Hinduism provides an invaluable introduction to its schools of thought and the very different ways in which it is practised and interpreted.
K. M. Sen discusses the evolution of Hinduism's central systems of belief and codes of conduct, as well as popular cults and sects such as Bhakti, Tantrika and the mystics of North India, and describes the varying incarnations of its supreme deity, Krishna and Rama among them. He recounts its history from the Indus Valley civilization c.2500 BC and the Vedic age nature gods to its relationship with Buddhism and Jainism and the impact of western culture. And he describes the day-to-day practice of Hinduism - customs, festivals and rituals; the caste system; and its philosophies and exponents. In a new foreword, the author's grandson Professor Amartya Sen brings his work right up to date, examining the role of Hinduism in the world today.
Hinduism provides an invaluable introduction to its schools of thought and the very different ways in which it is practised and interpreted.
About the Author
Kshiti Mohan Sen was educated at the traditional Sanskrit schools of Banaras, which had been a centre of Indian learning for many centuries. He mastered Sanskrit and a large collection of modern Indian languages, and also became an expert on Indian religious texts at a young age. Along with a study of folk culture, Sen wrote several volumes on different aspects of Hinduism, including a treatise on the caste system, and a textual study of the position of women in ancient India. Following Kshiti Mohan Sen's death in March 1960, this book was prepared for publication by his grandson, Amartya Sen, who has also contributed a substantial new introduction for this edition.
Product details
Publisher : Penguin Press; 1st edition (19 January 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 176 pages
4.6 out of 5 stars
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Abredjones
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in Canada on 19 January 2017
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The book is very informative and removes too many mis-conception about Hinduism.
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Dr Asoke Chakraborty
5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable book to understand and know about Hinduism.Reviewed in India on 14 November 2015
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My knowledge and idea about Hinduism would have remained incomplete and distorted without reading this book.This book helped me to develop a very broad and comprehensive notion about Hinduism.
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ReportJRC
5.0 out of 5 stars A basic, yet elegant account of Hinduism.Reviewed in the United States on 8 September 2013
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This is a classic book written by an eminent scholar of Hinduism and rendered into English by a non-observing Nobel-Laureate economist, who has presented the facts neutrally in an engaging, but non-judgmental manner. The initial chapters would be informative to newcomers to the study of Hinduism, but not to those who already have some knowledge of this religion/culture. However, the later chapters chronicle the evolution of Hinduism from the prehistoric times through the middle ages to the present time. This journey through the periods of history is educative, inspiring and even startling to even those who were raised as Hindus in modern India and are reasonably knowledgeable about Hinduism. The author has consciously kept the book short, which is good. The only regret is that more quotations from the Sanskrit scriptures were not used in support of the conclusions made by the author. This is a slight disappointment in view of the author's vast and deep scholarship in this field.
Overall, this is a historical account of a religion, which is as captivating as a classic novel. In the opinion of this reader, this book is not to be missed, whether one is an observing Hindu or merely curious about the great cultural-spiritual phenomenon known as Hinduism.
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Reportj tattersall
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent bookReviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 November 2012
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As I am off to India again I thought I would read a little on Hinduism - beautifully written and is easy to read
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5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read - explains all concepts clearly and a ...Reviewed in the United States on 31 January 2018
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Easy to read - explains all concepts clearly and a non biased expose on the foundations, history and development of Hinduism and Hindu thought in India and the world.
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Hinch
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February 18, 2023
Really nice overview, as someone who knew nothing about Hinduism before I feel like this was a very accessible, readable introduction. It's definitely more about broad themes than anything specific, though.
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Critical
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March 11, 2021
Ok, so let me first say that I'd never have read this book if not for this one friend, who whenever presented with a caste-based critique of anything to do with Hinduism, always had only one thing to say - "Hinduism is not just Sanatana Dharma. Read that book.". Well, now I've read that book.
Now Hinduism is complicated. You have to start with, what is Hinduism? Who is a Hindu? Who self-identifies as Hindu? Where does the category of "Hindu" come from? With a category as broad as that, how come the same narratives of Hinduism are the only ones you hear everywhere? All of these questions are not only important questions, they're absolutely essential to look at if we're going to put things into context, especially when considering the history of a large majority of the subcontinent. Not everyone is going to find liberation within that category. Not everyone will have the need to engage with it. Maybe some will even articulate their struggles within their category. But you know what? Those are politics. And politics are important. My friend's politics are pretty warped, however, and that is only confirmed by this book and his glorification of it.
Let me start by saying that this book is far from what one should base their understanding of Hinduism on. Of course, you may read this book if you'd like to get a very high level view into various concepts presented in scripture, which for the intellectually curious mind can't be a bad thing. However, be very careful about making conclusions about how these ideas have applied through history and how they apply today based on this book. I'll say once again, the politics are important.
