Hi, which are your favourite main Hindu books and why? And which when chatting with westerners?

Thanks, shalom.

Hi, new here, I wanted to ask as an English only speaker, which are the best Hindu scriptures to read, to know about the Hindu Trinity, the history, the powers, the benevolence and destiny in them? Also about the lesser main gods in Hinduism? And a bit on Krishna, when where, why, how, who.... from a Christian viewpoint here.

Who do you say Christ is and what must one do to gain a good destiny? And recover from wrong works?

Perhaps in short, what is the best English translation of the Vedas? Which are the main books?

Looking online and for printing or in print, since I like reading from paper better than from the lit monitor.

Thanks, shalom.

no single book represents the views and philosophy of Hinduism, to know about hinduism you have to be with a practicing hindu, heres a website that may help ://hinduwisdom.info/contents.htm

The Bhagavad Gita As It Is as translated by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

You can also try spiritualindia's website.

"If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad-gītā were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Our business is to present the will of Kṛṣṇa, not that of any mundane speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have very little knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, despite all their other knowledge." - His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Preface to Bhagavad-gita As It Is

The Bhagavad Gita is the most popular scripture among Hindus.
The speaker of the text said that it should be restricted only
to devotees but as time went on the 'secret' has gotten out!

The International Gita Society says "Our Mission: Break the barriers between faiths and promote unity in diversity. International Gita Society (IGS) is not affiliated with any other religious group, organization or cult." They actually highlight scriptural parallels between the Gita and the Bible as well as other religious texts (not something that makes fundamentalists like me happy!) www.gita-society.com

Due to the efforts of ISKCON the Bhagavad Gita As It Is
is probably the most widely printed English translation.
It can be read online in its original form here: www.asitis.com

Wikipedia has an informative page on Bhagavad Gita: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita

I agree. Here is a working link: http://hinduwisdom.info/contents.htm

Hi Brendan. Your question has been answered many times and in many different ways on this board. Near the top of this web page you should see User CP Members List Radio Search

Click on Search and read through some of the 'Threads' which have 'Christ' or 'Jesus' in the title and you will get a diversity of opinion. In general Hindus are likely to always give unqualified praise for the foundational texts and and teachers of other relgions whether they agree with them or not. Many Christians get frustrated because they do not understand that when a Hindu praises Jesus he is not necessarily attributing a unique status to him. I and many other Hindus believe that there are personalities currently walking the earth that are not less than and in many cases greater than Jesus. If I asked you about Christianity and Jesus was currently walking the earth (this might be doctrinally incorrect but bear with me) you probably wouldn't reccomend dry books or websites to me, i assume that you would tell me to "Go and see him!" Similarly, in Hinduism there are living masters (masters of themselves). To be in their immediate presence is to receive the blessing of darshan. Only then can you begin to appreciate Hinduism IMO. This idea that the Supreme Being can manifest through a guru so that it is like "God with us" has to be experienced. People on this board can share with you their knowledge of masters like that who are currently still walking the Earth and others who have departed this mortal plane. The blessing of darshan can often change a person in a profound way.

Shanti

I want to add a small point to what Smiley said with regards what hindus, in general think and say about other religions.

Hindus give unqualified praise for the foundational texts and and teachers of other religions Even when they doesn't have fair knowledge of them.

Authentic hindu scriptures have no reference to jesus or christianity as they were written(Believed to be) much before the advent of any religion.
As per hindu scriptures Brahma created the present universe approx 8 billion years ago.
Carl sagan the astronomer talks about Hindu cosmology's time-scale
http://www.rediff.com/news/jan/29sagan.htm

Bhagavad gita as translated by Paramahansa Yogananda is by far superior to most others. Bhagavad gita is a directory to Self-Realization and Yogananda's work recognises this. Bhaktivedanta Swami's translation is flawed as it assumes the work as a literal story instead of an allegorical one.

Please refrain from proclaiming who's scriptures are flawed and who's are "perfect". Likes and dislikes are just a person's opinion, whether yours or the previous poster's. Everyone wants to pretend their view is somehow objective and beyond personal opinion, but the fact is it is just your opinion, nothing connected with the objective reality of the book.

The last thing we need here are 1,000 different people posting "my guru's book is a lot better than your guru's book". Just say you like Yogananda and move on.

Any poster can come and say the same thing you just said, changing the name to their own guru. This is nothing but sectarian opinion, nothing transcendental. Here is an example:

Wow, now I am as smart as you. Let's do another sectarian statement:

We can go ahead and do this for every single guru out there, and all it shows is that we have a sectarian view. It really isn't necessary to publicize your sectarian view beyond saying "I like XYZ". You don't need to state "I hate this guy and that guy and the other guy".

Seeing as you waited 5 years before posting this post, and your only two previous posts were on Gaudiya Vaishnava topics, I suspect you have existed here under a different name in the past and probably got banned or something. You probably are more interested in putting down Prabhupada than in glorifying Yogananda. But that is all conjecture based on other similar posters. I hope I am wrong.

Actually I have read Paramahansa Yogananda's translation of Bhagavad Gita.
His purports are very interesting - they talk alot about 'Christ Consciousness'.

Interesting indeed.Now, i understand why Melvin talks so much about Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda and others find the sacred texts, icons and terminology of Sanatana Dharma very useful in moving their agenda forward. http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/spiritual-discussions/454139-india-great-god-one-post1147169.html#post1147169

I do not know what you mean my 'Hindu" books and why do you ask this question? i am curious about your inquiry - it is not just about the book it seems, but perhaps you want to know what the members of this list think as representative text - not just for themselves, but when talking to a westerner! - this is a really interesting part of your question. i have not thought of asking a westerner what book they might like to talk about when talking to a non-westerner! - gives me food for thought.

Anyways, one of my favorite books is - "Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth". Reason being that this person is close to our times and is known to have lived what he believed. He was a spiritual person and NOT just a HINDU - he challenged hinudism in that he stood for the untouchables and called them 'harijans; - people of God. And he tried to practice what he believed in and hardly preached anything to anyone. To me, this is spiritualism, about having well-thought out and critical beliefs and having the courage to live up to them.

It is true too that he was a believer in Bhagwat Gita - a text almost everyone here has talked about. And that text is a living -text, open to interpretation as many times one reads it, based on one's evolution each time you come back to it.

There may be other examples too, depending on what in "Hindu" or non-western world is your quest about.