The Principal Upanishads

by Nikhilananda (Editor)

"His translation is faithful and economical and it is embedded in notes and explanations which clarify the meaning, wherever it might be ambiguous for a western reader." — The Times (London) Literary Supplement.
"The translation is both faithful and graceful, and the exposition is authentic, instructive, and attractive; they often shed new light on old concepts and bring out their significance in the perspective of modern Western thought." — S. J. Chatterjee, Philosophy East and West .
Generations of seekers have turned to the Upanishads as a source of timeless wisdom and inspiration. Handed down orally from teacher to disciple, they are regarded by Hindus as eternal, without beginning or human authorship, and as possessing the universal truth common to all religions and faiths. Their twofold structure encompasses advice on the conduct by which to attain material prosperity in life and happiness after death, as well as guidance along the path by which one is liberated from ignorance and enabled to realize the highest good.
This volume comprises the major Upanishads, regarded as the basis of the Vedanta philosophy and the outstanding contribution of Hindu thinkers to the philosophical thought of the world. A comprehensive glossary addresses the Sanskrit terms contained in this prepared as a sort of Upanishadic dictionary, it provides a variety of meanings for each word, italicizing those especially pertinent to the Upanishadic texts. This abridged edition will be particularly useful for students in universities and theological seminaries where the Upanishads are studied in connection with comparative religion or world literature.

Genres: Philosophy, Mythology, Religion, Spirituality, India, Hinduism, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2003

About the author

Swami Nikhilananda (1895–1973), born Dinesh Chandra Das Gupta was a direct disciple of Sri Sarada Devi. In 1933, he founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, a branch of Ramakrishna Mission, and remained its head until his death in 1973. An accomplished writer and thinker, Nikhilananda's greatest contribution was the translation of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita from Bengali into English, published under the title The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942).

Reviews

[Brandon Peele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to give the Upanisads anything less than four stars. Decent translation and commentary, still far short of the Radhakrishan opus.

[Sharon E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this is a great translation of the sacred teachings of wisdom. It is very deep and so i have to take breaks in my reading and ponder for a while.

[Bread · Rating 4 out of 5]

abridged. interesting discussions on the brahman+atman & their implications, although i found some of the sections touching on sacrificial practices a little dry & required quite a bit of background info of hindu cosmology that i didn't really have. swami nikhilananda argued for advaita vedanta & this seemed to be the most plausible exegesis to me for the most part. however, there were some passages that didn't quite seem to fit that reading, & so sometimes his interpretation in the notes felt forced. also, he seems to assume a consistent univocality of the texts which makes things a bit difficult as well, esp in terms of the subtle differences in the accounts of the relationship of the tanmatras to the sense-organs etc that i felt i was seeing throughout the different upanishads