This book, written by a Bengali Brahmin, takes the highly glorified Brahminical view of Hinduism. While the author acknowledges that divisions of varna and caste are built into Brahminic scripture, he very conveniently always comes back to the "greatness" of Hinduism, in that it can "assimilate" local traditions into itself. Now Brahmin savarna Hindu liberals love this grand narrative, because they are interested in ownership of the narrative. Much like my friend, they acknowledge the diversity of local traditions that exists under the present day classification of "Hindu", but they refuse to see that it is only through a simultaneous process of appropriation and suppression that dominant castes maintain hegemony over Dalits, Adivasis, and other oppressed castes. For the author K.M. Sen, this is a beautiful thing. For him, it is sufficient to have the odd example of a woman or a Shudra gaining some kind of power. For the hundreds of millions of people that this particular view continues to oppress, it's a horrible thing.
For the reader interested in a critical view, books like Debrahmanizing History by Braj Ranjan Mani, Why I am not a Hindu by Dr. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd might provide better perspectives.
For those interested in the political construction of the "Hindu" identity, this article is a great reference: https://caravanmagazine.in/religion/h...
For those curious to understand the ongoing process of appropriation in constructing Hindu mythology while wiping out local traditions, this is a solid resource: https://www.raiot.in/can-we-challenge...
For those who want to know why local caste politics matters so much more in order to build nuanced understandings, this should be a reference: https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/i...
Overall, I would say that this book is not worth your time. I'm still glad I read it, if only to type this not-angry-but-feeling-hmph review.
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nahid hasan
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January 13, 2020
A very informative book.
Almost nothing of what I actually knew about Hinduism so far matched this book.
In this book, the author has basically discussed the history of a religion from its origin to its continuation Hinduism is a fleet of Vishal Bapur, and it is a very difficult task to capture him in only one and a half hundred pages, which needs at least 5 words to express the expression, the author has done it there in 1 word.
The first thing that came to my mind after reading this book is that Islam does not have many conflicting elements with the original Hindu religion. Original Hinduism also speaks of a formless, all-pervading, One God. It is mentioned several times in this book
I think this is an underrated book. Hindu brothers should recommend this book to those who want to get a basic idea about Hinduism. And Muslims should also read this book, to know the concept of Hinduism. Because both religions are living side by side in this subcontinent, but they don't know each other well.
I am surprised when Krishna himself talks about worshiping a Supreme Lord to Arjuna, ignoring himself. But now I see that everyone has left the Supreme Lord and made Krishna their deity.
And I did not find any mention of Ram Rama was a simple but daring prince, not a god
But what game is being played by placing the poor man in the seat of God.
However, I think the book is a must-read The opening verse is written by Amartya Sen That is another story.
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Riya Ganguly
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January 23, 2021
Few people know that this book was originally written in English and that the version in question is a translation by Somendranath Banerjee. Perhaps the simplicity of the translation is responsible for that. It may also be that this translated form is more widely known and read than Acharya Kshitimohan Sen's original text.
But lately the book has been unnecessarily maligned for its 'Introduction' section—where Kshitimohan's Douhitra discusses the relevance of the original book as he does. In today's political landscape, that gentleman is judged by other criteria than his wisdom or recognition. But that's it. Let us return to the book instead.
The original book, written in 1961, had an intended audience of English speakers—people who either knew nothing about 'Hinduism', or knew it wrongly. In this situation, Kshitimohan arranged his book in the form of a primer which was novel from the point of view of the time. The book was divided into three parts. They are ~
Part I: Nature and Fundamentals of Hinduism
1. Introduction
2. Nature and Development of Hinduism
3. Social ideals and values
4. Caste or caste system
5. Folklore and festivals
6. Solidarity Not Independence
Part II: Historical Evolution of Hinduism
7. Indus Valley Civilization
8. Vedic Age
9. Vedic culture and education
10. Upanishad and Gita
11. Cultural integration and its impact on Indian life
12. Jainism and Buddhism
13. Some other Vedic verses
14. Ramayana, Mahabharata and Purana
15. Conspiracy
16. Hinduism outside India
17. Bhakti-Dharmalondan
18.
19. The Medieval Murmiya Pursuit of North India . Bowl
20. Modern Stream
Part III: Selections from Hindu Scriptures
a. Rikveda
b. Atharvaveda
c. Upanishad
d. At the end of the Bhagavad Gita
there are instructions.
The biggest problem with this book is its size. A library is not enough for all that it tries to cover in just one hundred and sixty pages.
