Steven J. Rosen

What led me to this title was unadulterated curiosity and I must say that I am more than pleasantly surprised. The book is very well written and captures the essence of Hinduism very well. I actually took a trip down nostalgia alley after reading through the Ramayana and Mahabharata sections. A very well done PriceWaterhouseCoopers like concise report on Hinduism.

Hinduism is a religion that one adheres to by practice. The Holy texts lay out all the ingredients for leading a happy and show more fruitful life and it is upto it's adherents to follow these well laid out rules and steps. Starting with four Vedas. The Vedas are very esoteric and abstract and were the exclusive preserve of the Sanskritized Brahmins and High Priests so Vyasa and Valmiki wrote the common man versions in penning the Mahabharata and Ramayana respectively.

The Bhagavad Gita is an extraction of the central essence of the Mahabharata and then you have the Upanishads which are really the text books used by the Gurus to impart Vedic Knowledge to their pupils. The Puranas are again tales and legends that extoll the virutes of the Vedas through stories. The Gita, Upanishads and Puranas are often referred to as the Fifth Veda. show less

What led me to this title was unadulterated curiosity and I must say that I am more than pleasantly surprised. The book is very well written and captures the essence of Hinduism very well. I actually took a trip down nostalgia alley after reading through the Ramayana and Mahabharata sections. A very well done PriceWaterhouseCoopers like concise report on Hinduism.

Hinduism is a religion that one adheres to by practice. The Holy texts lay out all the ingredients for leading a happy and show more fruitful life and it is upto it's adherents to follow these well laid out rules and steps. Starting with four Vedas. The Vedas are very esoteric and abstract and were the exclusive preserve of the Sanskritized Brahmins and High Priests so Vyasa and Valmiki wrote the common man versions in penning the Mahabharata and Ramayana respectively.

The Bhagavad Gita is an extraction of the central essence of the Mahabharata and then you have the Upanishads which are really the text books used by the Gurus to impart Vedic Knowledge to their pupils. The Puranas are again tales and legends that extoll the virutes of the Vedas through stories. The Gita, Upanishads and Puranas are often referred to as the Fifth Veda. show less

The Hidden Glory of India is a feast for the eyes. This mini-coffee table book presents an overview of the Vaishnava religious tradition, part of the Hindu or Indic complex of religions. Specifically, this volume focuses on the Vaishnavism of Chaitanya, whose sect arose in Bengal and spread throughout northern India in the sixteenth century -- eventually reaching almost all countries beginning in the 1960s due to the work of the late A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who established the show more Hare Krishna movement. show less

Gita in a Nutshell is what I would call this book. If O'Reilly were to interpret the Gita, it would also probably turn out like this. A very nice and concise interpretation with occasional comparisons to Golf.