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Understanding Hinduism
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March 12, 2014
This book supplements the online continuing ed course Introduction to Hinduism–History, Text, Philosophy from the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies.
Virtues of this book:
It exercises caution in inferring what archaeological finds indicate about the Indus Valley Civilization.
Similarly, it is cautious about the Aryan Invasion Theory. All it says:
AIT is a colonial construct (drawing upon Kim Knott's book Hinduism A Very Short Introduction)
Vedic Sanskrit has linguistic similarities with other Indo-European languages
We may infer that the Vedic people were agriculturists or pastoralists from their hymns
Understanding Hinduism notes that South Indian priests instructed North Indian priests in Vedic ritual after Islamic suppression of Hinduism. This is evidence of the cultural affinity between North and South (see Breaking India to see how various forces are alienating the South from the North).
I like Understanding Hinduism even better than Klaus K. Klostermaier's book A Short Introduction to Hinduism. Understanding Hinduism is the best introduction to Hinduism that I've read: therefore, I'm rating it 5 stars.
Virtues of this book:
It exercises caution in inferring what archaeological finds indicate about the Indus Valley Civilization.
Similarly, it is cautious about the Aryan Invasion Theory. All it says:
AIT is a colonial construct (drawing upon Kim Knott's book Hinduism A Very Short Introduction)
Vedic Sanskrit has linguistic similarities with other Indo-European languages
We may infer that the Vedic people were agriculturists or pastoralists from their hymns
Understanding Hinduism notes that South Indian priests instructed North Indian priests in Vedic ritual after Islamic suppression of Hinduism. This is evidence of the cultural affinity between North and South (see Breaking India to see how various forces are alienating the South from the North).
I like Understanding Hinduism even better than Klaus K. Klostermaier's book A Short Introduction to Hinduism. Understanding Hinduism is the best introduction to Hinduism that I've read: therefore, I'm rating it 5 stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review