The aim of the whole text on it is to show that the essence of Hinduism is not conflict but harmony. We already know that this idea is not only illusory, but the dream of the 'happy heaven beyond' group of downtrodden refugees. The Vedic and pre-Vedic background of Hinduism is merely glossed over to show this synthesis. Even how Indra-Varuna-Agni was replaced by Vishnu-Brahma-Rudra in the tension of power, how the protestant religion quickly transformed from symbol to paganism—there was no opportunity to tell in this book. Rather, the so-called devotional and syncretistic religious movements gained most importance here in the Middle Ages. But Chaitanya and his cultural movement have only one paragraph!
On top of that, in view of what has been learned about the Indus-Saraswati civilization in the last sixty years, it has become necessary to re-read most of the ideas about the so-called Hindu religion.
All in all, after reading the book, I felt that we are not the target audience of this book. It is the product of a particular time and a particular thought.
But it is also admitted that such a book could probably not be written now. The ocher color has been hijacked by monks like Kshitimohan for a long time. When a book like this calm, serene pond is published today, the crowd gathers not for fishing, but for frogging.
If you know a Bengali who doesn't know anything about Hinduism, let him read this book. It is good as a primer full of simplifications written in simple language.
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Chant
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May 11, 2021
1965? Dated? I would say to some degree but for the most part, it's a good introduction to Hinduism, if you haven't read anything on the subject before.
Chapters are concisely written, which is another way of saying that the chapters in this book are short. Usually, I am not a huge fan of short chapters but in the case of an introductory text, I feel it gives the reader a better breadth of knowledge for further exploration.
If you find this little 60s pelican text I would say give a read-through. I personally have a bunch of these pelican texts from the 60s and 70s purely for graphic design (I have a thing for this type of minimal graphic design that the 21st century tends to poo-poo).
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Erik Graf
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June 4, 2015
This book was employed in Harold Kasimow's Major Eastern Religions course at Grinnell College. Not knowing much about the traditions of the Asian subcontinent, I found it very enlightening.
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Vampire Who Baked
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February 5, 2019
This is an incredible book by an erudite (yet not at all elitist) scholar that gives an intimate and insightful glimpse into probably the most complicated (and syncretic) system of religious and social philosophy in the world. Kshiti Mohan Sen's introduction spans a satisfying breadth in focus, from the history (and historiography) of South Asia, to philosophical discourse on Vedanta metaphysics, to a sociological study of the intersection of class and religion (and to a lesser extent, gender) in India. It answers basic questions about the constituent entities of Hinduism places them in its proper context.
You will learn, for example, what the Vedas are, and how relevant they are (in theory, less in praxis, except for scholars and the elites) and where they came from (Aryans? Dravidians? Both?). You will learn that the word "Brahman" is one of the most overloaded words, referring (separately) to the caste/varna, the Vedanta ideal of the all-pervading abstract Supreme Being, as well as one of the three parts of the Vedas (together with the Upanishads, as well as the four Samhitas-- Rik, Sam, Atharva and Yajur).
You will get a crash course not only on various heterodoxies within Hinduism (including atheistic and agnostic sects) but also on the complicated position of women, the ir/relevance of the caste system (no foundation in scripture, but historically prevalent), and the sociological impact of the Bhakti movement in bringing religion to the masses rather than restricting it to dogma and elite priestly classes (a lovely chapter on the "Bauls" of Bengal stands out in particular).
You will learn that most modern gods and goddesses are conglomerations of distinct deities from different sects-- the sect of Pashupati, the lord of animals, and the Aryan lord of storms Rudra, together with phallic/lingam worshipping tribes/sects led to Shiva, who is for the most part non-Vedic/non-Aryan in origin. Similarly, Krishna and Vishnu were worshipped as separate entities and only later identified as one and the same.
You will get a crash course on metaphysical ideas like "Brahman", "Atman", "Purusha", "Prakriti", "Maya", and so on.
You will learn interesting facts, like how the first anthropomorphic religious images that were created within Hinduism were actually the Gandharva staues of Buddha, by Greek sculptors who were patronised by the Buddhists in Afghanistan. Temples and human-like idols of Hindu gods came much later.
Even if you are not interested in religion, this book is a great read-- if nothing else, it's a way to get a glimpse into how religion works, the foundational philosophical ideas, and the way it adapts and changes over time to fit sociological needs. And for Hinduism, the most syncretic religion in the world, it's a particularly fascinating story.
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Mel
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August 9, 2011
A pithy, humane and intelligent account of an extremly complicated subject with a myriad of historical and regional variations. Highly recommended introduction to the subject.
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r0b
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March 13, 2020
Delightfully accessible introduction to the subject. Not perfect but recommended for those interested.
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