not a result of a foreign author on a six month book writing holiday.This book is an distillation of all the thoughts that Wendy has gathered and processed over her career of 40-50 years as an scholar of India and Hinduism. Ignore the dim wits who label the author a Leftist and rate the book with one /two star.Read it to understand Hinduism better.As some one said it..and may be is right...Hinduism needs to be saved from Hindutva. Good luck

I like it because of the author's expansive knowledge of the subject. Shows her experience and research. Where it falters is in her opinions when it comes to translating or deducing human psyche based on historical or religious stories. She comes out very opinionated in favour of feminism and sometimes her deductions do not refer the culturally or generally accepted beliefs in Indian society.

I bought this on Kindle having read an enthusiastic review (in the TLS?). I have no special interest in Hinduism and little prior knowledge of the faith, but my curiosity was aroused and I thought it would be enlightening to read about one of the world's great religions and cultures from the viewpoint of a learned outsider.I was right; the book is enlightening, and interesting, although I understand from the original review that it might have proved contentious with some Hindus. Wendy Doniger however seems to me to be full of empathy and enthusiasm for the faith.Her style is direct and fresh – it's like hearing her in conversation, so it's easy to read. Her chapters, or essays, give frequent and lengthy extracts from Hindu scriptures in order to support her explanation. This seems necessary if the religion is to speak for itself, but often the myths with their many names and changing avatars go on too long for me, and I cheat – skimming the text to get back to her own account.Her account is interesting not solely because of its exposition but because she is wiling to attempt explanations of how the faith evolved over the centuries and how it relates to social and political questions today. One can see how that might be contentious, but it is partly what drew me to the book.The formatting works well on Kindle: all the features operate as they should.