Yoga-Vasistha of Valmiki (4 Volumes) Hardcover – January 1, 2017

When I made the order, the feedback was that they would come in a month. They actually came in 3 days. The quality of the print, paper, and binding is high.

This, the Paramal Publications edition of the Yoga Vasistha, is one of the few complete English translations of the Yoga Vasistha. It is also one of the best.The Yoga Vasistha is a massive work of uncertain authorship and uncertain date. It has generally been dated at c. 600 - 800 A.D.This translation is one of the best available in English. The translation is rendered in prose, unlike the verse in the original. This edition is in five volumes. Each volume is approximately five hundred and fifty pages, and each page is in two columns.The Yoga Vasistha consists in philosophical expositions on Advaita Vedanta interspersed with the numerous stories. Those expositions are some of the most eloquent in Vedanta literature. The beauty of these explanations shine through in the English translation. The English rendering is both moving and enlightening.

For a Sanskrit class I am taking

The Maharamayana is one of the world's greatest spiritual books, so it is really sad that another edition fails to bring the wonder of this work into the English language.The Maharamayana or Yoga Vasistha contains the teachings of the sage Vasistha to Rama. These teachings are amazingly subtle. Therefore anyone wanting to translate Vasistha's teaching into the English language, has to have a grasp of the subtleties and nuances of the English language in order to convey even a little of the meaning in Sanskrit.Unfortunately what we have here is slightly edited version of the Victorian-styled English text of Mr V.L. Mitra. ( Its important to note that Mitra's old translation is available to download for free as an eBook, whereas this version which is essentially the same, costs a hundred and nine pounds!)In this updated translation Dr Aya has kept all the stylistic archaisms, the meaningless grandiloquence, and awful inaccurate usages, so that what we have here could honestly be described as "A massacre of the English language in four volumes that renders the original unknowable". The basic meaning of almost every verse has become, in the hands of Messrs Mitra and Aya, so opaque that if you did not have some knowledge of the incredible beauty and intelligence of the original, you would probably conclude that the Yoga Vasistha is incomprehensible rubbish, thought up by an idiot! This version does a great disservice to anyone seeking the wisdom contained in the original.So if you do not know the Yoga Vasistha from the Sanskrit, and are coming to it for the first time, DO NOT BUY this version.Add to this a great number of grammatical errors and careless typesetting mistakes....Such a shame! Such a great original, such a poor translation.