The Vivāha, the Hindu Marriage Saṁskāras

The Vivāha, the Hindu Marriage Saṁskāras
Author: Bhaiyārām Śarmā
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 204
Release: 1993
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9788120811324

Ceremonial rites and rituals occupy a place of utmost importance in the life of a devout Hindu. In fact, there are no vital actions- brith, initiation, marriage, death etc- which can be allowed to be performed without its appropriate rite or samskara. The number of samskaras has been fluctuating but was finally fixed at sixteen. Marriage is the most important and elaborate out of these sixteen samskaras. Manu enjoins that rituals should be performed in the case of virgin for legalizing the marriage, legitimatizing children and avoiding public scandal. The mantras used in the nuptial rites being in Sanskrit are beyond the comprehension of not only the average Hindu but even the common priests entrusted with the duty of conducting the rituals. To overcome this difficulty the present book was originally prepared in Hindu and is now translated into English with the mantras etc. Romanized for the benefit of those who do not have adequate knowledge of Hindi, for example especially those whose forefathers had migrated to remote countries during the last one hundred years or so.

Samskara

Samskara
Author: U. R. Anantha Murthy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 174
Release: 1989
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780195610796

Made into a powerful, award-winning film in 1970, this important Kannada novel of the sixties has received widespread acclaim from both critics and general readers since its first publication in 1965. As a religious novel about a decaying brahmin colony in the south Indian village of Karnataka, Samskara serves as an allegory rich in realistic detail, a contemporary reworking of ancient Hindu themes and myths, and a serious, poetic study of a religious man living in a community of priests gone to seed. A death which stands as the central event in the plot brings in its wake a plague, many more deaths, live questions with only dead answers, moral chaos, and the rebirth of one man. The volume provides a useful glossary of Hindu myths, customs, Indian names, flora, and other terms. Notes and an afterword enhance the self-contained, faithful, and yet readable translation.

How to Become a Hindu

How to Become a Hindu
Author: Subramuniya (Master.)
Publisher: Himalayan Academy Publications
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2000
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0945497822

"A history-making manual,interreligious study and names list, with stories by Westerners who entered Hinduism and Hindus who deepened their faith"--Cove

Sanskrit Non-Translatables

Sanskrit Non-Translatables
Author: Rajiv Malhotra
Publisher: Manjul Publishing
Total Pages: 302
Release:
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9390085489

Sanskrit Non-Translatables is a path-breaking and audacious attempt at Sanskritizing the English language and enriching it with powerful Sanskrit words. It continues the original and innovative idea of nontranslatability of Sanskrit, first introduced in the book, Being Different. For English readers, this should be the starting point of the movement to resist the digestion of Sanskrit into English, by introducing loanwords into their English vocabulary without translation. The book presents a thorough mechanism of the process of digestion and examines the loss of adhikara for Sanskrit because of translating its core ideas into English. The movement launched by this book will resist this and stop the programs that seek to turn Sanskrit into a dead language by translating all its treasures to render it redundant. It discusses fifty-four non-translatables across various genres that are being commonly mistranslated. It empowers English speakers with the knowledge and arguments to introduce these Sanskrit words into their daily speech with confidence. Every lover of India’s sanskriti will benefit from the book and become a cultural ambassador propagating it through routine communications.

The Śrāddha

The Śrāddha
Author:
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 124
Release: 1997
Genre: Ancestor worship
ISBN: 9788120811928

Of the sixteen samskaras which encompass a Hindu life the last one is performed for the dead by their sons or grandsons or relatives. Many passages in the Puranas and Dharmasastras extol the role of the son in the life of devout Hindu. The present book deals with the rite of Sraddha and vindicates the popular belief that Sraddha, being an important topic, forms an integral part of Hindu Dharmasastra. The belief in the after-death survival of deceased ancestors and their separate world belongs to the Indo-Iranian period and as such is pre-Vedic. Ancestor-worship for one's prosperity, continuation of one's race, is as old as the Rgveda. Contents Preface, Introduction, The Antyesti Samskara, Appendices, Glossary

Hindu Saṃskāra

Hindu Saṃskāra
Author: Laksmi Sinha
Publisher:
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1999
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

On Hindu rituals.

Moral Knowing in a Hindu Sacred City

Moral Knowing in a Hindu Sacred City
Author: Steven M. Parish
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 358
Release: 1994
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780231084390

Explores the interrelationship of mind, self, emotion and the development of moral consciousness in the Nepalese city of Bhaktapur. The author investigates how the citizens have developed moral awareness in the context of cultural life.

How to Become a Hindu

How to Become a Hindu
Author: Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 486
Release: 2002
Genre: Conversion
ISBN: 9788120818118

Hinduism - Ritual, Reason and Beyond

Hinduism - Ritual, Reason and Beyond
Author: Ashok Mishra
Publisher: StoryMirror Infotech Pvt Ltd
Total Pages: 538
Release: 2019-08-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9388698134

The book is journey through 5000 years of evolution of Hinduism, and is outcome of seven years of study to understand the roots of Hinduism. Tracing the genesis of Hinduism to pre-Indus Valley period, the book explains Hindu, Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma, before it takes one through Hinduism’s oldest scriptures - the four Vedas, the four components of each Veda, and what they contain. How all original translations of Vedic texts were done by Western Sanskrit scholars, and why their works have left scope for doubt about the fidelity of translations. The yajnas (yagya) like Ashvamedha, Rajsooya, Vajpeya, etc., about which we only hear on TV serials and talk shows, have been demystified. The reader will be taken aback reading the sheer size and scale of Soma yajna, described step by step, in great detail. Hinduism’s journey to the Age of Reason, the Upanishads, its encounter with Buddhism, and its transformation into idol worshipping society with many gods and a multitude of stories about its millions of gods is lucidly explained. Puranas, what they contain and what was the reason they were created, has been described and explained next. Hinduism's journey to its modern form - idol worship, the modern puja, detailed description of puja and Sanskaras like Vivaha, their detailed description, the meaning of each action and how they are conducted, the gift to the priest, types of idols, their consecration, all are explained to help a reader understand the why and the how of what we do as a Hindu. The book concludes with a discussion of - Do mantras have power? & Do rituals have meaning?