Summary
Title: Hinduism: Origins - Beliefs - Practices - Holy Texts - Sacred Places
Author: Vasudha Narayanan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195221443
Pro:
• Good introductory text for the average reader
Con:
• None
Description:
• History of Hindu beliefs, texts, and practices
• Numerous photographs and illustrations
• Includes excerpts from original texts
There are quite a few books dealing with Hinduism and Hindu beliefs, but many tend to be very complicated — understandable, given how complicated Hinduism itself is. People need a good introductory resource not only because Hinduism is the dominant religion of one of the largest populations on the planet, but also because Hinduism is moving and spreading as the people of India migrate around the world. Temples are showing up on corners and in suburbs all throughout the West.
Into this milieu comes Vasudha Narayanan‘s Hinduism: Origins - Beliefs - Practices - Holy Texts - Sacred Places. A professor of religion at the University of Florida, Narayanan has written a volume in a very good series of books from Oxford University Press. None of the volumes in this series break new ground in terms of scholarship, but they do provide solid, engaging introductions to religions that are unfamiliar to far too many in the West.
Right from the beginning, readers learn that even defining Hinduism as a religion is a difficult prospect. Lacking any single recognized founder, prophet, text, or even set of doctrines, it is no simple task to classify Hinduism alongside religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. In many ways Hinduism may be better categorized as a culture or simply a way of life than as a distinct religious system; that does not mean, however, that the “religion” label is pointless or even entirely incorrect.
- “Hinduism has been portrayed in the last two centuries as being a more or less unified religion. However, it is important to note that there are hundreds of internal divisions created by caste, community, language, and geography. ...It is generally believed that its beginnings lie in the ancient indigenous culture of India and of the Indo-European people. ...The stages of early Hindu history are marked not by remarkable personalities (although there have been many) and great proselytizing movements, but rather by the composition of philosophically sophisticated, edifying, or entertaining texts that were transmitted orally and through the generations primarily by means of the performing arts.”
The nature of these texts, some of the philosophical and ethical principles described in them, and their role in society (such as through public performances) constitute key chapters in Narayanan’s book. Readers are also provided vivid color photographs and numerous drawings about Hinduism’s history to accompany the descriptions. As with the other books in this series, every chapter ends with an extract from a primary religious source along with some commentary by the author.
