Three best-known texts from the Indian wisdom
tradition now available in an elegant boxed set, a
perfect gift and source of lasting inspiration. This set
of classics - the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, and the
Upanishads - comprises the most important, most
universal texts from the Indian wisdom tradition.
Easwaran's editions have consistently been among the
best selling translations, appealing to academics and to
general readers alike.These texts pose the fundamental
questions of life, asked by thinkers throughout the
ages: Who am I? What happens to me after death? What's
the purpose of my life? Each classic offers compelling
answers, reflecting the style and the personality of the
Vedic and Buddhist authors. And Easwaran argues
convincingly that each of these great texts is as
relevant to readers today as it was centuries ago.The
Bhagavad Gita, 'The Song of the Lord', is the best known
and most read of all the Indian scriptures. Easwaran
held the Gita to be India's greatest gift to the world,
and his introduction prepares readers carefully for this
core text with a clear, engaging explanation of key
concepts, and his translation is confident and lyrical."
The Dhammapada" is a collection of the Buddha's
teachings, permeated with all the power and practicality
of one of the world's most appealing spiritual teachers.
Rejecting superstition on the one hand and endless
philosophical speculation on the other, he taught the
end of suffering and the way to spiritual liberation.
Although the Buddhist canon is vast, Easwaran believed
that we need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow
the way of the Buddha.The Upanishads are among the
oldest of the Indian wisdom texts, the records of
question-and-answer sessions given by illumined sages to
their students. These students include a teenager daring
to question Death himself, a powerful king in his court
taking instruction from a highly unconventional sage,
and a wife seeking a last lesson in immortality before
her wise husband leaves forever for the forest. Each
Upanishad reflects extraordinary flashes of insight,
gained after many years of investigation of
consciousness itself. The sages' discoveries are an
expression of what Aldous Huxley called the Perennial
Philosophy, the wellspring of all religious faith.What
makes Easwaran's editions so successful? In his
introductions to all three books, Easwaran conveys his
own warmly personal appreciation for these texts and
gives a concise overview of the cultural and historical
setting for each. His translations have been
acknowledged as both reliable and poetic. Chapter
introductions and notes are included in all three
volumes, and the new foreword places these classics in a
contemporary context.
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