The Rig Veda (Penguin Classics)

I am reading this now. I have looked at several other larger versions. These are accessible translations with excellent notes. Probably the best selection out of a much larger book that is likely to be available. Clearly the result of many years introducing this important work to American students. It should be your first choice.note: Potential readers should be aware that Wendy Doniger and all her work is being aggressively trolled by Hindu Nationalists on many message boards like this with calls of "Lock her up" being directed towards anyone who might have critical things to say about India. Probably should not take a copy of anything with her name on it to India during election season.

Wendy Doniger's book, Rig Veda, organizes passages of the Aryan religious text around fifteen themes. Her detailed analyses offer a glimpse into the complex relationship between the human and cosmological realm in Ancient India. As she states in her introduction, this book was written for "people, not for scholars." Doniger's translations and explanations clarify and illuminate the role of sacrifice, fire, women, and various gods in a multifaceted ancient culture.This book was a required text for a class on Priests, Warriors, and Ascetics in Ancient India. Doniger's Rig Veda was an excellent resource in this course. The one controversial point regarding this book is the interpretation of the ephedrine ritual juice, Soma, as a hallucinogen. I would recommend this book to individuals interested in the study of religion in Ancient India.

I love this version. The translation is broken down for ease of read but also keeps the spiritual and historical spirit behind the book. I use it for reference, research for my blog and self written book, and for my own religious practices. Great book for student or one seeking ancient Indo-European / Indian wisdom.

What is missing, in my view, is an exploration of the historical context in which these writings could plausibly have been produced, beyond their traditional (mythical) origin, including a review of the archaeological and literary evidence for both the texts and the language in which they are rendered. In what milieu, with what means and what motif (and hence, by whom) were these texts composed?

This text is:(1) An accurate translation of the Vedas as far as we know.(2) A product of Orientalism.(3) Relatively unpolluted by ideology (as far as the translation itself goes).This text is not:(1) A guide to how the Vedas were used in classical India.(2) An accurate commentary on how Hindus view the Vedas.(3) Complete.(4) A representative summary of the Vedas, although it does have the few very famous Vedas which Hindus would memorize even today.It's not a bad edition and I award it 5 stars. Ignore the commentary.

The story being told is one that absolutely excites the imagination and makes you wonder how they will remember us in as many years from now.

It is wonderful that Penguin published excerpts from the Rig Veda for Anglophones but this edition needs a thorough update.While the Rig Veda is one of the most difficult of the world’s great religious texts to understand, the introduction does nothing to explain anything about the origin, authors or cultural world of these texts. And, while the inner textual apparatus is helpful this does not diminish the need for a thorough scholarly introduction to ground the reader. Without such a guide, I can only recommend the Wikipedia article as a partial substitute.Furthermore, the selection of texts is highly biased towards the later parts of the Rig Veda. I can understand selecting parts perceived as more relevant for Western readers, but I believe more than 90% of the Penguin edition is from books one or ten. Surely, there are hymns of interest in books two through nine that could have been included to provide a more representative sample.I gave the book three stars not because the Rig Veda is not worth reading, but because Penguin could put together a much better volume than this. It has been almost forty years since this edition was published. I can’t believe there are not interested Sanskrit scholars who Penguin could commission to provide an update. Text=beautiful Edition=disappointing.

Doniger does as very accessible translation. Her translation choices preserve the meaning while allowing a flow to the language. I have a number of copies of the Rig Veda. I like Doniger's hymn selection in this version. The Rig Veda gives a unique insight into an ancient civilization and its practices.