Chiefly on Hindu mythology and Vedic concepts.

Tat tvam asi is an extraordinary book enveloping the gamut of the Upanishadic insights in all their profundity and splendour. Its author is a literary genius with about40 books and compositions to his credit. The book, which has received over 12 awards from various institutions in India, is written in a style that is quiteUpanishadic and not easily comprehensible to the ordinary man. It also uplifts the imagination of the reader. This translation is an attempt to make Tat tvam asi reach aglobal audience unfamiliar with Upanishadic terms and concepts. It could not have been achieved without a background in Philosophy, both Indian and WesternNevertheless it was an arduous exercise to find suitable words to convey the correct meaning intended by the author. I am grateful to the author for giving me freedom to accomplish it in my own way as well as for accepting the translation as authentic Undertaking the work of translation was a highly satisfying and enrichingexperience. This translation, one hopes, will generate a renaissance in Upanishadic knowledge at an international level, as Tat tvam asi did in Kerala, when it was firstpublished.

Long age when this book first appeared in the opening year of the century the great Epic, Mahabharata had not been thoroughly examined to see what literature it reflected had not received a careful investigation from the metrical side its philosophy had been reviewed only in a most haphazard fashion and its relation to other epic poetry had been almost judgement on the question of the date and origin of the poem of which scholars knew as yet this poem of which scholars knew as yet scarcely more than that before a definitive answer could be given the whole huge structure must be studied from many points of view.

It is really gratifying to note that the culture developed on the basis of the Vedas has evolved into a massive reservoir of humanistic culture. The term Veda signifies the deep repository of knowledge handed down from generation to generation since time immemorial. These Vedas stood not only the test of scrutiny by the knowledgeable authorities but also of time. Despite all political conquests, economic upheavals, social transformations and cultural deviations, the Vedas have survived hitherto because of the humanistic culture engendered by them. References can be made in this connection to A.L. Bhasam’s book The wonder that was India and R.T.H. Griffith’s RigVeda (The oldest divine book). The Vedas are quite distinct from other religious literature in terms of concepts, structure, content and application. The Arya Samaj has always insisted on treating the Vedas as a philosophical and divine matter. European philosophers and scholars are greatly in acceptance of the Vedas too and hold the same in high esteem Celebrated western scholars such as Max Muller, Oldenberg, Wilson, Griffith etc. tried to delve into the vast expanse of the religious-cultural endowment of the Vedas.

In "the very best book about Hindu mythology that anyone has ever written" (The New Republic) Calasso plunges Western readers into the mind of ancient India. He begins with a mystery: Why is the most important god in the Rg Veda, the oldest of India's sacred texts, known by a secret name—"Ka," or Who? What ensues is not an explanation, but an unveiling. Here are the stories of the creation of mind and matter; of the origin of Death, of the first sexual union and the first parricide. We learn why Siva must carry his father's skull, why snakes have forked tongues, and why, as part of a certain sacrifice, the king's wife must copulate with a dead horse. A tour de force of scholarship and seduction, Ka is irresistible.

"This book is an overview of The Vedas, the holy book of Hindus. The most important Hymns are quoted in full; extracts are also included from the Brahmanas, the part of The Rig Veda that guides the Brahmans, the highest class of priests, in Vedic ceremonies. Also included is a section on the Arya Samaj, a later westernized version that is shown to be inaccurate, covered in the Appendix."--The foreward.